the thing itself and not the myth

So, how awesome were the Olympics? I mean, really. I didn’t get to watch a lot of it because a) the coverage in the States is truly awful and b) in the middle of it all I went to 15 movies, but still. Pretty great. And as an American living close to Canada, I was most pleased with the results. USA with the record number of medals? Canada with the record number of golds? The USA forcing the hockey game to OT to make Canada fight for the win? Basically, so far as I am concerned, that’s pretty much the best way it could go. Well done, everyone.

I am a sucker for the whole thing, though. I blame the fact that I had bronchitis for the entire Lillehammer games, and thus am fairly sure that I watched every minute of coverage.

Of course, the most important thing about the Olympics is that they are a pretty fantastic opportunity to get some crafting done. To that end, I participated in the Ravelympics again, and I will tell you all about it after the jump. (BTW, I just changed the RSS to full posts, so a) we’ll see how it handles the jump and b) sorry if there’s feed barf. These things happen.) (more…)

Before we get started, a housekeeping issue: I am 90% convinced to change the RSS feed of this journal to full posts. I had it as a teaser initially because a lot of people read it on LiveJournal and I post a lot of photos. But now I think most read it off of other services, like Facebook or Google Reader, where full posts would work much better.

I’m mostly just mentioning this so that I can apologize in advance for any feed barfing that might happen when I change it. So, sorry.

Now onto what’s really important: knitting. I have been doing a lot of it, though it has been hard to tell from here. There’s a lot of stuff that still needs to be blocked & photographed, and of course I am now in the middle of the Ravelympics (I’m crocheting a sweater and knitting two pairs of socks, which is only a little bit crazy until you consider that I’m also in the middle of ten days in a row at the movies).

Recently, though, I did manage to photograph the rest of my finished socks, which was quite an accomplishment, if only because it meant I could finally take them out of the FO basket and wear them. New socks!

Four pairs of socks, after the jump. Links go to the Ravelry project page, click through for larger photos: (more…)

In a fit of insanity I decided to make a Max costume for Halloween. (I started it before I saw the film, so it’s lucky that I turned out to be totally obsessed with it.)

Pictures of the hoodie, crown, & scepter, plus more than you ever wanted to know about how I made them, after the jump (or by clicking “view original post” on Facebook.) (more…)

We had a baby shower today, which was pretty exciting, partially because I have had my contribution wrapped up in my living room for nearly two months. (The baby herself has been around for nearly three!)

It’s also exciting because it means I can finally show you guys some more of the crafting that I did this summer. What, you want me to blog things chronologically? It’s never going to happen.

After the jump, baby knitted & crocheted things of cuteness. (more…)

Things I still have to post about: movies seen since July, things I did at work this summer, stuff I’ve made.

What I’m going to post about instead: this weekend! Two of my aunts & one of my cousins came over to the coast, which was lovely. Pictures after the jump! (more…)

This weekend, I went 3 hours in the opposite direction, to Portland, for Sock Summit. Yes. That would be an entire conference … for sock knitters. I took two classes, one of which wasn’t quite what I expected (I was hoping for more technique, but it was still inspiring, particularly to get serious about Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways), but the second was a knee sock class & it was *fabulous*. (more…)

I just deleted over 600 comments in the SpamTrap, so if something from one of you snuck into there, I am sorry. Usually when I clear it out, it’s 3 or 4 comments. So you can see how 600 was a little overwhelming for me. I am not sure what is going on with the Internet this week, but I disapprove! But yay for the trap working, I suppose.

On to the post! I was under the impression that there was oodles of knitting that I had done and not told you about, that I just needed to photograph. The window of time where there’s sunshine in my living room *and* I’m home *and* awake *and* everything isn’t too much of a mess is apparently as easy to find as Brigadoon.

It seems I am on crack, though, because when it came down to it, I just had a lace shawl & a pair of socks. I had to dig out some WIPs to make this worth an actual entry. It lives after the jump. (more…)

And what you all were waiting for, a knitting update! Complete with pictures, after the jump. (more…)

I walked home from the movies one day mostly so I could get a picture of this Obama Lincoln mural…

…and took the opportunity to get pictures of a few other signs too, including these two:

&

More February after the jump. (more…)

With all that time off & no bus service, what’s a girl to do but knit? On our first quite chilly day I decided that seriously, I needed mittens that actually covered my fingers. Crazy business. I had two skeins of Shibui Sock in my stash & a copy of Not Just More Socks, which resulted in these Snowpocalypse Mitts:

More, including another sweater, after the jump. (more…)