I’m in a punchy mood today.

Last night I went to bed early for once, knowing that I had to wake up at 5:30 to trek to Boston for work. So I fell asleep around 10, and was woken up at midnight to the sound of our carbon monoxide detector beeping. The alarm = red flashing light (“Seek fresh air”), fast continuous beep, but it had a green light and sporadic beeps. It plugs into the wall, so it wasn’t a battery issue. We unplugged it and fumbled around wondering what to do, then plugged it back in and it went into actual alarm mode so I called the fire department.

Fire department came, checked it out, there’s no gas anything in the apartment and they said it was all clear. I was still a little nervous about going back to sleep though! Took a while to go back to sleep, woke up, got all the way to work to find out that my boss forgot I was coming today, so she wasn’t here and I have no work to do. In other words, I wasted hours of commuting and $15 for nothing. Grr.

But it’s the weekend! I just finished my first week of my last semester and I don’t have to visit my family this weekend. Having all of this free time between classes is weird after working 50 hours a week during January. For some reason, I’m not all that excited about it. As stressful as it was working in Washington, I never said “I would rather be back in school.” I guess that should make me rethink law school plans. Nevermind the future. Time to hit the books and get back the social life that I lost last semester.

Justice is served! Although it’s unfortunate that she’s all over the news and that’s what she’s wants, I’m glad that Heidi Montag’s face is 10x fuglier than before. Forever! Hahaha. I just can’t stop laughing when I think about it – the only way she could be front page news was to permanently disfigure her face on purpose.

Everyone likes that Up in the Air Movie. I bet people who liked it fit at least 3 of these criteria: laid off/hates their job, 45 years old, divorced, and lonely, which aptly is a large percentage of the population hence the raving reviews. I thought it was boring as hell. Then again, I am not old, laid off, or lonely. It’s also a long ass commercial for a certain airline, hotel, and car rental company.

On the other hand, I thought the acting was good, and I liked that the ending was pretty much “Hah hah, you’re still not important.”

After seeing the fun she had playing with the wooden kitchen at Abi’s house during a photoshoot, I bought my niece a little kitchen for Christmas. Here she is on Christmas morning putting her sippy cup in the oven:
Syd's kitchen

It’s small, so I figure we’ll put it on a stand or something as she gets taller. All of the other kitchens would’ve been too tall for her to reach for the time being. I also got her the famous wooden sushi set to go with it. I’ve wanted to buy that thing since I first laid eyes on it years ago, so I was very excited to be able to give it to my little monkey. The maki pieces stick together with velcro, which you can chop apart with the wooden knife. Syd can’t quite do it herself yet, but she loves watching us do it. And the chopsticks have velcro wrapped around the ends to pick up the velcro on the sushi! I don’t need to go on about how adorable it is. She loves the kitchen. And I do too; it’s one of the few gifts she received on Christmas that wasn’t electronic and made noise! If I ever have a kid, I will only bring out one noisemaking toy at a time. That crap drives me crazzzy.

Marsan Watchcap

Originally uploaded by oh_hello

A quickie hat that I made for Brian with extra yarn I had. This is the first hat I’ve ever made him, can you believe it? He didn’t wear hats before, but now that he doesn’t have a mane of hair to keep his head warm, a hat is essential. I was happy to oblige.

I’ve been churning out tons of small knitted things lately. First up, a hat & mitten set as part of my sister’s Christmas present. I gave her the hat early.

Icing Swirl Hat

The hat pattern is the Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague. It’s meant to look like a swirl of frosting. Cute. I want one.
Thrummed Mittens

These mittens are another thing I want for myself. Just a basic mitten pattern with wool “thrums” added. The top mitten is what it looks like on the inside – those V’s make little fluffs of wool on the inside, which keep your hands toasty. They’re like Uggs for your hands.

I bought the white wool at a craft fair. The farm is in Tolland, CT and the woman had a photo album of her sheep and even the one that this wool probably came from. How cool is that? For non-knitters, wool roving is cleaned, prepared wool that you would then spin into yarn. I have plenty of wool left for more mittens, but making the fluffs before knitting them was a pain in the ass.

Up next… I knit this entire sweater during my 6 day Thanksgiving vacation. Record time!
Liesl

The Liesl sweater, also by Ysolda Teague. The buttonholes ended up too close together for me, so I just buttoned into the lace hole and it is fine. Although the armholes were loose and fit when I separated them, the sleeves themselves are tight. I’m gonna have to do some bicep curls to make it better.

I’m kind of on an Ysolda spree right now, and I’ve got quite a few of her patterns queued up.

Liesl
I’m trying to find ways to winter-remix my summer dresses. I think I’m committing some kind of fashion crime here by wearing a white cotton dress to a holiday party in December. I’m not one to live by fashion rules anyway.

For the first time ever, Victoria’s Secret will have an Asian model in its annual fashion show.. Yes, now. In 2009. The only reason this should be newsworthy is because they’ve been doing this since 1995 – almost 15 years – and never wanted an Asian model.

I started my Christmas shopping way early this year. I already started a pile in the corner, and it’s growing a little large. Not because there’s that many gifts, but I’m also saving boxes & packaging. I think I’ve got 8 people down, maybe 5 to go. I did much of my shopping thanks to killer deals: outlet shopping, Woot-offs, Friends & Family sale coupons, and my travels over the summer.

And I just have a few simple handmade things to make:
- sketchbook folios for two little girls
- mittens for my sis (half done)
- embroider an apron for my aunt
- a hat or two for extra gifts

I think I can do it! Now if only finishing my final papers were that easy…

Cropped Cardigan

This is the “Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties” from Fitted Knits. I made this sweater to wear with summer dresses, but I didn’t finish it in time for summer. It doesn’t really fit with my style so I think I’m giving it to my mom. It fits her better too. It’s cute, just not on me. It’s been sitting unfinished for so long, I’m glad to finally have it out of the way.

Cropped Cardigan detail

Speckle sweater

My niece modeled this sweater for the official website & pattern, so I had to make her one for herself. You can see how big she’s grown and how different she looks from when she modeled it! I think she wore the 3 months size for the photoshoot (it was snug) and here she is wearing 12 months and it fits her perfectly. Which means she won’t fit it in about 2 months. It took me longer than I expected to knit.

Surprisingly, it’s only the second sweater I’ve knit for her. But there are some very cute patterns that she modeled for next season’s Berroco collection that I might make. Now I have to look for toddler patterns because my “baby” books only go up to size 12 months.

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muppet feet

Verity hat

Verity hat

Syd's kitchen

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