bekeeblog

it's done but not blocked yet (pics soon thereafter). i have decided i don't like knitting with cotton on small(ish) needles. or at least the susan bates needles that i usually use. it didn't want to slide around and made my hands hurt. my stash-busting is going well. i've spent quite a bit looking through all my knitting books, trying to piece together patterns to use up more of it. it seems i've purchased a lot of little quanitites of yarn, just to try it out, but not enough to even make a hat, so i might just have a lot of skinny scarves in my boutique soon. :) i haven't touched the knitting machine since last sunday. i told the lender that it seems too complicated and unable to do the things i want to try next. we'll see.

Posted by bekee at 9:57 AM | permalink | licks (3)

i've found great enjoyment in knitting little things. i just picked up this season's interweave knits because another blogger had posted about her flower shaped washcloths. just about the only small thing in the whole magazine. as i paged through the sweaters, i wondered how i would feel about spending so much on yarn for a sweater that would probably make me look completely frumpy. i think it'll be a little while before i can convince myself to work on something big like that.
other news: i finally ordered a set of denise interchangeable needles because i found a shawl pattern that i want to work on, and i'm tired of waiting for time to go to any handful of crafty or yarn stores to get new needles. i hope they come soon, and i hope i like them. they're spendy.

Posted by bekee at 10:47 AM | permalink | licks (1)

i'm slowly working on the alien illusion scarf. i can't think of who to give it to (or who would appreciate both the work gone into it, and the aliens) so i think that's why it's taking me so long. so i started sally melville's shape it scarf, for the puppy's owner, with the leftover yarn. (img tag missing) shapeit_01.jpg

Posted by bekee at 4:47 PM | permalink | licks (0)

i ordered these forever ago from Name Maker and they only just arrived yesterday, so i wasn't able to get them on any holiday gifts. my only disappointment with them is the thread count of the fabric. if you make a hole with a pin, it's there for good.

Posted by bekee at 10:14 AM | permalink | licks (1)

i keep thinking today is saturday. but it's not.
1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
finding a hobby that i am passionate about and that helps me de-stress.
2. What was your biggest disappointment?
the realization that i have to work every day until i can retire. though, realizing that made it easier to deal with working.
3. What do you hope the new year brings?
less smoking. and a puppy.
4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
i don't usually do those.
5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
i'll probably end up somewhere with friends.

Posted by bekee at 11:34 AM | permalink | licks (1)

it'll look better once i can get a picture with the dog wearing it, but i think it turned out nicely; for a one-of-a-kind piece. (img tag missing) doggie.jpg

Posted by bekee at 9:25 AM | permalink | licks (0)

since i can't seem to work from a chart (re: alien illusion scarf), and i don't have any more giftknitting to do, i'm starting on a dog sweater for a friends' boston terrier. i'm designing it from scratch and to custom-fit this cute little one. i'll surely let you know how it turns out.

Posted by bekee at 10:15 AM | permalink | licks (0)

the striped stockings are all done. i attempted to steam them with an ancient norelco steamer, but ended up pouring hot water on one of them instead. so it's drying. hopefully it won't spontaneously felt. (img tag missing) socks_02.jpg

Posted by bekee at 11:52 AM | permalink | licks (0)

kurt got me a digital camera for the holiday! i've been complaining about the poor (and old) quality of my sony camera. so he got me an awesome kodak one with zoom and everything! here's a example of a knitted bit on the new camera: (img tag missing) socks.jpg

Posted by bekee at 5:43 PM | permalink | licks (1)

faithful readers, i've been lax with the pictures of knitting. these knee-high stockings are taking an awful long time because i keep not reading the shaping instructions. :) i'm onto the foot of stocking#2 and, if all goes well tonight, will have them completed.
the machine knitting is still kind of awkward. it's an old machine and therefore kinda sticky at times. i'm sure i'll be spending some time with it over the holiday.

Posted by bekee at 8:47 AM | permalink | licks (0)

well, i only lasted about 2 months on the yarn diet. but in those two months, i knitted up about 7 balls of various yarns. scarves, mostly. i've decided that over the holiday, i'm going to ball-wind what needs it and make sure i know what's in my stash.

Posted by bekee at 7:51 AM | permalink | licks (0)

workfriend came over this morning to help me set up the knitting machine. he and his wife left, and i started futzing with it. as soon as the first f-word came out, i stopped. i couldn't even get the dang thing to cooperate with casting on.

Posted by bekee at 1:41 PM | permalink | licks (0)

the longest week of the year is over. it's finally friday
1. List your five favorite beverages.
coffee, bloody mary, vodka press, oj, v8
2. List your five favorite websites.
www.orisinal.com, www.craftster.org, www.engrish.com, www.zefrank.com, www.elann.com
3. List your five favorite snack foods.
i only really snack at work: pistachio nuts, gardettos, yogurt-granola-fruit, a banana, bagel
4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
euchre, blackjack, sheepshead, scrabble (not very good at it), solitaire
5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
the sims, ... i haven't really been computergaming since i started knitting.

Posted by bekee at 8:25 AM | permalink | licks (0)

a friend at work is letting me borrow his toyota knitting machine. i can't even figure out how to get it safely out of the case. if anything, the size of it is going to have me clearing some space in the house.

Posted by bekee at 5:58 PM | permalink | licks (0)

i feel like i made a big hullabaloo on the knitlist about copyrights and knitting and patterns and whatnot. if you're in doubt about anything, check out the following two links: http://www.geocities.com/jbtocker/copyright/index.html http://www.girlfromauntie.com/copyright/index.asp

Posted by bekee at 4:18 PM | permalink | licks (0)

kurt and i made fondue last night: (img tag missing) fondue.jpg this is my ornament for the work holiday tree.. pattern courtesy of bruxknits. (img tag missing) mini_stocking.jpg

Posted by bekee at 9:16 PM | permalink | licks (1)

our internal testing server is down. how am i supposed to get /anything/ done?

Posted by bekee at 10:12 AM | permalink | licks (0)

about two months ago, kurt and i talked about not getting each other christmas gifts since we were going to spend money at ikea. and cuz we're both impossible to buy for. anyhow, he went ahead and "forgot" and got me something last week. so i've been wracking my brain since then to come up with something suitable for him. i'm all about surprise, utilitarian gifts. no socks, sweaters, or gift cards (though, now with the knitting in full force, i might end up with a batch of socks to be handed out next year). so, after an hour of clicking around on amazon, i came up with two things which i think he'll rather enjoy. i hope.

Posted by bekee at 3:45 PM | permalink | licks (0)

here they are, all six fuzzy wraps: (img tag missing) fuzzwraps.jpg the far left one is made from paton's cha-cha, which knitted up about 50% faster than the five other lion brand fun fur wraps.

Posted by bekee at 3:04 PM | permalink | licks (0)

i want to try replicating this hat in knit stitch. i think it's such an awesome piece.

Posted by bekee at 8:25 AM | permalink | licks (1)

i bought yarn today. but it's alright, because it will all be moved quickly through my hands and needles and back to the person who requested 6(!) eyelash scarves for various gift-giving. i'm way undercharging because i forgot how much lion brand fun fur is.. :/

Posted by bekee at 5:20 PM | permalink | licks (0)

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
kinda. it would be weird to live somewhere southernly where it isn't snowy in december.
2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
i miss being 10 at gramma's house sitting at the top of the stairs at 4 in the am staring really hard into the dark to see if santa had come yet. i'd never walk down the stairs because they squeaked at the top and i couldn't wake anyone up
3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
oyster stew for christmas eve dinner.. but this year, we're going to have shrimp creole and dirty rice.
4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
we're going to give some money to svdp for their food pantry.
5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
a super nice set of cookware.

Posted by bekee at 9:15 AM | permalink | licks (0)

i guess taking a mid-week day off work makes me confused. i have been thwarted by time. i consistently can't remember that it's thursday. i forgot to take pics of my work holiday ornament so now i have to remember to bring my digicam in tomorrow.
kurt and i walked to lazy jane's yesterday for lunch and the wind hurt my face and ears (i don't wear hats, they mess up my hair) so as soon as we got home, i knitted up one of those skiing headband things. i'll get a pic of that, too. it's darn cute.

Posted by bekee at 10:54 AM | permalink | licks (0)

bites the dust: (img tag missing) gift_hat.jpg a holiday gift hat for mom's boyfriend. now onto the tree ornament for work..

Posted by bekee at 12:16 PM | permalink | licks (0)

i just want to get this out in the open as i think it will help me to keep to my goal. i'm cutting down on smoking. cutting it in half, to be exact. with the goal of quitting on new years' day, but we'll see how that goes.
i started smoking when i was 15/16 with the older kids at school. my friend at the time smoked marlboro reds and she gave me rides to school. i remember her saying, "if you're gunna ride with me, you have to smoke." ok. so i did.

the ladies at kwik trip in oregon never asked me for an id. i'm sure i didn't look 18 at all. this was before the whole "we ID" campaign started. mom smelled it immediately and said, "don't smoke around me and don't smoke in the house." so i spent a lot of time in the garage with the back door open staring at the slowly falling snow. it was kinda nice. i liked smoking. now i'm bored with it. it's a frustrating habit. it's expensive. it's unattractive. it's weird, really, if you think about it. i think i'm putting it in the same light as i did eggs a while ago. eating an egg is weird. it's another animals ova; and you're eating it. wtf? so, for a while, i would only eat eggs if they were scrambled (side note here, for new readers: i'm a pescatarian. i don't eat poultry, pork, or red meat, but i do love me some sushi). so, starting this last saturday, i decided to count and ration my cigarettes. on average, i smoke a pack a day; every morning, finding myself at the same gas station with the attendant seeing me walking up, having my pack ready for me before i even got in the door. at first, i was amused and impressed, now it bothers me. so.. i've had 10 cigarettes a day since saturday.. yesterday only 9. i figure at this rate, i'll be down to 1 on new years' eve. i'm not sure where kurt is on this matter. we've talked about it. he's 9 years older than i and he's been smoking since about the same age. he works in a tavern. i wish him all the luck in the world.. and i wish i could help, but quitting smoking (quitting anything) is a very solitary endeavor. i'm used to it, i'm an only child. here i go.

Posted by bekee at 10:01 AM | permalink | licks (2)

there was some confusion about how those scarves actually work, so i made a diagram.. viewable below.

Posted by bekee at 5:53 PM | permalink | licks (2)

i finaly won an auction for the knitting machine by mattel. hooray!

Posted by bekee at 4:22 PM | permalink | licks (0)

i'm gunna play hooky tomorrow. according to my records, the last time i called in was october 1. i think it's time for a mental health day.

Posted by bekee at 11:51 AM | permalink | licks (0)

done with all three keyhole scarves. i'm only gunna ramble about the yarn so it's documented somewhere so's i don't forget. :) (img tags missing) online linie: katia niebla: ggh relax (this is the best yarn ever, i think):

Posted by bekee at 9:46 PM | permalink | licks (1)

there's nothing going on at work. i just opened up a new browser window and decided to visit elann. i've only been on a yarn diet for 3 weeks. edited 10 minutes later: okay, i closed the window before going too far.

Posted by bekee at 12:35 PM | permalink | licks (0)

workin' on keyhole scarf #3. as you can see over there -> , i'm more than halfway done.. but, uhoh! the new knitty is up. now i will surely be too busy knitting to do /anything/ else. hooray!

Posted by bekee at 9:15 AM | permalink | licks (0)

two scarves done. one to go. the second one was made with katia niebla on us#13 so it took less than 3 hours. the next one is gunna kill me though, i think. pics of all three when the 3rd one is complete.

Posted by bekee at 12:43 PM | permalink | licks (1)

on the blogrolling bandwagon. i noticed that someone in the knitting ring was linking to me via this method, so to return the favor, i signed up. it seems like a neat little feature.

knitting: as you can see by my list to the right, i have to get off the darn computer and keep knitting. the only thing on tv right now is family ties.

Posted by bekee at 10:59 AM | permalink | licks (0)

i've got.. to.. keep... knitting! someone kurt works with came over yesterday to pick yarn from my stash for three keyhole scarves for various giftees. so i have plenty to do. i can't say no to knitting! even if it's going to take a while. i can probably finish the first one today and get most of the second one done and then the third one will be a snap during the football game tomorrow.

Posted by bekee at 9:27 AM | permalink | licks (0)

think i'm not knitting. that is not the case. martin picked up his scarf yesterday and was very pleased with the results. (img tag missing) i'm also working on the foot length of stocking #1... it's slow going, but it's fun to make something that needs to fit, as opposed to a scarf. :) (img tag missing)

Posted by bekee at 4:29 PM | permalink | licks (1)

friday! but, there's no fridayfive today. i don't think i have the energy this morning to come up with another one; so i can't blame her for not having one ready every once in a while. eBay news.. i keep getting outbid on the barbie knitting machine, but i found another knitting machine that ends in 1.25 hours. wish me luck.

Posted by bekee at 8:13 AM | permalink | licks (2)

has just flown by. i have been so busy at work that the days seem to melt away so i can get home and knit. the knee-high stocking is going well.. i had to frog quite a bit of it back to before starting the heel flap because i was worried that i picked up the side stitches oddly. i found this link (http://www.royea.net/sockdemo1.html) on a crafty message board. maybe you will find it useful, too. :)

Posted by bekee at 11:50 AM | permalink | licks (0)

i lost the auction.

Posted by bekee at 1:18 PM | permalink | licks (0)

the current high-bidder (link removed cuz auction is old) though, i wished not to spend so much on some plastic junk, i'll be able to whip out long skinny scarves and sell them; which should well make up for the cost of this machine. as i was browsing the auctions last night, i came across an old-school vintage sock knitting maching. kurt was surely excited and told me to get it. i said i'd have to wait cuz it was somewhere's around $149 with no bids.

Posted by bekee at 11:16 AM | permalink | licks (2)

i woke up almost too early this morning and decided to get up before the alarm went off. i had enough time to knit a couple more rows on the "pre-heel" part of stocking number 1. i've been busy at work until just this second. it's crazy now that everyone's ordering for christmas.

Posted by bekee at 4:56 PM | permalink | licks (0)

okay, it's going way faster now. i was having a hard time with the k2, p2 rib on US#2 needles. that was frustrating. but now, the mindless stockinette stitch on US#3 (bamboo, even! my first set of bamboo dpns. not sure why i hadn't bought bamboo for all the other sizes that i have) is going a lot faster. i have about 3 more inches til turning the heel. pics will come soon.

Posted by bekee at 10:25 AM | permalink | licks (0)