Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddy,

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Happy Father's Day! You are so funny. I like the way you make me laugh and help me walk all over the house. Any day now I will be able to do it all by myself. But I will still want to hold hands and play with you!

Love,
Peanut

P.S. I hope you like the present I got you...

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The White Stripes
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
Wed, Sep 26, 2007 08:00 PM

Sunday, June 10, 2007

I Like To Watch Listen, Part 2

Are you a regular Lime and Violet listener? I've heard about them many times but just last week went to download an episode. I listened to Episode 36: Bellybutton Funk-O-Rama.

Was this a normal podcast for them? I mean, is it representative of their usual style, or were they being especially wacky that week? Just askin'. Parts of it were pretty funny, but I kind of felt like the new girl at summer camp, where everyone else already knew each other and they had a million hilarious, weird inside jokes that went right over my head. And I'm a wacky gal.

So tell me if you're a Lime and Violet regular, and if I should give them another try.

I Like To Watch Listen

Have you been listening to Stash and Burn? I love it. I don't have a huge stash by any means, and I think it's a little kooky to have a regularly recurring podcast that's all about how you have way too much yarn but you keep getting more. (hee hee, I mean, if we would ALL stop fiddling around on the internets and reorganizing our stashes, etc., think of all the knitting we would get done! sigh...) But I love listening to Nicole and Jenny talk about their yarns, patterns, projects, techniques, etc. And the last couple of podcasts have them going on assignment to various yarn stores and events. Mostly, I like their style; I feel like I'm listening to a couple of my best buds. Plus, they both say, "yaaaaayyyyy!" a lot. :)

The last podcast, Episode 17: Sticks Are For Kids, though, I felt was written just for me. Here are a couple of reasons why:

Teaching the Youngsters
They chat about Jenny's experience teaching some schoolkids how to knit... I have considered this many times (I teach elementary school) but haven't figured out how it would make sense with my whole class. This spring I did a little weaving activity with cheap-o tangly acrylic yarn and drinking straws, which was interesting and difficult (yarn) at the same time. But now I have some new ideas... perhaps next year I'll try to teach finger knitting first. The kids are always interested in knitting when they either see me doing it or see me wearing something I've knit.

Our First Knitting Books
I, too, found the Stich N Bitch books invaluable when I was first learning to knit. The illustrations and language made every step so easy to follow. I used the first SNB book as my go-to reference for quite a while until I found Nancie Wiseman. Now she is my Constant Companion. Some day, I want to get a copy of Montse Stanley's book, too.

Jenny and Nicole wonder about Vogue Knitting patterns and how they keep hearing about terrible errata in each pattern. I did knit my absolute favorite (so far!) sweater, Shawl Collared Pullover, from a VK magazine. That pattern was really very well written and didn't have any errors that I could see.



So, if you haven't tried Stash and Burn, give it a listen. It's usually only about half an hour long and well edited, so easy on the ears.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Sweet plans

I got my WEBS sale order! I got my WEBS sale order! Woot!

At the last moment, I decided to order 12 balls of Queensland Collection Uruguay DK (70% merino, 20% alpaca, 10% silk, 100% soft and yummy). Here's what the color looks like on the WEBS site:

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Here's my stab at the color (must. take. photoshop lessons.):

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In real life it's a bit inbetween... very pretty and plummy. I'm going to use it to make Sweetheart from Domiknitrix. Love that shape, fit, neckline. The bow? Not so much. Mine will be a solid Sweetheart.

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My little button approves, no matter what color it is!

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Sunday, June 03, 2007

Welcome June!

Goodkarma family is happy to get out and enjoy the good weather!

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I'm coming around the bend on two projects, and you know what that means... time to start something new before I actually (ever? haha) finish them! I've got my copy of Rusted Root here, and I've got my lovely blue Cotton Fleece. I'm looking forward to starting this top soon but want to think it through before diving in.

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1. Which size to knit? Size M is 36-39 and size L is 40-43. Too much variance in the sizes to make me feel comfortable. I usually choose a 39 or 40, so you can see my dilemma. If you've knit RR, especially in Cotton Fleece, can you tell me the actual finished bust measurement of your sweater and which size you knit?

2. I think the neckline is a bit too high for me, so I want to modify it a bit. At the same time, I don't want to fiddle too much with the overall design. I'm spending some time with Barbara Walker as I think this through a little.

3. Must. add. waist shaping. For shizzle. At least that will be the easiest part of it all!