Tears of a Rapper

Pattern: Naked Star Hat by Irina Bil

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Black

Needle Size: 1 for the Ribbing and 2 for the body of the hat

Dates: December 20th - December 22nd

My Project Name: This one is named after the song Hurt Feelings by Flight of the Conchords:

Hurt Feelings from Brian Kessler on Vimeo.

Modifications: I kind of used this pattern as more of a guideline because I loved the shape of it. I was in a big hurry to finish up all of my Christmas knitting, and when I saw that this was knit flat and then seamed together I quickly decided I would use the sizing and decreasing of this hat and wing everything else. I basically just knit ribbing for the body. In the round, after the brim I knit a row and then k1, p1 for the next row.

I ended up checking gauge and got it on size TWO needles. When I was about halfway through the hat I ended up realizing I could have cut down my cast on number to use larger needles but I was in such a hurry to start that it didn't even register to me right away. Knitting on such small needles so quickly made my wrists hurt pretty bad so if I ever make something like this again I'm definitely going to be more careful before starting.

New techniques learned: None.

Notes: Nothing special to add to this one, except my brother seemed to like it.

More Pictures:

From Christmas day. Can you see him back there wearing it?

Monthly Reading Round Up - December

It's probably pretty fair to say I won't be finishing any books today, so here is this months round up!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Finished December 1st)



The Raucous Royals - Carlyn Beccia (Finished December 7th)



Dawn - V.C. Andrews (Finished December 11th)



The Mischief of the Mistletoe - Lauren Willig (Finished December 14th)



Sweet Little Lies - Lauren Conrad (Finished December 14th)



Matched - Ally Condie (Finished December 16th)



Teacher Man - Frank McCourt (Finished December 19th)



Secrets in the Morning - V.C. Andrews (Finished December 20th)



Napoleon's Privates - Tony Perrottet (Finished December 21st)



The Grimm Legacy - Poly Shulman (Finished December 22nd)



Vixen - Jillian Larkin (Finished December 25th)



At the House of the Magician - Mary Hooper (Finished December 27th)



Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden (Finished December 28th)



The Dead of the Night - John Marsden (Finished December 29th)

Books Finished: 15.

2010 book total: I ended the year at a very respectable 136!

Favorite This Month: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I loved everything about this book and found the characters very endearing. I stayed up way later than I should have one night finishing this book and it was very worth being really tired the next day.

Least Favorite This Month: Secrets in the Morning by V.C. Andrews. When I was in Junior High, I gobbled up every book by V.C. Andrews that I could get my hands on. I distinctly remember having a science teacher in 8th grade that made us take notes every day. He would dictate everything that would should write, for example he would say something like "The earth is round PERIOD." The class was so absolutely boring but I remember that I would bring a book and spend the entire hour tearing into it because he never noticed that I wasn't taking notes. When I found out that these books were in ebook form, I was really excited to re-read them. It's funny, because even though I read Dawn well over 10 years ago I still remembered everything that happens in the book. Dawn was a pretty decent story, a little creepy sure but I found myself wanting to read to the last page. Secrets in the Morning was just bad, I can't believe I made myself finish it. I probably will finish up the series next year though. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Other: It would be fair to say that I read 14 books this year, as The Raucous Royals is a picture book but it was such a lovely book that I wanted to include it. I love Beccia's style of art and there are a lot of little fun facts in this book. I do love my trivia, especially anything Tudor. If you're interested in this book, she has a wonderful blog here that has a lot of fascinating history tidbits.

I started 3 books this month that I couldn't bring myself to finish. One was The House at Riverton which I've already posted about, the next was Blackout by Connie Willis. I actually was really enjoying parts of this book, but some of the story lines were just dragging for me. I don't want to give up just yet on this one so I think I might try to find it on audio. The last was My Booky Wook by Russel Brand. I really love Russel, I think he's super funny but I just couldn't get into his writing style. Also, when I got to the part where he talked about how he was uncircumcised I thought there are just somethings I DON'T need to know.

Like a Boss

Pattern: Easy Mistake Stitch by Whitney Van Nes

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Gray Mix

Needle Size: 10

Dates: December 11th 2009 - December 13th 2010

My Project Name: Like a Boss, which is a name of a song by The Lonely Island. This song always reminds me of my little brother for some reason, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I was making this scarf for my dad. Here is the video. You probably shouldn't watch it if you are at work, or don't like swears/other random weirdness.

Modifications: None.

New techniques learned: None.

Notes: As you may remember, I had intended on knitting my dad the Cerus scarf for Christmas. I bought 2 different shades of gray that I was going to use to sort of stripe the scarf. The problem was, the shades were too dissimilar and it looked pretty icky. I tore it apart and then I had come up with something quick to finish in time for Christmas. This was my answer. It knit up super fast and I think the stitch pattern looked pretty neat. I wish it could have been a little longer but I used up a whole skein and didn't have time to pick up another one. My dad liked it though and that's all that matters.

More Pictures:

The ribbing, unblocked.

10 Stitch Blanket

I haven't done a work in progress post yet, and I think this is a good project to use as the first.

Cruising along.

After one skein.

After 2 skeins. The color looks different because I took this one at night.

I have a lot of finished object posts to catch up on with all of my Christmas knitting completed. I'm also working on a cardigan for my mother-in-law and then eventually I'll be making one for myself. So much knitting, so little time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Isn't this Christmas card that our wedding photographer Amy Boeve sent us so cute? Can you spot Ronnie and I?

Yep, there we are in the bottom left hand corner!

Here is the promised picture of Sarah in her knitted goody and as a bonus you can see my Christmas presents too! The oh so awesome 'Don't stop believing - Triceratops' shirt and the 'Queen of **cking Everything' Mug. Ronnie told me this morning he wants to commandeer the mug and use it for his tea. haha!

I hope everyone is having an excellent Christmas. I didn't burn in church but I did get a migraine so I'm slowly getting ready to visit with the family today. First stop finishing dads 2nd knitted Christmas gift, next stop, shower.

Happy Christmas Eve!

After I got off work this morning, I spent the rest of the day wrapping gifts and baking for the holidays. I sat around all month feeling smug because I had all of my shopping done early but I was really grumbling at myself today for waiting so long to wrap everything.

All my knitted goodies wrapped and ready to go.

I decided to make some tassels this year in lieu of bows. I dug out some random red acrylic yarn and went to town. I think they look really neat, but they're definitely going to have to be cut off the packages. I don't think there is any other way to do it without making a giant mess.


I also made some buckeyes this year! I used the recipe from eat make read.



Ronnie helped me with the chocolate dipping. He didn't want to use a skewer on them so we used a spoon to ladle them out of the chocolate so the wax paper isn't looking so pretty in these pictures. I used ghirardelli dark chocolate chips for the coating. I'm usually a huge fan of dark chocolate but these chips taste a little bitter to me.

I forgot to add the salt when I was making these, I'm not sure if it made a huge difference because they still taste delicious. Ronnie has already eaten about 20 of them. :)


I'm going to pack up a few bags of these to take to friends and family and here is my first experiment. More yarn.

I made some brownies too, but they were from the box and don't look very special so I won't bore people with a picture of them. There is just something about the Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies that bring me to my knees.


We're going to spend our annual evening with the Karnes family tonight so I'll be sure to take a picture of Sarah with the Ishbel I made for her. After that were going to midnight mass with my mom and Auntie Kay so we can see my great aunt sing in the choir. I haven't been to church in years so if I never post again everyone can rest assured that I spontaneously caught on fire upon entering the doors.

I have heard the singing of real birds

Pattern: Malabrigo Loafers by Julie Weisenberger

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Grey Mix and Wisteria for the sole

Needle Size: 7

Dates: December 19th - December 20th

My Project Name: Named after a lyric the Magnetic Fields song 'Better Things'

Modifications: I slipped the first stitch of every row on the sole to make picking up stitches for the actual slipper easier. This worked like a charm.

Also, it's not a very big mod, but I crocheted the loops on the back a little longer because my mom felts these things like crazy. She says it gives her a custom fit.

New techniques learned: None.

Notes: My mom LOVES these slippers. This will be the 3rd pair of these that I've made for her. I wasn't actually going to make her another pair but when I was over there a few days ago, I noticed that she was still wearing a pair I made her in 2007. There was big black spots all over the bottom where she had sewn up holes. I think it's time for a new pair! I've made her 2 other slippers from different patterns since, but these are clearly her favorite.

I probably could have knit these in a day, but I ran out of the wisteria color for the sole and had to go out the next night to grab another skein. I picked up 2 black skeins to (hopefully) make my dad a quick pair. I just have to finish this hat for my little brother Kevin.

More Pictures:

The neighbors can't complain cause I've got my headphones on

I've had this song stuck in my head all week.


Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Loop Duplicate My Heart

I'm a little late but...

My little baby boy turned 7 on the 14th. I guess he's not really a baby anymore! Happy birthday little man!

Everything is One Big Christmas Tree

Pattern: Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Fisherman and Seaspray

Needle Size: 10

Dates: November 30th 2009 - December 15th 2010

My Project Name: Named this one after the Magnetic Fields song 'Everything is One Big Christmas Tree.' It is a Christmas present after all. :)

Modifications: Doubled the size of the body. I was going to try to add more to the border but I wanted to have it finished before next year.

New techniques learned: none, however I did learn not to leave a project laying around for a year. Even though it was in a plastic bag, it smelled a little dusty when I finally pulled it out again. Thankfully washing it completely got rid of the dustiness.

Notes: Well, I finally finished Auntie Kay's Christmas present. I started this last year with the intention of giving it to her for Christmas 09, buuut that didn't end up happening. I was working on the Percy Shawl for her but I decided if I wanted to get something done for her quick, it was going to have to be something easy. Hap blanket to the rescue!

More Pictures:

Avocado Margarita Recipe

You may or may not have seen this picture on my other blog where I am enjoying a delicious avocado margarita in Epcot. Ever since La Cava del Tequila opened, it's been one of my first stops in the world showcase for a nice cool drink. I've been googling and googling for a recipe to no avail however today, the Disney Food Blog posted one! I can't wait to make one for myself!

A day in our lives.

Me: "I KNEW someone was smoking in the hallway! I just found cigarette butts on the steps.'
Ronnie: "Did you also use clues from the science of deduction website?"


Yes, we are nerds.

Also. mmmm Benedict Cumberbatch

Think of all the beauty

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy" - Anne Frank (Via)

It's official!

I'm going back to school to get my edumacation.

Tangled

We went to go see Tangled tonight. It was really, really cute.

(picture via the disney princess)

Pinwheel, Pinwheel Spinning Around

Pattern: Pinwheel Sweater by Shelley Mackie

Yarn: Bernat Mosaic in Psychedelic. I've read a few bad reviews about the yarn, but I thought it was great to work with. I didn't encounter any breakage problems and my hair doesn't stick to it as bad as it does with Noro. Plus, Christina can throw it in the washer and it I only paid about $10 for the 2 skeins it took to make this sweater.

Needle Size: 7 for the body and 5 for the collar area and the edging. I misread the needles sizes in the pattern. Oops.

Dates: December 4th - December 8th

My Project Name: Named this after the old Nickelodeon show 'Pinwheel." I sing the theme song to myself every time I see a pinwheel so naturally it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this pattern.

Modifications: I increased the body up to 20 stitches before the sleeves, which is a good thing since I used the wrong needles sizes. I also did the 'afterthought heel' method for the sleeves instead of the provisional cast on.

New techniques learned: I learned how to do the afterthought heel for this. I have to admit I was still a little confused about it after reading the tutorial above. I didn't realize that after I knit with the scrap yarn that I should put it back on the left needle and knit again with the working yarn. After I got it all figured out, it worked GREAT!

Notes: This knit up super fast so I'm thinking about knitting one of these for Janalynn instead of the Nonstop top.

More Pictures: