Gray skies are gonna clear up..

..put on a happy face.

After taking the evening to really think it over, I’ve made the decision that I will be planning my wedding on my own. Yes, Ted will help, but I will do the bulk of the planning.

Originally, my mom was helping me a lot. She’d call me when she got home from work and ask me to come over so she could show me pictures she had printed out of various cakes, flowers, invitations, etc.

However, while I feel like I do need to plan in advance to make things run smoothly, I don’t feel as though every small detail needs to be completed yesterday. Mom is making me feel like I’m getting married tomorrow and everything needs to have been done ages ago. The most important piece (to me) was setting a date, finding a venue and a caterer. Guess what? I have all three.

I’m in school full time. I can’t devote every waking moment to wedding planning. Truth be told, I’m not as into it as my mom may want me to be. I’ve never that type of girl. I loath shopping (unless it’s for yarn or cooking ingredients) and I don’t have fun browsing through a bunch of wedding websites to get ideas.

In the end, this day is about Ted and myself. It’s about our love.

Our day will be filled with things that make us happy, not with what makes others happy.

My grandmother is trying to take over the guest list; she frequently gets upset when told that not all of her friend are going to be invited. I don’t know them, and don’t feel obligated to invite them.

I’ve also been struggling with chosing my maid of honor. As of now it’s my friend Dusty. We where very close in high school, but I haven’t seen her in YEARS. I rarely talk to her, though I keep in contact with her via facebook. Lately, however, I don’t know if I want her to my moh. I don’t have many female friends, but I don’t know if I’m 100% comfortable with chosing her. She doesn’t live in Texas (she’s in Arizona), so I wouldn’t get a bridal shower or anything fun like that.  I kind of want to do those silly bridal things that a moh is supposed to take care of.

But who do I chose when I don’t really have any female friends? I’m going to wait a few more weeks and really worry about it in say..November.

I will also plan other things like invites, engagement pictures, flowers, centerpieces, music, and whatever else on my own. If I truly need my mother’s help, I will ask, but I will not agree to all of her suggestions or feel rushed simply because she thinks that everything needed to be taken care of weeks ago.

She says it’s because she needs the time to buy things and to save up.

Though I don’t have the heart to tell her (despite how angry I get with her) that I’m no fool. I know that she doesn’t have the money to throw me a lavish wedding. I know that Ted and I will pay for the vast majority of the wedding. That’s okay with us.

That’s where I am with that. I was truly upset earlier (in tears upset) with how everything was making me feel. But in the end, my day, my decisions.

On a brighter note, I finished my second slouchy hat! I’ve named it “Gray Skies” because of the color. It’s the type of hat to wear on a blistery gray-skied day. So why not?

Perhaps not the ideal weather for such a hat.

Who cares about the weather? I can still wear it if I wanna!

Now to start on that Christmast knitting. If I don’t start now..it’ll never all be done on time. First up – a drop stitch scarf with a matching slouchy hat. This time, though, I think I’ll try some cables in the hat. I’ve never done cables before.

Do you even remember how to blog?

It’s been so long, I know. Mostly, I blame summer courses. They’re over with now, however, and I find myself with a little over a week of freedom before the fall semester begins.

First, I want to thank all of you for the amazing support and help you’ve given from my last blog post. I was moved to tears several times, and even just placing my mother on your prayer list is absolutely wonderful of you. She’s doing a bit better now, and her spirits are higher, which is a blessing. She’s begun going back to church and has recieved an outpour of support there as well. So, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Unfortunately, I have not done a whole lot of knitting over the summer. Summer courses definitely saw to that. Sadly, I did not get to finish my Harry Potter scarf in time for the midnight movie premier. That’s partially my fault. I kept getting bored with the endless 1×1 ribbing. In all, it’s about 20% done. I feel confident that after Christmas I can go back to it. I’d love to say I’d go back to it before, but who am I kidding, right??

the ribbing, she never ends.

A 6ft long scarf done in 1×1 ribbing with 75 sts across is just not much fun after oh, say 3 rows?

Despite not finishing my Ravenclaw scarf, I did manage to do some other knitterly things.

I re-began my first sock. I met a new knitter (knittingfairy) and even went to one of her knitting afternoons and met a bunch of other knitters. She helped me turn my first heel. Oh yes, that’s right. I can now turn a heel. It took a few tries, but I got it. I really just need to knit up the foot part and I have a sock. Then of course, there is that business about its mate…

heel the first!

I also bought a lovely shawl pattern from knittingfairy, called “The Magic Shawl”. I plan on using the lace yarn I bought a while back from Hello Knitty. It’s handpaintedyarn.com lace in Lunar Moche. This will be both my first lace project and first shawl for me. I need to check gauge and make sure I have the right size needles. I’m hoping to begin next week and get as much done as possible before the fall starts.

mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Now that I think about it, this summer (or mostly July) was full of firsts for me. First heel turn, first lace project, and a first hat. I completed my first hat a couple of weeks ago using one skein of Vanna’s Choice in Purple Print. It was gifted to me by a nonknitting friend (and as is usually the case, I just get one skien of several types of yarn). I really loved the purplyness of it, but was having a hard time finding a one-skein pattern that caught my eye.

Then I decided that I wanted to try a slouchy hat, cause they’re just so cool at the moment. I found a cute, very simple pattern, and two or three days later, I had a hat! It was a bit akward, because the pattern calls for the medium lenght hat to be at least 7in long, and I felt like I was running out of yarn, so I cut it back to 6.5in. Now I know I had plenty of yarn, but oh well. Now I just have left over bits to pass on to some one in the RAK group that enjoys left over bits. I also freaked out a little bit near the end. My excitement of finishing my first hat was so powerful, that I fell into despair when I realized that I needed to switch from the circs I was using to dpns. Of course, I should have known better, but I simply just didn’t realize it.

Panic ensued when I couldn’t fnd the right size dpns.

Despair washed panic away when I went on Ravelry to ask if using dpns two sizes too small would be okay. Possible, but not the best option.

Sadness.

So, I put my hat away, and went to my linen yarn closet to find something new to start. I looked in my big purple rolling bag to see what goodies I had stashed in there and forgotten about. Nothing really, it was a bunch of cotton yarn, and I was not in the mood to do dishcloths (I made like 5 of them for Handmade RAK gifts).

Surprise! Size 8 dpns!

Glee.

I finished my hat and wore it the very next day (Ted and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary, and as is our custom, we went to the circus).

mmmm, purply.

Since it was such an easy and fun project, I quickly c/o for a second. Though this time around I used smaller circs for the ribbing and then switched to the size 8s. The second hat will be a bit slouchier (remember, I was “running out” of yarn the first time and had to cut it short) and all gray. I’m using Reynolds Utopia. I’m nearly done, another inch or so, and I’ll begin decreasing. Should be done tonight, and tomorrow (hopefully) I will start my shawl.

I’m thinking a lot of females in my family are getting slouchy hats as gifts for Christmas this year…

…which means I get to go by yarn in the next few weeks. And you know how that goes. Something for you, something for me, something for you, something for me…

Oh! And on the wedding front, I found my venue! I actually won one of those drawings they do at bridal shows! I got $1,500 off the use of the venue (which amounts to about 1/3 of the price, so a nice deal!), and then, because some one else was booked on the day I wanted, I’m getting FREE (yes, free) h’ordourves (sp?) for 100 guests. Which amounts to a savings of over $600, just for moving my wedding a week earlier. Ha!

Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.

We can conquor the world, in love, you and I.

I also have a close friend from high school flying down to do the photography (she’s owns her own studio in Iowa). Bridal shots, all day wedding/reception shots, all the shots I want for just $900! Very excited, cause looking at photographer prices was a bit scary.

My mom’s cousin does wedding cakes, so she’s doing my cake (and they are delicious too). I already have the dress, and Ted’s mom sews, and has agreed to make my veil.

All I need to do are engagement photos on my own (easy), save-the-dates (next week with Mom), invites (need to finalize guest list and get addresses), pick out rings with Ted, finalize honeymoon (week long cruise in the southern Carrbbean!), get my past port, and find a florist.

Excitement abounds!

Please Help

Though it’s been nearly a month since I’ve posted (school has kept me busy), and I have plenty of knitting and food related things to blog about, this post is neither here nor there.

I just got off the phone with my mom, and I’m in tears. She needs help, and I try to help in the little ways that I can, but it’s simply not enough.

Last year, my mom was unemployed for nearly 9 months. She’s recently re-employed, however, she’s still playing catch-up on all the bills she was behind in. She’s a spiritual woman, and I feel like her faith needs strengthening now.

I called her just to say hi, because I hadn’t talked to her in a few days. She immediate broke down into tears, needing to vent. Usually I can say something to make her feel better, but this time I was unable to think of anything to say. She’s really struggling to keep her head above water. Right now she can’t afford basic necessities, like shampoo, food, gas, or even dog food for the dog. I try to help her out when I can, but when I’m in school I’m not working, so I can’t help very much. Especially now, that I won’t have any money until my school sends me a reimbursement check when the fall semester starts (about 2-3 weeks from now).

If you can find it in your heart to send her a gift card for gas (QT, Shell, etc) or for necessities (WalMart, Kroger, etc), it would mean the world to me and to her. She doesn’t know I’m doing this is, and I’m not sure I even expect much from this, but I have to try whatever I can.

I’m pretty sure she battled depression when I was in high school, but kept it hidden. I don’t want her to go through that. All my life I’ve watched her struggle to provide for my and my younger brother, and I feel terrible that when she needs help the most, I can’t do anything to help her.

If there is anything, no matter how small, you can do to help, I’d be eternally grateful. You can email me at: adorably.alice@gmail.com and I will send you her address and you can mail things straight to her, be it anonymous or not. She also has a paypal account, under the email: janetc.designs@gmail.com

Thank you for reading this, and though I am not very spiritual, it only feels right to say, God bless you.

Lime Kitchen Set

After a week of distractions, some necessary, most not, I’ve finally finished my Lime Kitchen Set. About three weeks ago, my soon to be mother in law asked me if I could knit her some dishcloths. I told her I would. Even though I had some ready made that I could have given her, I decided to go a bit further and make her a kitchen gift set. She’s always doing so much for both Ted and I, so it wasn’t a bother at all to decide to give her an entire set for the kitchen. I only wish I hadn’t been so distracted all week so I could have given it to her sooner. I’ll probably take better pictures tomorrow morning when there is more light to do so, but for now, I’m happy and very proud to have finished the set at long last.

I don’t expect I’ll post the new pictures here, but they’ll be on my project page on Ravelry.

Though the dishtowel was supposed to be a foot long, with another 6-7 inches for the hanging strip, I had to cut it short because I began to run out of yarn. The towel is about 9 inches now, and I think I prefer that to the entire foot. The hanging strip is about 4-5 inches, and I may undo the button and resew it on a bit lower just for aesthetic purposes, but I do like the “shortened” version better. Perfect amount of towel to dry your hands on. The stitch pattern, I think, looks really good with the colorway. I may have to get another skein and do another in this color. I really, really like using Lion Brand Cotton Ease for this. It’s a bit softer than the Peaches & Cream Cotton that so many people like. Lion Brand’s Cotton Ease is not 100% Cotton, it’s a 50-50 blend of cotton and acrylic, which makes it a bit softer as well as machine washable and dryable. I’ll probably tell my mother in law that it’s still probably best to just lay flat to dry.

The Other Elf Race

A few weeks ago, I bought some yarn from Indie Dyer from her “WoW Color of the Month”. She had created a colorway for the blood elves, and since I play both a blood elf hunter and a blood elf paladin, I was instantly in love with the colorway. Even though I was a month late in requesting the yarn, Indie Dyer was gracious and lovely enough to dye the colorway for me anyway. It’s called “The Other Elf Race” (because in WoW there are also Night Elves, who’s colorway would be more dark blues and greens) and it’s filled with yellows, pinks, oranges. General colors that come to mind when one thinks of the Sin’Dorei or Silvermoon City. I bought it in Sock-it-to-Me, a 80% superwash, 20% nylon blend. It’s so soft and gorgeous…I’m almost afraid to knit with it. I just need to find a really good project for it. I have two hanks, totaling about 900yds.

So, I’m open to ideas..

Designs by JC and Kitchen Sets

I completely forgot to update about the pretty jewelry Mom made me to wear to the wedding in Austin. Which reminds me, just because the words “wedding” and “Austin” are on my blog and I write that I am engaged, does not mean I am looking for a photographer, venue, or any other wedding related people to spam my inbox/twitter account. I am not from Austin. I only drove there to visit a wedding. Repeat: I am not from Austin.

Boy was that ever annoying, to have a bunch of offers and what not. If you truly read my blog, you’d realize I am not in Austin nor am I getting married in Austin.

Anyway.

Mom makes jewelry, and so after I bought a dress to wear I thought I’d go visit her and borrow something to wear with the dress. Well, that wouldn’t fly with her, and she insisted on making me something brand new. I think a muse bit her or something, because she spent an hour trying to find the beads that would have been perfect. She didn’t find them until the day after, but I still love what she made me. And I when I asked if I had to give it back when I was done (so she could sell it and make money) she told me it was all mine. Gotta love mothers.

I used the dress as a backdrop, and I think it came out really good that way.

So if you’re in the market for handmade jewelry..let me know and I can pass along the info..

I’m supposed to go back to Mom’s sometime and take pictures of all the things she has ready. I’ve set her up with an etsy account, I just need pictures to post and her prices. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks or so I can get this done for her. She’s really talented at it, and I’d love to help my mom get her designs out there so she can make a little extra cash.

Knitting wise, I’m working on two kitchen sets (a hanging kitchen towel and two potholders/dishcloths). I have one in Cotton-Ease (Lion Brand) in Lime, the other on Maize. The lime one is almost done. About 50% through with the towel, and once that is done, that set is finished. That set is going to my mother in law to be. I was hoping to finish it today, but I have some errands to run, and I don’t think I’ll have it done today. The Maize/Yellow one is just going to sit in a bin of finished items, and I’ll either gift it to some one around Christmas time, or maybe list it on my etsy. Not sure which yet.

I’m on a huge kitchen knitting kick right now.. I really enjoy making these dishtowels. I feel like it’s a knitted gift I can give to any one, and it’s something that will get used.

Catching Up…

I haven’t updated the blog in a while. It’s not that I have nothing to blog about, because I do, it’s just that I’ve been too lazy to upload pictures..this post will have a bit of them now, because of it…

The past week has been relaxing. For once, Texas seems to be having a “long” stretch of actual spring weather, rather than just heading straight into the great heat of Texas summers. Ted and I have made the most of this, because who knows how long it’s going to last. Not much longer, is my guess. We’ve been going to the park a lot, where he’ll practice bagpipes (he’s gotten so good at Amazing Grace and Scotland the Brave!), and I’ll just listen to him and knit or play with the dog. Sushi loves the park! But I’m willing to bet her favorite part is the car ride..

I happen to be a member of “Handmade RAKs” on Ravelry, and one lovely user (glowyone) was lovely enough to grant my wishlist for May, which was a French Market Bag. It’s purple, which is my favorite color, and it’s just stunning. It’s my new favorite bag!

As far as my projects go, I’ve been really good at meeting my mini-goals. I’ve made two dishcloths, and I’ve finished another kitchen towel. All that’s left is for me to weave in the ends, and sew on a button. I’ve also decided to do a kitchen set, complete with one kitchen towel and two matching dishcloths/potholders. So I’ve started that today, and I’ve already finished a dishcloth. So hopefully by next week I will be done with the first set (I anticipate making lots more).

This weekend is going to be a busy one, but it’ll be lots of fun too. Tonight Ted wants to go see Terminator (he’s got a man crush on Christian Bale, that I think is cute), and tomorrow we’re going to the Renaissance Faire! I love going there, so expect a ton of pictures when I update about that. Sunday we’re going down to Austin because a guy in his unit is getting married and the wedding is down there. I love getting to visit Austin, and I hope we have time to walk around or stop in San Antonio and go to the Riverwalk, which is one of my favorite places in Texas. I forget what is going on Monday, but I’m pretty sure we made plans for Monday. Next weekend is the Scottish Festival, which will be excited because I’ve never been, and after that I start the summer session…

..I can’t believe May is already pretty much over and done with and we’re half way through 2009 already! The wedding is going to be here before I know it!

Lost Velvet.

Ugh! As usual, Lost’s season finale was ridonkulous. Also as usual, I have an entire year of agonizing waiting and forgetting what the hell is going on on that island and to who and in what time period. I can’t believe next season is the final season! What ever will I devote my Wednesday evenings to when Lost is over?

Mom came over for dinner. I served pot roast, which sat in the slow cooker since last night, so it was truly succulent and sublimely tender. What’s more, is there was plenty left over for pot roast sandwiches tomorrow for lunch…yum yum! I also made some diced roasted rosemary potatoes with a bit of parmesan cheese, and for Ted and myself, some steamed broccoli (Mom isn’t much of a veggie eater).

For dessert, I baked a delicious red velvet cake with white frosting. I’ve never made red velvet cake before, so I was really pleased with how it came out.

Finals, frogs, and ferrets.

Yay!

I took my last final today. It was my French final, so I wasn’t too stressed about it. I have been doing really well in French. However, I did have a mini meltdown, because I thought the final was at 9am (this is what I had written down in my notes about 5 times), so when I show up to class about fifteen minutes early, I see a kid from my class leaving. As he passes me, he says, “Good luck.” A bit confused, I asked him why he was leaving if the final was at 9am. He looks at me and says, “No..it started at 8am.” Then he walks off.

So I’m walking down the stairs to class panicking. Some professors will not let you into class once an exam has begun. Of course the door was also locked to the class room, but to my immense relief, my professor let me in and didn’t seem to mind at all that I was 45min late.

I managed to finish the exam in under half an hour, and I feel really good about it, so I’m glad things worked out. Though, now that I think about it, even if I made a zero on the final, I’d still pass the course with a low B or a high C.

So, I’m done for the semester. No more school til June..when the summer session begins. Rawr. Oh well, it’s for the best that I’m getting a few classes out of the way over the summer. It means fall will be a little less stressful, though probably not by much.

I started some more Leftover Dishtowels. I started one with Peaches & Creme cotton in Peppermint (white and red colorway), but about 10 rows in, didn’t like the way it was looking. I’m not sure if I want to finish it later or just frog it and make dishcloths out of it..

Anyway, I started another one in a solid colorway; this time using Bernat Cotton Country Colors in Country Red. I like this so much more.

It’s a huge skein too, so I’ll probably be able to make about 6 or 7 of them. Each takes about 110 yds, and this skein has 710 yds.

This works out very nicely, cause I want to make one for my mom and mil, and still have some extra that I can either add to my etsy, or use as quick “been thinking about you” gifts. Plus, I received a myspace message last night from Keith, who is in Annapolis saying he wanted one. I don’t know if he was being sarcastic or not, but he’s getting one. lol

A while back, Ted bought me a purple yarn case on wheels. It’s perfect for storing a large WIP or several small/medium WIPs. It’s also, as of late, become a perfect ferret bed. Snarf manages to weasle under the door to the linen yarn closet, and climbs into the bag when he wants to nap. There’s a small skein of some left over cotton (ironically in the peppermint colorway), and I believe he snuggles with it or uses it for a pillow…

Also, I can’t wait for the season finale of Lost tonight..Mom is coming over for dinner, and I have prepared a delicious pot roast. It’s been in the crock pot since last night, so it’s going to be amazingly tender. ^_^v

Dish Towel!

Huzzah! I finished my dish towel, and due to the stitching, it didn’t need any blocking, so I hung it in the kitchen right away. I used Bella Colour Cotton in the neon green/pink/orange colorway and size US 8 aluminum needles. I really liked working with the yarn, so I may have to go back to Yarn Heaven and buy a couple more skeins and do another in a different colorway. Though, the smart thing to do would be to use up my Peaches & Cream stash…I have a huge 1lb skein that needles to be dwindled down..

Without further ado, here’s the Leftover Dishtowel: