Studying up…

And projects are coming out.

Well this last week that has past has been very hectic. Just yesterday we had a Fine Arts Fair at the school. I minded to take some pictures of the pottery display that was nearby the Jazz Ensemble. While on our breaks I decided to stroll on by and ended up buying a pot, who I named Larry. After the Jazz Band performance was done, Winter Guard and Drum line were next to perform. Both Winter Guard and Drum line had consecutive performances after each other and I am in both programs. So I was running from uniform to uniform and performance to performance for about two hours. Happy days, no?
There has been a need to expand my musical library. So I am currently borrowing Concert Music, Piano Music, Jazz Army Music, etc. for my iPod from my Band Teacher. Though I’d like some rock tunes included in the list, I’m quite satisfied with the updated music I have now.
In other projecting news, I’m still working on that Swiss Cheese Scarf. This scarf is turning out very, very wide and is taking utterly too long to knit. I may cut down the length and make it a shawl because of it’s massive width.  This project will take me a very, very long time to complete.
Now I said that I would have pictures from my last post about a present. So here are all the pictures I was currently planning on showing for your personal entertainment.

  
This last pot is the Larry I had mentioned earlier.

 

 Front-Picture to the left just emphasizes the detail in the black fabric.
 Back

Front- The white writing says the recipient’s name in Japanese.

Back

 

 

 

~!!Cae!!~

No So Big Update

Alright, I’m not good at blogging. Though yet again school has kept me busy 24/7. You’d think of over a month of not posting a thing, I’d have billions of new projects to post about and I don’t. I have some, but not as much as I probably should have. Lots of new news though, with school and banding things I mean. Well I have a District Band Festival tomorrow and this Friday are Winter Guard Championships. I’m more excited for the latter just because I really liked this year’s Winter Guard Program and I’m sad to see it end so soon. Though this will not be the last time you hear of Winter Guard before the end of the school year, I believe we have one more show to do after the Championships.

Now on to my utterly slow progress over this past month.

This a something I’m working on. It started off as a knitting needle case, but now I’m not so sure I want to use this fabric as such. Maybe another pillow? Because a girl can never have enough pillows. Or part to a quilt? We’ll see what my mind can come up with for this project.

Ok. The first picture is to show the amazingly long work I did over the how many long months of starting this. Oh yes, this project will last me quite a long while with many balls of yarn to buy. On the bright side, I love this pattern and I may make more in different colors without the obviously wide side this scarf has. Now the second picture is to show the true color of the yarn, because the scarf was not cooperating with me.

Spring and Summer are finally kicking in and taking a beautiful turn on our garden. I’ll be taking as many pictures of these flowers as I can before the hot summer heat bakes all the beauty out of us all.

The first is a flower I stole from my friend Lauren. Well I didn’t actually steal, she let me see it and never got it back. The tree and background is my school in front of the Band room, where most of my life is spent. And just so you can’t say I’ve never showed you my dog, here’s a picture of my dog with a special home hair cut.

There are two more projects that I have pictured but I realized that the friend I am making them for may come on here and see them, so they will stay hidden until received. Also, I am making quite a few skirts but those aren’t anywhere near the stage where I can picture and post about it. I’m still only a beginner in the ways of the store bought patterns. Hope everyone is enjoying the weather while it lasts!

~!!Cae!!~

The old news

Well here’s some old news, but I have pictures and it’s worth my time to say. I’ve said I wouldn’t buy any more fabric or yarn until I have used up the majority of my stashes. Though when opportunity reared it’s fabric filled store I couldn’t resist. Here are the fabrics I bought and these are just quick photos from today, since my room turned into a crafting studio today.

And just for some amusement and to say I never showed proof of, here’s a picture of me struggling to haul my tuba around SHS for a Band Festival we did this last Thursday. Yeah, I am aware that I’m eating my hair.

Hope you are all having a great, sleep-filled weekend as I am.

~!!Cae!!~

Here we go again.

Yes, I know I suck at keeping up with blogging. And right now with all the testing and competitions at school, my life has been sucked into a whirlpool of sleepless days and nights. After being gone from the blogging world for so long you’d expect all of my projects to be done and over with and new ones waiting to be posted right? It’s a real shame and disappointment, but I have no progress what’s so ever. In fact I never even went about to fixing the problems I had on my scarves. Thus no work to even show for my lack of attendance. The only good I can acquire from this whole mess is that I’ve had my very first Winter Guard Competition, sadly was two weeks ago, and I’ve cut my hair. Over a month of no progress that is literally all I have to show. I know it’s a big let down, but I have gained loads of new fabric and Spring break is slowly coming upon us. Ideally Spring Break will be the time I need to catch up on my work. Until then, try not to come at me with pitch forks, because I kick back. Hope everyone is having a wonderful month.

~!!Cae!!~

Knitting Sickness

I didn’t think I could ever get tired of knitting, but I am. Not so much that I want to quit knitting and never knit ever again. But I’m scared to go back to knitting nonstop for hours and hours. Which is what I essentially did over this last weekend. Of course I talked with friends and ate a lot, but other than that I knitted from morning to night. In fact one of my scarves started changing color on me and I had to stop knitting for awhile to regain my sanity. Also when I put down one screwed over scarf and picked up another screwed over scarf I entered a very upsetting mood. So it’s pretty safe to say no more non-stop knitting adventures anymore.

This is the Swiss Cheese scarf I’m making and slowly turning my mind towards insanity to. I know I should have had circular needles, but I only have US 9 circular needles. And the pattern calls for a much smaller size so I will have to deal. I’ve gotten further along since this picture, but here it is.

This is just busy work that I made with my left over yarn. I needed something I could take to school because everything that I’m currently working on is too delicate to take to school. It’s not done yet and probably won’t be for awhile, since I only work on it when I bring it to school. The pattern is just something I found over the Internet. And I think it’s pretty neat.

I know it’s not much too see and really did take me too long to finish this part, but here it is. I used no pattern and will block tonight. I finished the icords for the straps not too long ago actually. Finally this shirt is coming together after so long.
In any other news I’ve been very sick. I didn’t go to school today and missed half a day yesterday. Though thankfully I’m feeling much better and will be up and running by tomorrow. Which I am very glad of, I like going to school a lot better then laying in bed dying doing nothing. But that’s just a me thing.

~!!Cae!!~

Turn outs

Ok so no magical pattern appeared to me, but a pattern did appear itself to me today. I forgot the website I found it at, but I do remember it being a tote bag. I keep saying I have lots of fabric left over, though show nothing to be improving this situation. Maybe one day I won’t have such a dilemma with all my fabrics, but as of the moment I have tons of fabric and continue to accumulate more.
Being on the crafty sort of topic, I bound off the body to my shirt! I’m so excited. It fits, looks a tad chunky but it fits! I haven’t blocked or anything. And I’m not such a great blocker. In fact when I blocked the iPod Cozy I assume I did it wrong, because nothing changed significantly enough to tell. So I will try a different method this time and hope it turns out a lot better. By tonight I should have the sleeves started if not finished. All other knitting projects are still put on hold. Speaking of other knitting projects, I think it’s rather safe to say I’m going to rip back my black and white scarf. Up until now I’ve been creating this random pattern between Moss stitch and Seed stitch. It’s not doing the yarn any good and I’d much rather have a nicer scarf, so it must be destroyed. My Stalks and Blossoms Scarf is getting pretty long now and I’m excited to finish it up already. Though I do admit that road block oh so long ago in the scarf is a horrible mistake and sadly I don’t have it in me to rip it back. Thank goodness the scarf isn’t for a friend and I can live with my mess ups.

This weekend was quite interesting and more eventful than most weekends. On Saturday my mom finally got up the strength to go buy new paint for our living room. It took her longer to pick a paint color than it did to actually paint all five of the walls. Now my living room is the yellowish golden color and finally matches with the decor of the room. I have to hand it to my mom, she did a great job at remodeling the living room. But I now officially hate the process that leads up to speckling; taking out all the screws, scratching the surface so excess wall is gone, and killing those rare spiders that tend to hide in old nail holes. I know, gross. Within the next couple of weeks I should be starting on remodeling my room as well! I’m so excited to get rid of that vanity and very old drawer. New room ideas here I come!
Now Sunday was something I don’t get to experience everyday, not that I remodel a living room once or twice a week. Even less often though, do I go to LA. Well it was Chinatown LA if you want to be literal. We shopped through what seemed like a swap meet, but with Asians everywhere. I got a few blouses, a new bag that my mom gave to me because her bag came with a smaller one she didn’t need, pajamas that don’t fit me and I was going to get a bunch of Monokuro Boo items. Monokuro Boo is a little normally black or white pig. Though when I first took a glance at some of the items, in a Hello Kitty store, I thought it was a cow. And thus, that pig is a cow and that’s how it’s going to stay. My mom’s co-workers and friends were the ones that were originally going to LA and my mom decided I could come along for the ride. What a ride! There’s a lot to see in that place, but I’ve got to say I wouldn’t want to live there. It’s a me thing, and I don’t like the way LA feels. Shops were wonderful and the restaurant we ate at had magnificent food, I mean I could go and eat there almost every day if I was able to, but I didn’t feel very comfortable. Perhaps it was the fact that it started to rain while we were walking along the streets or how unbearable the cold weather was, but I plan not to visit very often anyways. Other than the complaints I’ve given, I had a really awesome time with my mom and her friends.
I hope you all had an adventureous weekend as I did. Now back to school and all the fun stuff that comes with it.

~!!Cae!!~

Finally Finals are Finished

Sorry for not posting in a while. Finals have had me on overload amongst other things.

The only news in pretty much anything is Winter Guard is fun.

I’m hoping to have my shirt done by Monday, though at the look of things it might take me longer than I hope. My spring scarf is finally working out very nicely. Well, I had a road block with my stitches and found out that I skipped a YO. But all is right with the world again. All my other knitting projects have been put on hold due to the fact that I want this shirt done. I’m a slow knitter so it might take a while. Sewing on the other hand has not been put on stand still. Actually I got 1-1 1/12 of 3 different fabrics. One of the more sturdier fabrics I’m going to be making a small purse and “Make-up” Pouches. Though I hardly ever use enough makeup to have a Make-up Pouch. But isn’t that what they call them? I’ve found a color scheme for my quilt, so when ever I have enough money to go shopping, that’s what I will look for. I have a lot of non-matching leftover fabric. Perhaps over this weekend I will find some magic patterns to use them with.

The last update I can think of is my mom and her co-workers are going to LA and I get to go with! I’m excited because they are going to shop and I’m hoping to find some yarn shops. As well as cloth shops, I mean what girl doesn’t like to go shopping? Certainly I would not be one of those girls, but that’s just me.

~!!Cae!!~

Coming Along.

Finals are coming fast so that means study, study, and study some more. These last few days I’ve been as sick as a dog. Thankfully that has past and now my throat is the only one giving me problems. But I’m up and running again just as before.

I’m just about done with Enrique’s iPod Cozy that he asked me to make. And as often times happens, I don’t want to give such a nice gift away. I’m unsure if it will fit his iPod, but it could easily fit his cell if not his iPod. Speaking of music I hope to get some new on my iPod, the music I have is starting to become monotonous.

Knitting my scarf can be frustrating at times. Since I’m not a very experienced knitter I have to improvise when I mess up and hope it looks alright. Besides, unlike gifts, I don’t mind for all the details in my own work.

 

This is the iPod cozy before it was blocked. Currently I only have to add another loop for a button and weave in ends.

 

This is my spring scarf to go with the shirt I’m knitting. Both are made out of the same yarn so it’s safe to say the shirt will be pretty blue.

 

Currently I’m also reading both books for my English Class. I’ve read Anne Frank’s Diary maybe twice before. I find it to be an amazing book. Also, Emma’s Journal is a wonderful book of one individual’s impact on the ones around her. I’ve also read this book before prior to reading it now.

So I’m going to be very busy and I can’t wait for so many days to come.

~!!Cae!!~

Knitting in nicely.

Now the winter break is over and I have to get accustomed to sleeping at an earlier time. Surprisingly I’ve been waking up at the perfect time in the morning and just napping when I get home. Not the best solution, but I’m glad I’m able to wake up on time despite the hour I go to sleep at. School is also going very well. I’m not as troubled to get back into the school schedule as I thought I would be. As a side note, band is really taking off and I’m absolutely loving the pieces that my band director is showing us. I’m very, very excited for Winter Guard. I can hardly wait until tomorrow to go to the practice. Everything is going just so smoothly after two weeks of sleep, knit, and eat.

My break really did consist of those three; Knitting, sleeping, and eating. After reading pages and pages amongst websites and websites of knitting, sewing and quilting I think I have a much better handle on more complicated aspects to this whole crafting world. I guess you could say I researched a lot about crafting and just can’t wait to start so many projects. Speaking of projects my main knitting project is finally working out fine. After having many difficulties with the gauge, twisted yarn, and almost having a full out war with my yarn I’m finally able to just set it down for a minute and not have to tear the whole thing apart later on. [Which was the main problem] Along with the shirt, I decided to make a lovely scarf I got from http://www.purlbee.com/. The scarf itself is called ‘Stalks and Blossoms Scarf’. I printed out a pdf of the pattern, because I’m no where near that good of a knitter yet.
I now pronounce that I have been to JoAnns and no longer wonder what is inside this amazing store. Over the break my mom took my brother and I out shopping and I was able to go to JoAnns. That store is just amazing. All the yarn and fabric just fills me with inspiration. I was limited with my money and only got some double-pointed needles and new yarn. Alas I bought only one big skein of black, white, and very soft yarn. I’m unfamiliar with brands of yarn and I don’t necessarily care, just as long as the yarn seems wonderful I’m happy to work with it. I don’t know what to make out of this yarn still and it’s starting to bug me.  I know I want to make a scarf out of it. I just don’t know what would be the best pattern to bring out the best in this yarn. I’m really saving that yarn for something special. And I think lastly, I sewed up Kathy’s Christmas present on Sunday. All my handmade presents came out a lot better than I thought would have and can’t wait to make new things for myself. In the break itself, I didn’t go out anywhere. As I have said, the break consisted of knitting, sleeping, and eating.

I have a few pictures of my pillows all stuffed up and ready to go. Also I have a picture of Kathy’s very red bag. And I have said this as well, I have a wonderful camera, it just works a lot better during the day. Which I have not taking these pictures during the day, so bear with the lighting.

 And yes I’m fully aware that it appears to be an ironing board in the middle of my room.

The white paper the bag is on is the gift wrap, just in case any of you were wondering. In this picture, the pattern isn’t very clear on the bag. Essentially it’s a red background, as you can see, with a white leaf and vine sort of pattern.

I will have pictures up of my knit project. I’ve made plans to take the pictures, but I fell asleep so no pictures. And it’s too much of a hassle to get the lighting just right for a picture at this hour. I don’t think there is any need to picture my progress on my shirt. It’s not much to look at, so I just won’t picture it.

Now that school has restarted, even though I didn’t get a chance to blog as much as I would have liked to over the break, I’m going to be pressed for time more often and won’t be able to blog for awhile at times. So there’s my excuse for the day. I hope everyone is enjoying this new year as much as I am. I see a lot of good things coming and can’t wait to see the progress.

~!!Cae!!~

Computer Geeky-ness saves the day.

I found all my lost files and now my new account feels like home again. I know my pictures are dark and wrinkled, but my camera takes better pictures during the day. So excuses, excuses I’ll have some new photos of my pillows up soon. They are really comfortable and now that I have so many pillows on my bed, it’s just jumbles of fun.

My other pillow was the two different patterns of fabric, but with no added decoration. Just one fabric on the other. I like the bigger floral pattern because it’s softer and I think it’s nicer to look at. These pillows are really wrinked up.

I drew some patterns for my soon to be quilt and now I have no idea which one to pick. Though I do want the main pattern to be revolved around diamonds. The measurements and cast ons are already done for my shirt. I decided to make it a shirt. Hope you all had a Happy New Year! The first of this year is off to a good start.

~!!Cae!!~