Random Quote Day

Posted on Wednesday, 21 January 2009 by LittleWit

I thought I was going to have an exciting goodbye post for today but alas that was not the case. So since I failed at taking good pictures of my swap package that will have to wait until the sun comes out tomorrow. Tonight I give you some random quotes.

A.S.A.P, whatever that means, probably ‘Act Swiftly, Awesome Pachyderm’!

In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows, and poop butterflies.

A person is a person, no matter how small.

Love is friendship set on fire.

What are some of the good quotes you have heard lately?

Inauguration Day 2009

Posted on Tuesday, 20 January 2009 by LittleWit

Four years ago I was living in Washington DC and I hightailed it to Massachusetts to escape the crowds and visit some of my beloved family during the inauguration. I happened to take a beginning knit kit with me and was diligently trying to figure it out. When I finally got to the point where I couldn’t figure it out my Aunt took me to her neighbor’s home. Mrs B then instructed me in the ways of the craft. And the rest, as they say, is history.

This year I no longer live in DC and while I would have liked to go and witness the occasion in person this time around it really just wasn’t feasible for me. This year, I had the cheap seats. Cheap seats or not though I am glad I took the time out of my work day to watch the procession, oath and address. I feel like a proper poli sci grad and a good citizen for finally being involved in my country’s politics again. Hopefully I can keep my enthusiasm and find something constructive to do with it. I leave you with some photos I took from my cheap seat.

I was so pleased to hear this rendition of Simple Gifts. It is one of my favorite songs

The oath about to begin

President Obama taking the oath of office.

Federal Holidays

Posted on Monday, 19 January 2009 by LittleWit

In an attempt to save up my vacation time for vacations and all the potential unknown vacations of the future I have decided to make full use of my federal holidays instead of turning them into hectic three day weekends. I committed to using these holidays as an unplanned break in my week to get caught up on things around the home that we don’t have time to get to on the weekends because of all the “weekend chores” and visiting we are usually catching up in. Today I had time to reorganize part of the pantry, make a huge dent in the laundry and some general picking up around the house. It was nice to finally have time to wash the sheets and blankets. I definitely let those go longer than most would feel comfortable.

I also spent an hour diagnosing the ailment on the boy’s computer. It looks like the mysterious not turning on problem is really a sign of the hard drive being dead. We’ve been sharing my laptop for probably a month and a half now and it looks like we’ll be sharing for a little bit longer. Once he gets around to buying a hard drive I will reinstall his computer and set him up with a few perks to allow him to play the games of his boyhood. You know, the ones that only run on Windows 98.

I was even able to spend some quality time with 2 good friends, one at lunch and one at dinner. I may be looking forward to the next federal holiday and seeing what else I can catch up on. Alas, we won’t have tomorrow off because we are not technically federal employees. It is however a work from home day for everyone. Which for me, means business as usual

Housekeeping

Posted on Sunday, 18 January 2009 by LittleWit

After a moderately productive weekend I can now see the floor in my closet. Super exciting. I can also see about 98% of the floor in my office. The rest that’s covered is filing that needs to be done and a random assortment of objects that I need to dream up a storage space for. Getting work done this week should be a lot easier as I will be able to see my desk top and not be distracted by the clutter. I also finally found a shelf for by the front door to store all our winter outerwear and the boy’s motorcycle winter gear. We each have our own bin because apparently we really do have that many hats, gloves and scarves. I think the next big task will be cleaning out clothing and outwear to give to goodwill or other charities. Does anyone know of a good place to donate gently used coats? I think I may have a few to part with.

Someday I will take pictures of the inside of our house so you can see all my hard work and because someone keeps asking for pictures. I have tomorrow off for the most part since it’s Martin Luther King day. I plan to hang with my little, clean up the last bits in the craft room (aka Office) and do some spot cleaning in my bedroom. I will need to put in a couple hours at work. Hopefully I will get enough put away that after working I can finally sit down and get some sewing done.

Have a great week!

FO – Frances for warmth

Posted on Saturday, 17 January 2009 by LittleWit

I decided to try and participate in NaKniSweMo this year. I was told that Francis knits up super quickly and that I would be able to get it done. That was no lie but I put Francis aside toward the end of the month to knock out some Christmas knits and with the hope that I would magically get more yarn out of the original 3 skeins. One can dream right?

When I blocked it the first time I was able to block the sleeves to almost full length. However, I kind of really disliked how the sleeves turned out on mine. This is in part due to me adding stitches to allow for my massive biceps and still increasing where directed. I ripped them back and re knit from the increases by doing no increases and actually decreasing around an inch as I went down the forearm. That gave me almost enough yarn to make them full length. If I block it hard the sleeves go all the way to my wrist but I tend to bunch them up anyway.

I must confess I have worn this a few times since I wrote up the blog post but I finally got around to snapping photos of it on me today. I am quite pleased with how the waist shaping worked out for me. Turns out my torso is a smidgen long so I knit an extra inch before decreasing and it worked out beautifully. Also, I just realized I was a lazy knitter and never sewed the cowl down. Oh well You can see it in the pictures a bit. I do enjoy wearing this sweater and with my new full length sleeves I will wear it whenever I need a sweater unless it’s colder than 10F. Then I am sorry but I have this big thick white sweater from 6 or 7 years ago that I swear by. Thankfully it’s not usually that cold here. Ok enough rambling enjoy the pictures.

Frances for warmth

Description: Frances for warmth {I know I am spelling Frances wrong, but that’s my grandmother’s name. }
Pattern: Francis Revisited by Beth Silverstein
Yarn used: 3 skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash Colorway 819 (100% Superwash Wool) 100 g / 220 yds
Care Instructions: Machine wash cold, lay flat to dry
Needle Size: US 10 (6.0 mm)
Modifications: I didn’t make gauge so I just fudged it. My gauge was 4sts/in on US 10 needles. I made a size between the XS and S. My stitch count at the widest point was 176sts. I also made full length sleeves by decreasing gradually by an inch on the sleeve instead of doing the increases near the elbow.
Finished Size: Umm to fit me? 32.5″ bust with about 5″ negative ease at the bust.
Date Started: 11/6/2008
Date Completed: 12/19/2008
Notes: If I were to knit it out of this yarn again, I would buy a 4th skein and go down at least one needle size. This gauge is very very drapey and kind of see through around the shoulders. (Note the photos with the flash…) Since I never wear a sweater without a camisole it doesn’t bother me.