My Little Piece of The Net

Goals for the 26th year

Quit Smoking.
Write to Someone I Admire (Can be anyone from friend to celebrity).
Send 27 Post Cards (I miss connecting with people outside of the internet).
~~Leave the State for vacation.~~
Pay off my credit cards.
Give handmade gifts for special occasions. (Due to my schedule, I will give as many as I can)
Publish writing.
Sky dive or bungee jump.
Start a work out routine.
Debate with someone and try to see their side.
Walk for a cause.
Take a dance class.
Read a book a month (at least).
Give a gift to a stranger.
Hang out with my brother more often.
Seek Grammar/Writing Education Opportunities.
Volunteer my time outside of school.
Stop to reflect on the good things. (May decide to blog it, may decide to write it down in a journal).
Maintain a sick time balance at work.
Save up for a cushion/emergency fund.
Slumber Party/Diva Evening. (I miss sleep-overs!)
Learn to walk in heels!
Bring lunch to work (at least 3x a week).
Take a financial workshop.
Learn to cook/cook more often.
Go Camping!
Stop spending all my money on coffee!

A Finished Object!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

I finally have a hat to call my own! Meet the monk hat!

I love this pattern. To date I have made three of them. The previous two I gave away due to an unknown allergy to the material. However, this one finally made the cut. Those with keen eyes will notice that the brim of the hat matches the Montego Bay Scarf. I did this on purpose and I plan on making a pair of gloves with portions of the same yarn. I also wanted this project to be a part of Project Spectrum and the Mission Possible groups. I killed two birds with one stone making this hat. Obviously it's red and shades of red (Project Spectrum) and it was made from the Cascade yarn that I have had sitting in my stash for forever. I still plan on making another hat out of it and giving it away as a gift.

This has been the only project I have been actively working on since I ran out of yarn for Luis's scarf. At this rate he'll get the scarf for Christmas and it's not procrastination that is the problem. The dilemma is that no one around here carries Misti Alpaca! Lucky for me we're planning a trip to see Grim's parents this weekend. Hopefully we'll have time to stop my the LYS to pick up some more.

My next major project is another baby blanket. Maile (my cousin) is due to have her baby any day now and I had planned on having it all done for her by now. Alas, school and work have prevented me from doing pretty much anything but sleeping lately. For more on personal talk, see this blog.

In other crafty news, as soon as I get the chance I am stopping by the beading store to pick up materials for my first pair of handmade earrings. I have been dying to make a pair of chandelier earrings. Soon they will be mine! -=giggle=- I also picked up materials to make my own labels for my handmade gifts. I have little tags, ribbon and the appropriate stamps to make the tags extra special. Mary Catherine sent me some she had received from ETSY and it led me to the idea of making my own.

Creatively I am engulfing myself in the research process for my book. I need to set up a couple more interviews before I will begin the actual writing process. It's my goal to have a completed story by the middle of this year, ideally August. I have to get this story out there. It's always been one of my dreams to have a published book and after the writing class, I feel it is attainable. More to come as the writing process continues.

Other than that there isn't much to report. I'm hoping to display an obscene amount of yarn porn for you. My birthday is right around the corner and it's almost time for the LYS gift cards to start showing up in envelopes. -=giggle=-

I hope you are all well and happy!

Labels: Baby Blanket, Beading, Finished Project, Labels, Mission Possible, Monk Hat, Project Spectrum, Stamping, Writing

posted by Valerie @ 10:14 PM 5 comments

And Here It Is!!!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The blog is back up and running! Yeaahhh!! Doesn't it look nice? I'm so happy that I found one that didn't pan all the way to the right or left. This one is simple, non-emo and easy to fiddle with. If you notice anything that is off, please let me know. I'm still playing around with it.

Anyways, on with the show!

In the world of knitting, I have had to completely frog back the tree jacket. Apparently I am not trained enough in the ways of the ninja knitter style to know how to watch TV and knit at the same time. Or at least that night I didn't. I totally messed up the pattern. When I went to rip back it just went downhill from there. No biggy really. It did hurt to frog to the start again but I didn't want a sh*tty looking sweater. I did finish a pair of fingerless gloves. They're nice, not what I expected but nice. I swatched and the size was perfect.. so the only answer can be that I have smaller hands than the average adult.. That I didn't count on. So they are a little.. um.. what's the word... roomy. I adjusted them a little around the wrist by entwining yarn into the stitches and pulling it a little tighter. Here's a picture!

See what I mean, they just look a little bigger than me. So I'll just make sure to knit myself kid gloves from now on. -=giggle=- Also, I wanted to share a cute little action shot.

Not the best picture of me but Kiya was really interested in my glove knitting. -=giggle=- Other than that, I have been slowly working through my assorted projects. I haven't really felt up to knitting much. Somewhere along the line I really hurt my back. So I have been taking it easy and watching a lot of movies instead.

In other news, we head out on Tuesday!! I can't wait, it's going to be wonderful! So I'll probably be out of the loop for another week (sorry about the long leave of absence by the way). I'll be back with pictures from the trip and hopefully progress shots. I plan to get a lot of knitting done on my plane. Which reminds me, I need to cast on the Tree Jacket again or they're not gonna let me on with it. So outside of relaxing, we've been shopping and preparing for that, needless to say, it's been a reeeally busy weekend. Tomorrow I work and then I am off for 7 days. -=dances a happy jig=-

Well dears, I think that's all for now. I'm hoping to get another post in tomorrow but if I don't I will talk to you all soon. Sorry for being a bad blogger. Forgive me?

Labels: Back Pain, Finished Project, Knitting, Template, Tree Jacket, Update, Vacation, Weekend Finale

posted by Valerie @ 8:55 PM 1 comments

Poncho is Fin!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I did it! I did it! I finally finished the poncho that I have been working on forever! I have to sew in some of the loose ends but I seamed it up already! It looks really nice. Grim seems to think that I look like I am wearing chainmail though. -=giggle=- I may block it to stretch out the hood a little more. The pattern was a little crazy for the hood shaping so I improvised a little. Pictures to come tomorrow. My batteries are dead right now.

Labels: Finished Project, Ponchos, WooHoo

posted by Valerie @ 10:35 PM 2 comments

About Me

Name: Valerie
Home: Troy, New York, United States
About Me: I am 26 years old. I work, go to school, participate in roller derby and knit every chance I get. Oh, I also love hanging out with my boyfriend (Grim) and two cats (Kiya and Sigh).
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