Bad At This

There's really no point in having a blog if there is only one post. I thought about writing in it all the time, but then there was always something else I should've been doing. I guess what held me back was the feeling that every post had to have something awesome in it, or something enlightening or something that people would really want to read, when that actually doesn't matter at all. I can talk about whatever I want on here because it's THE INTERNET and I don't care if nobody reads this or if tons of people read it.

That being said, I think this is mainly going to be a craft blog. So far I'm only knitting, but as the year goes on I hope to branch out into embroidery and maybe sewing as well. Right now I have a ton of projects on the needles, and as I get better at knitting there are so many things I want to cast on! I don't feel that guilty about starting a lot of things because I know I'll finish them eventually, but I'm running out of needles. Currently my WIPs and their statuses are:

- A Brainmonster Hat that only needs a wash and some eyes
- A Ribbed Bolero that I kinda messed up the lace but am more than halfway so am ignoring the problem
- Two scarves, one Branching Out for me that is going fine, I just can only knit it in big chunks of time because of the chart, and something else for my roommate with this yarn, which is driving me insane because you should not knit lace with boucle yarn. >=(
- A pair of Bird in Hand which is currently only two thirds of one mitten because it takes so long to make progress on these. Will probably finish them for next winter (but must remember to switch out Stacey's needles for mine and give hers back)
- A Milkweed Shawl, which will eventually be so pretty and nice but I'm leaving it for now after finishing the first chart to get practice on some other small lace projects.
- And, a stupid Harry Potter Scarf that hasn't been worked on since January because I've found other things to knit that are much more fun. This I would work on in a movie theater or somewhere where I want to pay attention to something besides knitting. Which doesn't happen often. This is in hibernation so it doesn't feel so bad about being left alone for so long.

Only 7! That's good right? Well technically the Brainmonster Hat is done and wearable just not decorated, and the Harry Potter Scarf doesn't count either because it's hibernating. And I have plenty of size 8 needles so I don't feel guilty. So only 5! 5 is still ok. I just need to actually finish something soon, considering I'm casting on some Fetching tonight and have really tempting yarn that is just telling me to learn socks. And I'm getting yarn from Tara to make a sweater soon, too. Oh dear. I'm going to need to buy some more needles.

New Year, New Hobbies

I think a good New Years Resolution will be to blog more. It doesn't require a lot of extra energy (exercising more) or money (trying to eat healthier) but it's a good way to get some of the stuff in my head to go somewhere else. So far I'm sticking to it, since last year I didn't blog at all!

I tend to have a fairly boring life, so this blog will mostly be about:

-things I knit

-things I cook

-things I see around Boston if I happen to have a camera around (not often)

Knitting is a fairly new passion in my life; I've known the rudimentary skills since about my junior year in high school ('06) but it's only been in the past year or so that it's started turning into an obsession. Ravelry is really the driving force behind it; I've found so many patterns that I never would have found otherwise,

along with a great group of people that I get to knit with every week. I do have to thank my Mom though, because she's the one who told me to stop hacking her Rav account and just get my own (Hi Mom!) Last spring I started a real project, bought my own yarn, and now here I am.

I'm not nearly as bad as some people though; I mean, I'm sure I could be, I just don't have the funds to go crazy in the yarn store. Do you know how expensive knitting needles are? And I always have the size I need in straights when it should be circulars, and vice versa. How is a college kid supposed to create a stash here? I mean I know its a recession, but this is getting out of hand. The only thing I can afford to be obsessed with is sunglasses, and that's because I buy cheap ones off the street.

I'm about to start a new project, but right now what I really want to make progress on is my Harry Potter scarf.

At the end it will be 19 stripes, 10 scarlet and 9 gold, with tassels on the bottom to keep it from rolling. It's knit in the round which is a) good, because there's no wrong side and it will be extra warm when it's done, and b) bad, because it's taking me twice as long to knit it. I'd like to be able to wear it to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science, and if that's too close (it ends Feb 21) , then at least while it's still winter! What would make it really easy to work on would be if my TV shows would hurry up and come back on the air. I mean I know Glee isn't coming back until April, but I can still watch Castle and Bones and have some crime-solving/sexual-tension knitting time.

The other thing that tends to occupy my time around this time of year (co-op) is bento boxes. If you don't know what they are, you can Google it. I'm kidding. They're Japanese lunchboxes that tend to be compartmentalized, and also adorable. The Japanese have this thing with making normal things really really cute. This is the bento that I brought with me to work today, but it's no where near the craziness that some people do. If you go to Flickr and search "charaben" or "kyaraben" (Japanese for "cute food" or something similar) you will see some crazy stuff. I have some silly tools that I bought last year to make things cuter, like the little pig and rabbit you see there. I have some mold for rice and hard-boiled eggs, and at one point I even made a hard-boiled egg look like a chicken. Maybe that will be another resolution, make really cute bentos.

Have fun in the snow!

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