I (Heart) New York

For those of you who don't know (or who haven't caught on) I'm in New York! Long Island, to be exact. I'm visiting those fabulous people who I babysat all last summer, and having spent only half a day up here, I already feel like it's home. (Fear not, Mother. I'm a Texan at heart.)

My day started off at 5:30 am. Do realize that I haven't voluntarily seen those numbers in quite a while. (5:30 pm doesn't count. Nor does Project Graduation.) I woke up, checked my email, and then was off to the airport by 6. Mom and I stopped to take care of Mike's dogs, and I snapped a picture of the "Sunrise".

(Damn it, if I'm awake this early I darn well want to see an effing sunrise!)

And then I got through security uneventfully and eventually onto the airplane. And then we took off on time and we got into the air. And I didn't see the sunrise, but I did see pretty clouds!!

35 minutes later, I arrived in Dallas and was searching through the pocket in front of me for any of my belongings, and I found this.

It was an iPod that somebody had left on the plane! As much as I wanted to keep it (It's adorable! And the music didn't suck.) I gave it to the people at the desk at the gate and they did their best to find the person who it belonged to.

And then I was on my way to NYC. I didn't take any more pictures on flights, because when I got onto the plane to NY I turned on my laptop and proceded to watch Harry Potter 5... which consumed 2:20 hours of my 3 hour flight (Excellent!)

I got off the plane, met my driver and we proceded into the NY traffic on the way to the Coopers' house. It took forever and we got a smidgeon lost (but not really. The driver thought that he should have passed a street a long time ago, but really it was just a few blocks ahead of us) and finally, finally, I got to my destination. Look at my room! Isn't it warm and lovely?

I hung around and looked pretty (because that's all Barb would let me do. She refused to let me help out with anything) and then we had dinner. And around 7, neighbors came over for a dessert party that was delightful. There was good wine, good chocolate cake, and good coffee. I had a glass of wine with the worlds best chocolate cake (which was mostly a whipped chocolately thing. I really, really want that for breakfast tomorrow. However, I will resist.) and then when everybody left, I helped clean up and put the girls to bed.

I've been here 6 hours and I've already been showered with Claudia Handpainted yarn. (Barb and I are big fans :) )

I finished the Huggins socks today right as Harry Potter was ending. I thought that this was impeccable timing, and I should receive an award. (I accept checks and gift cards. ;) )

My time in New York has only just started, and I can't wait for tomorrow. However, today has to end, and I know that I will sleep very well tonight.

Friend Moon

Have I told you how much I love my camera?

(I love my camera to the moon and back.)

Oh, um... This is hard.

I <3 Huggins.

I do. I love those little cable-y twists. The color and the detail just makes me want to hug them and love them and wear them forever (though I'll likely find someone to give them away to).

I was tipped off tonight by Stacy at the Knitting Nest that there is a contest for ametuer designers of sock patterns, called "Think Outside the Sox". It has 26 categories, and one of them is about dying and knitting up socks of your own design. She also said that I just just write the pattern down and publish it on the web.

So that got me thinking.

Huh.

I could totally publish that design.

I don't want to make money off of it... but I could totally make that pattern for other people to use.

Well, it's harder than it looks. I have to remember every step that I did.

I guess that's why there are two socks. So you make it up as you go along for the first one, and then you're forced to remember it for the second.

Ah, well. I'll keep you all updated as far as that pattern goes.

I have to go pack for my trip to NY now, since I won't have time tomorrow to do it. And I need to clean my room. More on my Great Cleaning on another post.

(!!!!!)

A Very (Finished) Harlot Poncho

So I told yall when I finished tassel-ing the poncho, I'd grace you guys with a photograph of the finished product. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this. And it turned out to be more than I could have expected.

In other news, I would like to share with you more of the yarn that I've dyed in the last few weeks. :)

This is called "Alternates"

And this is "Lemon-Lime Life" And this is (likely going to be) "Purple Party"

And in the last news, I would like to share with you the sock that I have been plugging away at all day. I cannot describe how much joy this yarn is to work with. The stripes of the dark green on the lighter greens just make me smile, and the colors all go together so well. I am so proud to have dyed this yarn. It has blown me away all day! The pattern is one that I kind of made up (but not really). I knit one round plain, and then on the next I *Knit through second loop on left needle, knit through first loop of left needle, slide both off onto right needle*. It's like creating a miniature cable ribbing, but only with two stitches.

I am in love with this yarn (I call it "Hug A Tree") and this sock. I only have a few more rows until I start the toe... and I love, love, love it!!

Bear with me here

Warning: Advertisement ahead. Do not read if you hate advertising, are squeamish, have back or neck injuries, or have a very loose credit card. The last one does not apply if the aforementioned looseness is in my favor.

I am a victim of advertisement.

There, I said it. The first step is to acknowledge your problem... from there, you can fix it (and yadda, yadda).

I frequently shop at this online store called "eatsleepknit.com" . Frequent enough to spend quite a lot of my hard-earned money there. Two such examples are the yarn for Brandy's socks and for my clapotis.

This year they've started this thing called the Yarn Marathon. (You can see my badge for it when you scroll down a bit :D ) For every yard of yarn that you buy online, you get closer to the 5K. I've only got about 5 miles in... because I'm a poor (COLLEGE) student (I can say that now, you know...) but they've started a new thing for the Yarn Marathon where if you mention the website on your blog, every person that clicks the link from your blog will earn you an extra 5 yards on the marathon.

So go on. CLICK ON THE LINK. (Pleeeeeease!)

www.eatsleepknit.com

Here's the paragraph they have written about it:
"Now, you can earn rewards for referring friends, too! Link to us from your blog or website using the button to the right or text of your choice, and you'll earn $5 in store credit any time someone places an order after following a link from your site. You'll also earn 5 yards of Yarnathon yardage for every person who simply visits our site from your blog! To be eligible, all you have to do is register your blog with us in the Yarn Marathon - we'll keep track of the rest. Store credit and extra yards will be distributed on a weekly basis."

Flat Tire #4

I've kind of always wondered how I would handle a situation where I lost control of my car... whether I would freak out and let go of the wheel and scream, or whether I would try to do the right thing, and not remember the Driver's Ed stuff that I learned in the classes I took, or whether I would remain calm do the right thing.



Turns out I know what I'm doing.



This morning as Brandlyn (who is now 18!! Happy Birthday, hon!) and I were going to Sonic for a magnificent Birthday Breakfast (of her request) my back right tire got a flat and I lost control of the back end of my car. It fishtailed for a bit, but I got control of it, and pulled over to the side of the road. Luckily, this was a road that there is rarely any traffic on, so there were no other cars in danger of being hit at the time. Both Brandy and I are perfectly fine. Just a little bit dirty from being on the ground. (Gramma. Stop worrying.)



Turns out that a nail had become lodged into my tires somewhere along the drive and it decided that it didn't like the air in my tire any longer.



Brandy and I changed the tire all by ourselves. She corrected me on a few things, but I managed to get the tire off and get the spare tire on, and we continued on our merry way to Sonic. (Look at that beautiful spare tire.)





Talk about a Kodak moment. ;)



I'm really proud of myself and Brandy. We changed the tire all by ourselves and while a few men stopped to ask us if we needed help (and others honked at us as they drove by) we didn't need the help. I thought it was pretty funny that every man that stopped had a big Ford Pickup. One guy who stopped had a Hummer. Apparently Real Men drive cars that get less than 18 mpg.

Graduation and a smidgen of Knitters Angst

So I have no graduation photos on my camera, and mom's out of town... so you'll have to wait on the graduation photos. I had a great time! A whole day devoted to me and my accomplishments. A girl named Claire was valedictorian, and while I can't be mad at her for it (I was not in the running, with my meager 3.65 GPA and hers being 4.15) I might still hold a grudge for her swiping every single academic award from our middle school graduation. Except Latin. Because she took Spanish. And she's gorgeous, with the most beautiful curly blonde hair. And she's not a total nerd, or anything. She's popular.

I'm sorry to expose yall to my angst. But I can't hold it back. That girl makes me mildly miffed.

Anyway.

I walked across the stage (didn't trip!!) to get my diploma (Well, diploma holder. It's empty) and gave my rock to the principle when I shook her hand. (Tee hee hee), switched my tassel to the left side, and threw my hat. Great time. Then afterwards I went over to dad's house, where he and Pippa wouldn't let me help get anything ready, so I just sat there and looked pretty and intelligent... as if 13 years of schooling has really made a change. ;) And then people arrived, I got presents ( :) !!!) and I went onto the Project Graduation. I'll tell you more about Project Graduation when I have photos of me in my Cap 'n Gown.

Some gifts I got were a few gift cards, an adorable lime green laundry bag, a book, and two cameras.

Let me tell you all something. I have been desiring a new camera for over a year now. Earlier on in the school year, mom asked me what I wanted for a graduation gift, and I didn't even have to think: A nice camera. That. Is. What. I. Want.

Well, Mom found the best camera. (Love you!!)

All I really asked for was a good zoom.

18x Zoom.

10.1 Mega Pixels.

Oh, it is love... It's a beautiful Nikon Coolpix P80, and it's my new love affair.

I've taken nearly 200 photos already, and I need to charge the battery now.

Mike gave me another camera. A really nice red Kodak. I'm going to carry that one around in my purse. It's perfect purse size and the battery is charging at the moment.

That's enough graduation stuff for now. :)

-----

On to something totally different.

I don't know what to knit.

I've got a second sock on the needles, but I don't know what I want to knit. I really want to knit another Clapotis (darn clapotis bug... Once you knit one, you have to knit more.) and I really want to knit something that challenges me, but I don't have the yarn for it. I ordered some lace yesterday from Knitpicks, but it'll come sometime later in the week or next week... and I have to wait for then... But I want to knit something now.

I know I'll bring the sock with me to work on at Knitting Night tonight, but I'm implacable right now. I'm almost done with the poncho. Well, I'm done knitting it, but I am tying the tassels on right now... and that's taking a while.

Well, perhaps I will sort myself out when I bask in the yarn fumes at Knit Night.