junk drawer

::insert blog post title here::

Hey there- been a while.

you know when you have so much to say you just don't even know where to begin?  yah.  I could write a post about the nearly twenty million kajillion things that have happened since I last post, like:

-how there are cute wild kittens that keep snuggling up in the trash pile between our stairs and our flower pots. Which in reality is like eeew.  gross.  but at the same time.  awh. cute! (note to self: um, could you clean up outside your house!? narsty!)

-or how I am paranoid that I'm going to get the flu and curl up on my sofa for days on end while trying to aimlessly hack up a lung or sweat to death, all the while trying to rationalize to myself, that really, a situation like that doesn't sound half bad.

-or how that planning a wedding is wonderfully horrific and terrifyingly such a good time all at the SAME MOMENT!

- or how much I love my wednesday night with the girls.

-or how Eric Ripert has been popping up everywhere lately.  wtf?! (btw- Who's his publicist?! they deserve a raise. Lately this man has spread like the flu!)

- or how excited I am about picnik.

-or how I can't seem to stop listening to this song! i keep getting weapy! (seriously, it's almost an epidemic and has been going on since NOVEMBER!)

Instead I'll just write a post about this:

I taught my first knitting class.  It was pretty awesome! In my opinion there's nothing like sitting in a circle with some gals, knitting away while dangerousely sipping on wine.  I was pretty impressed with the group of students.

pretty fast for 2 hours, right?

After after much delay.  Ladies...here are those links I told you about:

How to cast-on
How to knit
How to purl
How to bind off

Happy stitching!! and more fun stuff monday. I promise.  I have big plans for the weekend that involve rotary cutters and being surrounded by yards upon yards of fabric for hours on end.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh (sigh of relief)

thanks for all of your lovely emails and comments.  So nice of all of you!!!

PS- Keri- Yes that is a quote from father of the bride. I LOVE that movie.  Mostly for the chipper chicken. I lost your email.  could you email me your address girlie?

Feli- yours too!

Things are starting to SLOWLY come together...but at least I feel like Otis and I have hatched a very fun, very "us" wedding plan.

On to unfinished bizzzzness: What I made for my Christmas vacation i.e. gifts I made and gave away.

Up first: knitted items.

Cap Karma  with brooklyntweed decreases for my Dad and soon to be Father in law-

Calorimetry for my lil sis -

Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal hat for Otis' niece -

And a mug cozy for my other sis.  This one didn't come out as well as I would have hoped....

And I made 2 more nest totes for my Mom and Otis' stepmom. I really love that pattern.

you can find photos of ones just like them here.

I also gifted otis yarn for a new pair of socks...so those are on the needles now.

next up:
sewed up gifts!

magical "elf tampons"

How did last week get away from me?

I kept busy, that's for sure...

My new gig doesn't start until wednesday, so I have been trying to get as much holiday shopping and crafting done as I possibly can.

(2 cups flour, 2 cups water. pinch of salt)

When I was home during thanksgiving week I went out shopping with my mom and sister and saw some cute cardboardish christmas trees that were painted in such sweet patterns.

I thought to my self, "self, you could do that"...and off I went to Michaels to get some heavy paper stock and some glitter, glue and paint.

 

Sadly, the store didn't carry heavy duty paper stock in the sixe that I wanted.....what's a girl to do?

why, make a tree out of paper mache of course...i was certain that it would turn out fabulously.

(so certain that I even took pictures of the whole process)

And I was under deadline too...a big holiday party this past saturday...and what did I have to show for my 3 days of effort?

One sad, lonely, and pathetic holiday "elf tampon."
(Sadly I can't take credit for the nickname...Otis won on that one.) 

With just hours  minutes to spare, I finished this tree up. "UGH" was all I could think to myself as I looked at my finished product. It is soooooo ugly.

But don't think that stopped me from giving this away.  I plopped this paper mached goodness into a cute holiday gift bag and lugged it to the party, practically holding my hostess at gunpoint to ensure that I would be there when she opened it....we had a nice long chuckle.  I think she appreciated the time and effort which is a good thing.

So yah, not so successful after all.  But, if Elf tampons are your thing....people, have at it.

 

I knit, therfore, I am.

 

These days it seems like all I want to do is knit.  Truly. 

At work, nestled in my cubicle, away from all natural born light sources, I wish that it would be OK if I worked just a few rows or two in between writing proposals and scripts...at the Martha Stewart Show I hear this is encouraged upon their staff (can you imagine?!)

But in my little corner of the television production world, that would, with no doubt, cause such perplexing stares and double takes, I don't believe it is worth it. 

It's bad enough that every day on my way to the microwave to heat up my lunch I swing my hand knit lunch bag beside me and nearly shout...."DID YOU SEE WHAT I MADE? ISN'T THIS BAG GREAT?"  to which people kinda shrug and look at me like I am some kinda crazy woman...and that's before I hoist up my pants leg and show them my hand knit socks.

But lately, the edge has been taken off...I can satiate some of that pent up energy right at my computer.  My ravelry invite has finally come. 

whoa boy.  it's pretty sick. and efficient...and addictive...and just overall awesome.

The best part is being able to compare my new knit and tonic fad classic sweater vest which I cast on for just a few short weeks ago to other peoples.  Dear readers, did you know that on ravelry you can search and then LOOK AT people who are knitting/ have knit the same pattern and see what yarn they knit it with? (cue chorus of angels)

It's down right ridiculous.

(this is lions brand cotton ease in taupe btw)

So yeah...that's kinda how I spent my last week...cruising ravelry like some kind of yarn addict.

AND to top it all off- the yarn harlot, Stephanie pearl-McPhee, spoke at a bookstore over in jersey last Friday.  I've been wanting to see her speak for quite some time now and she didn't disappoint. I mean, how many people tell jokes outside of their LYS about DPN's? - my point exactly.

Best of all...fellow Hoosier (did you know there are like eighty million of them in Philly?) Marissa of Vanillabean kints came with me.  By the end of the night my cheeks hurt from laughing...and friends...there as loads to laugh at.

more soon!

pillows and pink

No FO yesterday because my camera battery died.  whoops.  But here was the quick pic that I snapped before it lost all the juice.

On my head is the birthday gift for my sister. Em, it's in the mail to you asap.  enjoy!

I really loved this pattern, which is called Odessa, from magknits.  The pattern is so easy and the effect is really really cool.  The pattern called for little beads, but I decided to nix those.  I knit it up in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino that I have had sitting in my stash.  I believe I bought it on my business trip to Glasgow, Scotland years back.  You UK gals are lucky, there was a huge yarn section in the local department store!!! thrill!

So today's FO is a pillow I whipped up last weekend for my biggest FO of all, our home office.  I've spent several recent weekends painting and redecorating this puppy.  It's not ready for it's reveal yet, but here is a small little addition to the space.

The fabric is wool that I got at the Philadelphia Sewing Collective fabric swap last spring.  It has served me well.

teeny weeny FO

Last night I had a lovely get together with one of my best girlfriends who is expecting a little FO of her own in just a few short weeks.  It was a perfect opportunity to present her with today's FO.

awh. aren't they stinkin' cute? This is the pattern from Saartje knits.

Erika looks fabulous. There is something magical about a woman who is pregnant, non?

:: do re me FO sa la ti do ::

I'm just sittin' here with my feet up singing a special tune because I have declared this week FO week.  That's right folks, 5 days of FO goodness.

I've got 5 FO's, aka: Finished Objects, that have piled up anxiously awaiting their grand reveal.

First up to plate is one of my favorite projects from this past summer, my socks knit up with the new Reggia Kaffe Fasset sock yarn.  I finished these about a month ago and was pleasantly surprised with how quickly they knit up.  I think I had both pairs off the needles in 3 weeks, which is much much better than 3 months in my opinion.

bonus gusset/ heel shot:

Look at those pools of color. lovely.

More FO tomorrow!

side note: for the longest time I thought "FO" stood for Finally Over.  Especially when I was working on last summers socks. ummmmm yeah.

Oh, and btw, if any of you out there have a pile of FO's that you haven't shown off yet: please do so and let me know...

has it really been a month?

I guess it has. Sure, I've thought about posting. I've written in my head millions of times. Snapped a photo and knew just what to say about that image, that moment, that experience...

But I haven't written have I?

There are many reasons for that, I guess. I kinda fell off the tracks in a way. I just kept thinking to myself How do I sum up where I went, all of my adventures, what's going on in my daily life if I am so far behind?

I've been to Maine, and to weddings. I've been working a ton, knitting a ton. Having a great time. I've been on television 3 times this month. Great stuff. funny stuff. Entertaining as hell.

I just haven't been too inspired to share this news. There are good reasons for this, of course. Certain people have been popping their heads into my little corner of the bloggy world and it weirds me out. To know that they are reading, watching. listening

but that was my choice, wasn't it? to put myself out there...to carve out a little hole in this forrest of stories.

So I have been censoring myself - pausing before I share again.

But you know what I say to all of that?

I am who I am, I live how I live, I share cause I wanna. so F*&K FUCK IT

So I'll start with a simple: hello there. It's good to see you again. You all have been doing quite well- I certainly haven't stopped reading...here's what I've been up to:

{I've been knitting up a storm. My sisters birthday came and went before her present was off the needles. ( a hat, pattern here)
She didn't seem to mind.

It's done now and I really like it.

{I had jury duty, I brought the pattern for muir from knitty to start. Gah. It was very hard. I might be putting it down. Mohair + lace pattern charts + courhouses aren't the best combo.

{I was on TV - a lot. TLC is airing a series of special shows about Trading Spaces, just like "The Best Week Ever" on VH1. It was super funny and I'm going to be on again this weekend. hilarity. tune in if you like

{My big project at work that has had me traveling all over the place finally launched this week. Check out what I do for a livin' here

I'm also a credited photographer on National Geographic.com. pretty cool, no?

Check out my photos here.

There has been so much in between. Moments where my chest fills up with joy. I look around. I love my life right now. I am home, I have friends here. I feel settled. It's all very very very good. ya know?

Hopefully the spirit will move me to post more often. It's just so entierely overwhelming to blog sometimes.

It can be alarming to discover who stumbles upon my humble little space...and the effect that it has on those that you love most. I don't like that. I don't like opening up that door for others...in ways that might be painful. Even though this site is quite benign...it is far reaching...beyond what I could ever imagine or care for it to be.

I only want good things to come of this place? ya know? It's not like I'm posting politcal diatribes over here. geesh. It's a freaking crafty blog.

but anyways-

I don't feel like closing down shop. I just had to pause; to think and to ponder.

thanks for listening.

ouch! my fingers hurt!

In the past three months I have probably done more knitting than in the past 3 years put together.

I owe a lot of this to fact that I finally have learned how to knit continentally…holy crap! What was I doing wasting all of that time all those years?! Lately I finally feel comfortable purling this way, which has sped up all projects immensely. Now I understand how people finish more than one project a year...

First up on my knit list were those cute baby booties over at Saartje knits.

I still have to finish putting the buttons on, but man are these things adorable. I already know which little guy who will be sporting these this winter…he just has to be born first.

Secondly was another nest tote. The first one really came in handy at the farmers markets so a second was practically immediately on the needles and then off again. I love this pattern and am constantly amazed at how much I can cram into these bags.

With so much cotton yarn sitting around the house, a very STINKY sponge perched on the side of our sink, and a boyfriend who practically had to plug his nose with a clothespin each time he washed the dishes, washcloths were a no-brainer on the project list.

They work great and smell like roses when we pluck them out of the dryer.

Finally I spotted the gorgeous Kaffe Fasset sock yarn on the loop yarn blog and knew that I needed to make myself another pair of socks. With the purchase of addi turbo lace needles and being tipped off to the magic loop method, the socks have made substantial progress. And to think…my last pair took me nearly 4 months. I’ve gotten this far in 1 week!

All of these pieces were made possible by the wonders of blog land and all I see out there- endlessly amazes me

Even though things are mighty quiet ‘round these parts these days I certainly have been snooping around the blogs. The inspiration is endless I tell ya!

Thanks everyone.

ahem

hello all. Sorry for the long absence. I've been busy hopping between both coasts and buried under creative burdens at work...sadly this here blog had to take a seat on the back burner while I focused on the projects at hand.

But with lots of airplane time and a few decompression days at home (read: sitting on my chair doing absolutely nothing but knitting and watching television) I've been able to tackle quite a few projects that popped up on my radar.

The purl bee has had some phenominal projects listed recently and I was thrilled to see a produce bag pattern listed for free.

during my marathon tv spree i watched a news story about how cities do not recycle plastic shopping bags. I was horrified. I had made the choice years ago to move away from paper to plastic so that I could recycle them.

the only way to remedy my impact was to knit my own reusable bag and I'm quite please with the results.

So pleased in fact that I already have another on the needles.

**updated to include the link to this GREAT pattern.