Another One Bites The Duster

Yeah, yeah, I'm not so great doing play on words.

The fact of the matter in the past 5 days I finished the skirt of the Duster, knit and sewn on the two sleeves and, as of last night, the collar.

Here is the collar that I slaved over, (not really), last night til 1 a.m. As I said on the KAL, I'm not going to keep the buttons I chose on this. They are too small and don't keep the collar buttoned. I'll go button shopping on Friday.

And a horrid picture of me, (because Shawn has no timing when it comes to taking a picture and me smiling):

The skirt is still curling a bit, even after trying to block it out a little. I hope with a little wash and wear it will flatten a bit. Damn those models and the pins they use in the magazines! I love this pattern though. And the yarn, (Berroco Peruvia), is so soft and warm. Here in So Cal we are getting a bit of cooler weather, (finally). Where I live it's notorious for wind. Day and night! (Which reminds me I need to pin down the BBQ cover.) So this will be a staple for Fall/Winter.

In other news: We are still looking for puppies. *sigh* It's not an easy task. I am adamantly against buying from pet stores. (We visited the one by our house and they were trying to sell an English Bulldog for $3,300!!!) And while I'd love to go through a breeder, this isn't really the season for puppies, (number one), and I don't want to pay $1,000 for a dog, (do breeders not know there is a lack of good homes out there?) I've gone through rescues and many don't want to sell to people who live in apartments, (nevermind that I used to be a Vet Tech and that I can provide a good home). So the next best thing? The shelter. And I just haven't found "the one". I would love to get another Australian Shepherd. My mom and I had one for 13 years and he was the best! But Shawn says they are ugly, (who does he think he is?). The next choice is a Golden Retriever. Third choice, German Shepherd. So we'll see what happens with this search.

I'm getting ready to add some knitting needle cases to Etsy soon. I admit I haven't been sewing as much as I'd like. I made the mistake of buying the pattern and fabric for Scout's Halloween costume and now my mom is too frustrated to help and won't stop telling me this was a "bad idea". *sigh* So I'm going to do it on my own. I hope. This year. Maybe. Next year.

As for everything else, well I'm working on my Secret of the Stole. I had to buy three crochet hooks before finding the right size one for the seed beads. But it's looking great. I, like others, am knitting each point separately so as not to be confused. Pictures to follow tomorrow. Maybe. Wednesday?

I wish I could be like some of the other Bloggers out there. You know, the ones who post pictures every day and they are always perfect. No clutter. No disruptive backgrounds. You know who I mean. Those Bloggers who live out of a freakin' Martha Stewart type house, who never have a hair out of place. Even the food they cook looks perfect. Pisses me off.

What I've Been Up To

Usually I'm pretty good about updating, but truth be told I haven't been doing anything of interest lately. I've been busy. But I haven't been interesting. There is a difference.

About two weeks ago I stopped by the library to pick up my books on hold. These are just a few of what I checked out. The lady at the desk was pretty surprised. There are actually four books missing from this pile, though the other four weren't all craft related:

The sad part? I'm returning all of them without using them. I went through them. I perused the basics. I perused the patterns. I perused the techniques. Nothing I didn't already know. (Not to say that I'm a know-it-all.) But they aren't very useful to me. I will say that "Family Knits" and "Chic Knits for Stylish Babies" have some neat patterns, but I'm not interested in, (another), all cabled sweater or intarsia knits for a 12 month old. Too much work with too little wear in my opinion.

Though I haven't been using the books, I have actually been doing a bit of craft:

This is one of the needle cases I'm working on. I'm thinking of calling it, "Dog's Life". The wrong side is a dark brown corduroy. As you can see, the right side is a bunch of cute doggies. I still have the seaming and pockets to do though. I did finish the pink and brown one for one of my sock pals though and I'm quite pleased.

I've even been knitting, though when I timed myself to see how long it took to knit one row of the Tilted Duster skirt I was shocked to see it took 10 minutes! I still have another 53 rows to go, which means 530 minutes, which means approximately 8.8 hours of knitting - just the skirt!

There's something funky going on, on one of the increase sides. I'm hoping it will block out.

I've also started my Hogwarts Sock Swap socks. I started them two nights ago and worked quite a few rows watching "Vacancy" on DVD last night. I'm almost to the heel. Four more pattern rows and I should be there. They are awfully pretty and Shawn even said he wanted me to make him socks out of the yarn. Looks like I'll have to order more.

It's a pattern from "More Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch, though I don't think you can really see the pattern until it's on the foot. I have decided to make a fold over cuff with a picot edge. I think they will make a really cute pair of socks.

AJ's thoughts on:

cats: Pepper has disappeared. She's been missing since Wednesday. Dalton hasn't really gone out looking for her, so I can only take that as he's happy she's gone. (She really antagonizes him.) We've all gone out calling her name and looking for her, but to no avail. She's probably living it up at a neighbors, who don't have kids dressing her up or babies making her sticky. I hope she's alright.

rain: It, (finally), rained here in Southern California. And a lot. Oh it was nice. It started on Friday night. Shawn ended up falling asleep pretty early. So, Dalton and I kept each other company on the balcony watching the rain come done over the street lights and watching the short lived lightning. I love falling asleep to the rain. I'd really be ok with it raining on a daily basis. I love it! (Perfect hot chocolate and chili weather, which we did Friday.)

sewing machines: they suck! I snapped a needle the other night going over some corduroy. The good news was that when I went to JoAnn's to get new needles I learned that they offer sewing classes. They are $40 for four 1 hour classes and they work with you on the basics. Which I need. So I'm hoping to sign up in a week.

money: I never have enough! I blame the yarn stores, the bead shops, the miles of fabric...I blame artsy fartsy kind of stuff that I think I need to learn. I'm repainting the bedroom. Enough said.

Me and my damn ideas.

Busy As a Bee

I've had a few busy days this past week. And I admit, I really haven't been prioritizing very well lately. I think this is where I fluctuate and am on a high. I have too many creative ideas. There are too many things I aspire to do. I want to do it all. And I try!

It started with a trip to downtown LA, (which if you don't live here, you will know it's not really the place to go). But there was a very good reason for me to go down there, (and drag poor Shawn with me). She is the reason:

Yes, I had a chance to see the Yarn Harlot. It was so much fun and she's such a hoot. I would have stayed longer to meet her, but we had gotten to LA at 1 p.m. and went down to the Garment District, (which is basically blocks of stores that sell fabrics, sewing machines, notions...). And I think by the time we were done at the auditorium, (which was at about 3:45), Shawn was ready to go. (I should say neither of us had eaten yet that day, because we woke up late and rushed to get downtown.)

When I got home, my Sock It To Me Sock Swap Pal sent me a very lovely gift of socks, a handsewn bag, candies, yarn and Bath and Body Works yummy stuff:

Thanks Jennifer!

And I did manage to get some knitting time in to work on this:

It's the bodice for the Tilted Duster. Actually, I worked on this at the SnB at the LYS on Friday night. Plus I started my second Monkey sock there too. Sunday I had to go back to the LYS and get some help working the shoulder seams. I hate stair stepping edges. They look horrible. So I ended up taking them out and doing a three needle bind off and now my shoulder seams look wonderful. I prefer the three needle bind off to seaming any day!

So since I got those three pieces done, I decided to skip the sleeves for the moment and work on the ribbing for the skirt. I'm about 2 or 3 inches into the ribbing. I need 16. Maybe longer. It will depend on how I like the length when I try it on.

I've also been doing quite a bit of sewing. And quite a bit of spending. Why didn't those of you sew tell me how terribly addicting buying fabric is. I gave up scrapbooking because of this. And here I am, a knitter, a beader and a sewer. What next?

This needle case still needs pockets. I haven't decided if I am doing DPN's or circulars yet. But this is for my Sock It To Me Pal. She likes pink!

I am hoping to do a few this week and add to the shop soon. I am doing an update right now on stitch markers. I sold a few at the SnB and there are a few new ones leftover. Take a look!

And a bit of sunshine for those cloudy and dark days:

Nora, this picture goes out to you!