I've been birthdayed

A collection of birthday goodies
Originally uploaded by sonnetstitches

Sorry this is so late. I started to write this long, pompous post about the 10th anniversary of my adulthood, but then I ran out of steam.

It's not very exciting. I turned 28. I've managed to make some improvements on my life since I was 18, but I've also managed to do a lot of swimming in circles.

I've also managed to amass some friends who go nuts in the lavishing gifts upon the birthday girl department. If you click on the pic, there are tags explaining where everything came from.


The swift came from Teri and Jo Minor. The card in the front right was also handmade by Teri. The shiny green and silver yarn was a Christmas present from my birthday twin, Gwen, with whom I sadly didn't get to celebrate this year because she had to up and move to D.C. The red and orange yarn up front is from Stacey, climber of big rocks and knitting student extraordinaire. The green Dream in Color SMOOSHY is from Teri. The rust-colored Karabella is from Jo Minor, and oh my goodness, it is soft.

Speaking of soft, the bright green yarn in the middle is Wollemeise, color Farn, from Molly Weasley. When the shipment came into Knit Wit I agonized over whether to get that one or the orange and green one I went home with (and yes, Jo, I'm keeping it). Christine was with me and apparently got all sneaky and bought me the other skein when I wasn't paying attention.

The brown yarn cake is from Carmen, and it's dyed by the inimitable Andrea, whose personality I enjoy just as much as her color sense. The "Knitting Vintage Socks" book is from Jo Minor. The Trekking is from me to me, because Trekking is a small consolation prize for having to get one year closer to 30. The rest is either assorted birthday card love from my family or elaborated below.




The view from above of all the yarn goodies. You'll notice, I am sure, a color theme. Do you think these people know me, or what?



I have a thing about mirrors with interesting frames. My bedroom wall is covered with them. It makes my room look magically bigger, it reflects light, and, best of all, I can paint my walls any color I want, and the mirrors will still match. I also love Victorian Trading Company. The spouse braved it (it's quite estrogen-heavy) in order to find me this mirror. Excuse the blurry picture. The mirror is now hanging on my wall where I can admire the colors anytime I want.

Carmen made me the green project bag, AND the needle and notion cases. I love them and I am really digging the green fabric.

And, last but not least, Amber made me this:



It's the VERY FIRST MisKnits stitch marker! Shown here on my lap, with size 00 needles knitting the toe of a sock in Regia Kaffe Fassett striping yarn.

I was so excited I did a dance in my chair.

P made the above in her printmaking class. It's the elusive, rarely photographed "Paisley of the Sea." The nice lady at Hobby Lobby who took my framing order didn't get it, alas. But then again, I'm the kind of person who can ask "Can you spit-splice llama?" without thinking she's saying anything odd.

Clue: It was Stacey at Christine's house with a digital camera

Jo Minor's head
Originally uploaded by sonnetstitches

Jo Minor's bug eyes
Originally uploaded by sonnetstitches

... That's where my green hat went.

Starting the year off... typically

I obviously can't say I am starting the year off being a stellar knitting blogger or ravelry citizen (say those of you who send me snarky "where is your stash?" e-mails, and yes, there are several of you). On the list of things I've finished in recent months and have neither photographed or posted:

• 1 pair of turquoise knee-high wool socks out out of Bonkers hand-dyed that I have been wearing the stuffing out off because it's so COLD


• 1 pair of lace socks I designed out of You-should-be-shocked-Jo-Minor-is-still-speaking-to-me-because-she-wanted-it-and-I-got-the-last-two-skeins Regia bamboo that I have worn, but would really like to elasticize before wearing again because they stretch out and don't bounce back


• 1 pair of Claudia colorway "sharks" wherein I discovered that on a size 00 needle, one skein of Claudia is EXACTLY enough for a medium-high sock and not half an inch of fiber more


• 1 pair of tweedy dark green-and-oatmeal ribbed socks for the spouse, wherein I discovered that 1 skein of Wildfoote and a pair of size 00 needles makes a sock plenty high enough for the spouse's taste and still leaves me more than enough to make some baby socks for a few of the impending boy babies at my office


• 1 black ribbed hat that I knocked out in a couple of hours, wherein I aimed to be as stark and no-frills as possible for the cousin I got assigned in the Christmas drawing, because he thinks he is a badass


• 1 blue and green mitered hat out of silk garden that I borrowed and modified from a mitered knitting book, wherein I learned that I am actually quite good at grafting live stitches to a cast-on edge (this one, unfortunately, WAS photographed by someone at UFO Wednesday, but I don't remember whom, and no one has 'fessed up or found it on her camera)

I'll get around to photographing and ravelry-ing all but the last two quite soon. Right now I'm trying to finish up some UFOs, and I started a new project that's intended to be a quick stash-buster and may instead end up an ugly sweater because the colors don't go together as well as I envisioned. Still, I've done some interesting construction-type things with it that I think I'll use again. I put some techniques together that I haven't seen used together before (and, perhaps, there's a reason for that). So, if they work, maybe I'll write the pattern. Or maybe if they work, I'll do a second with better colors and write the pattern for that.

Also, a fingerless glove, that has turned into a gauntlet, for the purpose of practicing my colorwork. The good news is that my stranding coordination has vastly improved. The bad news is, my gauge tightened as a result, and if I actually stuff my hand in the thing, my knuckles compress, so I'm giving it to dainty little Molly Weasley.

My new year in other ways hasn't been all bad. Observe the following roundup of my gym schedule for the week:

Sunday morning: Powerflex weightlifting class - 1 hour
         Advanced step aerobics class - 1 hour
Monday: Had an appointment, didn't work out
Tuesday morning: Got up at 5 a.m. to go to a 5:45 a.m. spinning class - 1 hour
Wednesday morning: Slept through 5:45 a.m. Powerflex, but had fabulous intentions
Wednesday evening: Actually bailed on the 6 p.m. Spinning class at which my attendance is usually semi-religious. Went to bed EARLY.
Thursday morning: Slept through 5:45 a.m. spinning.
Thursday evening: Step aerobics - 1 hour (wherein I was good-naturedly chewed out for being absent at Wednesday night spinning)
Friday morning: You guessed it, slept through spinning. But one out of four ain't bad (right?)
Friday evening: Urban rebounding (insane aerobics class on mini-trampolines) - 1 hour.
So, even being a slacker and sleeping all week, I managed five hours. And the week isn't over yet. Imagine what I'd accomplish if I got my canasta out of bed and actually applied myself.

Off to knit my (potentially) ugly sweater and eat some delicious eggplant and tomatoes.