Old UFO finally becomes an FO

So, I started this silly thing last September and I finally finished this on Thanksgiving so I could wear it to see family. I didn't bring my camera to my parent's home with me, however. I brought home my camera cord and extra batteries for it, but the camera didn't quite make it into the bag (when I got back to my apartment I saw my camera sitting right next to where my bag was while packing. *sigh*)

But I finally felt motivated enough to put this thing back on and take pics:





Here's the specs:
Pattern: Fair-Isle U-neck pullover in VK Fall '06
Yarn: hand spun from my aunt Kathy. She raises sheep and spins yarn with the wool and dyes it with natural dyes. The dyes used for these colors were cochineal, madder root, indigo, and log wood, with some natural black sheep in there. This yarn has lots of lanolin in it (esp the black sheep, it's sticky which is why there isn't much of it in the sweater) which makes it super warm. It's also relatively waterproof, but that's not all that important in a vest.
Needles: US 5s for the body and 4s for the ribbing. Same as in the pattern.
Mods: I did it in the round (only someone crazy would knit this flat, the loose ends! Oh my the loose ends!) and I left off the sleeves and just picked up stitches and matched the collar. I also ended up with fewer stitches for the neckline than specified, but it doesn't seem to have mattered much. Everything else is pretty much the same.

I got SO many compliments on this at thanksgiving, mostly cause I was seeing all my aunts who are friends with Kathy (who's not so much my aunt as my dad's cousin but I call her aunt anyways). Yay for finally finishing things! I'm also blocking a scarf right now but it's for a swap so I can't show it off just yet, but I promise I will!

It is official, I am a Capricorn. Totally and utterly.

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

I promise I will make a real post soon. I have been knitting and am getting close to finishing the colorwork vest. I also need to take pics of an FO from a few weeks ago. There is something more interesting to come!

Because I had to

What Stone Are You?

Hematite
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I don't think I've advertised it here much, but I have a mild obsession with gem stones. The funny thing is, I rarely use hematite. Maybe I should start?

Updating my Etsy, finally

So, it occurred to me that my Etsy has been criminally neglected. If it were a child, a social worker would have taken it away from me long ago. I WILL do better! As a start, here are the new things I put up:


(I love that owl so so much)





Yay napkin rings. This idea has been on the back burner since, oh, last thanksgiving. I'm glad I have at least one set made. Hopefully in my extra time this next week I'll get even more done.

I have more to put up but I'm a bit sick of putting up with my internet connection being fussy with etsy. I also went back and edited a bunch of items and MAN do I not want to keep doing that.

Back from a Pagan weekend

So, I went to Hekate's Sickle this weekend put on by the ATC. The ATC is the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, one of the biggest if not the biggest Wiccan church in North America. They put on festivals twice a year, Spring Mysteries around Easter/Ostara and Hekate's Sickle around Halloween/Samhain. They also do rituals every two weeks for full moon and new moon. There are some amazing people involved in this church, including a good friend of mine. So many people have dedicated their lives to this church, and it's so awe inspiring and makes me want to dedicate my own life to the church.

Anyways, Sickle. A Celtic death festival. I cried like a baby. I lusted after Gods. I was scared out of my wits. I was hit by the cosmic Clue-by-four. I was amazed. I was exhausted. I loved it all. I'm still recuperating. It doesn't feel right being back in the real world yet. I want to go back.

I did get knitting done this weekend. Finished a scarf for a swap, it's not sent off yet so I can't post it. I need to finish one of the big projects I'm working on soon. I feel I have stagnated because I never sit down and knit anymore, it's all on the go so I do easy projects and none of the complex stuff, all the lace and color work and sweaters, never get worked on! I must be true to myself and the responsibilities I have undertaken for myself and should finish some of these things soon. I feel like I'm letting myself down again and again when I look at my WIPs sitting around my room. This owning up to my responsibilities thing came from Sickle and I need to get off my ass and do what's right for myself, 'cause it's actually creating anxiety leaving things unfinished.

I'm also currently looking for a job to live up to the promises I made to my father. I'm finishing my ISP (independent study project) to live up to the promises I made to adviser and more importantly myself. I'm inviting my brother up this weekend to treat others like I would like to be treated, giving him a warm place to sleep and treating him as a guest. In short, I am living up to my responsibilities, or at least trying to and making myself feel bad enough about failing to get my ass in motion (though not bad enough to make myself depressed).

Was this long enough? Hopefully someone will load pics from Sickle soon so I can steal them and post them here. And hopefully I fulfill my promises soon!

Halloween Costume + Makeup

I got to be really pretty yesterday. I was sooooo happy. And now, picspam!













That corset is the one I last posted about, but finished. Kind of. It's falling apart a bit since I did a shitty job of it. Oh well. My makeup was awesome. Just so I remember what I used:

eyes;
Loreal DeCrease plus a tiny bit of lube
Jesse's girl e/d, white on inner lid, tear duct and highlight
NYX e/s Platinum Silver on middle and outer lid and under eye
NYX e/s black in crease and outer lid
NYX Silver e/l
Mary Kay mascara

Face:
Mary Kay foundation
Smashbox blush Matrix

Lips:
Mary Kay lip pencil, raspberry
Mary Kay l/g Watermelon

Oh, and my roomie Jamie as Earth for the Samhain (aka Paganese for Halloween) ritual:





Hooray for Samhain!

Last night was also the first time anyone drank a sizable portion of the wine I'm making. It's not quite wine yet, but I took some out for the after-ritual potluck. Apparently people liked it cause that bottle is all gone. We have plenty more that we're going to leave until it is as fermented as possible.