Just a quick check in!

Just checking in real quick to say Hello! I'm alive. I'm here, I promise.


And to let you know that my very best friend (who happens to be 1300 miles away) has created a new blog and you should check her out at The Sea Anemone In Me or at her art website Oh No Nicole!


Love love love.

The Tweed Run

I stumbled upon this video on Habu Textiles blog and had to post it. I am pretty positive that Meredith and I need to get ourselves to England next year for this.

Granny Squares Galore

image via weheartit

Lately I have become OBSESSED with granny squares. They're so easy to crochet and so quick. I decided to de-stash a bit and make a huge granny square blanket. I found eight skeins of Noro Kureyon that I had originally bought to make a Lady Eleanor Entrelac Scarf (Rav link) but never got around to it. I love the colors, but decided they just weren't right for the entrelac project. I whipped out a hook and in a few days I had this! I took a little break from it, but 6 skeins in, it's about 3.5 feet across. I absolutely love it. I plan to make into a full size blanket, but I refuse to buy more yarn for it right away.  I absolutely love it, though and I am so excited about it!

Is it really Memorial Day weekend already?

Gosh, where has this year gone? It's already almost June! We are halfway into 2010 and I feel like it just began. I've been MIA as usual. I am really having a hard time writing here these days but I assure you I haven't disappeared. I still peek in every now and then on your blogs, I promise.
So what have I been doing instead of writing here?
At the end of March, I went to Columbus, Ohio to see my friend Meredith. We had a lot of fun, bought lots of yarn fromWonderknit and Knitter's Mercantile, shopped at cute stores like Wholly Craft and even attended the Short North gallery hop Meredith had always told me about. My week there flew by and it was time to come home just when I was starting to feel at home there. I had an absolutely fabulous time.
Since Ohio, I feel like I have been knitting all the damn time. I don't know what it was that changed in me but I finished a ton of projects, organized my yarn stash and planned out future projects as well.  I feel like all I do these days is work, knit, spend time with Gus and look up yarn/projects online all day. I can't think of a better routine, though. Aside from all that, YouTube and Netflix have definitely been taking up a huge chunk of my time. While knitting, I like to watch seasons of TV shows at a time. When I'm not doing that, I've been looking up hair and makeup tips on YouTube. I'm not really a girly girl and I don't think I ever will be (though I did have a phase) but I still like to play with my hair and put on eyeliner every once in a while.
I have a bunch of project posts coming up soon, so stay tuned! I hope you're all doing well. xoxoxo

Hi. I'm a bad blogger

Hi, my name is Kirsten and I went to Ohio last week to see one of my best friends, Meredith.
Hi, my name is Kirsten and I took zero pictures in Ohio because I left my camera on the coffee table in Louisiana.
Hi, my name is Kirsten and I bought lots of pretty yarn in Ohio, which I still haven't taken photos of. I also knit a lot of things in the past few months and have taken photos of ZERO FO's. Woops.
Hi, my name is Kirsten and I am terrible at blogging. I woke up from a nice deep sleep because of my anxiety over not posting here.
Hi, I'm going back to sleep now. Goodnight!

Resolution Roundup: 3 Months

I realize I haven't been around in over a month. It gets so easy to be lazy. First you put off a post for a day or two, decide you're too tired to even bother on day three and by day four, you really just sort of forget about it. Before you know it, you're swamped with other priorities and when you finally get a chance to catch your breath, you realize it's a month later and you have absolutely nothing to show for that month, so you put off another post for even longer.
I'm not sure what has gotten into me lately. I've been preoccupied with little things. I decided the best way for me to fix all this was to look back on the resolutions I made in January and see how well I've done. I'm trying to keep this whole experience as positive as possible. If I have absolutely failed at something, I'm not going to feel badly about it. It will just make me want to try that much harder to get it right in these next nine months.
BOLD are things I have accomplished. Italic are things I am working on. Regular font is for things I have not done at all.

• Quit Smoking.
• Eat healthier.
• Excersize more.
• Knit more!
• Finish at least 10 projects (knitting) for other people and at least 10 for myself.
• Quit getting upset over small things.
• Do not buy more yarn!
• Be neater.
• Give things away.
• Be a wiser spender.
• Lose weight.
• Make more. I want to make more art.
• Bring a camera with me everywhere.

Honestly, I think I am doing a good job TRYING to make things better. I've been especially good at saving money (while still managing to pay off my debts!!) which is fantastic because I leave for Ohio in 12 days! I can't wait.
How are all of your resolutions coming along this year? xoxo

NEW LOCATION

If any of you guys are still hanging around here, I wanted to let you know I have moved my blog! Check out knittingalovesong!

xoxo

A new-ish haircut and an old hat

I finished this hat ages ago and then took photos of it with my camera phone. Months and months passed and I wore this hat a million times but never took another picture of it. Finally last night I decided it was time. The pattern is theSpring Beret. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in Cumin.


[Rav link]
I got my hair cut a few weeks ago at a cute little salon right down the road from my apartment called Cuttin' Up. Cherie, this really nice girl I know from Ravelry, cut my hair. I absolutely love what she did and I can't wait to go back.

And yes, I am wearing a Saints jersey. While everyone is watching the Super Bowl tonight, I will be celebrating my four year anniversary with Gus. (And maybe sneaking in a little Super Bowl, too). Have a great night and I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend!
xoxox

Mom's Scarf

Since I moved to Louisiana in January 2008, I've only been able to visit my mum once, last April. I asked her lots of things about what she might like/not like in knitting. Would she like a lace shawl? Sure but would she use it? Probably not. Would she like a hat? No. As it turns out, the only fool-proof knit gift for my mum is a scarf. I bought this Noro Iro at The Quarter Stitch in December and just KNEW I had to make something for my mum with it.
The yarn was gorgeous. I loved the texture of wool and silk, but I did find at least three knots in the 1.5 skeins I used. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I could have just untied them, but they were in so tight, I had to cut them. I'm sure a lot of people might complain about the vegetable matter in the yarn, too but I think it adds to the rustic texture of the silk/wool combo. All in all, I liked this yarn, just wish it had less knots. I loved the thick/thin texture of it and that it knit up so quickly.  Because the yarn's color changes were so varied and dramatic, I decided on a simple garter stitch bias pattern. I'm sure my mum is going to love it as well.


[Rav link]

Mick's Slouchy Hat

A few months ago, my friend Mick asked me if I could knit him a "slouchy like kinda rasta-y hat. I want to grow my hair long so I need it big enough to hold it, you know? Like a...rasta hat but you know, not..." So, after months and months of listening to him ask every single day, I finally decided to make it. I started off using the pattern from here with some modifications, but wound up doing a lot of things totally different. I wasn't 100% happy with how the decreases came out, but I know for next time what I should change. Mick got the hat a week and a half after I cast on and he loves it.
I used Knit Picks Swish Bulky in the color Garnet Heather. I used size 10 needles, because 11's seemed too loose and I couldn't find any 10.5's. I love how soft the yarn is, though the skein was a little messy when I received it in the mail. Aside from the obvious tightness and spastic-ness of my decreases at the crown, I'm really happy with this hat.



[Rav link]