duchessofgravity

well i got together with the girls tonight. we had a great time knitting. it was good to see everybody. and, wonder of wonders i actually made progress tonight. got the soles of the ballet slippers done and started up te body of one! woo hoo. i might actually get these done before christmas! and even better, i finally got to see string. (and try as i might i can't find a wesite for this store. go figure) i absolutely love that shop! i can't believe i never went there! and i even picked up some yarn to make this . i've been trying to decide what to make it from and i found the perfect solution! that will be my travel knitting. i'll also take a pair of socks to work on, if i can find my sock yarn. oh and dave's hat...long car trip what can i say?

oh, so i just watched must love dogs. (which i do, especially the big stupid ones) and as a person recently subjected to the personal ad hell thing (by myself of course) i have to say if i ever and i mean ever answered my own father's personal ad i think i would have issues for the rest of my LIFE! hell, some the guys i did out with should qualify me for couch time... but tell me, how come john cusack didn't come along ans sweep me off my feet? huh. oh well.

sorry, but really i thought it would never be done! imen it looks like one hat but really its two... and i think it turned out ok. it was my first try at double knitting. i figured if he wanted it to be warm it would be this way. but not too warm since its acrylic. yes, i know, but he lives in houston! what am i supposed to do? give the kid heat stroke by using wool? its caron simply soft, and as far as acrylic goes i could do worse i guess, and it is stash yarn so. anyway, i'm yeah. i'll shut up! oh, and if you're wondering, "he" is my nephew, 15 (i think) geez am i terrible or what??? so here it is finished. hope he likes it. and another thing, so that i don't have to knit full sized stuff for the rest of the family, don't have time but relaly want to make a little sweater for my other nephew, he's 3, wouldn't something 3 year old sized be cute??? wow, i'm getting wierd...anyway, as for everybody who you haven't seen presents knttie...

oops i can't believe i forgot my sis in law's...i think they're married...long sotry anyway...her slipper socks! super soft and warm must go to mail these and my brother's hat tomorrow...

hey heres an updated photo of my entrelac bag i'm loving this, or i will once i get back to it...see below. and as promised i finished up through the hood on rogue. i cast on and did the cuffs of the sleeves, but i may need the needles so they are probably going onto holders! and i never did show you mom's socks... with a close up of the cables...i got bored... and finally its been sooo cold lately i had to dip into the stash to make me a new hat! i have enough left over of the thaki shannon to stripe the cuffs of mittens to match. i plan to use brown sheep for the hands since i don't have enough of the loft leftover from dave's first hat (total disaster) after using it to stripe my hat :)

so it started with this suri merino from the bargain bin... and i had promised to make dave a hat... (yeah i know he thought the last one was too big but its ok. he likes the way my brother's turned out so if i can duplicate the result...anyway. and i have to make 2 pair of the fiber trends felted ballet slippers... and the icing on the cake michaels had a secret sale on novelty and i've been eyeing this ticker tape ribbon yarn for a year... so there we have it my no buying yarn promise out the window...but $2.79??? how could i resist? and in my defense this hat for my nephew (his christmas hat shhhh don't tell) is entirely made of stash yarn. so i've moved 2 balls from stash to leftovers after i finish this so i'm not completely fired...the question is can i finish it? that and the slippers. well just one pair, but both before christmas??? no i'mnot crazy, i'm not talking about the real christmas the one thats a few days after the real christmas. the o...

so i promised to post about mom's sweater! everybody at work loved it. she wore it last week when it was sooooo cold. and it didn't fall to pieces on her so i'll assume its done :) geez that project was an exercise in procrastination, one full year from cast on to first wear i think!

and if you're wondering why its so cold outside...hell froze over. just so ya know.

yippeee! woooo hoooo, hell yeah i am a rock star and all that! ASTR-3520 - 010 OBSERV/INSTRUMENT II B+ PHYS-4150 - 001 PLASMA PHYSICS B PHYS-4510 - 001 OPTICS B+ see the killer is that last one, i thought i flunked the final. i guess everybody else did too. hhahahhahahhah wheee! k. i'm done flipping out now. this means i'm just 6 more hours away from graduating!

so i finally got around to looking at some of the photos i took this summer and this fall...had some friends who wanted to see so here goes

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BEWARE! as you know its been a realllllly long time since i had time to post (and i mean really post) so... here goes. school is out finals are over. i wouldn't say the semester was a smashing success, unless you mean the kind like when theres a bull in a china shop. with lots of crashing. but anyway. the grades are not in yet, i cannot be too pessimistic. lets just say i couldn't answer but one of the question son my saturday exam...d'oh but the one last night went pretty well in comparison. i answered 3 of 6!!! woo hoo! so anyway, last night before the final shirley told me that i had to wait for her if i finished before her. so i waited and she came out and she gave me...wait i need to give a little background. so, we're all familiar with the holiday taboo, of regifting. its supposed to be terrible its supposed to be wrong and evil. cause you're just giving someone something that you got that you never wanted right? well what if the person gives you something the...

so my step mom/monster (you just pick one for yourself k?) requested felted slippers for christmas. i'm not gonna felt them til i can make her stand on a towel next to the washing machine to try on soggy wool...aren't i evil? i mean i want them to fit well right? i can't stand the colors (pink? eeewww!) but she's gonna love 'em! and these were so easy to make i have to make a pair for my mom. she wants navy..how boring is that???

soooo, current projects anyone? i decided to join jenifer's knit along and make the bag i've been dreaming of since the first time i walked into the seconds shop at brown sheep. so what does it take to make my dream bag? well theres the basics. the pattern doesn't exist so i had to get creative and it took a lot of graph paper and oclored pencils but i finally came up with the perfect layout. and i already had the yarn so all i had to do was learn to knit entrelac. i camped out at the lys all afternoon and cursed my way along but i'm getting there i almost can do it without screwing up every 5th stitch. i can do it i can do it! and i'll have a knitting toting bag! woo hoo i've been dying to cast on for this!

so i just wanted to do a quick turkey day update, mostly cause my mom set out his gorgeous centerpiece thingy and i just had to share. she made me take the picture. isn't that cute! we were all at dinner and for some reasonmy mom remembered that she used to volunteer at my school (when i was in kindergarten mind you) and they used to screen kinds for motor skills (i'm sure i failed miserably) and hearing and all that. and she told us a story at dinner after turkey about a little girl she screened. she had asked the ittle girl what her name was ad the girl wouldn't talk and wouldn't talk and wouldn't and my mom was tryin gto make her laugh and all kinds of stuff but she wouldn't even crack a smile. my mom was starting to think there was somehting wrong with the kid, and finally mom asked her what her mommy calls her and she said "puuuuuunkinnnnn" and this being in texas all those extra vowels were totally expected.

so my astronomy class went on this great trip to new mexico back in october. thats the trip i knit my moms socks on...12 hour sin the car one way.. ugh. anyway we got to see these nifty telescopes that i would kill to ge tto observe on on a regular basis. and i mean literally. i'd kill myself, cause to get to i'd have to go to grad school. and i just can't do that. no more school! anyway then we went and saw some bigger telescopes remember contact? yeah but get this! jodie foster never got to do this! hardly anybody gets to climb up into the dishes. oh by the way thats my classmates, or some of em and my ta who thinks he's really old or something. put him in his place. he's got like a year on me or something....and he holds his liquor better than i do so i have to give him props...we broke the rules for the trip and a handful of us stayed up all night and drank a bottle of vodka while playing cards. do astronomers know how to have fun or what? oh don't tell anyo...

pencils no more books no more teachers dirty looks !!! wooo hooo!

so i know school isn't out yet but i had to share because serious disaster has been averted. the other day i was at school and i reached for my backpack for my ipod because the library was particularly loud and i was trying to finish my homework. (which isn't done yet but almost. i'm just trying to plot a sinc function in a dispersion relation for a double slit fraunhofer thingy. honestly i can't remember the rest of the problem off the top of my head. its early. anyway...silly mathematica doesn't want to divide by zero...d'oh. for you non geeks out there this means the pretty picture that comes with a function won't draw itself on the magic screen :) but otherwise i've done the rest of the assignment. algebra hell and all. but i did it and almost all by myself. except for having to ask tara (one of my classmates) if tangent is cosine over sine or vice versa. i always forget that stuff. i have no idea why. myabe my brain is full...anyway) so ...

to post. i've been trying to sate myself with reading up on all my girls progress. promising myself i'd just post when i finished up the semester but i have to brag about all the beautiful things i'm seeing on their blogs. i know there must be people who knit more but i don't see many people often who have this much going on! and omg this sweater is gorgeous! not to mention this . love that turtle thingy! and the yarn oh gods the yarn! you're making me drool. i mean i've sworn off the stuff. must use stash. no new yarn! i had to since i told the evil ones to shove it! i mean who schedules a student to work while they're in class!!! so i don't make coffee any more, and it means i have a little more free time i'm planning to intentionally throw myself off a couple of mountains this season! of course thats after finals. i'll be free this time next monday! woo hoo. and then i swear ill photograph all my finished and not so finish...

i'm just bsusy with school work. however it was a momentous day. so i thought i should report. i actually knitted...i turned the heel on my mom's second sock. home strectch now i wil post photos when i finish. if ever. :) i haven't touched rogue in i don't kow how long. half finished withthe hood and i just can't bring myself to do it...thats about all for now i guess. take care. lesley

not dead. just sleeping. lots. cause i'm working. too much. and school. makes me crazy. no knitting. just sleeping. and chai. lots of chai. and possible broken ankles. and shoulders out of joint. from slipping. so no knitting. but chai. and sleeping. makes for wierd dreams.

so i snitched this off michele's blog and i had to share and this is fantastic! i actually had blue hair! once upon a time. anyway i had a wierd day and this completely cheered me up. maybe more on the wierd day later i have to decide if its as wierd as i think or if i'm stuck in some surreal head space. anyway. night all Your Hair Should Be Blue Wild, brilliant, and out of control.You're a risk taker with an eye to the future. What's" Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

how many places do you know of where it is expected that you stay up all night, sleep all day, eat in the middle of the night, walk around in the dark without streetlights and are expected to get around with out a flashlight in the woods and this is all considered not only safe but normal??? oh and no one looks where they're going cause they're staring at the sky. oh, and the geekier the jokes the better :)

well i finished most of what had to get finished. good for me. as for the rest. better luck next time. i am off tomorrow for sunny new mexico. we're supposed to bring sunblock and heavy winter stuff, yeay for altitude. but it should be a great trip. i'll take the camera and maybe you'll understand why i'm so wierd when you see some of the people i associate with on a regular basis... ;) astronomers are a strange bunch. and everybody gets a little loopy up all night in the dark. anywya. i'll be knitting on a pair of socks fr my mom in the car, photos wheni return i promise. take care all.

so morning looks so much further away when you are all hopped up on caffenine. i just got up. i love sleeping. before i crashed i put the featherbed back on the bed. and got out the second down comforter. so with that, my super snappy 9 layer futon, and 8 pillows it was really hard to wake up. i just had to share. midterm update, i got part a completely done last night, and some of part of b and c. i just have to wait for divine intervention (by way of a laptop floating down from the sky in a column of light) to figure out the rest. oh and i dreamt of yarn last night :) i really need to finish this stuff so i can knit.

i'm procrastinating, i know, i know...finish the damn midterm take home but thats part of the all night study session right? its required or something...procrastination i mean... 11:00 am leave house 2 hours past the time i intended to because i got caught up watching next , i have no idea why. its a terrible show. 11:30 am leave lys after purchasing 2 pairs of circular needles in size 2's to knit socks on my school road trip next week. god forbid i leave it to the last minute and don't get needles before i leave! 12:00 noon arrive at school, go to the computer lab, sit down and try to figure out what the hell i'm supposed to be doing on this take home midterm. we have to do it in ths stupid computer program called mathcad . it bites. if i just did the homework by hand it would take 5 minutes...i hate school! 12:02 pm guy from class sits down to ask me how to do the homework that i have already finished (wooo hoo) and looks over my shoulder to read the midt...

so i woke up this morning, got dressed, got ready and left the house. i immediately turned around, went back inside, went to the closet and got out my clapotis to wear cause it was chilly out. and i was toasty all day all wrapped up in my super soft alpaca. and shirley kept coming up to me and petting it. i think my classmates thought that was wierd...they must not knit :)

so i get to take this really neat field trip for my astronomy class next week, but that means i have to get ahead in everything so i can go on this really neat trip for my class next week...and i'm freaking, i have 2 assignments about 75-80% completed, and i have to take a take home computer programming exam, and then i have the written exam on friday and i haven't studied yet, and my brain is mush...ack. i just had to share. and i haven't been knitting and i think that may be why my brain is mush...crap. and i couldn't concentrate in class today so i designed what i want to do for my friend's scarf, i want to put cables, and it should be pretty, i just have to figure out the specifics of how many rows befor ecables turn etc. but it should be neat. but i can't be designing knitting projects in class. thats bad. i think i need a vacation. but i'm gonna go finish my wine, and go to bed, and start all over again tomorrow. hope you're having a good d...

a measure of energy, the current state of my brain, a noncommital sound... so if anyone wants to waste copious amounts of time i suggest reading the last few years worth of this comic . mildly entertaining, sorta funny, and a fabulous waste of time. thanks ewald , i didn't have homework to do for the last 2 days!

so i've been getting automated and anonymous comments and i wanted to apologize for those of you this migtht inconvenience, but i clicked that little box that makes you type in the word you see...anyway sorry for the hassle. i just don't wanna deal with creeps anymore. anyway night guys. i'm gonna go knit something :)

so i can't find my pins or i'd be blocking this right now!!! but its seamed , finally its done it just needs a little stretch, vertically that is, its a little A shaped for some reason, but i should be able to fix that with a little blocking :) hopefully my mom will like it, its really soft and should be ready for the next cool day.

ok, so i was looking for some yarn, i don't even remember what now... and i kept pulling boxes out from under the bed... and i found an UFO's that i haven't touched in ages, remember that blue sweater??? ribbit... and i found a scarf that i started ages ago for a friend and i hate the way it looks... so there it went too! don't worry ewald i'll restart it, it will be finished before i see you next summer :) and i sorted out te stuff i actually want to finish and put it away in an organized fashion well it's sort of...organized... but the yarn is nice and tidy now! and i am gonna finish my mom's boatneck sweater tonight!!! don't believe me? i'll have it on pins before you know it!

so it seems i that i either knit like a woman possessed or i don't do it at all. lately it has been the latter. just haven't felt like it. i know wierd huh but whatever. probably working too much and procrastinating school work and that sort of thing. but i did have a knitting dream last night. i was at a yarn shop. apparently the local one (thats what my head said when i was there - gotta love dreams) but i've never seen that one. it was a neat place though i'd like to find it. there was a group there knitting, i had left a work in progress on the table and was talking to someone when a woman walked up and took my yarn. needless to say i took it back. knocked her down, sat down and proceeded to knit the entire back of a sweater in a few minutes. nobody even noticed the brawl. it was wierd. what can i say it was a dream. but nobody messes with my yarn sleeping or no. and i really want to find this yarn it was the prettiest color :) hmm, anybody know wh...

well i had fun knitting at jenifer's today. it was mommy day, i played the aunt who shows up with cookies and no child. it was fun. jenifer made yummy sandwiches and julie (i think it was julie sorry if i'm mixed up) made pasta salad amy made a yummy dip we had lunch, we knitted, the kiddies played. good times had by all! i even ripped out my mistake on rogue, it was 45 rows, some short rows, and the bind off for the shoulders, i've redone the first decreases, and i'm halfway through the straightaway i'll have it redone in no time. i'm dying to to work on the collar cables. i was just getting started when i realized my mistake on the back. cross your fingers, no more disasters.

never ever never knit mad!!! you're fast, but you don't think you know? i have to rip out the back of rogue to the armholes...i "finished" the back this morning. i hav eto go back. you know when a pattern says decrease every other row, you're supposed to do it every other row, not evry row, so the back is 8 or 9 rows short. damnit. i hate it when i screw up!

or maybe i just did somethng realy bad in a past life and i'm getting screwed for that now. i dunno.

so i know karma is supposed to be like you do something bad and something bad happens to you. but what about reverse karma? i mean so remember that whole bad day earlier this month what if that was just so i could have a realy good day today??? i was just wondering...

so i told you shirley and i are a bit codependant in that when i want to buy yarn she has to buy yarn too? well guess what came in the pail today? 57 balls of reynolds dover superwash wool! and its almost as soft as my 1824!!! look at this i got the teal: and its really not the same color as my rogue it just looks like it. this is a much darker richer bluey green than rogue. and she got the pewter and i got the purple and denim and she got the navy and camel! isn't the mail wonderful???