November 29, 2004

 

help?

can someone PLEASE tell me why some people have a neat little inobtrusive "blogger" bar at the top, and mine is freaking huge and covering my title? i cant handle it any more...

in other news, i'm seriously re-evaluating my xmas list, with reference to the fact that there's like 26 knitting days left. my family is full of wonderful artistic people, and i'm sure almost all of them WOULD enjoy and appreciate a hand-knit garment, so it's not easy to narrow it down using that sort of criteria. but i'm going to have to find SOME way to cut it way back. perhaps i'll just knit gifts for those who will actually be THERE christmas day? that's still 15 people, but i already have 5 of those gifts finished... so it's not THAT bad. hm... this is going to take some SERIOUS consideration.

any suggestions on how to narrow it down, without leaving people feeling excluded?

November 21, 2004

 

christmas knitting

IF i were absolutely insane, and knit presents for everyone i would LIKE to give hand-knit gifts to, this would be what my list would look like. i'll be updating it throughout the next few weeks, HOPEFULLY checking at least a few items off of there.

recipient - pattern/source - yarn
family:
mom - clapotis/knitty - mystery ebay cotton chenille, cream
dad - irish hiking scarf - tahki donegal tweed, brown
pat(brother) - multidirectional scarf - brown noro kureyon or silk garden
brendan(brother) -
jen(aunt) - ruffles/scarf style - ?
dave(uncle) - forbes forest/scarf style - ?
vivian(cousin) - ruffles - red heart, lilac
lucy(cousin) -
jen(cousin) -
jason(cousin's husband) - fingerless gloves
haley(cousin's kid) - mittens - fun fur and red heart
alexa(cousin's kid) - hat & scarf?
nana(grandma) - lace scarf - ?
joy(cousin) - bunny/quick knits - ?
joey(her bf) - team wrist warmers(devils & river rats) - ?
sean(uncle) -
amy(aunt) -
charlie(cousin) -
theo(cousin) - sweater - lion brand
eileen(aunt) - scarf - fun fur & wool-ease
george(uncle) - fisherman's hat - wool-ease
james(cousin) -
erin(cousin's fiance) -
nora(aunt) -

friends:
alf - mini sweater/glampyre - red heart red w/black intarsia skull
mikki -
danny -
jim -
sarah -
jennie -
tanita - minisweater/glampyre -
teejay -
maia -
farrah -
tom - cable scarf
sheep - skull wrist-warmer
jan - skull wrist-warmer
cruse - scrap-scarf
kevin(the best bartender ever) - fingerless gloves? scarf?

believe me, i KNOW i'm crazy.

 

ain't it funny

i find the ebb and flow of the blogging world quite amusing. it seems MANY of you folk are in a blogging-at-work, or at least, blogging-after-work pattern, because on week nights i generally come home to at LEAST 30 or 40 entries on my bloglines page. however on weekENDS, when i have all the time in the world to catch up, i come home to MAYBE 15-20 entries. i suppose that's because everyone else is out living their lives and having a great time, good for you! heh.

by the way, this entry is brought to you courtesy of mamacate, who reminded me that i havent told you all how my JOB is going!!

it's going... slow. i've been warned by other massage therapists that it takes a while to build up a practice, so i shouldn't be surprised that i'm not getting as much work per week as i'd like. but on careful analysis i realize though it may be slow, it IS steadily increasing. and i have regular clients now, at least three people who have specifically requested me!! that... is truly a wonderful feeling. and i'm told that the call-in's and business in general tends to increase around the holiday times, so it looks like it'll only get better from here. whoo!

in the knitting front, i've been knitting FURIOUSLY in preparation for christmas. little kid hats, bigger kid bags and scarves, one baby sweater, and many many projects out of scarf style for the grown-ups on my list. can i do it? only time will tell...

November 17, 2004

 

what am i, nuts?

has anyone else noticed that most of my posts are somewhere between the hours of 2 and 4am?
is it really sad when you're still AWAKE when wendy is posting her pre-work 5am entries?

all of this potential knitting time... and i'm sure i'll STILL be cutting it last-minute with the christmas presents.

so i've got new rules! (side note: i'm incredibly lazy. i'd have links to the folks i speak of if i werent so lazy. wendy only gets a link cause her domain's so darn easy! if i speak of you, but have no link... forgive me, it doesnt mean i love you any less!) in reading... someone elses blog earlier this week, they were discussing the fact that... said blogger only had x amount of rows left to go on a fair-isle bag. with the math done, that worked out to x rows a night, and it would be done in 2 weeks.

::palm meets forehead:: why didnt *i* think of that!! but, because i have the brain of tim allen, i have to do it... BIGGER AND BETTER!

my dry-erase board has now turned into christmas central. various days are mapped out for various gifts to be worked on, with target # rows listed, and a progress bar for me to fill in as i go. i've even rigged a spare bit of fabric behind it... so i can cover it up when any of the listed recipients come over!

the interesting thing will be whether or not this all pans out in the long-run, i'll keep you guys posted.

the day after thanksgiving's not too early to put up a christmas tree, right? this is my first year living on my own for the holidays, and i'm kind of anxious to get it started :) and have a place to put all those fantastic gifts as i complete them!!

 

it's about time...

this post will get edited frequently, as i work on and hopefully, eventually, complete the list. and soon it will have its own honored place on my side bar! but for now, i give you the first stages of:

100 things about me:
(this may get a little long winded. you've been warned.)
1. (we'll start with the basics) my name is Alice Glass
2. my middle name is NOT 'through the looking' but some may tell you it is
3. i'm 22, though my best friends are 17 and 29. funny, huh?
4. i got my massage therapy license in october
5. my cousin got me my present job
6. which is doubly cool because he works in the same strip and gives me free bagels
7. i'm a carb addict. probably why i need so many free bagels
8. nothing washes a bagel down better than dr. pepper. NOTHING.
9. did i mention i love dr. pepper?
10. i taught myself to knit in september of '03
11. a girl needs SOMETHING to amuse herself with while commuting 4 hours a day, right?
12. i went to Northeastern University in boston. briefly. dont ask
13. hated the school, loved the city, go there every chance i get. if you live in boston, invite me up!
14. also went to community college for a bit. liked it... but wanted more
15. finally, graduated from the Swedish Institute in manhattan! (this is all so totaly out of order, isnt it?)
16. i worked with mentaly retarded adults for 2 years while at community college
17. ...then with mentaly ill adults for 2 years while at the SI
18. while i loved the clients, i'm SO glad to be out of those fields. administration = GAG.
19. my hair has been every color of the rainbow. no, seriously.
20. at the moment i have 14 piercings
21. the most i've ever had is 17
22. i have 3 tattoos, but that wont last long. my cousin joy is a tattoo artist
23. i named my cat, Rowan, before i ever started knitting, and knew about 'the' Rowan. but it's pretty cool.
24. my bestest friend michelle and i like to get dressed up at inapropriate times. expensive heels are a MUST for returning bottles and cans, right?
25. i'll probably hate this whole list and re-do it next time. so enjoy it while you can!

November 15, 2004

 

DAG. NABBIT.

i am... SO frustrated. part of my Iro 26 problem was aleviated when the lovely Jen sent me 3 skeins. however... that only furthered my obsession. i only needed 2 of the skeins for the rest of the flower basket chunky shawl... so i started teaching myself entrelac. well... now i HAVE to make an entrelac wrap for my mom, so she and my aunt can match!

so i found 7 skeins on ebay. decend price. someone kept outbidding me, but by 2 hours before the end of the auction, i was only up to $80, which for THIS yarn... is cheap!!

then, LITERALLY 2 seconds before the end of the auction, s omeone else snakes in and outbids. that is SOOOO darn frustrating.

the only other 26 that's available on ebay right now is being sold in a bag of 10, for almost $150, and while still a good price i just cant quite swing THAT.

::grumble:: silly ebay evil-folks.

(no offense, if any of YOU readers were the stealthy iro-buyer. i'm just... eh! i'm sure you can figure out how i'm doing by the general attitude of my blog lately. just one more frustration!)

November 14, 2004

 

thwarted!

my LYS is an ODD place. beautiful first-class yarns, super-cheesy novelty yarns, debbie bliss pattern books, VK, etc. however... they only have a FEW first-class yarns, they only recently started carrying interweave, and they've never heard of koigu, R2, or Knit 1. *i* introduced them to the wonders of knitty, recently! and as for finding books like "scarf style", "last minute gifts" or... Amy Singer's book (i forgot the title!), FAT CHANCE. but i guarantee they'll have "hip to knit", that hat-shaped hat book, and a dozen baby and accessory books. it's almost as if they were made with the "pick up knitting for a few months because it's cool, then drop it" crowd. dont get me wrong, i LOVE them. the ladies are the best, and so sweet and wonderful to me. they even try to give me a $ break when they know there's something i'm in love with, but just cant afford. sometimes they'll have me make a store sample for them in exchange.

i just wish i had a haven like webs, threadbear or knit happens in my area :)
i have LYS-envy!

the reason for this rant? i'm SERIOUSLY interested in checking out the new IK, R2 and Knit1 magazines, but i dont like buying pattern magazines unless i get to flip through them. i'll chance it with rowan, cause i know i'll NEVER see that at the LYS, and i love rowan. to death. but... not the magazines. they're not quite as reliable, shall we say. more hit-and-miss. OY, if only i could have a look at a physical copy. i think i should pester them more about carrying a few 'updated' items. perhaps i'll start slow, just a few balls of Kidsilk Haze, then we'll move on from there.

mini non-knitting rant:
and why is there NO NEWS STAND ON LONG ISLAND that seems to sell Jane Magazine? i <3>

back to knitting.
i hate to sound like a whiny, greedy little girl. but i bet i'm going to.
disclaimer: i'm NOT this materialistic in real life. however i CAN be this jealous in real life. but it's more related to attention and acceptance issues rather than objects themselves.
i've been a part of the RAOK web-ring for a few months now. i've sent out a few anonymous gifts, the odd bit of yarn or shiny trinket here and there. some pretty notes and letters. basically, what a poor girl such as myself can afford at the moment. i'm trying my best to read others journals, not just skim the FO pictures. and i'm really finding that i feel connected to certain bloggers. i comment regularly, and feel like i've made some real 'friends' in this community. however, i cant help but be jealous when i see posts, and pictures, of all the fantastic material RAOK's some knitters are getting. wads of fleece, drop-spindles, chocolate, buttons, yarn, sheepy-tape-measures, etc. i know it's a RANDOM acts of kindness ring, but i've been feeling very brittle and thin-skinned lately, so to my poor little brain all i see is "geeez, it looks like all the POPULAR bloggers are getting all the cool toys..." i saw a similar comment on Wendy's journal once, someone stating that it seemed a bit... un-even. that will be the nature of any random program, of course. says my logical brain. my emotional raw-nerve brain says i'm being neglected and ignored.

please, keep in mind, rationally i KNOW this isnt true. i'm just sort of trying to provide a little insight into what my little mind is going through right now. if you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll know i've had a LOT on my hands in the last few weeks. did i mention my uncle Wayne died on halloween? i cant remember. and my grandfather's memorial service was today, i spent the WHOLE weekend in new jersey in a tiny, depressing house surrounded by depressed relatives.

if i were 5 years old, this would be the point where i grab my comfort-blankie, pop my thumb into my mouth, and climb into bed with mom and dad and hide until monday. ::sniff:: i think i'll eat some soup and watch cartoon network for now.

dont think i'm ungrateful for all of the comments and love i've felt from those who take the time to comment, or help me search out the perfect (missing) yarn (THANK YOU JEN! i got it today. the noro 26 will get wound into a ball while the soup cooks!). i appreciate every single one of your comments, and the above comments are NOT to dismiss or belittle how much a few spoken words can mean to a girl. thank you, thank you, thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.


(note the predominantly red and green post. that's right, it's FLIP OUT ABOUT HAVING GIFTS READY FOR CHRISTMAS! time.)

November 10, 2004

 

norma & sahara, you get your VERY OWN ENTRY (to share. nicely.)

i still cant believe norma, THE norma reads my blog :) i suppose when i get the Harlot reading, thats when i know i've truly 100% arrived on the knit-blogging scene. haha.

by the way, someone named saraha commented on one of my recent entries, and i wanted to reply, but i couldnt email her, as the whole blogger profile-linking system kind of stinks. oh, and because this "sahara" character doesnt have their profile set to visible. so i got BUPKISS!

so sahara, whats up :)

 

apricot obsession

Has anyone that reads this silly thing done the Apricot sweater from rebecca 27? i know... it's totaly wrong for my body type. i KNOW i shouldnt spend $. but holy hell, i just cant stop myself. the more people i see finishing it, the more i get to be like a jealous lover.

(ike turner voice) hey baby, why you doin' that to me? flauntin' it in my face, that you're with all these other girls, when you SHOULD be with me...

so there was a point to this, i swear. i'm requestin' and askin' favors left and right, but... i LOVE you guys! ::sniff:: and you KNOW i'd do the same for you.

a. does anyone have a copy of rebecca 27 that i could perhaps, borrow for the durration of the project, and then send back? see, thats not copywrite infringement! i'd just rather not spend the $ on that if i dont HAVE to. cant hurt to ask, right?

b. anyone who's made this sweater, are there any decent substitutions for GGH java? i KNOW its not a rediculously pricey yarn, but i'd prefer to go as cheap... as possible. without cheapening the sweater by making it out of crap. would this cheap-o Elann Highland Wool that everyone's raving about work for this project? cause then i could TOTALY afford it!

c. could someone who has the pattern tell me how many balls of GGH i'd need, so i can figure out the yardage, etc?

and, i know i've been promising this for EVER, but if i get my butt in gear today and get my regular work DONE, i should be able to post pictures of all my WIP's later tonight!! i'm also going to start some side-blogs, which you'll see appearing on my side-bar soon. you'll understand when the time comes... ::evil laugh::

November 04, 2004

 

oh my lucky stars...

here i am, at 4am, making campbels chicken and stars soup, in an attempt to calm my frayed nerves and my poor taco-bell-hating stomach. oh, and yes, i've been up until 4am or later every night for the past two weeks. my body does NOT deal well with stress and loss.

in other news, though, i got a new tattoo today!! ::doing the new-tattoo-dance. yes, of COURSE there's a dance:: it's lovely, and tiny, and... well, exactly what i wanted. though you'll have to wait until tomorrow for pictures, because it's still all icky and raised and red.

wait, what did i just say, pictures?? yes, pictures! my camera is finally agreeing with me, AND i dont have work tomorrow, so i'm going to spend a good chunk of time updating my WIP's, creating a FO gallery (i have FO's to show off! how cool!) and doing all sorts of things i've taken my sweet time in doing.

i'm also going to put up my dry-erase board, and start my running christmas tally. i plan on hanging a callendar in FRONT of the board, so i can keep a list, but without it being in plain sight. oh the things i plan to knit for christmas... i have a feeling i'll be finishing things while my cousins are all unwrapping gifts. again!

in other OTHER news, i've noticed a massive amount of thrumming projects in blogs all over this fine blog world. i've never knit anything thrummed, because frankly i just dont know where to buy roving. we have a very limited yarn supply around here, let alone fancy things like ROVING. hah.

i do, however, have a small bag of lovely green from an ebay purchase. i'd like to use that chunk to create a thrummed headband/ear warmer for my mom. i'm pretty sure i can work out the pattern, but is there anything in particular i should know about how thummed fabric behaves? any tips?

(notice the lack of political comments. at least until after my grandfather's service next friday, i'll just be forgetting about THAT particular stressor. but i'm sure you can figure out where i stand. ::cough:: canada, here i come...)

November 03, 2004

 

can i call in "my country elected a dumb-ass and they're gonna do it again so i feel sick" today?

i've tried to keep it to knitting. i've let in little bits of my personal life when those bits RELATE to my knitting life. i've tried to keep the political out. but i just cant.

how. is. this. happening.

but seriously, from what i see, we knit-bloggers are pretty uniformly kerry-oriented. out of ALL of my friends and acquaintences, i know one person who voted bush. i understand the heartland is where his votes are all coming from... but seriously, what are those people thinking? they dont see their money being flushed? their sons, boyfriends, brothers, cousins, being killed?

seriously, i dont get it. canada's looking better and better.

(a knitting post later, after i have a smoke and some food and cool off.)

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