Moving day!!

I finally did it - packed up all my crap and moved it over to WordPress. So far, I'm just trying things out, but I like how it's much neater, and I think eventually I'll get to customizing the look for something a bit more ... me. ;) Right now I can't figure it out, but then it took me a while to figure out how to work Blogger, so...

Anyway, the new link is:

http://floderten.wordpress.com

Quite simple, really.

I'll keep this one around, in case I need to use something as a reference and it shows up better here...

Hope to see you all there! :)

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Invent a new flower; give it a name and describe it.

Uuh... Something with pretty pink flowers and thorns that eats stuff. It shall remain nameless for now.

Soup
Name someone whom you think has a wonderful voice.

Me. ;) No, I think Courtney Love has an awesome voice. And I love the way she sings! Another one is Justin Timberlake, he's so gifted.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how clean do you keep your car?

Don't have a car. But if I did, it would probably be around 7 or 8. I'd start vacuuming when there were too many crumbs. Don't think I'd leave empty bottles and stuff inside, though.

Main Course
How do you feel about poetry?

I like it. Some of it is rubbish (to be honest, most teen poetry I've read is really only about how they hate the world and it's a dark, dark place. And death.) but I love old poetry, even though I don't really understand it. It's the language and words, I think.

Dessert
What was the last person/place/thing you took a picture of?

My feet. Clad in new socks. ;) Last person was me, I think, and the last place.. Well, to be honest, it was my bed, but I'd rather say Paris!

FO: Embossed Leaves Socks

Specs:

Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt in IK's "Favorite Socks".
Yarn: Arwetta sock yarn, 2 skeins
Needles: 2.25 mm., KnitPicks DPNs that I got from my SP11 partner. :)
Cast on: January 25th
Cast off: March 31st
Mods: None, except starting the heel on the right side instead of in the middle. Just didn't get that part, so did it my own way. Turned out just fine!



Comments: Oh gods, where to start?! These socks took AGES! I just couldn't get them done, though the first one went by speedily enough. I don't know. I guess I just got bored with them. And I haven't had much knitting mojo for some time now. I guess it's because, ha, I don't have much time. Which is not true, but I guess I mean I don't have the energy. I do now, just not before.
The second one flew by while I was working on the assignment for the design school - any excuse not to work on it! So I knit while listening to the soothing voice of Brenda Dayne or watching the 4th season of "Project Runway" on youtube.

I'm just so happy to have finished these. For a more detailed description of everything, check them out on [Ravelry].

At the moment I'm working on Emily; I've finished the back piece and was reminded why I hate doing things in pieces. It's the loose stitches when you cast off, which pulls the edge out of shape. I hate them. I hate the shoulder shaping throwing it off. Ugh. And I don't know how to prevent it; obviously when you turn your work there's going to be "left over" yarn between the stitches, yes? *sigh* Oh well. You can tuck it down, no biggie I guess.
I wanted to start on a sleeve because, well, fronts and backs are big pieces and I prefer small ones, but do you know how many stitches to cast on for the sleeve in the smallest size?? 87. How many for each front and back piece? 85. And it's not an error. The sleeves are meant to be poofy, I know, but that's just insane. I tried folding the edge of the back piece over my wrist. Both my arms would fit in there. Hell, my HEAD would fit in there! So I cast on for the front instead; I'm going to think about how to make the sleeve smaller while keeping the poof. I have a horrible nagging feeling that it will require math. Ugh. Again.

***

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of ways to use up my current stash, especially my sweater-amount stash. Remember the Felted Tweed I got for my birthday?? In the Kim Hargreaves book, there's a kimono-ish wrap sweater called "Dusk" [ravelry]. I have the exact amount called for, which is 7 skeins, and I think it would be very pretty in a grey-blue colour. :) I love the big sleeves, and how you can really accentuate your waist (which is an advantage to me) with a big belt. I love the one in the book, but don't have one like it. I'm sure you can buy one, though.

Also, the silk I bought (originally for the Printed Silk cardigan from the Spring '08 IK). I'm having some troubles with that one. I've been thinking about Alice from Rowan 35 [rav], which is a lace cardigan, and Martha from Rowan 37 [rav] which is also a cardigan, but is either basketweave "lace", or basketweave with beads. I'm leaning towards Alice, because it's just nicer looking, and since I don't want to do basketweave "lace" and don't think I could handle the bead shopping, it's just an easier choice. :P
And then I found the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk Collection. Oy. There are a couple of things in there I would consider making, like Cap Sleeved Top, the Scarf and the Shrug. Oh, and the Single Button Cardigan. .... and the Ribbed Wrap Top. Okay, so that's actually a lot of things. Maybe I should get the book. But the Pure Silk is expensive! It's at least 2 quid more expensive here than online/Britain. Boo for that! But I guess, if the Colourmart silk fits, I could use that instead. Of course, I'd have to do a new gauge swatch (*sigh*) and I'm worried about the silk stretching.. I get 28 sts on 3 mm. needles, but the fabric also feels quite stiff. Not flowing, like silk should, you know? So maybe a 3.5 mm. might be better instead...
The silk is definitely causing me a lot of trouble, which sucks because I was so excited when I ordered and got it in the mail... I'm sure I'll find a use for it, though. Oh, and no Clapotis. I'm not making that thing. The end.

***

Finally, I just wanted to thank everyone for all your kind comments and e-mails and positive energy and everything. It really helped a lot when it was all so stressful, with the assignment and everything I mean. It really meant a lot to me, so I just wanted to say thanks. :) It was so sweet of everyone!



A last pic of my feets. See how my left one is a bit longer than the right? Can you imagine how much grief this causes in shoe shopping? Especially pumps? If I want it to stay on, I have to get them a bit small - and it'll fit my right foot. It will murder and kill and rape my left foot, and leave it red and bloody and mauled. Ick.
I talked my brother into exchanging a pair of shoes for me today. He had the day off, and it was the last day I could exchange them. I bought them last Wednesday, and they're really, really cute, but they're just not my style. They're the style I wish I had, but truth of the matter is that I'm kind of a girly tomboy. I feel most comfortable in jeans and sneakers, but also like miniskirts and stilettos. And the pumps I bought were more... I don't know. Fashionable. :P Haha! They were a different style from my usual, is my point. And they didn't work.

Anyway. I'll save my money because I actually don't need new shoes, and I did find some that were cheaper when I was looking at shoes, but I'll wait for now. Besides, it's all rainy and grey and wet, so hardly open-shoe-weather, yes? Besides, the IRS took some of my money - actually, same amount as the shoes cost me, and the same amount I was planning on spending on a yarn splurge for me. For the assignment, you know. Mainly for if I get called back for an interview. So it's a good thing I exchanged the shoes, I guess.

The IRS is a bitch, though. Did they take any of your money?

Of course.

Of course I wasn't done. How could I trick myself into believing that?! Hah! What a joke.

Well. What happened first? I realized I might have sent them a draft of something instead of the actual thing. I totally freaked out (this was about one and a half hour after I'd sent it, and the post office was closed by then) and dug through my paper basket, found the draft... then became unsure whether or not they'd gotten a finished version of the thing instead of something that stopped mid-sentence. Cried hysterically over the phone to boyfriend who couldn't do anything except make soothing noises. Finally decided not to think about it, as they could probably look past that if my assignment was well done.

Cut to this morning, when I realize all my sketches are still on my desk. When the assignment reads loud and clear: "Remember to include all your sketches from start to finish so we can see your design process." And there they are, all tucked neatly into a plastic sleeve, on my desk under a stack of papers. Haha!! How is this fucking possible?! I don't understand!! At this point I'm thinking about just giving up altogether.
I've sent them today with a note explaining that they're supposed to go with my portfolio. Of course, the assignment also clearly states that "only the material inside the portfolio will count in the judging." See how I'm just fantastically screwed over?? I can't believe I forgot to include the most important thing next to the drawings themselves.

I've given up all hope of even being considered for an interview, so basically I'm just waiting for the letter telling me I wasn't accepted. I can't believe I worked this hard and then tripped myself up in the end. It's a fucking joke. Gods...!

***

This will be 5 minutes after typing the above. I just called their office to explain my situation, and the person I talked to actually recognized my name from the portfolio I sent in, commenting that it's pretty big. Well, they asked for an A3, that's what they got!
Anyway, she said that it's no problem at all as long as the sketches are there tomorrow. I almost peed myself. I still have a shot, provided they like my stuff.

Oh gods. I can't handle the stress from this sort of assignment! ;) It's so typical me, forgetting fifty things in the very last minute. Heh... I feel so relieved. Hands are shaking and everything. Wow... I just hope.. yeah. I just really hope I get in.

(and I never really gave up hope, I think. I kept believing some sort of miracle would fix it and they would beg me to go to their school. Hee hee!)

The deed is done

Just returned from the post office. It's done. I can't believe it. It's done. In one month or so, a letter will arrive telling me whether or not I have to come in for an interview. One month! And then my entire future will change!

...

I think I might pass out.

Tomorrow, tomorrow!

Gofuckyourself,
tomorrow!
You're only a day away...!

I took another day off from work. I'm not done yet. But oh so close though! I just need to stick it all onto a piece of cardboard and put it in the effing fugly cardboard A3 folder I bought, slap my name on it, and... send it off.
I have nothing to send it off in, but I'll figure that out tomorrow.

Fuck. I can't believe it's tomorrow. I have two knit swatches, 6 fabric swatches, pins (because I can't glue fabric to cardboard and hey, pins are creative (until the judges jab their fingers on it and get blood poisoning and die)), 4 drawings on paper that is starting to look crumpled, and if you tell them to draw them again I will poke your eyes out with my "Kingfisher Blue" pencil, one piece of large black cardboard that was way over-priced... And no glue, come to think of it. Fuck! We must have glue somewhere. I bet my brother has some, but looking for glue probably doesn't justify waking him up at 12:45 at night.

The boy has promised me that if I turn in my assignment (which I have threatened not to do a million times) we can go out to dinner next weekend. And if I get accepted, I get a present! I also get a present from myself (yarn, most likely), and if I don't get accepted, I also get a present. For comfort, yes? That will most likely be chocolate.
I already bought a fantasy book by Trudi Canavan called "Priestess of the White" which I've been eyeing every time I go into a bookstore (we were only there because we missed the bus - which was NOT my fault, the boy simply has a hearing problem and thinks I tell him it leaves 49 when in fact I tell him it leaves 45), and I got it gift-wrapped. For myself. ;) I like doing that. But I haven't opened it yet, for fear of getting sucked into the book and forgetting everything about the assignment until it's too late.

I wrote a piece about myself, which seemed huge and impossible, so I wrote that too. I told them I like pink and Courtney Love, that I wear a size EUR 38 in shoes (except in open toe sandals, then I can wear a 37 because my feet are so slender) and that I don't like boiled vegetables. Then I wrote about my hopes for the future, why I want to be in their school, etc. etc. It's difficult. In how many ways can you write "OMG please accept me to your school!!"?

I should go to bed. I have lots to do tomorrow.

Die, tomorrow. Die!

***

I actually saw Courtney Love on TV just now, in that Irish show with that gay guy I forgot the name of. She's so rockin' awesome. I luff her. I don't care that she's a crack-whore, but damnit she's got style! Even when she tells about some guy who, during her stage-dive, stuck his finger up her ... well. I'm not sure how that stuff happens, but it makes me glad I'm not a rock star.

***

Reading the Harlot's blog post about the sock monkey hat and how her nephew wears it while playing video games made me think of the hat I knit for my brother a year ago. I knit it right after I broke up with my ex, in a very soft merino (Lucca, in case you were wondering) because my brother can't stand anything that scratches, in brown with light blue stripes. My brother wore it all winter, and this winter too.
He also wears it indoors, while playing Fifa on his Playstation II. He doesn't pull it over his ears, just puts it on top of his head like a yarmulka (or kippot or whatever you want to call it). He looks ridiculous, and takes it off when we catch him wearing it, but then when we leave he puts it right back on.

He's 17 now. The little freak.

Procrastinating

I did about 45 minutes worth of drawing last night. Forty five minutes. That's not a lot, dudes. I did, however, manage to produce 4 sketches of 4 different garments, 3 of which I am deeply in love with (one of them is a knit) and colour them in. I think I'm making progress, just rather unsteadily and not that fast. I don't work well in the mornings - I usually really start working once we pass the afternoon. It was the same when I was doing that huge term paper; most of it was written at night.

I'm having troubles coming up with bottoms, as I prefer to design tops and dresses. Especially dresses; I LOVE those!! Maybe it's because I don't wear them that often, and how many pairs of interesting pants can you design?? I just want to make at least one two or three piece design for each picture, to show them that I don't just do dresses. And really, when you get down to it, what's wrong with a simple pair of jeans if the top is rockin'?

I think I'll go fabric shopping at the end of the week (because that's when mum can take me), so I have the weekend to do finishing touches and such if I get inspired by other fabrics in the store. I also have to get the materials to put together a portfolio of some kind. Eesh. And I have some mail I have to send out this week, too. I'm trying not to let it stress me out, though.

And for something completely random: I've had over ONE THOUSAND page hits this month alone. What do you people do with your time?!! :P It quite surprised me!
What made me crack up was going through the 'paths', how people get to my site, and one got here from Google by searching "yucky Chinese candy". Haha!!! I love that. Another got here by "mini skirt" and a third by "itty bitty black titties". I'm not sure I want to know about that last one. Oh, and here's a good one - "total pervert girl". There's ONE HIT, and that's me!! ... I don't know if that should make me sad or proud.
A lot of people got here simply by searching on "Floderten".
Heh, and one by "people who like the crazy daisy water hose". Wtf, people?? How do I end up in those search hits?? I swear...

Anyway. I think I'll go stalk Style.com for some awesome bottoms (leg-wear) and have a good think. I'm pretty sure about one or two of my designs, which is a big help. I just need to draw them in all their glory. *sigh* That's the stupid part. I hate proportions...

Back from Pah-ree

I don't even know where to begin. We had an amazing trip. I'll do a full update later, but right now I just can't get myself to do it. I caught a really nasty head cold sometime in the middle of the week, which of course slowed down the trip somewhat, but I don't think it made it worse.
Anyway, I'll give you a few teaser pics for now. :) Promise to do a whole travel log thing later!



Me looking grumpy in front of the Eiffel Tower. There's a story to that. But really, I was just grumpy.



In front of the Louvre, which we never got to see on the inside. We did see it from the outside, though, and then the Weather Gods assaulted us. My nose was quite stuffy and red at this point.



The French National Institute of Agriculture. Of course I had to have a picture of that.

**

As I've mentioned before, I have this week off. For doing the design assignment. I have a few sketches (that will be tossed, they're no good and I have new ideas) and some brainstorming, but that's it. It's due Wednesday the 2nd of April, before noon. That gives me... 9 days and 12 hours. Well, really it's 8 days and a bit and 12 hours. *sigh* And I read the instructions wrong - I thought I had to do 2 designs in total. Turns out I have to do two designs per picture.

No problem, no worries, just... yes. I have no idea what to do. It's like when I was writing the big term paper during my final year. You have no idea where to start, you have no idea what the final product will be, and you're at all times missing some kind of material. I don't like having to be forced to draw. Had they asked me to knit a sweater, I wouldn't be able to do that either. I don't do things on command, but I have to. This is important, yes? And I think I can do it, once I get started. It's just the "getting started" part that's taking me some time. And I'm still tired from not sleeping for almost 24 hours, 18 of them being on a bus.

I have a crazy mixture of confidence, dread, numbness and utter despair inside of me. There's a block between my brain and my hand, preventing the beautiful inspiration from flowing into a pencil and onto paper. Everything I draw looks like crap. But it looks so pretty in my head!

Oh well. I'm going to relax for most of today (I slept until noon), and then start drawing tonight. I'm thinking maybe I'll go looking at fabrics on Wednesday or Thursday. And I have to keep telling myself that I don't need to design a crazy eccentric haute couture piece. Or 4 of them, for that matter. When you get down to it, it's about what people will buy and wear. A huge dome dress isn't practical on the bus, you know?
I just wish my inspiration pictures (which you can see here, scroll down) weren't all architecture. I don't like architecture like that. Last year they got plants and stuff. But you make do, and I think I'll pick picture 1 and 2. I really like the colours in those, which is the most important. And they're so different!

I'm rambling, I know, I'm just so tired. Knitting and Brenda Dayne will help with that. Oh, which reminds me, there were no yarn purchases in Paris. I went looking, but nothing really jumped out at me and said "buy me!!". There was some knitting, though, especially on Emily. I'm almost done with the back piece.

But for now, I'll knit on the socks. I'm past the heel, only 4 pattern repeats to go, then the toe, and they're done. Woo!

(I'm so glad to be back, yo. I missed the Internet. ;) I've caught up with your blogs, you guys have been busy!)