i've been tagged!!!

it's my very first time being tagged for any type of meme, so here goes:

What is your all time favourite yarn to knit with?

my all time fave is probably either ArtFiber's Paco or Cascade 220... Cascade more, I think... i also love noro kureyon... i used it once but the colors just make me happy.

Your favourite needles?

my all time favorite needles are Denise Interchangeables. i hate to sound like a Denise commercial but you can't beat the versatility or the price! i love circs :)

The worse thing you've ever knit?

um, the worst? probably a knit pig from the world of knitted toys. oh that poor pig ended up looking like a torpedo :(

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it but it was the most fun to knit)

i loved the dayflower scarf, that was so much fun to knit! also, i have started to really love cables so the basic cable hat from SNB was wonderful for me... i start making basic cable hats when i'm bored and really have nothing to do :)

Most valuable knitting technique?

this absolutely has to be the magic loop. i can't handle the monster that is dpn's. they just hate me. but with the magic loop, NO MORE!

Best knitting book or magazine?

i do really like snb (how's that for original???) and knitty 'cause there is always something to knit... i love rebecca but there's no way i can afford that mag all the time.

Your favourite knit-along?

the branching out knitalong was super cool as well as the one skein wonder knitalong (both at craftster) -- i love instant gratification!

Favourite knitblogs?

My friend Emmie's :) and Pelotes by Sylv

Favourite knitwear designer?

stephanie japel, for sure. i always covet her stuff and am continuously amazed at her gorgeous designs. also sylv has made some beautiful patterns, check out her site!

The knit item that you wear the most. (how 'bout a picture of it?)

that would have to be my basic roll brim noro beanie :)



i'll have to think about who to tag next (normally i would tag emmie but she tagged me!)

one tiny thing swap

oh my partner received for the one tiny thing swap! i made her a mini-journal. this is actually the first time i've ever made anything that's not knitted as a main swap item. it's tiny, 4x3 roughly :) and it's personalized! i just love personalized stuff. i hope she does too!

ambition

oh ambition. sometimes you are my friend and help me along. but sometimes, oh sometimes, i just don't know.

my greatest ambition right now is to finish graduate school with good grades and a decent portfolio.

my second greatest ambition is to make myself a top-down raglan sweater for this winter. although i don't know if i will have the time. i hope to do it in michigan, but we'll see.

sigh.

as of now, i HAVE to make:

1. a black kitty hat (swap)
2. a white kitty hat (swap)
3. a _________ and ________ for my mom's birthday
4. i must finish the gray sweater that i've been working on since july. i'm on the last sleeve. i just can't bring myself to finish it. it's super cute. but my patience is minimal.

sigh.

wee booties!

i made wee booties! NOT for me, as many have asked me while i was knitting them. they're for a friend who's having a baby :) i made them white because i don't know if the baby is a girl or a boy (too early to know) but if you look closely, they have little pink, blue & yellow flecks too... i thought it added cute color. now I have nothing against pink stuff for boys (altho i'm not too crazy about pink to begin with) and blue for girls (which i love, and thus will make my daughters wear blue until they fight me on it), but i'm not really sure how the prospective parents feel about it, so i went the "safe" route. i'm banking on the fact that my friend has absolutely no time to be reading my blog, so hopefully this entry won't give the surprise away ;)

oh and the pattern, just in case anyone is interested is here.

oh yes, almost forgot, sewberrycrazy got her fingerless gloves today! hooray!

wait! i found other stuff i made... but a while back

posting all this stuff makes me look like all i do all day is knit and play! i don't i swear! this is some stuff i made for swaps that ended at least a month ago but for some reason or another i never posted them.

the first is a hat i freehanded :) it's called my classically male hat, made for rakuette's husband for the significant other swap.

also for her husband, my first attempt at a duct tape wallet. i'm thinking of later adding on grommets to future designs.

the last one is a little stitch marker set that i made for the unconditional swap in october :)

some more stuff i made...

although i have no time for anything, in moments of mental brain-deadness (after HOURS of homework i can no longer stand anything anymore and i officially become brain dead) i try to do other things, preferably crafty things.

#1: so this last weekend i tried a new thing: embroidery :) i made this tea towel with a poodle from a kit i ordered from amazon.

#2:sometimes i have nothing to knit and a lot of bus rides to sit through, i make myself hats that i already know that pattern to and thus, allow me to knit mindlessly AND to prove i can actually multi-task i actually finished this hat while in our class's group project meeting...

#3: the last picture is actually a school assignment where i learned to make a tunnel book, a book that is based in depth and perspectives... if only i had more time (and didn't exhaust myself with school!)

more for seaofstars

i made fingerless gloves! i think they're cute and so does seaofstars, who i made them for :) she's big on the stars, that one! i got the pattern from the Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting, by nicki trench in the UK, which i bought at michael's for $5. not bad!

grandma's birthday part 2

grandma's pics from her birthday... it was fun :)

it's my grandma's birthday

today, it's my grandma's birthday :) unfortunately, i have so much to do! homework is a killer, let me tell you. i'm going to try and take my work with me although i doubt i'll get a lot done.

anyhow, here's a picture of rusty for no particular reason except that he looks like a fox sleeping :)

i'm a knitting guru

according to this quiz, i'm a knitting GURU. bow down, all!


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

midterm sushi book

for my bookarts midterm, i was supposed to make a book in the shape of something. being ever hungry, i chose sushi! the pictures left are the bento box i made for encasing my book (including glow-in-the-dark sculpey wasabi and ginger and mini chopsticks). the book itself is the roll, which opens up, accordion style to a haiku poem i wrote especially for this book.

these are its contents:

Sushi Haiku

Tangy odor of raw fish
is the mixed smell of
curiosity and apprehension

Hamachi, Maki,
Sake, Maguro
Only words on a page

Before me,
Familiar Soy Sauce!
But nothing else is the same

An ti ci pa tion
high, the waitress
Sees my foreigness

In my chopsticks,
At my mouth,
I swallow my fear.


mmm... now i'm hungry.

if you want to see more pictures of my sushi book, just go here.

my latest hat :)

this is my latest (well latest one i can post! my latest hat has not reached its final home yet!) hat! i made it for seaofstars for the instant swap 6 i organized. she said she wanted a cloche and this was as close to a cloche as i could get... check out my second ever crocheted flower.

oh yeah i'm old now

yep. 28. i. am. officially. old.
but my family still loves me and gave me a birthday party yesterday :) (as i was born on all saints day) so here are some shots of us partying down, tuesday night style.

my mom bought a great snicker cake and a vanilla custard cake and we all chowed down. it was a lot of fun to hang out with the fam for my birthday. they're all so great :)

my mom

my mother, being of neither sound mind nor body is a certifiable NUT. she was pinocchio this halloween and got third place at her company halloween party along with the rest of the payroll department :) she made her costume completely herself and did a pretty good job i think! her co-workers were Giapetto and the Blue Fairy. my mom went around screaming, i'm a real boy!

for more altera pictures, just click on one to the left!

a week of swapping heaven

this past week i've gotten a swap package almost every day of the week! it was like my birthday (which coincidentally, is today :) )... let's see, on monday, i got 2 amazing bags, buttons, and a coin pouch from seaofstars, on tuesday I got a package from synne that contained crocheted flowers, a pattern, fabric remenants, and two pieces of crocheted sushi (!), on wednesday, I got a knitting needle roll/holder, a berry purse, and a hip belt from sewpixie, on friday I got crocheted sushi magnets from michellecooley, and on saturday, i got more sushi(!) and a tool/pencil pouch with my name on it from morningstar! left is all the sushi i got, definitely enough for a full meal!