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

Itty Bitty sweaters. knitting in traffic. art supplies. and yarn, lots of yarn.

I am addicted.

somuchso that I am planning to open an Etsy store to sell them as pins! somuchso that I have been knitting them exclusively for a week! somuchso that I have rewritten the pattern over 10 times in the past week! somuchso that I found myself knitting at a stop light today! (yes I put it down when the light turned green and I promise I won't make a habit of it :) )

Here's the lowdown...My friend Karen gave me a cute pattern for a tiny sweater - she makes embroidered cards and someone on one of her Yahoo! groups had posted it. I loved the idea of a super miniature sweater...yes that's a dime...even Barbie couldn't wear this one.... I knit one up and reallllly wasn't happy with it. So, I did what I always do when I don't like a pattern. I made one I do like. I switched it to a top-down version...and promptly got a headache from it. Then, I went back to the original pattern and switched up the stitch pattern for the bottom hem, the cuffs, and the collar, changed the proportions a bit...and VOILA! a cute little sweater! Did I mention I have become addicted to these??? :D

In other parts of my life...

I am overhauling my studio - putting all of my supplies in cute white boxes, categorizing the stash, labeling the stamp sets, straightening the origami paper, organizing the paints, markers, and other coloring materials. I will be moving in a month so everything is getting a once over - if it won't be used or hasn't been used recently, it is going in the yard sale pile. I have been diligent about this across the board...um...except for...uh...

mystash.

I haven't decreased it at all. Actually, I stopped at a yard sale the other day and bought ten brand new skeins...75% wool 25% acrylic, in a pretty tan/blue-black colourway (one color per ply)...that would have cost me $5.99 a skein at the LYS. Look at me, validating increasing my stash!!! I should feel ashamed for not wanting to reduce my yarn clutter, but I'm not. Not one little bit. If yarn is clutter, then I am perfectly happy with it. Plus, it looks pretty and nothing like clutter as far as I can tell.

wonderful = Itty Bitty sweaters. knitting in traffic. art supplies. and yarn, lots of yarn. - jj

curiosity.

Sooooo.....where have I been since almost a week ago???? Well, it's a secret...

Ok, I hate secrets, so I will give you a hint...

Size 0 straight needles...

That's it! I want to say more, but I can't. Not yet. Soon. I promise.

wonderful = curiosity. - jj

Cowboys and Yarn. A Match Made in Heaven. Who Knew?

It rained today. That means indoor recess. For the children who had been taken over by boredom and who had not been initially drawn to knitting, I pulled out balls of yarn and taught them how to finger-knit. Finger-knitting consists of a looping pattern that is essentially identical to a crochet chain; the only difference is that you just use your fingers and forget about the crochet hook. A couple of girls wrestled with it for a few minutes and finally got the hang of it...taking their balls of yarn with them as they distributed themselves in every nook and cranny in the room. After recess was over, one of the boys, who had decided to play Tiddly-Winks rather than bother himself with Yarn, came up to me.

"Will you please show me how to make a Cowboy Ring?" he asked in the sweetest little voice.

"A what?" I was slightly taken aback by the question considering I don't know any cowboys, and even if I did, I would assume few of them wear rings due to the nature of their work.

I pondered the question for a few minutes, until it dawned on me. Literally. I believe the lightbulb that went on over my head was probably visible from the moon. The aforementioned little boy beamed as he realized that I indeed knew what he was talking about.

"I would love to teach you how to make a yarn lasso! (read "slip knot" :D )" I declared, thrilled that he had been watching the fibery pursuits of his classmates.

He smiled, nodded his head slowly, signaling that he was quite appreciative, and sat down with the class satisfied that he would soon learn a new skill.

Cowboys and Yarn. A Match Made in Heaven. Who Knew? - jj

tank tops. Christmas in July. granny squares. socks. yes. socks.

Knitting To Do List:

*Finish cream colored cable tank top that I started a few weeks back. I would like to do this before the end of June...so that I can actually wear it this summer :)

*"Tie up loose ends" (yes, I do like puns :)) on several WIPs including the celery iPod case, the cable socks, and my mother's socks. Oh yeah, I should probably do the kitchener stitch on my friend's 5 yr old's socks (we are talking about 8 live stitches here...That's right. 8. Total.)He might want to wear them before he has grown out of them, and considering that I have let them sit for the past month, that could be sooner than I think. :)

*As there are only
221 Days, 7 Hours, and 49 Minutes left until Christmas I think I had better get started on the presents. I have already promised waaaaay too many pairs of socks. I will definitely be knitting for Christmas in July this year. Luckily I promised socks...not afghans!

*I have been craving the feeling of crocheting an afghan, so I may devote August to something a bit fancy, and warm...it starts to get cool here toward the end of the month. Of course, I may go with plain old granny squares as well....we'll see what kind of burn-out I'm feeling from the July sockfest.

wonderful = tank tops. Christmas in July. granny squares. socks. yes. socks. - jj

PS - What is the best part about this post? Ali is having a contest! All you have to do is go to her blog, leave a comment telling what colourway you would like, and tell her you were referred from this blog (psst - RHYMES WITH SOCKS (http://www.rhymeswithsocks.blogspot.com). Then, list your knitting goals for Summer, 2007 on your blog and e-mail her with a link to your post. Tah-Dah! You're entered...