Monkeys. Yard Sales. 57g of sock yarn. and Bears.

Sooo....
I woke up this morning, stretched, rolled-over, woke up again, stretched, got out of bed, and walked into my studio. What the? I rubbed my eyes, and look again.
Yes, I was not mistaken, there was a bear, in my knitting bowl, wearing my new Tofutsies socks on his paws!!
"Hi Jenn!" he exclaims, looking up, "I found your knitting, and I see that out of the 100g ball that you purchased you only used 43 g for these socks...will you make me a pair too???"







Yup, that's right! Even stranger than a talking stuffed animal (his name apparently, according to his tag, is Gilmore), THERE IS ENOUGH YARN LEFTOVER FOR ANOTHER PAIR OF SOCKS!!!! I made the socks to fit my size 7 foot, and the ankles are a little on the short side, but A WHOLE PAIR OF SOCKS! 57g left!!!! Cool, huh? :)

In other knitting news...I cast on for a pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie today :) My first pair! They have been so popular in blogland that I thought, "Why not?, I'm going for it!" I just finished the twisted rib at the top...and I'm ready for the lace...I think I might even do a pair in all twisted rib at some point...I love how it looks.
Best part about these socks? The are silk, nylon, and angora. And they are going to cost me $1.00 with yarn leftover!!! Why? Yard Sales are wonderful! I am recycling a sweater by taking it apart and balling it up.(Thanks Cheryl - the felting is coming I promise :) )



Even better??? There is a possibility that there will be enough yarn for a tank top too!!! (Though I may need to combine yarns...I'm not sure yet :) )
All in all...Good knitting weekend!!

wonderful = Monkeys. Yard Sales. 57g of sock yarn. and Bears. - jj

etsy. Summers. The Lake. and. Acrylic.

My first item to ever be placed on etsy - I am sooo excited :) What is it you ask? And, why is it not KNITTING! Well, my second love is origami and I have been making these folded ribbon stars as package toppers / Christmas ornaments for years...I finally decided that I would do these as a jumping off item...with more to follow (I am still working on the itty bitty sweaters...I have shrunk them down a bit and changed the pattern, I will be revealing those hopefully within the next week). The new studio is almost completely set up so I decided to jump right in...feet first with my eyes closed as they say.
Ooohhh that makes me think of the lake - I used to looove going up to the lake as a kid. Picture this...11 yr old blonde girl in a ponytail and teeth too big for her head...the ONLY kid there with crochet hook and a ball of acrylic yarn...that's right, that was me, dry bathing suit, 85 degrees and sunny outside, sitting on a chair crocheting a blanket. :) Those were the days.
wonderful = etsy. Summers. The Lake. and. Acrylic. - jj

College. Ravelry. Pictures. Oh yeah...and some knitting... :)

I am back from Philly...am starting to get settled in the new house...and I'M ONLINE!!!!...

Things have been so crazy around here for the past several weeks. This week I am vowing to go down to the college that is in town and sign up for classes...I am no longer working at the school I have been at for the past 4 years as it is almost 1.5 hrs away. I talked to the assistant principal at a middle school about twenty minutes away and she said, "We'd love to have you work here as an education assistant!" I said, "I don't have a two year degree" and she said.... "Oh dear." Sooo......I am going to fast track my associate's... I have been collecting classes for the past eight years and I'm soooo close! Here goes...

On the knitting front... I have been working on a simple pair of 2x2 ribbed socks (the ankles are ribbed and so are the tops of the feet). I also finished a scarf out of the most incredible bamboo yarn (omg - I love this stuff!!!, now all I need to do is figure out a way to make enough $$$$ to make a sweater out of it...hmmmm....any ideas???) Usually I am not the scarf type, but I could only afford one skein this go round and I thought...hey why not...it's soooo soft, might as well make something I could snuggle up too.... I am also considering the French Market Bag from Knitty...I have some Cascade 220 (colourway 7824, burnt orange) that reallly wants to be felted, so much so that it has been sitting in the stash ruminating about what it wants to be... it has finally decided that it wants to be a toss-up between the Market Bag, or Fiber Trends felted clogs...what do you think???




Speaking of stash, and projects, I have spent a little time on Ravelry...and I love it!!! If you are on...come say hi... I'm rhymeswithsocks...


And, last but not least... I have posted my picture! I am one of those shy types...a bit self-conscious if you will... but, I thought, hey why not! Might as well put a face to a name right? So...here I am... (the pic is from my dad's surprise 50th birthday this past February)


College. Ravelry. Pictures. Oh yeah...and some knitting... :) = wonderful. - jj

Update.

Hi Everybody! Quick update... My internet at the new house doesn't get hooked up til the 18th and this is the last time I'm logging on at the old house...so I will see you all in a few weeks... I just got back from Philly on Friday...I attended the National Education Assoication Representative Assembly last week...Philadelphia on the 4th of July is an incredible place! Oooohhh and a minor brush with fame... I got to shake Barack Obama's hand...and Richard Dreyfus as well as just about every democratic presidential candidate spoke to the delegation (+ one republican)... I had a great time! I have lots of pictures - I'll put them on when I get the internet hooked up (though I may make a trip to Panera at some point before then). In knitting news...I was so busy that all I knit was half a sock during the trip :( - and those of you who will be flying any time in the near future...they were very nice about letting me carry wooden dpns in my carry-on (I had to have my bag searched on the way back to NH and they didn't even bat an eyelash...not even one). The caravan is headed out so I have to go...but I'll be back soon :) - jj.

Sleep, tonight? Doubtful.

WHEEEEEEE! I got the Ravelry invite today!!! Woohooo! I was seriously starting to worry that I had typed in my e-mail wrong, or they had so many people that I would get in after they had stopped beta. I am so excited that I had to post to you guys first...I haven't even gone over to the site yet! I am making the anticipation last....as....long...as....possible. Ok, I'm ready...I'll post later and tell you what happened...

Oh dear. I just thought of something. My entire stash, save a few skeins I am using for some afghan squares I'm making for Rebuilding Greensburg, is at the new house! It's an hour and fifteen minutes from me right now.

Ok, there are two ways I can look at this right now. I can be very sad that I can't go wild and crazy entering my entire stash into the computer right now...or I can be thankful that I can't enter my entire stash into the computer, right now, one half hour short of midnight. This means that there is a slight possibility that I will actually get some sleep tonight. Doubtful. But I might. - jj

Here's the scoop....well worth the wait!!! I took a peek around and I can't wait to start adding my wips and stash...if you haven't received your invite yet don't despair...it is coming! If you haven't signed up...go, go, go!

A Studio! A Real Studio!

I have been renting the basement of my parent's house for the past few years...apartments around here are super expensive for a single person. Well, they have finally decided to sell their house after 23 years...I was almost four when we moved in. Until the building permit goes through on the new house (it is in a small town and it could be a year or more) they will be renting a house about an hour and fifteen minutes away from our current house. They are very kindly allowing me to share the rent and use a few rooms while I finish my bachelor's (I've got almost two years in classes, I might as well finish - then I might be able to afford rent or buy my own place!!!!). Soooo, the new house lease has been signed, and the old one is closing in mid-July. What does this mean? I have started to move! Two loads have been brought over already and since my job ends Wednesday...several more will be brought over in the next week.

I got to see the inside of the house for the first time yesterday. They are allowing me to use two of the five "bedrooms" and we will share the living room, and kitchen. Sidenote: Hurray for separate bathrooms!

One of the two rooms that they are allowing me to use will be a REAL STUDIO!!! My current one is a glorified closet. I can't wait!!! It has three beautiful almost floor to ceiling windows...the current one has zero. It has gorgeous wide panel wood floors...the current floor is concrete. All of the fixtures and design elements in the room, except for the windows are OLD - but they have soooo much personality. Did I mention I can't wait??? Oooh guess what...I have pics!!!








wonderful = A Studio! A Real Studio! - jj

Purses? I don't know. Dishcloths. Afghans. Mini Sweaters fit for a mouse. Oh My.

Wow! I haven't posted since May 29! So much has happened in the past two weeks...

Two of my students have finished their first knitting projects.

This one is a purse...

and...

this one is a ... well ... she was undecided what it is ...

I did make sure to lavish them with lots of pride (they worked sooo hard on these). I also taught two more boys how to knit today - at their request. Since school ends next week and I will not be working at the school next year (I am moving in a few weeks and the hour commute would essentially eat up all of my wages) I will probably not get to see what they create with their new-found skills. I do allow them to keep the needles and a ball of yarn so I hope they will decide to stick with it.

I am the president of the para association and we had our last meeting of the year last week. As a big thank you to vp, treasurer, secretary, and building reps for all they have done over the past three years I made them these:

...

Some of them don't wear pins, so I figured I would whip up a few dishcloths so they could have an option.

In other news... I am really having a tough time with the whole idea of moving... I know it is a good thing, but change is never easy... In order to make it easier on myself I have been thinking of doing a bunch of mindless crochet (read: basic granny squares) and was thrilled to find that Michael's had clearanced some Lion Brand Homespun. Even though it is acrylic I really like the texture of this yarn, and given the price, it just SCREAMED afghan at me - seriously, it almost jumped out of the little wire bin it was living in. Last night I took a picture of the two squares that miraculously appeared... (the third materialized during lunch today, and therefore was not included in the pic) 3 down, 27 to go...

Last, but certainly not least, I have been experimenting with materials for the itty bitty sweaters I have been making - in anticipation of an Etsy store. Here is one that I created out of some heavyweight crochet cotton...It reminded the kids at school of something that a mouse, or one of the Borrowers might find quite comfortable...

Well, that's it for now...
wonderful = purses? I don't know. dishcloths. afghans. mini sweaters fit for a mouse. oh my. - jj