Chameleon Scarf and First Game of the Season

I started working on a pattern out of the Interweave Knits I bought yesterday--the Chameleon Scarf. It's going to be one of those projects that is kind of boring to make, but a great finished product. Here's some pics:



All stacked up:






Laid out so far:






Also......BRAVES BASEBALL STARTS TONIGHT IN LESS THAN 1 HOUR!!! Woohoo!!!





P.S. I forgot to mention in my last post that I ribbed the hat I was working on (the yellow and blue one). I finished it and it was horrendous. I thought about letting it sit for awhile with the hopes that it might grow on me, but it took me about three minutes after binding off to realize that it was awful and had to go away. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I'm finally an adult!!!!!

Well, chronologically I've been an adult for five years now, but I finally FEEL like an adult because I FINALLY landed a full time job!! With benefits!! It doesn't pay a whole lot, but that's okay because it will be good experience in my field and the cost of living in my town is very reasonable--reasonable enough that I've been able to survive off of a part time job for the past few months, although it hasn't been very fun or comfortable. I'll be working at a behavioral health center as a mental health tech. I don't fully know what that entails yet, but I'm excited nonetheless.

I thought now would be a good time to revisit my "non-resolutions" from the beginning of this year and see how much has happened these first three months of 2008:

1. Get a full time, post-college job that I actually enjoy - Got the job and hopefully I'll enjoy it!
2. Get accepted to grad school for the fall, and if not, then make a second go round at applying for next year. - I applied to 6 and have been rejected from 4--still waiting on the other two.
3. Knit when I feel like it, not when I feel like I should (same goes for shaving my legs) - I think I've done a pretty good job with this--thankfully I've felt like knitting a lot lately.
4. Go to Braves Spring Training again - not this year, but maybe next (?)
5. Get a massage (hopefully soon, since this is one of my graduation gifts from my friends!) - no, but soon I hope, I could sure use one.
6. Go to a casino with $20 and see what happens - not yet.
7. Ride some roller coasters - not yet.
8. Write when the urge hits me - I've been better about this than in the past, but still not as much as I should.
9. Stand up for myself and my beliefs - working on it.
10. Take more pictures - working on it.
11. Ride with the sunroof down - YES! And it's been amazing!!
12. Love my body - hmm....
13. Love my neighbors - doing my best.
14. Beat my Dad in Rummy every time - maybe not every time, but most :)
15. Expand my boundaries in every sense - working on this one too.
16. Get a pattern published - not yet, but I definitely have some unique ideas floating around
17. Sleep in until 10:30 every once in a while - I slept in until 10:20 a couple of weeks ago on accident...and then I felt lazy...
18. Tell people how much they mean to me - I could always be better about this.

So far, so good I think. The only one I can't do now is number 4 because ST is over, officially, today. I'll just have to go to extra regular season games to make up for it.

In knitting news, I just finished two bib and burp cloth sets for a coworker who is expecting in about a month and that's been fun. I've never knit for babies before, but I found the process completely gratifying--there's something very enjoyable about knitting practical items. I mean, I love knitting beautiful items as well, but when something can be put to use, that makes me happy. I also knit a hat this week, one of my own design which was a lot of fun, because it's the first time I've invented a successful pattern, right down to the stitch. I'm trying to rid myself of pattern dependency to a certain degree. On that note, I did buy the Spring '08 Interweave Knits today. Oh well, I like the pictures...

I'll try to post some pictures of my new hat tomorrow, and of whatever I'll be casting on tonight. Happy weekend!!

Finished Penelope Bag

So I decided to felt the Penelope bag and I'm pretty happy with the results, but I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to line it.



I feel like I should, but I'm kind of lazy, honestly. And I'm not very good at sewing.


I started making a hat this week, which is kind of silly since it's warming up and hats will no longer be needed for the year, but there's always next year.



I got the pattern off of Ravelry, which continues to rock my world. I'm not sure if I like the color combination or if it's too bright, but I love the pattern.
This week I'm going to work on some baby knits for a girl at work who's due in a month and a half, so that should be fun. Other than that, I plan on enjoying the warm weather and sunshine for as long as it lasts.

To felt or not to felt

My Penelope inspired bag is almost complete--both side panels are done and now I'm working on the bottom, sides and strap. I'm still torn over whether to felt or not. If I don't felt, I'll have to line the bag, which I've never done, but I really like the way the pattern looks unfelted. If I do felt it, it'll have mroe structure and I won't necessarily have to line it, but it wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't know...I'll probably felt it...or not...I'm very ambivalent aobut it as you can see.

I have no new knitting pictures to share, but I do have a picture of my new haircut. I probably hopped off about four inches, give or take.

I'm happy with it, but the day after I got it done I wore it curly and at first I looked like Little Orphan Annie, but it settled down after an hour or so.

I also got my first grad school rejection letter this week. I won't be going to Princeton, it seems. Oh well, 5 more chances after this. I wish I could get my $75application fee back though...

Knitting with my Cascade

My first project with the Cascade I bought a couple of weeks ago is going to be a bag, though I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to felt it. At first I thought I would, but now I'm not sure because I really like the way it's looking unfelted.



The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting, but the project is inspired by the trailers I've seen for the movie Penelope with Christina Ricci. In the previews, she's wearing a scarf with this pattern and for the past couple weeks every time I've seen one of the previews I kept thinking, I love that pattern, and I knew I had seen it somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. Then it dawned on me that it was in either the Mason-Dixon Knitting book or Alterknits. Sure enough I found it in the first and the pattern is suprisingly easy--much easier than I was anticipating. I am done with one side panel and just cast on for the second, so it's a pretty quick knit too.

More pictures to come!

Not much new...

I don't have much to update--I haven't done a whole lot of knitting this week, mostly because I've worked a lot more this week than usual, which is great. My second toe-up Broadripple is almost done and progess has been made on Pamela's Cape. I still don't know what to do with all the Cascade I bought a couple of weeks ago--any suggestions??

I'll try to post a better update with pictures within the next few days!

Socks and Augusten Burroughs

My toe-up Broadripple socks are coming along, slowly but surely.

Their progress has been impeded by ther life adventures such as the never ending job search and this: http://www.digyourowngrave.com/flight-of-the-hamsters/ which I don't recommend clicking on if you are easily addicted to stupid games.

I also haven't had a chance to think about what I want to do with all my beautiful Cascade. I think for the Noro sock yarn I might do Monkey (from Knitty). I think I'm starting to feel a little sock burn out though. I knew it would happen eventually, but maybe once I finish the Broadripple, I'll feel motivated enough to cast on one more pair.

I've been doing some work on Pamela's Cape, and hopefully I can have that done soon. I feel bad because this is definitely a cold weather garment and pretty soon it's not going to be cold enough for Pamela to wear it. It's taking longer than I expected, but it's definitely been fun figuring things out as I go along. I just hope the finished product is worthy of the person it's going to.

Lastly, in non-knitting news, I found this at Barnes and Noble the other day in the bargain section:

It's a British printing of Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking. I'm so excited--I love the cover (compared to the U.S. version) and it was on clearance so it only cost me $3.50 which is great for my budget right now. Not to mention it makes me feel more worldly to have a book printed in another country...I'm so lame sometimes...

Anyway, since I have the day off today, I'm going to work very hard to finish up the last two panels on Pamela's cape and if I have time after that, I'll put some more work into the second Broadripple!