Back to School :(

Two weeks from today I'll be sitting in a desk again. Yikes. Where did summer go?

I've been school shopping with my family. So far I have all of my supplies--a huge blue binder to fit all of my notebooks in--so all I need is some more clothes and I'll be set. We have this rule at my school that our shorts and skirts need to be to the knees, which, although nice, can be a pain: really, do you know how hard it is to find shorts for teens that go all the way to the KNEES?

I also bought the yarn for my Ravenclaw scarf to knit during the Olympics. My Gold Award is going along well, too. Some local knitters donated a huge stash of yarn for me to use to knit up the hats! There's this new pattern I'm using that's going super quick and doesn't use that much yarn, so the project is starting to go a little faster. Now all I have to do is update the blog/website...

Let's see, what else have I been doing? Helping at the library, reading the Kare Kano manga series, re-reading Harry Potter DH and making a fanmix for it, playing "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" on the Wii with my sister, hanging out with my friends. Sleeping in till 9--only 14 more days of sleeping in! * cries *

Well, I'm going to scavenge in the kitchen for something to eat. Oh no--only 14 more lunches left before I have to eat the gross cafeteria food * cries again *

Why does summer have to end???? :(

"Be Realistic!"

I'm not a very realistic person, as you can tell from my last post.

When I wanted to take 9 full classes this coming year and skip my lunch in order to fit it all in? It took my dad to tell me "Becky, be realistic--do you really want to go through the whole year with no lunch?" And now I have 8 full classes plus a lunch period, thank god.

When I wanted to go to a 7 week session of camp this summer, doing the CIT 1 and CIT 2 program in one summer (which is pretty much unheard of), only having one day of rest in between the sessions, it took my mom to go "Becky, be realistic--do you want to spend 7 out of 9 weeks of your summer sleeping on a cot in a tent?" And so I did 3 weeks of camp, finishing up the CIT 1 program.

So it took my 14-year-old sister to tell me "What the heck Becky? You're going to knit a hat every single day plus a scarf? BE REALISTIC!"

Yep. I am going to be realistic and change my plans for the Ravelympics. Along with doing the Scarf Stroke, I want to do one other event--either the Sock Put or the Amiguri + Toys Toss. Since I have a billion sets of DPNS now (thank you Grandma!) I can do any of them pretty cheaply without having to go drive a half an hour away for more needles.

If I do the Toy Toss, I'm going to make an Elephant "Elefante" for...someone...I don't who yet.

If I do the Sock Put, I'll probably make some cozy house socks.

So, what will it be? No idea yet. Well, I've still got, what, 8 days? 10 days? Plenty of time left!

The Ravelympics--2008 Plans

Well, the Olympics are beginning in...*checks counter* 15 DAYS! Which means that it is time for me to pick my Ravelympic project.

At first I was planning on making this sweater in lieu of the new HP movie coming out (and it looks like a fairly simple first sweater project--all done on circs, which means no seaming) but it turns out that the supplies cost way too much. I calculated $60 for everything, which I don't really have right now.

So. I went with option 2. Scarf Stroke. I know what you're all thinking--"A scarf isn't a challenging project!" Well, it is if it's 90 in. long! I'm doing the PoA Ravenclaw HP scarf to wear to the new movie. I know this KAL is the motivation I need to get it done--it is miles and miles of boring stockinette. But, using Caron Simply Soft, I can get all the yarn for $10 or less. Now that's more in my price range!

And, besides the scarf for the KAL, I'm also going to do a mini-KAL all on my own. Those hats.

They really have to get done. I want to get a hat done for every day of the Olympics. That's 17 hats! I can get it done--I'm going to be knitting all through August, but I can do it. I have NOTHING going on in August and am prepared to tackle this Gold Award--and that scarf.

The only damper on this plan is that school is starting again on the 18th (ugh). We don't get any homework the first week, though. It's always "Okay, here is a list of my expectations for this year! Let's play a getting-to-know-you game! I want to test all of you to see where we should start in the curriculum!" Easy. I went Tuesday to register for Junior year, and my schedule is so screwed up--I'm missing French III and Advanced Piano, have two classes at once and was put in the wrong gym class. Oh, and my lunch was at 2:30 P.M. Yeah, the office really has to fix it.

So there you have it--my plans for the Ravelympics! Can I do it? Or do I not know what I'm getting myself into?

Christmas in July

I'm baaacccckkkk! It's been a while, but I'm glad nothing too drastic took place while I was up in Northern Wisconsin, sleeping in a tent and away from much civilization as we know it.

Anyway, the main reason for this knitting-related post is that my grandparents arrived from Kansas City today--yay! And my grandma brought me her ENTIRE. COLLECTION. OF. KNITTING. STUFF.

I freaked out. I am now the proud owner of more sewing needles than I can count, a huge binder of patterns from the '60s through the '80s, and LOTS AND LOTS OF NEEDLES! I would write more, but I'm off to talk to my grandparents. Stay tuned!

3-Week Hiatus

Hello world. I just got back Wednesday from Business World Camp--basically, a business/economics camp for teens (nerd camp, woot!) held at St. Norbert's College in Wisconsin. It was four-days long and was a great way to get to know what college life will be like. We got to eat in the union cafeteria, find our way around the campus and stay in the dorms with random roommates (mine was lousy...I won't get into details, but she didn't go to any of the classes on the third day and almost got kicked out because she spent the night in the boy's dorm building. Okay, then.) In four-days, I don't think I missed much back at home.

I do know that my 14-yr-old sis logged on my HSKS5 swap account and posted a completely bizarre, random entry on my Daisy Finnigan account that I deleted--seriously, don't know why she would even think about logging onto my account. We have the same passwords for every website we belong to, so it obviously wasn't hard for her to get on it--but, dude! WHY?

Which brings me to the topic of this post. I'm leaving to be a CIT at camp on Sunday. A 3-week camp. I WILL GET INTERNET ACCESS every few days or so using the camp computers, so I can keep up with the swap I'm in and still post to my HSKS5 blog. I'm also coming home on the weekends. But I won't have time for Ravelry, Facebook or this blog--sniff!

Don't worry, I'll have all sorts of knitting goodies to show you when I get back. Stay tuned--see you July 21st!

(and, random, but I get back from camp on the same day that HP and the Deathly Hallows came out ONE YEAR AGO--isn't that crazy?!?!?! It's been one year already, dudes! At least there's Twilight to look forward to. Breaking Dawn will be coming out a week or so after I get back--YAY!)

Another Summer Update

Ack, who came up with the bright idea to assign us an essay over the SUMMER? My brain is in summer mode, not school mode. I can't write an essay with my brain in summer mode. The worst part is that it's due not the day we return to school, but in the middle of the summer. We have to drive over to school, drop off the assignment by my new English teacher's door, and leave. Sigh.

The real reason I'm posting is because I finally can show you the hats!

See? That's what I've been doing all these days! Making those acrylic, easy hats for my Gold Award! I have 14 now (not all of them are in the pic) so...a lot more to go. I'm getting help from community knitters, friends, family and church though, so I won't have to make all of them myself. It's still a lot, though. I doubt I'll knit another hat in my life once this project is done.

I also won't be able to post again until next Thursday or so. I'm going to a 4-day camp up near Green Bay, WI at St. Norbert's College. It's a "business camp"--me and other Wisconsin teens are coming up to learn about how to run your own business. We're competing for college scholarships. I'm pretty nervous. I leave on Sunday, gulp, and don't know anyone! Not even my roommate. I mean, that's going to be awkward, rooming with a random person for three nights that I've never met before in my life and never will meet again. Curse my friends for all being out of town...I miss them...

Oh, well. I can do this. Maybe I'll bring a hat to knit. I might look like World's Biggest Dork, but, hey, I'm never going to see these people again, why not?

Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer...

Okay, 12 hats done...lots more to go.

People are laughing at me out in cyberspace. I can hear them--"Becky, you can't knit all of those hats! You'll go crazy!"

I know. Which is why I'm not knitting all of them. I'm getting some help from family and friends, and already people in the neighborhood have stepped up. I really have to get working on the blog/webpage to direct them to...

I've been trying to get a picture of my beautiful hats up for the past hour or so, but the camera isn't working (big surprise...this happens at least once a week, doesn't it?) so it'll have to wait. Again.

What else have I been doing this week? Well...

• My spoilee for HSKS5 recieved the package I sent! She also chose me for a Random Act of Kindness, which involves TWILIGHT! I'll explain more on my character blog once I get to it.
• I finished all the required summer reading books for next year's honor English class. Now to move on to the essays I have to write and AP Euro...
• My little sister is done with school! Since we go to different schools, she got out a full two weeks later than me, but now she's done! She's had her "8th grade graduation" (oooh, the drama) and went to a waterpark for a last-day of school fieldtrip. If only we did that in high school. So now she's home with me and I get to watch her during the day, even though she's more than capable of watching herself at that age.
• I'm trying to transulate the Avatar 4-Nation crochet charts to knitting, and will hopefully start on a blanket that mimics the awesome-ness that is this. Although that might take a long time...I might have to start teaching myself crochet and just follow the pattern. It would go a lot quicker.

Yes, it doesn't seem like much, but it's summer! What do you expect? I slept until 11:00 this morning--I don't think I've ever slept in that late! But it felt so good. It feels so good just to relax.

Gold Award!

YAY! My Girl Scout Gold Award was finally approved tonight! What does this mean? Basically, I'm going on a spree to knit 90-100 hats for tots/finding people to help knit. I will set everything up tomorrow--the blog, the Ravelry group, flyers for around town, everything. I'm so glad it's finally, finally approved!

So, expect more info tomorrow or later. In the meantime, I'm going to go research how I can get a domain name for free. See, my dad said he'd give me $100 if I can set up a website for his business. Obviously, I'm going to try--hey, more money for yarn! It'll go towards that new All-Teen Yarn Club on Ravelry or those Harry Potter Opal yarns coming out in the fall (though, I must say, they're pretty ugly. Not Harry Potter-ish at all. But, being the fan I am, of course I need to buy it all!)

J'ai fini avec l'ecole pour le dix année!

I know I've said this a few times, but I truly am done with school. Done with finals, woot! They were getting so stressful towards the end, but I think I did okay.

IT'S SUMMER! Officially this time, because no more cramming! Like the new banner on top? My friends came to my house over the weekend for a "study fest" (like studying ever happened) and we doodled around with chalk for a while. Sadly, my friends are all talented artists and me? Not so much, lol. So I wrote my blog title in chalk and took a pic that is in dire need of a Photoshop treatment, once I get around to it. You should see the other things my friends drew! I took pictures of it all, which is good, as the rain completely washed it away later that night. I'll post it later. That along with my hat pictures--yes, I'll get to them! Someday!

So, what does summer mean? It means more time for reading, writing, knitting. I'm fairly busy, too--because I'm taking all these AP courses next year I have so many summer assignments to get done. And my dad and I are taking a "College Road Trip" on Monday, to Notre Dame in Ohio. Then we might stop to a few colleges in Indiana, drive all the way back to Milwaukee to see Marquette--yeah, I know, madness. I have a week-long camp at St. Norberts College in the middle of June to learn about business (hey, it was basically free through school, and it does sound kind of fun), my library assistant job again like last summer, and camp counsular at the way end of July/August.

Then school starts again around August 25th. But I won't even THINK of that yet.

I promise I'll try to gear this blog toward knitting again, and stop with my insane ramblings. But I just don't have anything cool to show, besides the hats, and other secret stuff ;)

And, truthfully? I feel so relieved right now. Three months of calmness, peacefulness. Three months of sleeping in. Three long months. YES!

School is OUT!

I can't believe it. I remember the first day of school way back last August, thinking, "Oh, god--we have 180 more days of this to go. 9 LONG months to go." And here we are, the end of May--and it's OVER.

Well, I still have finals next week, which I'm studying for, but I'm trying not to let that dampen my mood.

I haven't been posting or knitting very much lately (besides for my HSKS 5 spoilee) due to the stress the teachers have been pushing on us. You'd think that they'd lighten up due to school ending, but NO. They realize how much they still have to teach us and speed it all up a notch. But it's all behind us now--almost. Finals are the last hurdles to jump over, and then it's summer.

So until next Thursday, when I'm OFFICALLY done with all the tests, I'll probably take a little hiatus from the internet. So sorry about that, but I have the rest of the summer to post more regularly and knit.

The seniors are graduating TONIGHT. We already got to see them in their nice caps and gowns. All I think about is that 2 more years from now, I'll be in their shoes. Isn't that crazy? I thought high school would take forever to complete, but I'm already halfway through it. Life is crazy.

Recycling, woohoo!

If you asked me last year where I would be in one year, it would not involve cutting up plastic bags to make yarn.

I was bored, okay? I had nothing to knit, and learned that you could make yarn out of plastic grocery bags, so of course I wanted to try it. I actually have a pretty sizable ball of yarn/plastic, now. And it's recycling! People here in liberal Madison, WI REALLY love to recycle. You always see people walking into the grocery stores with their own fabric grocery bags. I really want to make a grocery bag out of the plastic yarn shreads--it would be great.

Walmart bags work the best, you see. They're perfectly flat and square. And the bottom even says "Please recycle" or something. See? They would be happy that I'm reusing their bags for my own yarny use.

Okay, short, pointless blog entry, I know. But I really have to get going and study. I just wanted to catch the world up with the amazing that is recycled plastic yarn =)

Trials of the Week

Well, it's been an interesting week.
Like breaking my ARM.

Okay, I didn't BREAK it, but sprained it pretty badly. It's in a brace-thing right now. See, I was rushing down the stairs, slipped five steps from the ground, hit my elbow on the banister and fell head first to the floor. It wasn't pretty. My parents were sure something was wrong with it, so they took me to the ER where I got some X-rays done and, what do you know? I sprained it.

It doesn't really hurt anymore, though. At least I can knit and type. That's all I care about. And it's my right arm in a brace, and I'm left-handed, so I can write as well. It's all good. It's the first real injury I've ever had--never broken anything, never gotten stitches. So I guess I was due for something dramatic to happen.

I got a lot of knitting done--so far I have 7 hats for my Gold Award project. I should post a pic soon, but they all look the same, and not-so-interesting. I also started my HSKS5 kit, and have a lot done. Lost proves to be the perfect knitting atmosphere--between my "OMGs!" I knit like a manic, nervous about what's going to happen next. And no Lost for two weeks--sniff.

I finished Eclipse! Now I can say that I am just like all other normal teenage girls and have read the complete Twilight series.

Ahh, have to run off to school. But it's Friday! Woo-hoo!

"Tuan Jim" is No More

And we're DONE with Lord Jim. YES. There is justice in the world. 9 more days of school. 8 more days of Brit Lit. Yes...I can do this!

So I caved and started to study/CRAM for finals over the weekend. I hate being the obnoxious know-it-all girl who obsess over her grades, but it'll all help me in the long run. Two more years of high school, then hopefully I'll get into Marquette or UW Madison, and take Pre Med or try for a doctorate in Physical Therapy, and then it's all good.

...can you tell I had a meeting with my counselor today? Yep, one of those "Mandatory Sophomore Meetings".

"So, what are your plans for the future, Rebecca?"
I want to live on a farm, get a flock of sheep and spin/dye my own wool. Then I want to open a knitting store and sell my products to EVERYONE!

Okay, just kidding. My parents say I've wanted to be a doctor since preschool when I was given those toy doctor-sets and used the little plastic stethoscope whenever I could. And I really think that it would be a good job for me. Keep me busy, around kids (I love kids! Seriously!) and it pays well. And, according to my counselor, I'm on the right track.

And rambling about my life to complete strangers. O-kay then.
No knitting to show today. We were assigned partners for HSKS5 and I spent a few hours yesterday planning for my partner's kit. I'm so excited (and that's the billionth time I've said it). And the ULTRASECRETPROJECT is almost ready to show. It involves hats (LOTS), the Girl Scout Gold Award, and of course knitting. Put them together and you've got my project, though I'll get everything together and official by June 1st (SCHOOL WILL BE OUT! YES!)

Other news:
*My favorite ship is dead. See, Nickelodean has screwed its Avatar fans so many times, but that's another blog post. This time they released a novelized verison of THE FREAKIN SERIES FINALE about, oh...2 MONTHS BEFORE IT PREMIERES ON TV. I know, smart. So it's been confirmed by other LJ-ers that Katara is with Aang, and Zuko with Mai--NO ZUTARA! So sad.

*...BUT my little sis finally picked up Final Fantasy X again and defeated the boss she's been stuck on since Jan. The Seymour in Belleve, with the Mortibody, and--yeah. Just take my word for it, it looked hard. So we got to see the amazing preeeettttyyy cut scene with Yuna and Tidus in state-of-the-art CGI (well, the CGI was good back in 2001). Yeah, they kiss in the sparkly pond-lake thing, and the Japanese music plays in the background, and it's SO CUTE! Take my word for it, even if you don't understand this at all. At least one of my pairings comes true.

*Eclipse is addicting. I can't believe I still have 200 pages left. I should be reading rather than blogging! Yeah, I used to think that Jacob belonged with Bella, because Edward is way overprotective, but Jacob is starting to get on my nerves. He kissed Bella, even when she tried to pull away (I mean, come on, he's a werewolf, he's stronger than her) and didn't care when she punched him in the face. So Edward has gone to the top of my list of hot guys. I mean, he always was on the list, but he's surpassed Jacob by now.

So there you have it. My past few days in a nutshell.
Now Eclipse sounds good to me.

Fridays Rock.

It's the WEEKEND. I have 10 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL! Well, plus finals...I'm not even thinking about those yet. This is the probably the last fun weekend I get this year before I go into super-studying mode. Sigh.

Here's an FO to show to whoever's out there on the Web:

It's an airplane washcloth-thingie for Dad for Father's Day. See, my dad is a pilot for American Airlines. He flies planes for a living (duh) so of course I had to make a father's day present for him incorporating this love of his. The pic makes it look all bumpy (trust me)--I blocked it and it looks much better.

It was my first time with seed stitch/making designs out of the purls and stitches, so cut me some slack!

I think I'm going to try to do something like this with Avatar: The Last Airbender emblems. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just ignore this. It'll be a while before I do any of that--I must do the ULTRASECRETPROJECT first. And get assigned my partner for HSKS5, making him/her an amazing bag/needlecase/diary/whatever they want. And make my sis that Zelda scarf I promised her I would make once she finished Twilight Princess.

Yeah, I'm going to be busy knitting for a while. The good thing is, I'm done making presents for everyone--the next big gift-giving event is my Dad's B-day in September, which is a whole summer away.

Oh, no. I almost forgot. I should probably make Katie something for her 8th grade graduation. Oh...snap.

Nevermind. I'll be knitting forever. Not that I mind knitting for others, really. It actually makes me feel like I'm not wasting time when I should be reading Lord Jim for school/the Sparknotes for Lord Jim (worst freaking book EVER, not even joking--I'm reading Eclipse on the side, which is only 200 times better).

Tomorrow I'll also get some time in for knitting, during the 1.5 hour car ride to Milwaukee--3 hours there and back. I might get a whole hat done in that time. Sweet.

Screw finals. I have two weeks before I have to worry about them.

And, trust me. This time next week you'll be getting a VERY different reaction from me about the whole thing. Think very spazzy. Because then I'll only have ONE week till finals. Who wins at procrastinating? Moi.

Shameless Plug for HSKS5

http://www.hskswap.com/

There's still room left to join! Sign-ups go until the end of the week! If you love HP and you love to knit, this is a no-brainer--JOIN!

I'm so excited (I mean, come on--I've posted about my excitement for the swap at least five times now). You get to play through the duration of the swap as a Hogwarts student. You set up a character blog, get sorted into a house, get to chat with your housemates and even play Quidditch trivia games. There's also all new stuff in store for HSKS5--SPEW, DA, Dueling Club, etc. It isn't just your average swap, that's for sure.

My character blog is all set up at http://www.daisy-finnigan.blogspot.com/, and I've been sorted into Ravenclaw (YES!) Check it out!

There's also more info on the actual swap website (one more time for good measure) http://www.hskswap.com/.

So go and JOIN!!!!!!

I GOT INTO HSKS 5! YAY!

My spoiler is going to read this and think I'm a total spazz case. Yes, I am.

But I'm so happy! I got into HSKS5 as a RAVENCLAW! See, there were 18 returning Ravenclaws signed up. It was announced that there would be a limit 0f 25 people per house, so I knew I needed to hurry. At around 10:30 my time, the form was put online and I filled it out SO quickly I probably screwed something up by accident. I went to bed after that, and when I woke up I went right onto Ravelry where it said basically "Ravenclaw has been closed to 20 people because we're evening out the playing field".

So I'm like "Oh, no! That means only two newbies got into Ravenclaw. I SO did not get in." So I look up the actual HSKS5 blog, look under Hufflepuff (my 2nd choice) and don't see my name there.

Huh. So I look under Ravenclaw and there I am! Daisy Finnigan, my pseudo-Potter-name!

HUZZAH! See, typing at a WPM of 110 and being the fastest typer in my class of 2010 DOES have it's advantages. Or I just got lucky.

Either way, I'm estatic. Today's a day off, so I'm rushing off to do homework, but I set up my Potter blog quickly: www.daisy-finnigan.blogspot.com

Now I just have to wait till Monday, where we start getting assigned partners...this is so AWESOME!

HSKS 5 SIGN UPS TOMORROW!

Yay! I get to sign up for the HSKS 5 swap TO-MOR-OW! I'm so psyched, if you can't already tell. The people who were in the last swap got to sign up today, and I'm very jealous of them. Gah, I can't wait to start! I've been looking at the sign-up sheet, so I can have the new students' version filled out EXACTLY at 11:00 tomorrow night (whoo-hoo, staying up late...hope the rents' will approve). I REALLY want to get into Ravenclaw, but since they are only 25 allowed in each house and, oh, 20 returning Ravies have signed up already, I think I'm going to be a Gryff or Puff. Oh wells. I think I'll belong anywhere.

My character blog for the knitting swap is set up at www.daisy-finnigan.blogspot.com. I'll fix it up nicely when I get sorted into a house. I would put a link to HSKS 5 on this blog and my character blog, but I'll wait until I actually sign up first. I can't decide what I'm going to ask my spoiler for--options are a knitting bag, journal or needleholder. Such a big decision! Gah. Obviously I'm going to ask for stitch-markers, though, and a cool sock pattern (my first pair of socks will be made from the yarn I hopefully get in return...I can't wait!) And DPNs, though I think I'm learning to kinda hate them--circular needles rock, but I will NEVER figure out how the magic-loop thing works.

As far as the upcoming weekend goes, I've got Friday off, and will be spending it knitting in a cozy coffee shop. Then TONS of homework Saturday--THREE WEEKS LEFT OF SCHOOL, DUDES! This means that the teachers are loading us up with:

*A huge essay on Tess of D'Urbervilles , a huge 200+ word vocab test and another test essay to study for [Brit Lit]
*A french composistion (Comment-vous preparez pour l'ecole?) [French]
*A World History project on the country of Algeria [World History]
*Chemistry workpages [Chem]
*Christian Scriptures end-of-year project [CS]
*Piano
*Girl Scout Gold Award proposal [secret project YO!]
and...
*Reading 60 pages per night of Lord Jim, worst book in the world. Not joking. [Brit Lit again]

Yeah. I can do it.
But this means no knitting.
Sob.

Blocking Time

Lots of little updates in the knitting world! Item #1: Mom's Mother's Day Eyemask Thing!


Here it is! And DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT'S TOO BIG! It fit my face perfectly fine...although I DO have a tiny face...whatever. It's cute, and my first time purling/increasing/decreasing (yes, I know, I'm pathetic).



A lipgloss case for Mom's B-day (May 31st) that's blocking.I KNOW IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A CASE, ALRIGHT? My little sis is coming up to me all the time going "That doesn't look right, Becky! That looks STU-PID!" SHUT UP! It took me, like, less than a half an hour to knit and, little sis? It's called seaming. I sew the thing up and it magically becomes a case for mom's lipgloss, which always finds itself in the bottom of her bottomless purse.

This is Bob the Elephant-Shaped-Tape-Measure-That-Was-99-Cents-At-Michaels. Say hi to Bob. Bob has become my new best friend. I mean, the tape measure comes out of his TRUNK! How cool is that? I've already used him dozens of times to measure the first addition to the SUPER SECRET PROJECT, which will be revealed in due time...

Little sis is trying to learn how to knit. Aww, how cute. Despite choosing the most annoying, pastal-y yarn possible, and the fact that she got only a centimeter done before getting bored, she's doing pretty good.

And what is this? Part of the secret project, although you can probably tell what it is =) All will be revealed soon enough. I have to keep it kind of secret because I technically aren't supposed to start the project yet, not until I get it approved sometime this week, but I couldn't help it. I'm a little bit excited and overwhelmed! Don't worry, this makes NO SENSE at all right now, but it will soon. Very soon.

Patience is a virtue...a virtue I don't have!

I officially hate Lionbrand.

Whew. It seems like a long time since I blogged, and it's only been--what, four days? Wow, I got a lot done in four days.

The main thing I've been working on is the *SUPERSECRETPROJECT* I've been making for Mutti's Mother's Day (my mom..."Mutti" is the German verison of "Mommy"...yeah, I'm a freak, but Mutti sounds cute). It's an aromic sleepmask, you know, one of those masks you put around your head to fall asleep? Yeah, it's cute, and easy to make. I learned how to purl, increase and decrease during the project. Things are looking good.

I'm making it using some really cheap Vanna White Lionbrand yarn, in a self-striping violet color. My sister and I both went to the store, and I was broke, so I promised my little sis that if she pays for the yarn and needles I'll sign her name on the project too. She was all for it--so I spotted some really nice bamboo needles and was like "PLEASE KATIE PLEASE LET ME HAVE THEM!"...and so, the story of how I snagged a pair of lovely bamboo knitting needles Size 6 out of the deal.

Anyway, it's been really warm here (which we deserve--we got 101.5 inches of snow this year. Think that's fun? It's not. Wisconsin sucks, trust me) so I've been knitting at the park and getting all these weird stares from parents and kids. OHMYGODLOOKAKNITTERSTAYAWAYSTAYAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Obsessive, rich, preppy mother, what do you think I'm going to do? Stab your kids with the needles? Puh-lease. Knitting isn't really as dangerous as it looks.

I was halfway through the backside of the sleepmask (which was a pattern I got off of Lionbrand, did I mention that?) and ran into a problem. The pattern is screwed up. Seriously, tell me if this sounds screwed up or not:

Cast on 20 stitches. Do 22 rows of sockinette. Then--
K12 K2tog K1

Um, excuse me, Lionbrand? 12+1 is NOT equal to 20.
Oh, and Lionbrand's curtly reply? "The pattern is correct."
Uh, NO. It took me a while, but there were some really helpful people on Ravelry that told me, basically, Lionbrand's screwed up and to never trust their patterns. I rewrote the pattern and finished the second half. I'm now waiting to block them and sew them up, and then I'll have the pics.

Next up is a small pouch to carry Mom's chapstick in, because she just so happens to lose them all the time. It's for her B-day, which is May 31st. Yeah, it just so happens that her b-day fell two weeks after Mother's Day--so that gives me less time to make something for her. But I don't mind.

So there you have it. Four days in the life of Becky and her knitting adventures.

Oh, and that HP bookmark? Forget about it--I won't be finishing it anytime soon. Too many other projects (SECRET projects--I'll mention them later) to worry about.

Au revoir.

13 MORE DAYS UNTIL HSKS5!

Yes, I am counting the days. No, I am not a freak. I'm just REALLY excited, and totally ready to stay up till midnight for signups on May 1st bewcause we luckily have a day off the next day.

Anyway, I got that life-changing email. And a lot of crazy things have happened the past few days, so not much knitting has gotten done. I had to go buy another set of size 0 DPNs, since I still can't find that last needle (yes, I lose a lot of things, if you can't tell) and I cast on the first few rows of the next bookmark last night.

Now, however, I've got to look ahead to Mother's Day, which is coming up May 11th. I didn't realize how much people get into it--I found a countdown clock on a website today:

Today is Saturday April 19, 2008. There are 21 days 11 hours 10 minutes left until Mother's Day.

So! I've got 21 days to knit my mom something for mother's day. And she's totally expecting it, too--she's been dropping hints ever since I first started to knit. I think I'm knitting her an easy, quick sleep-mask, but I need supplies and...okay, this is embarressing...I need to learn how to purl first.

OKAY, I HAVEN'T LEARNED HOW TO PURL YET! I've been doing everything in the round and never needed it.

I also need to buy size 6 needles and a skein of comfy yarn. And, after Mother's Day, there's another thing coming up: my mom's b-day.

Yeah, just my luck that it falls on May 31st, two weeks after Mother's Day. I'm totally lost for ideas on that one. I have about a month and a week left for that one, so maybe I can do something a little bigger? I don't know. I'm off to Ravelry to look for some ideas.

So, about that bookscarf...

...yeah, the bookscarf didn't really turn out so hot. Really, it didn't. Okay, it's not my fault! I wasn't used to DPNs, let alone tiny ones (I've said that about five times now, but really, they were REALLY small!) So I added on a few stitches by accident, I got some of them twisted carrying the yarn over, yada yada yada...

Wanna see? Probably not, but you will anyway. I'm waiting for a very important, possibly high-school-life-changing email, and taking pics will keep my mind content.



See? Not exactly great. It got WAY to thick and lumpy on one end.

Ha, if you look REALLY closely you can see that this book is New Moon, second book of the uber-awesome Twilight series. Okay, sidenote, but I promised myself that I wouldn't become the picture of a cliche teen girl, that I wouldn't read these books because they were over-popularized (is that a word). But...I caved. And they really are amazing, despite how the main character is unbearable. The hot vampire guys make up for her. I'm starting the third book soon.

Here is all that I have to make the second bookmark. Yeah, I'm going to try this again (the thread was, like, 99 cents a piece) only the third DPN is misplaced, sadly. I'll start again shortly.

Now to off to homework. All this blogging business provides a good distraction, and I have pages of Chem still to do. Eh, only six more weeks...

MY LAPTOP IS BACK!

YAYNESS!

Here's the deal. My laptop was broken for, oh, the last eight months or so. Since school started last fall. I turned it on one morning, but it wouldn't boot up. I was pissed. I took the battery in and out a billion times, but that made it worse. I was more pissed. I took it to the parents, who were pissed that the $1000 laptop they gave their lovely daughter for her last birthday was dead. Would not fix it or pay to fix it. I was SO PISSED at this point (being broke and not able to pay to get one of those Geek Squad people to fix it) that I worked on it for a FULL month before giving up and stashing it under my bed.

But Becky, Becky, just a few posts back you were saying how much of a techie godess you are!

I KNOW! Okay, I fix things by breaking them. That's how my luck runs, okay?

Because now, what do I do? I'm bored, struck with spring fever and no homework, so I go "You know what? Maybe I can get my laptop to work?" I turn it on, hoping for the best--and WHAT DO YOU KNOW? IT WORKS FINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I have no idea why it works, but yay. Now I don't have to borrow the 'rents computers anymore. I have my own back!

But it's weird. See, I always have a bunch of sites bookmarked that I visit for updates everyday. And I was looking through all my old bookmarks, going THAT IS SO NOT ME anymore. I don't visit any of these sites anymore--I'm not interested in any of these things--wow, I just think it's weird that I've changed so much in eight months...
*end melancholy rant*

Anyway, the real reason why I posted today?
The stupid Griffindor bookscarf looks like crap. Shit. Whatever you want to call it.
OKAY, NOT MY FAULT. I'm calling it a learning lesson, okay? I learned how to use double pointed needles...and knit really tiny thread...who cares if it looks like a box? You know what they say...you learn from your mistakes. Although I've never believed that.

Seriously, I'm so embarressed to put a pic up. But maybe I will. To show it's true crappiness. And then I'll get started on another one (fixing my gauge) to show the world that I CAN DO IT!

...and my little sis. 'Cause she laughed when I showed to her. You know what, Katie? If you think you can do it any better, show me! SHOW ME! Oh, that tacky, garter-stitch FunFur scarf you made that sheds all over the house? You think THAT'S hard? TRY THIS!!!!!

ETA: I'm sorry. I usually wouldn't post one of those dorky quiz results thingies, but I'm really bored and I love the fanart used for this one:

Find Out Which Disney Girl You Are! created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Belle Dancing furniture, singing spoons, and a man who needs a serious haircut - sound familiar? Well it should! Belle was a very independent spirit with alot on her mind, much like you are! But in life, there is a needed balance - learn when to speak your mind, and when to hold it back. Sometimes offending someone isn't the best way to go! Belle 96% Jasmine 88% Violet 79% Jane 79% Tinkerbell 75% Megara 71% Pocahontas 71% Alice 67% Snow White 58% Cinderella 50% Ariel 50% Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) 42% Mulan 42% Esmerelda 38%

Pic spam of WIP and (Almost) FO

I decided to get off the couch, despite my runny, gross, icky nose and head, and hop around the house taking pictures.
Yep, here we go: spam of my recently (almost, still have to do the tassles) Hufflepuff scarf.






Hope you don't mind the feet and sweatpants. I'm keeping the scarf above my bed like this--it looks nice there.

Yes, I know my bed isn't made or anything. I've been laying in it all day long, okay, and it usually looks a lot better than this! And, as comfy as sweatpants are, I usually don't wear them too often--school dress code=jeans and khakis as my garments of choice. And skirts on the stupid dress-up liturgy days we have.

See? Told you it was freaking hard. LOOK HOW SMALL THOSE NEEDLES ARE! Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't my first time using DPNs in the first place. A word of caution: don't try this unless you want your fingers to ache and feel like you're weaving dental floss. Do as I say, not as I do.

Okay, time to go back to the couch. I think I feel a big sneeze coming on.

I be sick.

I'm always sick, it seems. Some virius is going around--my mom has the stomach flu, sister and dad have a BAD cold like me, and all my friends seem to catching the same thing as well. It's not fun, as you can imagine.

SO...no pics of the scarf today. Maybe later, when I feel like getting up from the couch. Instead, I'm content by doing homework and reading New Moon. And starting a new knitting project!

I drove to our Michaels and bought the laceweight, DMC thread needed to make one of those super-uber awesome Harry Potter bookscarfs! Only the thing is, Michaels doesn't have size 0 DPNS. So I've spent the past week going to LYS after LYS looking for a set and finally found some nice aluminum ones.

Little did I know how freaking hard knitting with DPNs would be. And size 0, come on...it doesn't even feel like knitting anymore! The needles are WAYYYYYYY too small.

Oh well. I'll work on it. A few more tries and I'll hopefully get it.

Until I get better, see ya.

It is done.

As of 10:10 P.M. last night, the 'Puffed scarf is complete!!!!!!!!

I am SO happy. You should've seen me yesterday--hardcore knitting, completely. My eyes and fingers were sore by the time I bound off the last stitch. Okay, so it STILL has to be blocked, STILL needs the tassles put on, but as of right now, it's resting peacefully on my bed.

And isn't this a huge accomplishment??? My first official complete project, yo! Who cares if it was flippin' easy? I HAVE A HARRY POTTER HUFFLYPUFFY SCARF!!!!!!!!!11111

Pics will be up soon, I promise (now that I know how to post them).

And, in other AMAZING, CAPSLOCK WORTHY NEWS:

http://www.oclumencia.com.br/galeria/albums/userpics/edpposterduvido%7E1.jpg

HARRY POTTER YARN! FROM OPAL! With all the characters faces plastered across the tags and everything--they look sa-weeet!

Yeah, I'll end this post before I die from a total spazz fest. See you later with the pics of my brand, newly finished scarf!

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY figured out how to post these pics! I have to go quick, because we're heading out to go somewhere, but here they are: My scarf laid out the best I could get it. It's still connected to the needles, so it's hard to get it straightened. I'm almost done, though!

Pic of it still all balled up and tangled (and my homework in the background).

This was at the beginning of the scarf with only a few stripes done. It looks so small...compared to now...

Ah. There. I feel so accomplished, now able to post pics (and do my french homework *groans*). Anyhow, there you there! I'm off to get these onto Ravelry.

I Hate Technology.

Dude, I'm like the technology saint in this family of mine. I can fix any problem anyone has--the evil Windows Vista, Sims for my little sis, the video recorder.

But I can't fix the damn DIGITAL CAMERA!

My little sis FOUND the cable but shoved it in too far into the camera. So now the camera is completely broke, and we won't be able to plug it into the computer anymore. I've tried removing the memory card and putting it into our nifty 50-bajillion-things-in-one printer and transfering the photos to our computer, but NOOOO, our evil Vista computer can't be recognized.

Three hours. Spent three hours trying to get it to work (because I not only need the camera for knitting but also a dreadful French project coming up) and I ended up uninstalling the printer. Guess what? Can't reinstall it now. UGH.

And it's Friday, which is good. But it's depressing because I can't go and hang out with my friends as my parents are retards and won't let me go to the concert that EVERYBODY else is going to. Just because the concert goes until midnight isn't that BAD. Homecoming and TWIRP has gone to midnight, and have they cared then? What happened to the "When you get your license, we feel that you will be responsible enough to make your own decisions and decide where the right places and wrong places to go are"???? I HAVE the license, but now you won't let me go use it?

...okay, so it MIGHT have something to do with the fact that the concert is on a college campus, and there will be college kids and drugs and beer and EVIL THINGS going on, so...I kind of see their point. But come ON. "Oh, don't worry, Becky. Next time you and your friends want to get together for a school project or studying you can drive yourself!" School project. Seriously.

And so ends the typical teenage angsty rant. Just had to get that out of my system.

I'll probably give up with the computer and go upstairs to read. Knit a few rows of the 'Puffed scarf. And go to bed by nine. A dorky Friday night spent fiddling with the computer, but c'est la vie.

Update on the 'Puffed Scarf

Note to self: for next birthday, ask the 'rents for either one of these amazing stitch markers:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5284050&section_id=5263091
or
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=93256

Aren't they so cute? I'm getting so bored of going around and around and AROUND my scarf seeing the same ol' little pink ring. I need to jazz up my markers a bit!

I haven't had any time for blogging in the past for weeks or so (family chaos and matters--NOT good) but I have found some time for knitting! Today I've knitted two stripes on my Hufflepuff Scarf, so I have a grand total of (drumroll please) 13 STRIPES! Only 6 more to go...6 more to go...

...OMG. I'm so sick of it. I've been doing the same stitch, over and over again, for...*checks calculator* 21, 840 stitches. OH MY GOD that's a lot. No wonder my fingers are sore. No one told me this knitting thing would be painful...

I would have pics up, but the little sis lost the digital camera cord (just like she lost her Nintendo DS cord, and cell phone cord, and video camera cord...seriously, we shouldn't even trust her with technology anymore) so no pics :(. Don't worry, you wouldn't be missing anything. The scarf doesn't really look interesting, being all twisted completely. It's going to need a lot of blocking when it's done.

I'm on Ravelry, now! I HAVE to integrate my posts over to my profile on there, but if only I could figure how. My username is "Rocketknitter", and I have so much stuff in my queue, it's insane. Oh well...I'm off to add even more!

Le Nouvelle Blog

So this is it! New blog, all set-up, which was one of my goals for this spring break. I plan on integrating it with Ravelry (which I just got my invitation for, yay!) and also reviewing the books I've been reading this year.

I've spent most of the vacation down here in Kansas City with my grandparents, away from a decent internet connection, so this gives me plenty of time to knit! My first REAL project is a Harry Potter Hufflepuff scarf, styled from the first two movies. I thought it would be easy to start out with. I'm working with circular needles for the first time, and it's SO NICE to simply knit-knit-knit to create the stockinette stitch--no purling involved! I love it.

However, it's taking me FOREVER to knit this thing. At least, it seems that way. Each stripe is 24 rounds of 70 stitches, and the whole thing is 19 stripes. I have about 8 of the stripes done, so I'm not even halfway through! Oh well. I still think it was a good first project to choose. I'll try to get a WIP pic up as soon as I get back home.

I should probably get back to reading Pride and Prejudice, which I have to finish for my Brit Lit class by, oh, Tuesday...it's actually enjoyable, surprisingly. Probably the first book on the class reading list I can actually stand!