100% Red Heart! (I feel like a slut.)

i said that i would post the robot pattern. lo siento. next time, for real.

but now, there are much more important issues to be addressed. first of all, the bitchin' mittens are done! (mondrian style.) yeah, that's right, we used 'el cheapo' yarn, but try affording six colors of wool for some experimental mittens on a college-level budget. it ain't merino, but red heart has its (one) merit. behold the supreme gloriousness of these babies:


i'm going to shy away from more than two colors at once for several months. that got a little too complex at times. but oh, are they magnificent.

the rexlace belt is completed as well... though i didn't finish it in time to melt the ends in with a butane lighter before i left home. my roommate (linden, the exploding rainbow) knit a belt using a double strand of rexlace and yarn - that might work better, just so's you all know.

i'm currently working on a hat with waves, using SIX double pointed needles - not so portable, so it's coming along slowly. my other big project at the moment are the penguins that my aunt Deb designed and gave me yarn for. after that, we start working on the halloween costume.

-aside from knitting-
things are going well here in oberlin. the semester is underway, and i'm putting off work until Sunday, as usual. last night some friends and I went to see the Twins play the Indians at Jacob's Field. we (the Twins, of course) lost, but only due to a throwing error. i heard a newscaster say something about 'in baseball - a big win for the Indians last night'. not quite. there were a couple of drunken guys behind us for a while (i hate to use the phrase 'white trash', but it fits) who had been getting on my nerves for several innings. (i'm not into consistently taunting the opponents' left fielders), and one of them actually caught a ball that Gutierrez threw up into the stands. even in his lowered state of character, he gave it to a kid. i guess Anne Frank was right about people. after the game, there was an overstimulating display of fireworks set to music. couldn't hear half of the musical cues, but there were some neat explosions.

this morning, Linden and i took the Lorain County Transit into Elyria and spent enormous amounts of money at craft stores. CLEARANCE YARN! i'm getting better about making yarn purchases with patterns in mind, but i'm still going on a yarn diet for the rest of the semester. (that means no more buying yarn. which i'm totally capable of. totally.

of course, the evening ended with X Files! Gender Bender and Our Town, both wonderful cult-centered episodes. Gender Bender was especially awesome, because one of the actors in it (Nick Lea) shows up later in the series as a recurring character (Alex Krycek). this was the first time i've seen Gender Bender after knowing this information, so it was a pretty enjoyable viewing. i won't bother you with talk of the weekend's original X Files plans, not today. instead, i'll feed you some more iTunes. song (album) - artist format, as always.

the monkees theme (the monkees) - the monkees
the prisoner (clash on broadway) - the clash
it don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing) (the great summit) - louis armstrong & duke ellington
a valjean arrested/a valjean forgiven (les miserables) - orginal london cast
girlfriend is better (stop making sense) - the talking heads
wonderful world (the soul story) - sam cooke
summertime (my favorite things) - john coltrane
moonlight serenade (pirates of the caribbean) - klaus badelt
drop dead gorgeous (just push play) - aerosmith
local road (sound theology) - jonathan rundman


--
grace and peace.

Gaaaaa! (or: the Woes of Dial-Up)

The pattern's done. The shrug's done. I have pictures. If only blogger would load them. Alas, not tonight. Perhaps I'll try again tomorrow. In the meanwhile, go read a book.

Revelation

Before today, I was uninformed. I read about knitters falling in love with their Addi Turbos, and I had no idea what the big deal was about. But I procured a new storage bin, which I decided to use for yarn storage, and as I was organizing my stash, I came across the packaging for my favorite set of circular needles. Now, these were the first circulars I ever purchased, way back when I didn't know enough to know the different brands available. Reading the card in the plastic bag, I see that I, in fact, do own some Addis. And I love them. I understand.


I'm almost done with my shawl (the Bobblicious pattern from Knitty), which really pleases me. Once I finish that, I'll be down to three projects. One of which is a belt made from Rexlace, which I could probably finish in about an hour if I felt like it. Come to think of it, the robot is nearing an end, too. I'll have to put up a very photograph-intensive post soon. How about in a week? Next Thursday, I will have the robot, shawl, and belt finished, photographed, and posted.


Outside of the knitting department, my life is going pretty well. I enjoy putting things in list formats.


- I've been working at a day care occasionally, sometimes hanging out in the nap room, or elsewhere. Tomorrow I get to help with an art project.
- I've been watching a sufficient amount of the X Files. I was highly amused by 'Arcadia'. It is about a homeowner's association where everyone was forced to fit in. You might be thinking, "well, yeah, that's kind of the bit with homeowner's associations," but there really is an abnormal element.
- My room is starting to look like it's not going to be clean again until I'm packing to head back to Ohio. (I'll be back in Oberlin in 43 days. I'm counting down.)
- I'm actually in the middle of more books than knitting projects. A Long Way Down (Nick Hornby), Huck Finn (Mark Twain), Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott), The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis), Hope Against Darkness: the Transforming Vision of St. Francis in an Age of Anxiety (Richard Rohr), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J. K. Rowling)... I have a problem!


Perhaps the most interesting area of life lately has been my faith. The church that I've been a member of for three years and have gone to my entire life is in a 'growth period'. Basically, we have some serious issues (financial and otherwise) that we need to work on if we want to continue to be a congregation. I'm not sure how close the church is to closing down, but it's clear that we need to have some serious changes. So a couple of friends and I have been planning a summer event for the youth group, which we've been very involved in, but I feel kind of detached. I have been thinking more and more about what the Christian community at Oberlin could develop, and I'm starting to feel like my home church here in Minnesota is less and less a part of my spiritual life. It's two blocks from my house, and I've been going pretty much weekly as long as I can remember. It feels weird. And on top of that, my mother (who is clergy) is changing churches this week, after being in one position for 14 years. Oddly enough, the church she's leaving is where the day care is located. And when I get back to Oberlin, I'll get to meet the new pastor at First United Methodist, too.


Wow!

My First Mitten!

Soon and very soon you are going to see the robot.
But not today.

However, I happened upon the most wonderful contest the other day called Bitchin Mittens. Basically, creating art in mitten form. I've been playing around in my head with possibilities and decided to use yarns from my stash to make (to be honest my mum helped me think of this) Mondrian Mittens. Here's the first one:



I'm not sure as I want the pair to match, so I may come up with some variation of Mondrian's initials (PM) in the five or so colors he liked so much. I made this first one in under 24 hours, which makes me really happy. The world of mittens is intriguing. It almost makes me wish for winter to come sooner. Almost.

I'll post the intarsia chart whenever I get around to finishing and posting the robot.

Grace and peace.

FSM? six weeks late

sooo...

finals are coming up, and consequently, i should not be knitting and watching so much x files. but i did buy myself a little knitting knobby the other day, and have been making blue i-cord (leftover t-rex yarn) and have been pondering what to do with it. a friend suggested i make a series of flying spaghetti monsters to reflect the stages of picasso's art (blue, rose, and cubist). we shall see, we shall see.

once i find my size fours again, there will soon be another pattern for you all to feast your eyes upon...inspired by the mental obsessions of brady higa.

...aaaaaaand
i wrote that back in mayish. and now its julyish. so it's outdated, and the robot (the aforementioned pattern that incorporates my size 4 dpns) is still unfinished, but coming along nicely.

in other news, there's this neat shrug entitled 'Bobblicious' on Knitty, and i've started that in ravenclaw colors. the hogwarts set shall be complete before the summer's out. there's an abandoned rexlace belt still on the needles, which i suppose i'll finish one of these days.

i've decided that perhaps a way to make myself blog more often and even regularly, is to go with this trend of using 'shuffle' on iTunes and listing the first ten songs that come up. here's this week's listening. i'll put them in song (album) - artist order for clarity.

1. Better Days (Better Days) - Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes
2. She Said, She Said (The Big Come Up) - The Black Keys
3. Parker's Mood (Ken Burns Jazz) - Charlie Parker
4. Sometimes a Fantasy (Glass Houses) - Billy Joel
5. She's Not You (Worldwide Gold Award Hits) - Elvis Presley
6. Dose (Dose) - Latin Playboys
7. Wade in the Water (A Portrait) - Chanticleer
8. Company in My Back (A Ghost is Born) - Wilco
9. This Time Darlin' (Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell) - Social Distortion
10. 747s (Public Library) - Jonathan Rundman

...nothing too incriminating...i lucked out this week, i guess.

grace and peace. and yarn. ;)