A Year in One Post

Wow... well, I've managed not to write anything for well over a year. I feel like I've accomplished a lot so I feel alright about procrastinating blog-wise for so long. This lovely beast is Chy, a friend we met while spending a week in Texas visiting relatives. They have the slimiest tongues. I love it!

I've graduated from college (a semester early) magna cum laude, celebrated more than one year of marriage (two in June), and gotten a new job. I'm currently ecstatic about moving into a real house soon... although the house is yet to be found. I've also applied to grad school, so fingers crossed!

Progress has been made in the lovely and crazy world of knitting too. Although knitting has definitely had less devoted time this year, I'm very proud of some of the things I've made. I'm also on a bit of a hat/shawl/scarf kick that I feel is going to continue for some time. There will be no promises about stash usage, but the amount of yarn purchased this year has also been significantly less and I've found some wonderful yarn hiding in the strangest places. Now I just have to figure out why I put it there!


The projects I'm most excited about are always the ones I haven't started yet, either from lack of time or fear that I'll ruin some absolutely fantastic yarn, but I'm trying to involve more color. My current job requires that I wear certain colors and before I realized it... they sort of ate my entire wardrobe. There wasn't really any thing bright, happy, or colorful at all. My answer? Scarves! I've actually been wearing them for the last two years now (yes... BEFORE they were a trend) and I plan on wearing them the rest of my life. But the possibilities! Colors, patterns, textures are all beckoning and I've never been good at resisting soft and pretty things, hence knitting. Anywho... yay blue and yellow yarn!



I have the feeling (call it a premonition) that the next, oh, five or so months are going to be absolutely crazy but I'm hoping to finally start to settle down and figure out how to make a career out of a field that barely exists yet. Surprise... the real world sucks. And no, not just the old reality show.

Psychology is taking over my brain!

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

Sorry.... usually I don't like these quizzes but I thought this one was interesting. As a psych major, you have the opportunity to take numerous personality tests. And I never turned out to be a INTP. I'm usually an ISTP and my husband turns out to be an ISTJ (although he's really a borderline extrovert) and this test said he was an ESTP... valid? maybe. Reliable? I think not.

The trials and tribulations of yarn

Wow... time may not fly, per se, but it does have a way of deceiving you about how much there is. Sneaky. Aren't they adorable? It's the two most importance men in my life and my little girl. Awww... I just had to share!

Anywho, one more week of finals (ahhhh, studying!) and then onto the hectic Christmas/work/knitting/sleeping. Awful, hey?

I finally made it into Ravelery and let me tell you, it's almost as addicting as fluffly merino roving. Or something else similary soft. I can't tear myself off of it, not to study, spend time with hubby, sleep, eat... you know, all those unimportant things.

I've been entranced by homespun yarn lately (how can you not be?) and I decided that instead of spending oodles of money I don't have on it, I would teach myself. I must say, it's less frustrating than teaching myself how to knit. And it's so wonderful to play with the different fibers and colors. *sigh* Now if I only had more time. I would love to get my own lazy kate instead of using cardboard tubes and anything else available to hold my yarn, but it turns out that "real" spinning supplies are uber expensive after all. I can make do...


This is some of my first handspun. It's a beautiful blue corridale wool from Hello Yarn. I'm a little too in love with it though- I won't knit it because it looks better in a skein. Is that weird? I think that's a little weird. Hmm.... as for the next picture, this is some very coarse pencil roving that I found at the Yarn Hous... It's easy to spin because there's no predrafting but I don't really know what to make with it. It's rough enough to make shoes. Suggestions?



I'm also back in the conundrum of Christmas knitting projects. After attempting to overachieve the last two years, I've decided that I've been spending way too much time knitting for other people and not enough knitting for myself. Egocentric? Yes. Important? No.

However, I am going to make a hat for one of my fellow fiber-aficiando friends, although I don't think I should post about it on the offchance she decide to read this soon. Hey, it could happen. I just don't like making something that everyone else is making. I really enjoy experimenting and making up my own patterns, although I usually start with someone else's and just modify the heck out of it. But she saw the picture, said, "OOOOOOhhhh, I LOVE that," and so now I'm stuck. I think I'll use some yummy malabrigo. She'll appreciate that.

Anywho, I'm off to make myself loverly. It's date night, and my hubby and I are celebrating my almost done with school-ness. Mmmm, break....

The evitable inevitable

Well, I had to go and sprain my arm. The timing couldn't have been less perfect if I had tried. Tried really really hard. Anywho, it's in a splint for now. And unless I hear otherwise from the person who reads the x-rays tomorrow, it's just a bad sprain. Ow.

So no more knitting, very little typing, difficulty driving, eating, getting dressed, and basically everything that involves my right hand. Which is everything. Because I am right-handed. Spiffy, hey?

This doesn't explain, however, why I am here. Online. Typing. I can't rationalize it because my wrist hurts like yeah, my homework's not done, and my hubby is peacefully snoring away in our warm and cozy bed. I'd give anything to be able to go to bed at 10:30 every night. Lucky bastard. I keep planning on posting all these really fun pictures I have of everything, but alas, 'tis too much work and I seriously lack motivation. I just want to blather mindlessly on about my life right now.

I can't believe how frusterating it is to be in a situation where I feel isolated. I have absolutely no one that is also female, approximately my age, married, and still finishing up their undergrad degree. They are either preggers or gradumated. It's hard to bitch about married life to someone who's not married. They don't understand and trust me, they don't want to know. Alas.... a conundrum. How to make friends with people that don't exist? Hmmm...

For now, I'll survive. And the next post will bring fun pictures of random stuff. Yay, stuff!

To Make Up for Lost Time...

Here's what you missed: My new puppy, Nate's graduation, our wedding, our honeymoon, and the beginning of another crazy, stressful school year (for me, anywho). I'm even more knitting obsessed and completely and utterly happy with married life.

I ended up with 20 credits this semester through some strange and unplanned circumstances; needless to say, its wayyyy too much to handle. At the moment I'm supposed to be working on my exam that's due tomorrow, finishing my psych test write-up, and studying for the aforementioned psych test. Did I mention it's going to be a really hard psych test? I just want to be done with school, but I'm told that's how quite a few people feel. Not suprised.

I picked up another knitting book today, 101 Designer one-skein wonders, because I really need anything more knitting related. I really really do. Not. There are quite a few cute and quick projects, although some are cheesy and icky looking too.... you have to take the good with the bad, I guess. I'm really looking forward to making two of the hats. I love to knit hats.... I end up giving them away because, well..., I don't wear hats, but that's besides the point. They're so much fun to knit!

I've realized that I don't have the patience or the dedication to knit anything that takes longer than a week to finish.

I'd love to write more, but alas, the homework calls to me. More like screams, but you get the picture.

Overcoming the Present

So I'm still sitting here, doing nothing. Well, thinking.... but that doesn't accomplish much.

Wedding plans, school plans, travel, friends, birthdays, family, relationships, work, bills, paperwork, leases, loans, papers, tests, projects, insurance, food, pets....

Life sucks when you get older. Remember when insurance didn't mean anything? And you didn't really understand what taxes were, except as something that Mom and Dad liked to complain about?

Huh... You never really see it coming, either...

Life is one big head cold...

Now it is truly winter. This past weekend, instead of studying for my A&P test I was supposed to take this morning, I spent all my time laying around in bed doing nothing. Sounds dreamy, right? You'd think so.... but I came down with the most awful head cold and flu combo. I swear, I must have gone through two boxes of Kleenex. I'm still feeling quite sick but I have to make up this test by Wednesday so... a-studying I go.

I had hoped to accomplish something this weekend, but I didn't even manage to finish my hat. I didn't really have the energy to dig out my dpns to finish the decreases so it sat forlornly by my bed.... just begging to be finished... It doesn't look like much, but it is the softest yarn ever! It a 100% merino wool by Frog Tree that I had picked up at the LYS for a different project that I never did start. I've knit with some softer yarns, but cashmere and silk all catch on my hands because they're so rough from the dry weather. This stuff just slips right through! I'm thinking that after I finish the millions of projects I have left to finish, I'm going to go down and stock up on some more of this yarn. I mean, its only summer about three months of the year here, so I'm always in need of more cozy warm things.


And yes, I am using my blog for procrastinating... naughty, naughty me....

Valentine's Day Recap

So yay, it's Valentine's Day! And yes, I know that there are those who adamently oppose it, but I feel that it's harmless enough. Any "holiday" that celebrates love can't be all bad. My fiancee and I celebrated last week on Friday to sort of combine our four and one half year anniversary with Valentine's Day by going out to our fave restaurant- Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro... pricey, but worth every penny. Our puppy was sick this morning so we took him to the vet this afternoon. Turns out he most likely got into something he shouldn't have eaten or picked something up outside any gave himself a royal tummy-ache... poor guy. So he's on the rice and eggs diet for a couple of days. Is it sad when you envy the food your dog gets to eat? I could really go for some stir-fry right now...

Any who, I made Heart Lace washclothes for my roommate and old suitemate following the pattern posted on Smariek Knits blog. It took me a while to figure out how to follow it exactly, but I made two- one in pink varigated (in the picture) and one in a solid pink S&C. They both loved them, so yay!
My roomie is a die-hard (and extremely talented) crocheter and she made me the little black and red heart bag for val-day. Isn't it the most adorable thing ever?! (And it's Fuzzy!!!) If you look at it from the narrow end (side?) you can see the whole heart but I couldn't really take a good picture of it. She whipped it out yesterday when I was at class and it's perfect for my phone as my old bag for it is pretty much falling apart at the seams.


The white scarf is a 100% angora scarf that I started on before Christmas, actually, and never got around to finishing. Well, it's finished! I found the yarn on ebay- it's a discontinued yarn by Cascade called Conejo (which is rabbit in spanish) Chunky. I got a great deal on it too- almost 200 yards new for 12 dollars (yay me!). I planned on making it as C-mas present for myself, but with all the knitting for everyone else I obviously forgot about it. I'm trying to reclaim all my needles from my unfinished projects so I sat down and worked on it today... it's only a repeat of the double moss/seed stitch. I didn't want to do anything too fancy with it as it's fragile and fuzzy enough on it's own. I cannot believe how amazingly soft it is! But enough about that.

I just found out my friend's sister is pregnant again and I missed my opportunity to knit for her first baby, so time to break out the baby patterns! Yay fuzzy stuff! On a more somber note... there is a pile of homework staring at me that I've been ignoring for... um.... six hours now? I should probably go and um... do that now....

My Lea Hat Pattern

So I've been spending my time knitting, watching tv, and attempting to avoid class and any homework associated with it and so I made up my own pattern. This is a take on a pattern I've seen a couple times that I like but was never able to convince myself to purchase (what with it looking so relatively simple).
My bestest best friend is up at school way up north and I'm worried about her poor little head freezing so I made her this hat for her birthday. I thought about making something with lace but that wouldn't have kept as much heat in! I haven't had anyone else test the pattern so let me know if there are any errors... And it's reversible-ish!
My Lea Hat
© Designed by A. Jessup, Feb. 2007

My Lea Hat

Materials: US size 6 16" circular needles and size 6 dpns
Stitch marker
Worsted weight yarn, your choice (I used Paton's Soy Wool Stripes (sws))...
Cast on 80 sts using the long-tail method (although if you want a looser brim you can also use the backwards loop cast on).
Place marker and join to knit in the round, following pattern.
Pattern :
*Knit 1, Purl 4* repeat from * to *.
Repeat pattern 16 times in each round. Knit until desired length before decreasing.

Mine was approx. 6 inches long but to make a longer or shorter (smaller) hat you can knit anywhere from 5 to 7 or more inches before decreasing.

Begin decreasing, switching to dpns when neccessary.
1st dec. rnd: *K1, p1, p2tog, p1*. Repeat from * to * until the end of the round, 64 sts.
2nd dec. rnd: *K1, p2tog, P1*. Repeat from *to* until the end of the round, 48 sts.
Next rnd: *K1, P2*. Repeat to the end of the round.
3rd dec. rnd: *K1, p2tog*. Repeat from *to *, 32 sts.
4th dec. rnd: K1, *K2tog*. Repeat from *to*, 16 sts. When you reach the end of this round you will have one st left over; remove the marker and knit it together with the first st from the next round.
Final dec. rnd: *K2tog*. Repeat from * to *, 8 sts.

Finish off hat by pulling yarn through remaining sts, pulling yarn through to other side, knotting and weaving the end in. Block if absolutely necessary (and only if you used cotton or animal fibers... otherwise you won't have much luck with that).

Because of the striping in the yarn I used the pattern doesn't stand out that strongly, so you might want to take that into consideration if you knit this.

I also decreased quite quickly... if you want to decrease more slowly, feel free to add rounds following the pattern in between decrease rounds, although I'm not sure how that would affect the final product. This is my first posted pattern (although I've created several), so please take that into consideration as well. Thanks, and I'd love any feedback!

Feel free to use for personal private use, but do not distribute, copy, or sell this pattern without my permission.

Knitting Addiction

So I haven't posted much of anything since... well, I'd prefer not to think about it. I'm avoiding homework by writing this as it is.
Since visiting my soon to be sister-in-law in MI, I've become a knitting addict. An aficianada, if you will. I use knitting to relax, make myself soft and warm happy everything, and it has also become my go-to for presents. Christmas, here I come!
At the moment I have only three WIP's, because I've been forcing myself to balance knitting with the huge amount of schoolwork I have and all. I'd love to post pics but that would involve clearing out other pics off of my camera... sometime in the future...
I have, however, developed a stash that is out of this world crazy for a girl who's only been knitting for what, three months now? I think pictures of that would be even more entertaining.
The best part about knitting is that my roomie is a long-time crocheter and so we get to bond (even though she's practically my sister already) over our projects. The best times are sitting together curled up on the couch, each with a ball of yarn and our projects. Ah, yarn. Bringing people together since... well, quite some time, I would think.
Anywho, I've decided that when I finish school I want to sit at home all day and keep house and knit. Screw a career. Knitting is much more satisfying. But that may be the lazy way out. :-) Who knows... that may be exactly what I end up doing!
Speaking of the next few years... I need to get hopping on the rest of the wedding plans. Do you have any idea how stressful it is to balance 18 credits, a fiancee, a dog, a job, and knitting? Hmmm... neither did I.
That's right, I never did write about that either.... Nate and I got a puppy! He's from the humane society and we both love him to death. I suppose I will have to post pics of him too. His name is Cadence and he is such a rambunctious sweetheart. The pound said he was three months and a hound mix but it turns out he was two months and more of a boxer/pit mix. We love him anywho... he's this pretty brindle and he has the most expressive ears! Sorry, he's my baby. I could talk about him for hours. I have to figure out what to knit him that will still fit him when he's full grown. He's only about four months now and 25 lbs and according to the vet he's going to get much much bigger.
That will be interesting indeed... cuz I'm a little person. I'm going to go do homework now.

Retrospection

It's weird how if anyone actually decided to read this they'd only get little snippets of my life. I write so randonmly...
Right now I'm working on getting together plans for the wedding. I can't believe how many things there are involved. Reception site, flowers, transportations, rentals, photographers, videographers, wedding cake. It's quite overwhelming.
I also have to decide on the colors I want. I think I'm either going to do a blue and mocha or a green and mocha, with other colors thrown in like white and pink. I really like hydrangeas, so I'm going to have to figure out where I want to use them. I like the green hydrangea wedding cake that I found, and I like white hydrangeas... maybe with green hydrangeas and white roses for the bridesmaid's bouquets. Isn't that the most beautiful cake? I think one of the best parts of this is going to be trying all the different kinds of cake. Mmmmm, lemon poppyseed...

Another Complication

So I made it, somehow, through finals week. And I think I might have even done a passable job on most of them. And now.... time to breathe, right?
If only. Work is such a... I don't know, a hassle. Work really isn't that bad. The people are nice and the job isn't very complicated. But it's frustrating, now, with Nate's surgery. I have to drive myself to work, and finding a parking space isn't the easiest thing to do the week before Christmas. Why can't people be sensible and get their shopping done a little earlier? I suppose that would take all the fun out of shopping.
I'm really worried. He's going to be out for a few hours for the surgery, and there are so many things that can happen. And all this just for his acl and meniscus. I wish I could be there, but the girl who thought she might be able to take my shift never got back to me... So I'm still here, instead of with him. I'm glad I didn't have to drive all the way there, but I really wanted to be there for him after his surgery. I know he'll probably be disoriented, but I thought it might help anywho. I'm just making myself really upset and anxious, so I should get to bed... I worry too much. I hope I'm worrying too much.

Yay Raccoon!

So I opened my little box of raisins and it had a happy phrase on it. "You can't imagine all the good things coming to you." And there was a little sun on it, no less. Yay.... that just perked me right up.
Well, no... but it was interesting that I've never noticed those before. I have to write two papers, one a fifteen page one. I have to read a novel by Suetonius (I suppose it's better than HOD, but not by much), study for a Psych quiz, finish all the Practica musica assignments that I've procrastinated on, study for my com midterm, work on two group assignments, work... oh, and sleep should be in there somewhere.
Ahhhh... I'm so lost. And so how do I solve this conundrum? I write! On my blog, no less. No, I don't write a paper. Or read my homework. I write completely useless and absolutely pointless drivel on my blog. YAY! Oh, and I eat raisins too.
Maybe I should quit. Quiting isn't for losers. It's for those who are actually able to comprehend the vastness and impossibility of accomplishing the work set out for them. So they quit. YAY quiters!
So... I'm going to go do my homework now...

The Me Now

See? I really did. This is my lower back. With a tattoo. Aren't I just the little innovator. But hey... it's me now.
Oh, the red thingy at the bottom? That's a belt. From aeropostale. Nice store. Preppy, butterflies and all. Nice.

Poison Control

So what happens when you reach a point in your life when you don't know where you are going? When you don't know what you're doing anymore? People don't really make you happy. Classes don't really make you happy. YOU don't really make you happy either. Not for lack of trying. When you just don't know why you're here, what to do, constantly second guessing yourself.
I was so much happier this summer. When I could work outside and it was warm and I felt like I was accomplishing something. Where is any of this getting me? I get a good grade on a quiz or a test, that's it. It's just a good grade. I don't want to be here. I know I'm in some kind of a funk. I probably know why too. I'm stressing and procrastinating and lacking motivation. I'm also not getting any exercise anymore. I think that really helped me lift my mood. I can't stand to "work out". It doesn't accomplish anything, really. Just wastes time. When I was working outside, I was doing just that. Working.
I don't know why I'm so tired either. I'm getting decent sleep. I'm actually getting the same or more as this previous summer, and definately more than last school year. I don't think I'm interested in any of the majors that I had thought about. I don't know what to do with my fiancee anymore. I can't even remember the last time we actually talk talked. I miss him. I miss him so much. But it's either class, schoolwork, tv, or sleep. I hate this... I should be more expressive in my word choice.
Maybe I'm sick... my throat has been sore and I've been tired... that could be anything though. I haven't talked to my best friend in three months. I miss her too. I'm just one big pathetic mess. Yay for pathetic messes.
Sorry about the funk I'm in. I just needed to write. It helps me to sort out my thoughts. I'm always analyzing things. I had an assignment that I did for tomorrow. I was sitting there and reading it through and thinking, Did I do what it says? Should I go back and change it to make it more difficult? It does say to use variety, which usually makes things more difficult. So mine should be more difficult. But difficult for whom? Me? Someone at a different level would find this difficult. I don't know. I know it's not really hard for me. Just a little thinking. But that would mean another half hour of concentration.
And so I decided not to do anything. I don't know. I think I need to go to bed or read more or something.
Here's to a better day tomorrow.

Spammer Blog Crap

I can't believe this! (I know, I'm ranting to myself... it's relaxing...) There is spam on my comments. What shit is this? No more anonymous comments... word verification, here I come! Do they honestly think that I'm going to click on those links? That they're not going to piss me off and only add to my aggrevation?
Do these people even think??!
Argh...

Ambivalence and tattoos

During the randomness that IS my life, I decided that I would join the growing ranks of those inhabitents of the tattoo kingdom. It took me two years to build up the Courage (with a captital c no less) that I would need (and to decide on what I actually wanted), but I did it. See? Well, you can't... see, it's really hard to take a decent picture of the small of your back. Seriously... try it.
Anywho, I'll have my friend or my guy take a picture of it when it heals. It's still red around the lettering (well, I did get it yesterday), and I've been told tales of peeling, the eeetching and the scraaatching, and that I should wait two weeks for the full effect. Great advice guys.
It felt like a really really wet and pissed off cat was trying to murder me. As slowly and painfully as possible. All those big tough guys that say it doesn't hurt and that it's not that bad? They're ALL lying. Through their big manly-men teeth. It's death by needle. Ok, not that bad. I didn't cry. That pillow they let me hug? He's gonna have some stories to tell. I'm actually quite proud of myself. Ladies, trust me. This is not fun. Worth it, perhaps. Fun... no.
I got the motto "Multum in Parvo" which is latin for Much in a Little. Literally Much in little. It's all in the translation. I took latin for three years and checked the phrasing twenty-million times- who wants to put some messed up crap on their body? Anywho, it fits me- I am quite tiny (both height and width wise) and hey, I have to believe that there is something in me. I think it's mostly a self-esteem reminder... not that I'm full of it or anything... I'm becoming incoherent. It's late, and I was up at a party last night... and tonight. God... college.... homework.... death by stress.... :-) and Good Night!

Cheese and Veggies

As of late, I've been addicted. I went out to our friendly neighborhood Applebee's last nite, and instead of a regular "menu item", I ordered myself a side of veggies. They had wayyy too much hot pepper and I had them bring me a new plate, but that's irrelevent. Unless you care that I don't do spicy foods. If I had wanted it compleltely engulfed by pepper I could have accomplished that quite nicely with the pepper they had so kindly placed on our table.
And two days ago, I went grocery shopping. I somehow managed to spend forty dollars on cheese, frozen vegetables, and milk. I think that I'm missing the comforts of home. Every night at supper there were veggies. And we drank milk like I've discovered that most families devour (unfortunately) water. Milk is so much more healthy for you. And I suppose my parents were most fortunate in that all of their children enjoyed veggies. Except for lima beans. Ick.

je ne sais pas ce qui

So here I am, sitting in my pj's (very comfy ones, I might add) and a bathrobe. It's 7:54 in the morning, and I've already started on my first diet (vanilla) pepsi. I'm currently contemplating the merits of getting a tattoo. It'd look cool. I hope. I think that's the only one so far. The cons I have are pain, scabs, money, hating it, having to get it lasered off, a very upset boyfriend, and an unsureness of what exactly is worth all of this to be put on my body. So I think I'm going to leave this pondering for another sort of day.

Brain gender?

Your Brain is 60.00% Female, 40.00% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?