Just crazy busy. I'm still working on my sweater. I have actually made some progress on it. However, I've set it aside to knit hats for my kids and a scarf for a friend.
I was living under the misguided delusion that my youngest being in school would give me a little more free time - joke's on me!! Nayomi is only in pre-k, but insists that she has homework every night, just like her "Bubba". And I must help her with it; and check it. If she weren't so darn cute, it'd be annoying.
As for me, I've decided that I want to go back to law school. I'm taking the LSAT in December and applying for Fall 2009 entry to NCCU. Pray for me. This will be a major adjustment - I've been out of school since I was (gasp) 22!!!!
My hubby is doing his thing too. He's taken up cycling and rode in the Tour to Tanglewood (it was over 60 miles!!!) I'm so proud of him!!! However, he's getting kinda buff, and I'm gonna have to step up my game..LOL!!!! He'll probably never have expected this, but I gotta brag. My man was almost famous many moons ago. He was in Janet's "Black Cat" video. I loved that song back in the day and I'm posting the video. He's at 2:08, if you're interested:
Sunday, September 21, 2008
I'm still alive!!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Help Save A Show
Not sure how many of you watch(ed) Knitty Gritty with Vickie Howell. Well, I say watched because DIY network is no longer producing new episodes and has all but said the show is cancelled. I LOVE this show. Even though there are often items that I could NEVER see myself making; I always picked up some tips, learned new techniques and learned about different designers.
An online acquaintence has started a petition to convince DIY to produce more episodes of the show. Please sign here http://www.petitiononline.com/1234lulu/petition.html
Thanks,
Des
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I've Been Tagged
I was tagged by Susan:
"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."
1) What was I doing 10 years ago? I was planning my wedding to my wonderful hubby, John.
2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? 1. Finish folding the laundry 2. Put said laundry away. 3. Finish the front of my ribbed pullover. 4. Get to bed before 11. 5. Take a long, hot shower and relax.
3) Snacks I enjoy: Snickers, BBQ chips, skittles, peanut butter crackers, Reese's pieces.
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Oh my gosh, where to begin?!?!? First off, I'd pay off all our debt!!! I'd set up trust funds for my son and daughter and my nieces and nephews. I'd finally be able to afford to go back to law school. And I'd make sure we take a fabulous vacay every year.
5) Places I have lived: I was born in South Carolina; and thus far, I've lived in New Orleans; Toledo, Oh; Los Angeles; Baltimore; Port Royal, SC; Columbia, SC; Atlanta and Greensboro, NC.
6) Jobs I have had: I don't think I can remember all of them, but here goes. My first job was at Burger King when I was 16; then my freshman year of college, I was one of those annoying kids calling alumnae for donations; during the next 2 summers, I worked at a dry cleaner; I had a work-study job in the Anthropology dept; I had another work-study in Fin Aid; I tutored with Upward Bound; I was a manager of a linen store; I worked at a summer camp; I worked at a Marriott; I worked at Taco Bell; Nationsbank as a teller; Circuit City call center; Sprint; and currently I'm an admin at a pharmaceutical company. WHEW!! In my defense, I'm 36 and most of those were seasonal jobs while I was in school.
7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:
Delta Purl
Adrienne
Nik
Stacey
Toni
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
DesireƩ vs. The Sweater
The bedeviling center cable
Lesson learned: Make sure that what comes off your needles looks like what your reading off the paper; don't just blindly follow the pattern (or what you think the pattern is saying). Here's the front 3/4 of the sweater....
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
I Love This Man!!!!
So, backtrack to Thursday. I realize that I will need one more skein of yarn to finish my sweater. I ask Dear Hubby if he wouldn't mind picking it up for me from http://www.knitpickyyarns.com/ since he was working in Winston-Salem that day. No problem, he came home with the yarn, it was all good, right?
Weeeeell, Friday afternoon he sends me a text at work asking my bust size. Now knowing my hubby like I do (he's crazy!!) I ask what he needs this information for. He says that he and another male manager are buying a shirt for one of his employees that got promoted; they don't know what size to get; and she's about my size. Ok, good enough, I give him the info and think nothing of it.
Fast forward to about 9:00 pm. Me and the kids just finished wathcing "Enchanted" (lovely movie) and I was corralling them into bed. Hubby gets home, we're talking (you know...How was your day? What'd you do?, etc, etc.) When all of a sudden, he says "Ooh, I've got to show you something downstairs." Ok, I'm game...we go downstairs and THIS is on my table:
Yep, BIG green bag from Knit Picky!!!!
I am STOKED!!!! He makes me wait till we get back upstairs to see what's inside:
Details........
That's Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino Collection:
...AND.....
13 skeins of baby llama!!!!!! for a sweater
I adore this yarn...it's so soft I couldn't keep my hands off of it and the color is gorgeous!! Thanks, so much Kim for helping him out and giving him a crash course in Yarnlove 101...LOL!!!
My baby said that he did all this because of the night I was telling him about different yarns, fibers and I told him that I wanted to make something out of cashmere or alpaca!!! I talked about it here: http://queendbw.blogspot.com/2008/03/quick-and-sweet.html Well, it stayed with him!!! He planned to buy me enough cashmere for a sweater, he quickly realized that just wasn't in our budget...LOL!!! Kim helped him pick out the baby llama and it is PERFECT!! I am currently practicing project monogamy, so I need to finish my Ribbed Cable Pullover pronto. That being said, I'm all out of time. Y'all have a good night!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
My First Sweater
I know I've talked about it, but I finally cast on for it Sunday. I'm making my first sweater. I fell in love with the Shifting Rib Pullover when I saw it in the Winter 2007/08 issue of Vogue Knitting and I've finally cast on. I'm so excited!!!
I'm using the yarn I bought on the last NCEE meet-up:
(Cascade 220 Heathers)
I started on it Sunday evening; and here's my progress as of Monday:
It's really coming along!! I am doing much better than I expected. Here's where I am so far tonite:
Ciao, gotta get back to my needles!! ;D
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Nearly Perfect Day
I had a nearly perfect day Saturday. I got to meet up with my NCEE (North Carolina Ebony Elite) ladies...who will be known as Neicy going forward (LOL, Stacey). We met in Winston-Salem and had lunch at a great little spot called Sweet Potatoes. The food was GREAT!!! I'll definitely be going back there.
There was an arts fest going on while we were there...great booths and some Awesome shops on Trade St. We did our yarn crawl... We started at Knit One, Smock Too. Great shop and the ladies in there were very sweet. Not to mention my daughter loved the dollhouse they have in there.
Neicy and them at Knit One, Smock Too...
Next we went to Knit Picky. It is in the cutest little house and the comfy, red couch is DIVINE!!! I picked up some Cascade 220 Heathers here...
(obligatory yarn porn....)
The crew again...
Then we stopped for ice cream......
Toni, Deborah and Mr. Ryan...
Nik, Nayomi and Laila....
Renee, Stacey and Wendy
Great day, right? So why "nearly perfect"? Because Ms. Migraine visited me again. I felt her coming on the way home and by the time I got in the house, my hands were shaking so bad I could hardly hold my cup to take my meds....sigh. So I crashed for a couple of hours to find that my DEAR, SWEET, WONDERFUL hubby went to......
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Baby Bolero is finished!!
I did it!!! I love it!! It's sooo tiny, though...It looks like it should fit a doll...LOL! As a matter of fact, I borrowed my daughter's Cabbage Patch to test it out. It's nearing my bedtime, so this will be short and sweet. Here are the pix:
front:
back:
And the money shot!! This is my granddoll-ter, Brown Baby:
Whaddaya think?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Hello!!
I have been B-U-S-Y. We finally finished spring cleaning. I pulled out the steamer and did the carpets last weekend (YAY!!!!) I also finished with my online course, so I've got a break from that for a week. AND I've been knitting!!!
Here is the body with the right front worked:
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Nautilus Hat Redux...
Call it my stubborn Leo pride....I just can't let go of that hat. You know, the one from January. http://queendbw.blogspot.com/2008/01/sigh-hat.html I'm compelled to finish it. And thanks to my good friend Nik, nikknits.blogspot.com I can.
Nik had a post last week about Magic Loop with a handy-dandy video!!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=BtBSmxGomPk&feature=related
Tonite, I'm frogging the hat and tomorrow we begin again....
Des
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Random thoughts about knitting
I have also made a test swatch of my next project. I will make the ribbed cable pullover from the Holiday issue of Interweave Knits. This is my most ambitious project yet, so wish me luck.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Spring Cleaning
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Neckwarmer Button
I have had several people ask me about the button. I love it too!!! I got it from This & That. It's my LYS here in Greensboro, located on Cornwallis Drive.
This button is listed as "#465 Wood Toggle E3028". But they have lots of great ones...I'll be going back, so don't clean them out!!!
Des
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Neckwarmer is done!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
My visitor...
I planned to finish the neckwarmer last night, but I got a visit from Madame Migraine. Sadly, we go waaaaay back. Thankfully, she doesn't visit nearly as often as she used to do.
So, I'll be finishing up tonite, while I watch Idol :D
This project will be another first for me...I've never blocked anything before. All of the larger bags I made were felted, so no blocking required. Thankfully, I have the internet (namely, Ravelry.com) at my disposal.
I'll share the final result tomorrow....
Des
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Quick and Sweet
I started my next project last night. It's actually one of Virtous' faves...the Cashmere neckwarmer. I'm making mine for a friend. It's light green and I'm using Iceland by Crystal Palace (the color is called Seafoam). It's moving very quickly. I'm a little over half done and I've been babysitting. In addition to my two, I've got two of my nieces over. I love them dearly, but it reaffirms that I don't want anymore kids!! ;D
Here are some pix of my work in progress....
On another note, I've introduced the hubby to the joys of fiber. I was explaining to him that since I've started knitting, I've discovered how tactile I am. We were talking about my next projects (yes, plural) last night and he was wondering why I was so excited about certain yarns. So we did a mini fiber lab. I let him feel about four different grades of yarn from my stash. He got it!!!!! His fave was the Noro (my man's got good taste!!!). I also started planting seeds for my stash...... Maybe I'll have some cashmere down the line!! :D
Hopefully, I'll finish the neckwarmer today and block it. My next project will be my co-worker's baby gift...as soon as I decide what that will be.
Till next time,
Des
Sunday, March 2, 2008
I was wrong!
My co-worker is having a girl. Don't know why, but I would've bet money she was having a boy. Either way, I get to make some baby knits!!!! So far, I've been looking at a REALLY cute cardigan and hat set. I've also seen a couple of cute bibs and blankets. And there was one cute diaper cover pattern too!!!! Decisions, decisions, decisions.....
I also planned to make another girlfriend something for her birthday (it was in February too....). I'm leaning toward slippers or a shawl....any suggestions?
Peace and blessings.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
She loves it!!!
I managed to add Nayomi's "fluffies" back to her bag; and when I showed it to her this morning, she LOVED it!!! She is so proud of her "Dora bag" that she wants to sleep with it...LOL!!! As promised, here are the pix:
My next project will be something baby!!! My co-worker finds out Friday if she's having a boy or a girl (my vote, boy) and as soon as she picks colors, I'm getting started.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Fun Fur Don't Felt!
I did it!! I felted Nayomi's bag!! She'll be so excited to see it in the morning...... I hope.
The fun fur didn't make it through the felting process, even though I double-stranded it. It was lying like a pool of mush in the bottom of my washer. I cut off the strands that were hanging on. I'll sew a running stitch around it and use that to add the "fuzzy" back to it. The bag is still drying, but here's a pic:
I'll update after I try my damage control.
Nayomi's bag
...is almost done!!! I have knit it; now I have to felt it (and the hat..I didn't forget!). My daughter ADORES Dora the Explorer and her favorite colors are pink and purple. I was supposed to be making this bag for her birthday, but I'm a little late. Here's a pic:
I plan to felt it Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll post pix of it and the hat then.
In case anyone is interested, I just sorta made up the design. I cast on 40 stitches with a size 13 circular needle. I knit about 25 rows of stockinette stitch. I picked up stitches all around with the knit side facing up (inside of bag). Then I knit in the round until the bag was double the size of her V-Tech game. I hope the purple and pink felt well together. Thanks for dropping in!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
A tribute to Nayo
I know that I haven't written anything in a minute, but my life has been in a tailspin. My mother-in-law passed away January 20th after a long battle with cancer. Needless to say my whole family is heart-broken. Even though she'd been sick a long time, it was still a blow. And I don't think we've found our new "normal" yet.
I have picked up my needles again, though. I planned to make my daughter a felted bag to keep her V-smile in. It was supposed to be finished in time for her birthday (Feb. 9th), but I just couldn't get it together enough to do it. I have started on it, and hopefully I'll finish it in about a week. I'll post some pix of the WIP too.
Thanks for bearing with me. I'm still blogging [thanks, Stacey :)]!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
*sigh* The Hat...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Those Darn DPNs....
I started on my hat this evening. More than once. It was those DPNs...they got me. I have to admit that I own some, but I'd only ever used them for Icords.....
I started the hat, I frogged the hat. I started the hat, I frogged the hat. I kept losing my place because my stitch marker kept slipping off the needle. Then it occurred to me that my marker didn't have to be at the end of the last needle..... that one row could end and another start on the same needle!!! And voila, I got it. I moved my stitches around on the needles and it's been smooth sailing!!
I've only gotten a few rows done, but here it is....
I''m really excited. I've conquered a new skill!! And I'm finding that I am really liking this hat.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Starting Project number 2!!
I've picked my next project!! It's a hat, which is a first for me. The pattern is called the Female Nautilus Hat. I will be using Freedom yarn and I'm really excited to get started. I love the color. Here's a shot I took on my cell:
Knitting Resolutions
I have been knitting for about 3.5 years now, but I have decided that I will start knitting seriously this year :D On a positive note, I completed my first project of the year on Sunday. It's a scarf for my hubby....made with one of my favorite yarns, Noro Transitions. I love the pattern. It was complicated enough to keep me interested, but not scare me off from finishing.
As for my resolutions, here they are....
This year I will:
1. Always have a project in progress.
2. Finish most of my projects.
3 Make a garment (sweater) for myself.
4. Learn some new techniques (I'm interested in learning to knit socks and cables)
5. I want to try to design my own creation.
Thanks if you've made it this far and wish me luck!!!
Des