Purls and Pugs

Done!

Well, I finally finished Lynette's Weekender Bag. I give her props for being so patient with me. She says she is going to change her wardrobe to match the colors in the bag. I think that might be a little extreme, but it makes me happy that she is going to get some good use out of it.

God got Drunk this Weekend

...to somewhat quote Jeffrey from Project Runway. I loved that line, and it fits well for this past weekend.

So, Yoda needs surgery. She has a bum knee. No, really. I wouldn't joke about this. Then I had the worst scare ever. We have been carrying her up and down the stairs because of the knee. Well, Sunday Yoda decided to be squirmy. I was 5 steps from the bottom and she jumped out of my arms. I tried to catch her, but she fell--hard. I was hysterical, Yoda was growling because of the pain, and Jeremy was trying to calm everyone down. I felt, and still feel horrible. She is like my child. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her, let alone be the one to do it to her.

Anyway, Yoda is ok. Her surgery is scheduled for Thursday. So, please keep her in your prayers.

I'm certified!

There is a reason why I have not been blogging this week. I know, I'm out of school, so I should have to worries. Well, that really is not the case. See, this week I was traveling into the big city of Chicago and taking training classes.

I felt like one of those cool commuters all week. I am not sure I can do that every single day. I was leaving the house at 6 am and not getting back home until 7:30 pm. That's a long day! What was I learning in the city, you ask? Well, I was taking a PMP Bootcamp class. I pretty much jammed everything I needed to know for the PMP Certification Exam into my little brain in 4 days.

Why would someone want to torture themselves like that? Well, I was scheduled to take the PMP Certification Exam on Friday. Oh, wait, it is Friday! So, I let my brain explode into a computer this morning and four hours later, I passed the exam.

Now it's back to my boring life of a suburban commuter....

Amy Butler is my Hero

This is one amazing woman. She has these beautiful fabrics and awesome patterns she designs. I envy a person who is able to do what she enjoys and make a living at it. That would be my ultimate goal.

Now, Ms. Butler has a book with more than 25 sewing projects. When I was at B&N picking up that Vogue Knitting, I came across her book. It was the only one on the shelf, so I snatched it up. I looked at it when I got home, and I am amazed that I haven't seen any other blogs talk about this book. For the price of about 3 regular patterns, you get 25 in this book. And let me tell you, these are great. I especially like the Hanging Toiletry Basket.

She has everything in the book from clothing to bags to home accessories. I think every sewing level would be able to do a project in here and maybe learn somethings for more advanced projects.

Kismet

One evening last week, I decided I was going to find the new Vogue Knitting magazine. So, I headed to my neighborhood B&N. While there I found the magazine and a book. I decided that the night was still young, so I decided to try the new Meijer store in town for groceries.

I have to say, I must have some sort of yarn-dar. On my way to the checkout, I found the crafting section of the store where they have yarn. Now, I was expecting the usual Lion and Bernat acrylic stuff. Tons of pastel sweetness for babies, but what I found was wool, too. Yes, you heard me right. They had Patons Classic Wool. Now, I also noticed that the price was $4/ball. Huh?! I better get some. So I grabbed 4 balls of black thinking that I know where to find more. You can't pass that bargain up!

On my way home from the grocery store, I was thinking about what project will be using the new wool. Nothing in my head seemed right.

While looking through the new VK after putting away the groceries, I found it! The dark brown cabled cardigan by Margaret O'Leary. While I would love the cashmere it originally was written for, I think the wool will be fine. I have already done the back and am almost done with the front left. It is knit on size 10(!) needles, so it moves along pretty quickly. I know I need to go back to Meijer to get a couple more balls of yarn, and at $4/ball, I better get there soon!

So, this is the alpaca I bought at Midwest Stitches. It is $44 a pound and is put up in approximately half a pound hanks. You can buy it here, if you are interested. I bought color 111. But I think it looks like Yoda (the dog, not the green Muppet), so this is my Yoda colored yarn.

I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I am thinking a snuggly  turtleneck. I love turtlenecks, and this stuff is so soft. I call alpaca "The Poor Man's Cashmere". Honestly, I think this stuff is way softer than cashmere!

Yoda totally approves!

Stitches Midwest 2006

This passed weekend was Stitches Midwest. I had decided a while back to take a couple classes in sweater design. I took "Where Do They Get Those Numbers" taught by Edie Eckman and "Designing Your Dream Sweater" by Leslye Solomon.

I couldn't have asked for the schedule of the classes to work out any better than it did. First, I took the "Numbers" class. In that class we learned how to basically create a modified drop shoulder sweater. We went through the math to figure out increases for arms, decreases for necks and arm holes. Edie had handouts that were very helpful for all the math. I have a feeling I am going to turn mine into a spreadsheet. Why do all that math by hand if I don't need to?

The next day I had the "Dream Sweater" class. This class covered set-in sleeves. We even used knitters graph paper and drew out the sweater. I was so happy!! This was exactly what I was looking to learn. And having the more simple sweater the day before helped to make a lot of sense. I was thinking of different ways to incorporate what I learned both days into one sweater. Leslye is an awesome teacher. She sells tons of supplies, but totally does not push it on her students like some other teachers I have heard about. If anyone is interested in what she taught us, it's all in her book "The Uncomplicated Knitting Machine". I already owned it, but I am one of those people that needs to do something to understand it. Now I can reference the book when I have questions.

While I did make some purchases, I didn't take pictures of them. I bough some of the Design a Sweater Graph Paper and Blocking Wires from Leslye's Booth. I also bought 2 hanks of this gorgeous alpaca yarn. It is brown and black and white, and I promise to take a picture tonight and post it tomorrow.

A is for...

...working my ass off in a Summer Finance class! Yes, I did survive, and yes, I did get an A. Don't ask me how I did it, but I did. And I have summer vacation for about a month.

What am I going to do in my spare time? Well, I am going to get Lynette's Weekender Bag done since I now have everything I need. Then I am going to work on actually finishing the Poker Table. No, it's still not done. It is very, very close.

The other day I was looking for a project and some yarn from my stash. What did I find? I found the bottom of my yarn basket. I am almost out of yarn. I have some sock yarn waiting for me to use it up, but I do not really have enough yarn to make a garment for myself. I never thought that would happen. I actually felt panicky. I didn't have something to knit. Then I tried to find a project to purchase yarn. Nope! Couldn't do it. I freaked.

So, I thought maybe I could just pick some yarn and then design something with it. NO! I couldn't do that either. What is wrong with me? I think I am going to sit down and try to figure out something from Knit Picks and maybe Valley Yarns to buy. Have I become cheap?! Have my priorities changed?! I just think there are too many options...