The umbilical cord hat

I finished the umbilical cord hat from SnB in the stripy yarn. I like it better than I did a few days ago, but I am still not 100% sold on it. All of the white ended up on the sides, which I was not expecting. I think I am going to have to take a poll!

Last weekend was fun. Here's what I did:

1. went to see Batman Begins ... not so good, but everyone I was with seemed to like it (I hate it when that happens)
2. volunteered for the All*Star Super Makeover Detroit w/ David ... mostly picked up garbage, scraped stickers off of street signs and removed graffiti with Goof Off
3. knit (see above)
4. went to see David Sedaris speak at my local Borders ... I highly recommend!
5. ate a delicious dinner @ Xochimilco's w/ Pat, Mel & Barb ... Tacos al carbon & frozen strawberry margaritas (yum!)
6. basked in the glory of being done with my Masters Program!!!!

What's next on the needles?

I started another umbilical cord hat. My friend Stacie just found out that she is having a boy, so I thought I'd knit one up as a gift. I was excited about the cute pale blue, yellow, green and white yarn I had found to make it with. But now that I am about half way done ... I do not like the pattern that the yarn is making. It is cute and stripey on the front and back sides of the hat, but all the white ends up on the sides. I am not happy with it. Since I have come this far, I will probably just finish it. But I do not think it is "congrats on being pregnant - you're having a boy!" gift material. What a bummer!

I have more wool to use up, so I may try another felted purse project. There are a lot of cute ones that I'd like to try. I feel like I need to try something new.

In other news ... did any one see Tom Cruise on the TODAY Show this morning? He is a lunatic! Who does he think he is? Honestly! If you didn't see it - check out You Can't Make it Up for the transcript. When did he become an expert in the field of Psychiatry? I love the part when he tells Matt Lauer that Matt is "glib" and doesn't even know what Ritalin is! But Tom does - he knows these things! So freakin' annoying ...

K-nitting K-news

At lunch, I found this article about local knitters in the MetroTimes. Fun! I think I need to track down a local SnB group and participate. Tomorrow is my last day of Library School (yay!), so I may have some time to do that. I think it would be super cool ...

Update @ 7:25pm: Here is my 2nd Sophie purse - completed and hanging out in the garden. I hope that you like it, Mel!

In D-Town tonight

After class I decided to head over to the old Studebaker Plant (100+ year old building) that burned down late Monday night and early this morning. At 8:30pm on Tuesday, Detroit Firefighters were still working hard to put out the smoldering fire. It is really sad to see another historic structure added to the ruins of Detroit.

Check out the previous post to see the after pictures of Sophie #2 that I added. I need to get a good picture of the FO ... maybe tomorrow. One more thing ... GO PISTONS!

Felting Sophie: Part Deux

I finished the i-cord and now I am ready to felt. I took this picture to get an idea of how much the size will differ after felting. This purse is a little bit bigger than the 1st one I did. I accidentally knit extra rows on the bottom (OOPS!). I think the strap might be shorter than the 1st one was.

BEFORE & AFTER

Look at Daisy ... I love this picture of her with her Kong!

I was checking out some Midwest knitting blogs today and I happened upon http://www.knittergail.com/ ... she posted this Fraggle Rock knitting song. I am not so sure how I feel about it, but now it is stuck in my head ("Well, it's knit 1, purl 2 ...").

Update @ 10:55pm: Just finished felting and blocking the purse. I will post some pictures when she has dried!

Excuses, excuses

Okay ... my speed in regard to finishing knitting projects is kind of pathetic. Only about one small thing per month, so far. But I do have some excuses:

1. I'm pursuing a MLIS (Library & Information Science) degree @ WSU
* this will not be an excuse anymore come June 23rd - YAY... I'm almost done!
2. I am working full-time while going to school
3. I'm also searching for and applying for library jobs - it is almost another full-time job
4. I have had some interviews (which is great ... but these also require my time to prepare!)

I am looking forward to having more time to knit, as soon as I am done with school. One more paper due and a final exam. : ) Can't wait ...

i-cord, i-cord, i-cord

So, this is supposed to be a knitting blog, right? I haven't mentioned knitting in a while because there hasn't been much to say, other than i-cord, i-cord, i-cord. It is coming along! I think I need to make it a little bit longer, but the end is definitely near! (yay)

I seem to pick colors that are difficult to capture on film. This photo gives you a pretty good indication of the colors I used.

Detroit Race for the Cure

This morning was the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure in Detroit. My friends Ruby, Jeff, Stephanie, Michelle, Pat & I walked in the 5K race. It was a great experience ... I hope that we will make it a tradition!

Ruby, Jeff & Michelle

Crazy daisies

Check out our daisies! We have one crazy daisy that looks like 2 grew together ...

5 outta 7 isn't too bad ...

Last weekend was busy and fun and HOT (90-something degrees). The graduation party was great ... lots of Mexican food and good times with the fam. I am happy to say that I "accomplished" #1 thru #5 on my weekend agenda.

• I did not finish Sophie, but I made some good progress. I have about 5 more rounds to knit on the body and then I have to do the i-cord. : ( The i-cord takes me forever, for some reason, so I am not looking forward to knitting it.

• I did not even open my backpack or turn on the computer to do school work. I had good intentions, but it just didn't work out!

Summer fun

On the agenda for this weekend ...

1. Sushi!
2. Knitting Sophie
3. Touring a beautiful old Detroit neighborhood (Indian Village Home & Garden Tour)
4. Knitting Sophie
5. HS Graduation Party for my niece
6. Working on a research proposal for my Graduate degree
7. Knitting (finishing???) Sophie

Progress (or lack there of)

I have finished about 1/3 of the Sophie for my roommate Mel. The progress has been kind of slow. I had hoped to get a lot more done during the holiday weekend, but the weather was great (despite a weather report full of thunderstorms) and I ended up in Cleveland for the weekend.

So, I have started to think about what I should knit next. As you can see, I have a pile of wool to choose from ... so I will probably do some more felting. I was thinking of trying out this or possibly that or maybe the Marsupial Tote from SnB. I need to figure that out soon. Any thoughts?

I am going to see StarWars tonight. Should be fun! If you have a few minutes to spare, check this out ... http://www.StoreWars.org (Tofu D2 and C3 Peanuts are my favorite!)