Year: 2004

Ciao!

Sarah General

Well, I did get everything done – although, not without some problems. (Remind me to tell you about my felting disaster when I get back!)

There’s lots of other stuff I didn’t have time to write about, including the fact that Murphy’s 1-year-adoption anniversary was March 1st. (I didn’t forget, really, I just forgot to post about it!)

Also, a little housekeeping. If you’ve tried to comment in the past couple of days, you’ve probably noticed that you can’t. This is intentional. I occasionally get massive amounts of comment spam in a day, and I really don’t want that sort of thing hanging around for the whole time I’m gone. I’ll miss all the good comments, but I feel very strongly about not having my blog littered with inappropriate comments… Don’t worry, though, as soon as I get back and have constant access to my email I’ll turn them back on!

If I get a chance, I’ll try to blog from Italy, otherwise, I’ll be back in a week! Arrivederci!

Chewing As Fast As I Can!

Sarah General

OK, I admit it, maybe I bit off a little more than I can chew…

I still have three pair of pants that are pinned but not shortened,
a (lined) coat whose sleeves are three inches too long,
a tote bag with only one strap done that still needs felting and lining,
a leather purse/camera bag that is still in more pieces than it should be,
and a suitcase that only has various things I think I might pack piled in it.

How many hours are left until Saturday morning? How many of those hours need to be spent sleeping and working?

I thought about having the shortening done by someone else, but the super-fast place at the mall is gone, and the I can’t find anyone else who will do it in less than 5 business days. Which wouldn’t be a problem had I just decided to get this all done last week…except that I didn’t even get my coat until Monday. Gah! (Can you tell I’m a little panicked?)

One Week

Sarah General

Let’s see…

I only have the straps on my tote bag to finish knitting before I can felt it and make a lining, a couple of small alterations left on my purse/camera bag, and a pile of laundry left to fold. Oh, and a suitcase to pack, dog stuff to get ready and…

How did it get to be March already?!?

Blogging may continue to be a little sporadic. Too much to do, not enough time to do it all in – even with the leap day yesterday!

Acres of Charcoal Gray

Sarah Crafts

I’m finishing up mystery knit 2. All I have left to do is to finish sewing it together (and hiding the ends – which I left until the end so I could bury them in the seams) and sewing in a zipper. The attached i-cord took me way longer than I expected, so it did not end up being a finished object over the weekend. Maybe next weekend?

And then, since I’m really, really, really tired of charcoal gray wool, I think I’ll knit a quick, bright felted tote to carry on the plane with me to Italy. I’ll probably add a lining and have it (the lining) zip close at the top. Do you think that’s too ambitious? I did knit this same bag in just a couple of days at Christmas time, but then again, that included a several hour car ride…

Anyway, all of this is causing Rogue delays. The knit-along start date was Feb. 15th, but I can’t realistically see starting it until we get home from Italy. Oh, well. It’s definitely not going to be worn before next fall/winter anyway!

Dog Days of … Winter

Sarah Dogs

Here they are: the three amigos. They stay relatively still and attentive if you promise them food…well, until Molly gets bored, Murphy starts jumping, and Oscar runs around to sit on the other side!

I was hoping to get a picture of them when they were laying in a triangle, each touching both of the others, but as soon as I got up from the table to get the camera, three doggies instantly got up too so they could help me with any leftovers from lunch!

Swatch Out!

Sarah Crafts, Dogs

I got gauge! And only on my second try! Well, actually, I got stitch gauge, but not row gauge, but I still have to wash the swatch and see if it grows any.

In other news, Oscar is staying with us for the weekend, so I have three dogs chasing each other around the house right now. They don’t really stay still long enough to get any pictures, but I’ll see what I can do.

Look What Arrived!

Sarah Crafts

Twenty skeins of this gorgeous green wool came in the mail today! The yarn is from Ireland, aran weight, and as it says on the label “natural feeling”…in other words, it’s 100% wool, and not really soft enough for next-to-the-skin wear. But it is surprisingly soft. I can’t wait to see how it knits up!

I’m going to try to resist the temptation to do anything more than swatch for Rogue, though, since I’m trying to finish mystery knit 2…

There aren’t enough hours in a weekend, even when you take Friday off and make it a three-day weekend. But at least I managed to get some travel shopping done today — just a couple more things to find, and a couple of pairs of pants to shorten (yay) and I can start packing for Italy!

Terrible Twenty(something)s

Sarah Crafts

Do you ever wish you were still two and could have a tantrum when something really upset you?

Sometimes I do.

I guess that’s kind of silly. Especially since we’re not talking about some earth-shattering event here…just a mistake in the way a pattern was written, causing me to have to rip and re-do part of mystery knit 2. In the end, it was only an hour of my time, but I spent a lot longer than that dwelling on it. Isn’t knitting supposed to be enjoyed?

Thankfully, my yarn from Ireland for Rogue hasn’t turned up on my doorstep yet, so I had no distractions from ripping and re-doing. I’m hoping for a finished project by the end of the weekend, although it involves a lot of attached i-cord (which I’ve never done), and a zipper (which I don’t have yet). So, maybe there will be a mostly finished project by the end of the weekend…

Silliness

Sarah General

If you want to laugh – or maybe cry – get your hands on the Star Wars episode of the Muppet Show. Denis got the DVD for Christmas, and we watched it then, but I watched it again last night…it’s bad. Really awful, in fact. But it’s also funny in a “can-this-possibly-get-any-worse?!?” sort of way.

Images of C-3PO tap dancing are currently stuck in my head…

What’s One More Project?

Sarah Crafts

You knew it had to happen, right?

Given my current level of dissatisfaction with the projects I’m working on, you knew there would have to be something new…

I went ahead and joined the Rogue-Along! Of course, I don’t have the yarn yet, only the pattern…the yarn is (knock wood) winging its way here from Ireland as I type.

In the meantime, I’m being very, very good, and making fantastic progress on mystery knit 2. Yeah, I know, I started it more than 5 months ago. It was going to be a Christmas gift, then a birthday gift, then a Valentine’s day gift. Now we’re looking at…what…a Mardi Gras gift? Maybe. Especially if that new yarn takes a few more days to arrive!