Saturday, November 26, 2005

oh, and happy thanksgiving too!

I know, I know, I disappeared again. For what it's worth, I pretty much disappeared from the entire internet in the past month, mostly because of work (even with the holiday weekend I still managed overtime this week, and the previous three weeks were all 50+ hours), but also because of...

...new apartment!!!

I didn't really want to move when I did (which was three weeks ago) but in retrospect I'm so glad I did, and I LOVE my new apartment. I'm in a 2-bedroom share in this funky doorman building on the Lower East Side. It's pretty much my dream apartment, and it's in my price range and everything! My fingers are crossed that I'll become permanent at work (which is going really well still -- we hired three new temps, so once they're trained, my workload should come down) by the time my roommate's lease is up, so that I can take it over. I have a ~10'x6' window that runs the length of my room, so I have plennnty of light if I want it (and pretty purple and gold curtains when I don't). AND I'm right around the corner from Downtown Yarns -- not necessarily a good thing, because it means I wind up dropping $50 on two skeins of Kaalund Expressions in Pacific when I run out "for pizza." But for all the OT I've been doing, I think I deserve a treat!

Knittingwise... the Kaalund is becoming my new Kiri, which is a much happier excursion than the (frogged) previous effort. The Alpaca Cloud from that is earmarked for the Peacock Feathers Shawl (though I may exchange for a new color -- I'm understandably sick of that shade of blue now :p). And in between, Ivete talked me into knitting a green-to-pink Charlotte's Web (it was inevitable!), which will be done as soon as I pick up a second skein of each of my last two colors. Stash reduction? What?

I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't seen GoF since it was actually released, but I did manage to see it twice before that :D -- one media screening and the NY premiere (after covering the red carpet for FictionAlley). I loooooved it, cried over the same part everyone else did, and I definitely must see it again. I have tons of knitting notes filed away in my head (house unity scarf! new Weasley sweater! twinhat! Ginny's woobie orange hat!) but 6am is not the time to get into that.

Since I've had a few emails, the animal cracker hat pattern is on hold until I'm actually out of work early enough to go to School Products to restock the Lamb's Pride that I used up at TWH. I can't even remember the last time I left early enough to be done yarnshopping at 6! sigh.

okay... back to bed for me.

Lauren posted at 6.38 on 11.26.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

pwnage!

At some point last year, I plotzed all over LJ about the way that Jany Temime has the Trio rewear clothing during the course of PoA, as though it's their favorite outfit -- Harry's navy tracksuit jacket, Hermione's pink zip-up, and Ron's Fair Isle Sweater of Hotness come to mind first. I was really tickled to see that level of attention being paid to the development of the kids' different styles, especially since the casualwear in SS and CoS was pretty disinteresting.

But now Jany's one-upped herself, because Fred and George's offwhite-and-blue hat from PoA is set to make an appearance at the Quidditch World Cup. Not only does that make me all sorts of happy as a geek in general, it ought to light a fire under my knitterly butt about finishing off (or, really, getting started on) the pattern for it. If the animal cracker hat turns up too, I give you all permission to prod me daily, because I'm sorta stalled out as it stands now.

(Also, plz to nag me about sending my camera for repair. I've got the funds -- about $200 -- set aside, I've just been too lazy to go get it packed and sent. I feel like a very bad person.)

Speaking of stalling out... apparently all I needed to do with the vest for String was bitch about it a bit, because I cast on the front on Saturday and finished it this afternoon. The ladies really like it, so I'm happy. I get my next project tomorrow or the day after, although I ought to start knocking out the super-cabley turtleneck my landlady wants. (She's got all this sportweight alpaca she bought in Bolivia and insists on paying me -- don't gotta tell me twice!)

The rest of this post will be spent replying to comments on the last few entries, so if you think it's awfully conceited when bloggers do this, you might as well scroll...

Laurence directed me to her free Kiri shawl pattern, which is currently duking it out with Peacock for the right to come into existence. I think Kiri may win, and not only because I shouldn't be spending $9.50 on a pattern right now. I think Peacock deserves to be done in some opulent variegated hair-of-some-sort/silk blend. I'm trying to be responsible for now, but I'm sure I'll be casting on in no time, because me? willpower? nuh uh.

Suzanne says that Alpaca Cloud is thicker(?!) than most laceweights, which makes me quake visibly in my flipflops. I'm sensing this is a very slippery slope, and one I'm likely to wind up at the bottom of in no time.

Knittingnurse asks which shade of Alpaca Cloud I got, and the answer is Stream. It took a lot of effort not to go with a shade of green, but I'm pleased with my choice. And as far as the Flirty Ruffles shawl goes, the ruffle is exactly the part that I like. I have 1760 yards of yarn, so I may just tack a ruffle onto whatever I make. For a girl who wears predominantly t-shirts and jeans, I sure do like my girly things.

And last but certainly not least, Karen encouraged me on the job front, which is muchly appreciated, because I've felt a bit woe-is-me the last few days. I have two interviews with temp agencies tomorrow (which doesn't quite explain why I'm up now blogging instead of sleeping) and an appointment about a permanent position on Wednesday, so fingers crossed. I know these things take time, but dammit, I need a job yesterday!

Lauren posted at 2.41 on 09.20.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

T minus 3.41 days

You'd think that after spending the weekend knitting and listening to the OotP audiobook, I'd have more to show for it. And yet!

I made a film Ravenclaw bookscarf, a clever little bookmark that looks like a PoA scarf. I untwisted the plies in my leftover Naturespun Worsted (colors: blue knight and silver sage) and knit with one ply on US1 dpns. It's the cutest thing ever - I duplicate-stitched my initials at one end and everything. Sooooo woobie. I'm a bit worried it'll be too thick to work well as a bookmark, but it's fine for this weekend - not like I'll be pausing my reading if I can help it!

I (mostly) swatched the twinhat colorwork using some spare Rowanspun DK on US4s, which actually achieved the fabric I want quite well. At first I was annoyed because I realized the colorwork works best as duplicate stitch, which makes for boring tube knitting with a couple color changes thrown in (sound familiar?). It turned out really nice, though. After HBP is out and I've recovered, I'll start looking for a sportweight yarn that's a good color match.

I did my stockinette swatch for Momma's Soleil, and I'm definitely gonna have to refigure the pattern a bit for worsted gauge instead of DK. It happens. :p

Last night I threaded black elastic in the ribbing of my Quidsleeves. Works like a charm, and I can barely see the elastic from the right side. There's Quidditch padding and a beater bat waiting for me on Long Island, and Payless has sneakers (eta: I'm back from Payless and I got a pair that's similar - not quite so close, they've got olive green on them too, but I can't complain about $18) that'll work for now. I daresay there will be many pictures taken on Friday, so I'll finally post some after that.

I may not get a chance to post again before Friday night, so if I don't, I hope everyone enjoys their release-night plans and manages not to get too traumatized in the aftermath of HBP. I've, um, heard some stuff ;) and it sounds as though it'll be worth the wait and the excitement and the anticipation. And if anybody's gonna be at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York, keep an eye out for a flock of Quidditch players! I'm the Ravenclaw, natch. :)

Lauren posted at 14.16 on 07.12.05 comments (0)

Friday, July 08, 2005

on a roll

I cast off my second Quidditch sweater sleeve last night. whoooohoo! And maybe I've come completely unhinged, but I actually think that my pair of bright blue ribbed, past-the-elbow armwarmer-like things looks sorta cool. Not like I need another pair of armwarmers, since I already have three pairs in yarns ranging from unplied merino to sari silk, but hey. I think I want to dye some elastic (if I can - anyone know whether the casing on thin elastic cord is nylon or polyester? I won't waste the dye if it's poly) and thread it through the inside of my ribbing, because I have a *ahem* slight tendency to flail uncontrollably when confronted with new Potter, and I don't need my fake sleeves falling off in the process.

I'm a few inches past the heel on my candy-colored socks using the Magic Stripes I bought upstate. I'm working four 2-stitch cables around the leg, so it's quick but not too boring. It's a little hard on my fingers, but I think I want to finish at least one sock before I go starting again on Jon's Koigu socks. Gonna just do some purl ridges on those, nothing fancy. I'm still a bit surprised he consented to a non-solid yarn in the first place. :)

Oh! I found my notes for Ron's animal cracker hat last night while hunting for another chart (my duplicate stitch letters, which I also found). I forgot that I'd only charted one repeat of the pattern, and on the same page that I started charting the twins' blue-and-white hat. Another project to work on instead of being even remotely responsible. Score!

My sunburn still hasn't gone away, though it's stopped being outright painful and started peeling instead. Great huge patches of new pink skin peeking through what had finally faded to a rather nice tan. It's just as attractive as it sounds. :p Especially sucks because it's actually been cool/rainy in New York the past few days, and I'm stuck in tank tops without a single cotton sweater to wear (wool seems like an inherently bad idea). Might hafta suck it up and do something about that sometime. O;)

eta: Eruantale is gauging interest on the weasleysweaters LiveJournal community in an HP knitting Room of Requirement (an informal meetup of attendees with a shared interest) at The Witching Hour symposium in Salem this October. Naturally I think it's a fantastic idea, and if you think so too, go leave a comment! You can comment anonymously, so it doesn't matter whether you have an LJ or not.

Lauren posted at 10.30 on 07.08.05 comments (0)