Look what I'm making!

Up to this point my blog has been mostly about my knitting. Well that's all about to change. I've always dabbled in various crafts but it wasn't until I started knitting that I really made anything on a regular basis. I guess that got the ball rolling because I'm trying all kinds of new things. So I figured I would share my polycraftual skillz (yes I went there) with the blogging world.

A month or so ago I started taking a pottery class at our base community center. One day I walked into class and sensei brought this catalog/magazine over to me and next thing you know I have this castle. Since I took this picture I've added several rows of windows on both sides. It's ready to be fired and should be waiting for me to glaze at the next class. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it didn't crack!

I'm it!

OMG! Someone actually read my blog. Ok so there are a couple other people that have stumbled across it but still! I feel like a real blogger now. What's all the fuss about you ask?

FiredUpFairy tagged me with the 7 things meme.

The rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. When I was little my nickname was Omi and my family used to call me Omi-wan kenobi.

2. Since moving to Japan I have become obsessed with cherry blossoms (Sakura in Japanese). Anytime I see something with a cherry blossom design I have to have it. I have dishes, a coin purse, lotion, wall hangings, and I want to get a cherry blossom tattoo before I leave.

3. I am a closet fantasy geek. I have a huge dragon collection that lives in my home office. I read fantasy novels and will watch just about any movie with a fantasy theme. I even have two dragon tattoos.

4. I can't grow my fingernails to save my life.

5. My dad is a musician and when my younger sister and I were little he used to take us to the nursing home to sing Christmas carols. I have pictures of us standing in front of a mic in our 80's dresses with Dad in the background playing guitar. I love that.

6. We don't have any kids yet but everyone wants us to have a boy. Sexy Sailor is the only boy so he has to carry on the name and all of my siblings have girls. Problem is, I really want a girl!

7. My Sexy Sailor and I like to quote the elevator scene from Mallrats.

Wow that was more difficult than I expected! Since I really don't "know" any other bloggers I think I will use the I stalk L&V ring to randomly tag people. If anyone I've tagged isn't a fan of memes please forgive me and I totally understand if you don't want to do it. But hopefully this will be a way to "get to know" a few fellow L&V fans! :)

Here goes..

Dragons do knit

Handcrafted Happiness

Get a Clew

Crewgrrl

Kit knits

Wanda

Froggin' knit up

This should be fun! Happy knitting!

Socks and stuff

Told ya I wouldn't learn my lesson. It's been almost a month since my last post. Bad Gnome! Wanna know my excuse? I won't blame my dad this time. Instead I'm pointing all fingers at my Sexy Sailor! He's finally home!! So now that we've established that I'm just a slacker with an excuse let's move on to what I've been knitting. :)

Remember the picture of all my yarn pr0n last month? There was a sock in progress in there and this is what it has become. A beautiful pair! I L.O.V.E this colorway! It's Spring is Here from Spritely Goods. The pattern is Tropicana from MagKnits June 2006. I added some 3x2 ribbing for the cuff. These were also my April submission for Socktopia for the April Showers theme. Blue for the rain, green for the new growth and brown for the mud. :) I'm so clever. Ok forget that part. Onwards!

I just took this off the needles. This is the first sock for a pair for my mom. The yarn is Yarn Pirate's Rain colorway in the Menehune Cobblestones pattern. I think I'll use them for my May Socktopia submission under the Ahoy Mateys theme, since it's Yarn Pirate and they're blue. Either that or.....

These! More Yarn Pirate. This color way is Pretty Pirate and I'm using the Hay-stack pattern.

I am my father's daughter

Hi my name is Gnomes and I am a procrastinator. I got that from my dad who used to try and scold me for it but in the end would just say, "Well, you learned from the best." I've neglected my blog for so long that now I have a months worth of blogging to do. That will teach me. Err, no it won't. I am my father's daughter.

April has been a very depressing month and my yarn purchases reflect that. I tried a little retail therapy but unfortunately, retail therapy isn't a long term solution so I was right back at it a couple days later. As guilty as I feel about it let me tell you I scored some great yarn. Before I go into the pr0n I want to share a fabulous experience with you.

Thanks to the enablers over on the LimeNViolet message boards I found my way over to Pick Up Sticks where there was a battle going down for some Sweet Georgia. I had never purchased Sweet Georgia before and after hearing about it on L&V I just had to have some. So in my haste to score some of the coveted yarn I didn't pay attention to the yardage and only grabbed one skein each of Stillwater and Roy. Then someone over on the boards mentioned that you need two skeins for a pair of socks! I ran back to Pick Up Sticks and tried to score some more. I was able to get another skein of Roy but Stillwater was gone. I had to laugh at myself for getting so worked up about yarn so I added a comment with my second order to explain my stupidity. Next thing you know I got an email from Connie offering to send me some Louet yarn to coordinate with my lone skein of Stillwater....FOR FREE! I emailed her back asking her to please add the cost to my order. She responded that she insisted and this way I will have a surprise to look forward to. I can't thank you enough Connie. So all of you that read this blog (all 2 of you) go to Pick Up Sticks and support this fabulous woman! I <3 knitters!


Ok on with the pr0n!
In the bowl:
Back row left to right: Yarn Pirate - Cannon Beach, Yarn Pirate - Shiver Me Timbers, Yarn Pirate - Pretty Pirate, Lorna's Laces - Black Purl, Lorna's Laces - Jeans, Cider Moon - Winter Twilight.
Front row: Regia bamboo - 1062, and hidden in the shadows is Panda Cotton - black
On the chair: Spritely Goods - Spring is Here, Fleece Artist Sea Wool - Midnight, and some Giza Egyptian cotton that I got here in Japan.

As if that wasn't bad enough I still have a couple orders on the way!! There is of course the Sweet Georgia order from Pick Up Sticks and a skein of medium weight Socks that Rock in the Lagoon colorway.

Ok that was a lot of fiber goodness so I think I'm going to hold off on the rest of my updating for a bit. :)

I've been a bad girl

This is what happens when my Sexy Sailor goes out to sea for extended periods of time. I buy yarn, and lots of it! As if this isn't bad enough.... there's more on the way! I have three more skeins of Yarn Pirate on the way, one skein from Spritely Goods, and one skein from the LimeNViolet Etsy store!! Oh and three out of those five are mostly blue! PLUS, I'm going to a 5 floor craft store tomorrow with some friends. Where one entire floor is dedicated to needle crafts. I'm hoping to score some local hand painted yarn for myself and my Magic Yarn Ball swap partner.




After tomorrow I am so going to have to go on a yarn diet.

What I'm listening to

I do a majority of my knitting while my Sexy Sailor is out to sea and I hate a quiet house. I'm not talented enough to watch TV and knit so I download all kinds of podcasts to keep me company. Well one of those podcasts is an audio book, Daughter of the Sun by Lonnie Ezell and he's doing a little contest for his listeners. I'm going to be totally stingy here and NOT tell you what the contest is. If you really want to know you'll just have to listen to the podcast. :) I am by no means a writer or a critic so I appologize for my ramblings.

Daughter of the Sun is a fantasy novel with originality. Each chapter pulls you in deeper and deeper to Ezell's realm and leaves you on the edge of your seat. The characters each have a potential for greatness that you can sense just over the horizon. I highly recommend Daughter of the Sun to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre. So check it out at http://www.lonnieezell.com/

Where did I put those pom poms?

Sock Madness is officially over for me. My opponent finished her pair before I could even finish my first sock. I'm a little disappointed but in all honesty I didn't expect to make it past the first round.

This round's pattern is called Mad-tini and is designed by Karin Bole. It has a really interesting cuff, a neat spiral pattern around the leg, and an Eye of Partridge. It is just challenging enough to be interesting but simple enough that I didn't have to look at the pattern for every single round (once the pattern was established that is).

When the supply list for Sock Madness first came out I ordered some Lisa Souza sport in Earth Birth. Unfortunately with Lisa going to Stitches and then a shipping problem, my yarn didn't get here in time for this round (totally not Lisa's fault). I had ordered some back up yarn just in case and although it got here in time it was really rough on my hands. So I swatched anything in my stash slightly heavier than normal fingering weight and I came up with my Yarn Pirate mernio/tencel in Apple (first picture below). I love that yarn and I love the Mad-tini pattern but not together so once my opponent finished her pair I frogged my sock. It must have been fate because that very same day my Lisa Souza showed up in my mail box! I quickly cast on the Mad-tini again (second picture below) and I am in love!