All knitting...All the Time...

So today's post will be mostly about knitting although as I type that, I just remembered a tale from the tattoo shop that I have to share and a brief word on books as well. So here we go!

Knitting:

• I vowed I would weave in all the ends on the Shortie Jacket and....I Did!! It didn't even take forever, which was nice. Now I just have to do the sleeves, the collar, and install a zipper. I'm thinking of starting the sleeves tonight. I'm still crossing my fingers that I have enough yarn to finish them. *cringe* If I don't have enough yarn to do the sleeves and the collar, I'm going to have to come up with something else for the collar. Hmmm...Any suggestions?
  
• I changed my Project Spectrum 2.0 project from socks for me to the Boob Tube (tentatively titled so). It's a lingerie-ish type thing that I'm about a third of the way through. Here are some visual aids. Please note the beautiful nearly invisible decreases (I'm so proud of them....yes, that is how nerdy I am) and the vibrant color. Unfortunately, it's a bit, um, boring. I'm planning on doing a nifty crochet edge on top and bottom of it so that will spruce it up a bit but still... It looks a little wonky in the photo (and in real life) so I think a nice, stable crochet edge will definitely help. I keep combing the web and Travis' library for pin-up girl clothing inspiration as well as looking at photos of knitted lace and figuring out a way to fuse the two into something beautiful. I don't want to keep churning out boring sh- stuff.
  
• I really want to do something luscious in silk or soysilk, like a lacy nightie. I'll have to go to the drawing board for that one. Part of my hang-up is that I have a hard time drawing and when what is on paper doesn't match what I see in my head, I get frustrated and feel silly about my drawing ability. It's annoying. I see fluid, drapey lines in my head and I turn out with straight, rigid, stick-figure inspired lines on paper. Aargh! I might go chart out something beautiful later because I'm better on charts. Go figure. It must be because charts are already square and I can draw square, architectural type stuff.
  
• I'm making slow but sure progress on the MAN socks. I'm afraid they are going to be too wide and baggy at the top and Travis has already informed me that he hates baggy socks (who doesn't, really?) so they may be destined to being ripped out and redone with ribbing all the way down to the heel (which will be a short row heel) and then straight stockinette stitch at the foot so they'll fit and not bag, sag, and other things that rhyme with bag and sag, like lag, drag, and flag. On a side note, I was about to start this little bikini with this other yarn that I'd already swatched for and found that I'm using the DPNs I need for the MAN socks. The bikini can wait...unless I frog the MAN socks. Aargh again!
• Last but not least on the knitting front: My yarn from Emily B. Isn't it beautiful?! It's not quite as bright as in the photo. It's more subtle but just as beautiful. Mmmm....new yarn. *drool*

Tales from the Tattoo Shop:

• Phil, the other artist here, did a tattoo on Thursday (I believe) of last week that was a portrait of Colonel Sanders with crossed chicken legs. Hahahaha....Yes. I'm serious.
  
• On a side note, rant: Tattoo artists (or tattooers, or tattooists, or, if they totally suck and are not looking to improve, scratchers) do not tattoo with a "tattoo gun." It's a "tattoo machine" not a gun. It doesn't shoot ink bullets. I can't begin to explain why, exactly, this bothers me (and Travis and Phil, et al.) but it does. End of rant.

Partaking in Culture:

• I read a bit more in The Russian Debutante's Handbook and laughed out loud on numerous occasions. I love that, laughing out loud while reading a book. I think it's a good sign.
  
• We are at the last disc of Season Two of Quantum Leap. I noticed that at the beginning of Season Two, they started having a female narrator at the beginning to tell viewer's what's going on with Sam leaping around in time. Now we just have something else to fast-foward through. Fast-forwarding and cheesy theme music aside, it rocks.
• I am aghast at the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech.
  

Well, dear bloglings and blogettes, that's it for today. I hope everyone is enjoying the impending warm weather. I'm off to attempt to find inspiration for exciting, less snooze inducing knits. Have a beautiful day! Oh, and on a final note, here is a picture of a sleepy Penelope. We took her to the vet to get her fixed and, after they anethetized her and shaved her tummy, they found out she was already fixed. They opened her up to make sure and, yep, she was already fixed. Poor thing.

Transmission Ended