New website!!

My new website is finally finished! After weeks of long hard work, its up and running!

I have sort of neglected my knitting because of it though so I am going to get back into the game! Tomorrow I am starting an Internship! I decided to take a month long unpaid internship while I am still job searching and going on interviews. I think that getting some more experience under my belt is a good idea. They are pretty flexible with hours so I can still going on interviews and such.

Long time, no blog

Sorry its been so long, I have been job hunting, going on interviews, and working on my professional graphic design website. I have been attending Stitch 'n Bitch every Tuesday night and things are starting to pick up. More people are starting to get interested. I am slacking a little due to working more at the restaraunt and job hunting for my Big Girl Job. Hopefully soon I will land a job and then things will be back in order. I am still working on the beret and also started a scarf for my boyfriend's sister. We went to Chicago last weekend and I only had time to knit on the way up there in the car and on the way back. I will try to post more photos.

Knitters RULE

So last night a newcomer came to Stitch n Bitch, Katie, and she never knew how to knit and at the end of the night she was on her way to a beautiful scarf!! I am so excited for her. The group has decided to try to make it to yarn heaven (Meyer's House), its THE BEST place to get yarn around here. Next week we are meeting at Rebecca's house and her mom is a knitting pro, so we can have the chance to get some nice techniques from her. I can't wait. So now my most recent project is a really cute beret and I will start a cute scarf for Mikey's sister. We are going up to Chicago this weekend and I wanted to bring her a little something. I have the perfect yarn for her.

Job hunting is so stressful! I actually talked to a person yesterday, which is nice, instead of talking to someone's voicemail! We'll see what happens.

Birthday Week!

This Friday is my 23rd Birthday. This week I have big plans. Thursday night work friends are meeting me at a salsa club for a night salsa dancing! I'm so excited! Friday night my friends and my boyfriend are going out to dinner somewhere. Not sure where yet, but I need to decide soon so I can make reservations. Here are some places I am thinking about going.

1. Miso (sushi bar - I went here last year for my birthday, so I am not sure if I want to go there again..)

2. Copia (Urban Winery & Market - I have been there twice and their food is so delicious! $10-$33)

3. Mosaic (Tapas / Small Plates, Fusion / Eclectic, $31-$51)

4. BARcelona Tapas Restaurant (Tapas / Small Plates, Spanish, $30 and under)


Hopefully I can figure out where I want to go! Tomorrow night is Stitch 'n Bitch! I think I am going to make some yummy Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting! I got the recipe from Giada's Everday Italian on Food Network.

Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted


Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.

To frost the cupcakes: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and then beat in the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins. Sprinkle with the walnuts.

I am almost finished with the Totally Tubular Skirt. It has taken me longer than I expected to knit this one because I have been working on other projects, like my Dad's birthday snow hat that I had to get done for his birthday. The hat looked well on him.

Another fun night of knitting

So last night we had our second Stitch 'n Bitch! It went really well. This time there was tons more food and a fire in the fireplace! I think we are going to start our own yarn exchange! Its like a chain letter or secret pal. I am going to start knitting a hat for my dad for his birthday.

First Stitch n' Bitch!

So we had our very first meeting last night! Sarah, Cori, and Rebecca came! Karina still hasn't had the chance to come, but hopefully next week she will be there! It was Cori's first time, so I had to help her get going but after a while, she got the hang of it. She started off with a simple garter stitch scarf. Sarah is a beginner too, but she was more daring and dove into a multi stripe scarf! Rebecca's mom is a pro knitter so she helped her on her way with circular needles. I am still working to finishing the Totally Tubular skirt. It's coming along!

Wristbands and grillz

My boyfriends cozy slppers that I finished.. he loves them!




The wristband I knitted for my friend Tommy Guns.. it says "guns" on it and I gave it to him last night at our work Christmas Party. The other gift I got him was an awesome grill from hustlagrillz.com. This was probably the coolest gift of all last night. Tommy was so excited, he was wearing the grill all night! It was awesome.


So I just found the cutest skirt pattern on knitty.com. The pattern is called intolerable cruelty. I really really want to make this skirt, and I don't know if any knitters out there who have tackled this project, but I would like to know. Maybe start a knitalong? It seems like a difficult project but soo so cute.

The Holidays are officially over.

I finally finished my boyfriend's slippers. They turned out good, he says that they are comfortable! So that's a good sign. My next knitting adventure, is a knit wristband for my friend Tommy from work. We all picked secret santas at work, and I picked Tommy's name. The work Christmas party is tomorrow night. So I am knitting him a gray wristband and I will sew "guns" in black yarn on it b/c his nickname is Tommy Guns. He plays in a band, so hopefully it will have this punk rock look to it.

Some girls from work and I are starting our own Stitch n' Bitch! I think tonight we are having our first official meeting. I have to make a few calls to the girls to make sure they are coming! I am so excited! I think we will have meetings every Tuesday night and work on projects together! More on that later.

I was in Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite stores, and I got lost in the knitting books! There were so many good knitting books that I wanted to buy! But I must stay away because I have spent so much money recently on yarn! I have to start budgeting. So instead I bought "The Diary of Marie Antoinette" which I started reading earlier this afternoon. I told my boyfriend that I haven't been reading as much because I have been knitting more, but if I get audiobooks then I can get my knitting done as well as my literature!

New years resolutions
1. work out and lose ten pounds! (everyone wants to lose weight)
2. keep the job hunt going
3. read more books
4. knit of course!

Happy Holidays

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I just relaxed with friends and family, it was nice. I finally finished one of the slippers for my boyfriend and I will add a photo of it as soon as I get a photo. I am a little less than halfway done with the second slipper. I am so exhausted because I worked all night and I have to get up early and open.

chihuly

Tonight I have tickets to see the Chihuly show at the Botanical Gardens! I can't wait - I have been waiting for this all year. I will post photos of the show as soon as I can.

In knitting news, I am finally getting close to finishing the first slipper! If anyone wants to join in a knitalong, I got this pattern from Bev's Country Cottage.

I am looking for a hello kitty doll knitting pattern without knitting in the round. If anyone has a pattern or knows where I could find it, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks.

slippers

So its Christmas time, and I am currently working on some slippers for my boyfriend for Christmas. I chose a worsted weight deep gray color. I am at the point where I just want to get them done! I haven't finished the first one, and I need to get a move on. I will probably knit all night to finish them. Good thing the Real World is on tonight, so I will have something to watch while I knit.