Peg is also late

Dear Meg,

Now I am the late one! 20, 13 and 15 page papers to write and all that- oh, I will be SO happy when this semester is over. I’ve barely even knit anything worth mentioning. Thanksgiving was fun, spent it in San Antonio with my sister and her husband; it was warm and fabulous. My parents are moving to Houston (!) in January and so I’ve been looking for a few good knit cotton sweaters/shirt patterns to make, since my big thick sweaters are not going to be of much use.


1. Are you seriously making a KNITTED and also FELTED Christmas wreath!? I must see this creation, and make one for me. One for every door in the house sounds perfect. I did not bother with knitting gifts this year, or even doing anything creative...maybe one stocking for my great aunt, but that’s only if I finish soon.


2. That cardigan will be gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see it all done. I know you will finish it.


3. Lucky, lucky you. I personally think that things made in the same yarn automatically match, and stockinette would be perfect for a beret- it would benefit from the sturdier fabric. As for design, I swear I saw something in a ‘hat’s book that was shaped like a hat- like the big cardboard kind?- that had some sort of beret.


I love the manly scarf idea, and dishcloths are a great present. Have you seen the ones in the Mason Dixon book? Insane. I really covet that book.


As for the DCE, you obviously need that lace mohair. I need some double points. Let’s go.


I have not been doing much besides schoolwork, with the occassionaly Grey’s break- meaning only about 1 hour (!) of knitting time a week. I did, however, finally finish at least the body of the sweater made from the yarn bought at DCOE.




It has a lace pattern at the hem that is pretty much impossible to photograph. I will probably add slightly bell sleeves with the same lace pattern, but not right now.





Also? Knitted dog and pup. There is a third one is in the making. Why? I'm going to go with, 'Because I can.' Also, our Star Wars tree is a thing of glory:





Love,
Peg

Carnival of the Colors...

Peg ...

It's been so very long. Close to a month, even. Over a month, actually. I had been doing so well with the posting/school/knitting, but that all disappeared with the appearance of a certain someone for a week. After that, everything went to hell, so to speak, and all I've been doing since he left is knitting and studying. More knitting than studying, as usual, which is probably why Wee has made the top 30% of our pharmacy class and I ... haven't. To be honest, I wouldn't deserve it anyway because I don't put near as much time and effort into pharmacy school as I do knitting. Big surprise, right? You would never think that of me!

Anyway ... congratulations to Wee, we must have a celebratory party for her and force her to knit. What do you think? A plan in the making?

On to the knitting ... and there has been much to speak of ... there would be pictures if I hadn't spent all my money on yarn, birthday presents and clothes and not saved any for a new battery charger, but we'll skip over that part ...

1. Icarus is on hold. For awhile. I just don't have the time for lace knitting when I want to get sweaters done. And Christmas scarves. And Christmas dishcloths. And even a Christmas wreath, knitted! And felted! Feel the excitement building ...

2. My Atacama cardigan ... it was on hold, then I measured it for no apparent reason and realized I only had to do about 15-20 more rows before I could start armholes. Now, 1 row is 232 stitches, so that was no small feat, but it was heartening enough for me to actually pick it back up and work on it some more. I am now at the point where I am decreasing for the armholes, then I'll knit up to the shoulder shaping and then I can start the sleeves. I will have this thing done before I go to England. I will.

3. The new Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino cabled scarf in cream. The boy brought this over from England (8 skeins!) and I decided I'm going to make a cabled scarf to wear over there. The Eiffel Wrap is going to be saved for Paris, but this is going to be worn as frequently as possible. Like, every day that it's cold enough. And even when it isn't cold enough I still plan to wear it. I have almost 2 skeins finished, then on to the 3rd. I think 5 will make a long enough scarf, and then I might try to make a beret-type hat. I'll be in Paris, France ... I should be like them! However, I think that might take quite a bit of yarn, I need to find a pattern for one first. A cabled scarf I can design ... berets? Not so much. And would it be acceptable to make a stockinette stitch beret hat with an intricately cabled scarf? I think so, but I need your opinion!

4. An unbegun project. A scarf for my stepdad. He goes to Europe all the time, so I'm not getting him anything from there, he wouldn't care about it. I think he'd appreciate a new scarf much more. I'm making one from scarf style, but the book is currently at my house, and I'm in the 4th floor computer lab so ... I'll have to give the name of the scarf next time. It's knit with 2 colors, and each side is one of the colors ... a very unique concept, hopefully he likes it. It's considered a man's scarf, and I got very masculine colors, so it should work!

5. Endless amounts of dishcloths. As soon as I finish one, I start another. These are the presents for the rest of the boy's family who aren't close enough kin to warrant their own scarf. They get dishcloths. I think it's a pretty good substitute ... I want to make everybody something because that's just what I do. I make stuff for no apparent reason (like Icarus ... do I really need another shawl? Probably not, but I still make them ....)

6. Hmmm ... there aren't really any other projects that I'm really working on or planning to work on lately. Oh yes, the Steeler scarf for my best friend's boyfriend ... poor guy, I've been promising to make him a scarf for over a year now, and I just make stuff for his girlfriend and myself. I have the black yarn ordered from (yikes!) DCE ... but I'm going to visit there every so often just in case it comes in and she doesn't call me. Besides ... she has a GORGEOUS lace mohair and that's my absolute worst weakness. As soon as I find an appropriate pattern and can justify it ... that yarn is mine, baby. It's perfect ocean colors, albeit a darker ocean. Like an ocean during a tropical thunderstorm, the dark blue-greens all swirled together to make it more dramatic and romantic. It's simply food for the soul, making everything fade away as the imagination gets lost in the colors ... Ok, getting a little philosophical here, moving swiftly on ...

7. I just remembered ... this is the aforementioned wreath from 1. It's in KnitSimple (I think ... don't quote me on that) and is absolutely adorable. I won't have time to finish it for this Christmas, but for next I would like to have it done to hang ... somewhere. On a door, perhaps, or in a window. The ideal thing would be to make enough for ALL THE WINDOWS IN THE FREAKING HOUSE. But my mother would probably be like, what is wrong with you? Are you on drugs? And I would respond ... no, but I can tell you all about the drugs I COULD be on, and then she'd leave and mutter about the thousands of dollars wasted on me being in this pricey university. I would then proceed to hang up all the wreaths the day after thanksgiving, while blasting Christmas carols from my computer.

That brings up a very good point and a problem I have with stores. WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAPPENED TO THANKSGIVING, PEOPLE?? It's been lost. The stores, in the name of making more money, have decided to give thanksgiving a complete miss and get completely decorated for Christmas immediately after Halloween. Starbucks even brought out the red Christmas cups. Now, I adore those cups and I especially adore the peppermint mocha (so much so, that I ask for it at various times throughout the year) but come on. It's November 15th and for the past fewweeks I've only been getting the red cups. Sigh. What has this world come to? Thanksgiving is a great holiday, too! Look at all the food!!

Wow. This is seriously long. And I've been sitting here typing for over 1/2 hour. Right. I'm going to read some knitting blogs and get on with the business of finishing the second skein of the cable scarf. Have a fabulous week and Thanksgiving break (look, it is still remembered by some ...) and best of luck with the moving of apartments (finally). After thanksgiving, we are getting together and having a party. And congratulations again, Wee. You're awesome.

Love,
meg

Meg!
Sorry such a long time posting, graduate school insanity blah blah blah. You have the Grey’s soundtrack! Awesome! I borrowed Kristi’s sister’s Fray CD and listen to it constantly.
Yay for wearing shawls out! That sounds so cute! I’m glad your mom actually wore it this time, instead of insisting it was too nice for wear. I wish you had your camera too; you need to stage another intergenerational shawl wearing evening out.
Oh, you are way being the bigger person with the crazy sweater lady (CSL)…how did you even ‘fix’ it? When the problem is CSL? Did that turn out? Her poor brother.
I love the purse idea, that would be AWESOME and I would make one for me. I made a hat out of Cascade 220 and I heart it, so much. A passport pocket would be perfect. It sounds so very classy and lovely- and of course I am thinking that a passport pocket would double handily for my school ID and laundry card.
Sadly enough, Knitty thought about my pattern for many weeks and got my hopes and and…no. It’s ‘not right for knitty.’ Oh well, I will try again some other time- or YOU can try with your handbag!
I finished the Blue Acrylic (I know, I know) Sweater, but I feel very ‘meh’ about it. I am now working on a top down raglan and the mehs are starting to set in. I need like a sock or purse or silly project in between these big sweaters. Maybe this star scarf? I am mildly obsessed with stars.
Okay, time for bed. I think you need to come over…either tomorrow or Saturday, and we can finally begin our LOTRathon. I made fudge. Bring your soundtrack. It’ll be a blast.
Love,
Peg

Chasing Yarn

Peg,

I got the Grey's Anatomy soundtracks!! "How to Save a Life" and "Chasing Cars" anyone? It's the big excitement of my life right now, as I have no knitting projects that simply have to be done. Icarus is pretty much the center of attention right now. What is with my complete shawl obsession?? It's really strange, I don't even wear them that much! Oh, there is one exciting bit of news on the shawl front. Saturday was my grandmother's 80th birthday and we went out to a really nice restaurant. My grandmother, mother and I all wore black dresses with shawls made by yours truly! Unfortunately, my charger for the camera that works is still MIA so I have no pictures to commemorate this life-changing event (life-changing in that my mother acknowledged that my obsessive yarn spending is actually useful once in a while). I didn't wear the Eiffel Wrap as mom said it looked more winter-ish and the one I decided to wear is reds and oranges (mohair, of course). I need a camera! Or my charger! Preferably both!

StS is fixed, and will be sent to the witch herself tomorrow. If she doesn't like it this time, I'm going to tell her to take her damn money and shove it. Mom said I should just fix it this time because I'm being the bigger person, and besides, she has to work with this woman's brother (who, by the way, knows how psychotic she is and has described her as being in permanent menopause mode). I'm going to try to forget about it and just hope she likes it (this is painful), but if it comes back again, I'm not going to be that much bigger of a person. It's not worth giving up my sanity for, wouldn't you agree?? Oh, and I like the pictures, they're very cute! I just want my camera!!!

I'm going to try designing a clutch pattern for just one skein of Cascade 220, which felts like a dream. I think using my 15 addi circulars would be the best for the job, because the felting will make it more stable, and it's a clutch. Therefore, it doesn't need to be able to hold massive books, it will only be designed for a cell phone, ID, lip gloss, credit cards, passport and cash. I want to give it a flap, with a massive button on the front for decoration, and to secure aforementioned items. When using this in foreign countries, it is not a wise idea to lose one's passport. Or, at this point in time, even show said passport if it says "United States of America" on the front in bright, shiny letters. Hmmm ... perhaps a special pocket for the passport would be a good idea, then just opening the clutch wouldn't subject an individual to hate, ridicule and ripping off of money in stores. This will take some careful consideration. I think, though, with a pocket like that, it would take more than one skein. I need to stock up on some Cascade 220 to explore this idea. In the future, they will work excellently as gifts for friends and family (and possibly one's boyfriend's family?) Just trying to think ahead ...

I think it's time to get some notecards/knitting/studying/reading done. Until next time ...

Love, meg

Friday Knitting party

Oh, Meg, your story about that lady with the chunky sweater makes me so angry. It is beyond stupid and very unjust. It’s really offensive when people insult your art like that, especially after the hours you put in. I just think some people don’t get it….you know, that making a sweater on large needles with large yarn might be a little thick? Grrr. It reminds me of people who want me to sew them a dress out of poly/cotton quilting fabric and expect it to look like silk. SHE picked out the materials; SHE should expect a chunky sweater.

Maybe some photos will make you feel better.
From Friday:



Wee and Meg knit away. Have we introduced Wee? Wee is Peg's roommate, a jedi of the vertically challenged order (TM Teresa). We love Wee. Wee is an excellent and very prolific knitter.



Meg and Peg, hard at work. Peg appears to be the living death because she just got lots of blood taken.

It was nice to randomly see you today. I apologize for my lack of skirt. Move in went well, everything is finally in place. I think we need to celebrate with a apartment warming knitting party- I am done my sleeves but need to join/make a kangaroo pocket.

Love,
Peg

Oh, The Unjustice Of It All!

Peg.

Do you recall StS? Of course you do, I wrote about in the last post, about how it was ruining my life. I finished the blasted thing, took it home (of course forgot my camera, so I took pictures with my phone that I have yet to e-mail to myself and get onto my computer) and it was mailed the next day. The woman it was for got it, HATED IT, and mailed it back an hour later without even calling to say what was wrong with it. The only reason we even know she doesn't like it is because my mom called out to the other office where this woman works to see if she'd gotten it. Mind you, this is supposed to be a professional business, international company and all. The woman's daughter (it's pretty family run and oriented) picks up the phone and mom asks how her mom likes it.

The daughter says "well, can't you hear her?" It's a phone, moron, we can't hear what you hear.

My mom replies "no, what is she saying?"

To which the daughter says at least 3 times "She hates it, she's cussing out in the warehouse, she hates it."

Cussing. In a business! Apparently even using words that you've probably never heard of (I've not heard of some of them, and that's quite surprising).

Mom asks "Well, what's wrong with it?

The reply? "The sleeves are too chunky, she's sending it back to be fixed and expects it to look like a normal sweater when it comes back."

COMPLETE INCOMPETENT MORONS!!! The mother had insisted I use size 15 needles and chunky yarn. What did she expect, a lace weight sweater? She'd seen the entire body (which is also chunky, mind you) and supposedly hadn't had a problem with it.

I designed this sweater completely on my own, with nothing to follow except gauge. It will be a cold day in hell before she gets THIS sweater back. We're mailing her a check for the amount she's already paid and that's that. I have enough other people to knit for without worrying about this psycho. She can make her own damn sweater. If you're going to make me use size 15 needles (which I don't like very much, by the way) and chunky yarn, well, then you're going to get a chunky knit. It is in the laws of knitting, and could probably be included under the laws of physics as well. If she would have even been civil about it, I could have tried to rip the sleeves out and make them smaller (but that probably would have looked worse) or I would have tried to reason with her about how this knitting stuff works and the chunky yarn, big needles, etc. Oh, but no. She had to throw a temper tantrum (and this woman is in her 50s, at least, maybe even 60s) so she doesn't get a sweater to match her sheep. I get a sweater to match her sheep. And when the sting of this goes away, I'll wear the thing to school and you can give me your opinion on if the sleeves are too chunky.

bloody hell, people.

In happier news, I finished, and blocked, the lilies of the valley shawl from spring 2004 Spin-Off. My grandmother is wearing it to her 80th birthday party. With that, I don't feel a complete knitting failure. Just partly one. Sigh.

Love,
meg

PS-thank goodness for the knitting party tomorrow, I need some knitting friends!

As Time Goes By ...

Peg!!

Life is getting quite busy, and I can't find the camera that goes with the batteries I have. I have the other camera, but I lost the charger for that one. Too bad I can't combine the two and have one that just completely works! Anyway, the point is that I can't take pictures of anything until I get the camera situation sorted out. I finished the pink cotton chenille scarf for Nick's grandmother, making splendid progress on the blue Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran one for his mother and almost finished with Sean the Sheep, which is the bane of my life. When I get this done, I'm celebrating. I don't know how I'm celebrating, but I'm celebrating. And not making anything like this again. Knitting for a profit just doesn't agree with me. I love to knit, but I have to want to make the projects. Such as the scarves for Nick's family, the dishcloths for everyone else, etc. Sean the Sheep? Not so much. I'm just not feeling the love for this project.

Enough of that. I'm really loving the mohair pastel stole I'm making with the intention of wearing it in front of the Eiffel Tower. That's my goal. I have to finish it. Must. Finish. I went into DCE last week with the avowed intention of only buying the last 2 skeins of the mohair. I left with the two skeins, two skeins of Dark Horse yarn to make a baby blanket for Jenni and James and the most expensive shawl pin in the store. Me going there is a bad idea. I decided I simply must get the pin because it really is quite gorgeous (and if I could find a camera, I could show you as well without having to bring/wear it to Duquesne) and I liked how it looked with the stole (the one skein I had knitted). At least I have it now, and don't have to get another one, even though I probably will at some point. I have two skeins of the stole finished, and I started the third. This is the fastest I've gotten through a project in quite awhile! It's amazing what trying to avoid one project will do for the others ...

Alas, I have 2 exams coming up this week and not enough time to study as I work tomorrow and again on Thursday. I must make my time until then really count. Thankfully, I'm just reading the book now so I work on the sleeves of StS and don't really notice how much I dislike them until I take a break, but then I'm so pleased that I got something accomplished that it almost makes up for the fact that I'm working on a project for which I have no passion. Almost, but not quite. Until next time ...

Love,
meg

PS-Knitting party Friday night after the Pharma-something exam from 3-4?