The Good
-Buying a house
-Taking advantage of the 8k first time homeowner’s credit
-Being rehired at my current job
-Getting an offer on my Grandpa’s house 2 days after it was put on the market
-Getting my black belt
-Getting Lacey
-Family reunion in Gatlinburg
-Fixing up my kitchen and closets
-Aja’s wedding
-Spending fall break in Nebraska with Grandmommie
-Seeing all my cousins (on my dad’s side) for the first time in years
-Having a good friend that lives 5 minutes away
-3 healthy babies born to family and close friends

The Bad
-The only bad thing I can think of is that Grandmommie died in November of this year. There were so many good things that surround that situation though…she hadn’t been sick, I got to spend time with her a few weeks before, and I got to see all my cousins at the funeral.

I guess when I lay it out this way, 2009 was more of an up year for me. I still cannot believe how quickly the years are going. I tell my kids that it’s true that they go faster when they get older, even though I never believed that when I was younger.

I have two main “resolution” type plans for next year. The first is exercise more. I’ve been running recently, but it’s so hard for me to stay with it consistently. Hopefully this will change once I get back to school. I’m doing a 5k tomorrow, and the goal is to complete it and do the best I can. I have plans set to do another one in April, with hopes that I can run significantly more than I can now.
The second is to appreciate and trust “the process.” I tend to be one that wants to jump to the end of things quickly, and will focus more on the end result than on how I got there. I’ve realized that, unfortunately, I appreciate things more if they’re more difficult (such as taking forever to get my black belt). Instead of being frustrated that things aren’t going as quickly as I’d like, I want to remember that the means is just as important as the end.

Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that 2010 is a great year!

(Note: This post was written on Dec. 31, but I never got around to publishing it. It’s been backdated.)

Even though I haven’t been updating, I *have* been knitting. I had two SuperSecret projects that were made for Sula’s sweet baby girl. Sula is a knitter herself, and said that she liked both the Baby Surprise Jacket and the February Baby Sweater. So, I decided to make both! The first was the ever popular Baby Surprise Jacket. Elizabeth Zimmermann is obviously way smarter than I am…I still have no idea how this blob of knitting ended up being a cute baby sweater. I used a DK weight yarn, and it ended up being really small. It fit Baby A when she was 2-3 weeks old, and has since outgrown it. I’m glad that she got to wear it, and now she’ll have a little sweater that shows how little she was!

Started: July 17, 2009
Finished: August 24, 2009 (Extended finishing time due to button procrastination)
Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet DK, “60″ Colorway
Mods: Instead of doing the buttonholes, I decided to use ribbon as the closures. This way the top could be buttoned, but the bottom could stay open. I was hoping this would allow the sweater to be worn longer. Plus, I really like how the ribbon looks. I saw someone do this on Ravelry, and thought it seemed like a great idea.

The next thing on my list was the February Baby Sweater. I really love how this turned out, and Baby A looked *so* cute wearing it! If I remember correctly, she was able to wear this at Thanksgiving (around 6 weeks old) and has worn it since then. I didn’t have a baby around to check sizes, so it’s nice to know that they both fit for awhile, as well as give me some info about how the sizing works with my gauge.

Started: July 21
Finished: August 31
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in a Burnt Orange (not sure the number)
Mods: Buttons and ribbon mod as mentioned in the Baby Surprise Jacket.

The next on my list of baby knitting was a blanket for my cousin’s daughter. She saw me knitting at a family reunion in June, and requested a baby blanket for when baby N came home from the hospital. We discussed it a bit, and settled on the Tweed Baby Blanket by Jared Flood. The pattern was really well written, and I really enjoyed knitting this blanket.

Started: Not sure…September?
Completed: November 4, 2009
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish Superwash in White
Mods: None

I also really loved the Swish Superwash. It blocked out nicely, and was very soft. Perfect baby yarn! I will definitely use both this pattern and the yarn again.

Since then, I’ve been working on a pair of socks or two and another sweater. I got bitten by the sweater bug in November, and that’s been my main focus since then. Hopefully that will be my first finished object of 2010!

On September 12 (hey, I’m only behind a little over a month on this one) I became a 3 dog household. April-dog has been in my family since I was 11 (I believe), and she’s obviously getting pretty old. My parents’ other dog started attacking April every time they were together, so we had to figure something out. I offered to take April, because it seemed to be the best option. She could hang out in my yard, and I figured that she wouldn’t feel threatened by the little dogs.

Since the move, she seems to be doing really well. The little dogs pretty much ignore her, and she doesn’t seem too concerned by them either. It think it’s working well for all of us.

Here’s a video from the first day they were all together. April tried to chase Lacey for about 3 steps, which was pretty good for her.

 

(Yeah, so I’m behind. I’m on vacation in Nebraska, so I’m hoping to post a few various updates while I’m here.)

I could probably make this post extremely long, but I’ve decided to try to hit the highlights…and even then, it still might be really long.

1. This is the first wedding where everything was done before the night before. There was no midnight flower arranging, or program folding, or anything. I got there a day early to help, and everything was done! I was very impressed.

2. Friday was the big “Getting Ready for the Wedding” day. We walked to Starbucks for breakfast, complete with bling.

We continued on to the nail salon, where everyone in the wedding party (as well as any moms that were around) got their fingers and toes done. We also talked to the Mary Kay lady about our makeup for the next day. This whole process took way longer than I expected. We had a little bit of time before rehearsal dinner, so Rachel (my cousin), my aunt, and I ran over to Nordstrom.

3. The rehearsal itself went well, and there was lots of spontaneous picture taking.

I would like to thank the lady at Dress Barn for picking out my dress. It was one of those situations where she said, “Oh, I know something on the sale rack in your size! Try it on!” It was something like 80% off, which is always nice.

4. Our transportation to the dinner site? Limos. There was lots of dancing going on in this particular limo.

5. We ate at Maggiano’s, which was *amazing.* We made Kareem take a picture with us.

I wore my shawl, too! Here’s an action shot.

6. Saturday was wedding day! We spent the day getting hair and makeup done, and taking lots of photos. We also found time to look for Dave Mathews, who was staying at the Conrad that weekend. I invited his bodyguard to the wedding, but they didn’t show up. S-dogg (one of the photographers) became our paparazzi, and followed us around during this process. I’ll talk more about the photographers later.

7. Finally, it was time for the ceremony. My uncle walked Aja down the aisle.

Their ceremony was really nice, and it was really neat seeing the way they blended cultures and faiths during the ceremony.

8. After the ceremony, there was a cocktail hour while Aja and Kareem signed the marriage certificate. This is traditional in Egyptian culture. As the maid of honor, I got to see this ceremony, but didn’t take any pictures. As Aja was signing the certificate, she was required to cover her shoulders. The cool part? Aja asked to use my shawl during this part of the ceremony.

9. At the reception, we were served a 5 course meal. The meal ended with chocolate and vanilla wedding cake, and a white chocolate dipped strawberry dusted in gold.

10. At some point, I gave a toast. I’m not a fan of large groups of people, so I was a bit nervous. Mine was funny, while the best man’s was more serious, so I think it was a good balance. Note the iphone that I’m using for my notes.

11. The coolest part about the wedding was the belly dancer. At the beginning of the reception, she led Kareem and Aja around the room while Kareem’s mother threw coins at them. After they got to the front of the room, she did a short dance and left. After we ate, she came back for a longer dance. Partway through, Kareem’s best man (who is also Egyptian) got up and started dropping one dollar bills on her as she danced. I don’t think any of the guests expected this part, but it was really entertaining. The other groomsmen did this as well. You can see the bills scattered on the floor in this picture, as well as some falling through the air.

12. The night ended with lots of dancing. One of my favorite parts of the night was when the DJ played “Walk Like an Egyptian.” (Aja said it was on their “must play” list.) I ran over to Kareem and said, “Kareem, you’re so good at this!” He looked at me all confused and said, “What? I’m just walking.” (he said this as he was doing the stereotypical Egyptian hands that everyone does when they hear that song) We danced until about midnight, and I really didn’t want the night to end. Here’s one of the photos that the photographers took close to the end of the night.

The photographers (Captured Art Photography) were absolutely amazing. The three of them stayed all day (over 12 hours) and took so many amazing photos. I’ve been in weddings before where you did the typical group shots, a few by yourself, etc. These guys? I felt like I was all of a sudden thrown into an episode of Next Top Model or something. I was sitting on staircases (with people around!), climbing into windows and boxes, and doing all sorts of crazy stuff that I had not expected. I hope to get copies of some of the photos, because they are fabulous. I won the award as the “least photogenic bridesmaid,” (and I’m also really critical of my photos) but they managed to get some of me that I absolutely love. They were great fun, and I really enjoyed spending the day with them.

All in all, it was a great night, and the most fun that I’ve ever had at a wedding. I love Aja and Kareem, and was so glad that I was a part of their wedding.

Thanks to the Neighborhood Knit Shop, I have a photo of the back of my shawl while I’m wearing it. They took this for their Name It and Knit It gallery, and I borrowed it.

The wedding is this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have more action shots.

It is also the Summer of Socks. For some reason, I tend to stop knitting socks in the summer. I think it’s because I feel that I have time to tackle larger projects, and because I’m home more. I think I do socks more during the school year because I can carry them around with me. Anyway, I have finished two pairs of socks lately.

First up are my generic black socks. I bought this yarn for $1 a skein out of someone’s garage, and just made some basic socks to wear to work.

Started: April 10, 2009
Finished: July 13, 2009
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Elderberry (black with blue and purple)
Pattern: Top Down with Heel Flap from Sensational Knitted Socks
Notes: These were my traveling socks, so they took a bit longer to finish than normal.

Next up is my June package from the Fiber Baristas Sock Club. June’s dyer was Catherine from Knitting Notions, who is local to the Nashville area. (On a side note, I bought one of her cherry swifts awhile ago. I love it.) The yarn was inspired by Tennessee’s mountains and streams.

The color of the yarn is pretty accurate in this picture above. I realized after I painted my living room that I also got rid of my neutral wall where I was photographing my socks. Oops. I’ll have to find another place, I guess. Here are the socks.

Started: June 17, 2009
Finished: July 14, 2009
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Yarn: Classic Merino Superwash Sock in Misty Mountain Hop
Notes: This is my second time to do this sock pattern, and I think it works well with this yarn. It’s a bit hard to tell in the picture, because of the color of the wall. Anyway, I’m very pleased with this colorway and the socks. The only modification that I made was to do an eye of the partridge heel flap instead of what was specified in the pattern.

I’ve been working on some Super Sekret projects, and will have those to post once they get to the recipient. I’m using some awesome patterns that I’ve wanted to try, and I’m very excited to see how they turn out.

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…to be able to jump up and sleep on the couch in peace?

You’ll notice that I had to move my leg a few times during this video. That’s because they were all but sitting on top of me. Crazy dogs.

My cousin Aja is getting married in August, and it’s going to be a black-tie affair. I’ve never really seen myself as a shawl person, partly because I don’t go anywhere fancy enough to need one. So when I found out that I was going to be in the wedding, my mind instantly jumped to making a shawl.

The most complicated lace patterns that I’ve done have all been on socks. I was excited to be able to try something a little more complicated.

It amazes me how much blocking can change a piece. Before blocking, it looked like this:

It was crinkly, and less than a couch cushion in length. Here’s a picture during blocking:

I attempted to take a photo wearing it, but that was all sorts of impossible. I’ll have to get someone else to do that for me.

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl
Yarn: Louet Gems Fingering in Champagne (bought from the Loopy Ewe)
Start Date: June 18, 2009
Finish Date: July 6, 2009
Modifications: I used a size 5 needle instead of the recommended size 6. My shawl came out smaller than most people would like, but I’m a small person. It all works out. Instead of doing nupps, I used beads. I really like the look of the beads.

This is a great pattern, and was a very good starting point for a larger lace piece. Many of the rows were pattern repeats, which was helpful. The pattern is extremely well-written and easy to follow. I’ll end with a close-up of the center part:

I’m quite proud of it.

Riley’s life before Lacey:

Riley’s life after Lacy:

(This is actually a pretty calm interaction, but something like this happens on a daily basis.)

Luckily, some things never change.

…I have a finished sweater!

From what I can figure out based on my blog, I started working on the Central Park Hoodie in February of 2007. I bought the yarn from Threaded Bliss, which has since been sold and renamed Bliss Yarns.

The sweater has been sitting in a bag for about 2 years, with only the button band and seaming left to do. I’ve pulled it out periodically, but never quite took the plunge to finish it. It was the “Name it and Knit it” extravaganza going on at The Neighborhood Knit Shop that finally caused me to get my act together. Basically, you go in to the store, chose a project and a completion date, then knit it. When you finish, you take the project into the store and your name goes into a hat. You can name and knit as many projects as possible between now and December 4, when there will be a drawing for a $150 gift certificate. I got all the seaming done in a 2 hour session one Thursday night, and felt quite silly that it took me all that time to get with it. It’s also made me want to knit more sweaters, now that I know I can do the seams!

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, color 2423
Started: February 2007
Finished: July 6, 2009
Mods: I knitted this at a tighter gauge than was specified, so I knit a size large. This gave me a size that was between the small and the medium.

This photo was taken in the bathroom mirror at 2am. I was so glad to be finished! I still need to block the button band, because it was trying to be cranky and pull the sweater up. I also had to rig the button holes (I made them too big), and may have to do something different with the buttons in the future. I also wish I’d knit it a little longer, so I wouldn’t pull on it so much. And, as expected, the sleeves turned out to be too long. I was afraid to shorten them, because I wasn’t sure how they’d fit in at the shoulder. At this point, I’m planning on keeping this sweater at work so I can throw it on when I’m cold (which is a lot of the time).

All in all, I’m very pleased with this sweater, and am looking forward to making more sweaters/cardigans in the future!