I woke up on day three of my three-day weekend with a killer sore throat. I already had a cold this Winter, so I'm not sure what the purpose of that was, but it was annoying. So I've been laying about, and between naps, did a little knitting. I'm powering my way through that to-do list, and started on my sweater. Originally, this yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca) was going to be an Assemblage sweater, which I love and still want to make, but because this yarn is alpaca, and therefore very soft, when I knit the patterned cuff you couldn't see much of a pattern. So I think it will be much better suited for the Diminishing Rib Cardigan in the latest Interweave Knits.

This is the first time I've knit a top-down sweater, but I think it might be my new favorite thing-no seams, try it on as you go, and easily adjust to fit! I also learned a new cast-on for this, the tubular cast-on. It was a little tricky, and I admit, it took about four attempts to get it right, but it makes sense now, and it does make for a nice edge. If you try it out here are my tips: 1. Use straight needle to cast on, and then transfer to your cable needles if you're using them, the cable created all kinds of problems for me, and 2. It will look like a big mess at first, but just give it a few rows, and it will work itself out.

Also in orange, the shot cotton scarves I mentioned last time:

I might be a little obsessed with this fabric, although I don't think I can do it justice in a photograph.

One last bit of orange (and white) for your amusement, someone found the catnip stash and had herself a little party:

 

Later we found her looking for pop tarts (the last paragraph of that news story cracked me up).

And now on to the turquoise. I painted my picture frame, which will eventually be an inspiration board, but it needs some help.

 

It's a little darker than I hoped, and also a little flat. I'd like it to be more the color of my tray, but I'm not sure what to do to get it there. Maybe a watered down greenish glaze? And a clear, glossy coat of paint? Any ideas?

And thanks for all the little pep talks about my bookcases on Apartment Therapy. I'm not letting the haters get me down, and really, the nice comments you left for me here more than made up for the snarky ones over there!

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Saturday I devoted my whole day to thrift shopping/antique mall-ing in search of a dresser for the studio. Mission accomplished!

If you'll recall, it was on my Complete the Studio to-do list. Also on the list is Paint the dresser. I'm tired of painting at the moment, and it's been raining for four days, so painting is not going to be a high priority for awhile. I can live with it like this for a good, long while, actually. It would be better if it was a brighter white, to match the walls, but I can deal for now. The shape is just what I wanted, and the size is perfect. I love the handles, and, while I didn't really want anything too shabby chic or distressed, the little painted swags on the drawers are kind of sweet.I also didn't think I needed a side table, but when I saw that little white one for $45 I kind of had to get it, and it turns out that it's really coming in handy.

I managed to thin out my yarn stash, and fit nearly everything in the bottom drawer. There are a few balls of sock yarn in one of the top drawers, and it's so nice that it's all safe from those pesky cats. I decided to display part of my creamer collection on a tray on top.

 

I need to find some small projects for the odd balls of yarn. What do you do when you have leftover yarn or orphan skeins?

Once the dresser was organized I was so inspired by my pretty new space, I worked on some treats for the shop. There's a couple peepers in there right now, and I hope to have some pincushion/needlebook sets by the end of the week. It's so nice to work out there now. It's a small room (barely 10'x14'), but I've got so much of my junk organized and cleaned out that it's just so easy to work. 

 

And, since you haven't seen this fuzzy face for awhile, I leave you with the one and only Winston:

 

I can't take it when he looks at me like that. I had the day off today, and spent it in the studio with the rain and then snow blowing and blustering outside, and I had to let this muddy thing in because I felt sorry for him. I hope my carpet will come clean.

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I still have a ways to go on this scarf, but I think it's pretty, so I wanted to show it off even though it's not done. I love the asymmetry of it. The pattern is the Juliet scarf from  Knitting Little Luxuries. I've been knitting in little blocks of time here and there, and it's steadily growing.

Those little blocks of time are like tonight, after a nearly two hour drive home because it started raining, and a quick change into pj's and hopping into bed to catch up on some favorite shows online. Heavenly!

Also, you may have noticed that my photos are quite bright, despite the fact that it is 10 pm. I owe this amazing display of light all to my new little friend, the Nikon SB-400 Speedlight. I bounced the flash off the ceiling for these two pictures, nothing more complicated then that. I feel like I've opened a whole new world for photography in the evenings after work with this handy little tool.

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My brother was telling me about a book he read about da Vinci and creativity (I think it was this one: How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
) and how he cultivated his creativity with curiosity. I had never made that connection before, and it made so much sense to me. I love to know how things work and learning how to do new things, and when I am really engaged with learning something new I am usually also at my most creative. When I decide I want to learn how to do something, I tend to immerse myself completely in that subject.

When I wanted to learn to be a better cook I read cookbooks and made new and different recipes every week. Eventually I saw how ingredients went together, what seasonings worked well together and what techniques would result in what outcomes. Once I had experience with a lot of different recipes I felt confident enough to try my own combination of ingredients and created my own dishes.

I wanted to be able to work on my computer, rather than paying some Geek Squad member $60 an hour to replace a video card or add memory. So I talked to some experts I knew (like my brother and the support guys at work) and learned how to open up a computer case and change out the components myself. A couple years ago, with the help of my brother, I felt confident enough to build a computer from different components. It's still going strong today, and cost about half as much as one with the same specs was going for at the time. I'm still quite proud of that accomplishment.

Knitting has taken me a little longer to master. Almost everything I've knit has come from strictly following an existing pattern. But then I got some Noro Kureyon sock yarn, and I knew I wanted to make some simple socks to show off the yarn, but not so boring as just plain stockinette. I also have the big feet issue, which you know far more about than you probably want to if you've been reading my blog for the past year, so I decided to just have a go at creating my own pattern. They aren't anything revolutionary, and I really just included ribbing and heel and toe styles that I've done before and like, but I'm really liking how they came out. I'm feeling just that much more confident in my knitting abilities now, and really want to come up with some original patterns.

A few words about Noro yarn: I always think that I don't like variegated yarns, but Noro is something different. It's a yarn that lends itself to the process of knitting as much as the final product. It's not dyed in all those beautiful colors, but rather the yarn is spun from different fleece colors blended together. My first sock practically flew off the needles, because I just couldn't wait to see what the next color was going to be. Unfortunately, the second sock wasn't as quick because a cat found my skein unattended for mere moments. He didn't do too much damage, but I did have to re-roll the yarn, so I got a preview of the color transitions, and the suspense just wasn't there, driving me on.

As I was knitting I wasn't too sure I would really like actually wearing these socks because the yarn seemed a little scratchy, but they feel just fine, not scratchy at all when on my feet. I also decided from the beginning that I wasn't going to try and make them match, and I think they're quite fun in their dissonance. I also realized as I was taking the above picture that I could probably win the award for most feet self-portraits on a blog if such an award existed. I just got some new boots, so there will probably be even more feet pictures in the near future. Just letting you know.

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I didn't quite mean to disappear for ten days, but I've been busy. I finally started painting my little studio. And I painted some more and then I painted even more, and I'm still not done. I've gone through two cans of primer so far, and I started on a third can tonight. I knew this was going to be a big job, but I didn't know it would be quite this big. My studio is actually an old tack shed that a previous owner finished off inside using whatever leftovers they found laying around, so it's sort of a quirky little space. Sometimes we call it a guesthouse, which sounds much more glamorous than it could ever be. A previous owner (I'm not sure if these are the same owners that initially gussied it up) walled up one end to make a very narrow space in which they built a workbench. Based on some remnants of foil stapled to the walls and ceilings, and some chains which looked like they were for some hanging fluorescent lights, I'd guess they used the space to grow some plants. I'm not saying what kind of plants, I'll leave that to your imagination.

Anyway, the point is that for six years I've wanted to paint it, and I finally got started. There are lots of odd little bits of wood, so I decided to paint everything white so make it look fresh and bright and clean. It is also painted in patches of five different colors, so some of the darker colors require a little more priming than the lighter colors. I can't bring myself to post a before picture here, because it was just so ugly, but if you must know what it looked like, go here. And now, after two cans of primer, it looks like this:

 

I still have more priming to do on the other side of the room, I think if I work on it for the next two nights after work I'll be able to actually paint on Saturday. I decided to treat myself to a new doorknob from Anthropologie for that door when I'm done painting. I'm thinking something like this one, or maybe this one. And how much do you love that lamp? I think it's going to be adorable in here. It's from Target, of course. Last Fall I even made up a style tray of inspirational ideas for the space. In case you missed it:

 

The Vika Artur trestle legs and table top were on sale at Ikea this past month, $10 for each set of legs, and $30 for the table top, so I've got them all ready and waiting to be assembled. I'm not having much luck finding an inexpensive vintage metal stool, but I can be patient. I also hope to find some green fabric similar to what's on the chairs in the top right photo to re-cover a wing chair. There will be a lot of little projects to do in the room before it's complete, but it's going to be lots of fun, if I ever finish painting.

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I have some more colorful things to share, which is especially good because it's dark and gloomy out around here today, and that means my drive to work is probably going to be excessively long. We Californians tend to come  a little un-glued when it rains. Once there was a huge, unexpected rainstorm on a Friday afternoon and it took me three hours to get home. Not even kidding. That was like two years ago and I still remember the horror. But that's another story for another day.

Do you have a uniform? You know, not an actual uniform, but a set of clothes you regularly wear with interchangeable components? Mine is jeans, t-shirt, cardigan sweater, flats. I try to keep it from getting boring by doing interesting things to my t-shirts, and buying things like green pants and cute flats. I wonder if I should be embarrassed by the number of cardigans in my closet. It's like I'm channeling Mr. Rogers. Anyway, back to today's colors!

I didn't realize that I needed yellow shoes until I saw these at Target, but I think they are going to turn out to be this Fall's must-have accessory. Thank you Target for now carrying shoes in size 11 for my ski's-for-feet! Stinkin' cute, right? I didn't get the little ankle strap in the pictures, but you can see the little heels below.

I am modeling them with my new $15 Old Navy grey cords. I had to give up on the idea of winning that weight-loss competition. That was a stupid idea for me to join a weight-loss competition with a bunch of guys. So, since there was no chance I would be taking home any prize money, I've obviously been pants shopping. And it it nice to be able to walk around without constantly tugging at my waist band to pull my pants up. Plus, you know, you can look pretty cute for not a lot of money, I'm discovering.

Another Target find that I am enjoying:

I generally hesitate to decorate with mass-produced 'art', but I just really love this tray, and the colors were perfect for my living room. Plus it is functional, I can always take it down and actually use it as a tray. Trays are good things to have around.

I'm knitting more socks, pink this time! This is my first time using Knit Picks Essential Sock yarn. I wasn't too sure I would like it, it's so inexpensive and I am partial to Lorna's Laces, but I think it's a nice yarn for the price. Sure, it's not hand-dyed, but I bought a few colors, and they're all pretty nice. Sometimes you just want a good, solid color, you know? And it's washable, and quite soft, so as long as I'm on this sock knitting bender, I'll keep using it. Has anyone knit socks with it? I'm curious how well it wears.

And I'll leave you with not color, but a black and white cat and a short list:

1. I watched Lars and the Real Girl this weekend. It was so sweet.
2. I can't stop playing Zilch. Don't click that link, I'm warning you, you'll start playing and won't be able to stop.
3. For my fellow Americans, take this quiz and see how much you know about our history and government. I'm embarrassed that the average is so low. We need to know this stuff, people! Politics is beyond the scope of this blog, but I think it's important to know this stuff (I was in the 80% range, if you were wondering, and I think I should have done better). 
4. You would never know that 10 minutes before the picture below was taken there was a black and white blur flying from one corner of the house to another, bouncing off window sills and jumping on the kitchen counter, which is absolutely NOT ALLOWED in our house. It is against the rules, I tell you!

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