new glasses. new yarn and a new WIP. sometimes i need a little new.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
mister ups man, bring me a dream!
a few weeks ago, my long-time pal (and original knitting teacher!) malaraky asked me if i wanted to do a mini knit-along for stefanie japel's textured tunic, since we both had it in our ravelry queues.
umm, yes please!
i immediately hit up my favorite online yarn stores to see if i could find a deal on something that would get me somewhere near the right gauge. this one's tricky - the yarn called for is a heavy worsted bordering on bulky. lucky for me, WEBS was having a huge sale on rowan ryc soft tweed! single ply, pink tweedy goodness? yumm...
of course, the yarn has been sitting in an ups depot 16 miles away for three days and i'm dying here. i haven't cast on for anything new because i don't want to be distracted when this yarn arrives - goodness knows i don't need another WIP. jemima, well, i'm planning to rip out a major side/sleeve seam and block before finishing, and i just haven't been in the right frame of mind for something so unpleasant; life's been too unpleasant lately. but i did rip snow white so i can cast on the next size up when i'm ready. that's something. and the new yarn's out for delivery today!
while i was at it, i ordered some rowan big wool for this:
could anything be more jennifer ehle in bbc's pride & prejudice? well, maybe if the sleeves weren't so belled. and in my version, the sleeves won't be so belled!
so this weekend while my hands were crazy itching for my new yarn, i had to knit something. and i recently joined hat attack!. this is probably one of the most insane ravelry/yahoo groups i've associated myself with, and it's silly fun. basically on feb 9 i'll get an email with the mailing address of my target, along with a hat pattern i need to knit up quick quick quick. i have to finish the hat and get it in the mail to my target before my hat assassin sends a hat to me. then i get the info for my target's target, along with their partially-finished hat. see how optimistic i am about this one? anyway, the gauge has been released for the pattern so i've been swatching in preparation - a little head start, if you will...
oh yeah, i'm gonna kick at this thing!
umm, yes please!
i immediately hit up my favorite online yarn stores to see if i could find a deal on something that would get me somewhere near the right gauge. this one's tricky - the yarn called for is a heavy worsted bordering on bulky. lucky for me, WEBS was having a huge sale on rowan ryc soft tweed! single ply, pink tweedy goodness? yumm...
of course, the yarn has been sitting in an ups depot 16 miles away for three days and i'm dying here. i haven't cast on for anything new because i don't want to be distracted when this yarn arrives - goodness knows i don't need another WIP. jemima, well, i'm planning to rip out a major side/sleeve seam and block before finishing, and i just haven't been in the right frame of mind for something so unpleasant; life's been too unpleasant lately. but i did rip snow white so i can cast on the next size up when i'm ready. that's something. and the new yarn's out for delivery today!
while i was at it, i ordered some rowan big wool for this:
could anything be more jennifer ehle in bbc's pride & prejudice? well, maybe if the sleeves weren't so belled. and in my version, the sleeves won't be so belled!
so this weekend while my hands were crazy itching for my new yarn, i had to knit something. and i recently joined hat attack!. this is probably one of the most insane ravelry/yahoo groups i've associated myself with, and it's silly fun. basically on feb 9 i'll get an email with the mailing address of my target, along with a hat pattern i need to knit up quick quick quick. i have to finish the hat and get it in the mail to my target before my hat assassin sends a hat to me. then i get the info for my target's target, along with their partially-finished hat. see how optimistic i am about this one? anyway, the gauge has been released for the pattern so i've been swatching in preparation - a little head start, if you will...
oh yeah, i'm gonna kick at this thing!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
no good can come of duarte
one of the reasons i'm not going totally crazy living in LA is that one weekend you can be on the top of the world and it looks like this*:
and then the next weekend you can be on the top of the world and it looks like this**:
yes, folks, you can find some serious snow less than an hour's drive from los angeles. and boy did i need it this weekend...
mr b's EC titer results came in yesterday, and they're just as high as lil b's. looks like both my little guys have some unwelcome brain parasites. lil b's progress on the fenbendaz is promising, though - she's still stumbling quite a bit but her head isn't tracking to the right as often anymore. and mr b has yet to show signs of any neurological issues, so... fingers crossed the meds prevent it from progressing to that state.
ah, why oh why can't things just be easy?!
(knitting? tomorrow, please.)
*mount lowe, a nice, dusty 2.7 mi trek up up up!
**mount baldy, a nice, wet who knows how far up. we got as far as the ski lodge and then lost the trail to the skiers!
and then the next weekend you can be on the top of the world and it looks like this**:
yes, folks, you can find some serious snow less than an hour's drive from los angeles. and boy did i need it this weekend...
mr b's EC titer results came in yesterday, and they're just as high as lil b's. looks like both my little guys have some unwelcome brain parasites. lil b's progress on the fenbendaz is promising, though - she's still stumbling quite a bit but her head isn't tracking to the right as often anymore. and mr b has yet to show signs of any neurological issues, so... fingers crossed the meds prevent it from progressing to that state.
ah, why oh why can't things just be easy?!
(knitting? tomorrow, please.)
*mount lowe, a nice, dusty 2.7 mi trek up up up!
**mount baldy, a nice, wet who knows how far up. we got as far as the ski lodge and then lost the trail to the skiers!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
testing, testing
lil b's titer came back on the high end of the moderate-positive block. i'm told this means her body has produced a high number of antibodies to combat the e. cuniculi parasite. while we can't be 100% certain that EC is the cause of her neurological issues, it's definitely the best guess. there is no cure and there is a good chance she will have balance issues for the rest of her life - if not constantly, then on and off.
i can't wait to get home from work and spend some time with my little girl. now i know we've got to get her used to this disability so as not to impact her quality of life because it's probably not going to go away.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
over & over again
let's start out with some knitting, shall we? it's been a long, long time since we've seen any knitting on here. that doesn't mean i haven't been hard at work!:
jemima is almost done; i've only the seaming, button band, and collar left. i'd probably have all of that finished up but for a wayward sleeve, seen above, which required extensive ripping twice (hence the lifeline at the bottom of the cap). okay, maybe it's not fair to blame the sleeve. but i'm sure glad we made up! the frog tree yarn is deliciously soft and light and i can't wait to get this sweater put together.
lil bunny is much the same; still tilting toward the right day in and day out. so i decided to force her to try to hop about.
she's a bit scared to move with anything other than the most tentative of steps (and even that, not often); i'm nervous her muscles might start to atrophy if this goes on too long. so out into the living room she came, with cole to help nudge her along.
baby steps.
jemima is almost done; i've only the seaming, button band, and collar left. i'd probably have all of that finished up but for a wayward sleeve, seen above, which required extensive ripping twice (hence the lifeline at the bottom of the cap). okay, maybe it's not fair to blame the sleeve. but i'm sure glad we made up! the frog tree yarn is deliciously soft and light and i can't wait to get this sweater put together.
lil bunny is much the same; still tilting toward the right day in and day out. so i decided to force her to try to hop about.
you want me to what?
she's a bit scared to move with anything other than the most tentative of steps (and even that, not often); i'm nervous her muscles might start to atrophy if this goes on too long. so out into the living room she came, with cole to help nudge her along.
baby steps.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
happy new year?
where to start? lil b - she's doing okay. we have her on several meds while we await the results of some tests. it's probably either an inner ear infection or this. fingers crossed it's the former, as there's no cure for the latter (and it's contagious amongst the bunnies - yay). at least it's generally not fatal - just sometimes physically debilitating. poor girl is still very dizzy and not terribly mobile but at least now she's found a way to control a nasty head tick that she was unable to shake for about 24 hours.
so. what's a stressed and worried girl to do? why, watch as her friends make light of themselves with some good 'ole high school musical karaoke.
we sure know how to party, don't we?
* * *
now that it's the new year, i can finally show off my secret holiday projects! first up is a baby sweater i've dubbed ellie berry for my little niece baylie.
oh, isn't she just the cutest thing? here's a close-up on the sweater; i'm in love with the buttons!:
and here are a couple of hats for b's family, quietly blocking:
and before i head to bed, i just have to show off all the amazing knitting and sewing books i received over the holidays from family and friends, all of which are geared towards helping me create original garments. i love you guys!
so. what's a stressed and worried girl to do? why, watch as her friends make light of themselves with some good 'ole high school musical karaoke.
we sure know how to party, don't we?
now that it's the new year, i can finally show off my secret holiday projects! first up is a baby sweater i've dubbed ellie berry for my little niece baylie.
oh, isn't she just the cutest thing? here's a close-up on the sweater; i'm in love with the buttons!:
and here are a couple of hats for b's family, quietly blocking:
and before i head to bed, i just have to show off all the amazing knitting and sewing books i received over the holidays from family and friends, all of which are geared towards helping me create original garments. i love you guys!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
