Picture update, 2

First pic is of the three books that I plan on reading. I think I finally figured out what happened with my whole reading thing: I outgrew kids books! Sure, I had a meltdown with books, but when I tried to pic up one, I couldn't.

Next pics are of my old hat that I made back in august. I lost the pics for it, so I needed to get around to taking pics for it. Glad I finally did it!

Okay, you remember my shopping spree? Well, this is the shirt I found at a closing store called Mariposa. It's lovely, and I love the shirt! It was only $10! don't I look good?

Okay, this was my most annoying Christmas project this year. I couldn't get it done before Christmas day, and that was annoying. My dad barely got to open a present! anyway, he thinks it's too small, and I think he should go stuff it in his stovepipe. I couldn't care less. It's acrylic.

Okay, after the worst is my best knitting project. I absolutely love these socks! they have cables, I'm working on the second one, and I even figured out a heel that didn't make me suffocate! I'm so proud of myself!

And lastly, this is my little brother, the one who got the orange sweater. Isn't he cute? Around 10 PM, he came down and asked me what I was doing. I showed him his pic on the previous post, and he wanted his picture taken again! I put my new hat, also aforementioned in the shopping spree post, on his head, and took pics of him. The big flaming thing is his blowup fire bat. It's fun to whomp people with, on body parts where it won't hurt, like the sole of a foot. not the head, though. He just went to bed. And I think I will, too. Hope you enjoyed the pic update.

Picture update

Okay, looking at other blogs, I realize that not only have I not been posting about knitting very much, but also, I've not even been posting pictures of anything, not to mention my knitting! So, Here's what I plan to do. I plan to, for the rest of the Christmas vacation, shower you, dear reader, with pictures, and I promise never, ever, to post again without at least 1 picture. I solemnly swear, with my hand over my wool. Now, let's get down to business.

First, there's Peter's sweater that I knit him for his birthday in October. the little twit finally wore it, and I finally remembered to take pictures of him while it was on him. He looks great, doesn't he. the orange goes perfect with his hair and (though you can't see his golden skin,) his whole color. It is, the best thing I've ever knit. So far, anyway.

Next, Christmas.
Here's our stockings:

And the tree:

Isn't it gorgeous! Sorry the pic's fuzzy.

Of course, there's the more traditional stuff, like the nativity:

And the Jesse tree:
Of course, there's the extras too, like the mugs, and the advent calendar:

OK, I really wish I'd done this differently. I need to make another post. Next: what I knit, my new outfit in aforementioned shopping, my new scarf from my Uncle Tim, and Peter stays up late to play.

Lately, shopping, and my inspiration

I've got it! what I want to knit for January! OK, OK, slow down, Cimorine. breathe. Let's go in order, shall we?
First, life has been pretty much okay. The blizzard is over, the snow is melting, the rain is pouring, Portland is getting back on it's feet, and I think I'm getting over the fact that I will eventually have to return to school. But that doesn't mean I don't like the idea. just the fact that I will also be getting back to my knitting group makes the thought bearable. and the fact that I'll have some help, finally, on my literary thesis. I still liked writing my first long thesis better (first quarter, in Advanced writing class).
Also, since I've gotten back to reading, I'm making some progress on at least one of my "must-read" books. But I really don't want to push it, because I feel this rediscovered love of literature could fade within minutes. So, I'm taking it slow, and just reading avidly about knitting, with Jane Austen on the side, to add some roughage. and also to get me away from the knitting, just a little, so I won't seem like a complete wacko when I go to college (though by the way things are looking, I'm probably going to go someplace cold, so it will seem closer to normality to knit constantly).
next, shopping. Money burns a hole in my pocket. today, I went to the mall, and bought this absolutely gorgeous shirt for $10, because the store was closing (as in going out of business). I also bought lunch, and I was going to buy a book or at least watch a movie or go ice skating, but no luck. Mostly because I stayed in Barnes and Nobel, reading a knitting book and knitting (big surprise). Since I didn't bring my cell, I didn't know what time it was, which was a real pain, and I couldn't call mom and see how she was doing (she was shopping, too, and she hates it. I was going to buy her a caramel apple with nuts, but I wanted to make sure she was miserable before I did).

Lastly, my inspiration. I think I might be coming out of hibernation, at least until school makes me retreat back to the bowels of the earth. I've been trying to catch up with my knitting groups on Ravelry, one of which is an online knitting contest. one of the girls has taken over for me, and it's been such a blessing. I don't have to worry about taking care of the group, now! Or, at least until I get out of hibernation. So, anyway, the January contest will be starting, and the theme is inspiration. because of that, I want my entry to be not only white (for January), but also something of my own creation, a pattern I made myself. And I think I have it.

See, I have all this boucle yarn, which I don't really like, in my closet (where my stash sleeps). I know I have at least 3 balls of the stuff, and one of the balls is white! When I fetched the ball, I happened to glance at my old stuffed animal, Jill. I tried using my old, "before-I-knew-how-to-really-knit" garter stitch scraps, but it hasn't worked. she looks awful in them. and I want her to look nice! After all, she is my bear. Besides, she doesn't have any winter wear (her only article of clothing is a jean jumper).

So, here's what I plan . . . I'm going to make her a dress! a lovely thing, and I'll go on the Internet for some inspiration. I wonder, too, if I can bead it. After all, this is a contest. I need to make it look good, because I want that prize: it's yarn, pink, I think. I wonder if it's enough to make a sweater, or at least add to one . . .

Ciao for now,
Cimorine

Senior picture trouble

I HATE this! It's so stupid! OK, let me tell you what's going on. First, let me say that I want my Senior picture to be good. really good. as in, not the stupid pics they take every year for my photo ID. So, mom signed me up with Yen Lui, a picture company, and I got several pics taken. we chose one. all seemed right. all we had to do was wait for them to be ordered. I waited. and waited. and waited. I remembered the slip of the contract saying that we'd be able to order until 14 days after the picture was taken, in which case the account with close. I have a suspicious feeling this means that they've deleted my pictures. a very uncomfortably suspicious feeling. I am afraid that I have lost all those pictures. I did all the hard work. I went to get my photos taken, got dressed in three outfits, after I'd come from work (a very exhausting ordeal, I can tell you) and all my mother had to do was order the photos. Do we order them? No. who has to end up ordering them, and if neccessary, take new ones? me. And on top of that, my godmother and Godfather want my Sr. picture, framed, for Christmas. So, I throw up my hands. Nothing gets done unless I do it.

Knitting podcasts, frantic knitting, caffeine that doesn't work, snow, and Best friends reunited

OK, I'm getting really annoyed now. I have two projects now, and I think they're in a black hole. Well, at least one of them is. OK, let me start from the beginning.

It's been snowing for about a week. It was off-and-on the first week, but now it's just getting really annoying. We all missed at least 3 days of school in the family. (the kids had school Tuesday and Thursday, while the DLSNC teens had school only on Thursday) and that was OK. mostly because half the time, we didn't need to miss school, and it was nice that we had a kind of break for it. The weathermen have been working nonstop since Friday of LAST week, and they started predicting their big blizzard at that time. I didn't believe them all this last week. But today is Saturday, and the snow is coming down hard. I think the only satisfaction I have from seeing it snow is that now I have a very good argument that global warming is not happening.

At first, I thought of the snow days as a good time to get in my knitting. In fact, I finished nearly all of my Grandma's Christmas stocking in one night, knitting for 8 hours and listening to Cast On, with Brenda Dayne. Then, I thought that I could work on my Afghan and possibly finish it before Christmas (the Afghan is for my dad). But it hurts my wrist, and I think it's being sucked into a black hole. I feel like it didn't get any bigger.

Today, I finally started on my mom's sweater, which is much more important, since she asked for it way back in August, when I really started getting into Knitting again, and I converted into a real Knitter. But I don't know if this is such a good day to work on it.

First, because of the stupid snow, my Christmas concert, my last concert before I go to college, I might add, was cancelled today. And I have the best solo on it, too. We were going to go out to the Spaghetti factory afterwards, and exchange gifts, too. But no dice. Stupid Blizzard!

So, I'm miserable. Which isn't a new feeling, since, as you might guess from posts around September through November. I think I've been depressed. Thank God for knitting, because God only knows I can't seem to read anymore.

So, all this is going on, and on top of that, since I finished all the Cast On episodes, finally (I think) I've been looking for other good podcasts. Nothing is coming up, at least any that are permitted on iTunes. And on top of it all, I'm falling asleep, when I just drank an entire teapot of Red Rose Tea, which is potent, black, and chock full of caffeine. So, all around, this day has not been good. I think I might just give up, buy my mom new cutting boards, get my dad something around the lines of his favorite Christmas movie, A Christmas story.

The only good thing that has happened lately was that my best friend, Margaret, called. Apparently, she'd been back from New York for 3 weeks, and I didn't even know! She wanted to get together, which was a pleasant surprise. My "previous" best friend has now become so busy (Lord only knows with what!) that she tells me I literally have to book a date 2 months in advance. So, usually I'm the one who calls and asks "You want to do something?" But it was great.

We haven't seen each other for a year. And I also found out she's applied to the same colleges I did, which not only is improbable, but also a pleasant surprise. Now, I don't really mind if I don't go to my first choice. Because we are two of a kind. Peas in a pod. I'd love it if we could be roommates, but I don't expect three improbabilities in a row (the first two are the Universities we applied to). I really shouldn't get my hopes up, but life seems to look up when I talk to her.

We are so much alike. And I realized, when we talked for, like, 3 hours, that we have always been best friends. School has gotten in the way, because we've gone to different grade schools and high schools, but somehow, we seem to have always thought of each other as friends, even being so far away and even when we don't see each other for months on end. When we were bullied, or felt like we had no friends, we could always think, "I've always got a friend in Margaret/Cimorine." It makes me tender inside, because suddenly, we are Anne and Diane of Green Gables. We are bosom friends. Thank you, Lord, for my best friend in the world. May we not fall apart again in College, or even after college.

Stocking hell

Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. I am exhausted! I just went through a trying ordeal, bent over the stocking heel I just (finally) finished. Isn't there an easier way to do this??? (sigh) It was like holding my breath for four hours! my stomach is hurting, a sure sign of emotional chaos and over-excitement, and I keep gasping for air, AIR! I NEED AIR! like that.

This stocking had better be good, and I hope Grandma appreciates it. (It's a requested Christmas present) Because, quite honestly, I am NOT making another. Never again. I'll stick to my own way of turning a heel, thank YOU! It may be a little messy, but I (like my sweaters) figured it out on my own, which means that not only is it OK, but I can get through it without loosing consciousness.

(phew!) I still ache in my stomach, but I'll let it be. I need to relax, because I need to finish this tonight. now, I have the easy part of doing the foot. Thank you God!

Now, back to knitting. I've been listening to the podcast, "Cast On," with Brenda Dayne, picking up where I left off around September. which is nice, because I'm sitting on my bed (not at the moment, but when I listen and knit, I am) listening to the knit-talk, and it is nice to have something to do whilst I knit.

ya know, someday, I might just speaketh in merrie old English, in my blog, just for fun.

Ciao for now,
Cimorine
PS. keep warm. I don't know about you, but there's a storm here (even if it is a little pathetic) and boy does it get cold!

No. No. NO!

I am not, not, NOT going to work tomorrow. If I do anything, I'm going to take the bus to the school, and see if it is doing CIP. The school cannot expect us to go to work when the school is closed, and they do not tell us otherwise about CIP. I suspect we will have to do it later. I pick later. I do not want to go to and from when there's a blizzard outside. I do not want to do anything but take tea, listen to a book on CD, or watch Hogan's heroes, and knit, knit, knit! I have a sweater and an afghan and a stocking to do, and I refuse to be wasting my time at work when I could be working on other things. Important things. I hope I can convince my mom of this. (sigh)
Cimorine

Holiday thoughts

You know, the holidays aren't that bad. It's St. Nicholas day today, and everyone woke up to the sound of Christmas music (well, except me. I woke to my little brother asking me if it was time yet, but hey, that's life), and the expectancy of candy in our stockings. The candy was good, and I love my new socks, (not knitted, but hey, no one's perfect, right?) but I didn't enjoy it a whole lot. I liked listening to the music or thinking about knitting more.
Advent is a time of preparation, and we are constantly prepping for Christmas. But this year, I want to try to enjoy the Christmas just as much as the prepping. I don't know what it is, but Christmas day somehow brings this sense of, "Oh, now it's over. Christmas is here," and one I think happens because we go to Mass, open our gifts, and then do nothing. This year, I might try to convince my parents to take us out somewhere fun, like the movies or Powells bookstore or even just stay home and play the games that have appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in our house. These games include one called "Red Handed," two American trivia games, two puzzles, and other games that we either have not played in a while or ones that we don't remember even getting. Games would definitely be fun.
The Holidays are all about giving. And that's not always gifts. For example, I try to give my mom as much time to herself as the special "12 days of Christmas" approach. Granted, I'm not that good at it. I feel most of the time I give my mom sass about what she does wrong. I think she gets a lot of rap from everyone. Dad is the first to spot her mistakes, and Grandma is the second. and I am the third, and probably the worst. Because I loose my temper and can be really mean to her. and I just know that I'm going to have a daughter just like me, who can't help but pointing out to her mom that she is right. and I think I will suffer for my sins. But that's life. we are constantly suffering for our sins.
for example, we Christians believe that we suffer for Adam and Eve's betrayal in the garden with original sin. We as humanity (mostly the Hebrews, though) waited for the Christ for ages. And he came so silently. He was as silent as a mouse, like Matthias of Redwall, or Desperaux, who were both great mouse warriors, or rather, heroes. It's wonderful how we can celebrate the coming of Christ. We can feel a smidgen of what the Shepherds felt when they realized that the Christ had come. We can understand a little of what those who did know of Christ's coming into the world felt when they saw that small baby in the hay. We can relate to the Angels when they rejoiced that such a miracle as God becoming man had occurred, and that Humanity (in about 33 years) was going to be saved from eternal fire.
Advent isn't about the food, stockings, the decorations. It's about waiting. Which is pretty funny, since the world has been waiting since it's existence (or, at least since the existence of man), except for the 33 years that Jesus was actually here. Now we wait for the 2nd coming, probably coming just as unexpected as the first. But, we have to admit, we on earth see value in waiting. A wife who has waited and stayed true to her soldier overseas is seen as a more romantic situation than a wife tending to his husband lovingly. Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice and Marguerite Blakney from the scarlet pimpernel, and others have a more romantic and attractive air to it. especially if the man has been waiting, too.
All in all, I intend to enjoy waiting. but I also intend to make this world a better place while doing so.
so, that's my shpeel on Christmas and the Holidays. and I'd better end this post because my last post was so long, and it's really late. so goodnight, and have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Cimorine
PS I have laughed lately, though it is still hard at school. thank you, dear reader, for your concern. I am doing much better, thanks to the support of my knitter freinds. :)

Knitting thoughts, and how I'm a different knitter

I have been thinking a lot about my knitting. And I think I am different. I don't like to follow patterns. I like to make my own up. And I don't make them up for fun, though it's fun making them up. I like to make them up when someone wants me to make something for them, or I want to make a gift for someone. I can't pick up a pattern in the library, on the net, or even in a store without a feeling of uneasiness. Most knitters like cruising through patterns. I don't. Most knitters want to do patterns exactly like the patterns in the books. I don't. And I have no idea why. I don't know if it's that I'm stubborn, or that It's just me, or even that my Asburgers is making me think this way, or that it's the way I am. (I have a mild case of Asburgers, and this was only brought up because I am also reading a book called the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, and the narrator has a severe case of Asburgers, I think. and I think I spelt Asburgers wrong). Anyway, I just feel like I can't follow a pattern. not that I couldn't, but I don't want to. I don't want to search for patterns when I want to knit something. I don't despair if the sweater is a little messed up at the beginning, and I don't cry out in pain when a pattern isn't quite right. What's the point of making something if it doesn't fit the person it's supposed to be for? and everything I make clearly fits the person I give it to. well, not everything, but everything that I design myself does. Becca's wrist warmers are a light pink, and she can get away with wearing a soft pink and still look great, even though she's a preteen. I think the pink really shows off her beautiful (natural) tan, robust lips, and dark hair and eyes.
Peter's sweater is clearly made for him and no other child. it is orange, and because Peter has dirty-blond hair and a kind of golden tan, it fits him like it was made for him, which, of course, it was. Mom's sweater is not seeming to fit her, but it will still look great on her, because of the ribbing on it. ribbing makes anyone look good, because it doesn't outline any fat you have; it just rolls right over it. and she loves cables, so even if I don't think it fits her, she thinks it does, and she'll like it.
Mom goes with a dark green. not as dark as forest, and not as blue as teal. she goes with a good, strong green. It fits her eyes perfectly, because they are the grey kind that you can't really tell what color they are. and because her hair is a mixture of grey, white, and light brown, mom looks great in green. and in jeans.
Dad goes great with dark colors, like me, but also looks good in anything.
Teresa looks good in soft colors, like lavender and a soft blue (any soft blue).
Mary and Stephen are hard, because I don't know them very well, even though we are all in a row (me, Stephen, then Mary, all one year apart, around the same time of year)
and I? I don't know what I look good in, until it's on me. I know I like red, but sometimes I think I wear it too much. red means feisty, which I can be, sometimes, but it also means strong, which I can also be. and loving, another trait I have. But I like blue, too. Blue is my birthstone, sapphire, and I like dark blue. but I don't know if I look good in blue or not. I like blue because it makes me think of the ocean and of dolphins and swimming. and I like all three. I also like blue because it is a calm color, which I think might be me. Dad says I'm uptight a lot, so I don't know (of course, he thinks Peter is low-key, so he could very likely be wrong). I think sometimes I have almost two different types, and it's hard to keep those things in balance. the red sometimes takes over, and the blue is just a whisper, telling the red to calm down or be silent. and sometimes the red is pushing the blue to do something, but the blue just wants to be quiet. and sometimes the blue is very sad, and sometimes the red is very angry. but this only happens when I either beat myself up about something or when I do something just to get back at someone, like when I am silent in anger, to try to show people what it would be like if I couldn't talk.
sometimes, I think I need to be more of a blue person. lately, I've been very red. and I know I shouldn't be like this, because the red in me can get bad-mouthy, and not at all nice. and I think I also have been very red because of school. I am relaxed when I knit, but not when I am trying to get homework done, or when I get up at 4:30 in order to go swim, or when I rush out the door for LYM, or when I work hard at my job. I feel like I'm an East coast and West coast person, all jammed into one body. my west coast wants me to break the rules a lot and just have fun (which is why I like shows like The mask and Ace Ventura and Freakazoid and Darkwing duck and the animaniacs, because they break the rules a lot, and don't care, because they aren't stressed at all). my east coast usually wins in real life, though, because I end up not breaking the rules, and I think I'm scared to do it, unless my mom or dad does it, like how we don't wear seat belts on the freeway because we are 8 people in a 6-person car, and we can't afford another one. or because it's hard to sleep with a seat belt (though if you're really tired, it's possible). Besides, people on Buses don't wear seat belts, unless it's a really small bus, so why should we?
anyway, back to the knitting thing. I think I realized I'm not like other knitters because I don't have the problems they do. I mean, I can't afford as much yarn as I'd like, like most knitters can't, and I like to knit, like most knitters do, but I don't have problems with gauge, or length, or the clothing fitting the wearer, or it being ugly. because I don't knit something I don't like. I knit on my own. I realized I didn't have the problems when I read about Yarn Harlot. her stories are funny and interesting, but sometimes I think that she has too many problems. why not just design her own sweater, using the Zimmerman pattern? why can't she just use her own gauge? after all, gauge is what the knitter's tension is, and since everyone has a different tension, everyone knits a different gauge. why can't people realize that an afghan is just a big swatch, and they can make it however they want? and why can't they realize that they can knit it with big needles, not (US) size 8? I wonder if I should write a book about this. It would be very short, because my advice is simple. you just need imagination in order to make a sweater on your own, and it's not that hard. If you want to make something in a particular manner, then do it. and if you make a mistake, (and you still want to make it) try again, and tweak it in your mind.
Maybe I'm just a really, really lucky knitter. My mistakes always end up being OK, like my cabled scarf that turned into wonderful, almost magical hand warmers that only go around my palm and my pinkie and thumb, while still keeping my fingers so warm that sometimes I have to take them off for awhile. I don't get it. where are the mistakes? where are the misfits? where are all the problems that I should be running into right now, like gauge? actually . . . wait. wait just a minute. the reason I don't have problems is this: I make my own sweaters, so I make my own gauge. and all the problems knitters have are to do with shrinking (which my mom is very careful about) and about stretching (which is why I don't block: it somehow doesn't work for me.) and with fitting (you make clothes tailored to the wearer, of course they fit!). that's why. I wonder if anyone wants no knitting problems? I could certainly save the Yarn Harlot from a few. but she might be too strict, and she might be one of those people (and I think she is) that wants to do it exactly like the designer does it. and I don't like that. weird, huh?
Cimorine.
PS. I wrote today because I am procrastinating. and because I had the speaking-type of that book, curious incident of the dog in the night-time, and it takes me at least a half hour to get it out of my system.