my second FO of 2007 has arrived! and, it was a stashbuster to boot. hooray!

presenting wicked! woot!

pattern: wicked, by zephyr style, smallest size
yarn: karabella aurora 8, just over 5 balls
needles: knitpicks options us8
finished: january 21, 2007
notes: this was for the current sexy knitters' club kal. and, uh, I think all future sweaters are going to have to be knitted top down. why isn't everything made this way? I loved knitting this and it went by so so fast, I almost didn't notice it happen. almost. the pocket had to be resewn like 8 times, due mostly to my inability to count. and I actually started out making the second smallest size, but then decided to rip back and do the smallest after splitting off for the sleeves. changes I made include making the sleeves about 2" longer than the pattern says for the short sleeved version and also making a plain pocket, because, well, I'm boring. also, don't tell anyone, but I didn't swatch. either the knitting gods were smiling on me, or this is an incredibly forgiving pattern. I was actually kind of worried that things wouldn't turn out quite right, but I forged on ahead anyway. I think, if I were to make this again, though, I would go down a needle size, just because I sort of wish the fabric were a bit denser. otherwise, I. love. this. sweater.

by the way, the aurora 8 was fabulous to knit with! it was my first time using it and I really liked how soft and springy it is. what fun! and I'm less intimidated by adult sweaters now. I think the key is to knit it all in one piece. knitting multiple boring stockinette pieces can really suck the life out of a project, but one giant stockinette piece just seems to fly by. I'm still shocked that this took me just under a week. I'm already itching to make another top down sweater like right now. seriously.

...from laughing at this. hahaha!

yay! it's FO time! and I sure feel like a giant next to these little guys:

pattern: braided cable baby socks from interweave knits summer 2005
yarn: opal pearl in, um... a light green color
needles: knitpicks us0 dpns
finished: january 13, 2007
notes: these are for a friend's baby (due in august) and oh so cute! it would have been a quick knit if I hadn't been so lazy about starting the second one. I did a regular old toe because I was too lazy about trying out the short row toe (which I've yet to attempt) this time around. I think I'll try it some other time, when it's not a gift. and not on size 0 needles. there isn't much to say, really. except maybe that more people need to have babies so I can make more of these! I'm still dying from the cuteness of it all!

I mostly found the motivation to finish sock number two because I was really almost dying to cast on for wicked! I didn't even swatch. I just went and cast on because I could. and I'm going to make it fit by sheer will alone. I suppose this is where the "impending doom" music kicks in. I'm just going to ignore it. so naughty of me! teehee.

you ever have one of those days where you call in sick because, well, you're sick, and then you decide that you should probably go get the oil changed in your car after dropping the munchkin off at daycare and then, instead of a quick 20 minute wait in the freezing, no heater waiting room at the car shop, you've just spent 3 butt numbing hours reading old parenting magazines because you weren't smart enough to keep an emergency knitting project in your car (which now is fully outfitted with an entire set of new brake pads) and then, when you find yourself all alone at home after all that, you don't sleep like a good, sick girl should, and instead spend the vast majority of the afternoon cleaning and folding laundry (aka not knitting)? thank goodness for tylenol cold and sinus. and peet's coffee. I'm surprised I'm still standing.

so, then, in my drugged up, head-cold stupor, I stumbled out to the mailbox to discover a package. addressed to me. I found this odd, since I didn't recognize the return address and, as far as I could recall, I hadn't ordered anything recently, and it was far too flat to be any yarn I may or may not have ordered without noticing. what was it? well! take a look!
I'd totally forgotten that I'd requested a copy of the little sample excerpt of the friday night knitting club from aija of sockpr0n fame! but, in all her super duper crazy generosity, she also sent a "sample" of like 14,000 of her fabulous zero stitch markers! good lord, am I a lucky girl! I sure hope it wasn't some mistake that she sent so many and she isn't searching her house for these missing stitch markers... all I have to say is: haha! my wips are going to be prettier than your wips! unless, of course, you go get some of your own. which you should. cuz they're really gorgeous. and I think they even made my cold go away!and, finally, before I sign off for the weekend, here's a peek at the way cute christmas gift I got from miss wendy! what ever will I make with all this beautiful fabric? I've got a few things in mind, but I want to be absolutely sure before I cut into this stuff. too, too cute. thanks, wendy!

who knew? apparently, someone declared it to be delurking week! I found out from here. and then delurked! anyone else ready to come out of hiding? since I have not a creative thought in my head at the moment, I'm going to ask about consumables too:

what's your beverage of choice?

me? a nice, warm (not hot!) flat vanilla latte. doesn't matter how hot it is outside (or how many I'd already had that day), I can always go for one of these! I realize that since I like my lattes flat that there is no opportunity to really enjoy any nice latte art, but I'm always impressed with the art on other people's. drink up!

a: not much. well, except maybe two baby socks. we'll be getting there soon. these will be for my friend's not-yet-born baby. eee! can't wait!

unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to say today, except that it's officially my bloggiversary! where did the time go? has it really been a year since I started this thing here? it's really rather mind-boggling, considering the whole knitblog (actually, the whole entire knitternet) world was still uncharted territory for me. I hadn't heard of the harlot, I didn't know what a kal was, or this whole knitty business... it was all so exciting and new, like the loveboat, except not as much kissing and a lot more yarn. it's been a good year and I'm happy to be where I am - at least knitternetterly. and I hope to have interesting things to say and show in my sophomore year of knitblogging, since I'm really at a loss today. I'm going to stop myself now, lest I ramble more than necessary. cheers!

it's always a weird situation when you find yourself trying to squeeze into the same aisle at target as two guys who are trying to choose the "best" brand of condoms while you try and find the tampons you need. especially when they are really seriously discussing the pros and cons of each brand. it was really a conversation I didn't need to overhear. it made me think that maybe they need to move the condom section to someplace more appropriate; someplace where I can't hear these discussions. like... men's underwear.

anyway, I spent exponentially more of this past weekend cleaning and organizing than I did actually knitting. whee! I got some new furniture for isa's room and got rid of some of the old furniture. between the two of us, we have a lot of stuff. it's really kind of alarming, considering she isn't even two yet. I keep telling myself that, one weekend, I'm just going to hand isa over to my parents and spend two days weeding through all our junk and purging the house. but then I realize that it's going to take a lot longer than one weekend and the thought of having to live with the mess of a half-purged/half-organized house in between weekends is enough to make me just forget the whole idea. I tell myself that I seem to be functioning ok with the way things are now, so I'll just deal with it the next time I move. haha. I say that every time I move and then I just end up lugging all those boxes of unsorted I-wonder-what's-in-that-box stuff to the new place, where it sits until I pick it up and move it again to another new place. I think I have boxes (of who knows what) that are still taped up from when I moved back from college. anyhow, it's a new year, so maybe it's time I really did make good on my promises to myself to really clean up around here. we'll see how that goes...!

so! I'm gearing up to knit wicked for the skc! I have yet to actually participate in one of the skc kals, but I think this is the one! this is a stashbusting effort on my part... I bought six balls of karabella aurora 8 to make the spiral capelet (is that what it's called?) from wrap style, but then started to question whether or not I'd actually wear it and whether or not the yarn was actually suited for the pattern. but then along came wicked, and, whaddaya know, it's made with a worsted weight and the short sleeved version calls for just 500 yards! and it's cute! I have 600 yards, so I think I'm going to make the sleeves just a bit longer - maybe an inch or two above the elbow. I just bought and downloaded the pattern last night and am really excited to get started! how many wips can I get going at once? I think I'm (unintentionally) going for some sort of record. it helps if I don't think about it.

guess 2006 wasn't nearly as unproductive as I'd thought!

wow. another year all done. really... where does the time go? I guess it wasn't unexpected that 2007 was going to show up yesterday, but sometimes it really does seem like time just whizzes past us without so much as a "hey, how ya doin'?" luckily, the transition from 2006 to 2007 wasn't bad at all. it all went so smoothly, it just seemed like it was just another day.

so, the weekend was great! most friends and family were still around from christmas, plus other friends who had been around but were too busy for me in the last days of '06. and there was shopping, coffee, baking, eating, silly games, movies, ikea, knitting, champagne... a whirlwind of activity! I wish I had more pictures of all the fun, but I really am terrible at taking pictures when there are things going on, so... well... sorry. I do have a few little things to share, tho!

this is my mostly successful pumpkin cheesecake bread. if you've ever had the pumpkin cheesecake bread from peet's coffee, you have an idea of what I'm going for here. I love their version, but they want $2.25 a slice these days, which is a bit more than I'd like to pay. the one I made is actually from the trader joe's pumpkin bread mix and, if I do say so myself, it's really good! nice and moist and flavorful. yum! for the cheesecake chunks in there, I just made a mix of cream cheese, sugar and egg and dropped big spoonfuls here and there in the batter as I poured it into the pan. I can get a good eight thick slices out of a loaf and the total cost of ingredients is right around $5. I should have let it bake for about 5 minutes longer than I did, tho, because there was one little spot right in the middle where the batter didn't completely set. darn. but I will definitely make this again!

inspired by this, I felt the need to try out this superyak business too and whipped up a watchcap a week or so ago. last year's news, but still new to you! heehee.

pattern: prime rib watchcap from elizabeth zimmerman's knitting without tears
yarn: karabella superyak in dark charcoal, one skein
needles: knitpicks options us8
finished: december 23, 2006
notes: quick and easy! I probably could have stood to make it a few ribs skinnier, as it's not that snug on my head. I'm debating whether I should do it over or just give it away. anyway, the yarn is super soft and warm - I would love to have a sweater made out of it! maybe it'll go on clearance someday... it is weirdly splitty, though, which caused some issues when I'd realize I'd split a stitch in the row below. that may or may not be due to the pointiness of the needles. as for the pattern, I love it. brioche rib all the way, baby! it's so fun to do and I love the way it comes out looking. will definitely use it again.

I'm sure there are other things to talk about, but we've got a whole year to get to that. in the meantime, I've gotta start thinking about what will be the first FO of '07! hmmm.... decisions, decisions!