FINALS ARE DONE! Yay! Possibly my last finals ever...EVER! Time will tell on that.

In other news, camera still isn't working. Grrrrrrrr, no idea how to fix it. I've been buying red novelty yarn with no real idea why, but I think I am going to end up making some sort of blanket out of it, with maybe some pinks and oranges too, mmmmmmmm.

My sweater has a back and a front now. It should have the other front by the end of today (unless I fall asleep; I'm really tired from being up all night listening to my neighbors television). Hopefully I can update with pics soon.

Well I've got the sewing bug and to prove it I took some pics today...but...you won't see them. Why? Because my computer is refusing to find my camera. I have a feeling it has to do with the bluetooth chip I installed. Which just goes to feed my dislike for anything related to cell phones, ARGH! (And to top it all off, the bluetooth doesn't work correctly either...figures). No idea when I will be able to upload pics, unfortunately.

A whale of a needle!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I saw Boye baleine (baleen? balene? balein?) needles at Walmart too. I didn't buy them cause they were insanely long and that's what I hate most about straight needles, but funnnnnnn

And to all the ladies, peace and humptiness forever

Thanks for the good luck wishes on finals! I am 2/3 of the way through. I think the good karma worked yesterday but not today. I finally have some time to rest before my final on Friday. I've been working on my sweater and had to frog the left side a bunch cause I had a mistake waaaaaaaaaay at the beginning (and by mistake I mean a row of mistakes, so I had no choice). In any case, I am halfway through the yarn and all I've got is the back and part of a front...definitely going to need more yarn, grrrr.

I stopped by Walmart on the way home today and they had Bernat Frenzy and Galaxy. I really liked frenzy...so soft and colorful. I was good tho and didn't buy ANY yarn...since I've bought so much lately. I did get a pair of sandals and some goldfish tho (I should have known the ghetto Walmart wouldn't have had the lightbulbs I went there for.) I have other things to tell, but since i was too busy to blog about the things leading up to them, they won't make sense. Oh well. Things should get more exciting around here soon, hopefully...

Busy busy busy

I've been too busy to post lately. Most of my time has been spent with projects and homeworks and studying for finals. The little bit of freetime I do have I spend knitting or reading. But I just wanted to do a small update to say I finished the back of my sweater (yay!) I'd take a pic but (a) that takes time and (b) that takes storage space, of which I have little (both). Also, I redecorated a lamp I had with a adhesive lampshade, some pretty velum with french writing, beaded fringe, and other trim. I also used gold wax to paint the chrome. After tomorrow the worst final will be over, then I have to study up for the final Tuesday, then I have a few days before my final final on Friday. Also my research advisor has been writing a paper on some work we've done together, and so I'm a co-author and have been keeping up with that. And on top of all that, I've been running around trying to get all my graduation paperwork filed, while still hunting for a job when I can. Whew!!

Can you say "assbackwards"?

Swedish: rövbaklänges
Spanish: culoalrevés
Finnish: persetakaperin
Bulgarian: izkilifuncheno

Anyone got some more? I'm starting a collection...

Bleh, I have a presentation to give today that I spent a good part of the weekend working on. No, I'm not that much of a procrastinator, we just got our topics Thursday night, ugh. So today I have to dress up (somewhat) and speak in front of 4 students in my class, one of my professors, and a stand-in for my other professor on "Thermal Analysis". Not too bad, cept they told us they would get back to us on what AV aids were available to us, and they didn't. So I have a spiffy power point presentation that I may or may not be able to use...bleh.

In other news, here is a WIP of my new sweater.



I absolutely adore it and am right-on gauge (a shock for me), but I am still worried I will run out of yarn. At least I know that I can easily get more if I do, even if I do have to pay top dollar for it. Eek. About the yarn, it's Schoeller-Esslinger Bermuda. I realllly love this yarn...it is very soft and has a nice drape to the finished fabric. And because it's ribbon yarn, there's NO SPLITTING...whee.

Oh yeah, my cards didn't sell. Oh well. An old calculator I hadn't pulled out in years sold for $42.50 tho...woohoo.

And lastly, I need to whine. Does anyone...anyone know how to read those little heiroglyphics on yarn wrappers? The ones that tell you how to wash and dry your yarn, when words don't. I look at them, and I know they're trying to tell me something, but I have no idea what.

Well I finished the baby blanket, here it is:



I would have finished last night but I've been having plumbing problems (read that: my toilet is possessed and spontaneously overflowed last night...so I spent quite awhile mopping and showering...bleh).

I've started a new sweater for me. It's the sweater #15 in the latest Family Circle Easy Knitting. I'm using some cotton blend ribbon yarn I've got that's soooooo soft. Not sure how well the stitch pattern will show up, but I think I will like it either way. Here is the mag. photo, where the stitch pattern doesn't really show up:

I had a fun day yesterday! First, I was sitting at my computer knitting and watching Treasure Planet before class, waiting for the Herrschner's yarn sale for the week. (I want a Morph! teehee) It finally came up right before I left for class, and I couldn't pass up the great deals and the free shipping, so I spent $30 there (for a LOT of yarn). Then I went to school and there ws an Israel-fest going on. So I went to the office first, then a coupla girls and I went to it and got shirts, saw a camel, made candles, and they had some food. Fun fun. Next, time for actual class, and that wasn't too bad. Then on the way home horrible traffic, like it's been all week...but when I did finally get home there was a (late) easter card waiting from my mom! Fun Fun!

Once home, I worked on the Homespun Sleeveless Turtleneck for my mom, and it's now finished! Here it is:



I've now started a crocheted baby afghan with Homespun left over from several projects. Also, I went to Walmart today for an oil change I had been putting off, and they had SO much yarn on clearance. I wanted it all, but I settled for 10 skeins of Bernat Denimstyle in the Burgundy color...mmmmmmmmm.

Well I've been working on a new project. It's the sleeveless homespun turtleneck listed in my sidebar, and it's for my mom for Mother's Day. While the pattern is quick, easy, and well designed (so far), its estimates on yarn seem way off. I am making the smallest size (because the medium was turning out big), and I think I will definitely be using more than the 2 skeins called for. It's alright tho, since I happen to have 3.

In other news, yesterday I turned the apartment upside down looking for my sweater shaver. I know I have one somewhere, possibly 2, and I can't find it. I looked for it once before, and didn't find it then either (obviously). I have one of those comby ones, cause I think they work better than the battery operated deals. I've looked in a store for a new one and haven't found one either. Grrrrr, I guess my piling socks will have to wait further for their revival.

In my search I did manage to find a pair of computer speakers, and so now I have my portable DVD player hooked up to them so I can hear it better whlie I knit and work. I have to knit some things at the computer because I don't have a printer. When I work off internet patterns and get to the less mundane parts, I don't really trust my memory or my notes...oh well. Next week is dead week and the following is finals, so not sure how much free time I will have. My last finals every, wheeeeee (I'm not taking classes in the summer).

Well, on the advice of some of you guys, I decided to see if I could, in fact, market some of my cards. So I have 3 sets on ebay now. The only difference is that I used cardstock for the card part, instead of handmade paper. Although this actually costs me more to do, it is so much faster and there is no way I would consider making that many cards to sell by making all the paper, takes toooooo long. Here are the 3 sets:
Funky Flower
Old World
Knitting
We'll see how they do. And if they do well I'll probably make more! :)

I was super productive yesterday. After making lots of progress with my work, I had the rest of the night free to craft. Any what did I do? I finished my socks! See:



They're super comfy and, although I swore off making more, I may have to do just that. A funny thing tho, I had a lot less yarn left over on the second one than on the first. I guess I knit it more loosely, which may be the reason it hurt my hands slightly less.

Oh yeah, besides the socks I also finished the teddy bear. See:



I decided to just leave him be and stitch in a face, which I did in satin ribbon instead of yarn. It was easy enough and is done now, so I'm glad for that. I also finished more wine charms last night...2 colors down and 2 to go! Now I've started a sleeveless sweater for my mom's birthday (which I just frogged and am starting over), and it's a fun, quick knit so it's a great reward project for that!

I've been busy lately with school, and haven't had much time for crafting. I did get a new fiskars personal cutting tool at Michael's yesterday and have been using it to cut up the larger pieces of cardstock that came in the scrap bag and also some cardstock and paper that I had lying around here from the days when I thought I would actually like to scrapbook (that didn't last long). I sent one of my cards (none that I showed a pic of) to a friend and she loved it and is thinking about getting the papermaking kit, teehee.

I'm determined to finish my broad ripple sock today. I have 8 rows to go on the foot and then the toe and it's done, yay. I do have a take home test to do this weekend which will majorly cut into any crafting time I had hoped for, but I did all my other work before the weekend so that's basically all I have to do. And it's my favorite class...so at least I have that.

Tomorrow I am heading back to Michael's because I have a 30% off entire purchase coupon; this could be dangerous. Think about all that yarn I could instantly make on sale, heh. Oh, and does anyone know measurements on a baby? I need a waist measurement and a length from ankle to waist for a 3 or so month old for a pair of pants I am planning.

Because You Knew I Had To...

I've still been playing with cards, it's lots of fun. In order to show that I'm not a complete convert and to pledge my loyalty to fibery goodness, I made these:



These are my favorite BY FAR! They are sort of high maintenance cards tho, since I did have to do the little bit of knitting and all that, but I enjoyed it and it was totally worth it. Here's a better quality version of the motif in the center one:



Besides that, I got a big box in the mail today! What was it? My order from HSN! Last week I ordered a thread and fabric kit for my Brother Applique Station. It has 30 refill threads and 4 packs of fabric (10 per pack). The threads are normally $35 for 5, and the fabrics somewhere around $6-8 for a pack. But the HSN price was 21.50 for this treasure. And even better? I had a $15 off coupon from my cable company for an item that was $20 or more. So all of that, to my door, was $11.45.....wooohoo! (If anyone else has the Applique Station they should jump on this deal!)

As promised, here are several of the handmade cards I've made. The picture doesn't show the detail very well, especially the stamped and punched designs, but it gives a general idea. I've also got several others in progress but since it takes days for the card to dry, they're not read to assemble yet.

I just found out today that my cousin is having a girl! Break out the pink and purple yarns, hehe. Also, she found out that I wanted to know, and got all excited. I guess I'm too predictable. I've been working on cards but I wanna get a bunch together before I photograph them. It takes awhile to make because it takes about 5 days for one to dry then I need to decorate it and all. But I find it rather relaxing. I spent a good bit of bucks getting enough supplies to last me awhile, but I think now I shouldn't have to spend any money for awhile, unless I choose to. Fun fun.

Wake up and check out the new Knitty! That's right, the long anticipated spring issue is up! I really love Rosebud and not much else (the apron is fun and funky but I dunno anyone who would actually wear it, hehe).