44 Days

Posted on September 6, 2007 by carrieoke13

There are only 44 days until my wedding. So. Close. There are so many little things left to do…
I’m not going to stress.
Instead, I’m going to show you a lovely, relaxing picture of my latest finished project: my Chevron Scarf!

Yay new scarf!

It’s perfect scarf weather – ya know, 90 degrees and up – har har har. I actually have worn this already — it was cold in my class last week, and put my not-quite-finished scarf around my neck (I kinda hid the part that was still on the needles under the desk I was sitting in.) Then, the professor left the room for a minute and I took the opportunity to knit a few rows…and a student across the room said, “Are you KNITTING the muffler that you’re wearing?” Hee. I was trying to be discreet. Oops. I also loved that she called it a muffler.

Look how long it is!

I really was going to knit this until I ran out of yarn, but one of my skeins kept tangling, and I’m actually glad I stopped – it’s uber long! I can’t wait for colder weather.

Last pic, I promise.

Can you tell I love this scarf?
I used two skeins of Socks That Rock (both gifties, one lovely skein from Jodi and another lovely skein from Ashley) and this pattern that I found on domesticrafts (she basically used a chevron stitch – so smart.)
Since I didn’t get to finish the skeins, I used some of my leftover to whip up a quickie iPod cover for my video Ipod. I carry it in my purse all the time, and I wanted something to cover the screen just so it doesn’t get scratched with bobby pins and ink pens and Pepto Bismol bottles, etc. (My purse is a pit of despair.)

Yay for Photo Booth.
I’m being lazy – it was easier than getting out the camera.
I have a Mac now – oh, how I love it.

It actually feels great to finish that project, because now I feel free to work on some other stuff. I’m getting very close to finishing my cami from Knitting Lingerie Style – pictures soon. And, I just bought this adorable Zephyr Style pattern last night after reading this post over at Elizabeth’s …how cute is that damn sweater? I’m so casting on for it this weekend.
Speaking of this weekend, me and the Pants are going away to the mountains for a mini vacation. We’re going to relax and not stress about wedding details – I’m specifically forbidden to do any planning. I think it’s going to be a nice break!
Y’all have a good weekend!

Time

Posted on August 22, 2007 by carrieoke13

I can’t believe it’s almost the end of August. Time is flying around here – my wedding is in less than 2 months, I’ve been at my new job for almost 3 weeks, and our air conditioning has been broken for exactly 2 hours. Two sweaty hours. Dear Lord. This weather is CRAZY. Twice this week, I got in my car at the end of the day and my temperature gauge said 108. I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life, and this is the hottest summer we’ve ever had.
Did I mention that our air. conditioning. is not. working?
So, I’m sitting here with a very hot laptop on my lap, under a ceiling fan, thinking about knitting, but it’s almost too hot to knit. I was working on a lovely camisole from Knitting Lingerie Style – but it makes me hot just to think about knitting with a wool alpaca blend right now. So, I’ve been working mostly on my never-ending Chevron Scarf:

I’ve decided to just knit it until I have the yarn runs out. I’m using two skeins of Socks That Rock, alternating the skeins every two rows…like probably a million other Chevron scarves that you’ve seen in KnitBlogLand. I was inspired by Dogged Knits Ashley and Domesticat. I’m too hot to link (edited to add: AC at work = adding links in the morning.) SO HOT. I’m a hot, lazy blogger.

This is gonna be a super long, pretty scarf, if I can persevere to the end of the skeins.

Sorry I’m Grumpy Complainypants. The temperature hasn’t been below 100 in days. Weeks. I’ve just been working hard at the new job and working on wedding stuff. Invitations have gone out, and we’ve even been working on the centerpieces…

This is what we have to wear to work on centerpieces.
We are so serious about centerpieces.

I even got a veil. Not gonna post a picture of that because the Pants is not to be trusted. (the Pants are not to be trusted? Hee.)
So. how’s that for a lame catch-up post? I miss blogging frequently. I need to make more time in my schedule for it. I can’t complain too much though – my busy schedule is mostly due to a job I love and an upcoming wedding. Things are good.

I’m a tad sweaty, but I can still smile in pictures.

Confessions

Posted on August 7, 2007 by carrieoke13

I confess: my Sockapalooza socks came early, and instead of being a good Socker and waiting until August 2, I ripped into the package. Immediately. And found these lovelies inside:

My Socks!

And also…

My pal totally spoiled me!
A lovely knit pouch and a needle holder.

I love it all! The socks are super soft and they fit perfectly, and I’ve been using the pouch to tote my iPod around! (And did you see the adorable fabric on the needle holder?) These lovely gifts are courtesy of Elke. She is in Germany, and blogless (hi Elke) and she’s a totally awesome Sock Pal. Thanks so much, Elke! I’ve been so lucky with Sockapalooza, and this year was another great time.
My pal’s package went out already, and I’m crossing my fingers that she likes the socks and they fit…
So. I’ve been a busy girl, with the new job and the wedding getting really, really close…Accccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk. Our invitations are almost done (we’ll be printing and cutting this weekend) and they feature a drawing by my dear friend Mary Jessica (who also drew the Carrieoke on the side of the blog). They also feature graphic design by my super talented brother-in-law David. Gotta love having the artistic friends and family!
Speaking of friends and family, my sisters Michelle and Cathy and my dear AM threw me and Jacob a kick-ass wedding shower this past weekend! There was extremely delicious food, and lots of booze, and lots of laughing, and an abundance of gifts… including…

A Wii Steering Wheel!
(Let’s hear it for registering at Target!)

It was a fabulous weekend, indeed.
Well, I need to go address wedding invitations. Here’s another confession: I sort of like addressing wedding invitations. And also? We forgot to book a hotel room for our wedding night. NOT STRESSED.

And then there were two.

Posted on July 26, 2007 by carrieoke13

Two finished projects! I decided that I need to wrap up some projects, and so I had a finishing frenzy this past week. First up: Sockapalooooza Socks!

Two stripey socks, almost identical twins.

My sock pal professed a deep abiding love for striped socks, so I found some stripey yarn in her colors at The Fiber Denn. In addition to being stripey, the yarn is extremely soft. Hooray! I knit these using the toe-up formula in Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy. These were my first completed socks to have short row heels (and toes). I lovelovelove the short row toe – LOVE IT – but I’m not sold yet on the heel, probably because I haven’t totally mastered it yet. I am satisfied with the heels on these particular socks, but I think I can improve my technique.

Don’t worry, sock pal, these are getting a bath in Soak tonight.

Finished in time! Hooray for Sockapalooooza! I hope she likes them.
And, Finished #2: a baby sweater!

EZ February Sweater.

I’ve been knitting this on and off for a little while, waiting for one of my pregnant friends to give birth so I could choose a recipient. (Yes, I have that many pregnant friends.) This one is going to little Ava. I used one skein of Cotton Ease and size 9s. I was hoping using bigger needles would make the sweater bigger, and honestly I’m not sure what size this sweater is. I’m going with the whole EZ philosophy that babies come in all sizes and it will fit her at some point….that works, right? This sweater is easy peasy, the pattern is easy to memorize, and it looks super cute. I want to try one of those crazy origami baby surprise sweaters next.
It’s so satisfying to actually finish some knits after four false starts with The Impossible Knitted Skirt.
So, what else? This weekend, I read Harry Potter (sniff), watched Jacob play Resident Evil on the Wii (sooooooooviolent), took my dad grocery shopping (fun!) and played with the neph a little (Big Head Schmoo!). Bella got a new toy.

Schmoo’s favorite toy.

Friday is my last day at my current job … oh how I fear change. But it’s good change. It is. Still scared, though. Guess I need to knit a whole bunch this weekend to calm my nerves…

New

Posted on July 17, 2007 by carrieoke13

Hi there! The crazy has slowly been winding down around here…the semester is almost over HOORAY and I survived and all of my projects are almost done. Of course, right in the middle of the super busy time of the semester, I got a call for a job interview … a shiny, pretty job, where I can be creative and learn lots of new geeky stuff, and even work in my Master’s field (Instructional Design and Development)…
Guess what? I. got. it.
I’m not gonna talk too much about it, but HOORAY YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY NEW JOBBY JOB! Ahem. I start in August. I’m super nervous but in a good way. Nervous. Nelly.
So, what else? I had a birthday on July 13, and it was very good. My sister was at cross country camp being a good cross country coach (sniff. she’s already promised that she will NOT be at cross country camp for our 30th birthday), so I didn’t get to hang out with her, which is always a bummer on our birthday. But, I did get to have the best karaoke birthday party EVER. Evidence of that is here:

I think I was singing Vibeology by Paula Abdul.
and here:

AM and Jenna.

and here:

Don’t stop believin’.
Other pictures on Flickr, if you dare.
AM’s birthday is July 21, so we rented a private karaoke room for fantastic joint birthday festivities, complete with wireless microphones and TWO TAMBOURINES, and a bunch of great friends. I love karaoke.
Jacob gave me the geekiest earrings ever, which I LOVE, and Bella gave me a prettypretty video iPod. oh boy oh boy oh boy! I can’t wait to download podcasts…and TV shows…
On the knitting front, I have tried FOUR times to knit a skirt. Yes, FOUR. Yes, I knitted a (admittedly crappy) gauge swatch. Yes, I did math. They were all enormously huge and ill fitting. Harumph. Why am I obsessed with knitting a skirt? I have no idea. I think I need to put it away for a little while and find another skirt pattern. Or find a skirt pattern that is knit with yarn that I can afford. Or yarn in my stash. arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh the skirt is taunting me.
Instead, I start knitting again on Ye Olde Chevron Scarf That I Cast On in April and May Never Be Finished, and I knitted up a cute Elizabeth Zimmerman baby sweater (the February one – one sleeve to go). Tonight, I’m going to see if I can get gauge for this cute Berroco pattern which Silvia alerted me to.
and I’m gonna finish up my Sockapaloooooza Socks! They are sooooper close.

Sockapalooza Socks:second heel a-turning

I hope my pal likes them!

Okay. I’m off to knit socks and swatch.

Finally.

Posted on May 13, 2007 by carrieoke13

The semester is over! Yesterday marked the end of the semester for me at work, and it was a v. stressful and tiring day, but it is OVER. Hooray! I will probably be taking classes this summer, and a new semester begins next week, but I just feel the need to celebrate the end of this particularly stressful semester. WOO-HOO!
Just to give you a little taste of my day, it ended with me backing into a brick wall and making my muffler look like this:

Apparently, you shouldn’t drive with your muffler dragging. Lesson learned.

Sigh. At least I’m safe and now my car is being repaired.
Now I will make a list of good things, which obviously outweigh any badness that is going on right now.
1. I had knitting at my house this week for the first time in ages. I forgot to take any pictures, but a good time was had by all. We drank daiquiris, sat on my porch for a while, and Melanie even joined us! Yay for new bloggy friends. Bella was on her best behavior and got to hang with the knitters for a while.
2. Jacob and I went to a fancy-pants fundraiser last weekend with his family. There was a silent auction and a live auction, and yummy food and drinks. Jacob wore a tux, and I got to wear a dress I got on super sale at Dillard’s:

That might be after a few drinks.

We won an $100 gift certificate to Doc Chey’s. Yum, noodles.
3. Ravelry. I’m sure you’ve been reading about it on lots of blogs, so I won’t go into too much detail. I’ve been a beta tester for a little while, and it is fabulous. One thing I lovelovelove is being able to organize my stash (or actually see how much yarn I have – yikes ). It’s a great tool for matching your stash to the patterns you want to knit. It’s also fabulous to see what yarns other knitters have used for certain projects, and the interface makes it super easy to see that information! It is seriously addictive, and also makes you feel productive at the same time.
Now you’re saying, that sounds great! But I can’t use it! I’m not a beta tester! True. Frecklegirl and her husband are working their tails off to get Ravelry ready for full release. It’s just the two of them working on it, and it’s pretty amazing that they’ve already got such an amazing tool together. Have patience, and keep watching for news about the full release. And remember that Jess and Casey totally want EVERYONE to be able to participate – it’s just a matter of time! They started this project because they care about this fabulous knitting/crocheting/yarny community and they wanted to make something wonderful and useful for us. How cool is that?
4. Mother’s Day cookout at my sister’s house was fun times. My nephew, otherwise known as BigHeadSchmoo, is almost one years old and absolutely adorable. And he said “Jacob”! He’s also a genius baby, clearly.

Genius baby with Cathy and his mama, Michelle.

My stepfather and my mom, relaxing on the porch.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and my sister Michelle. I love you guys!

Spring Weekend

Posted on April 30, 2007 by carrieoke13

It was so beautiful this weekend! I had lots of schoolwork to finish up, but that didn’t stop us from doing some gardening. People, I love to plant things. When Jacob mentioned going to shop for some stuff for the yard, I almost didn’t go with him because I immediately thought, BO-RING. But hello! So. not. boring! and now I can’t stop researching flowers to put in flower boxes and thinking of new thing we can plant in our yard. ohboyohboy.
I’ll spare you the pictures of our newly planted flower boxes (although I’ll probably post some once they’re blooming.) I actually have pictures of a finished Morehouse Merino shawl…

It’s about time I took at picture of this.

and here’s the wingspan shot:

It doesn’t exactly match my pink tank top and olive green pajama pants, but I still love it! It’s the Bellini Shawl from Morehouse, exactly as written. Right in time for the super hot weather. Ha.
I actually already have another Morehouse kit on the needles – it’s just knitknitknit, which is just the kind of project I like to carry around in my purse. Knitknitknit.
And here’s what else I’ve got on the needles…

Trellis for the BigHeadSchmoo.

My nephew is about to turn one – can you believe it? For his first birthday, Aunt Scary is knitting him his very own fabulous cabled sweater. I hope it fits! One sleeve and two fronts to go.
And I couldn’t resist the call of the chevron:

Chevron Scarf in Socks That Rock.

I was inspired by Ashley’s first Chevron scarf, and then I happened to win some mediumweight Socks That Rock in Ashley’s blog contest, and then I saw this lovely version on Domesticat. Non-curling edges? I’m sold.
I’m using Socks that Rock in Nodding Violet and Rare Gems. These colors are working so beautifully together – I want to turn all of my variegated sock yarn into yummy delicious scarves.
Yes, I know that’s three different projects. I can’t make up my mind sometimes. I have two sweaters I really want to finish too (my Kim Hargreaves kit and my Must-Have) but I just can’t handle sweater knitting when it’s getting hot like this. My KH sweater is a cotton blend, so I might just work on that after this Trellis is done. So many choices…
This weekend: family reunion and silent auction. Good times.

Oops, I Did It Again.

Posted on March 26, 2007 by carrieoke13

So, I started training for my second half-marathon in January (as mentioned in this post). My training started out pretty well, and I ran at least twice a week mostly and tried to keep up with my long runs, but life got busy (wedding planning and school and other life-in-general stress) and I lost track of how much time I had before the race, and I didn’t feel ready. (Not feeling ready could also be a teensy bit of laziness on my part. Just a TEENSY bit.)
So I decided not to run the race. I would go to Atlanta, and cheer on Anne Marie and my friend Cheryl, and just be a spectator. Cathy would be a spectator too, since she is just recovering from bronchitis and really shouldn’t run 13.1 miles right now.
Yesterday was that half-marathon.
And I totally ran it!
I think I was scared to run because I knew I wouldn’t improve from my first race, and I didn’t want to feel like a failure. But my sister Cathy (that sneaky, sneaky girl) was all, “Why don’t we just run a little, and see how we feel? We won’t run the whole thing…”
Here’s me and Cat before the race:

Yeah. She tricked me.

And then it was just FUN. Beautiful day, beautiful course. We took it easy, not running too hard, pushing ourselves every now and then. It was so much fun, laughing and running with my sister, watching all the other runners and the spectators. We kept a good pace, and Cathy didn’t let me slack too much. We even got to see the lead runners because the marathon course crossed paths with the half marathon course at several points – that was AWESOME. Dude. They were kicking so much ass – it was really motivating. At mile 8, Cathy wisely decided to stop, and so she did. But she was like, “Finish the race.” And I kept going. And I finished!
Here’s my medal.

I might have more pics of the race eventually, but I didn’t bring my camera — I assumed I would have access to it later since I wouldn’t be finishing the race. Ha. Next time, I’m going to be more serious about my training, but it was nice to do a race in a very stress-free sort of way.
[Note: since I'd done a half before, I felt okay running it even though I didn't feel completely ready. I am in NO WAY advocating just waking up the morning of a half-marathon and deciding to try and run it. You gotta train, baby. I guess the point is: I wasn't motivated to run it, even though I physically was ABLE. And my sister and Cheryl and AM helped me get motivated -- that morning!]
In general, that’s the kind of runner I am. I don’t like to get caught up in my time because I’m a slow schmoo, and if I’m not enjoying something, I’m just not gonna do it. So, I try to keep running fun and light and not a competitive thing. (Now, that’s just me. My friends (coughcough Cheryl and AM and Cathy coughcough) who are fast schmoos do things differently, and I like that. Cheryl rocked the half, and AM rocked the FULL, and I’m so proud of them. Cheryl finished almost an hour before me and when I was coming around that last bend, I saw her waiting, and she ran me into the finish line, which totally rocked. She even cheered me past a couple of runners.
Woo-hoo! Team Schmoo rocks.
In other news – knitting news – I’ve been knitting a little opera scarf with my Noro Silk Garden Lite, and I ripped it out. It just wasn’t working for me. (Although, I will say that I love that pattern, and I’m going to knit it again, but with a swingier, drapier yarn.)
Here’s the farewell photo:

Farewell, opera scarf.

Instead, I decided to copy Molly! and make a mini clapotis with it.

Yum. I love this yarn.

And the Forecast? She is literally 20 sleeve rounds away from being done. I’m predicting a finished post by next week. No promises, though.

When you get caught between the moon and New York City…

Posted on March 20, 2007 by carrieoke13

… Arthur’s Theme is totally one of my favorite songs.
NEW YORK!
What a freakin’ trip. It was super fun and totally exhausting and I would do it again next weekend if I had the money and another pair of boots (since mine now have holes in them from all the walking. NOT CITY SHOES.) First of all, I have to give a shout out to my girl Carolyn, who sent me her recommendations for restaurants, and not one of them disappointed. I tried so many kinds of food I’d never had before: Vietnamese, Malaysian, Brazilian, crazy Tex-Mex-Asian-fusion. yumyumyum. The food was my second favorite part of the trip.
My first favorite part was, of course, the people. And the yarn. Ohhhhh, the yarn.

At the subway stop in Queens.

The extremely long and photo heavy play-by-play is in the extended entry. You have been warned about the length. And the photo heaviness…

Continue reading →

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm.

Posted on March 7, 2007 by carrieoke13

It’s been … a week. I’m not going to lie: I’m a tad grumpy. There are things in my life that I have no control over — things I will never be able to change — that are currently making me a grumpy. schmoo. Harumph.
But I really can’t complain too much — life is mostly good, and the weather here is freakin’ beautiful. BEE-YOO-TEE-FULL. I’m talking 70 degrees and breezy. (Don’t hate me, my Northern friends.) And? And!! Spring Break is next week, and while I do officially have to work, I’ve decided that I might take a short little vacation and fly up to New York. Yayayayayay! Me and my sis are going to shop and hang out and eat good food and visit yarn stores. Suggestions? (Trip contingent on a plane ticket, but I think I’m going to be able to swing it.) It’s cold up there, right?
Trip Trip Trip. This will probably mean no Maryland Sheep and Wool this year, but I need a vacation and this is a perfect opportunity. Hopefully I will have a finished pair of Anemois in the mail by the time I leave, and a finished Forecast to wear.

Here’s where I am tonight.

There! That’s my challenge to myself: finish Anemois and Forecast by Wednesday of next week. Then I can actually wear Forecast in cold weather! It’s a plan.
In honor of happy things, here’s a picture of my cutecute nephewschmoo.

He didn’t like my flash. Schmoo!

Now, a meme.
Stolen from Carolyn.
It’s in the extended entry…