Regular.

I love having "regular" status at shops I visit.
At Starbucks or Caribou, for example, the moment the barista sees me walk into the door they'll start making my drink. It's helpful when I'm in a hurry. ^_^ In the Starbucks I frequent I've received many free drinks as well. If you were to go in and order a vanilla latte and they were like, "Oh, we're out of vanilla." Then you would switch your drink around. If you ordered your vanilla latte and paid, and then they realized they didn't have anymore vanilla as they were making it then they might refund you and give you a substitute drink for free or give you a voucher for a free drink in the future.
Since they know that I ALWAYS get the same thing if ever they run out of one of the ingredients they always give me the substitute drink for free. I think that's some dedication and great customer service. ^_^

Another place I'm usually recognized is LYS's. I think I have a tendency to stand out among the regular knitting population so, regular status @ LYSs is often achieved.

The most recent place I've become a regular is at this Chinese restaurant about 20 minutes away from my house. Next door is a 24 hour Starbucks that I religiously visit and that's how I discovered this place.
The first few times I went there I wasn't too impressed with what I ordered. One day I decided to try their crab rangoons and they were delicious. So, I'd go there often and get a dish with a crab rangoon appetizer and a can of coke.
Now, after I order my food the manager always adds a can of coke and asks if I want crab rangoon. I thought this was the epitome of being known at a restaurant, but, now when I sit down she'll only give me my coke without a cup of ice because she noticed that I drink out of the can. And then I don't eat my crab rangoon with sweet and sour sauce so she stopped bringing that out as well.
During my most recent visit I ordered a beef with vegetables dish. I'm not a big fan of most vegetables so I tend to mainly eat the meat. When my plate came out the huge mass of vegetables were replaced with only a few greens and carrots and the meat was doubled. I love great service and being a regular. ^_^

On a related topic... sort of... , my "imaginary friend" Danielle and I were talking about high school physical education. We mentioned the swimming unit and I asked her if the girls are forced to swim when umm... Aunt Flo was visiting.
She said no.. and the way they communicated this to their male gym teacher was by going up to him and saying, "Regular." And then they would be excused from swimming. I thought that was cute and funny. Needless to say, Kevin and I had a field day with the term. Unfortunately, the jokes ended up being quite inappropriate so I won't be sharing them today.

Today ended up really dark, foggy, and stormy so no pictures. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I can share my new yarn, progress pictures of my current WIPs and maybe my Ravelry beta t-shirt. =)

Knit hard! Only 10 days of straight blogging left!

Oops, I did it again.

I bought more yarn today. I know I shouldn't have... but... I had a purpose! I was buying yarn for my swap partner. I don't think she reads my blog... and if she does she won't technically know that I'm her partner... so I can tell you that I got some luscious Malabrigo and some bamboo yarn. =) Pictures will be coming soon.

In other news, my pretty babies will be all gone soon:



They're waiting, all lined up, for their owners to choose them. I can't believe how successful Malabrigo Cast On Week was... and, I think I'll be living off this high for a while. I actually bought some Malaboo-boo (as Danielle refers to it) for myself today for a pair of mittens I have plans for. It'll be my 2nd attempt at designing a pattern.

I officially have way too many projects on the needles. According to my Ravelry notebook I have 10 WIPs. That's definitely too many. And I REALLY want to get to work on these mittens... I should really finish up a project. I forgot how much time goes into making a scarf. It's simple, but, it's long and time consuming and VERY repetitive. Possibly more time than a pair of socks?

=)

Speaking of socks... I'd like to make a trade with someone... a sock knitter, to be exact. I was walking around the house a few days ago and my feet were cold. Of course the first thing that came to my mind were wool socks, but alas, I do not own any. All my previous attempts have provided dysfunctional pairs so I'd like to trade someone a scarf for a pair of socks. Anyone willing to take me up on this offer? The scarf will be out of Malabrigo (unless you'd like something else), 2 skeins even! You can choose the pattern and color if you desire, or, I could surprise you with something. I'm excellent and knitting flat things!
I'm also a men's US size 9-9.5. ^_^
I'd love to trade soon, before Christmas even. I guess this is not really the time to be asking since knitters' needles are generally booked until after Christmas... but, I want some socks! I might just cave in and make another sad, sad attempt. Or, God forbid, I'll buy a pair from Walmart. o_O ... you don't want me to buy socks from Walmart, right?
I could try to knit 2 at the same time.. and that would ensure that 1) I don't suffer from SSS and 2) They end up the same size... but, me and magic loop have not yet been acquainted. And wouldn't a little gift exchange be fun?

If anyone would like to take me up on my offer let me know. =)

For now, knit hard!

Cabled DS Lite Case

People have been asking me for the pattern I used for my DS cases. It was my own pattern and I never really got around to writing it out until maybe a month ago. As I was figuring out what I did I decided I'd like to add a flap to the top as a closure to make sure the DS stayed in its lovely case. Sadly, I couldn't come up with one I loved so I'll just have to share the basic sock pattern for now. I don't think I'll have time to really develop a decent flap until after the holidays. Enjoy!

Cabled DS Lite Case

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted
Needles: 4 DPNs in US 8
Gauge: ... umm.... ^_^

Key:
CF3: Slip next 3 sts onto cable needle purl wise and hold cable needle in front of work, K3, P1, K3 off the cable needle

Pattern Round
Needle 1: K2, P1, K3, P1, K3, P1
Needle 2: K2, P1, K3, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1
Needle 3: K3, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K3, P1
The condensed version: [K2, P1, (K3, P1)x2]x4

Cable Round
Needle 1: K2, P1, CF3, P1
Needle 2: K2, P1, CF3, P1, K2, P1
Needle 3: CF3, P1, K2, P1, CF3, P1
The condensed version: [K2, P1, (CF3, P1)x2]x4

The Pattern:
CO 44 stitches divide on to 3 DPNs
1st needle: 11 sts
2nd needle: 14 sts
3rd needle: 19 sts
The stitches are divided this way to allow for easier cabling. Feel free to divide the needles as you see appropriate.

Join into a circle and begin pattern:
Rounds 1 & 2: Pattern Round

Main cable pattern:
Rounds 3 - 8: Pattern Round
Round 9: Cable Round
Repeat rounds 3-9 four more times.

Round 38-43: Pattern Round
Round 44: Knit

Divide stitches evenly onto two needles and graft shut.
Weave in ends.

I find that if you turn your DS case completely inside out and pull out the grafted corners as far as they can go and then flip it right side out it'll leave you with nicely shaped corners.

A flap can be added by picking up stitches along the CO edge.

The original green DS case I made actually had an even 3x1 ribbing. I found that it was too loose so I tightened up some areas and that's how I came up with the crazy 2x1, (3x1)² ribbing.

Progress Report

Just a few pictures to share!
The other night I cast on for an Irish Hiking Scarf in the pretty Indigo that I received from EarthChick. In true Malabrigo form, the skeins had significant color differences. My friend Kevin, who is not a knitter, but, hangs out with me a lot looked at the skeins and said, "They're different colors." And then he looked at the tag and added, "But they're from the same dye lot."
Funny how friends and family pick up on the lingo even when they have absolutely no desire to knit (I've tried to teach him twice!).
I'm working from both skeins at one time, alternating every two rows. It's creating subtle striping, but, I think overall it looks pretty cool.



I also decided that I would knit this whole scarf Continental. I'm mainly an English knitter and started to develop my Continental style while knitting the Exchequered scarf, but, I figured I could fine tune it.
It's sort of frustrating. I really have to focus and force myself to not switch to English, but, I'm doing it. =)

Shifting Sands has been moving along quite nicely as well.



It's strange but the scarf/pattern looks 100% better in photos. I'm almost finished with my first skein... It doesn't feel like it's a good length for half a scarf. o_O I'm hoping that I had used a bit of this first skein for something else and that my 2nd skein will have more yarn. I can't really think of what else I would have used it for... but... umm, let's hope for the best. ^_^



You can see the gaping hole that used to hold the yarn. It's magic! The yarn just turns into this really weird scarf. =)
There's also a jar of honey in the background from my Knitter's Tea Swap partner Suzie. It's delicious and wanted to be in the photoshoot 'cause he matched the colors of the scarf.

I've extended the Malabrigo Cast On Week cut off for Sunday afternoon/evening. So, hopefully people upload a few more projects. I actually have one more project I want to add, but, we'll see if I get around to it.
Now that I have like... 10 WIPs it's time to go into knitting hibernation and try to finish at least one.

Knit hard!


ETA: I totally just tripped myself out. hahahaha. For a fun time look at the middle picture and scroll up and down and up and down. It looks like it's moving or zooming in and out. TRIPPY! o_O

Success!

Malabrigo Cast On Week was a success! ... for now. =)
When I originally started the event we needed over 200 projects to beat out Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi. We had a good 350 members so I figured if each one did one project then we'd get it for sure.
After my original posting I only had about 40 people replying with interest... but, I decided to go for it anyway.
So, the gap has been closed and it was easily over 200 projects added. While I'd like to completely contribute the success of Cast On Week to the Malabrigo Junkies I actually think the constant influx of new members adding their projects to Ravelry helped give us the boost that we needed.
I should've taken note of the original numbers. But, Lorna's Laces was growing as well, so, not only did we have to deal with the original 200 projects but also the regular additions of projects to competitor's yarn totals. We did good. =)
Now the goal for the remaining day and a half is to give Malabrigo worsted a sizable lead over Lorna's Laces so that there is no chance of them passing us up.
I'm somewhat afraid that after the end of the week there will be a decline in the usage of Malabrigo... because people really CO everything they could handle and afford... but, we'll see. I still have 3 more projects to add!


... I just read through those few paragraphs and it comes out really... fragmented. hahaha. Today is not a great day for blogging. I think I need a nap! =)

Knit & Blog hard (after a good powernap)!

Meme?

Here's the 3 things meme. I 'borrowed' it from SavingNine. =)

Three Things
Three things that scare me:

• Heights!
• Tiny things that jump or move quickly
• The idea of moths invading my stash

Three people who make me laugh:

• Kevin
• Danielle
• Myself

Three Things I love:

• Induldging
• Quality
• Alone time

Three Things I hate:

• Crappy drivers (gonna agree with SavingNine on this one)
• Psychologically scary things
• Closed minds

Three things I don't understand:

• Everything beyond a basic-intermediate level
• Fire-what is it?!
• Water-these things seem so... arbitrary but when I think about them they don't make sense

Three things on my desk:

• Yarn. Malabrigo and some alpaca to be exact.
• Coffee. Grande soy with whip cinnamon dolce latte
• A thermos half filled with tea from this morning

Three things I'm doing right now:

• ... this
• Drinking coffee?
• I agree with SavingNine--this is a dumb question

Three things I want to do before I die:

• Own a condo
• Get into the best shape of my life
• Become semi-famous

Three things I can do:

• Knit!
• Listen
• Type relatively fast

Three ways to describe my personality:

• Introverted
• Naughty
• Sense-of-humor-ed. o_O

Three things I can't do:

• Talk to strangers with any sort of charm or finesse
• Gymnastics
• Dance and look good doing it

That was surprisingly difficult.
So, me knitting the Shifting Sands scarf is REALLY weird. My hands memorize the pattern more than my brain does. I actually couldn't write out the pattern for you if you asked but for some reason my hands know what to do. Knitting it actually makes my brain tired because I'm constantly trying to figure out if what my hands are doing is correct... but I really can't wrap my brain around it. It's weird and exhausting. Almost makes me not want to knit the scarf even though I can... and easily.

I took a bath yesterday and it was goooooooood. I broke out the trusty space heater to warm things up (because nobody likes to get out of the bath/shower into cold air) and... it was good. I didn't even do my usual prep. It was just the tub, a Lush bath bomb, and two episodes of How I Met Your Mother.
I just wish I had a bigger bath tub... At certain times during the bath I like to be completely covered by water, as a result there are all sorts of contorting going on. You should see me. ... actually... maybe you shouldn't. ^_^

Malabrigo is only about 26 projects away from passing up Lorna's Laces. Hopefully we have at least that many more people cast on. =)

Malabrigo Cast On Week

I have a few projects to share with you. They are all Malabrigo Worsted and they all were Cast On this week for Malabrigo Cast On Week. =) I plan to start maybe 2 or 3 more projects. x_X

The first is a 2nd Scrunchable Scarf in Whale's Road:

I started this on Sunday evening. I know for sure that the Scrunchable Scarf is a great pattern because I've knitted it before... but, I dunno about how well it's working with this yarn. I loved the color in hank form, and it was equally stunning wound up in a cake... but... now I don't know... I think I'll keep working it to see how it turns out.

I think the first image shows truer colors.
I slipped on the stitch markers I received from EarthChick for picture purposes. This scarf really doesn't need any stitch markers and requires very little memorization.

My next project I started last night. It's Shifting Sands in Amber Gold.

I'm currently loving it. Ever since I saw brooklyntweed's version I've been considering knitting it up. The amount of cables were always daunting though... and I had previously tried the cables-without-a-cable-needle technique but it would not work out for me.
The Amber Gold had been ... reincarnating itself every so often because I love the color... sadly, nothing ever really fit the bill... I figured the color was similar to sand (and similar to brooklyntweed's) so I should go for it during this Malabrigo Cast On Week.

This time I was able to learn with assistance from Grumperina's instructions as well as the videos at knittinghelp.com. It made all the difference and now this scarf is a breeze. I've already memorized the pattern and I'm really enjoying knitting it.
It looks like it would make an awesome place mat.

I messed up on the first two repeats. The 2nd row of cables I was actually knitting two in front when I should only have been knitting one. It's okay though... it's a design feature. ^_^

My third project I started just about an hour ago. It's the Diagonal Knot Stitch Scarf from SavingNine in Azul Bolita.

This blue is SO radioactive. It like... glows. The scarf is a bit thin for my tastes so I think this will end up as a gift. I actually already have the perfect recipient in mind. ^_^
The pattern is pretty simple, although the purl three is quite difficult for me. It might be because I'm using super blunt wood needles. I think I'll have to switch to sharper aluminum because it's quite the struggle. Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.

Those are my projects so far. I feel an Irish Hiking Scarf in the works as well as a pair of mittens... I NEED Malabrigo Cast On Week to be a success. We're only ~40 projects away from being the 8th most popular yarn on Ravelry!

Knit hard!