A broken toe and knitting. . .

Sooo, yesterday morning after I fed the three dogs, I stubbed my toe extremely hard in the frame of a door. Afterwards, I literally passed out from the pain and slept half the day. When I woke up, my dad was home from helping pack my sister in Iowa. (That's a 2 1/2 drive mind you). So, I've been having great fun wobbling all over and trying to keep Mac from stepping on my left foot too often. Ugh.

Anyways, despite the set back I have been knitting. I finished these simple garter rib socks for myself, but I lost one of the socks. AAAAHHHH!!!! That didn't make me happy either. The yarn is yarn workshop's footscray that I randomly dyed. The yarn is kind of rough and not my favourite base. These are my first finished pair of socks for 52 pair plunge III.

These are a finished pair of Tadpoles in my Skye Sock Yarn in the colourway "Emerald Serpent." They're a little tight due to the fact that I continued the pattern on the back of the leg. This is pair #2 for 52ppIII.

Below are two pictures of my current and temporary workshop for the summer. I took over my dad's workroom under the garage. This may look like a lot of yarn, but it is nothing compared to what I'll be taking to Sock Summit in August or Stitches Midwest in September.

OOOO below is my new toy, next to my old toy. YES! That is my beautiful 6 skein winder!!! It'll pay for itself in the end.


BTW, 5 weeks until my brother's wedding! Scary, he's growing up! They're also buying a house. Very scary. . .

Socks and holiday knits. . .

Yes, I said holiday knits. It's almost May and the holidays will be here sooner than you think. As I've said in the past, my family celebrates the holidays over Thanksgiving. This means I need to start knitting right now, considering my family has become accustomed to hand knits as gifts. below are some of the yarns I've pulled so far. I have already received a request for socks from my sister, but she wants them out of a colourway of STR that I don't currently have. Gotta love requests.

y destash quest has continued. i am working on a bulky hooded jumper out of my Icelandic that has been sitting in my stash.

I am also knitting a pair of Spring Forwards out of some handspun I purchased a while ago. I think they're turning out well so far.

This snood is also a holiday gift. This is for my grandma who lives in Jerusalem. I need to finish it by August because thats around the time they go a visit her annually. The yarn is Paton's Silk Bamboo in Plum.

And lastly, I am also working on a pair of Wendy Johnson's Diagonal Lace Socks in Wollmeise 100% SW Merino in the colourway Brombeere. This yarn has been sitting in my stash for over a year and a half. it was time to drag some of it out and use it. This is an extremely easy sock to knit and I can take it to class with me and not have problems.


Alicia's socks are done and drying. Hopefully tomorrow I can ship them down to Texas to her.
I am also almost done with my first wholesale order. It will be shipped out hopefully within a week. =)
Boy finishes up on the 8th, while i finish up on the 13th. I then graduate the 16th, oh joy. I hope he can spend the summer with me, but it all depends on whether my sister will move out of the condo early. It doesn't seem like she will, UGH!!! Frustrating situation.

Ahh, a clean apartment. . .

Yep, this past weekend my dad and I gutted and cleaned my entire apartment. It's nice having it clean again. i just need to keep it this way for 2 months until I move into the larger condo. The main part of the other condo that I am looking forward to, besides the fact that the dryer works, is the basement. it will become my studio for MacKintosh Yarns. I am going into the business full-time. Yay!

I received my second pair of mannequin feet yesterday and need to start knitting the socks for them. I am knitting up examples of my yarn to be shown at conventions. I am only knitting up one sock per yarn base. I also need to knit up my lace weight yarn and the two worsted yarns that are being shipped to me soon.

Granted I have been knitting quite a bit lately. Below is a random hat I'm knitting out of some of my handspun. I'm still trying to destash.

This is also a destash project, as this yarn has been sitting in my stash for over a year. It is Spunky Eclectic's Super Sport in Mud Season. These are going to boy. I'm going to be knitting him a few pairs this summer, during the destash.

And there has even been some spinning! I dyed this fiber up over the weekend and while trying to braid it, it ripped. Sooo, I figured I might as well spin it up. It is superwash corriedale and it just beautiful!

Yay, an order!

Sooo, I received an order yesterday for my yarns and some of my fibers from The Backwards Loop. I will be sending her 100 skeins of yarn and 12 braids of fiber. This is extremely exciting!

I am also on the waiting list for a vendor spot at:

Hopefully I will get a spot, because it would be such a great honor!

On another note, it's spring here, kind of. It's been "warm?" Eh, maybe. it definitely has been breezy and yesterday I didn't wear a hoodie when going out. So sad, I want my snow back!! Seriously, I prefer autumn or winter. BTW Happy Passover!!

Btw, I have been knitting. I finished my Mountain Color footsies last week. The colourway is Bitterroot Rainbow and was knit toe up on size US 1 1/2 circular needles

I then out of nowhere grabbed two skeins of my Iona Sport Weight yarn and cast on for a second pair of Corazon mittens. I love this yarn!!! These two colourways, Taurus (green) and Bluebird (bluish purple) go so well together! I'm extremely happy with how they're turning out. Also, I knit the first mitten in a day. Now I just ned to finish the second one. =)

Ahh spring. . .kind of. . .

Claudia's colors for this month's package for the Wollmeise Sock Club is definitely bright and colorful. But unfortunately, it didn't match the weather outside. It was snowing, yep snowing. I had just gone up to see boy and go see a movie. When we exited the theater, it had begun to snow. =P

Over spring break I went down and visited my brother and his fiance, Alicia, for 5 days. Unfortunately I was sick the entire time and couldn't get pictures. After that, my parents picked me up from O'Hare and we went to the condo. On Saturday my dad and I went downtown to Navy Pier, which was a lot of fun.
Here is a picture of the ballroom at Navy Pier. Lake Michigan was gorgeous!

Picture of part of the skyline. It was such a beautiful, clear day.

Okay, yes, this is a picture of Mac's butt, but I guarantee there is a good reason for it. While I was home, we took Mac to petco for a bath and a trim. Usually we take our dogs to Petsmart, but they don't do that good of a job on Mac when it comes to trimming. So after we took him to Petco and they did an amazing job! No one has ever trimmed his butt this well. It is sooo wonderful!

I have also been working on some very simple projects right now.


New news is that I will be moving into my sister's old condo, which is much larger and nicer. I now get to find a job before I graduate in this area. I hope it won't be that hard. I am meeting up with an advisor who will help me spruce up my resume and help me with my job search. But, I am staying in Iowa, hopefully for a few years until the economy gets better. I mean, Iowa's unemployment is only 4.6%, which is low compared to the rest of the country.

Rain??

Today is a beautiful gloomy Monday. I love two kinds of days, gloomy rainy ones and crisp white snowy ones. I love over cast skies and cooler to cold weather. Those are both ideal to me. The snow is melting and it feels like spring, even though it's only February. Quaint eh?

I have been slowly but surely been working on my wedding shawl.
Details:
Pattern: Shetland Triangle
Yarn: Baby Cashmerino
Color: white
Needle: US 5 24" and 32"

Apparently the orange beanie That I knit a while ago doesn't fit my dad's head properly. Sooo, while I was home over the weekend I picked up some Debbie Bliss Como in grey and a set of US 13 circulars and cast on. The hat is 52 stitches and will be a basic beanie. The yarn is awesome and soft to work with, if only the skeins had more yardage.

Of course this post would not be a proper post unless I had a photo of my beautiful baby boy. He's enjoying the cooler/warmer weather, but not the rain.. This dog hates rain, baths and any other source of water that gets on him, except snow. odd dog.


For spring break I'm going to down to Austin to visit my brother and his fiance for a few days. it should be fun. =) Boy was supposed to come with but he never gave me an answer and I said screw it I'll go alone. Life does go on.

Ugh. . . stress. . .

It's almost been a week since I had my surgery to remove my wisdom teeth. I have been surviving on vicodin for most of the week. My jaw still hurts, mainly in the evenings. So, boy forgot his coat at my parents condo and had to borrow one of my dad's until he could get his coat back. BUT, it turns out that his own coat doesn't really fit anymore. No idea why he didn't get a new one for the holidays because he needs it in the Iowa weather. Oh well, my dad said that he could borrow his coat until winter is over, but he wants it back afterwards. I did retrieve his coat this weekend when my parents and I went into Chicago for 2 nights. It's funny, he left it hanging in the coat closet. . . . yeah. My mom is a selfless person, she let him borrow my dads coat, paid for his way back to school, and gave him $100 for a taxi and food. Yeah, nice woman. He had to spend some of the money paying his roommate back though because he left his wallet at school and had to have it sent to my parents house before he went to O'Hare Airport, which wasn't what the money was for, but whatever. Oh well. Gotta love stress eh?

Soo, classes begin Tuesday for me and I'm hoping my last semester in college is umm relaxing? Heh, with two marketing classes I want it to be relaxing, we shall see. I haven't really been knitting lately due to my procedures and just lack of energy. I'm starting to feel better, but still have a long way to go. My mouth will probably be sore for eh another few weeks and my body is completely out of wack. Kind of wish i had another 2 weeks off to lay around on vicodin. Luckily I have tomorrow off. Yay I get to straighten up my apartment! Ugh. . .

Okay, some GOOD news! My brother Mike got engaged to his gf Alicia! They've been together for over two years. he bought her a beautiful .66 carat Tiffany & Co. engagement ring! Nice $5K ring right there! It's a classic 6 prong, platinum setting. They are planning a wedding for this fall. I can't wait! I'm dragging boy with me, because he still hasn't met my brother. Sigh. . . . Anyways, here are some pics of the ring below:



Btw, I guess I should start referring to boy as FH (future husband). Hmm I'll think about it.
Almost forgot, some of my wedding details:

Time: Winter (I'm looking into Dec 17th 2011)
Where: Chicago (looking into Navy Pier Lakeview Terrace)
# Guests: 50 (25 each side)
Colour Scheme: blue, white, silver
Announcements: sent out Spring 2010
wedding bands: Boys: titanium with silver inlays and engraved Mine: umm we'll see

More details as it gets closer. . . . <3

Hello 2009!

Yeah, I know I haven't posted in a while and I am sorry. I haven't really had the urge to get on and post, considering I really haven't been knitting this past month. I spent my first week and a half here at home playing World of Warcraft and waiting for my grades. This past week and a half, well the first part of it was spent in my parents condo in Chicago with my parents, boy and the animals. We had a lot of fun. Boy and I went downtown and visited Tiffany's (bought my wedding band) and the Apple Store. It was COLD, but fun. This past week we've been back in Rockford enjoying rented movies and the snow. Today I had my colonoscopy, fun fun, the nurse had to stab my hand twice before she got a vein for the IV. It wasn't horrible, the prep kind of sucked, but it's over. Tomorrow boy goes back to school, classes begin Monday, I'm sad. =( My mom also guilt tripped me into agreeing to get my wisdom teeth out on Monday. . . the fun just keeps coming.
Well, some good news, the HAWKEYES WON our bowlgame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO HAWKS!!!

Yesterday, boy and I picked up my new and permanent engagement ring (2 pics below). I always wanted a sapphire ring and this is just gorgeous!!!!!!! Yes, my parents know, his still don't, but we have time to wait (3 years ugh!!).

And another pic of my dream ring!!

New Camera and a winter wonderland

As part of my Hannukah gifts, I received a brand new Nikon camera. I have never owned a really nice camera before and to be honest I LOVE IT!!!! Below are some photos I took today in the snow. The camera is so much fun and takes wonderful photos! It has 18x optical zoom vr, 10.1 mega-pixels, etc.
Mac entranced by a squirrel in the trees.

A cardinal at the bird feeders 20 feet from me.

Tree in the front yard at least 10 feet from where I was.

Photo of the backyard as the sun was going down.


I love snow!! I hope everyone had a wonderful week off and a great weekend. Yesterday was boy and my first year anniversary! =) He got back to Iowa in one piece, I hope everyone else did also.
And all of my projects and homework is done!!!!! Very very very happy about that one. Thanksgiving break = homework time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been an interesting week for me. I have gotten most of my homework and projects done, only a few left to finish. I also went to the gastroenterologist to figure out what's wrong with me. The doctor believes that it is IBS, but to make sure it's not IBD, I have to have a colonoscopy. . . yeah I shouldn't need one until I'm 50. . . I'm getting it done at the beginning of January. Tomorrow however I will be getting a lactose intolerance test done at 7am. . . joy. Gotta love this ugh. . .

I hope you guys are having a great holiday!! <3

Tis the season. . .

Okay, I am holding a contest and the prize is this beautiful skein of MacKintosh Yarns Mey Seacell in the colourway Victoria. The contest is to help me come up with a new name for my World of Warcraft mage Lyxi. Please leave your choices (up to 5) in a comment. You have until December 1st. Please tell your friends, I need as many options as possible. Thanks!


BTW all Celtic Sock Yarns are on sale for $18 from now through Black Friday.

On another note, I'm sick, I've been sick and I'm not getting better. For the past several (since March really) I've been having problems that could be IBS or could be IBD. My stomach is more sensitive and so is my bowel. My lactose intolerance has gotten worse and it's just not fun being me. Next Wednesday I will be seeing a gastroenterologist, aka a bowel specialist to see what's wrong. I hope it's not IBD, I have an uncle with it and it's a rather frightening thought.

As I was saying in the header, tis the season. . . .for cowls. . .LoL
Below is a plain stockinette cowl that I am working on for myself. The yarn is MacKintosh Yarns Iona Sport Weight in the colourway Mulled Wine. I love this yarn!!! Sooo soft!

Here is a cowl I knit for my mom. It's the birthday cowl again, but in a yarn she chose while we visited Loopy Yarns in downtown Chicago several weeks ago. The yarn is Sublime Aran Merino Silk Cashmere blend. it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooo soft!!! Light, but also warm. Love it!


I also need some ideas on what to get boy for Christmas. . . yes, we're back together. . . .okay, I'm a sucker and I love him. It's kind of hard not to love him, he has the most adorable blue eyes. . . .damn him. . .

BTW bundle up!! It's getting cold!

Ahhh, November

Sooo, it's been a bit brisk, rainy and even snowy here in the Midwest. Over this past weekend, my parents, sister and I were supposed to attend the Ohio State vs Northwestern game @ Northwester. The weather was cold, windy, snowy and rainy. Sooo, instead we just went and saw the condo my parents are buying in Lincoln Park and hung around downtown. I LOVE Chicago! Below are two pictures of the living room and the kitchen of the condo. It's basically a large apartment in Lincoln Park. The areas behind the building are gorgeous.


While we were in Lincoln Park, I found my dream house. Yep, huge and gorgeous! This house is worth around $3 million. Yeah, better start saving those pennies. Heh.

I have been doing some knitting lately. On Monday I started a lacy slouch in my Skye Sock Yarn in the colourway Lich. I finished it at 1:30 am this morning, washed it and blocked it on a plate. I worked 5 1/2 inches of the lace pattern and luckily when it blocked, it expanded. I love how it turned out! It didn't take much, I still have 72% of the skein left!



Boy and I are trying to work out winter break, etc. We'll see what happens. I just can't wait until Thanksgiving Break! I whole week off!!! Yes, I have to put up with family, but a whole week off!!!

New Yarn Bases!

Sooo, a couple days ago I received a box from Canada. In the box were four new yarn bases for MacKintosh Yarns. One is an 80/10/10 SW Merino/Cashmere/Nylon sport weight, one is 70/30 SW Merino/Seacell fingering, new chubby sock and a new sw merino called Mey. These are gorgeous yarns that will be put up tomorrow in my shop update. I am also ordering a fingering weight version of the cashmere blend. So Soft!

I have been making a lot of progress on my Faiye Twist Socks. I'm actually almost done. I just need to finish both cuffs to the height I want. Isn't the colour gorgeous? Two skeins will be put up in tomorrow's update. =)

Here is a skein of the 80/10/10 cashmere blend I dyed up the other day. This colourway is Mahogany. beautiful isn't it?

Also here is Moroccan Market wound into a hank. This is such a beautiful colourway. I can't wait to dye the new bases in this. =)

Here is lastnight's dying.  There are 15 skeins there. I'm hoping to dye up some more tonight for tomorrow's update. =)

And I will end with a picture of mac, just because it's Mac.  He's loving this cooler weather and so am I. I LOVE wearing my handknit items. Plus right now is the perfect time, except at night when I'm riding my moped and freezing. . .