Thursday, April 30, 2009

Busy busy bee!


Oh my goodness. Isn't that just one of the most beautiful yarns you've ever seen? I think it's gorgeous, and it's seriously making me regret my yarn diet. I just want to touch this yarn so much. I LOVE the colors. I'm a big fan of bright colors, and this just makes my head spin with happiness (hah, spin!). You should all check out this shop: SpunRightRound. I noticed earlier today that they had hearted my shop on Etsy, so I checked them out (as I do with all the shops that heart me) and I fell in loooove. Not only is their name awesome (you spin me right round baby, right round, like a record baby, right round round round!) but the colors in their shop are AMAZING and all of the batts, rovings, and yarns are drool worthy. Please check them out if you have a spare minute or two!

Sigh. My yarn-it, however, is not going so hot. I finished my Celery Hat. Another failure! I wanted a loose beret kind of thing, but ended up with this huuuuge hat/bag/floppy mess thing. It's pretty funny. I'll be posting pictures of it ASAP. I've been hung up so much on school lately, so I haven't had much time to knit or come up with new project ideas for my stash. It's the end of semester (even though I'll be going right into summer semester) and I've been frustrated with some of my classes this semester. I have a huge project due on Monday and have had to change my direction with it several times. Ugh. I'm just so ready for all these classes to be over. I'll be so happy to have some leisurely classes during summer (although I'm not really sure Calculus can count as leisurely). The only thing I'm not looking forward to during the summer is being jobless. I REALLY need a job, but no one around is hiring. I'm just looking for part-time work. Anyone in the Cleveland area want to hire a great employee/personal assistant/hard working student for the summer!?

I have finally received all the batts I ordered a few weeks ago, and they're gorgeous. I can't stop looking at and feeling them. Ooh, and one of the sellers threw in a little extra bling. Yay! :] I gotta say, one of my favorite things about buying from Etsy is when sellers add a little personal touch to your purchase. Whether it's throwing in a little freebie or simply writing a thank-you note (which is what I've done so far), it's just lovely and totally makes my day, and also makes me more inclined to buy from them again! But seriously, it's my goal this weekend to spin a little bit of yarn. I have several batts, and then I ordered about 8 ounces of plain, undyed merino wool because I'm going to spin it and then try dyeing it! I've never dyed anything before so this should be *interesting*! Haha, I'm sure it will turn out great, I have high hopes!

Let me just so, I am SO grateful it's Thursday! My favorite day of the week! I have Bones, the Office, and 30 Rock. Plus the bf doesn't work tonight and I get to hang out with him, AND tomorrow is Friday. We're going to see the new Wolverine movie for my friend's birthday, and then out to the bars for a quick drink for my other friend's birthday! And then my roommate is going home on Sunday so I get the room to myself for a whole day :] It's gearing up to be a great weekend!

I've been craving a doughnut for about 2 weeks now, and I'm FINALLY going out to get one now! So have a fun and safe Thursday night everyone!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Hat Failure #1



So, this is my failure of a Jade Hat (named for the color, not a design). It may be really difficult to see (what with my horrible picture taking skills and all) but the hat is actually resting upon my head. I have to yank it really hard for it fit on my head. If someone has a 10-12 year old, and think it might fit them (I really have no idea what age child it would fit) they are welcome to have it. Oh, and I just noticed that the color of the hat totally matches my eyes. That makes it so much worse that it doesn't fit :(


Okay, I think that when most people go on a diet of any sort, there is at least one time early on where they falter. And folks, I have faltered. Hard. I'm not sure if it counts because it's not *technically* yarn, but I have been buying up batts like it's going out of style. Somewhere along my yarn-it I must have decided that since I couldn't buy yarn, it must be okay to MAKE it. Hmm, I must have been sleeping or something when I came up with that because I don't really remember thinking that. But somehow, I justified buying several different batts from several different shops. I have gone on a batt buying binge. And what am I going to end up with when I'm done spinning it? More YARN. Sigh.


One of my other goals of my yarn-it is to spin all the rovings I already have (though I bought more, what the heck!). So here are the two yarns I spun last week. I'm really proud of the first one. It doesn't have a name yet, but it's merino wool and 51 yards long. It's the most even yarn I've spun, though it's still a bit thick and thin in some places. I must've psyched myself out for the second one because I thought spinning the first one was sooo easy, and this one didn't come out as well. It's still pretty even, but has a lot more thick places than the first. Also nameless and merino wool, this one is 42 yards. They are the longest yarns I've spun!


I think I'm going to give away that first yarn in a giveaway for this blog. I'd love to know if people were interested in winning it, so drop me a comment. That's all for me today, so I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Yarn-it, Day 3


Okay, so I didn't blog yesterday. I was going through horrible yarn withdrawal. Headaches, the shakes, irritation, you name it!

Today will be a real test of my yarn-it. I have to go to the *bum bum BUUUUM* craft store, where I will surely be tempted to load up my basket with all kinds of yarns and knitting needles. Now that I think about it, I DO need some new needles. NO. Nothing new related to knitting. This is my vow. Sigh, all I need to get is some ribbon and a foam paint brush. But we'll see :\

So I finished my Jade Hat. It was the first ever hat I made without a definite pattern. I kind of just made it up as I went along, especially the crown decreases. Buuut, I didn't realize the hat would scrunch up so much when I decreased it, so it ended up much too short. Instead of looking like a beanie like I wanted, it looks and fits more like a yarmulke, which would be fantastic if I was a Jewish man (although the yarn is a wool/acrylic blend, and isn't it unkosher to mix different types of fabric like that? I could just be making it up though. Any hoo...). Pictures of the ridiculous looking hat soon to come!

I have, however, started a new hat, this one also pattern free! I'm making it with cotton yarn and with big eyelets, because I don't know about you guys, but I have bad hair regardless of the season, so this hat will be meant for summer. And the yarn is a yummy celery color (dangit, now I want some celery and peanut butter!). I've already had to unravel this hat twice now, so it looks like it might end up like the Jade hat :\ BUT I am using yarn that was already in my stash for it! So yaaaay, 1 yarn down, 298356792356 more yarns to go!

I got my third sale on Etsy a few days ago! Yaaaay! In celebration I'm going to be doing a giveaway soon. I started spinning yarn a few weeks ago, and I finally spun a yarn that is decently even and I managed to get more than 20 yards on the spindle! So pictures of that yarn soon, and details of the giveaway!


And lastly, I love that picture at the top. I may not be able to new yarn right now, but I can always haz new lolcats!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Yarn-it, Day 1

Today is the first day of my yarn diet (or my yarn-it as I call it). As suspected, I have a huge itch to go out and buy hordes and hordes of yarn. Sigh :(

I went through my stash this morning and packed it into three categories: yarns I have ideas for, yarns that I bought because they were pretty but have noooo idea what to do with them, and wtf why did I ever buy these yarns.

My biggest problem is that I buy some really nice, expensive yarns, and then I am TERRIFIED to use them! I'm afraid that something will go horribly wrong with my wip, or I'll end up not loving the fo, and then I've wasted $18.

But I can't help it.

I go into a yarn store and I'm just in heaven. All the bright colors exploding at me from every angle, not even knowing where to look first. I run my fingers along all the aisles, individually feeling every single yarn that catches my eye. Then I make sure no one is watching me, and I rub it on my face to make sure the yarn feels nice. And every time I pick up a yarn, it's a struggle to put it down. I know that I can't put EVERY single skein I pick up into my basket, but oh so want to. I go through about 50 questions to myself before I decide whether to buy the yarn or not. Do I need this yarn? What will I do with it? Does it go with any other yarn I already have? Don't I own another colorway that looks exactly like this? Where will I put it? Should I start using my roommate's bed to store yarn on? But overall there's one question that trumps every other question I have: do I WANT this yarn? And the answer is always YES. I want the yarn. Sigh. About 1/4 of the time, the yarn ends up in my basket, then I bring it home, and it ends up in my stash, unused, but certainly not unloved.

So today is the first day of me trying to use all those lovely yarns that at the time, I decided I had to have or I would explode. They've all sunk to the bottom of my baskets, waiting and wishing to become something beautiful. Now's their time!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Time to bust some stash!


First of all let me say, this is not actually my stash. I found it when I was googling early. But I really hope that one day I have a HUGE room in my house dedicated just to yarn!

But seriously, my room is starting to look a bit like this, and when I live in a tiny dorm room, there's only so much space to shove yarn. I have it packed into my closet, my drawers, my desk, under my bed, and even in my book bag (because god knows I don't actually use it for books!). I have yarn flowing out from every where.

So my friends, it is time. I am going to take part in the most dreaded of all words...DIET. Yes, I am going on a yarn diet. I vow to not buy any more yarn until I've used at LEAST half of my stash. I can't afford to keep buying bags and bags of yarn. I need to seriously stash bust. So now I'm asking you guys: what are some great stash busting ideas you have? I'll use my yarn for anything! I have a huge variety, and tons of colors. I was thinking of making some scarves, but I get soooo bored of plain garter stitch scarves after awhile, yanno?! Maybe a blanket? I don't know!

So gimme your ideas everyone!
Cheers,
Erin

Monday, April 13, 2009

Mixtape Monday Pt. 3!



First of all I'd like to say that I am TERRIBLE about keeping up with this blog! It's hard to find the time to update in between classes and homework and exams and creating, yanno! Sorry for the loooong time between posts!

So without further ado, it is Mixtape Monday! WOOOO! In case your download is out of order, here is the proper order the playlist should be in:

Mixtape Monday Pt. 3
1. My Guitar - Radish
2. Popular Mechanics for Lovers - Beulah
3. She'll Hang the Baskets - Cake
4. Move Your Feet - Junior Senior
5. LDN - Lily Allen
6. Days Like These - The Cat Empire
7. Holiday - Weezer
8. Jailer - Asa
9. Domino - Van Morrison
10. One Love - Bob Marley

You can upload the playlist here.

I was hoping this mixtape would capture the mood of my vacation last weekend. The bf and I went to Washington DC for the annual cherry blossom festival, and they were BEAUTIFUL! It was an amazing trip. We went to the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum. We had dinner at Wok and Roll in Chinatown (which I later found out is the building where the Lincoln assassination was planned) and we sat at the sushi bar and got some free delicious salads there :] Here is a picture of the lovely bf and I in front of some of the cherry trees:


We also went to the Japanese street festival on Saturday. It was so fun and cool. I've never seen so many people in one place. It was pretty difficult to get to one of the merchandise booths because it was sooo overcrowded with people, but we didn't really mind. I also got this orange soda drink think called Ramune, and it was the most difficult thing to open! It had a marble in it's opening that you had to push down to open. Sheesh, I couldn't open it! Thank goodness the boy could! Over all it was an amazing weekend, and it was the first trip I'd ever taken with a boyfriend! We had a great time and want to go back next year (granted we have the money to do so!)


On another note, you may want to know about the scantily clad girl at the top of my blog post! She's a character from my boyfriend's favorite videogame, Final Fantasy 10, and her name is Rikku (although I think that picture is actually from the game's sequel, FF10-2) and the first time I saw this character I was immediately drawn to her beautiful scarf. I've never dyed anything so I thought this might be a good project! It's going to be a little difficult to get the shaded coloring, but I don't mind a challenge! So if anyone has any tips or tricks for dyeing, they'd be much appreciated. I only have about 10 inches of the scarf knitted so far, so it might be awhile before I actually get to dye it (I'm using 100% cotton yarn, if that makes a difference in dyeing).

Since the last time I posted, I made 2 sales on Etsy, and I was so SO happy! What a great feeling, amirite?! I sold a scarf and a pair of armwarmers. I'm so proud of myself, and I hope their new owners love the items just as much as I loved making them!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and have a safe rest of the week!