hmm. I got my handspun yarn from Etsy today. Happy happy joy joy! Just in time for spring break. (and on that note:

HALLELUJAH! etc. etc.)

Pictures:







(note the pink nail polish, half of the pink + orange nail polish that Lydia oh-so-kindly noticed and complimented me on today)

I realized that the colors would probably show better in untwisted hank form. One (the one in a ball) is a rougher wool/nylon blend, 87 yds, and has a freakin' rainbow array of all these neon colors - thick'n'thin, going from a little over worsted to very very thin, I was wondering if it'd break when I was winding it). The only thing that ticked me off a bit is that it still had a tiny tiny bit of vegetable matter left in it. The other one is a wool/mohair blend (100 yards) and is soooooo soft! They make me want to learn to spin faster. I found a neat drop-spindle kit on etsy for a reasonable price, with some roving (from animal friendly indie farms) included.

The issue is that I don't know what to do with either of them. Unless they're worked waaay loose, the yardage isn't really enough to do anything significant...I already have a scarf, and I'm not so big on hats most of the time. Wrist/leg warmers? maybe *shrugs* The neon thick'n'thin screams eighties to me...too bad I couldn't really see them combined, waaay too many colors at once. I'm thinking some kind of super-see-through corset tank with the neon, and...I don't know what yet with the other yarn. Plus I've got all of this(very soft acrylic/mohair blend):



waiting to be made into a sweater. (again, sheer, either long-sleeved or 3/4ths sleeved, off the shoulder)

Maybe I'll use the leftovers from all of them and do a mixed sweater, a la this. (and at some point, I'm definitely making my own version of the 'only anarchists are pretty' shirt. haha. I'd like to meet her someday) the teal in the handspun matches the teal in the acrylic/mohair blend almost perfectly...so maybe I can use those two together. ooh, an idea on that. hmm. neat.

aaand...now, either bed or more sitting here and thinking. but I am SO glad spring break is here. and Alex is coming at the end of this month! yay!!

eesh, I tried to start this post Thursday morning and I've been working on it off and on since then. Too busy!

(warning - long, long rambly photo-heavy post ahead)

So I read the other day about a contest thing, where you donate yarn to Interim House - they're teaching the women there to knit and crochet as sort of a stress relieving...thing...boy I'm eloquent - and not only do you get the warm fuzzies, but you get put in the running for a Jordiana Page bag full of knitting/crochet stuff. Here's the yarn I sent:



(excepting the Lion Brand Boucle, because my mom saw it and asked for a hat made from it, and I can't deny the woman that raised me, right?)

How many containers did it take? Not one, not two, but...



(or...two boxes and an envelope, I couldn't fit the tunisian crochet hook into either of the boxes and I'd already written about it in my note, so I was not about to be thwarted!)

Of course, I get there, and the lady tells me I can mail it all in a flat rate box for some eight bucks. Which is like, five bucks cheaper than it would've been seperately. so I did that instead.

I also went on a cleaning the kitchen spree night before last. I doubt my mom thinks it's clean of crafts, but now all of my yarn is shoved into 5 containers of varying sizes, except for 7-8 black and blue skeins of merino wool, for a knit sweater and crocheted hat and scarf, all stripy. Not that I'd wear them all at once or anything, I just really really like stripes. And blue and black. hah.

Tomorrow's going to freakin' kill me...have to be up at the school at six for a meet, (that's when I normally wake UP!) getting home around sixish, and then heading straight to work to close afterwards. Ouch. \

Oh yeah...I finished my fantabulous purse :D Check it out:

View of the holders under the flap, where I can stick knitting needles or tunisian crochet hooks (as demonstrated):



Stencilling along the flap:



yes, those are skulls with cross-crochet hooks and knitting needles. instead of bones. I know I'm a dork but I don't care. the stencil bled a bit, which really disappointed me - I think I waited too long after ironing the freezer paper on it, and I don't think it stuck so well to the canvas in the first place.

Not one, but TWO pockets on the inside:



And on the other side, a big pocket, with more slots for pens/crochet hooks/knitting needles (as demonstrated, again :P):



Couldn't possibly be any more places to shove my stuff, right? Wrong!



Pocket in the back, great for magazines or papers.

Here it is full of all my crap:



And here it is in actual use:



So proud!! It's working great so far. like I said, I can fit eeeeverything in there.

bleh, I need to list some more stuff on etsy. Most of this week, I've just been feeling kind of...I don't know. uninspired. I just want all of this to be over with. I'm sick of the stupid ritual of school taking up my time, of being tired all the time no matter what, and of being nice to people when I don't want to. I figure, most of these people I'm not going to see after I go to college, so why leave on bad terms? And I find myself wondering if it's a bad thing, that there are some 'friends' where my attitude is "have to be nice to them, don't want to leave on bad terms, in a few months I can just let things fade". One in particular just isn't who she used to be. And I think she's just going to end up throwing her life away and it depresses me. Actually, she's mostly the one that I just don't want to end things on bad terms for the sake of comfort. I don't know, it's all confusing. At least I'm a little less twitchy about making all-new friends after talking to Casey, who has many words of wisdom (sometimes :P).

The new girl at work is awesome. I was a little worried since a lot of times girls my age (or...girls in general) annoy me, but she's sooo nice and a total spaz, just like me. We got these new vans in that are pink and black striped with neon green accents. they are amazing.

It's supposed to get cold again. That is not, not, not, NOT cool.

So I go to Michael's on Thursday, and I'm looking at the magazines (can't find knit.1). This girl who works there glances at me and goes "man, you're here all the time aren't you?" (which made me laugh) I go back and see the sale yarn, and grab a skein each of black and blue merino wool to make a stripey scarf and hat with. Friday, I go to Springfield to check out Simply Fibers, which is pretty cool - and the lady who works there is totally friendly, unlike the lady at the Needle Niche (what a freakin' snob). After I left there, I went to the Thread Peddler, or what used to be that store, as apparently it got closed down. Pointless detour. Randomly wander around Springfield for a while, go in a big circle, and find their Hobby Lobby completely by accident. Buy some clearance yarn and chocolate. I went home, and decided to go straight to Joplin to just get some more of the merino for the aforementioned sweater...the same girl is working. I walk up to the register with five more balls of wool...she looks at me and says "you're an addict, you have a problem".

That cracks me up.

I managed to find knit.1 at Hastings today, and at the same time stumbled across this 'zine called Razorcake, which was only $4 and looks fan-freaking-tastic. 'a non-profit magazine to cover independent and underground music'. Maybe it'll be a decent replacement for AMP, which has swiftly gone downhill in my opinion. I mean, the columns are still ok, but they went from covering NOFX and the like, to My Chemical Romance...who seem like nice guys, but c'mon, not my thing.

I still need to order the Denise set - the store in Springfield apparently doesn't carry them, will just order them in. Phooey. and the mohair yarn to crochet my sweater with.

Speaking of which, this annoys me. Not so much the actual post as the comments. Like people never knit anything ugly, oh no. It's always crocheted. Esp. the post about how crochet is only either tasteless or classy. Gag me, what a bunch of snobs. (not that anyone besides me is really going to care at all, but y'know)

I feel like CRAP. Again! It's not fair. I am so totally and unbelievably ready for summer, or spring at least.

Ok. So. I read this, and that lead me to this, and I'm not gonna lie, I bawled like a baby. Which means that at least half my tax return (oh crap I was going to file that today and I forgot >_< SuperCrafty store in all likelihood. You should buy some too. Even if you don't knit. 'Cause it goes to that adorable baby's momma. And hey, there's embroidery and stuff too. Also if you're at a total lack of what to buy...you all know SOMEONE who could use it...*cough* ;)

Besides which, there's some nice stuff at relatively low prices (the megamart shopper in me cringes, the fiber-geek is all "ooh" and "ahh"), considering.

In the very good news, the scarf and hat set is finished. And it looks damn good, if I do say so myself. Pictures should be coming soon. Although I have to say, that if anyone ever asks me to make a 6"x6' scarf again...I'll charge more. It doesn't bother me so much this time because I know the girl, and because it wasn't her fault that I TOTALLY underestimated the amount of time it would take (I'm thinking it added up to something like 10-12 hours total). Hah, I'm such a whiner. This is why I rarely tackle big projects. Although that should be changing soon because I'm planning on doing my first crochet sweater soon. And knit, soon to follow. Aren't you all excited for me and stuff?

But right now I'm taking a teensy(as in, 2 day) break from crocheting that will probably extend until tomorrow because most of the scarf was done on Tuesday when I stayed home sick - message kiddies: something like 8 hours of crocheting in one stint? BAD IDEA. My wrist was killing me until recently. And it's still a little touchy. Yup, I'm a dork. A dorky dorky hooker.

And the other half of my tax return is going to get spent at Simply Fibers in Springfield. If I can *ever* get there. Was planning to go on Saturday, and the weather is supposed to be icky in the extreme. So I might try for tomorrow. Maybe. I dunno.