gloves

Fetching

Sorry for the lack of scrapbooking/cardmaking posts lately. Just haven't been able to get to my supplies...missing it :(

But I am having so much fun challenging myself with knitting. Knitting things I thought were out of my league! Sunday I started a pair of fingerless gloves (in the picture above). The pattern is more challenging than what I've done before. Knitting in the round on double-pointed needles is new for me. And I'm newer to cabling. But these are working up pretty easily and quickly! I'm so proud! And I'm enjoying having something positive to focus on at the end of the day. A way to distract from the chaos around me.

Here's what they should look like when they are completed:



Can't wait!

monday gratitude

Some things I'm grateful for on this monday...

• good coffee made by my co-worker
• starting a fun, challenging knitting project last night. Knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, cables AND a bunch of other new steps.
• M&M's
• being prepared
• easy commute to Boston this afternoon
• some good already-made casserole to have for dinner when I get home late
• our problems with the apt decreasing
• cell phones
• computer printers
• my class tonight
• knitting circle/class at the yarn store on sundays
• spring being around the corner
• my warm coat
• notes from my far-off cousins researching family geneaology
• hugs from Cary
• my plants at home
• the dishwasher

I'm feeling grateful and a little tired this Monday. Off to finsh preparing for the class I teach tonight!

Happy Monday!

So. Today is off to a good start. I played around with my {broken} camera today. It seems that the USB connection on the camera is bent. So if I hold the cord just so when I go to upload into my computer it works! YIPPEE! So for now...I can FINALLY upload and share some pictures until I can afford a new camera.

I thought about sharing the photos of the bad stuff we've been dealing with here in our apartment. But NO. I'm not wasting my time our yours with that crap! So here are some of the GOOD things I've been up to...

My Bainbridge Scarf I finished! It is so cute and warm...

The Learn to Cable Scarf I've been working on in a yummy soft, bright red yarn...


And the simple, ribbed scarf I started...

And here is the front and back of my ATC for Emily Falconbridge's 52Q. This is for Week #3. I will share the rest of the week's cards when I get them out of my car and photograph them!

Thanks for looking! I hope the rest of the day continues this positive for me!

Happy Saturday!

friday

Some pieces of good news today...

1. Re: the apartment and it's issue...the leasing office informed us they will be reimbursing us for the $400 we spent prepping for the treatments. They also gave us a generous gift certificate to a local restaurant yesterday for our troubles. That is definately changing my feelings about thier

2. I finished my Bainbridge Scarf last night and am wearing it today! Yeah! Oh how I wish my camera was working so you could see it. I'm hoping to take a pict of it with my Dad's camera this weekend. It is so cute!

3. I wont 2 ski lift tickets to a Mt. in NH through my work! Cary has never skiied and is a little worried about the cost of staying up there for a night but he is almost to the point of agreeing to do it! Yeah! I love skiing and we could SO use a night away from here.

4. My student's are doing presentations today...which means I don't have to lecture! So I get to "sit back and watch" today! Oh how the tables are turned ;)

5. Today is friday...that is a very good thing.

Happy Friday!

update

So I'm in the midst of doing laundry and running the dishwasher. I feel like chores never end. I haven't even really sat down since I got home from work today...rush home, cook dinner, go to the gym, start laundry, load dishwasher, organize some things since the exterminator came today. I can't wait to just sit on the couch, watch TV and knit.

Things are still ongoing here. I don't know when it will end. Last night I had a meltdown...had dinner with a friend and felt better. Today I'm refocused but frustrated with some issues.

Anyhow...who wants to hear all this junk? I don't want to even keep thinking about it all.

I have been diligently working on my knitting and gotten hooked up with ravelry.com. A very fun website. Similar to what two peas is for scrapbooking. I have about a 1/2 inch and the ties to finish on a Bainbridge Scarf...a very fun and easy pattern. I bought the yarn to make a second one. I also finished all of Emily Falconbridge's 52 Q except the newest one. This weekend I might try and borrow my sister's camera and take some pictures of these projects. I hate having picture-less posts :(

Well....one more load of laundry and then I'm sitting on my %** on the couch until I fall asleep!

Goodnight!

thinking optimistically spring

1. focus on the earliest signs of spring, 2. Signs of Spring, 3. Signs of Spring!, 4. 春の予感／sign of spring, 5. Dainty Tea Cups, 6. Tulips in Vase, 7. Hello Batman, Robin Calling!, 8. Clover, 9. Easter Cupcakes

The sun coming in the window is making me think Spring today.

I had a wonderful day yesterday. Tried to leave the "junk" behind me and just enjoy the day. Today I'm feeling more cautiously optimistic. I think the extermination issue might be greatly improved. I hesitate to say it's "behind me" though. It is a little difficult to determine when it is definately gone. The exterminator comes for a follow up treatment this wednesday. We still have all our stuff bagged....

Therefore...I still haven't done any scrapping or cardmaking. Boo!

I have been knitting though! A lot. It's easy to just pull out the one project and work. Easier than digging through bags of scrapbook stuff that is hard to find. I can't wait to have it all settled into my desk again.

Today or tomorrow I might go to Best Buy and check out the camera I'm eyeing. I am hesitating to buy it yet. It's a lot of money. Plus I want to try my old camera with my sister's USB cord and see if that is the issue. But....I really love the new camera I'm eyeing....

Well...off to do a little knitting. Will spend some time with Cary before he goes off to work. Then I'm visiting my parent's, getting a few things at the grocery store and going to a knitting group at my LYS for a bit.

Happy Sunday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Wish my camera was working so I could share pictures of the pretty flowers Cary gave me...pink roses and lilies. And right now he's cooking me blueberry pancakes and bacon. And I hear he's cooking me scallops and green beans for dinner. Mmm... How did I get so lucky?

today

blue willow china - 2/2008

I'm really missing having my camera and being able to post pictures. I can't show you progress on my knitting or the ATC's I made for Emily Falconbridge's 52Q project. I got almost caught up and worked on the questions for the past few weeks that I've missed. So...I'm posting old pictures I have saved on my computer or online picts.

I am really thinking I want to splurge on a new camera. But first I need to get my car's inspection sticker and possibly a brake job. I hate being a "grown up" sometimes! Well...I'm off to catch up on some blogs, do some knitting and eat some cookie dough ice cream (which cancels out the 30 minutes I just walked on the treadmill)!

Also...I'm really looking forward to Valentine's Day this year. Just a quiet day with Cary. He has some suprises up his sleeve he says...hmmm. I think I might make him this....

Chocolate-Cherry Stack Cake.



I saw it in the February Better Homes & Gardens. He loves cakes and sweets and cherries and chocolate. Perfect! We'll see...if not this cake then something else sweet.

monday gratitudes

Monday gratitude.

Monday seems like a good day to think for a minute about what I'm grateful for at this moment.

• the Tuxedo Hot Chocolate I had from the Lone Gull this morning on the way to work.
• having a few minutes to cast-on a new project this morning before heading out.
• a relatively quiet night (last night) to sleep.
• tonight's class I teach is one I really enjoy.
• my cell phone is charged up and this makes me feel secure driving home.
• I finished the main work projects I needed to get done today.
• saturday is Valentine's Day.
• I have good, caring co-workers.
• kind blog comments.
• ravelry.com
• messages on facebook from friends and far-away family.
• m&m's
• american subs
• warm sun on a cold Boston day
• feeling loved

Have a good Monday!

knitting

1. Two Knitted dresses, 2. Pattern: Knitted flower, 3. Irish Hiking Scarf, 4. 335/365 Knitting: not just for nerds anymore, 5. look ma, i'm knitting cables!, 6. My lovely stack of knitted socks, 7. Summer knitting qualities, 8. Knitting needle roll-open, 9. Hansigurumi Owl


I'm a scrapbooker. and a cardmaker. but I am finding getting more into my knitting over the past week has really helped me refocus and relax while all this junk has been going on. Since it is hard to get into all my paper craft supplies I needed an outlet. Knitting has been that. After losing all my yarn stash last week I have started to rebuild. And it's easy for me to do with all that's happening in the apartment because I just need my little ziploc with the yarn and project stored inside. That's it. No digging around for supplies. No worries that my scrap desk is dissasembled. I can just grab my ziploc and knit.

I started a pretty red easy cable knit scarf. I have never tried cable knit and thought it might be too hard. The woman at my local yarn shop gave me the pattern and it really is easy! It is the first complicated pattern that I have not needed my mom's help on. The other night I messed up a few times but the good part was that (1) I recognized the mistakes and (2) knit back -even with the cables- and fixed the mistake. That is big for me. Mistakes have traditionally frustrated me and made me rip out projects and start over. Not this time!

And I'm so inspired by all the projects out there. I'm looking for something fun to do with one of the hanks of yarn that my co-worker gave me. I'm not very good at doing the math to see how much yarn you need for a project though without the yarn store owner's help! But I might try and figure that out to. It is something I have really wanted to learn so that I don't need as much help. I have been noticing these cool neckwarmers...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angryolive/2694478083/

I want to try one.

And loads of cute little knit animals and objects...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/83553274@N00/426572018/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83553274@N00/405654464/

How fun!

I needed this outlet with everything going on. I'm loving it. Unfortunately though since my camera is still broken I can't upload photos. But thank goodness for Flickr and mosaic makers! Then I won't bore everyone with un-colorful blog entries!

Have a good Saturday! I'm determined to...

random act of kindness

I was just the recipient of a pure random act of kindness today. I had been telling my office-mate, the studio manager, about my yarn "tale of woe" on Monday. She is a knitter also. She had asked what kinds of yarns I like, colors, etc. Not thinking of it...today I came in and in a little bag on desk were three skeins of yarn. Beautiful yarn. It really is true that when you are going through a difficulty people surround you in ways that you often don't expect.

positives to focus on

In an effort to try and remain more positive despite ongoing stressors at home...here's a list I brainstormed in the Journaling Group I run...

Positives in my life to focus on:

1. I started a basic cable knit scarf last night and am amazed to say "I can cable knit!" It was easier than I thought!
2. Beautiful, soft, red yarn to knit with...
3. Flowers on the kitchen table from Cary.
4. We have an involved exterminator working on the problem.
5. The "hard" work to prep is behind us for the most part. Now I have to patiently wait...
6. The box of stuff in the middle of the living room gives me a foot rest!
7. We still have our pictures and paintings up on the walls.
8. My "garden" of house plants actually looks beautiful all grouped together in the living room.
9. I can cook and bake this weekend.
10. Cary has been so sweet during all my melt-downs and so level headed.
11. We could afford to do the prep needed to be more successful in this situation.
12. I am looking into getting a new camera.
13. There is only 1 (and a 1/2) work days left in the week.
14. Today at work should be somewhat low-key.
15. My car title came in the mail yesterday.
16. The sun is out.
17. My parent's are both here and healthy.

I really need to focus on this list today...

I hope to work on my last 2 weeks of Emily Falconbridge's 52Q. Unfortunately because my camera isn't working and I don't have access to my scanner I won't be able to post them for awhile. At first that has been slowing me down on actually doing them. But that shouldn't be a reason. I have dug out a few art supplies and there is no reason I can't work on them even though I can't post them here or on the Flickr Group! So...I will work on them over the next few days....along with my knitting which has been a blessing to be able to do when I get home to the chaos at night. I really have to look at my blessings...it could be worse.

new projects

Following the "yarn tragedy" of the weekend (see Sunday's post) I bought myself yarn for two projects today. I likely won't get reimbursed for the yarn I lost (I estimate to be about $200+) because I don't have renter's insurance. After some yelling. and tears. I am ready to start over in the knitting department.

I plan on trying a beginner's cable knit scarf with this (Baby lama by Elsebeth Lavold in peony)....



and a simple, easy, chunky ribbed scarf with this (Cascade Bulky Leisure in Rainy Day...a pretty gray and blue gradation - #9910 in this picture)...

I'm looking forward to casting on and doing something relaxing. I just got back from the little gym for 1/2 hour. It is snowing out and windy so it was a little tricky just walking over there.

All of our belongings are still in trash bags and ziplocks. No telling how long this will be. The exterminator comes back for an inspection tomorrow and a follow up treatment on 2/18. I have instructions for Cary to ask him more questions tomorrow. Like...."when/how we should go about opening our bags of inspected items to best expose any possible "stow-a-ways" we missed to the chemicals he's treated the apartment with". I'm wondering if we should do it before his next treatment or after. There are no easy, simple answers.

I hate that.

I just don't want to have to through this whole "inspecting & bagging everything I own" again anytime soon. I want to have this done. and done right. But I walso want to get back to some normalcy when the exterminator thinks that is possible. I just want to be able to setup my scrapbook/art desk again and get back to working on projects. That is what's bothering me the most.

Tomorrow night I have to go to a wake with my Dad. The president of a family/company I worked for passed away. My father also did some work for the same family. It is a very sad situation. He was only 59 years old. Way too young. Certainly humbles me to the ridiculous issues that have been occupying my mind for the past month.

Well...I'm off to "cast-on" a project or two and take the rest of the night off...

Goodnight!

love

1. Happy Valentine's Day!, 2. Valentine's Day Rose, 3. unfolded valentine, 4. Valentine's Day Gift, 5. Valentine chibi bunny, 6. crocheted valentine garland, 7. Will you be my Valentine?, 8. Vintage Postcard ~ Clapsaddle Valentine, 9. Valentine snails

cursed?

So I was all set to finally get back to some bit of normalcy and upload a few pictures of my 52Q for week 3. I'm behind as I've missed week 3 and 4. But...my camera has decided to take this moment to die. I get an error message saying "USB Device not recognized." Or some nonsense. After troubleshooting on my own and with Canon basically they said I should mail it to them to see what's wrong with the USB Connection. Ummm. I'll pass. The camera is at least 4-5 years old. I will take this opportunity to buy a new one. Here's what I'm hoping for....

Canon Powershot 10.0-megapixel digital camera. It is a little more money than I really should spend ($379 on sale) but I think at this point I might deserve it?

So after a morning of trying ot figure out the camera... I decide to continue the laundering I was instructed to do for my "issue." I had been trying to figure out what to do with all my yarn. Basically it needed to go through the dryer for 20 minutes to eliminate any possible "issues." I always buy nice yarn from a local yarn shop. More expensive than chain stores because I find it easier to work with. I have so many half finished projects and beautiful yarn. So I carefully transferred projects (mostly scarves) onto stitch holders and gathered up all my yarn and contained it all in a laundry bag.



Bad idea.



I now have one very large, very expensive ball of yarn. GRRRRR.

Oh. I'd show you a picture...but WAIT. I can't. My camera won't upload.

I think I have a curse or something.

I really do know it could be worse and I feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself so much lately. But can I get a break soon?


Maybe tomorrow will be better? Or maybe after I eat one of the funfetti Valentine cupcakes I baked. They are a little burned on the bottom....but it is the least of my problems today!