we've moved!!

dear blog readers of yarmmy.blogspot.com,

please redirect your bookmark/google reader over to maryknits.com

I've been repeat blogger here and there for about a month now, but starting the new year, I shall be over there entirely. Please make sure you update your bookmark.

thank you!

m.

P.S. Happy New Year

100 books

at the end of this year... I am giving myself the day off and just posting a meme... in which i hope to use this list as a means of reading next year. Perhaps next year, I shall have more books crossed off the list.

1) Look at the list and cross out those you have read.
2) Bold those you intend to read.
3) Place ** after the books you LOVE.
4) Post your list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

(it took me awhile, but I've searched for books that are available on LibriVox and have linked them. I might have missed some, since the list is sooo long, and I've only looked at what seems like classics. I've also have wiki linked the books title to which I have no idea what it might have been.)

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen librivox link
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte librivox link
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling ** i especially love book1, 3, 6
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte librivox link
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott LibriVox
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare librivox links
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger I did not get this book...
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot librivox link
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens librivox link
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy librivox links
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky libriVox
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll libriVox
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame **I love this story!!
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy librivox link
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens LibriVox
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen librivox link
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis Did i read this... it's been sooo long ago.
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery librivox link
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood I thought this story was really sexy for its time.
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel (i listened to this story about half way thru...maybe I will audio it!)
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen LibriVox
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas librivox link
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding (i didn't read this one, but the next in the series, the one they made 2 into, and well this as a novel does not read well.)
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville LibriVox
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens librivox link
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker LibriVox
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (thanks to librivox & kayray)
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce LibriVox
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens LibriVox
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker ** this was a good story.
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert librivox link
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (all the adventures of just one adventure?) LibriVox
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas LibriVox
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl ** I also enjoyed this book.
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

*update sept 21 2009: i've finished reading 19 of them... as for those i've started and not finished...uncountable.

10 memorable knitting memories of the year

in no particular order

1. when i've finished up my central park hoodie!


2. getting both V & E semi interested in knitting/crochet


3. finally figuring out this whole entrelac thing works!!


4. Yarn buying in New York!!


5. getting a swift & ball winder


6. the terrific package from Henry Longstaff ( my swap partner in hsks6)


7. making what seemed like an impossible yoyo blanket


8. procuring my itouch. i heart that thing, i don't know how i lived without it before. (this is knitting related I swear!!)


9. giving knitted gifts to family and friends


10. Finding a LYS in Taichung!!!

Panic! at the Knittery

in order to solve my Chinese New Year gift giving panic, I have laid it out on a chart and have listed all the possible people I might want to knit/crochet gifts for. To break things down simpler, I've removed my immediately family members (dad, mom, sunny, helen, abraham, issac and aaron) and have put their gifts into the Xmas09 since I've already given them knits for Christmas this year, no need to do knitted gifts for Chinese New Year as well.

After separating my immediately family and the relatives, I categorised the relatives even further. Male and Female. Most of the female relatives, whether an aunt or cousin is getting the i just look pretty scarf, from here on now will be shortened to "Pretty Scarf". It's a fast crochet, I can get one done per day, maybe 2 if I don't nap at lunch, plus it looks good.

the men, i've slated them for the one row handspun pattern from YH... but I'm thinking for the men, whether they be cousins or uncles I might not knit or crochet for them... I just don't think they'd like it very much.

I have a few relatives on the list that I'm slating the turn a square hat for them... of course there's always Melody's sock that I promised her... her sock will take about 4 days knitting with my allotted knitting time per day (something to keep in mind really)...

In conclusion::
Pretty Scarf : still need 1 (FO:5, WIP:1)
Turn a Square: still need 3
Owl Hat: Still need 1 (WIP:1)
DishCloth: still need zero (FO:1)
Sock: still need 1
One Row: still need 6
Aspen Scarf: still need zero (FO:1)

Is this all possible by Jan 25 maybe 26 at the latest? Stayed tuned to find out!!

i just look pretty FO x 2

While I was home last weekend, I went thru my crochet pattern a day calendar for the year 2007, and grabbed a few patterns that I thought would be good stash-busting scarves. I mean I can only make granny squares for so long. Scarves are useful after all.

one of the pattern was called, I just look pretty by Sara P Campbell. I tried to access her website, crochetallday.com, but it was unaccessable to me, so upon googling the website, I think I have located her new website and her ravelry SN... but she hasn't added that pattern so I'm not really sure it's her. Anyway...

I love the pattern so much that I've made 2 scarves already out of the Malabrigo Private seleccion, the weird purple yellow blue colored. One skein of it makes a sufficient length scarf, so I've made two.

I highly recommend the pattern for a quick one day scarf about 5-6 hours by my crochet time, if you need a quick gift this is definitely the way to go. this is my default gift scarf for the females of my family.

for some reason I'm having a panic about Chinese New Year gift knitting. I wasn't having the panic about Christmas knitting this year, since we're not a christmas celebrating family, but all of a sudden I was feeling that since I'm going to be seeing family members and I might want to give some knitted presents to some family member, so what about the ones that I haven't prepared for? Shouldn't I give them something too??

I was not even planning on making anyone anything for Chinese New Year... maybe i said I'd give a scarf for 2 of my cousin... and maybe Aunt May Lin, cuz I hang out with her a lot... and if I give something from Aunt May Lin, then I should give something to the youngest aunt, and then maybe her daughters might want ask for a yarn gift too, then i'm sure my aunt by marriage will be left out if i made everyone something and not her... so you see...

Chinese New Year Knitting panic... ergh. just breath... I am trying to not let it get to me... I'll just knit and get to it when I do. No guilty knitting. Yes, that is my motto, just repeat to self, and breath.

Breath.

Uno

Here is square number one of the lapghan. I'm undecided at how many squares I should have since the square is a bit bigger than I thought it would be, must be the large needles and all.

CO & FO: Dec 25 2008
Yarn: Nature Yarn: Gray, Cotton 45%, Merino 55%
Needle: US 9
Pattern: Hand Knitted Pattern Motif 100
Size: approximately 8x8" square

the bobbles gave me such an issue... apparently I can't follow picture directions all that well... it literally took until the last bobble for me to decide how I wanted to close off the top of the bobble, so each bobble in the square is a little bit different, but you won't tell right? I know I definitely need to block...

It takes me about 4-5 hours to do one square, so I can easily have it done in one day. I've already picked out the next square to knit... this time no bobble, just plenty of cables! I'm going to try to use the remaining ball to see if it's possible to get 2 squares out of one ball. I have 4 gray balls which I was going to use for tube socks, but since I started with this lapghan thing, I think I'm going to save them for the lapghan, and buy more when i go back next time, after I've figured out how many balls I need to complete my lapghan. Heaven forbid I run out of yarn!

I am continually working on the froot loop, there just hasn't been much progress to write home about... am still on the leg just chugging along... I'm thinking of making it to be around 8" on the leg, then start on the heel. Should I keep this pair for myself? or gift them?

P.s. the little reindeer is a courtesy shape of flickr's Picknik. It's super cute, I'm just sad I didn't see it earlier!! There are other shapes, which now that i know about them, I'm going to use them on my pictures!!

this is only a test

I'm trying to set up some posting options for when I'm computer-less.  Using emails to blog is an option, let's see how this works out!!

Mary

lapghan anyone?

@approximately 15cm per square, I need 48 squares to make a proper sized lapghan at 90 x 120 cm, this means 4 squares per month, per year. Not too bad when broken up in increments like that. It's not cheating if I get a head start right?!

there are 100 patterns in the book, I can test it out to see which would work best... I'm quite excited about this project!!

does anyone want to knit along?

Happy Christmas!

May your Christmas be merry and bright.

FO: Charade Socks

The Charade sock is finished! 8pm today, Dec 22 2008. This sock was suppose to be mine, but then I felt that perhaps my mom will enjoy this pair of socks, she likes girly colors too. I showed her the WIP while I was home this weekend, and she seemed excited about it. I made her try on the first sock to make sure that it fits... I'm happy to be able to give her the socks when I go back in January.

I started this sock back in April 27 of this year. I was just going to call it a single sock, but then with the nudging of Lav's Holiday sock KAL, I thought why not... I love the finish look of it. Plus I'm not really bold enough to wear non-matching socks. The KAL was really what I needed to finish this sock. Thanks Lav.

Details. The yarn is Smooshy Charade, in the color ring-a ling, it's from Pick up sticks monthly sock club way back when, and I'm finally just knitting it up now. The Pattern is Charade by Sandra Park, and the actual completion time is April 27 thru Dec 22, 2008. Of course I did not spend the whole entire time kniting it, the first pair was in hibernation for a real long time. I knitted a many new things in between the time I started the sock, and before I pulled it back out again.

There are still small amounts of yarn left over, which I think might turn into a sock yarn blanket or something at a later time, for now, it shall just sit there in the sock bin.

Knitting socks isn't that hard... I just have to keep at it, this second pair took me only 20 days to knits, if this is any indication, I think I can knit up a full pair of socks in one month and a half at the rate i'm going... there will be lots of warm feet!!

Yay for Socks!!

10 New Years Knitting Resolutions

1. knit 1 pair of socks of my immediately family member, (dad, mom, brother, sister)


2. knit a pair of toe-up socks, like the marigold


3. try eunny Jang's papermitts (for the 2 color knitting)


4. knit 4-10 bears for mother bear project (i only did 3 in 2008, so i want to beat my original number at least by one!)


5. finish 2 UFO or WIP from current ravelry projects ( i mean lets be realistic about this one huh?)


6. knit PoA Hufflepuff scarf for myself


7. Destash: can not add to stash of sock yarn unless I have knit up a pair of socks from my current stash. (disclaimer: previous sock club membership or re-newing current annual membership does not apply)


8. Knit a sweater


9. Make 29 items for the year


10. make one georgia afghan, from knit two.

re: no post

Dear blog reader,

I'm back! Did you notice i was gone? I didn't post the one day over here on blogger, but i did post over there. (I didn't bring my computer, so it was harder to connect and post blogs... note to self: I should set up the email blogging on my itouch)

a lazy update today... it's monday and my brain feels like it's still in holiday mode, so I'm not going to try to think of anything clever or funny.

I'll just leave you with facts.

a. i bought lots of acrlyic/wool yarn for the jumble throw.
b. i reaccuanted myself with the 2 yarn shops around my house, so i know what yarn is available to me.
c. the pattern books in japan is different than the ones in the US. there were some things i want to make from it, but i don't understand the graphs...maybe the store will help me if i buy the books from them, and help me translate.

no clever way to end this post.

I am computer-less not much actual knitting. But a lot of knitting related things. That's all I can say for now.

sock pride

my dad wore my socks!! Well not exactly MY socks, but the Thuja that I made him. He had been gone most of the day golfing, and I went out for a ginger wash (more on that later), and when I came home, I noticed that he was wearing them. In secret, I swelled up in pride.

OK, so maybe I had badgered reminded him to wear them, but i didn't think he'd take me seriously. It's a first for me...

My mom's been using the phone cozy I made her, but somehow that doesn't translate the same as a pair of socks. When I've finished with the Charade, I'll give the pair to my mother, we have the same size feet. I think she might like it.

It always makes me feel good when I see people using my knits that I've given them. Like... look at what I made.

******

In order to clear out some of the DVDs that I haven't watched, I popped in Shrek Holiday last night while trying to fix the heel on the baby sock (the magazine directions was a bit weird, wtf is a SKP?... I ended up using the charade turn a heel directions), and when Shrek Holiday was over, I wanted to keep knitting on the foot, so I popped in SATC the movie. SATC the movie was longer than I expected, and it had a lot of blatant product placements, like the iphone & the renting brand name bags place, but i digress, the movie to wrap things up well, happy ending, but no sappy. i like it and it makes me want to get married at the library.

OK. the ginger wash. In China, there's not much for night life for females if you want to live the clean life, ie no ktv (karaoke places), drinking or mah-jong (gambling). Your choices are limited to, hair washing and feet washing (foot massage). In the hair washing, some places will give you two options, lying down or sitting up.

I usually go for the lying down, cuz they massage more. This place that I went to, has a ginger wash option, what they do is after they've washed your hair and massage the head and neck area, they put in a ginger wash. The effect of the ginger wash is similar to icy hot. Cool at first, then heats up. It's suppose to be stimulating to the scalp, but you can't do it often... I'd recommend like once a month, but the guy said once a week is ok.

I enjoyed the ginger wash, the only down side is that when they rinse it out, it gets very very hot, like they used scalding hot water to rinse it out, but it's really just the ginger wash. It's good for the winter time, but I wouldn't recommend it in the summer.

Some foot massage places also have the ginger treatment for the legs, but I haven't tried that. I know personally of someone who had the ginger treatment done on her legs, and it left blisters on her leg because it was so over heated... so just be careful. Nothing like an injury to cramp what was suppose to be a beauty visit.

Welcome to The Notorious Sock Knitters World Domination Tour 2009

I was debating whether or not I wanted to renew my STR membership for 2009, since a. i have not knit one single sock from the club this year, and b. i'm having it delivered internationally so it's $280 usd, and in this rate of falling or is it rising, which ever it means that i have to pay more NTD to USD, spending this one lump sum is frankly...scary.

But looking at the line up these possible designers, I caved, plus i love the little emergency yarn (ok so i know it's not justification for paying $280 for emergency yarn, but it's just so darn cute); and isn't 2009 the year I'm going to knit more socks??

I know what you're thinking... I thought you were destashing sock yarn... what about no more sock yarn until you knit them? well... i put a loop hole, I'm just renewing membership... (i love me loop holes)

If it's proof that I'm knitting more socks... here's an update of the socks for the HHSKAL.
I've turned the heel, picked up the gusset and now am working diligently on the decreases towards the foot... it's all going quite well. I definitely will be at the foot by the end of this week, and lets put the deadline for sock finishing by Dec 24!!

you have questions, I have answers

from sp13 question #2

Question. Am i doing any holiday knitting? & Have I finished them?

Answer: I started to do holiday knitting way back in October and such... if I didn't get it done earlier this month, I consider the holiday knitting pushed back for the next year. Besides, I'm not really celebrating Xmas this year here in China... its more of a formality for the little ones back in CA (I've sent them gifts by mail order, thanks to Amazon.com & Target gift cards)

Thus I'm not really sweating any unfinished holiday knitting... no one is waiting for some handknit gift under the tree. Plus i have no fake tree to put it under anyway.

Next year, I'm starting earlier, think Jan 2009, think socks!! Everyone is getting socks, and I have plenty of sock yarn in my stash, in both masculine and feminine colors and plenty of time to finish!!

I am on a sock thing right now... must be the cold weather.

the next fix

i swear it's like me and the YH have similiar minds... ok, maybe not since she's a famous knitting personality, and I'm just me... but I swear I was looking at this pattern last night (pdf file found here), and then BAM, she posts that she's also making the same pair...

I really should not be looking for new socks to knit, since I still have froot loop to knit after I'd be done with the Charade.

here's the daily update of the socks. one more inch last night while listening to the end chapters of Hounds of the Baskerville.

top 10 knit gift you've ever given

1. My first Slytherin PoA scarf: to a fellow craftster for the Hogwarts house swap.
   
2. The yoyo baby blanket: for my cousin
3. thuja socks: for dad, it was my first pair of knit socks.
   
4. the 3 mother bear project bears: to the children of Africa for Abuelita's mother bear project.
   
5. Domo Kun on my hands: ie fetching with Domo Kun attached.
   
6. Mesh Scarf: I really liked how it turned out... I should make another one.
   
7. the sudoku blanket ( it's huge): for my dad, it was suppose to be for christmas, but i didn't make it on time.
   
8. mom's phone cozy: while it may not be the best in terms of difficultness or what not, but it was the first item she asked me to knit her.
9. the Gryffindor fan and feather lapghan: for a fellow raveler for the Hsks6 swap.
10. the Santa Cloth: for melody who drools... a lot!
    

socking along

I’m just chugging along on the Hufflepuff holiday sock KAL. I sat down and worked one more inch on the charade while listening to chapter 12 & 13 of Hounds of the Baskerville… it’s just getting interesting, the book that is, the knitting is just routine.

I really hope to finish this sock by Xmas so that I can wear it around!!

I’m just chugging along on the Hufflepuff holiday sock KAL. I sat down and worked one more inch on the charade while listening to chapter 12 & 13 of Hounds of the Baskerville… it’s just getting interesting, the book that is, the knitting is just routine.

I really hope to finish this sock by Xmas so that I can wear it around!!

quality time

oh man... it just goes to show how not ok I was yesterday. I blogged my knitting content on the wrong blog. I'll re-submit it here at a later day, just so it's all kept in order, but yeah... that's how not ok I was.

today while talking to dad, I made progress on my HHSKAL (Hufflepuff Holiday Sock KAL)... I am up to 3.5" on the leg!!! Yay, before you know it, i shall be at the heel and picking it up and such! Exciting times ahead I tell you.

I also had to remind my dad that he could wear the socks I made him now, it's cold enough, and it will keep his feet warm.

I brought out my knitting because I felt like I should sit in the living room with my dad, spend quality time just by being in the same room and all, so instead of sitting there staring into thin air, I pulled out my sock.

My dad was doing sudoku, inter-changing with shuffling and dealing cards (he was playing a sort of poker game variation), and I was knitting. We chatted, exchanged information... Nice quality time...

just keep knitting

The latest Noro One Row scarf has landed at the recipients place, Hootie did a good job, and was not held up in customs long like the other packages. Said recipient liked the scarf with a smile! (yay me!)

Yesterday I DLd a few chapters off LibriVox of Middle March & Hounds of Baskerville, and knitted one inch of the second pair of Charade like I promised Lav A for the Hufflepuff Holiday Sock KAL. Maybe I'll do one more chapter of each from the story later tonight and have one more inch done!! The sock isn't that bad when you break it down into pieces like that.

Before you know it, I will have finished the sock and will be on my way to knitting the froot loop that I have so far neglected.

In order to break up the monotony of knitting with tiny tiny needles, I have thrown in a crochet jumble throw for fun... and well mind you, it is significantly more fun because i like to use up stash. To ease myself the pain of massively weaving in the ends, I am trying to weave in the ends as I do the center pieces for it. so far so good. As for what i'm going to be using to connect the squares? i think the black or dark gray wool-ease would be good.

squeeeeeee!

manly knits

I don't know if I've mentioned it before that I bought a men's knit book. (in the book, there's patterns for mostly scarves, a few vests and hats... some of the pattern are not so manly, but that's just my opinion) There is a scarf pattern that I have tried to cast on for, and I've always just ended up frogging the WIP because the plain fact of the pattern, plus the scarf just isn't doing it for me.

Now that I think about it, the whole book might be cursed because there's this scarf that i was trying to make with it that i ended up frogging too.

I'm just not that patient when it comes to asian manly scarves.

Declaration:: the men in my life, you're all getting the Yarn Harlot's one row scarf. Easy to knit and looks good with all yarn! There!!

left overs jumble throw

I have a folder in my gmail labeled "read later", I store emails in there that I don't need to respond to, like sales events, yarn newsletters, and the like.

Yesterday i was clearing some of the emails out and I came across the Berroco newsletter that they send with their free patterns. There was another Cirilia Rose pattern, for crochet, and they labeled it for stash-busting, and used up only about golf ball size left overs. Got my attention immediately.

I quickly tabbed over to ravelry and queue it up and at the same time tabbed over to the link provided by Berroco and read the directions.

The bottom line is that you use the left overs to make up the center of this updated granny square throw, and use other yarns to unify the square. I'm going to make the center of the squares first and then decide what to use as a connector. the center is made up of an octagon shaped, although it's kinda uncomfortable to work with at first, it's actually quite easy once you get going. This is more of an updated version of the granny square afghan, which i like.

I know what you're thinking... another lapghan? Yeah I know, but i heart them. i truly do!

10 Favorite Holiday Songs

1. all i want for christmas by mariah carey
2. winter wonderland by phantom planet
3. it's beginning to look a lot like christmas
4. Rudolph the red nose reindeer ( last Christmas 2007, my nephew, had this song stuck in his head, and all he knew was [Rudolph the red nose reindeer,had a very shiny nose], he repeatedly sang it in the car, in the end, it was the only the only words I knew as well... it was annoying & cute!)
5. Last Christmas by Jimmy Eat World
6. Jingle Bell Rock, like in Home alone
   
7. Silent Night - the choir version, where it's all holy and church like.
8. Feliz Navidad, the version in spanish and then when it turns into English
   
9. Auld Lang Syne
10. Frosty the Snowman

Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah in no particular order!

i can't stay away from scarves!

I finished the clapotis, but it is way too long, should have decreased earlier and not had to have to bring out and random color to finish off the project. It's really warm, and I love wrapping the thing around my neck while at home, but I don't know how functional this piece is outside in the elements.

Started a new scarf last night.

I love the subtle and muted tones of the gray. At the TaiChung YS, I went in looking for Noro, and the store clerk directed me towards this, Richmore Bacara Epoche. It's supposedly dyed with organic coloring... whatever that means. ::roll eyes:: It's super soft, and the cables (or crosses) aren't that hard. The pattern is a Harmony stitch called 3 rib twisted stitch or something, but instead of doing the twist every round, i am adding a full knit purl row in between. The cross might be the same as the fetching cables.

I'm thinking of changing the pattern again, and sorta make it into a sampler scarf... but I know if I did that then I would most likely rip it out and lose interest... so i should just stick to this 3 rib twist.

sad conclusions

i have come to the sad conclusion that a. i can't find my 4th ball of cascade 220 for the remaining of the clapotis, b. i might be already on the 4th ball of cascade 220 for the clapotis and that is why i can not find it, and c. because of not realising the previous b statement, i have left the decreasing too late and now have to come to the end of the ball and need to finish off the scarf with a completely different color.

Although it will be ok in the long run because I get to use up the left overs from other projects to finish this one, it is not ok right this moment because I can't believe I don't have enough yarn for this. this is really what i get for not paying attention and not finishing up a WIP in time... the last time I worked on this was months and months ago...

just tell me that it will be ok.

on a more cheery note, I have finished knitting the body of the booga bag and handfelted it last night. I found a box perfect for the size of the bottom and is drying it right now. I'm still undecided about the handle. It seems most people went with the icord option, but I really don't want to be making the icord. I'll dig out the handle and see.

Waiting for the bag to dry is like waiting for the water to boil... it seems like its never going to happen... I set it up to dry from last night, and today its like when the smaller bubbles are starting to pop up along the sides, but not really setting the water over the edge to boil. the bottom parts of the bag is dry, but the top part isn't yet...

Lav A. just reminded me that the Sock KAL starts today... noted to do some sock knitting today... lets get thru the ribbing at least huh?

knitting and books

ok, I didn't knit the advent calendar like I said I was going to last night. Instead I continued on the Booga bag. I am almost finished knitting the 64 required rows. I think I might switch up the handles though, I'm not sure i like the idea of an icord felted. I have some plastic handles that i think might be good... I'll test them out and see. I'm going to look around on Ravelry to see what other people have done to doctor it up.

I also ended up staying up way too late (3am) reading the other part of the Debbie Macomber Winter On a Snowy Night. I gave a short review on goodreads.

Today on my ereader update, apparently there is a second part to the Friday night knitting club called knit two. What have you heard about it( review)? I'm going to get it as soon as I figure out what other books I want to purchase along with it with my 15% off coupon from ereader. If only for the fact that it's knitting related and I want to be able to talk about it when it comes up for discussion.

It's Sunday tomorrow, so that means lots of knitting time for me. It's a good thing I'm also stocked up on tv series to watch, House, Grays, true blood, 24 season 6 (yes i know i'm behind), mad men, plus various other movies.

Oh I also joined a sock KAL... over here.

this week's question

This week’s question: How many hand-knit items is it ok to wear at once?

I try to stick to ONE public handknit at a time. If I'm wearing a handknit scarf (which for some reason, for the amount of scarves I make, I don't actually keep the scarves nor wear handknit scarves often) I will try to not wear a handknit sweater (which is easy since I only have the ONE Central Park Hoodie). I don't have many matching pairs of socks, but if I did, they'd be tucked into my shoes and or hidden away, so they're not on public view.

If I'm wearing my handwarmer (toast), then I don't wear a sweater.

so for me, just one public handknit item at a time. Don't want to overwhelm people with the knitting... then I'd be like that guy on the train... you know the one.

advent calendar

(the image above isn't mine, it belongs to pretendingsanity of flickr & Ravelry)

Browsing thru my google reader today, a friend to knit with had a posting about mitten and hats advent calendar ( i don't really get the point of it... the advent calendar that is not mittens and hats, must be a christian religion thing, but this is super cute and I can still want to knit it even if I don't get the point of it!).

She posted a link to where I can buy the pattern... $5.00. After looking at the other link on her blog that was selling something similiar @ $78... the $5 bucks for the pattern is starting to look better. I know I'm not factoring my own time in making this, and the yarn required, but if I've already spent the money, it's free...so I quickly paypal and queued it in Ravelry.

I think I'll make one today...

maryknits.com is up!!

I got maryknits.com set up. There are some technical problems with the RSS feed on google reader, so... don't try to rss feed it. You're going to have to go to maryknits.com directly.

I've crossposted my Decemeber blog posts over at maryknits.com, and for the rest of the month of December I will post the same post here and there, but in January 2009, it will be over there strictly!! so make sure you change your bookmarks. now back to my regular knitting postings.

***
I finally got word from Ferula that she opened the package, and she loves it! I can finally talk openly about the lapghan now. (i've been dying to blog about it, but haven't been able to since it's suppose to be a surprise... and it seems like it's been forever, so I almost forgot about it!!)

Here is the final lapghan. I was originally planning on an YoYo lapghan, so I didn't buy as much as yarn as I would have if i had started originally with a fan and feather lapghan. So after a few rows of the house colors, I realise that i was going to run out, so i stuck the gray in the middle to draw out the house colors.

The pattern is a free pattern from KnitPicks.com, it's the Lace 1-2-3: fan and feather, and although it's a lace pattern, there is only ONE row of YOs and K2tog, the rest is just knit and purl... a very good beginner pattern!!

At the very beginning, I kept messing up my stitch count, somehow I kept up ending up with one more stitch...but that problem was quickly solved when i got familiar with the pattern row repeats.

towards the end it was very touch and go because I was down to the wire and didn't want to knit it anymore, I think if I wasn't working with a deadline, then i wouldn't have finished it at all...I gave up Nanowrimo for completing the lapghan.
Here's the rest of the items i enclosed in the package.

CO: Oct 25 2008
FO: Nov 21 2008
Size: 41" x 26"
Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker DK, in butter yellow, burgundy, and gray

Needle: US 8

Pattern: Lace 1, 2, 3: Suri Dream throw"

Cramming in FOs

I worked diligently at finishing the last few rows of the latest one row scarf, pattern from YH, in Noro Kureyon. In the middle of knitting it, a recipient popped up. It's not like he asked for it,or even knows about the scarf, but the scarf just felt like it belonged to him. Isn't that weird? Maybe I'm just weird.

So here it is in it's night time flash glory.

I got close to running out of yarn as you can see the close up here.

this is about the closest to using all of the yarn, it's a good thing I was doing a crochet BO. I actually had to tink back one row to be able to Bind off at all... ::whew::!!

(one of these days I'm going to keep a one row out of Kureyon for myself)
CO: Sept 28 2008
FO: Dec 3 2008
Yarn: 3 x Noro Kureyon 150
Pattern: YH's one row hanspun (although mine's not handspun)

Since the one row lies flat, and does not need much blocking, maybe a good soak to soften the Kureyon, I immediately looked for another project to CO. I started two. 1. the (almost) matching pair to the first charade, and 2. a garter stripped scarf out of my remaining Kureyon and an earth colored SWS.

I started on the charade sock because I promised Lav A. that I'd join in on her sock KAL, plus I really want to be wearing my charades before it gets too warm to be wearing wool socks. Since it had been so long since the first pair, it's like casting on for a whole new sock.

the pattern for the garter stripped scarf comes from the knitters' bible accessories, it's an easy just knit scarf, I didn't want to do K1P1 (a la Brookyln tweed style with the reprise of YH's scarf), cuz i know i can't stand the constant flipping. Also a change... instead of doing 2 rows, I did 4 rows so the stripes are wider.

I think the most surprising part of this scarf is the reverse side of the scarf... I may love it even more then the RS. The colors just all run together!!! Soo Lovely!!

Now the only thing I have to do is to get the carrying the yarn part down to a science, then I'm all set for a perfect scarf. I think this scarf is going to my cousin Nick, I had him in mind when I cast on.

10 ways to save money

ha, this coming from me, the shopaholic, but I have ways... i just don't do them... often.

1. borrow library books, especially good for classics, and older books, and audiobooks, you'd be surprised at how many audiobook your library has or the abilitiy to borrow. I got most of my harry potter books audio from the library! Nice. I saved my self a couple of hundred bucks at that!!
2. free itunes music, every week, itunes gives away one free track, usually pretty good, they also randomly have free tv episodes, and music videos. check regularly!! currently they are doing the $4.99 per movie deal on certain movies. (this only works if you a. like watching movies on your computer and b. have an ipod video.)
3. plenty of places gives away calendar towards the end of the year, banks, supermarkets, stores. get them, and use them. Might not be pretty, but it gets the job done, and no one pay attention to the adverts for it anyway. saves you at least 20-40 bucks, if you must have one for work, home and bedroom, like i do.
4. buy loose leaf tea, and a thermus to port it around instead of buying a cup at the coffee shop.
5. knit from your stash and not buy new yarn
   
6. put things on wishlists that you don't need, but want. they might go on sale at a later date. this works well for places like amazon or other retail e-shops.
   
7. automatically take out a set amount of your payment and save it, and promptly forget about it, this adds up over time.
8. use actual cash, it'll make you spend less, if you physically see the money disappear from your wallet. maybe not the first month you use this method, but you learn quickly!!
9. eat food at home instead of eating out.
10. wait for a few weeks and watch movies in the dollar theater, it's still just as good.

on the actual knitting end, i'm still working on the one row scarf... it's almost finished!!

no knitting, just bunnies

it's decemeber already... can you believe it, less than 40 days til my birthday. Yikes! another years old. Plus, wasn't it just April a few months ago? and it's already december?? gotta get a cracking on some xmas knits that i want to mail out on time.

MUST FINISH.

isn't the black eared and muzzle bunny the cutest bunny you have seen?? It likes me, i can tell because it perked up when I went to take a picture of it. I should ask the hotel if i can buy him after they are finished with displaying the xmas thing. there are a few more bunny pictures on my flickr here, be prepared for some bunny love.

i took the rest of the afternoon off today after returning from the German Visa interview... I am sick.