Round and around

I am happy to report that my knitting skills have improved exponentially over the past year.  While DPN's still give me nightmares, cables still seem impossible, and I'm no where near being able to knit a sock or sweater, I have moved beyond basic, garter stitch scarves.

I've recently learned to knit in-the-round using circular needles...sort of.  My first attempt turned into a mobius loop - kinda cool, but not a very effective hat design.  I have a few other hats in progress and they are turning out well, I think; however, I have no idea how to bind off in-the-round.  I think DPN's are inevitable...

Despite my irrational fear of eventually having to switch to DPN's, I really like using circular needles. My work stays in a nice little coil with no needles sticking out and poking me, there's no purl rows for stockinette stitch, it goes quite fast, and seamless things really do look better!

So, when I came across a pattern in the latest Webs catalog (www.yarn.com) that seems like a perfect compromise, I was very excited!   The Valley Yarns 341 Geothermal Tubular Scarf (here) looks pretty easy, doesn't mention DPN's at all, it's striped, and I imagine it will knit up quickly.  According to the pattern, this is a fun and "addictive spiral knitting technique" with "no jogs between the stripes and no strands to carry up the inside of the work."  I don't know what "jogs" are, but apparently, I don't want them!

I guess it's a pretty new pattern - no projects or notes on Ravelry yet, at least - so we'll see...

Wish me luck - it's quickly becoming winter in Minnesota and I have a cold neck!

My New New Normal and 101 Things

My life's in a somewhat transitional sort of place at the moment.  I'm doing my best to embrace my New New Normal. 

To clarify, the beginning of my New Normal was marked by what I like to refer to as Hurricane Amy.  No need to focus on that now, though - it's all about my New New Normal.

I think the timing is very appropriate.  For much of my life, the year "began" the day after Labor Day - i.e. the first day of school.  This year, the day marked the first day of my new job - a rather serendipitous turn of events.  With that came new responsibilities, routines, plans, goals, clothes...a bit of everything.

So, welcome to my  
New New Normal!!!

*  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *

Somewhat coincidentally, I recently discovered the Day Zero project.  Check out the web site for details, but basically, you list 101 goals that you want to achieve within 1001 days.  Your list can be public or totally private, there are several ideas and links to inspire you, you can also list "someday" goals, and it's freeeeeee!  I think it will be a fun way to help me focus and get my life back on something resembling a track.  

I finished my list about 5 minutes ago - I have until June 9, 2013 to complete my 101 goals (I actually have 106 goals - figured a little wiggle room would be good.)  I decided to make my list private for now, but my includes things like...

• Learn to knit socks. 
• Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years  
• Scan my favorite old pictures. 
• Blog everyday for a month.  
• Document a week in my life with ephemera, photos, and journaling. 
• Swim in the ocean.  
• Take a road trip 
• Take inventory of all my knitting tools, yarn, and UFO's.  
• Fill a sketchbook 

Another one of my goals is to inspire at least 5 people to make a list so let me know if you do!

Cheers!

   Amy Jane

Electric Sheep = my new favorite podcast

I listen to lots of podcasts via iTunes on my iPod and MacBook.  I subscribe to far too many to list - public radio shows, artsy-crafty stuff, random trivia, productivity, techie, etc, etc, etc.

A few months ago I discovered Electric Sheep - a podcast out of London about knitting and all sorts of other stuff.  It's become my new favorite podcast for several reasons, including:

• The sound quality is almost perfect
• There's no annoying pod-safe music (I don't mind a little intro or transition music, but I always skip through entire songs from the "Pod-Safe Music Network")
• The hostess is very intelligent, witty, creative, funny - and you gotta love her accent!
• It's about so much more than knitting - art, politics, current events, social commentary, complete randomness...
• Hilarious reviews of knitting patterns
• She's led me to some very funny stuff online - Jedi discrimination, knitted facial hair, Unhappy Hipsters, crimes against knitting - and lots more
• No annoying giggling, burping, discussion of bodily excretions, etc...
• Episodes are released regularly
• The length is good - generally about 30-60 minutes

The only complaint I have is that she gives an overview of each episode in the first 3 minutes that I always skip through because there's music playing at about the same volume as her voice, making it annoyingly difficult to hear.  It's easy to skip right through that part, though, so it's not a very big deal.


You can find it at www.hoxtonhandmade.com or subscribe on iTunes.

Too many works-in-progress....

...And too many scruffy little mutts getting in the way!

I'm Famous!!!

wI love podcasts and one of my favorites is the Paperclipping Roundtable.  It's a weekly show all about the scrapbooking world.  Each episode has some regular segments - listener mail, product picks, news - and the three regular hosts and two guest hosts discuss a specific topic.

Last week's episode (May 11, 2010) was about vintage style.  The guests were Ali Edwards and Tim Holtz.

Guess whose email AND comment were included last week?

Yep - yours truly!!!

I feel like a total rockstar.  Ali Edwards AND Tim Holtz got to hear MY clever comments!  The two of them are definitely my main sources of inspiration.

Awesome.

I definitely recommend checking it out - it's an awesome podcast even when it doesn't include anything from me.  :)

If it gets you feeling vintagey and on the look out for some ephemera action, the Collage Images and Old & Vintage groups on Flickr have some really cool stuff.  Or, you can borrow my relatives (from my mom's Flickr page.)

Archivers, Tuesday Morning, & Dick Blick Haul Video!

I have a new You Tube video!  It's from a recent retail therapy adventure at Archivers, Tuesday Morning, and Dick Blick.  I got some awesome deals - and felt much better.

I'm going to be cleaning out my arts and craft supplies soon - I have a ton of stuff to get rid of and will be selling it very cheaply.  I figure that it's not making me ANY money just sitting around, not being used, and if it can make someone else happy, I'm happy to give it away...but seeing as how I'm unemployed and not very financially sound lately, I feel ok charging some nominal fee for the time it takes to post the stuff and shipping costs and whatever. 

Anyway, check back here in a week or so if you're interested and I'll have more details!

What do you think of The Blog's new look?

I think I mostly like The Blog's new look...

The banner isn't *quite* what I want it to be yet, but I like the basic idea.

I guess I really like blue.  I did not expect to have a BLUE color scheme - it just turned out that way.

The heart wants what the heart wants, right?

Anyway, I'm interested to know what people think.  Post a comment or email me at bc7ate9@gmail.com!

FYI - This is the t-shirt I'm wearing in my hat-modeling photo

You can read about it here, but I'm afraid you can't get one of your own anymore...

I think 90% of my wardrobe comes from Woot!.  I'm pretty rad.  :)

I knit a HAT!!!

I finished my very first knitted hat a few weeks ago!!!

It was relatively simple - knitted flat (none of that fancy-schmancy "in the round" or "circular" business for me...) on size 6 needles.

I used a free pattern from Lion Brand and their Cotton-Ease yarn in Taupe for the main color (MC) and Lake for the contrasting color (CC).  I think it turned out pretty rad!  I'm still shocked I didn't end up with a big, tangled mess of yarn on my head (A Big Ol' Monkey Mess, as I like to call my big, tangled messes.)

The Boyfriend was equally shocked and we spent a few days exclaiming randomly, "It's a HAT!" 

Then he put it on.

I have not worn my hat since. 

Ah well.  I'm working on #2.  I think I will add cat ears to it.  Or maybe cute, little round ears in bear/monkey style.  The Boyfriend is not likely to steal that...

YouTube videos....inspiration overload....

I should be in bed right now...

I'm sleepy and The Boyfriend is waiting for me...

But I HAD to wait for my external hard drive to do its compressing business...and in the meantime, why not watch some YouTube videos...?

....because I can't stop - I love seeing so many projects and ideas!  (and it TOTALLY beats 16 and Pregnant and DOG: The Bounty Hunter.)

Also, everybody is SO encouraging and supportive of MY videos...THANK YOU!!!

It gives me a welcoming sense of community that is kinda foreign to me...It also makes me feel like the stuff I make is worth "advertising," even if it isn't anything terribly interesting.

Life is so freaking hard...every day is a new battle (I used to say "challenge," but it's much harder than that.)  All your nice comments and messages mean so much to me!

I'm being very cheesy - sorry.  It's 2:32 AM - I don't think you can blame me.

My original point was going to be that I *look* at so many inspiring things....It paralyzes me. 

I want to do it ALL. 

I want to do it all PERFECTLY.


And, if I can't dot it PERFECTLY, I don't want to do it at all.

My mom likes to tell me how annoying my perfectionism has always been so I think I'm stuck with it...

I also don't know what exactly I WANT to do.

If you don't know what you want....it's pretty much impossible to get *it* - you don't just stumble upon your meaning in life.

In other news, I am working on knitting a blanket - the "Blue Lagoon" color pattern.  Thanks to my mom, I was able to order the rest of the yarn I need from Joann.com today.

I'm also making a warsh-rag for The Boyfriend in Lily's 100% cotton yarn - in red and black cause he's a  * rock star *   and that's his band's colors...I guess.

By the way, I'm not the greatest girlfriend on Earth - and although I'm SURE he's the greatest drummer EVER...his music doesn't do much for me...but he seems to like me anyway.

I'm working on birthday/going away presents for my BFF and her family as well...before they ABANDON ME!!!!! 

(I'm still in my "anger" phase of grieving.  Harrumph.)

Besides that stuff - and a gazillion other in progress projects - I'm reading Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and liking it a lot!

Recent Knitting Projects

*** SPOILER ALERT FOR OTHER AMY - don't watch this video unless you hate surprises! ***

I just posted a new video on YouTube!  It's just me showing off some recent knitting projects.  It's a little pointless, but hopefully not too lame.  :)

I show off some of my Fun Fur scarves once again - tutorial video coming soon!!!

I also posted a picture on Flickr of a Fun Fur scarf I made for my cousin Jessica.

Then, you can see my super awesome 6-Hour Afghan (I say 6 1/2 hours in the video - oops.)  It's made with Lion Brand's Homespun Yarn in Montana Sky and Waterfall (I think) - 4 skeins each.  I used size 50 needles - "Speed Stix".  The pattern is here.

I also made a headband using this pattern and Lily's Sugar and Cream Twist yarn. 

I made a few "warsh-rags" in the "Ballband" style also using the Lily's cotton yarn in various colors.  I used the pattern in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book, but you can also find it here.  I show a few more kitcheny-cottony projects.

I'm making a hat!  It's the most complicated project I've attempted so I'm excited that it's actually turning out!  The pattern is here and gives you an idea of what it'll look like finished.  I'm using Lion Brand's Cotton-Ease in Lake and Taupe.

Finally, I show you the cute little cupcake my BFF crocheted for me.  You can find her at www.CraftAwesome.com.

I think that's all...hope you enjoy it!

Under Construction!!!

Please excuse my sloppy looking blog for right now!  I'm working on it....

New pictures - lots of cute and/or knit - ness!

Still working on my new blog layout (obviously.)

Any opinion on the current banner?

I still haven't finished my in-progress YouTube videos on the fun of knitting with Fun Fur!

In the meantime, I added some new pictures to Flickr - they start here.  I upload lots of pictures at once, but edit them with Picnik slowly - starting with the most recently uploaded which means you have to go to page 3 or 4 or whatever...

FYI - I do NOT think this is the BEST method, by ANY means, but I haven't installed Aperture yet, editing in iPhoto is kinda limited and annoys me, and going from iPhoto to PhotoShop and back is a pain...

Anyway, you can see my little cousin Lydia - she's 7 - learning to knit and a scarf I made for my buddy Nic J

New Videos, New Layout, New Amy!.....soon....

So I'm working on some new YouTube videos - Fun Fur tutorials!!!

Soon....I promise.

And....yes..."soon" is a very relative word.

It's not that I don't WANT to - I just get so overwhelmed than paralyzed than depressed by all the incoming stimuli and inspiration and desire and ideas and plans and creativity and and and and...

Lots of excuses, I know.

I don't get why my brain can take in so much...only to get completely weighed down by it all...

Does anybody else GET this?

Besides my videos, I'm also working on...

• A new layout for my blog
• The banner and color scheme (things might be looking odd for a while...)
• Selling stuff online via Etsy or something...
• Responding to emails and messages and comments
• Lots of projects!

So...yeah.  I'm doing my best...!

AND - I LOVE you all!!!  Everybody who reads this, watches me, sends me messages or comments...anything!  THANK YOU!

Check it out, yo...it's AWESOME

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftAwesome