Wednesday, December 19, 2007


pinup
Originally uploaded by michele1620
Shrinky-dink fun!

This is my first attempt at make art using shrinkable plastic. It's transparent IRL-- it's a suncatcher. Can't wait to try more!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

What I've been up to (in the crafty sense)

I went to the Bazaar Bizarre on Sunday and got a few goodies and tons of ideas! I have a bad habit of thinking to myself as I browse the tables, "I can do that!" But I need to remind myself that just because I can doesn't mean that I will or that I shouldn't support indie crafters! So I bought some really cool pieces of fabric and Jorge bought me a cool necklace and pair of earrings.

Sunday was also Community Day at the ICA. This means FREE admission! It was fun to see the new building (well they've been there for ~1 year now) and the neat exhibits. And for FREE-- ya can't beat that! I think that there's one day a week from, like, 5-7 or 9 that admission is free...maybe Thursdays. Everyone should check it out at least once.

In knitting, I attended a finishing class on Tues night with Devon at A Good Yarn instructed by Allison of The Blue Blog. It basically reinforced that I do know my finishing techniques. I just need to practice them. I try to never do any modular knitting because I dread finishing but I should give it a try once all of my WIPs are off the needles.

Speaking of WIPs, I have 3 right now. A baby hat, which I'm totally dragging my feet on, my Tree Jacket, and my sister's Juliet, which I've just short of abandoned. Right now I'm in sleeve hell with my Tree Jacket...sooooooo boring.

Hopefully, I can make a big push to finish all three up before Christmas so I can start a fresh project for my travels and stay with my family in NY-- I'm sure I'll need a mental get-away at some point ;-)

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Bazaar Bizarre

In case anyone's interested, Bazaar Bizarre is today. Check it out!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

It was a nice long weekend!

I went to Chicago to visit my best friend Rebecca. It was three days of good old times. Rebecca and I met in college and became great friends in our second year. We were pretty much inseparable. We were good influences on each other. We were bad influences on each other. We were like long lost sisters.

Not much has changed except for our zip codes. After Rebecca finished PT school she was off to travel and work all over the country. I stayed in Boston and began managing the medical practice I worked at. For the first bit our cellphones bills were atrocious. Then we learned the concept of moderation (sorta--I had a phone bill of $250 at one point!). We'd chat during daytime breaks, when we weren't exhausted at night-- sometimes multiple times or just quick calls for trivial matters.

We may not talk on the phone or see each other as much as we used to or as much as we'd like but this bond can't be broken. A few days of phone tag can't change that. We're family at this point.

A couple of years ago we decided to take almost a month off to travel Italy together. That adventure was something that I could have done only with Rebecca. It was an amazing experience. The planning reminded me of the first vacation that we planned together-- driving to Daytona Beach all hopped up on No-Doz and immediately following final exams. We've shared some wonderful and crazy times together.

Rebecca and her fiance Chris are now planning their wedding which is to be next Labor Day. I'm the Maid of Honor-- it really is an honor. I love her and want her wedding to be everything that she's ever wanted it to be. Her face lights up when she talks about the details. I can tell that she's having fun and I'm happy for her.

Through the last 10 years since we've been friends we've been through many different stages of life together. And I know that we have many, many more ahead of us.

Friday, November 9, 2007

It's my Bloggiversary Today...

And I have a broken foot and a hurt back. For the last week and a half I've been to the radiology department of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center 3 times. Once to have an xray taken of my lumber spine, then to have an xray of my right foot/ankle and, last but not least, to have an MRI of my lumbar spine.

The back xray was normal, the foot xray showed some fractures and the back MRI results aren't in yet. I'm just one big walking accident...

I don't feel good enough to go out. I think I'm just really nervous that other people will bump into me and step on my foot. So I guess I'm in for the night. I hate it-- it's Friday night and I have to sit here all alone. Maybe I'll get some knitting done.

If anyone wants to join me for wine and knitting tonight drop me a line.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Yay for Ravelry!!!

My Ravelry tee arrived this morning!!!
Juliet...take 2!

My Juliet is done done now. Buttons, blocking, wearing! I'm not in love with the fit but it is pretty.
Sunday night I cast on for my sister's Juliet. I'm knitting it out of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora (double-stranded). The color is just lovely. This picture doesn't do it justice.
I'm also planning on knitting the Tree Jacket...when my yarn arrives. Hopefully on Wed. so I'll probably swatch and cast-on that night-- fingers crossed.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Where for art thou Juliet?
Here's the FO in all of her unblocked glory....still needs buttons. I don't know about her. She may be a gift.

So I'm half done with the SKC KAL. I'd like to start the Tree Jacket soon. We'll see.
Halloween 2007

I still love Halloween. I love that we all dress up in the office-- our patients must think that we're all nuts but it's all in good fun. We even have a annual Halloween Potluck Lunch, so it's good for morale. All that positive work environment crap aside, I love Halloween for the costumes. The more creative and unique the better. A twist on a classic is always good.

I was Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This is particularly fitting in my office-- believe me.
I'm still dressing up for Halloween at 28, then tell me why kids don't bother. They ring people's doorbells and go "trick-or-treating" while wearing their street clothes. WTF!?

I got home sort of late as far as trick-or-treaters are concerned, around 7, so I missed having to run to the door every two minutes. I had one group come when I first got home-- two older girls taking two younger girls around who were dressed in costumes. I have no idea what they were supposed to be but they were dressed up nonetheless. They get candy for a job well done and one of the older girls looked into my foyer and said, "you have a beautiful house. I love all the colors." So I gave her candy too.

Then after we ate dinner and started watching Hostel 2 (don't waste your time-- bad, bad movie), the doorbell rings again. I opened the door and see this boy who must have been 14 or 15 years old staring back at me. No costume. No treat bag-- a knapsack instead. We stare at each other for a moment and then he says "trick-or-treat" in an annoyed tone. No costume.

So, I say, "Are you kidding?"

And he looks right at me and says, "No."

"What are you, like, 15?"

"No," as he holds his knapsack open for a fun-size Snickers.

I put the candy in his bag and, before he could say thank you, I closed the door. I was baffled. No costume. No young children in costumes. No treat bag. That's not trick-or-treating-- that begging.

Seriously, now I've seen it all.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Juliet...So close
It's coming along though I have a feeling that it's going to be too big. This is sorta funny because I usually take a large but I thought that I'd make the medium size based on the experience of other having their's turn out too large. Then I even threw in some decrease once I separated the sleeves for some shaping because it seemed to be turning out rather large-- how is this when my gauge was perfect and the WIP is huge!? So then, since I decreased until just under the bust decreasing the number of stiches, I decided to knit the lace in the small size. It still seems like it's going to be a bit too big for me. Yeesh, I just can't win....my last sweater for myself was too big on me too :'-( Hopefully it will work out or someone will be receiving a nice gift.
Edit: Finished sweater 10/30/07....still need to block.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

FO & WIPs

I've been really productive over the last few nights...

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

8 Random Things

Devon tagged me...so here it goes....

  1. Sometimes I don't finish projects because I can just tell that they aren't going to turn out perfect.
  2. Whenever I have cash in my wallet all the bills need to be facing the same direction and it must be organized from smallest bill to largest bill (in the back).
  3. I love buying random CDs purely based on the bands name and/or album cover art-- sometimes it's fab, sometimes it's a flop.
  4. I've lost a little weight and last night I was able to slip my slacks off without unbuttoning them.
  5. I love collecting craft supplies-- sometimes I get carried away.
  6. My staff at work hates me-- I guess no one likes their boss even if she's decent to them.
  7. I have four tattoos and I still love them all (my mom always tells me that sooner or later, I will regret defacing my body-- what is she talking about!?).
  8. I've been at a crossroad in my life for the last six months and I still can't choose my way.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Goodies in the mail!!!

So yesterday while out for an after dinner tea, my landlord called to tell me that I got a package in the mail and that he put the package in the back hallway for me. I immediately knew exactly what it was! My K2 T2 package arrived!

I received tons of goodies: two boxes of tea, tea sticks, Vermont Honey, 2 mini honey drippers, Vermont Chocolate, Cream Savers, Cascade Luna yarn, body lotion, scone mix, a lovely coaster, an over sized tea cup, and a lovely card!!! I love it all...a special thanks to my spoiler Melissa! (I can't believe that it arrived in one day!!)

Monday, September 24, 2007

What I've Been Up to...
My Knit 2, Tea 2 package is ready to be sent out Monday! I actually finished it before the deadline which is Oct 1st. I really hope that my K2T2 pal likes it. I really did have a great time putting it together. I hope she enjoys the fruits of my labor.

I've been thinking about knitting but not actually doing very much of it. I just finished a little something for my K2 T2 partner. It was a cute and quick knit. Maybe I'll make one for me when I have the motivation. I really need to get cracking on some baby hats. One will be needed in ~4 weeks. It's going to be so cute. It's a little lace pattern.For my birthday I got one of these. When I opened the box I was totally disappointed. It arrived in Ocean Blue when it was ordered in Cypress...we called Jordana and she put the correct bag in the mail the next day. I love the bag but I expected a higher quality item for the price. All in all, I do love it though. It was a great birthday present.Non-knitting-related...I got a Nintendo Wii yesterday! Wow, is it fun!!! Love it so far. I totally feel like I really played tennis all night...sore shoulder and elbow to boot! It's a lot of fun. Maybe we'll buy a new game for it next week ;-) (after, of course, I'm transformed into a tip-top virtual athlete!).

Thursday, September 13, 2007

And Happy Birthday to me...

So I'm 28 today. Two years shy of 30. I feel so unaccomplished. I used to think that I'd be married, own a condo, have a dog by this time in my life. Guess I was wrong.

I'm nowhere near any of those things. I feel like I missed out on my 20s. I don't know why but I do.

Friday, September 7, 2007

I'm trying to break out of this funk...

so I started a new project rather than finish any of my WIPs. Oh well, whatever makes me feel better seems to be the way to go. I started (and essentially finished) the Everlasting Bagstopper from this summer's Knitty. I's really trying to be more "green" these days and this is a step in the right direction.
First off, let me just say that this is a fabulous "zone out" project. The fishnet pattern is made up of a two round repeat. SO easy-- how can you mess that up right? Well, I don't have the exact answer to that question but I managed to screw up somewhere in the middle of the bag. It's really not noticeable but it it were any project other than a reusable grocery bag I would have totally ripped it out and started over.

Aside from my screw up, I've made a couple modifications to the pattern. I made it longer than recommended, decide to knit a garter stitch strap instead of the ribbon handles and do not plan on adding the drawstring for easy storage. Believe it or not, the strap is actually taking me longer to knit that the bag did ;-)

So if you're looking for a quick and easy pattern (i.e. instant gratification) I would totally recommend it. Once the strap is complete and sewed on I'll post FO pics and maybe even some action shots if I'm lucky.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Goofy but since I still feel like crap...





What type of Fae are you?

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Life is hard right now...

So no new knitting content this week. The bf and I broke up and I've been really sad. I'm all alone in Boston. Who knows what the new living arrangements will be. I don't even get just a hug everyday anymore. I feel lost and lonely and out of place. So I lost my creative mojo when I need it most.

Anyone in Boston wanna cheer me up? Introduce a fun artsy girl to a fun artsy guy (maybe not yet)?

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Fitted Tank-- Ick!

I finished the Fitted Tank yesterday and it's absolutely awful! I can't even bear to take pictures of it. It's much too short, though I added a few inches to the length. And much too wide. I may frog or I may alter by taking the side seams in. I found a tutorial on doing just that. Who knows, but for now I'm putting it away. I don't even want to look at it!

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Knit 1, Tea 2 Swap








Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire
  1. Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try? Bags for the convenience & hassle-free factor

  2. What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavor, variety, etc)? Celestial Seasons Teahouse Chai Honey Vanilla White Tea and Stash Premium Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea

  3. Favorite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up). I've been loving the whites that I've tried but am opened to anything

  4. Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind? I heat my water in a teapot but rarely make an entire pot-- usually just a cup at a time

  5. What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself? I'd love an ceramic(?) Asian tea set

  6. How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc). mmm...that's a tough one. I love lotions/creams and yummy treats almost equally

  7. If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why? Anything sheep-free because I'm allergic

  8. If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why? I'd probably choose the baby booties because little projects are instant gratification and, that, I'm a fan of!

  9. What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?) A night out on the town or just out for a few drinks/dinner after work

  10. What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?) Pastry and scones!

  11. When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute? It depends on the fiber called for. I gravitate towards soft non-wool fibers to cut down on the hives that wool causes for me

  12. What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go? In a pouch inside my bag to keep it from getting tangled on the other junk in there

  13. Favorite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting? I don't think that I have a favorite, but foreign films and knitting are out. Who can keep up with reading the subtitles when they're trying to keep count of stitches!?

  14. Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match? Mug. I like to have sets but one, inevitably, always breaks leaving me with incomplete sets

  15. Favorite childhood birthday party? My mom had a jewelry making party when I was 10

  16. Favorite type of scone and jam? Strawberry or raspberry

  17. If you use candles, what is your favorite scent? Vanilla and apple-cinnamon

  18. If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead). My mom, sister and grandma-- we don't get to spend a lot of time together

  19. You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)? Casual...I'm not a prim and proper kinda lady

  20. Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to? Food: I'll allergic to peaches, nectarines, apricots

21. Anything we missed that you want your pal to know? Do you knit, crochet or both? What is your favorite project? Do you like to bake and/or cook? Are you veggie/vegan/carnivore?

Friday, August 3, 2007

2 Scarves and a Tank


My WIPS: Montego Bay Scarf, Kingdom Heart Scarf and Fitted Tank (and my feet).

Monday, July 30, 2007

And the nominees are...


Cool! Thanks Devon!



I'd like to thank the academy....

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tuesday was my Monday this Week

Yesterday was my first day of work this week since I took a long weekend. When I arrived first thing in the morning, I noticed a package on my desk. I ripped it open and it was a lovely hand dyed hank of Knit Picks Bare - Merino Wool/ Silk Fingering Weight in a lovely Neapolitan colorway called Strawberry Loves Chocolate dyed by Kim from the Knit Therapy podcast (look for her on itunes)! It was a prize for participating in a contest that she held on her podcast (she mentioned my name on the last episode!) a couple of weeks ago!

Thanks Kim!!!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Mmmmm...

I've been craving cupcakes for awhile now. So I baked them yesterday. Weird thing is that I wasn't even tempted to eat one when they were done. Weird....

I was away for the weekend visiting my Dad & his girlfriend in Fire Island-- they rented a beach house for a long weekend. My sister, her boyfriend and I took a ferry over from Long Island early Sat. morning and then spent the day at the beach. We had a BBQ late that afternoon. Then did nothing...I never know what to do with myself when I have nothing to do. I read, knit on two projects and watched the Food Network until about 2am. I have to learn to relax.

I had yesterday off because originally I wasn't too sure when I'd be coming home from NY. I ended up just going to Windsor Button and buying some yarn and buttons. I bought my No Sheep swap yarn and some yarn for myself. I've been thinking about making a second go at the PSFC in cotton instead. This pondering lead to this purchase.

I love the buttons that I picked out. We'll see where this leads. I just figured that if I'm going to knit this sweater again then I'd like to knit it in a neutral and in cotton since it is a short-sleeved sweater after all. We'll see.

As for the Fitted Tank, I'm not sure if I'm in love with how it's turning out. I hate the way that the pattern has you bind off stitches for the neckline. I looks almost lumpy. Maybe a crocheted edge when the piece is seamed together. I finished the front now I have to cast on for the back tonight. See the lumps?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Done!

Monday, July 16, 2007

One down, one to go...

Here's the first hat of a pair for a soon-to-be-born set of twins. The baby shower is on Wednesday at Jorge's office. I'm a damn good girlfriend. I hope to get the second hat done in time...I'm bored just from knitting the first one. But it is damn cute, isn't it!?

Sunday, July 15, 2007

No Sheep Swap


My July package has arrived! Penny sent me postcards, tile magnets, and lovely bamboo yarn. Thank you Penny, the package was wonderful and I can't wait to try out the bamboo yarn ;-)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

I love it!

Monday, July 9, 2007

Go Get It!!!
This is the BF's new podcast: Auditory Hallucinations. Go subscribe and take a listen! He really knows his music!

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Going to the Frog Pond...
Tell me, can you see the mistake I've made? Come on, look closely.... If you haven't figured it out, let me show you. It should look like this. I must have flipped it somehow and worked the WS as if it were the RS.

It's not like I'm that far into this project but I hate to rip out work that's taken me so long to accomplish. If I continue on, leaving my mistake, it will haunt me every time I wear the FO. Or, worse yet, I will never wear the FO-- I hate to do that since I love the pattern sooooo much. So I guess there really aren't any other options-- I will frog to the point of where the raglan increases begin and make sure to be very aware of the RS this time around!

Look at this little contraption! Love it! It's now waiting for it's counterpart to arrive from Joann's (with free shipping & a 50% off coupon it only ran me $30!). This yarn was wound into a neat little "yarn cake" in under 2 minutes. How could any knitter not love that!? No knots to untangle. No need to coerce the BF to hold his arms out for extended periods of time to help with the ball-winding process. No more time taken from my knitting. It's knitter's freedom in a 9oz package-- sweet!

I'm thinking about CO for the Fitted Tank to give myself a break from the agony of ripping my Puff Sleeve Feminine Cardi. I think it'll actually be a quick knit, but we'll see. Sometimes I'm a knitting Speed Racer and sometimes I'm a knitting slug. I'm an unpredictable knitter. It keep you all on your toes ;-)

***
I knit this last weekend for a soon to be born bebe...

I may have to knit one for myself this winter. I'm serious.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Ravelry anyone?


I finally got my invitation to Ravelry on Wednesday night. I loaded a whole bunch'o'projects last evening, some stash, some queued projects and some of my knitting books. I still need to photograph a huge portion of my stash but there's always time for that. I haven't explored the site too much because I wanted to fill up my "notebook" as much as I could before I lost motivation but I'm sure I'll do a lot of browsing this weekend. My Ravelry user name is Michele1620 in case anyone's lookin' for me!

Monday, June 25, 2007



Home Depot, Target, & BestBuy, oh my...my favorite places to go on a Sunday!

All we wanted was to go to Home Depot for a flower pot and saucers for all of our plants. We ended up going to Target for "house stuff" among other things and to BestBuy for Jorge to buy a microphone head set for his up and coming music review podcast, which can be found here (I named it and I'm helping to produce it!).

I got an adorable outfit at Target-- a polka dot circle skirt and a comfy yet work-worthy tee. Jorge got a ton of Tees as usual and a nice button down work shirt. He has so many t-shirts that his dresser drawers are completely stuffed to the point of over flow. I tried to talk him into going through all of them and getting rid of the tee that are holey but that was a no-go. Truthfully, I wanted him to give me his old tees for recon projects-- this did not go over well with him ;-)

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Oh Sad Day
So I got too busy this week and forgot to cast my vote for the SKC KAL. Oh well, I couldn't choose between the three I listed in my last entry anyways...not that any of them won.

It was decided again that the next SKC KAL would be a double KAL as the last two were. The two winning patterns are Fifi and the Red Carpet Convertible Pattern. Neither really interest my much. They're both a bit ornate for my taste.

I decided that I would have my own Sexy Knitter KAL-- even if I have to do it by myself! First I will finish the PSC and then I will cast on for Fitted Tank in Tomato.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Not much actual knitting happening here

So I haven't been speed knitting at all lately. I've been a little unmotivated and kinda tired. Work has been really busy between recruiting and interviewing and every project that had to be done yesterday, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. My job is annoying right now so I'm going to blame it for sucking the creative energy right outta me!

I CO for the Puff Sleeve Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel. I've been holding off on CO this on but thinking about it constantly. So, here it goes. I'm only ~20 rows in but the yarn called for in the pattern is nice to knit with and the pattern seems pretty easy to follow so far. I can't wait until I'm at the point where I can go button shopping (at Windsor Button, of course) for this cardigan. I originally thought that I wanted to use pearl buttons but now I'm thinking that maybe I'll use cutely shaped plastic buttons in a bright contrasting color. We'll see-- I've only done the collar so far, so I have a lot to knit before the buttons need to be picked out.

I received my June non-wool skein of yarn from my secret pal from the No Sheep Swap. She sent me gorgeous HandMaiden Seasilk. It's amazing and sooo soft! The colorway is called Woodland. A pattern came along in the package for a scarf but I'm not sure if it's my style. Any suggestions as to what pattern works well with this yarn?






I decided to make a (tiny) swatch of this lovely cotton tape I received from my secret pal Sharon the Knitter's Treat Exchange a couple of months ago. It's Cherry Tree Hill Rainbow Ribbon in Sugar Maple. It's soft and light and reminds me of me of melting Popsicles. I have 262 yd of this beautiful stuff and I'm still not sure what to do with it. Has anyone knit with this yarn before?




The top 20 nominations for the next SKC KAL are up so go vote! I'm debating between three: Lillian, Fitted Tank, and Tulip. So many great choices! Ok, I'm off to rest for a bit and hopefully work on my PSC for a bit before supper.



Sunday, June 10, 2007

Vacationing and NO knitting!



I just returned the other night from Orlando, Florida. We went for 5 days and our itinerary was absolutely packed. We went to MGM, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Sea World and Typhoon Lagoon. It was about 90 degrees and exhausting! This is us at Magic Kingdom taking our own picture!

I brought my Lelah-Lotus Blossom Tank along and didn't touch it once. We were so busy each day and by the time we'd get back to the hotel at night we were beat. As much fun as it was-- it was equally draining.

Since I've been home I've had knitting on the brain. For some reason I feel like I'm over the Lelah-LBT. I know I should work on it but I'm not motivated to do so. The puff-sleeved cardigan from Fitted Knits had been sounding really good right now. Also, I want to make a baby hat for the BF's ex-gf who's having a baby in August. I know what you're all thinking-- it's weird for me to make her a gift for her unborn child but I really like making baby items, so it's really a selfish act. (Plus, I'm just being bitchy/catty/gossipy here, but she prego with the child of the guy that she left my BF for in the first place...kinda funny, huh!?)

So, I need to get back into the swing of things and get my creative juices flowing once again. Also, my bestfriend just got engaged so I have to start thinking about favors and wedding stuff to help her out...I am the Maid of Honor, afterall!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

KTE Prize!
When I got home yesterday afternoon, to my surprise, I had a package from Ireland in my mailbox! The ladies who organized the KTE, Teaandcakes and Tangelled Angel, sent me a little prize. The package included tea, a pen, a marker, hand lotion, chocolate, and a thank you note!


Thank you ladies-- you rock!