Must Knit Faster

So there are only four and a half days left until the Olympics are over and my Ravellenic Games projects are going to be cutting it pretty close, I think. And school starts very soon, so I'll be down to one or two projects at a time for a while, too. I better get knitting!

Here's the left front of my Exeter. It looks totally weird, I know. It is. But it'll work out, I swear. Check out the pocket! I'm so stoked about it!

Here is my Avery, which will be done on time (unless I add more repeats, which I'm seriously considering).

And look! Little robot tooties! This will not be done on time, but even if it were, I suspect I'm going to have to redo the first mitten so that they are the same size and the first one isn't quite so messy. Folks, don't wait two years to do a second mitten. Just don't.

For more Summer Sweater KAL posts, go see Shannon and for more WIP Wednesday posts, go see Tami. I won't be back with outfit #3 because I suspect I am not going to get out of my pjs today. :) I have to get dressed to go to work tomorrow, though, so I'll see you then! In the meantime, go see what Eliza's mixed!

What are you working on?

P.S. Check out Jane's tutorial on picking up stitches while you're at luvinthemommyhood! Awesome!

School Starts Soon

So I've been cramming in some reading which I've been doing for a while, but not to the necessary capacity. It makes me really tired. How does mental work wear me out more than physical work? I might be getting sick. That would contribute....

In any case, here's my second outfit. Perfect for school starting soon. Why did I only put it on to go to the store? Got me!

top: Banana Republic, jeans: Grane (gifted), shoes: Merona from Target, accessories: gifted necklace, Avon rings, Gap belt, Relic watch.

I always think I hate these jeans. I don't like flared jeans on me. But then I wear them and I do like them. I've decided it's the whiskers. I may need a pair or two more of flared jeans sans whiskers. No make-up or curled bangs again, but look! I accessorized. :) Gettin' there!

So I think in my first two days this round I already have more good pictures of myself than in my whole winter 30 for 30. I really like my new camera! Now I need to get a remote....

Oh! P.S. totally yanked this from Kendi. I'll try rolling up the cuffs next time I wear the jeans.

The First

Yay! It's time for:

I was going to share my picks, but I'm too lazy to drag it all out for photos, so I'll do it later this week. Here's the first outfit!

blouse: Gap, top: gifted, jeans: Aeropostale, shoes, Skechers, accessories: Relic watch, Avon rings, and Mom's pearl.

I didn't think about tying the knot until I was just now practicing poses in the mirror (looks like I need more practice), but I dig it. Makes me wish I had a little tail. Random. But true.

I've seen a lot of rolled up jeans this summer, so I thought I'd try it. Maybe not quite the right look in skinny jeans, but otherwise, very nice. It's much cooler than I thought, too. Cooler as in breezier. It got hotter than I expected today, but I handled it with cool ankles.

No make-up, no accessories, my bangs aren't curled...but I promise I'm working on it. I'm lazy. That's why my shoe laces are different colors. They came that way. Five years ago. One of my all time least favorite activities is re-lacing shoes, so these will look goofy for years more, I suspect. I don't know why I don't wear them more often.

Go see Eliza's outfit! I haven't seen it yet, but I bet it's cute. :)

Teaser

I finished my Rams and Ewes, but I want to take some great photos of it and spend a lot of time on a post to tell you all the ways I love it, so I'm going to save it for next week. Until then, here's a teaser:

In other news, Spike and Sweetpea are officially Disapproving Rabbits! Go and see here!

For FOs that are ready for the world, go to Tami's Amis. I'll be back Monday with 30 for 30 stuff, Wednesday with many works in progress and Friday, I will reveal the oh-so-fabulous blanket. I'm seriously wondering if I can ever knit anything again and feel as happy about it (but don't worry, because it hasn't stopped me from trying :D).

I Totally Started This Post Yesterday

And then my cousin came to town a little early, so I hopped up and went downtown. :)

I don't have any progress on anything to show you today, so I thought I'd tell you my grand plan for the rest of August: FINISH. ALL. THE. THINGS.

I have racked up a ton of WIPs in recent months, mostly due to my HPKCHC knitting eyes being bigger than my little hands are fast (I'm Slytherin, after all). The clutter of it all is driving John nuts and it's beginning to drive me nuts too, but mostly only because I haven't finished a damn thing in quite some time. It's uncharacteristic and I don't like it.

Now, I've got a full and luscious stash just waiting to be knit up. At least half of it has a pattern just dying to come to fruition, but I won't cast on anything until the WIPs are done. Well...except one Ravellenic project, but it's for the good of Bunny Slaves everywhere.

I actually only have 9, which is about where I left the list last December. If I can knock it down to 6-7, I'll be super happy. Looking at the list...I think I can actually get it down to 2. That would be kind of awesome!

In other news, Eliza is doing another 30 for 30 starting Monday and I told her I'd join in! The last time I did it, I was trying to figure out how to dress up a bit and what to buy to revamp the 'drobe. Now that I've got the new style and digs, I'm going to have to figure out how much of my old stuff is still viable. This weekend I'm going to clean out my closet and take a trip to Goodwill, I think. Then, I'll have fresh eyes for my picks and the start on Monday. The good news for you is that we have a new camera and John's pretty great at using it, so my photos should be oodles better. You should join us!

For some working WIPs and real Summer Sweater KAL posts, go here and here respectively.

An Unsolicited Plug

Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comments on my last post! Thank you for all of your kind and encouraging comments, actually. I don't say that enough. You guys are great! :)

Today I have to extend my encouragement and gratitude properly to a friend of mine. I've been meaning to do it since December, but now is definitely the right time.

I met Kate three or four years ago when I first moved here to go to school. We were always at knitting on Fridays at the shop where I now work. Since then our schedules are always opposing and we haven't seen each other much until recently when our revived Friday night knitting group grew to add a few more members. In December, we miraculously had a corresponding free day and she invited me over to dye. That session (to which I went only wanting to see and try it and spend some time with my friend), resulted in this:

She called it "Bettaband" because I dyed it. It's my first hand-dyed! And she gave it to me! It's so pretty....But I really must credit her with teaching me and suggesting the colors.

Kate is the Fangrrl of Fangrrl Fiber Arts and her dye jobs are awesome. Let me tell you how awesome. I went to a local yarn shop downtown looking for a complimentary Madtosh skein for a project I'm making for a friend, but they didn't have anything from any manufacturer that I thought deserved a second look until I got into the back corner and saw some bright colors with a familiar business card attached. Lo and behold! Fangrrl Fiber Arts! I searched through all the skeins with zeal and found the perfect neutral, "Buckwheat" on Sherlock Worsted:

Look at the tag! So cute! And hand-stamped!

Not only did I find that, though, my eye was immediately drawn (I'm talkin' as soon as I walked into the store) to this little number, which I was sure was Skein or Madtosh or some other crazy popular yarn because of the saturated and speckled colors:

Nope, Kate strikes again! It's her Socket yarn in "In the 3rd Dimension". I might let it be the skein that will always be a skein...just for looking and petting. I told her she was a genius, but I must tell you (and her again). So, if you are in the area, go check out her stock (and it's a pretty big one!) at Home Ec. Workshop and if you aren't, visit Etsy. She's also got a Ravelry group where you can ask her to dye something specially for you and get news on new bases, updates, and sales.

There, now I've been very sales-pitchy, but its because I really love Kate and what she does! I hope I've adequately shown you why. I also share because I know there are so many indie dyers out there that do gorgeous work and that they can't possibly be seen or known by everyone. I would love to hear of some of your favorite indie dyers (so I know where to go when I'm ready to stash-up again in several months! :D), so do share!

For more FO Friday posts, go to Tami's Amis! This only counts because I've been meaning to do it forever. :)

And I am a Knitting Addict....

I've been trying really hard to be a good girl today and read, but I made the mistake of bringing yarn upstairs with me and I fear I have done more knitting than reading. I need a snack and some aspirin, but I'll get through my Greek one way or another.

Knitting distraction #1 was "Hey, I'd  really like to get the back of my sweater done. Only a few rows left!" And now I have a whole piece of my sweater done. Four more to go.

Knitting distraction #2 was casting on my swap gift for Eliza. The good news is that I love it, but the bad news is that it took me a few hours of do and re-do to get to that point. No pictures because it's a surprise, sillies!

Knitting distraction #3 is that I desperately want to start picking up the edges of my freshly steeked blanket, but I was wise enough to leave that downstairs. I need to steam it first anyway and for that much effort, I'd rather read Greek.

Please tell me you've lost your coffee table and couch beneath knitting stuff too?

For more WIP Wednesday posts, go nyah. For more Summer Sweater KAL posts, go nyah.

I probably won't have an FO for you Friday, but I will have a post about some gorgeous yarn I picked up earlier this week. Mmmmmmmmm.