See Ya!

I'll be leaving tomorrow, early in the afternoon. I'm so excited to be going home for a while! I should be back in about a week and a half- I may even blog while I'm gone, but I doubt it. I'll have lots of pictures for you when I get back though! Have a good time, and don't miss me too much...

Good Yarn Karma

I just want to give some props to the awesome chicas who started Good Yarn Karma. The premise is that if you have some unloved yarn in your stash, you can give it away for karma, or swap it. A very cool idea, no? So far, they've been doing well. I even snagged a little something a few weeks ago- a couple balls of some Berocco Suede: Well, what are you waiting for? go check it out! Purge some unwanted fiber! Spread some Karma!

Chop!

For weeks now, I have been bitching about my hair. It's hot out now, and my hair was getting way too long for me. For those of you who don't see me in person more than once a year, or never have, in fact, seen me in person, my hair was a good three inches past my shoulders, and in a constant state of ponytail. My ends were all split ( I haven't gotten it cut since right before Christmas) and gross, too. Last night, I decided to take matters into my own hands! Have no fear, though- I've been professionally trained to cut hair. Although, doing it to one's self is something different all together! I enlisted the help of The Hubbster to cut it straight in the back, which wasn't incredibly successful (I should have known better- he's horrible at cutting straight lines on anything) and ended up making the cut a little shorter than I wanted, but that's okay. it's hair, it'll grow back! Right now, I'm just utterly relieved to not have hair hanging all over the place, being hot and heavy and annoying. To my surprise, it actually came out really good! Here, I'll show you. Please excuse the I've-been-running-errands styling, the complete lack of makeup, and the wild, unwaxed eyebrows. Gimme a break, I'm a mom! I think it'll look really cute styled, and I can still get it into a ponytail, if my heart so desires. Alright- I'm going to go tweeze my eyebrows now. Thanks a lot. Geez. Ugh. The more I look at this picture, the more I hate it. I'm going to press the post button now before I change my mind and delete the entire post.

Woo! Vacation!

A few nights ago my dad called- we talked for about an hour and a half. He mentioned that my brother had a $500 plane ticket credit, and wanted to use it to come out and see us in a few weeks. Somehow, that progressed into me flying out this Saturday, staying a little over a week, then driving back with my bro in the car my parents are giving us. I'm not sure how it all happened, but I'm excited to go to Minnesota, hang out at the beach, check out some yarn shops, and then road trip with my little brother! It's a bit unexpected, and my head is still spinning with all the crap I need to get ready to go before I leave. Since we didn't really have money set away for a vacation, I'm selling some yarn that's been sitting in my stash a while, that I have no plans for or don't know what to do with. You can go check out the sale over here- help me out and buy something so I can, uh, well, honestly, probably buy more yarn in MN! Well, I'm sure a good chunk of the money will go to driving back and diapers and crap like that, but don't you want me to be able to get just a little bit of souvenir yarn? Hmm? just a little bit? Your donations are gladly accepted as well! *wink wink*

Mini Yarn Crawl

Saturday, Erin and I decided to have a mini-girl's day. We had lunch, knit a little bit, and went on a mini yarn crawl around Santa Fe. We only stopped at two yarn stores, but we surely didn't come away empty handed! The first yarn store we hit was Needle's Eye, which has a lot of basics and other good stuff. I got two balls of this, at half price! It's Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille, in the colorway "Straw Into Gold". It's going to be a cozy scarf! The second yarn store we visited was Oodles. They carry a lot of the more "funky" stuff, mixed in with a few of the regulars. I love to go and fondle the bamboo, corn fiber, and the other fun, odd fiber choices they have. There I picked up some Austermann Step sock yarn, in these great colors- they remind me of a New Mexico desert landscape. I'm still waiting for Erin to post pictures of her stash enhancement- she got some great stuff! (nudge nudge, girl!)

Warm Electronics

Remember the little skeinlet I got with my Wollmeise?I decided yesterday that my cell phone needed a little cozy. You know, to keep it warm. Anyways, I knit it up in about 15 minutes, and had just enough yarn for it, but barely- I cast off my last stitch with about an inch of yarn to spare. Whew! I really enjoyed the yarn, and love the colors. It would make a dreamy scarf! And an obligatory close up of the yarn- I love this picture! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Swirling Wine

Tuesday, at S n' B, I cast on for a diagonal knot stitch scarf (pattern over on the top left) with the beautiful Malabrigo my SP sent to me. I figured, "Hey, it's time for a new scarf. Hmmm, this yarn is red...it fits into this month's Project Spectrum colors...sounds good!" Ever since I knit this scarf for my sister-in-law last Christmas, I've been wanting to make one for myself. The Malabrigo in my stash just wasn't totally suited for this scarf, but this beautiful burgundy was perfect! Anyways, I loved knitting it, and I finished the scarf last night. If only it wasn't 100 degrees outside... The colors of this are stunning. The best comparison I could think of was red wine being swirled in a glass (hence, my title). Here's a close-up of the stitch pattern: The colors in that one aren't accurate, but in the first one, they're almost perfect. Of course, it's nowhere near as pretty in pictures as it is in person. I love it- it's soooo cozy. I wanted to sleep with it last night. Alright-before I start to preach the glories of Malabrigo again- I'll be signing off!(if you really want proof of my obsession, just do a blog search of "malabrigo" up in the nav bar.)

Ribbed for My Pleasure!

I went back and forth a bit on whether or not to rib the cuff of my socks. I looked at all the sock patterns I want to do, and the majority of them are ribbed, so I decided to go for it! Might I add, I really don't like to knit ribbing? Anyways, here is my very first finished sock! Being my very first sock, I am super happy with it. The fit is a tiny bit loose (any way to maybe wash it and tighten it up a bit?), but hey, I'm not perfect! If I use the pattern again, I'll just use less stitches. No biggie. It's wearable, and that's what matters! I'm really happy with how it came out, and I'm particularly proud of my flawless (to me) short-row heel. Before casting on for sock numero dos, I decided to do a quick knit. But shhh! It's a secret! I'll let you know what it is when it gets to who it's going to. If, in fact, it's going to someone at all. Maybe I didn't even really knit anything, and it's all a figment of your imagination... In other news, I finally made it to a Stitch n' Bitch here in Abq. last night, after living here for a year...I had a great time! It was so nice to be able to socialize with other grown-ups who have at least one thing in common with me. I'm definitely going to try to make it more often. Fun times! It was good to meet some of the people who's blogs I've been reading for over a year, too (Hi, Noelle!). alright, time to go get my daily fix of Ravelry. Adios!

Scattergories

I spotted this over at Sarah's blog, and it looked like a good waste of time fun! The game is SCATTERGORIES-it's harder than it looks! Here are the rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things-nothing made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same first initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Your name: Nichole 1. Famous singer/band: Nine Inch Nails 2. Four letter word: Nile 3. Street: Nicollet Mall 4. Color: Navy Blue 5. Vehicle: Nissan 6. Things in a souvenir shop: Necklaces 7. Boy name: Nathan 8. girl name: Nancy 9. Movie title: Napoleon Dynamite 10. Drink: Nesquik 11. Occupation: Nurse 12. Celebrity: Nicole Ritchie 13. Magazine: Newsweek 14. U.S. City: Nantucket 15. Pro sport team: New England Patriots (NFL) 16. Reason for being late to work: Not wanting to go 17. Something you throw away: ??? 18. something you shout: Noooo! 19. Cartoon character: ??? Argh! It was hard! I got totally stuck on those two. Let me know if you do it, too! A real blog post will follow shortly...

Projects Update

I'm very proud to say that I've been making very good progress on my WIPs! Yesterday afternoon I finished the One Skein ruffle scarf: I ended up only using one skein of the Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky- I still have one left. I'm not sure if I want to make a matching hat, or do something completely different with it. I guess we'll see. I did a total of 15 repeats of the motif, instead of the recommended 8, and I'm happy with the length. now it just needs a bath! I also made some great sock progress- look! I made a heel! I actually knit another inch or so on the leg after I took this picture- I just wanted to show everyone my first heel! As much as I am annoyed by the short row heel and toe, I think I like the way it looks enough to put up with the small annoyances of it. I am going to try other toe-up heels at some point, though. The sock still fits well- I think my next pair I might make a tiny bit smaller, so the fit is nice and snug. Hopefully once I finish this one, I'll still be motivated to do the second one. I should- I really am excited to have a pair of hand knit socks! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

SP10 Goodies

I got my final package from my pal a few days ago. It was so wonderful! I could smell something yummy in there before I even opened it. I got it inside and tore it open- here's the first thing I found inside: These are handmade soaps from her company, Ozark Body and Bath. Oh, they are so yummy! She actually sent me three different scents, but one is already in use, so I didn't get a picture. Also handmade by her were these candles: These smell delicious, as well! After removing the handmade goodies, I got a little giddy. Guess what I saw nestled in the bottom of the box? Yep! My absolute favorite yarn- Malabrigo- in the beautiful burgundy colorway. Mmmm. I loooove this stuff. Next to it was a yarn I haven't tried yet, but have wanted to- Araucania's Magallanes. The colors on this one are great! Last but not least were a few other goodies- some note cards to feed my obsession, and a cute notepad: Thanks so much, Lisa, for an awesome package!

One Down

I finished my SP10 scarf this weekend, and now it is all clean and wrapped and shipped off to my secret pal. It was really a great knit- I used the Single Cable Scarf pattern from One Skein. I modified it just slightly, using a size smaller needles because of the yarn I used, and adapting the cable to be reversible. I hate the way the back of cables look, and scarves should be pretty on both sides! I really like the way it came out. The yarn I used was Araucania Nature Wool worsted. The color variations are subtle and so pretty. The yarn is woolly, but still soft and not scratchy against the skin. Definitely a yarn I would use for something for me! Here is a picture of it in progress, with just an inch or so to go: Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it totally finished, but oh well. You get the idea! So, one project knocked off my WIP list. The Skull Illusion Scarf for the Hubbster is going to be frogged, because it's curling at the sides, and acrylic doesn't block. I'm going to upgrade the yarn from Caron Simply Soft to some nice wool. Hopefully I can finish by Christmas for him! Time to go make some progress on my other poor, neglected knits.