I've made the switch over to blogger.

~J

I watched Stardust this past weekend. I didn't really know what the movie was about before going to see it. I ended up really enjoying it. Michelle Pheiffer does a wonderful job in it. It's well done and has a wonderful adventurous magical feel. =)

I'm excited about The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising movie coming out. The previews look so so. I'm just excited because I read The Dark Is Rising series when I was young. I don't remember much of the books but  I do remember enjoying them. Maybe it's time to try to dig out those books and take another look at them.

Onto knitting, MS3 is going to get frogged. I do not like the way the wing looks with the rest of the pattern. blah. I started two new socks.

On the far left is the beginning of a sock in Cherry Tree Hill Java. In the middle is the stockinette sock in Seacoast Panda in Surf. On the far right is the Double Eyelet Rib sock in Cherry Tree Hill Peacock. I'm on the heel for both of these socks.

Here are the two shirts that R bought me =)

 

They are both super cute.

MS3- I'm in the middle of Clue 6. I have about 60 more rows to knit before the entire shawl will be completed. I pinned it out to see how it would look.



Here is a close up of the main pattern



Here is a closeup of the wing pattern

Here's a picture of MS3 in the middle of Clue 5. The white yarn is my lifeline. This is about 400 rows of lace. I'm starting the wing part of the shawl, which *gasp* means knitting short rows! I'm trying to catch up on this shawl. I have about 100 rows left to knit before Clue 7 AKA the final clue gets released on Friday.



After MS3, I plan on casting on for a new sock with this Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Tropical Storm.



Last but not least I leave you with a picture of my newest yarn. This is the yarn my Dad brought back to me from Tibet. The top one is Sheep wool and the bottom one is Yak. I think these are destined to become a blanket of some sort.

Fresh off the needles are my stockinette socks. I finished these on the drive back from Tahoe.



Pattern: Stockinette
Yarn: STR Walking on the Wild Tide- this is special STR sock club yarn
Started on: 8/2/07
Finished on: 8/12/07

The Feather and Fan shawl was finished right before the Tahoe trip, but I didn't get a chance to blog about it. Here it is blocking.



Pattern: Lace 1,2,3 from Knitpicks- this is a basic feather and fan pattern
Yarn: 7 and a half skeins of Knitpicks Andean Treasures in Embers
Started on: 12/01/06
Finished on: 8/8/07

This was my oldest WIP. It feels nice to have it off the needles. =)

I'm in Tahoe now...and things are kind of just mellow and hanging around until dinnertime...I miss R...

To cheer myself up, I will share with you pictures of the Shaggy Chenille Wrap. This is something I made my mom a little less than a year ago. This is a significant project in my knitting life. It's what I consider my first real knitting project and the first time I really challenged myself in this craft.

I never really took pictures of it, so indulge me. =)



This one is closeup to show the stitches


I've also been working on MS3. I'm in the middle of Clue 4. Row 246 to be exact.

I have several knitting rules and overall goals for myself. (some are old some are new)

1) To make socks for R,V,T,E, I, A, Mom, and Dad- I have made socks for everyone except A, Mom, and Dad.

2) Every pair of socks I make for someone else, I have to also make one pair for myself. - I did not do a good job with this. I currently need to make 4 pairs of socks for me in order to have successfully followed this rule.

3) I am not allowed to start a new knitting project until I finish two WIPs.

Knitting goals for August

1) finish feather and fan shawl

2) finish stockinette socks for my mom

3) finish stockinette socks for me

Knitting goals for September

1) finish MS3

2) finish the A line skirt

3) start the honeybee stole

I am sure these lists and rules will change as time goes on. =)

The Meme

Four jobs you've had in your life:

1. marketing analyst
2. receptionist at city hall
3. office assistant
4. assistant in Ebis


Four movies you could watch over and over again:

1. Sleepless in Seattle
2. Bring it on
3. Sabrina (the original with Audrey)
4. Down With Love

Four places you have lived:

1. Cupertino, CA
2. Los Altos, CA
3. Saratoga, CA
4. Stockton, CA


Four t.v. shows you watch

1. The West Wing
2. Heroes
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Friends

Four places you've been on vacation:

1. Australia
2. Most of Europe (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweeden, Finland, Russia, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary etc)
3. China
4. Taiwan


Four websites you visit daily:

1.a lot of blogs (mostly of knitters)
2. gmail
3. Knitpicks/The Loopy Ewe
4. Livejournal

Four of your favorite foods:

1. French fries (or any other form of potato. However, i do dislike yams)
2. pasta
3. tacos with no beans (only exception are Jack in the Box tacos. those are quite delicious)
4. pizza


Four places you would rather be right now:

1. anywhere with R
2. anywhere I can knit freely
3. anywhere I can nap comfortably
4. somewhere that is not work


~~~

I found something new, complicated and stunning to knit. My mouth is watering over this gorgeous honeybee stole. It's the black one that really gets me hot. In my opinion, when it comes to knitting, there is nothing sexier than a good simple yet complicated lace pattern. I already purchased the pattern, now I need to get me some black lace weight yarn. As much as I want to start on this right this very second; I decided that I must finish a WIP or two first. Otherwise it seems nothing is ever going to come off the needles. You should be proud that I'm finally exercising SOME self control. Speaking of which, some progress has been made on the WIPs, the feather and fan shawl is inching slowly towards being finished and about another fifty or so rows of MS3 have been knit. Maybe I'll post a picture later today or early next week. I hope this weekend will be a good knitting weekend as it will be family vacation time in Tahoe. I still need to decide which projects I'm going to want to take on the trip.

It's been awhile since I've looked through and updated my list of WIPs AKA knitting that is on the needles.

1) A line skirt- no picture- because you are probably sick of seeing pictures of it. heh. I know I am. I probably won't take a picture of this until it is competed. There's a lot of finishing details and hemming that needs to be done.

2) Lace 1,2,3 AKA Feather and Fan Shawl- no picture- because it looks the same as the last time I took a photo of it. It just grows but you can't really see any difference in a photo. Plus the burgundy color is hard to photograph well. I started on the 7th skein. There will be 8 skeins used in total. This is slowly but surely getting done. I hope it will be done by the end of September for sure.

3) Stockinette Socks for me- this is STR sock club yarn. It's gorgeous and soft. I'm on the heel of the first sock. =) It's coming along quite nicely.




4) Stockinette socks for my mom- this is Seacoast Panda in Surf. I'm on the leg of the first sock. Stockinette socks are fun to knit as they require little attention. I really like the summer-y colors.




5) MS3 (Mystery Stole 3) -this is knit in Lorna's Laces Helen's Laces in Cedar. This has been slow progress as I restarted it after finding an error. I am on the beginning-ish part of Clue #3 at Row 158. Clue 5 and the theme of the stole was released yesterday. The theme that was chosen by Melanie (the stole designer) is Swan Lake. As I am a big fan of the Disney cartoon The Swan Princess as well as a former ballet student, I approve. =) This too is coming along slowly but surely. This is a very enjoyable knit. I like the way the stole looks as well as the yarn I'm using.




6) Adamas Shawl- no picture- as this is kind of on hold as I have so many other things on the needles.

7) Mitered Square Blanket- this pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting book. This is wonderfully addictive to knit. Here is a picture of my second big square. I hope to have this done before it starts to get cold.



8) Hanami shawl- no picture- as this is kind of on hold as I have so many other things on the needles. This is another lace shawl designed by Melanie, the designer of MS3.

-Entrelac scarf and Uptown Boot Socks have been frogged.

The mitered squares blanket I'm knitting is following the pattern from the Mason Dixon knitting book. By the way, this book has a whole lot of awesome ideas and patterns. I only wish I bought the book earlier. The blanket consists of 80 small squares. Four small squares equals one big square, so there are twenty big squares. I decided on some color rules, so that the blanket will have some consistency to it. Each big square will have the same background color. Each big square will also have two identical squares. This is to help me limit the colors in the blanket. There will be no rule specifying that they must be placed diagonally or next to each other- that will be up to me. I finished my first square and it's been lightly blocked. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks.



edit: This week I will have knitted 8 little squares. After this week my goal will be to knit 6 little squares per week. I'm hoping to have this done before it starts to get cold. I also would like to make some time to knit other things. I've only just finished clue 2 for MS3 so I'm quite behind (Clue 5 is getting posted tomorrow). I will post a picture of this soon. I also have started stockinette socks for my mom in Seacoast Panda.