Weeks 20 and 21: Still Hexagons

Posted on May 26, 2011 by elizabeth

So I obviously didn’t post anything last week, but I was and have been hard at work on my hexagons. Last week, I finished the final color combination and weaved in a million, billion yarn ends.

Then, thanks to a few days at jury duty, I started in on the fourth color on each hexagon. (And thanks to Erin‘s suggestion, I smuggled in a nail clipper to cut the yarn, since I was pretty sure scissors would be frowned on at the courthouse.)

This week, I’ve been continuing with the gray rounds, and as of this writing, have added the final color to all 95 hexagons! Next up: more ends. And then stitching the hexes together! The pattern suggests whip stitch, but I think I might go with the slip stitch method described here, which I used when I made my famous granny square blanket last year. (How did I never blog about that? I SO wish I had recorded the pattern I ended up cobbling together from various other places. Since I will, eventually, one day, make another blanket like that.)

Week 19: Lots o’ Hexagons

Posted on May 11, 2011 by elizabeth

Crochet Today had a pattern for a giant afghan made out of hexagon granny squares about a year ago, and I knew I had to make it, simply because the photos in the magazine feature an orange couch very much like mine. I started collecting the yarn for this afghan last summer, and I already owned quite a few of the colors thanks to all of those Gryffindor scarves I made way back when. I am not sure when I started making this officially, but it was in the late fall; I’d bring the yarn for one color combination out to Dan’s for the weekend and crochet while he and his brother played video games. And while trying to keep poor Bluecat away. (I did end up crocheting him a few circles with extra long tails, because they do make pretty perfect cat toys. And I felt bad for having to keep him away from something so enticing.)

And then Handmade52 started, and the great baby hat factory went into business… and the yarn and already made hexagons sat on my coffee table for quite a long time. Until recently, when out of nowhere, the urge to crochet became too big to ignore. So I picked this project back up, and have been making pretty solid progress over the last few weeks.

There were, of course, a million loose yarn ends to weave in from the hexagons I had already finished…

And then a few more color combinations to work on. I’m now working on the last color combination, and next up will be adding the gray rounds to all 95 hexagons. And then, of course, stitching them all together and adding a border. I’m pretty excited.

Of course, this week I realized that my parents asked if they could maybe, possibly, if-you’re-sure-you’re-okay-with-it have the Great Orange Couch and Chair back, because they’d fit so nicely into their most recently-remodeled room, aka the grownups’ rec room, aka the room my sister and I shared growing up, but that has now been turned into the treadmill-sewing machine-and extra tv room. So when I move this summer, the orange couch will no longer be mine. And I’ve been making this afghan specifically to go with the orange couch. So my parents are now getting what will soon be a pretty spectacular hexagon afghan. Which means I can make another one for me. (Maybe.)

Week 18: Fingerless Mittens

Posted on May 5, 2011 by elizabeth

I have been wanting to make proper fingerless mittens for a while, and even more after my failed attempt at crocheting cabled ones a few weeks ago. (I abandoned that project; I attempted to make them with at least 5 different hook sizes to get the gauge right, and it never got there, and I was frustrated beyond the point of enjoying myself, so I let it go.) Right around that same time, Design*Sponge wrote about how to host a knitting party (which honestly sounds like a lot of fun; maybe I’ll do something like that one day), and the post included instructions for knitting easy fingerless mittens.

I finally got around to visiting the yarn store near me, figuring that this pattern was straightforward enough (and didn’t call for a large amount of yarn) that it would be fun to buy some “fancy” yarn to use. I ended up buying Debbie Stoller’s Luxury Tweed Chunky in a dusty purple, because it looked amazing next to my pale gray coat.

These knit up super fast, even for this beginning knitter, and sewing the seam with a thumbhole couldn’t have been easier. Of course, I finished them just in time to … not need wristwarmers anymore, but that’s okay. I loved this project, and will definitely make another pair someday. (And I’m pretty sure there will be a few pairs to give as gifts, too.)

Week 17: Nook Case

Posted on April 27, 2011 by elizabeth

So as y’all know, I have now had my Nook for a few months, and am really loving it. I have been using a cover that Dan bought me for Christmas, and it is hot pink and folds open like a regular book, except it has a handy dandy notepad in it, too. And it’s a great cover, but I discovered that (for me, at least) the kind of cover that opens like a book and folds back on itself is really awkward and unbalanced to hold while reading. It started to drive me crazy.

So I started shopping online for a new case, thinking a flip-top case or just a simple cozy that just stores the Nook when you’re not reading it would be the best. I didn’t really find anything I liked, but I resigned myself to choosing a really basic neoprene zip-top case and was moments from clicking “submit order” when I saw that Marianne had just posted a photo of the cozy she had just knitted for HER Nook. (What? I multitask. Always.)

And I said DUH. Why did it not EVER occur to me to make one for myself? With all the freaking MAKING OF THINGS that I have been doing since 2011 started??

I started on Ravelry, but was too drawn to the cable-knitted cozies (and I don’t know how to knit cables yet), so I turned to a basic Google search. It didn’t necessarily have to be a pattern for a Nook-specific case, but if I could find one where someone had already figured out the measurements, I was all for that. I found this pattern from Little Birdie Secrets and loved it.

I decided to crochet stripes because I was so in love with the colors I used for Thea’s hat, and had a really fantastic time choosing buttons at the local fabric store. (Okay, fine, I bought way more sets of buttons than I needed for this project.) I actually also bought white rick-rack because my brother said this would look like a kind of adorable monster if I added some teeth.

As I was starting, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be quite wide enough, but decided to just go with the pattern’s measurements. Of course, in the end, it’s a little too snug, but I’m hoping the yarn will stretch a bit. This is also the first time I’ve ever used (or, hell, heard of) moss stitch, which works up amazingly fast and looks really great. I’m not happy with the not-perfect job I did stitching up the sides, or the fact that I probably should have blocked this with pins and all that jazz so the edges stop curling… but it’s just so cute! And stripey. I will probably make another one in other colors, because it’s not like I don’t already have the buttons. Or extra yarn.

A Week Off to Remember

Posted on April 25, 2011 by elizabeth

Way back in the beginning of the year, I was looking at my schedule for the late winter and early spring, and decided that I would probably need a break around the middle of April. So I requested a full week off, randomly, without any plans, just because I had a feeling I would need it. That week was last week, and I am still awfully proud of my foresight. Because I REALLY needed a week off.

So I packed my week off to the gills with super fun stuff, and while I’m a little sleepy on Monday morning, a few hours before I go back to work, it’s the best kind of sleepy.

I started out by spending a day with Dan and his friends Jon and Teresa, and their one year old son. We ate amazing Mexican food (even though the in-house smokers left us smelling like a campfire for days) and watched bits of documentaries and mostly just relaxed. And ate cupcakes. As we were driving home, Dan and I couldn’t quite figure out why we don’t see them more often, and resolved to make it happen WAY more often.

Monday was a day spent with my sister, doing sister bonding things like getting manicures and pedicures, wandering around Urban Outfitters, sharing a cupcake, and then drinking beers before we met up with her boyfriend and our brother for dinner. And again, why don’t we do this more often?

On Tuesday, I got a few things done around my apartment before getting out the rainboots for a potentially rainy afternoon wandering around Princeton with Kasia. The rain seemed to understand our goals for the day – it rained long enough for lengthy trips to Paper Source (where I bought way too many things, but most notably a stamp that looks like a camera) and a totally adorable toy store full of both nostalgic old timey toys and super impressive science kits and remote-controlled bugs and such. Then the rain abated so that we could walk around campus a bit before an extremely tasty and beer-filled dinner at Triumph (where I had a beer sampler to work toward that last item on my 30 Before 30 list)! I could have sat for hours there, but the cupcakes were calling all the way from Bent Spoon, and they never, ever disappoint. Other than Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the city, Bent Spoon cupcakes might be my favorite cupcakes ever. They’re deceptively simple, but always, always delicious.

I did some laundry and had lunch with my mom on Wednesday morning, and then she dropped me off at the train station so I could go into New York City, first to wander around and finally see the New York Public Library’s main branch, a Mets clubhouse store, and Grand Central Station before meeting up with Jodi. She wanted to take me to her favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Co Ba, and had been raving about this one dish for days.. and she was not wrong, because I am still dreaming about that bowl of noodles. Seriously. We spent far too long in Anthropologie (where I bought a bowl with holes in it, a new e, and another notebook), found cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery, and then had a drink at an on-purpose trashy bar that I can’t remember the name of. But it was so, so fun. I still find it interesting that I can talk for hours with people who, let’s face it, started out as “internet friends” but who have swiftly transitioned to real, true friends.

Thursday was my one unscheduled day, which meant that I kept way, way too busy for any relaxing to take place. I cleaned my apartment, went to Target, got my bangs trimmed, took care of a few crafty details around the apartment, and a whole bunch of other things that I can’t even remember now. I also ate the extra Bent Spoon cupcake that I had been saving. But then my sister came over and we got pizza, garlic knots, and ice cream and sat and talked while watching a silly girly movie. And while perhaps my belly was starting to object to all of the eating I’d been doing all week, it didn’t stop me, either.

Friday was another adventure – I drove up to Connecticut to hang out with Cynthia (and Joel and baby J) for the day. Somehow, I expected the trip to take much, much longer than it did, and knowing that it’s closer than I thought is a great revelation. Cynthia was worried about having a plan, but I was pretty sure we could just sit on the couch drinking tea (and eating more cupcakes and brownies and cookies) and talking most of the day. We did wander around Target, and I got to eat some seriously good New Haven brick oven pizza (or, apizza? I am still confused by that part).

So my week off was awfully busy, but I feel re-energized by all of the good times with great people. And the cupcakes. I’m not sure I’ll resolve to eat cupcakes every day for six days straight again, but it was pretty exceptional while it lasted. I can’t remember the last time I talked so much or ate so much in a week. But it was SO worth it.

Week 16: Gnome Hat

Posted on April 21, 2011 by elizabeth

This Handmade52 project sometimes feels like the Hats All The Time project, but I can’t help it if they are easy and so giftable. Dan’s very good friends had a baby last year, and I wanted to be able to make something for Dan (and me) to give to Oskar to honor his first birthday, which was at the beginning of April. I’ve clearly been hoarding hat patterns since the fall, but when Craft linked to a pattern for a gnome hat from Lorajean’s Magazine, I wanted to make it IMMEDIATELY.

I have made a lot of baby hats in the last eight months or so, and I might have to go ahead and say it: this gnome hat may be the winner in terms of easiness plus cute factor. Poor Oskar doesn’t really like hats right now, so I couldn’t get a photo of him in the hat, but it was just the right size and to-die-for cute. (Seriously, click through to the pattern to see it on the head of a baby. Adorable.)

Progress Report

Posted on April 15, 2011 by elizabeth

I just realized that the 21st is next week, meaning that my 30th birthday is now almost exactly three months away. And I haven’t even looked at my 30 Before 30 list in … a while. I’m starting to run out of time. I have gotten a few things done so far, but there are way too many things left on this list, things that I need to get started on if I want to have a good showing this year. (One’s self-imposed rules are STRICT, yo. I wouldn’t want to get in trouble for not following them!)

There are a few things on the list that have to wait until the weather gets (significantly) warmer, namely: go swimming (#3), spend at least one day at the beach (#17), go on a picnic (#18), and play with sparklers (#19). I have some plans in mind for #22 (get a tattoo), and that will (hopefully) happen sometime closer to my birthday.

I’m sort of disappointed in myself that I haven’t worked harder on taking photos of my Converse collection (#2), shooting more film (#5), or consuming beer samplers (#30). So I’m definitely going to make those a priority, because what’s more important than sneakers, film, and beer, really?

I know that I probably won’t end up hanging anything on the blank walls in my bedroom and living room (#15) because I’m moving in July (!) and it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to do that with so little time left here. But garlands and/or paper flowers (#12) are easy and simple, so maybe I can make that one of my Handmade52 projects.

As for the rest of the list… there seem to be a few items that are easy to work on now. I will have to clean out the Black Hole Closet (#20) and pare down my clothes (#8) in preparation for packing up the place, anyway, and maybe I can work on that next week while I’m off. And I think that making pizza (#6) and baking something just for me, just because (#29) will both be simple ways I can cheer myself up over the next few weeks. Getting to Harold’s (#26) should be easy, I mean, all I have to do is make it happen, and maybe I can get some friends to join me for that, too. (Although I’m sure my dad wouldn’t want to pass it up, either!) And really, it’s kind of ridiculous that I haven’t yet made a book of my Project365 photos (#21), considering the fact that I’ve been meaning to do that since I finished round 1 in the fall of 2007. Making a flickr set of my favorites is the easiest way to start, and I don’t think I have any excuses anymore.

But one thing I wanted to ask you guys, though, is about #27. Any ideas for something completely touristy? It would, of course, probably end up being a photo excursion… but I’m just not sure what I want to do for this one.

Week 15: Pom Pom Hat

Posted on April 14, 2011 by elizabeth

I have been planning to make this hat for Thea’s birthday for a while, and then had to keep it a secret until I knew the package had made its way into her (parents’) hands. I used another pattern from the Inner Hooker etsy shop, and it was an interesting twist on a hat, simply because it isn’t started in the round because it’s, you know, a rectangle.

Again, I made the 3-6 month size (with a few extra rows of each color at the bottom), perhaps knowing that it’s not exactly hat time of the year, but I think it turned out pretty adorable. Even though I don’t get along very well with pom poms, stupid “easy” pom pom maker be damned. (Also, why are they referred to as pom pons when everyone says pom poms? Is everyone wrong? Is it like how everyone pronounces “sherbet” wrong?)

64 Colors in 64 Weeks

Posted on April 11, 2011 by elizabeth

Jodi and Dani’s sixty-four colors project has been one of the most inspiring projects I’ve seen in a long time. The fact that they invited us to participate alongside them was so great, and I have had the BEST time with this project. It has inspired me to see things differently, to look for colors everywhere, and satisfies my perfectionist side at the same time. While some of the colors were duds, so to speak, and I got reeeeally tired of dark purples and how purples never look on the computer screen like they did in real life, I am so glad that I followed this project through from start to finish. I’m sad it’s over, but I have a feeling that I will keep adding shots to my sixty-four colors set for a long time.

Here are all of my “official” sixty-four colors shots. I love seeing them all together like this!

Week 14: Lemony Spring Risotto

Posted on April 5, 2011 by elizabeth

The food supply situation in my apartment reached danger levels over the weekend (no jelly! no string cheese! one more slice of bread! no cranberry juice!), so I used the trip to the grocery story as motivation to actually cook something new, which I haven’t done in a while. I have been wanting to make this recipe found on the Weight Watchers site recently, because I haven’t yet cooked every type of risotto that exists. The recipe had all sorts of tasty-sounding ingredients: asparagus, peas, and lemon. It may not feel like spring outside, but I can force spring in my kitchen.

I only modified the recipe a bit – mostly by adding way more vegetables than they said to use. (I used about a pound and a half of frozen cut asparagus, because the fresh stuff at not-my-usual grocery store looked so sad, and a whole package of frozen peas, rather than a measly cup.) My only complaint about this recipe is due to my own error – it was a bit TOO lemony, but that’s because I went a little overboard when zesting the lemon and didn’t measure what I ended up with; it was most certainly more than the teaspoon that was called for.

But these? These are some leftovers I will look forward to eating (as opposed to that potato stew which is still in my freezer, making me feel guilty).