He got it he got it!

My pal for the International Scarf Exchange got his scarf today! That means I can post pictures without fear!

Here is the scarf and hat set:



That hat look familliar? It was the one modelled by my lil-sis, did I trick you? Huh?

Now the secret of the scarf:



It's an illusion scarf with skulls! I modified the chart here for the illusion skull pattern.

I'm so glad he likes it!

I made a Pi!

A Kitty Pi, that is.

I had this brilliant idea to have my sister's dog, Zoe, model it pre-felting. Of course, my mom decided that it was a better size for the beagle Bandit. Unfortunately Bandit is not a dog that will do what you say just because you say it. So she got turkey. Chaos erupted.



Zoe crumpled the bed in her attempts. The dogs just couldn't believe that "Sit" was a trick that warranted turkey. They broke out the full retinue of tricks - speak, twirl around, jump in the air, attempted backflips...

Finally Bandit believed it.



And now the post-felting picture:



That's actually a ceramic bowl much larger than a pie pan. I think the kitties will fit just fine.

Knitting away!

What else would I be doing on my break?

I guess the number of projects I brought for the trip wasn't totally insane. I'm currently working on 3 at once, and I've already finished this hat:



Which my sister is modelling in her new Cutie (Pi) sweatshirt, which I got for her, and the fleece PJ pants I bought her a couple of years ago. I have to keep the girl in clothes!

One of the other projects is a modified version of the kitty pi, which my family thought was a hat! This morning my sister walked out and asked if I was making a hat, and I said no, it was the bottom of a cat bed. She thought it was a beret. Then my mom said she didn't even ask what it was because she knew it was a beret.

So that solved the problem of which icon to use for the progress on the sidebar. Kitty Pi: a really really big hat.

I don't like red.

So, of course, everyone I know just LOVES red. You may recall the red socks I made for my mom long ago, or the black and red scarf I made for my sister...

Well, I'm at it again. A black and red striped hat. It's a gift for someone - but just because you like black and red doesn't mean it's for you - I know at least four people who name black and red as their favorite color combination.

ARGH.

A couple of pictures

At some point (did I forget to post it here?) I finished my 2nd Tivoli. The purple one with blue stars. I took this picture of it blocking shortly before running out the door to go to the airport, and it's not great, but here it is anyway:



While I was on the plane (mostly) I made a hat for my friend Brian in Karabella Aurora 8. It's just a simple ribbed hat, but it's nice and soft. I think he likes it! (He also approves of CTHGSY.)

I'm totally crazy about knitting...

I'm packing for a trip to Seattle and Oregon for the next couple of weeks (returning Jan 3) and I'm making a little list.

Here's the knitting portion of the list:

Knitting:
Yarn for Kitty Pi
Topsecret and pattern
Denmark socks and pattern
Conwy socks and pattern
Brian’s hat
Secret Pal scarf, chart, extra yarn
Malabrigo and ribbed scarf pattern

Can you tell I'm a bit... hopeful... about the amount of knitting I'll get done. ;)

To the movies! (Chapter Two)

I know you are all eagerly awaiting the second part of the story of me and CTHGSY. Ok, maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway. :P

On Sunday morning I slept in due to my late night at the party on Saturday. I showered and dressed and CTHGSY and I headed out to meet Alexis and see Brokeback Mountain. CTHGSY agreed to pose for this picture out front:



I love a guy that can go to movies I like. Especially movies where I'm drooling over another guy! (Heath Ledger...)

After the movie we were a bit hungry, so I got an avocado bagel and CTHGSY got a hot chocolate.



After that we went to Knitsmiths and CTHGSY hung around while I knitted. Note the intense look of weirdness concentration! I was ignoring him completely while knitting away on my DNA scarf.



After knitting group he accompanied me to my lab's holiday party. It's always awkward taking your sweetie to a work party, but he behaved admirably.

Argh!

I forgot to take a picture of the DNA scarf, and I gave (sent actually, she was taking her Genetics final in a different room than my students) it to the recipient this morning! I asked her if she would send me a picture, though, so hopefully she will. :)

And now a meme-type-thing from Grumperina

How about you? Who knows about your knitting and your knitting blog, and what are your reasons for revealing (or not) its existence to these folks?

Hmm... who knows about my knitting blog?

1. Lots of people I don't know IRL
2. My knitting friends and fellow SnB members
3. My ex-boyfriend (who found it on his own, smart boy!)
4. People who pay attention to my Livejournal, because I sometimes mention it there

People who don't know:

My non-knitting friends, unless they fall into #4 above. My coworkers also don't know about it, but if I thought they were interested I'd tell them. I don't think my family knows about it either, which is good because I always post their presents before I give them. :)

Finished the DNA scarf

No picture yet, it's blocking. I'm so glad to be done. I have to get to bed because the Genetics final is tomorrow. I'm a TA, I'm not taking it. ;)

I'll have my Topsecret to work on during the test, should be fun.

It all started in chat: Life with CTHGSY Chapter 1

On Friday night (actually early Saturday morning) I was hanging out in Knittyboard chat wasting time, and then this happened:

01:27:19 [stariel] cherry tree hill glittery sock yarn - if I could marry an inanimate object...
01:27:39 [D_Overlord] lol stariel
01:28:16 [stariel] CTHGSY and I wouldn't ever fight over which way to hang the TP in the bathroom
01:28:27 [stariel] he wouldn't scold me for eating all the chocolate either
01:29:01 [D_Overlord] and it would keep you warm at night, stariel
01:29:11 [marymac] I don't think CTHGSY likes chocolate.
01:29:19 [monkee] People fight over which way to hang TP? There's only one right way.

Well, things led to... more things, and it was decided that I must document my perfect life with CTHGSY. Because I have much secret knitting going on at the moment, there couldn't be a better time. (Excuse the pictures, this episode was taking on my camera phone, which doesn't do well in the dark.)

On Saturday morning CTHGSY and I slept in. Then we went to the mall to go shopping with Brit, of the Britpop hat fame. We did some holiday shopping, then stopped for Starbucks on our way out into the now dark world.



What a man! Not only did he go shopping with me (and, did I mention, a friend!) but he didn't complain once! We headed over to censored location to buy a present for my little sister, but alas, it was closed. Then we headed on the T.



Brit departed to go to dinner, and CTHGSY accompanied me to a party. Did I say yet what a great guy CTHGSY is? He didn't know anyone at the party, and he still came along with no complaint. He didn't nag me or ask to go home early. He let me mingle and didn't cling to my side the whole party. In fact, we did nothing but what I wanted to do all day! CTHGSY really is a great boyfriend.

Another FO!!!

I finished my very first self-designed something (other than a hat or scarf or bag, that is). The Zebra Shell:



I know, the picture is crummy. But I took it myself in the mirror after 10pm with no pants on, ok? Don't be so picky!

Too bad the yarn (which was all the same dyelot) made a stripe, it's actually quite comfy. This was just the test knit, though, so it's all good. The real one shall be in Nature Cotton.

Yeah, I'm knitting...

Well, I'm knitting something secret (the scarf for the International Scarf Exchange) but you can't see that. It's a secret, ok!

And I'm knitting the DNA scarf, which I've neglected to take a picture of. But there's a picture here on the Knitsmiths site. I didn't take it, but it's a picture anyway...

Things are more-than-slightly busy around here. ;)

Oh so many things to knit...

I'm at that point where I only have a few WIPs:

1. The Zebra shrug - about 95% done
2. The DNA scarf - about 25% done
3. Denmark socks - just started
4. Conwy socks - about 12.5% done (1/4 done with one sock)

But #2 is not portable (and will likely be finished tonight) and #1, #3, and #4 are not mindless TV knitting.

I need some new projects.

Here is my ever growing list of things I want to knit:

1. AV sweater - have yarn
2. My So-Called Scarf - have either Manos or yummy Malabrigo
3. Yet another Multidirectional Scarf - in the one not used for MSCS above
4. Kate - in extra Brown Sheep
5. Pomatomus - Do I ever not have sock yarn?
6. Tubey - actually need to buy yarn for this
7. Topsecret - have yarn
8. Broad Street Mittens - have Baby Ull
9. Jaywalker - Yeah, socks, you get it...
10. Kepler - I think I have yarn, must check gauge

And many more socks. Lots and lots of socks. I have another sock book on the way...

Mail call!

Today when I got home I had a package from my Knittyboard Holiday SP! Actually, I already knew since it came UPS and I had to buzz the UPS guy into the building from my cell phone at work - don't we love technology?

I unwrapped the (very secure) brown paper and tape to reveal this box:



Inside I found this lovelyness on top of the tissue:



a needle gauge, a new pet monkee, a cute card, and some sparkley stars - which I'm trying hard to keep away from the kitties. :)

The inside of the tissue looked like this:



with closeups of the food/pamper half:



a key lime pie candle (Yum!), lime and coconut body wash, scone mix, chocolate, and tea. Wow!

And now for the most important:



Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted!!!!! This stuff is amazingly beautiful, and washable. I'm going to have to start planning.... Also some cute glow stars which I'll find a way to put up in my room this weekend.

Thanks so much Holiday SP!

Snow and socks!

Today there was quite a bit of snow. I trudged (OK, not really, they do clear the sidewalks pretty well near my house) on my way to Knitsmiths and took this picture:



While there I started the toe decreases on these socks, which I don't believe have even made it to the blog:



They're for the Solid Socks KAL as well as the Holiday Knits Sox Exchange (so you'll know you're my pal if you get these socks in a week or so...)

And here's the picture just before I (don't worry, secret sock pal) washed and blocked them:

SP5 package #3

So, here's my final package from my Knittyboard SP5, dreamy!

First off, I opened the box to discover this cute blue snowman bucket:



which barely contained all the goodies - which is why it isn't closed in the picture. ;)

Inside I found:



Some cute knitting notecards, a picture frame, a metal star ornament, gift tags, an origami bookmark, and a little Miss Flirt pin!



Snowflake tissues, snowflake mitten soap, STAR bath bombs!!!, and a present to be opened at Christmas. I don't know what's inside that. :)

And now for the knitting stuff:



A cute measuring tape, a thingie to pull yarn ends in, a blue yarn needle, a little blue sewing kit, a blue knitting loom and hook thingie, and last but certainly not least... Three skeins of Moda Dea Eden. Destined to become a fuzzy scarf. :D

Thanks once again Dreamy, you've been a great SP!!!

Belated Pictures

I took these pictures right before leaving for Seattle, meaning to post them there. As you can see, I didn't get around to it. Well, here goes:

A whole bunch of swap yarn:



There is Manos, Lorna's Laces, Koigu, Bearfoot, and much much more! I don't usually post about my stash, but this has literally doubled it, so I thought I should post it here. ;)

And the lovely Monkee sent me this lovely pixie hat that she made:



Thanks Monkee! (Yes, I have a weird look on my face. I was trying to check my profile while taking a picture of myself in the mirror.)

And here are the Harry Potter scarves:



This time it's not me with a funny look on my face. ;)