Double-up

I'm going to do a double post because I can. Thanks so much for the anniversary comments! I'm nudging John towards a fish post. We have too many gorgeous angels now not to share. Now, WIP Wednesday:

Still working on those elephants. I just received some sad news about someone one of them is intended for, so I need to send them this week to make her feel better. One needs ears and they both need eyes, then they will be ready to go. I should have them done for Friday. I'm also working on a test-knit for Isabell over at Grasflecken. It's a contiguous sleeve striped sweater. I'm really digging it! I'm iffy about the colors, but they might work out.

Go visit Tami for more WIP Wednesday posts!

And next: A third outfit! I'm in it to win it! I think I wore these jeans on day one, though...hmm....

Top: Banana Republic
Cardi: Gap
Jeans: Aeropostale
Shoes: Blowfish
Necklace: gift from Gma

Let me tell you my BR and Gap secret: I have an insider. One of my dear knitting friends works there, so she frequently brings our knitting group 50% off coupons (50%!). She talked me into a card when we re-wardrobed last fall so I pretty much never pay full-price for anything (I know, I know, it's not really a price reduction as a price inflation that brings it back down to normal price, but I'm talking no more than 40% off or I'm not buying it...usually). The cardi was a super happy accident. I fell absolutely head-over-heels for it when I saw in the store and was willing to pay full price, so I dumped it into my pile of half-offs and bingo! It was half-off too! Score! It's my favorite!

Sorry for the socks. I always take my shoes off when I get home and I was too lazy to go downstairs to get them. :) Photography better? Poses not so much. One step at a time.

See you tomorrow!

Blogiversary!

Today is our blog's first anniversary! A year ago, in a desperate move to find some new way to procrastinate from studying for my 2nd Year Exams, I created a blog that I thought would equally showcase John's fish hobby and my knitting hobby. We didn't think anyone would read it, but we didn't care. Here we are, 19 followers, 900 fish, and not quite that many knitted objects later! :D

I'm hoping this year, we'll get the fish mixed back in, Spike becomes a regular, I can find a day just to blog regularly (not associated with WIP Wednesdays or FO Fridays, though I'll definitely keep up with that), and that maybe I can realize my dream to dye limited quantities of fish-inspired yarn at least once. Just think of how cool orange, white, and black yarn that looks like koi angels would look! Or yarn with that hint of blue mixed into a silvery grey...like our Phillipine Blues! It was a cooler idea when the bettas were still a go, but, I'm telling you, angelfish are diverse in their colors too!

Now for the important part: THANK YOU!!! Thanks for reading and following and commenting and all that you do! It has really been a blast being able to share my knits with a wider audience than my local knitters and getting to know fellow blogging knitters (and non-knitters too!). I want to give some yarn away in honor of the blogiversary, but I haven't yet decided what kind! So, stay tuned and I'll find something in the next week or so to give away as a thanks to you all.

Thanks again and happy knitting!

Two of Thirty

Outfit two:

Top: Banana Republic

Sweater: gifted?

Jeans: Aeropostale

Shoes: I think my Gma gave them to me. Maybe.

Necklace: not sure, but my mommy is in it. :)

This not-so-great photo is brought to you by me and my self-timer. At least the location improved. :) That's right, I wore heels ALL DAY! Except walking up the hill from class to my office. These heels are super comfortable! I was surprised! I'm pretty sure my other two picks are not so much.

I'm a little surprised at how these pants look. They are short-cut skinny jeans, but they are not short enough for my stubby legs. :/ I'm normally proportioned throughout the rest of my body, just not below the knee. I'm built like a wrestler. That would be fine. If I wrestled. Hopefully I can figure out what kind of pants I should be wearing. I just love my skinny jeans so much!

I went out on a limb and accessorized! With a necklace I haven't worn in years, haha. It's a pretty little locket with flowers on it and my mother's picture inside. Should have taken a picture of it....I'll try to accessorize a little more, even though I don't have many accessories. I'm also going to have to start being a little more adventurous with my hair. Have any good places to go for hair-styling tips?

Homework time. See you tomorrow!

One of Thirty

Here's the first outfit! I decided to start in my comfort zone (besides, I only got dressed to go to Walmart). I fear that this is as casual as I'll be able to get with the pieces I chose, but we shall see!

Sweater and shirt: Gap
Jeans: Aeropostale
Shoes: Blowfish (I searched long and hard for these! Found them on eBay!)

It's super comfortable and about as dressed up as I get for no reason at all. Hopefully, I can change that for the next thirty days (if not longer)! Also hopefully our photos will get better. John took this photo very well, I just didn't chose a very good spot to do it....

See you tomorrow (at an earlier, scheduled time. Let's say 6?)!

30 Picks

I'm going to do the 30 for 30 with ifandany starting tomorrow, so I better share what I picked out! I'm not very confident that these things can be combined in 30 different ways, but I will certainly try!

7 pairs of pants:  black and brown cords, 3 pairs of blue jeans (medium blue, dark blue, and really dark blue), grey jeans (which I may swap out), and grey slacks.

5 "fancy" tops, we'll say: an off-white one with an open back and drapey sleeves and neck, a silk purple cowl-neck tee, a linen-like lace tie-back blouse with cap sleeves, a silky green lace-bibbed tank, and a drapey purple tee. The one on top has a mysterious stain on the bottom front and back, but it's my favorite! :( I don't think it's too noticable. I'm trying to move away from my usual jeans and tee style and into my more formal stuff, hence the fanciness of this line-up. I'm hoping I can figure out how to dress my fancy stuff down just a little bit to get the look I've been trying to achieve for about 6 months now. All my colorful stuff is either packed away as spring-wear or too casual, it looks like! :)

5 "casual" tops: A dark grey, light grey, and white tees, a brown 3/4 sleeve shirt that I love because it has baggy sleeves like the stained one up above, and a purpley-pink sweater.

6 layering pieces (mostly cardigans because I'm a cardigan addict, I've discovered): at the top is a cute little brown short-sleeved jacket that I'm pretty sure I bought as a pre-packaged ensemble with the lace tie-back blouse up above, a grey swingy cardi, a silky brownish crinkled blouse that I need to learn to love or learn to leave, an off-white cardi, a grey cardi, and a dark grey cardi. I sense a color-saturation theme here...hmmm. I'm not in love with having both the light grey and white cardis in the 30 for 30, so I might swap one out, but then again, each is different enough to create different characters for whatever outfit I'm wearing. The grey one is lacy and the white one is winter-thick, but nicely feminine. Also, the brown jacket has a belt. I cannot find that belt to save my life. I may need to improvise....

A black skirt because I love it and can never figure out what to wear it with and an old jersey dress that's really too short to wear as a dress, but I love it just the same (over jeans). I need to get some white leggings to ward off the winter. Don't let me forget!

And of course shoes! I have three pairs of heels: new nude pumps, older chocolate pumps, even older black pumps that are on their last leg. I'm hoping to be able to replace them soon with some shoes I ordered from Shoe Carnival...two weeks ago....I never wear heels, but I want to. I'll carry flats for travelling up and down the hill between my classes, but I think I can do the heels. I really do! Wish me luck!

My trusty new Blowfish boots.

And, last but not least, a pair of sneakers. I can't decide whether to choose the argyle or the plaid! I'm leaning towards the argyle. They have such character. :)

7 pants + 5 fancy tops + 5 casual tops + 6 layering pieces + 1 skirt + 1 dress + 3 heels +1 pair boots + 1 pair sneakers = 30!

Note: there are no hand knits! D: I know! Honestly, those are the easiest pieces of my wardrobe to wear. It's the hard stuff I have to force myself to wrestle with this month. You'll see some knit accessories, I promise. :) And of course, Fridays when I have a sweater to show off, I'll find a way to work it into a mixture of the 30 pieces you see here. This is going to be fun! I'm amped! See you tomorrow!

Yay for Fridays!

Sometimes you just desperately need one, you know? Well, we've got one! My week turned around a little bit, so I'm a happier camper. I hope your week was better! I still haven't found my missing LOFT, but the mystery should be solved in the next few hours as I wait for a call from the post office. I'm feeling better about it now, anyway. It seems less likely someone snatched it and did something terrible like toss it when they realized it wasn't the crown jewels or something. :)

But, down to business. Elijah #2 needs arms, ears and a face, which he will get tonight so I can mail both Monday. Here's an FO from a couple weeks ago so as not to leave you hanging.

Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Fez
Needles: US 7s
Project Page

I love to knit for friends. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe just thinking about what they will use and love and what colors they like or look great in...I don't know. But I like it. I asked my friend if she would like some mitts a while ago, after I finished my Timothy Hay and Fluffy Bunnies mitts. I thought I might have enough yarn for a second pair. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I didn't even start them, let alone send them to her in a reasonable amount of time. In fact, I didn't even get these done before Christmas, as I had plan-B-ed. But, they are done now, and school ebbed just long enough for me to remember to email her about where to send them (I'm really not a very good friend :P). They will be off to her next week too, probably when the elephants ship.

She lives in the south for now, so knitting projects for her has been a challenge. I figured it must get cool enough for need of mitts, so I hope she likes them and uses them. I made up the pattern as I went. They aren't too girly (she isn't either), and they are practical (like she is). I used ribbing because I don't know her precise hand size and garter at the top to keep the ribbing from bunching in the palm of the hand. I hate when that happens! They are super soft (love the yarn!) and the color is a little strange, but should go with most anything. That's the nice thing about green. It's a versatile color.

Monday, I'm taking the plunge and joining ifandany for her winter 30 for 30 challenge. Tomorrow (time permitting), I'll post about my clothing choices. I'll have to remind myself of the rules. At first I worried I couldn't come up with 30 items of clothing to mix and match, but now I've got too many in mind, I think. This will be an adventure. The intent is twofold: I have new clothes, but I only wear them in the same combinations, so new outfits will be fun to try and I want John to figure out how to use my camera as well as I do so I don't have to take photos of myself all the time. :P We're both super busy all the time, so hopefully we can find a few minutes every day for a month. :)

The poll results are as follows: 1) Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, 2) Sweet and Bridgewater tied, 3) LOFT gloves and Still Light Tunic also tied, and 4) Slouchy Socks. Caramel made it to 2nd place too, but I'm using the yarn for a test-knit for the same designer, so I won't be making it any time soon. I want to spend some time adjusting it a little anyway. I'll get started knitting these in roughly the same order as soon as Elijah #2 is done tonight! Thanks so much for the input!

Head over to Tami's Amis for more FO Friday posts!

Humph

I made it to Hump Day. I hope you did too! This week has kind of sucked so far. I hope it turns around soon. I've been working super hard and don't have much to show for it. Knitting included. :P I'm still working on the second Elijah (you can vote on my next project until Friday, I think). He looks like an elephant now. Just needs arms, ears, and a face. Sorry, no photographic evidence. I'm not sure whether I'll have them both done by Friday, but I'll have an FO Friday post about something for sure.

Hopefully my missing LOFT yarn will have turned up by then (pretty please, mail gods!), I'll have translated 406 lines of Homer (D:), gone through the better part of a book of Latin, taught at least one engaging class, and graded all that needs grading....

Better get started! :D

For more WIP Wednesday posts, check out Tami's blog!