Friday, September 11, 2009

In which I gush about Steph Dosen and her amazing knitwear...

I don't know what it is about this girl, but she has the most amazing designs. I absolutely fell IN LOVE with her patterns. All the cabled goodness and the beautiful, creamy hues she chooses just makes everything so whimsical and cozy looking. If you're on ravelry and haven't checked her stuff out yet PLEASE do. The Parseltongue Hat and Forest and Frill are my absolute favorites! Here's her ravelry page:



In other news, I'd been suffering a long hiatus between figuring out grad school, fixing up things around my house (minor spider infestation, no big right?) and trying to keep everything in my life straight. I MAY have forgotten about my lovely blog readers (I have readers right?) and my things that I need to be taking care of around ravelry...so without any more interruptions...

FINISHED OBJECTS!

(yes I actually was knitting all this time)


This right here is a not so awesome picture of my Yellow Basic Cable hat (the Basic Cable hat from Stitch and Bitch Nation). It's made out of that ATROCIOUS yarn from Joann Fabrics (I know everyone knows which one I'm talking about) but I couldn't resist the colors. It was a royal pain in the arse to actually knit with it though, It kept twisting back on itself, and GAH! It was just so bad. I can't even begin to explain... It's only redeeming quality was this:


COLORFUL! The colors are so pretty! The yellow didn't bleed like the other colorways tended to (or so I heard) and the binder thread was white so It didn't show through (like the others were supposed to). It wears well, actuall. It was just torturous to knit with.

I also have this little goodie here:
This is my Luxury Cowl from Lion Brand that was comissioned as a present for my mother. You can't really see it, but this yarn has a metallic sparkle to it in some hue of iridescent (spelled that right, right?) pink that she ADORED. It's not my cup of tea, but the shawl pin I had kicking around went perfectly with it, so I gave that to her as well. She saw one of my OLD crocheted cowls that I wear constantly in the winter and wanted one of her own, so I made her one. I actually knit this a while ago after I sliced my hand open at work and couldn't work until I was cleared by the hospital.

Actually...both of these aren't so recent...

Lately I've been really partial to wine and berry colors. Crimsons, blacks, greys, and creams. This makes sense because I realized while yellow is a very cute color, it's not actually a color that I wear often, and thus this hat looks silly with most of my clothing and other accessories. Most everything I've been knitting since the summer started (both of these were finished by June) has been either some kind of neutral, or something maroon-colored.

One last thing, I recently got to feel Rowan Cocoon for the first time...

LOVE!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

U-turns, ball pythons, coyotes, cajun spices and a partridge in a pear tree.

Has anyone ever had one of those days where there is just so little going on that you are virtuall bored to tears, you have no hope for the human race, and sleeping seems like a better alternative than actually living trough that waste of a day?

Imagine that day.

Now imagine the exact opposite. That was my day today.

It all started off relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that Danny started his first official day at his new job, his FIRST job out of college, which excited both he and I beyond any and all reasoning. I went for my daily swim, of course, because I can't actually get by without that and that was basially it until 7:00ish.

I went to Danny's house to chill and finish watching Burn After Reading, which was only a mediocre dark comedy about government agencies and how they're so uptight. I was amused for the most part, but some parts got a little bit stupid...like everyone sleeping with everyone else...kind of soap opera-ish.

Then we decided to let the dogs out...
I hear Danny yell and I go outside to see what the problem was. He then told me to call the older dog over and bring him in the house, and fast. He comes running in moments later with his mother's chiuahua. Only after we get everyone (safely) in the house does he tell me that he saw a coyote across the street (we've been overrun with them up in CT lately).

Then while we're watching the movie he decides he's going to finish the dinner his sister made, which was some variation of cajun chicken, or maybe jerk chicken I'm not quite sure (it was good anyway!) and wound up doing the ONE thing you don't do when you cook/eat things with pepper in them: he rubbed his eye. Swelling and tearing ensued. He ran outside to get his eyedrops out of the car and comes running back inside telling me to get dressed and ready to go and he tells me to be quick about it. Freaking out I run outside and sit in the car and he tells me to look on the dashboard...

CUPCAKE IS BACK! Our ball python that has been missing for ALMOST A MONTH was sitting right there over the steering wheel. We thought we lost her in transit about a month back, but my God there she was! Excited, and nervous we brought her to our friend Rob's house for an emergency feeding because she hasn't eaten in almost a month. She took to it very quickly, and is comfortably relaxing in her bowl of water in her lovely little tank. I'm so happy she's home!

Almost an hour after that we're back home and lazing around in bed getting ready to sleep and I hear a loud thud either upstairs or outside. Danny's sister comes into the bedroom and tells us that someone crashed their car outside, so we quickly went to investigate. We were both rather disturbed to find oil leaking on the road, the curb in front of his neighbor across the street destroyed, and the best part, her grass all torn up. We sumised that apparently someone decided they were going the wrong way and U-turned through this poor woman's front lawn, ripping up the grass, almost hitting a tree, and then sped up the other direction on the street. Danny, like the good human being that he is ( I love it when he does things like this, honestly) goes up to the woman's house and alerts her to the situation. She was very greatful and was about to file a complaint with the police, however, the neighbor a few doors down from Danny's house had already done so, and was coming down the street to try and assess the damage for himself. I left around the time the police arrived.

Blogging is so much better when I have stories, Here I was thinking I was going to have to make another to-do list!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

next week's to do list.

I've been trying to make an honest effort in getting myself more organized and doing the things I should be doing in order to prepare myself for the upcoming semester, as well as get my UFO pile down (believe you me, it's huge at this point). Next week is going to be better than this week was, because for starters, my gym's pool was under maintainence this week, so I couldn't swim, which is the one thing I could have standed to do this week...swimming always reduces my stress level.

I'm going to be posting some of my finished UFOs soon, I have two scarves that are almost ready to come off the needles, and pretty soon I'm going to need to start some mittens, and perhaps a cowl to use up some of my stash yarn. Tomorrow I'm going to designate a project for all of those odd skeins that I have floating around. Here's what I've come up with so far:

1.) Ysolda Teague's garter mitts, two pairs from my leftover skeins of Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light.
2.) The Pale Skies Cowl from Knitscene 2009 in Paton's classic Wool Merino in Aran.
3.) Melissa Lebarre's Garter Yoke Cardigan for ALL of the balack Paton's Classic Wool I have.

Also I'm going to have to start reading all of the aformentioned books. I recently discovered that Amazon has this nifty little device that stores "e-books" on it called a Kindle and I decided that I desperately wanted one today. That would make toting around school books so much easier since they would all fit on one little computer screen. It sounds like a fabulous purchase that I would make great use of, being an English major who reads a lot for pleasure and for school purposes as well.

Also I've come up with a way to set up my savings account so that money comes out of it every month, which will help me with that whole problem of never having any money. I've limited my yarn spending as wll, I'm allowed 50 every two months for yarn purchases, and that means I have to be very careful about what I buy and from where (hello KnitPicks)!

Currently, I'm in the process of engaging in one of my favorite activities: taking the entire contents of my wroom and duming it into a huge garbage bag and taking it to the dump. Pre-semester cleaning is good because it allows me to rid myself of the garbage that I accumulate over the FOUR (yeah, really) months that I'm almost completely useless. as wll as the crap that I used over the last semester, this applies specifically to notebooks.

That being said, I'm pretty confident that next week will be a better week.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

books i need to start reading...

1.) Stardust
2.) The Alchemist
3.) Neverender
4.) the rest of the Mortal Instruments Series (I'm currently reading City of Bones for FREE through www.livingsocial.com

Monday, July 27, 2009

hmmmm...

Have you ever been to a party where everything was completely FINE, nothing was going wrong, you weren't angry at any one particular person in general, you weren't worried about some girl macking on your boyfriend, and you were genuinely having a good time?

Well, I did, and then someone had to go and ruin it two days later with drama...

I've never been a jealous person, ever. Generally speaking I don't keep my men (or my man in this case) on a leash becausee that's one way to get them (him) to run away REALLY fast. No one takes well to being held down...

However, some people like to pretend that I have serious problems with his ex-girlfriend (ancient ANCIENT history, also present at party) and THEN tell her about it, make me look like an ass, and start a whole series of rumors that aren't true (obviously) and make this girl feel insecure about it enough to talk to MY BOYFRIEND about it, basically apologizing or wondering why I hate her so much because of ONE PERSON who doesn't have a life...

I really cannot stand it when people feel the need to not only poke their nose in other people's business, but CREATE problems within an otherwise happy home. I mean, excuse me but what part of my relationship was your business anyway? And why is it so imparative that you create problems at a party where there aren't any? Is beer, and swimming, and general good times all around not FUN for you? She should have left if she was bored. Generally speaking I tend not to pay attention when people tell me they don't like me, I was a cheerleader in high school, I made some enemies, but when the drama is BRAND new, and drama I'm TRYING to avoid, which is the adult thing to do, I get pissed. Really, REALLY pissed...


Grow up you asshole.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Sleeping Giant



Yesterday Danny and I took a day trip up Mt.Carmel (aka Sleeping Giant).It was the first time I'd been up that mountain since I was two, and I'm 21 so that my friends was a little while ago!
We decided to stay off the main pathway because it's just so much better when you're dirty! The main objective was to find the castle on top, have a picnic someplace awesome and then come back down in enough time for us to grab dinner later on. We spent some time on the top of the castle because the view was amazing; you could see most of CT from there!







Part of the reason why I wanted to go so badly is because my favorite animals live up there on the cliffsides, so I was hoping I could see them in action...and I DID!



This was the best shot I could manage, because they were all so fast and my camera skills are crap, but there it is, a hawk in flight. There must have been seven or eight of them flying around overhead. They were amazing! I've never seen them that close wild.




The day just got better from there. After we decided we were going to settle down somewhere and eat the lunch I brought, we found this out of the way trail where it lead RIGHT to the cliff face! There was a natrual rock formation jutting out of the side and we HAD to take the opourtunity. It ws the most amazing view of the mountain ever! All you could see for miles was the lush green of the trees, the sky, and of course, more hawks (they live on the face of the mountain). We set up shop and, obviously, took in the view for a good solid hour, resting and sunbathing and enjoying ourselves.



It was definitely one of the best spent days I've had this summer. Eventually we'll hike it again in the fall so we can see all of those amazing trees in the beautiful colors of fall! Maybe I'll bring some knitting then, too, so when we're chillin on the precipice I can have something to do.



Thursday, July 23, 2009

I have gift knitting to do...

I'm supposed to be cooking for the trip up Mt Carmel tomorrow...
I'm supposed to be knitting my friend's daughter a Gryffindor scarf...
I'm supposed to be finishing up blocking my OTHER friend's Link hat...
and yet I chose tonight to become interested in making chainmaille jewelry.

Attention Ravelers!: Make sure you guys vote for your sock yarns for sock summit! I just placed my votes five minutes ago.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

45 Life Lessons You'll Never Learn in School

I found a link to this page on another blog and decided to copy down the list of things. I rather enjoy it actually. Some are cliche, but most of them are good things to know...I highlighted my favorites.

1.) Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2.) When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3.) Life is too short to waste hating anyone.
4.) Your job won't take care of you when you're sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5.) Pay off your credit cards every month.
6.) You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7.) Crying with someone is more healing than crying alone.
8.) It's okay to get angry with God, he/she can handle it.
9.) Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10.) When it comes to chocolate resistance is futile.
11.) Make peace with the past so it won't screw up the present
12.) It's okay to let your children see you cry.
13.) Don't compare your life to other's you don't know what their journey is about.
14.) If a relationship has to be secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15.) Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.
16.) Take a deep breath.
17.) Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
18.) Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19.) It's never too late to have a happy childhood, but the second one is up to you.
20.) When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21.) Over prepare, then go with the flow.
22.) Burn the candles, where fancy lingerie, use the nice sheets. Don't wait for a special occasion, today is special.
23.) Be eccentric now, don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24.) The most important sex organ is the brain.
25.) No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26.) Frame every "disaster" with this: "In five years, will this matter?"
27.) Always choose life.
28.) Forgive everyone everything.
29.) What other people think of you is none of your business.
30.) Time heals almost everything, give time time.
31.) However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32.) Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does.
33.) Believe in miracles.
34.) God loves you because of who God is,not because of something you did or didn't do.
35.) Don't audit life, show up and make the most of it.
36.) Growing old meets the alternative: dying young.
37.) Your children only get one childhood.
38.) All that truly matters in the end is that you love and were loved back.
39.) Get outside daily.
40.) If we through all the problems in the world in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41.) Envy is a waste of time.
42.) No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
43.) Yield.
44.) Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
45.) The best is yet to come.

Stuff...

Within the next three months or so, I need to acquire newer versions of certain things, because the replacement of those things is long time overdue.

1.) I need a new phone, my old one JUST died probably five minutes ago.
2.) I need a new laptop, the one I'm currently writing on has a large grey and purple line going through the bottom portion of the screen, thus screwing up my visibility.
3.) gym membership, but that's coming soon...as is the phone, computer...idk about that yet.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Working like crazy

I've been working non-stop since Tuesday, and I don't get another day off until Thursday of next week.

Good for the paycheck, bad for the brain/social life. My younger brother's graduation party is at my house today, and I can't even be there for the whole thing, I need to only be there for MOST Of it. I'm going to be excited at the money I'm gonna get this time around since I've been working non-stop all week and most of this coming week too, but being with my family would be nice every once in a while you know?

Next week is going to be hectic, I have two doctor's appointments (two different doctors) and ANOTHER party to go to, which of course I'm only going to be able to show up for the latter half of that as well, excellent.

This morning sucks thus far.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

feeling squishy

I am in love with the greatest man in the world.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

missing snake

Cupcake, my ball python, escaped. =[

Friday, July 10, 2009

stressful week

Hell week, a term usually applied to midterm weeks or finals weeks, is DEFINITELY a term I would use to describe this week.

I've been so sick recently it's been making me frustrated, because I can't go out and be with the people that matter most to me, specifically Danny, because I'm just too damned tired all the time! On top of being sick, I have this stress that I've been dealing with, and it's not what I've dealt with before so I'm not quite sure how to approach it...

Danny interviewed for a pretty, shall we say "prestigious" job position about a week ago, and we're waiting to hear back from them, however they haven't gotten back to us, and we've been doing nothing but taking our respective stress out on one another, causing us to ultimately end tonight in a pseudo fight, and him driving me back home telling me to get some rest.

ON TOP of all of that, he has a paper route that he's picking up this week for a friend, which is paying well, but he has to sleep during the day because the paper route runs from 12 at night to about 5 in the morning depending on how fast he gets it done, which just makes for more stress for the two of us. I'm in the process of trying to change gyms because I want to get back into swimming again (I just feel so much better when I've been in the water, and this new place has a pool), I have about four weeks until I have to go back to class, all in all I'm in pretty miserable shape right now and I just wanted to vent about it.

Being sick sucks.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

holy crap

True, I'm back. I haven't been here in a while, and that's moderately disturbing since I have been up to so much. A lot of my prior angst over certain familial drama has been quelled thanks largely in part to time and a lessened tolerance for bullshit, but I digress...

Summer has been amazing thus far, save for the insane amounts of rain we've been having, but I'm sort of yearning for some kind of summer adventure, I'd like to go kayaking or maybe climb Sleeping Giant soon. It's been rough though because Danny has been working ridiculous hours, and I've been left feeling a little lonely and neglected because of it. I mean he sleeps when we CAN hang out and when we can't I'm left feeling lonely and neglected kind of. I'm not unsympathetic to what he's doing, it just would be nice every now and then to feel a little more...appreciated (doesn't seem like the right word, but we'll go with that) for all of the crap I put up with. I love that boy so much...




Also,I have been knitting! Which is good, and I feel bad about it because I never take any pictures of my finished projects, which sucks. I'm making an attempt to teach more people and might try to start a stitch and bitch at school this year, or a knitting club, or some such thing, I hate the lack of knitting friends I have.

Additionally, anyone who IS on ravelry and looks at this feel FREE to message me and ask for my screen name or leave comments here because the lack of knitting fellowship that I have is making me upset.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Ravelry name change

I changed my name from "Jackierage" to "Torsade", simply because I was sick and tired of sounding scene and I want my name to reflect my more mature,advanced style and projects.

Once again, same person, different name.


Now to post FOs...

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Interchangeable WHATS??!!!!

ADDI. INTERCHANGEABLE. CIRCULAR. KNITTING. NEEDLES.

GAH!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

bowling and midterms.

89 isn't bad. Considering I didn't study and I didn't attend the class for most of the semester. I have a nasty habit of not waking up for my 9:55 class, but it's been easier since I decided I need to stop being lazy.

Last night was a good time. We were supposed to have gone bowling, but I guess plans fell through with the people that invited us/orchestrated the night, oh well poor planning I guess.

Instead Danny, Dane, Nicole, Regan and I ended up hanging out at Friday's which was cool. Geen Bean fries were good, but that dressing or whatever that they come with is soooooo not. It's wasabi/cucumber/ginger something, and it's kind of a flavor clash with the greenbeans. Oh well, Dan didn't seem to mind them too much so I let him and everyone else pick on them since I had already eaten dinner before.

This morning there was a huge accident on my way to class, and I was stuck in traffic with a friend that I hadn't talked to in a while. We met up about five minutes ago and talked for a while, which was good. I'm happy to hear that she's doing well. I miss her. We had a lot of fun together in certain classes our freshman year, when things were simpler and we didn't realize that when we get out we won't have jobs. YAY economic failure!

In other news, I have a To Do List that needs to be taken care of this week...

1.)do the laundry
2.)clean the bathroom, even though there isn't any running water in it right now
3.)drop that art class you've been meaning to drop for the passed week and a half.
4.)start writing the pattern for the cable wrap. Additionally, get some yarn for the prototype.
5.)Establish some kind of gym regimen.
6.)Possibly plan for Newport on Friday.
7.)Catch up with paper writing. Make appointment for the writing center for next paper.

Woo. I think I covered just about everything. I really have my work cut out for me this week.

Monday, March 23, 2009

hmmm...

I'm exceptionally horrible at coming up with titles. Yay brain farts!Though, however exceptionally horrible I am with coming up with titles, today was an exceptionally wonderful day. I spent the majority of it with my boyfriend, and the rest of it in class<3.>
I also decided that I like Michelle Branch. I like how her music corresponds to her look and how she repeatedly seems to play with Carlos Santana, which if fabulous because he is fabulous, and an amazing guitar player to boot. In any case I have a total girl-crush on her; I think she's gorgeous.




I love this picture of her where she's wearing that purple shirt/dress thingie. She's like southern rockish and tomboyish at the same time and it's kind of a really appealing look to me. I don't know, maybe I just want to steal her life.


In other news, I finished my first actual scarf in a long time. It was the black, cream and green one that I was making for a long time. I gave it to Dan and he loves it, I just need to put the rest of the fringe on. I decided that when I open up the etsy shop (finally) that those scarfs will be dubbed "Shinobi Scarves" because you can wrap them around your face/head a million times like a ninja and because Dan said I looked like a ninja when I showed up at his house wearing it. Addtionally, marvel at how gramatically sound this post is!




Saturday, March 21, 2009

I feel like gardening

This post is a little pointless, but I wish that the "spring" weather up here was a little more garden-friendly. I want to take care of the mess that is my mom's garden in the front yard and get some azalea's or butterfly bushes and fill up some space in there...

She has like a hodgepodge of random flowers in the front, lilies, roses, black-eyed susans, tulips...She needs a little more uniformity and...

I don't know...

zen.


I want to garden NOW.

Friday, March 20, 2009

It's been a while


It's been a while since I felt anything blog-worthy has come up. I'm knitting up a storm because of the whole "house arrest" situation, but I'm not going to disclose any details of that here, I feel enough like a child for even having been put in this situation, I'm not going to make this like my livejournal in highschool where I complain that my parents are oppressive and they don't get me, even though I might feel like that's the case, it really isn't and I need to get over this, just like they will...


In other news, I'm in the market for a new computer, a Sony Vaio CS in Pink if you must know. It's very pretty, and I've heard amazing reviews, I decided I must have one.
My old laptop is getting, well, old and is at the point of no return. It runs very slowly, even though I just replaced the hard drive, and sometimes I get this little (I use the term loosely) bar of grey/smooshed together colors on the bottom of the monitor, and it only goes away when I push on the screen. It's a pain in the butt, and I'm really, really over it, it's time for a replacement.
Also, last saturday I got my hair cut, I cut off probably four inches, which is drastic. Dan's wasn't a fan initially, but almost all of my girlfriends are. He got over it really fast though, which is good, I have a funny feeling I'm never going to have longer hair again, short hair suits me so much better.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Bargain Shopping is Immensely Satisfying...

So I've been having this dilemma lately...

Due to the economy being in the fricken toilet, I have no money, and due to the fact that I live mainly in jeans, t-shirts and chuck taylors, I have worn my jeans out, and haven't got the money to replace them. They were rather expensive jeans from American Eagle Outfitters (where I prefer to get my jeans) but I can't afford to drop another 70.00 on two pairs of jeans, my paycheck won't allow it at this point...

Enter Walmart.

Glorious, glorious Walmart...how I love thee.

Hitting up the sale rack/clearance rack at Walmart has re-affirmed my love of bargain shopping. Lately I've been enjoying shopping at Marshalls, the Goodwill store and Burlington Coat Factory to get discounted designer items, and even though Walmart doesn't have Sinful, or Juicy Coture it DOES have three dollar pairs of jeans...

and seven dollar sweaters...

and five dollar t-shirts.

In all actuality I used to hate Walmart, because the quality of the clothing sold there was well...not quality at all. But as of late it's been coming around, and the stuff they carry there (mostly the stuff endorsed by Taylor Swift, damn her) is really really really cute. They also have nice bags and a they ARE my go-to underwear people.

Be proud of me. I'm saving money. I'm not living beyond my means!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Post of Explinations

I like to think that I'm a rational human being, that the path I've carved out for myself is the right one. I promise the posts of this blog won't be heavy, but they won't all be light-hearted either. I'm working on using this blog as a way to help interested people get to know more about me, and eventually as a way for my family and friends to keep in touch with me as I move on through life, because let's face it...there are very few of us who want to remain in the same town they group up in for the rest of their life, and there are very few of us who do, but I digress.

Since this is obviously the first post, this is probably where I shall be posting the things that make me tick, and explination of sorts as to who I am and what I do with my life.

I'm Jackie, I'm a 20 (almost 21, still counting the days) year old College student who is attempting to become a teacher, before I turn 24 would be ideal. I'm dating a fabulous boy who I love to death, and we compliment each other perfectly. He does some crazy stuff, but I love him nevertheless. We have a "child" together, a California Kingsnake named Poe, who is adorable as much as he is bad ass.
I live at home, in CT with my parents at the time this blog was started, and hopefully I won't be living here for very much longer, in fact I'm banking on a few more years only. To pass the time, I swim, knit, and listen to heavy music. I also dabble a little bit in cooking and World of Warcraft on occasion. I love comic books, video games, animals, celtic mythology, and of course I love love LOVE knitting. I also study nature-based religions and read tarot cards.

I work at Michael's (the craft store, not the jewelers) where the employee discount helps my yarn stash grow hand over fist. I'm a custom framing specialist, and got certified as a professional framer last spring.

That's about everything. I'm fairly certain I have no friends that'll read this yet, but I'm hoping eventually that friends AND family will read it to keep in contact with me.