Latest entries from minxknits.blog-city.com

Cute!

Kathy — 2009-02-27T17:25:00Z

How cute is this Bally Bag? And how easy would it be to duplicate (apart from some of the hardware)? It retails for $895 so it might be worth a try....

Time Flies...

Kathy — 2009-01-27T20:31:00Z

...whether one is having fun or not. I don't have any knitting news for you, other than I made a hat for myself out of yarn Neal got me for Christmas. No new project on the needles yet, but some of the bulky stuff in the latest Vogue Knitting looks fun.

Happy New Year!

Kathy — 2009-01-03T19:33:00Z

So the holidays are finally over - thank goodness! Not that I'm ready to get back to work or anything (I'm not) but at least I don't have to deal with anymore holiday-related stress.

I got some lovely yarn from my lovely hubby, and a gift certificate for YarnMarket from a friend. Dad got me a copy of Knit One Below. Now I have to start knitting again (I took a several-week break from the action) but what to start with? And what to order from YarnMarket?

Oops!

Kathy — 2008-12-21T19:21:00Z

I didn't mean to let two weeks go by between posts! But it's been busy here chez Minx, what with last minute holiday stuff, helping Dad and my brother with their Christmas shopping, planning meals, and generally attempting to enjoy the season. Bah humbug. Hopefully I'll find some Christmas spirit in the next few days, huh? Let me leave you with Pete, passed out in front of his favorite watering hole. He's such a lush.

Wow

Kathy — 2008-12-07T20:37:00Z

Facebook

Kathy — 2008-12-03T17:30:00Z

I joined Facebook last month, just to have the ability to see a person's profile. Now I have 100 friends and I'm sadly hooked. It's incredible how many folks I know are on there, particularly people with whom I wished I had kept in touch. I've found over a dozen girls who were in my class at Catholic High, the vast majority of whom I haven't seen or spoken to since graduation (25 years ago!). I also found a couple of former teachers. One of them I had not seen in at least 12 years, but the day after I "friended" him, ran into him at Petit Louis. We both took a double take at that!

On a completely unrelated note, I need chocolate.

My friend Andree bought me the new book, Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines for my birthday, and I've already started the Flapotis scarf. Why this particular pattern? Because it involves casting on very few stitches at a time.... :)

Another NOROvember Come and Gone...

Kathy — 2008-12-01T17:32:00Z

...sorry I wasn't particularly attentive this year. :( If you've completed something this month, why not post a pic for all to see in the Flickr group (link on the sidebar, under the list of participant names)?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kathy — 2008-11-27T05:00:00Z

May you all have a safe and happy holiday!

Meme

Kathy — 2008-11-24T15:05:00Z

Found this on Mousie's blog so I thought I would give it a go. 1. Magazines subscribed to - at the moment, InStyle, Allure, Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, W, Beauty & Fashion (trade mag), and Lucky. I'm letting a few of them expire so I can pick up a food magazine again. 2. Aside from knitting, my favorite pasttimes are - reading, cooking, playing with my beads (sometimes actually beading!), and sleeping. 3. If I were not a research supervisor for a group that studies the welfare and child support programs in MD(insert your profession), I would love to be a professional jewelry designer, world traveler, and restaurateur. Oh, and a zillionaire. :) 4. I am irrationally worried about - alternately, my finances and my Dad. 5. If I were the opposite sex - why on earth would I want to be a man? 6. The thing I miss most about childhood is - no responsibilities 7. I like to collect - mermaids, chile peppers, beads, yarn, dust 8. Though I’ve never been there, I feel inexplicably homesick for - Asia, in general 9. I’ve never really liked to eat - lima beans 10. When I have nightmares, they’re usually about - stuff I have to take care of I'm not tagging anyone - take if you wish.

Noro Knitting

Kathy — 2008-11-22T21:19:00Z

Here are my finished Felted Stash Accessory bags, awaiting zippers, knit from a combination of Silk Garden and Kureyon leftovers.

And here's my Retro Scarf, in Silk Mountain.

What have you finished?

You All Are Good...

Kathy — 2008-11-18T20:31:00Z

That was a baby porcupine's tushie. Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a good day. :)

What is it?

Kathy — 2008-11-17T05:00:00Z

There appears to be yarn in this shot, so I'm considering it to be knitting-related. To those of you who have not yet seen this photo on the Web, can you guess what it is? Oh, and Happy Birthday to me. :)

NOROvember Sock

Kathy — 2008-11-14T00:34:00Z

Look at the pretty sock, knitted in Noro Sock colorway s236. NO, I didn't knit it...our newest member, Kelly, did! Go say hi to her.

Jonna

Kathy — 2008-11-11T13:28:00Z

You want pictures? Well, the best I can do is one picture today. :) Here's Jonna, by Norah Gaughan, from Berroco: Norah Gaughan Vol 1. I used 4 skeins of KnitPicks Andean Silk in Chocolate.

I got bored knitting all the ribbing so it's probably 6" - 8" shorter than the pattern called for and I thought eight testicles were two too many, hence there are only six on my version.

I've discovered that I hate casting on, which is why I started this particular scarf in the first place. Because the pattern starts at the long pointy end, few stitches are cast on at the beginning, and the rest of the stitches are magically formed by M1.

Actually, it's not that I hate the action of casting on; that's pretty mindless. It's counting the stitches afterwards that I find annoying. Inevitably I end up with a few too many.

More NOROvember Progress

Kathy — 2008-11-10T20:45:00Z

Well, not mine...lol...I am really slacking on the picture-taking, aren't I?

Mrs. Pao has a finished object! And about half another one done too.

I've finished knitting two stash bags and need to obtain zippers for them. I never did start on the entrelac project I was pondering, but I did begin a Retro Scarf with some Noro Silk Mountain (a bouclé of 65% wool, 25% silk & 10% kid mohair) during the Ravens' game. I also cranked out a bunch of earrings for Friday's craft fair, made from cute holiday-themed lampwork beads I picked up at Stitches East.

Speaking of Stitches, I was very good. Apart from the beads, I bought only the four skeins of Brooks Farm Four Play that I had intended to purchase in order to finish the Norah Gaughan-inspired lap blankie I started this past summer. Yes, I was tempted by the bags of Silk Garden Chunky in the huge bin o' yarn at the Woolstock stall, but I refrained from whipping out the worn and weary credit card.

Reminder to self: take pictures tonight!

Norovember Progress

Kathy — 2008-11-07T15:08:00Z

If you're working on something Noro-riffic, drop me an e-mail at theminx1 AT comcast DOT net and let me know about it so I can post links here. Victoria has some big plans for her Noro Sock and Cashmere Island yarns. Looks like she started Norovember in October sometime.... As for my progress - I have some stash bags in the works. AND, I was highly inspired by my Entrelac Design class (taught by the fab Gwen Bortner) and am considering working on a nifty entrelac-in-the-round pattern of my own devising, in Kureyon. Details on that will come later. Sorry but I've been too busy with stuff to get any pics of Jonna. Maybe this weekend, but I'm not promising anything. I managed to get myself, last-minute, into a school-run craft show happening next Friday and have to make sure I have enough inexpensive earrings to sell, so I'll be busy with my pliers in the coming days.

A FO

Kathy — 2008-11-03T19:33:00Z

I finished Jonna up on Saturday afternoon. I only made 6 of the testicular objects, rather than 8 because that seemed like overkill. I'll try to get a pic up here soon. As for Norovember projects, I think I'll start the month by knitting a couple of these Felted Stash Accessory Bags from Weekend Knits. I have lots of feltable Noro bits and pieces hanging around, and I should use them up before starting on a fresh skein. Then I think I'll make myself a shrug-like creation. Scouting Ravelry now for good pattern ideas....

Welcome to NOROvember!

Kathy — 2008-11-01T05:00:00Z

Today is November 1st - what projects do you plan to work on this month? I have a slew of NORO yarn, enough for a couple of sweaters. I'll probably make a shawl though, some hats too. To tell the truth, I don't have a definite project planned (I know - I'm so bad) but a quick look through my NORO pattern books should rectify that pretty quickly. :)

I Had to Change This One Too

Kathy — 2008-10-31T12:51:00Z

Yes, I am a geek.

LOLcat du Jour

Kathy — 2008-10-30T23:13:00Z

I felt the original version (on the ICHC site today) had a rather ungrammatical caption, so I reworded it. Same gist. Yeah, I know Lolcats aren't supposed to be bastions of good grammar....

Stuff

Kathy — 2008-10-29T12:48:00Z

I feel like a bulleted list today. How about you?

It's cold and windy here today, yet there are still people walking around without coats. I passed a woman this morning wearing a shawl over a dress. She was clutching that thing around her as if her life depended on it. Dummy.
Why do people get on the bus at one stop, only to disembark at the next one? Are they that lazy that they can't walk two blocks? Granted, it is slightly uphill. And these are young, able-bodied people.
In a few days, my boss is going on vacation for two weeks. Normally, when she takes her winter trip, I bring my jewelry in to sell. Unfortunately she's going away too early this year, plus with the Great Office Shakeup of 2008 going on, I've lost my exhibit space.
I completed four pom-poms for Jonna (seamed and stuffed) and have 2 - 4 more depending on how goofy I think it looks.
Still haven't done my homework for Stitches East, but I have another two weeks. Maybe during the football game on Sunday.
I just got a flyer for a Guerlain Master Class in NY on 11/22 and I am soooooooo tempted to sign up. Somebody stop me.
Halloween, schmalloween. But I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving!
Quite admirably, I consistently refrain from telling the 300lb non-homeless-looking woman who periodically approaches me on my way from Starbucks in the morning to tell me she's hungry and would like me to buy her something to eat, "lose 150lbs, then we'll talk."

NOROvember is Almost Here....

Kathy — 2008-10-26T16:30:00Z

...don't forget to sign up! So far we have a lot fewer participants than in the past couple of years, so be sure to take a button and pass the word around. :)

Thanks!

Kathy — 2008-10-22T13:51:00Z

Awww...youse guys are the best! Mwah! But...I think I might have resolved my main problem with Blog City. I tried to embed a video on my fragrance blog and the html editor kept parsing the code incorrectly, so in a fit of pique, I wrote to customer service. The Mayoress responded in less than an hour with a resolution to my problem: switch off the wysiwyg editor and replace it with the regular plain text one. We're going to see how this works for us. You may get a new URL from me in the future...or not. Weird phenomenon: the plethora of dead worms on the sidewalk outside my workplace. There's a flower bed that runs the length of the building, overflowing with impatiens. And bordering the bed, on the sidewalk, is a selection of dried-out, vermiform corpses.

I Think...

Kathy — 2008-10-21T14:05:00Z

...I probably don't blog here very often because Blog-city is a real pain in the ass. I have to click through several pages before I can write an entry, and once I get here, I have lost interest. Blogger, now that Google owns it and they seem to have gotten rid of most of the bugs and issues the service had in the past, is far more user-friendly. I might end up switching to Blogger for my knitting blog. Will anyone follow me there?

Work Craziness

My boss is losing her mind. She just came into my office with a medium-sized suitcase, the kind with wheels and a long handle, saying that she had "borrowed it." I said, "not from me!" as she turned to make sure it was empty. Finding a handful of paraphernalia, she removed it and left my office. WTF? I've asked four different people about it so far and it belongs to no one. Thank God we only have to deal with her for 6 more days until she heads on vacation for most of November. Because we have to do some office-juggling by the 15th, she's going to make us all crazy in those six days. SHE is the packrat, and WE have to clean up her shit. It's ridiculous.

Knitting

Despite my sore index finger (too much blogging/recapping/mousing) I managed to get the body of the Jonna scarf done, plus one pom-pom thingy. I'll try to get the rest done this week so that can be done. Not sure what I'll try next, but I probably should practice entrelac for that class I'm taking in a couple of weeks.

That's all for now. :)

Black Cats

Kathy — 2008-10-16T23:23:00Z

Look at what I got in the mail today! Two skeins of black possum/merino yarn, some cute note pads and post-its, an instant cat(!), a tape measure, a black cat pom pom kit, a dark chocolate bar, and a mix CD of coffee-related songs. Hmm...black yarn, black cats...who could this be from? Why Chaos' and Mayhem's mom, Chris! I won a little contest on her blog and this was my prize. Pete was a little curious about the yarn, but I'm surprised he didn't take more interest in the Chaos-nibbled purple tissue. Perhaps if May had nibbled it....

Thanks, Chris! I will probably work on the pom pom cat this weekend. :)