New Evo Phone, MAYBE

My husband and I are thinking about upgrading phones to the Evo. It's a touchscreen phone that runs the Android (Linux) Operating System.

I've been super happy with my Blackberry, so I'm waffling on whether to upgrade. My husband is definitely going to though, so I'll post some pics and our impression once we get it. We're scheduled to get it tomorrow evening.

Anyone have an Evo? I'd love to hear your impressions. I have to decide before tomorrow afternoon if I'm trading in or not.

Got it!

Finally. I finished my master's in Computer Science.

This has taken longer than I expected, what with the move and life getting in the way. I'm more relieved than anything that it's over. Is that sad, or just realistic?

I didn't go walk for commencement. I wasn't interested in doing that, and the college is a little too far away to make the trip easily.

My boss has already tossed around the idea of my going back for a doctorate. I told him I'd think about it, but I don't have any desire to do that. I'm so happy that my life is my own again, without any school commitments, that I don't know how I'd be tempted to give that up.

Yep, I'm seriously enjoying the evening. We'll go to some celebrations this weekend. Here's to all the other grads this May. Congratulations, and thank goodness it's over!

Random Wednesday

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged. Sorry about that, but life just gets in the way sometimes.

I've been busy at work, of course, but then again, when am I not?

I did join the Taking it to the Streets Sock Club this year from Blue Moon. I debated on whether to spend that much money on it, but Andy knew how much I wanted to do it, so he insisted. I'm about half way through the second sock of the January pair. Unfortunately it's too late most evenings when I get home to get a decent picture. Maybe I'll try to take some this weekend for the blog.

We finally splurged and got some porch furniture this spring. Nothing fancy, just a simple set from Wally World. Still, it'll be nice to get to use our front porch. It's an L-shaped porch that wraps around the front and side of the house. What's nicer is that we have some large bushes that give is a bit of privacy from the road and the neighbor.

It's been a little cool here lately, but I can see a lot of knitting getting done out there this summer!

How about a consolation picture?

Snow!

Here are some pics from our yard. Wow, it's pretty isn't it?

More Mittens

I think I may be addicted to knitting these.

I started these Monday night and finished them today, so that's a pretty quick knit. The yarn was Caron simply soft shadows. I'm not sure if the acrylic will be as warm, but that's what my mom picked out.

Notice that they're fraternal twins. I kinda like that!

Necessary Mittens

Here are the mittens I finished yesterday morning, right before going in to work. The pattern was really easy, adn I like the more rounded ends rather than the angular pointy ones you see on some patterns.

The pattern is Warmest Mittens. It's a very quick, easy knit.








Oh, and just in case anyone has forgotten what spring looks like, this is a photo of my lilac bush from last April or May. Pretty, huh?

Sniff.

I enjoy the snow, but this cold weather is enough to make anyone wish for spring!

A year of socks

I just signed up for Blue Moon's Socks that Rock Club.

It's something I've wanted to do for a couple of years, and this year I finally did it. It meshes great with my goal of knitting more socks this year, particularly for myself. I'm also a little tired of my vanilla sock pattern and looking forward to trying out some different techniques.

I meant to get a pic today but forgot to... I actually finished a pair of mittens on the way to work, barely in time to wear them in this morning. It was bitter cold (< 20 degrees Fahrenheit), so I really needed them.

I've been off work since Dec 23. Want to know what my welcome back was? I fell on the parking garage, which is perpetually covered in ice. My knee is sore tonight. I dislocated it in high school, so I'm always afraid of doing it again in a fall.

Anyone else doing Blue Moon's club?

World's laziest dog

This is as much attention as she could muster for the camera.

She's our twelve year old who has cushings and diabetes. Maybe I should have titled this the world's most expensive dog. She's doing a lot better now, but her blood sugar isn't quite under control yet.

Contour actually honored an Rx for a meter for her (thanks Bayer!), and we check her blood sugar by pricking the inside of her lip. It sounds bad, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Can you tell who's in charge around here?

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

A picture a day

I've been fiddling around with posting from my blackberry today. Why? My goal is to post a picture every day to the blog, and having an easy way to do that should help me keep up with it.

Besides, I'm still completely thrilled with my blackberry, so this is just another cool thing to do with it.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. We've been relaxing and spending a lot of time just hanging out and being lazy.

Test

Another test post.
Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

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Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Remembering Vacation

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

This is a test post.

Miscellany

Wow, where to begin.

We found out a little over a month ago that my mom needed surgery. What we thought were gall bladder problems turned out to be a tumor. Of course, I've spent a lot of time worrying. Her surgery was last week, and she did terrific. I'm exhausted, but happy that it's over for her.

I'm also up against a December deadline to (finally!!) finish my grad degree in computer science. Yep, it's been a while, I've change instructors, changed plans, etc., but it looks like it's going to happen. I have a lot of work to do in the next six weeks though.

Now, to add to my list of things to handle, I think I'm getting sick. My fever is 99.3 tonight, my throat is sore and I have a headache. Wonderful!

I'm trying to get caught up on twitter, stumbleupon, facebook, etc. tonight. I may not be as active onlne for the next month or so, but I won't be totally off either. Wish me luck!

Frogged again

happy frog
Originally uploaded by avmaier

That hoodie, sweater, pullover, WHATEVER that I'm working on has been frogged, yet again. Hence, the photo of the frog where the sweater ought to be.

Sigh.

I got through my first entire skein, realized I had made a dumb mistake, and I had to frog the whole thing. What was the beginning of a sweater is now a yarn cake again.

We're going out of town soon, so my goal is to get the sweater started, for real, before that. it's gong to make some great mindless knitting. I've been thinking of caling it the mindless sweater.

Pics will be forthcoming, as soon as there's something to take a photo of.

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Catching up

It's been a lot longer than I'd realized.

First off, the hoodie. Frogged. I just didn't like the way the yarn was working up. I think it's the cotton/linen combination that's bothering me. It just doesn't hold its shape and drape as well as animal fibers do. I did several inches and decided that it simply wasn't getting any better.

Good news, I have some nice yellow wool I picked up from Knitpicks. I'm fiddling around with a pattern now. As soon as I get a few inches in, I'll post my formulas and pictures. It should be a template that just about anyone can follow.

Now, on to some personal stuff. I've got a lot going on right now that I'm not sure I want to write about. For one thing, it involves more than me, and I don't want to invade anyone's privacy by posting it here. Maybe that'll change, but for now I can't say much. Your patience and positive thoughts are appreciated though!

Work has been crazy and frustrating as well. Today was the first day in over two weeks that I've left at even close to my normal quitting time. Hopefully, things are going to get back to normal soon, whatever normal is.

You'll notice the lack of pictures? I have my camera right beside me, but no charging cable. Sigh. We'll find it eventually, but I'm down to just my blackberry camera, which isn't that great, in comparison. Don't get me wrong though, I'm a complete blackberry addict, and I love mine!

Hoodie Pattern, doing it as I go

I'm got a new sweater on the needles, and this is one that I'm making up as I go along. Yeah, I know, daring!

I'm going to keep track of it here, along with pics, and if all goes well I'll use that to make a template that others can follow as well.

Yarn: KnitPicks CotLin in Island Coral (DK weight)
Needles: 2 mm circulars
Gauge: 5.5 stitches/inch
Size: 3X -- I'll post alterations for other sizes once I have the pattern figured out.

Basic Design

The sweater will be a pullover. I started knitting at the back neck, doing raglan increases. In this case, the initial neck opening is about 11 inches.

1. I cast on 60 stitches with a long-tail cast on. You'll want the back of the neck to stretch across the back of your neck where you want the sweater to fall, PLUS about an inch on either side. (RS)

2. Purl next row (WS)

3. K3, pm, k1, pm, k3, pm, k1, pm, knit until 8 stitches remain, pm, k1, pm, k3, pm, k1, pm, k3
purl row

4. K1, m1, knit to one stitch before marker. Increase by knitting into the front and back of the stitch. Slide stitch marker to right needle. Knit the single stitch bordered by your stitch markers. Slide the second marker over. Increase (again, by knitting into the front and back of the stitch). Continue in this manner, working the increases as described, until you're 1 stitch remains. Make 1, knit 1.

5. purl WS rows

6. Work all RS rows like #5

Note that this is pretty much a standard raglan shaping. See top down raglan cardi and February lady sweater.

The m1 stitches at the edges will form the "V" of the sweater neck. When the number of stitches across the back equals the number of stitches across both fronts, you're ready to stop working the "V" and join the sweater to work in the round.

When you've joined in the round, continue working row #5 every other row (with the exception of the m1 stitches of course). Alternate with plain knit rows.

I plan on knitting in stockinette until I get to the underarms and pull the sleeve stitches off. Continue until the stitch markers on either side will meet under your arms.

At that point I'll evaluate how much yarn I have. If I have enough, I plan on doing the sleeves in solid stockinette. The body from the bust down will be some sort of lace pattern (haven't picked one yet).

Then I want to grab those stitches at the back of the neck and knit a hood for the sweater. We're planning a trip to the beach this fall, so a nice lightweight hoodie will come in handy.

I'll continue to post updates on how it goes.

Yay, finished knitting!

Yes, I know I've been quiet, but I have been knitting. I have two, count'em two, finished items to show off. I have a shawl on the needles (link forthcoming) and a new pair of my vanilla socks like those above.

The ones above are my plain-jane sock pattern, toe up, gusset heel. Ribbing is 3x2. Yarn is Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering Weight in Indian Corn.
















And this one is the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. The yarn is Noro Iro in color #70. I used about 3 and a half skeins. I did the pattern as called for, but the shawl wasn't quite big enough, so I just started the garter/stockinette repeats again and kept going until I hit the right size. This is definitely a winter shawl, and it's beautiful. I can't wait to use it.

I've also started the Nefertiti wrap. I was a bit intimidated, but so far the pattern isn't tough to follow.

I'm off to update my Ravelry projects page. I'm awful about keeping it updated!

We have Lilacs!

I always look forward to the lilacs blooming in spring. I have three lilac bushes, but the other two are up in the back yard and a bit tougher to get to. I got these pictures this morning on the way out to work.


The bush sits right outside the living room window, which means the living room smells like lilacs!


As you can see, the bush is almost in full bloom now.


A (somewhat blurry) closeup. Pretty, yes?

Two Beautiful Things

This is the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I'm doing it in Noro Iro, color #70. I can't even express how much I really love this! The shawl is a simple triangle shawl that alternates garter and stockinette. It really shows off the Noro yarn wonderfully.



Here's another picture, but the shawl is a good bit larger now. That is a cat in the corner of the picture. I laid it out on the bed just before bed. The afghan underneath is the giant granny square I crocheted for my husband a couple years ago. That's one project that has gotten tons of use!



That is my African Violet which just started blooming. I noticed it the other day when I was watering it. Isn't that pretty?





And of course, the obligatory flower close-ups!

This is how zombie plagues get started

 

We saw this the other evening after work. We actually turned around and came back to snap a photo of it. Is anyone else thinking about rabid Taco Bell patrons right now?