A Frog on the Blog

Yes, friends, we have our first completely frogged project on the blog. (I don't have many frogged projects, so enjoy gloating this time!) Having run out of yarn for my Hurricane Swap partner, and not being able to buy more, I had to completely rip out the entire thing. *sigh*

From this:













To this:















To this:


*sigh*

Which now means that not only do I have to start over (which would be bad enough), but also that I have to decide whether to find a new pattern or rewrite the one I'd already chosen to work. . .again. I think I'll just switch to my 3's, which now look enormous in comparison to the 1's, and rewrite the original pattern. We'll see.

Not much other knitting going on right now (though I do have some submission ideas in mind), keep an eye out on the sidebar for progress updates!

Till next time,
Sarah

Random Blogthing Monday!

If I were a pizza, I would be. . .

A Cheese Pizza!

Traditional and comforting, you focus on living a quality life. You're not easily impressed with novelty, yet you easily impress others.

What's your pizza personality?

Mmm. . .love the cheesy goodness!

Till next time,
Sarah

PS - I failed 8th Grade Spanish. . .*sigh*

Episode 3

Well, well, well. This week, our designers were challenged to design a womenswear outfit inspired by. . .a dog. (They also had to design an outfit for the dog.) Yada yada yada and twelve great designs later, Katherine is OUT and Angela escapes again. What the hell?!

Here's the winner:

By Uli, Print-y Dress Queen

LOVED IT!!!!! This was my favorite dress, even though I didn't like the cropped jacket. It reminds me of something from Cache. This dress was by far the most wearable thing sent down the runway, and featured a very cool strappy back. Also, the dog's outfit was great! Props to my neighbor Uli from Miami Beach!

Here's the loser:

By Katherine, the Nice Girl

While this definitely wasn't my favorite dress, or the most well-constructed of the group, it's hard to believe that this was out when Angela's monstrosity was in. Besides, I liked Katherine.

Here's the monstrosity:

By Angela, Total Witch

All right, I have to admit that I was on Angela's side for the team challenge last week. The fact that they would have thought of eliminating her instead of Vincent was offensive. After all, she did try to help, and was told, "Stand 3 feet away from me." But, What. The. HECK! was she thinking here? Maybe this outfit was sewn well, but you know what? Just because you can sew 40 yards of pink satin into something that looks like it would cover the Goodyear Blimp when not in use does not make you a good designer. Oh, and Bravo: Good TV or not, it's time for Angela to go bye-bye. Next week is good for me.

Honorable mentions:

By Jeffrey, Musician Wardrober

First thing Jeffrey's made that I actually liked. And the suit on the dog was hilarious. . .

By Michael, Token Black Guy

I'm starting to think that Bravo is being a bit racist, as Michael's designs haven't even been ACKNOWLEDGED as amazing yet. This dress was hugely original and interesting. This guy is amazing. Michael, I'm pulling for you! And I say, you're up for a win soon.

By Keith, Man Who Thinks He is God

Loved the dress, but lose the attitude. It's getting old. Yes, you are some kind of prodigy with the fabrics. Yes, you are blowing the competition away. But that should be enough, don't you think? We don't need to hear about it every week. It's staring us all in the face. Besides, if you'd have just sewn the damn dog a costume, you would have another win under your belt. . .and it's all about winning.

Designs I can't figure out why they escaped the chopping block:

By Vincent, Lunatic at Large

Now, if you're going to accuse Katherine's dress of being uninspired, I'd like to know what you'd call this. It's a black dress, people! And we don't even know if he made the leggings! And what's the deal with Vincent's obsession with bad hats?

By Bradley, Crybaby

Bradley was soooooooooo worried he would have to forfeit due to lack of time. I wouldn't have been sorry if he had. His personality is uninteresting and his style lacks appeal. Yes, the judges loved it, but this outfit screamed "ugly" to me.

By Alison, the Cute Girl

Interesting concept was well-executed and with lovely fabrics, but please! Put a slip on your freaking model so we don't have to watch the static cling with the pantyhose and the skirt! Did that bother anyone besides me?

Okay, I know this was a lot of photos this time, but there were so many really good and really what-were-they-thinking designs this episode that I just couldn't resist. Believe it or not, I'm actually limiting myself to posting just these! I'm looking forward to next week's big, dramatic, someone's getting kicked off for breaking the rules episode. Who do you think it will be? And why? And will they still be eliminating on the runway, losing two designers in Episode 4? My guess from the preview clues is that it's a guy, and I'm guessing it's going to be either Keith or Jeffrey. . .either for deliberate sabotage or working after hours. (Although I heard a theory it might be for starting a fistfight!) It won't be Kayne or Robert, as they're seen in the preview discussing the person being offed. Michael, Bradley & Vincent don't seem the type. We'll see in a week! At any rate, this is the second reality TV show this season to have to send someone home for breaking the rules; Last Comic Standing was the first. How stupid can you be?

Here's the list of people that will eventually get eliminated:

Vincent
Angela
Bradley
Bonnie
Robert

Top picks for the final three:

Laura
Kayne
Keith (provided he doesn't get offed next week)
Uli
Michael

Jeffrey and Alison could go either way, I think. We'll just have to see. In the meantime, let the betting begin! Place your vote now. . .

Till next time,
Sarah

Cuddly Hubby!

Which is sorta like Chubby Bunny, only WAY cuter and much less gross. . .

Yes, I did indeed finish the hubby's blanket, and now he can be nice and warm when he takes call overnight at the hospital. This was knit in garter stitch on the bias using US size 19 circular needles. It's composed of four different super-soft acrylic/nylon/rayon blend yarns held together throughout. I love knitting on the bias, because it gives such interest to otherwise mindless knitting! Anyway, the combinations of these yarns is really great; two were nice, fat, furry yarns, one black, one white/black/grey variegated, one was a combination railroad/eyelash yarn, mostly black but with white, black and silver-blue railroad "ties", and the other was a combination of the fat yarn, also white/black/grey variegated, and a black eyelash yarn. This blanket is soooooo soft!! It's also very weighty. I plan to make or reconstruct a pillow-case like bag, with drawstring ties at top for him to carry it to the hospital in. Something manly. . .maybe zebra stripes. (Are zebra stripes manly? I thought it'd go with the color scheme.)

Anyway, so here it is:

Naptime!

Turned out nice and big, didn't it? I guess I'd call it throw size. Maybe a little bigger. Anyway, he likes it, see?


Everyone together now, "Awwwwwwww." Very good!

He told me the texture reminded him of a king's robe. I took that as a good sign of manliness.

Sadly, I think I'm going to have to rip out most of my progress on my Sock Swap pal's sock. (Sorry, Laura!) I bought the type and amount of yarn the pattern called for, and even though my gauge actually has fewer stitches to the inch than the original pattern (which means I'm also rewriting the pattern as I go along), I'm just past the heel and this is how much yarn I have left:


Ooops.

Soooooo. Gonna be undoing the top part of the sock, so this will likely turn into an anklet. (Again. . .sorry, Laura!)

In other news, my brother and "seester's" blog is up, and very cool too, I might add, so everyone go over there and check it out!

We finally got the whole the-receptionist-is-freezing-her-butt-off-so-can-we-please-set-the-thermostat-to-something-other-than-68-degrees thing sorted out. Turns out that the vents in the boss' and assistant's offices were completely shut off, meaning that the air was being diverted elsewhere. . .namely, my desk. The extremely patient and talented building maintenance man is now my superhero. He opened up all their vents, closed mine, and happiness and comfort now reign supreme. At this very moment I am wearing a sleeveless shift dress, without a jacket, and I am Not. Cold. Hooray! (In an ironic turn of events, it is now my boss that is turning the temperature warmer to keep from being frozen out of his own office. . .hehehe. . .) Methinks that Peter is going to be getting a nice big plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies sometime soon. That is, as soon as I get my pots, pans and dishes back into the cabinets. Because right now, this is what it looks like:


But I'm hungry!


Where's the food?


Oh good, it's been shrinkwrapped for freshness!


Need a plate?

In a desperate effort to rid ourselves of the small, roachlike creatures that have taken up residence in our kitchen, we (read: I) emptied every last one of the cabinets, drawers, cupboards, and pantry in order to fog the little buggers out of there. One smelly house and plastic-covered living room later, we are still infested. Ugh. We're going to try caulking up all the little cracks to the places where they hide, and then we'll bug spray everything (no fog this time). Then, bugless or not, those dishes are going back in the cabinets tonight. Guests coming tomorrow! Jonathan's friends from New Jersey and Texas are coming for the weekend; I think they'll be going camping, so that means more knitting time for me! Here's hoping Chad leaves the marijuana at home. . .

Oh yeah, and now we are practically smoke-free:


*magical glowing halo effect here*

Four hundred dollars has never made such a difference. Now, to get the bugs OUT and my best friend IN, and my life will be almost perfect.

Till next time,
Sarah

PS - Still no news from Knitty. Like you're surprised.

Random Blogthing Monday!

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 8 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Hee hee hee. . .

Well? Could you?