Didn't get the memo? You can now find me here!

http://www.yaiann.com

Happy New Year!

Happy four years of knitting! What better way to celebrate than with a present.

Here's something from me to you. Now I finally feel like I have a proper blog. Please update your bookmarks and I'll see you there!

While I'd love to say that my BFF and I exchanged a sweater for lifetime FO modeling, that was certainly not the case (especially since I already divulged that she was voluntold into the duty).



I originally intended to knit the Turbulence U-neck Pullover for myself. I decided to knit it with negative ease and also lengthen the body as I thought the fit was too baggy on the model as well as a bit cropped. Despite the 2 inches I added to the length, the sweater was still to short for my liking. Additionally, the negative ease was a bit too much on the negative side. The stitches across the bust looked stretched out and overall the sweater just felt a bit on the snug side. As it turns out, I had my BFF try it on and it fit her perfectly!



Pattern: Turbulence U-neck Pullover, Norah Gaughn, Knitting Nature
Size: 36"
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino DK, color 225003, 10 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, 4.0mm, 3.5mm
Started: May 2007
Finished: November 2007

Notes:
Easy, simple and straightforward pattern (unlike the Ram's Horn Jacket). This is definitely suitable for beginners and a great pattern for learning cables.



I added a few fun details such as tubular cast-on. Did I ever tell you that the Italian tubular cast-on is the best thing since sliced bread?




I also decided to do slipped stitch edges which is one of the reasons why I didn't even bother trying to fix the sweater.




But all's well that ends well. The sweater has gone to a good home and has already been worn in public! Couldn't ask for anything more, except for some inspiration for my maid of honor speech.. any tips?

----------
And thanks so much for all your wonderful comments on my Ram's Horn Jacket! I got so many compliments on it at work and from friends. It was really flattering!

Is not being able to find an appropriate closure a good enough excuse NOT to post an FO? I'm definitely going to say yes. My little old Ram's Horn Jacket has been sitting around since April for exactly that reason (yes, it's been waiting around for 6 months to be debuted). I've worn it a few times around town without a closure and needless to say, it felt naked without one and was also a bit annoying to have the big old collar just loose and flapping about whichever old way it pleased. So are you ready to see the jacket in all it's ram's horn-ee-ness glory? Of course you are, lots of you have been waiting 6 months!



Pattern: Ram's Horn Jacket, Norah Gaughn, Knitting Nature
Yarn: Cascade 220, color 4011
Needles: Addi turbos, 4.0mm and 3.75mm
Started: October 2006
Finished: April 2007

Notes:
I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it in the book. But honestly, it's so easy to fall in love with anything in Knitting Nature. The patterns have been styled and photographed so beautifully it's hard not to like anything in there. But what I loved most about this pattern was the insanely huge collar (despite the minor construction issue I had with it). This pattern jumped out of the class of being one of a run of the mill swing jacket patterns to something you could consider a piece of modern art.





And of course the upturned hems on the sleeves and the body are also a nice touch.



I did have a few issues with the pattern. First off, the pattern was severely lacking construction and finishing instructions. It gives instructions on how to knit the hemmed sleeves and body pieces, but no where does it indicate how to finish them. Since I've knit hemmed edges before, I merely knit them up as I knit the piece. However, if I were a beginner who had never knit upturned hems before, I'd be left scratching my head.

Another thing lacking from the instructions was how to attach the front bands. Are you supposed to put them on before or after you finish the upturned hems? Oh wait, they never tell you when or how to finish the upturned hems, so maybe you don't attach them at all? And if you attach them, do you try to seam it to both sides of the hem or just the one? What I did since the hems were knit up as I knit the body piece, I attached the front band to the outer layer of the hem, then went back, and seamed the inside layer of the hem to the band so the "tunnel" created by the hem wouldn't be exposed.

The most major issue I had with the jacket was the collar. The collar is basically knit from the skinny side to the large side and is constructed using short rows. The short row technique used in the pattern left pretty visible stitches, but trusted the pattern and I hoped that they would block out. Unfortunately they didn't but I decided to leave them as is instead of reknitting the entire collar. If you decide to knit this jacket, use the traditional short row method instead of the one the pattern sugguests.



The visible short rows were actually the least of my concerns regarding the collar. If I knitted according to the pattern and ended the collar at 94 stitches, the collar would have stopped at my shoulder, no where near where the collar is supposed to end according to the pattern picture. I was pretty positive the collar wouldn't block out an extra 8 or so inches so I kept knitting. I knew the collar would end up ginormous, but that is what makes this jacket. I ended with about 124 stitches or so and it turned out to be just the right size. There would have been no way that a wimpy collar of only 94 stitches would even do the jacket justice, not to mention even resemble the pattern picture.

And my final construction rant about this jacket, the pattern doesn't even suggest how to attach the collar. Once the collar is knit up, you fold it in half and then seam it. Again there's this issue of two sides of fabric (the folded collar) being attached to one piece of fabric (the neckline of the jacket). I finally decided to bust out the handy dandy crochet hook, and sc'd the free edges of the collar together. Then I seamed that to the neckline. The pattern also does not tell you which end of the collar goes to which side of the neckline. Each front is a different height. The skinny end of the collar is attached to the taller front and the large end is attached to the shorter front.



Are you thoroughly discouraged from knitting this jacket now? I hope not! I've gone through all the knitting pains for you, so now you don't have to. I just apologize that it took me so darned long to post about it. Oh, and for the closure. I was searching high and low for an appropriate shawl pin or something to use. They use a wooden shawl pin in the book which has a HUGE wooden stick. I'm not sure how they were able to manage to get that stick through the fabric, but I do hope they didn't wreck the yarn. With the gauge I knit my jacket, I couldn't imagine taking something of that diameter and forcing it through four pieces of knit fabric (two layers of the collar, the left front and the right front). I was debating alternative closures, such as sewing on a snap or even hook and eyes. But the perfect closure was the most obvious one, a kilt pin. Whodathought?



And one last note, not pattern related, but the cure for my OCD on photo shoots is to find a suitable model and take the photos yourself. There was a marathon putting-together-wedding-stuff-day yesterday and I voluntold my BFF that she would be my model. It worked out well and is even better than taking photos on a dress form! Why? Because you can tell her to do whatever you want, including, I'm a little tea pot!

Sew? I Knit! is back! The next project starts November 15 and it's all about The Holiday Party. If you're planning on sewing something to wear over the holidays, come join us! Want a little sewing inspiration? I have four words for you, Burda World of Fashion.








The November issue, if you haven't seen it yet, is full of gems! Don't trust me, see here. And you must click through the photo to see the entire red dress. I think I'm leaning towards that one. What will you sew? Come on over and join the fun!

No seriously. Listen to me here! Adrienne interviewed little old me last week for her podcast. We chatted a bit about knitting, sewing and cooking. Fun times!

As I'm coming down from 3 super busy work weeks, not to mention my BFF's wedding next week, I'm finally going to have time to do some serious updates. The fate of the houndstooth sock will soon be revealed as well as some FO's and some more exciting news!

Until the next post, here's another musical interlude.



Like the remix better? Click here.

a Motorola SLVR (cameraphone action at its best)..

Need opinions ASAP. I've committed to knitting a friend a FABULOUS sock. After trying three different patterns I decided to go it on my own. I originally wanted to knit something textured, but decided to do colorwork instead. I decided on a houndstooth motif and went from there. And now I'm not sure if I should go on. The pattern seems to disappear to me and you can't discern the "houndsteeth" from blobs of color. What do you think? Should I dunk, soak, and block this before I make a decision to go back to the drawing board or just scrap this pattern altogether?


Flat


"modeled"

After spending all weekend tracing patterns and anxiously awaiting for Monday so that I could pick up my wool fabric from the cleaners, I discovered that I won't be able to sew up Simplicity 3631. Why? Because I am SUCH the math genius. Sometime in between tracing patterns and waiting for Monday, I had added the following up in my head: 2 3/4 yd + 1 yd = 2 3/8 yd ... WTF? yes, WTF.. I got so excited to have something new to wear to a work event on Friday that I had imagined that I had extra fabric to make the skirt in addition to the jacket I was originally intending on sewing. I would have made a suit! I was so excited about that possibility that it made the wait to pick up my dry cleaning unbearable. So this evening I picked up the wool and proceeded to work on cutting. I started out by cutting off 1 yard for the skirt. I looked at the remaining fabric and thought to myself, wait a sec, this can't possibly be 2 3/4 yards. I ran back upstairs, checked the card and realized, rather reminded myself, that I only had 2 3/8 yards. The SADNESS! I must have had a huge brain lapse! Even if I didn't decide to make the skirt, I still wouldn't have had enough to make the jacket!



So as I'm simultaneously feeling sad and pissed at my wonderful math skills, I remembered that I had a gem waiting for me in the dryer..



Beach Stripe Quilt
Pattern: my own, based on 10" and 5" squares and 5"x10" rectangles
Fabric: Alexander Henry's Beach Stripe, symphony broadcloth and country classic solids
Size: 40 x 40"
Recipient: CJ

Why yes, it is another baby quilt. I tell you, they're popping out all over the place!* This quilt was made for my good college friend's little boy who made his appearance this weekend. I swear this would have been done before he was born! His shower is happening this weekend, but HE wasn't supposed to happen until next month! So welcome to the world little CJ!



This quilt was supposed to be based purely on 10, 5, and 2.5" squares. I played and played around with all the pieces and finally decided on something. As you can see, there are rectangles and no 2.5" squares. The design changed and I'm pretty happy with it. There is one little boo-boo in the layout, can you spot it? I caught it early on that I could have fixed it, but decided to keep it that way, partially out laziness and partially as a "design element" (which do you really believe?).



Some of those 2.5" squares show up on the back. And to be honest with you, I like the back a lot better than the front. But that's the good thing about this quilt, instead of having a plain back, you've got a design on both sides so you can flip back and forth depending on your mood.



I learned two things while making this quilt. Painter's tape is your best friend when quilting a geometric motif. I basically quilted 5 square spirals, one in the center, and one in each quadrant of the quilt. Then I quilted diagonal lines on the corners of the quilt. Detail here.



I also learned that you shouldn't use dark colored thread to sew your pieces together. I used green thread to piece the quilt together. Bad move. While you can't see the green show through the yellow from afar, it's definitely noticeable when you look right it. Quilting tip of the day: When piecing fabrics of different colors, use thread that matches the fabric with the lightest color.

And because I'm always amazed at the pre and post wash transformation, here are some before and afters. Click through for links to see each individual photo.



* I've got three more friends expecting little ones (three little girls, one in November, December, and January). More cutting and piecing to come. At this rate, I'll never get my own quilt done!

Five to go, (that is, if I don't finish anything before I've blogged all my backlogged FO's)



Did you have any doubt in your mind that socks would make up the majority of the 10 items I haven't blogged about? C'mon now! Count 'em up, five pairs knit between April and August.



mamaFasu's Birthday socks
Pattern: 3x1 ribbed socks
Yarn: Regia Jubilee, 1 skein
Needles: Inox 2.25mm

Your basic 3x1 rib, my go to ribbing pattern. Nothing fancy here.



Pattern: Charade, Sandra of I May Be Knitting a Ranch House fame
Yarn: Yarn Pirate in Pure Knits, 1 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.0mm

These were problem socks, not the pattern, but the yarn! It kept pooling something awful no matter what pattern. So I decided to start another pattern but from the other end of the ball and guess what, it worked!



Pattern: 3x1 ribbed socks
Yarn: Yarn Pirate in Shamrock, 1 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.0mm

These socks are also known as the Incredible Hulk Socks, named, of course, by B himself. They're his socks so he can call them what he wants. I had the same pooling problem with this yarn as well, but hey, it pooled into stripes which is helluva lot better than pooling in to blobs any day!



Pattern: Conwy, Nancy Bush from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Koigu KPM, 2 skeins, color 242040
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.5mm

Love these socks and now I finally have a pair of my own! I knit my first pair for Lori two years ago for a holiday sock swap. This time I knit them exactly as written and only used two skeins, but just barely as only a few yards were left from each skein.



Pattern: basic stockinette sock with cuff from Giotto sock pattern
Yarn: Cookie A. yarn, 1 skein
Needles: Inox circulars and Crystal Palace dpns 2.25mm

This pair of socks were blatantly copied from Kris. That woman and her socks never fail to impress, I tell ya. I want to make every pair she makes.

And to appease the shoes with socks god(s)..



No worries, B's wearing shorts. It's not quite cool enough to bust out the hand knit socks, but it's getting there. Fall weather, hurry up and get here already!

Coming back from an awesome trip last weekend was not the best way to start the work week. I've been looking forward to the weekend since I stepped off the plan on Sunday night! I know you've all had this kind of week. What am I looking forward to this weekend? More of the same, aka too many things to do and not enough time to do it. Things I hope to accomplish this weekend: tracing and cutting Simplicity 3631, tracing at least ONE BWOF pattern, and finishing up another baby quilt.

I'll leave you with a little musical interlude inspired by Adrienne's Throwback Friday video for this week.



Have a great weekend y'all!

a whole lotta photos with everyone looking at a different camera ...



L-R: yours truly, Leah, Maria (blogless), Yahaira, Stefanie, and Stephanie

This weekend one of my best knitting buds got hitched, Miss Yahaira.*



Not only was it the wedding of the year, but it was also the knitting meet up of the year as I got to meet my other best knitting buds, Stephanie and Leah, and also got meet Miss Glampyre herself, Stefanie Japel.


Another example of the "too many cameras" syndrome

What can I say about the weekend aside from the fact that it was too short, waaaaaaay too short? I had a BLAST hanging out with all my girls. We ate WAY too much food and had WAY too many sweets. We experienced` the "Wharton Walk," an excuse for the business students to look a fool by walking around in a shirt, coat and tie up top and boxers, dress socks and dress shoes on the bottom (the women's version is a blazer and slip, garters and thigh high stockings are optional).





I didn't get to see as much of Philly as I would have liked (we stayed mostly in center city and on South Street), but all the fun times I had with everyone was well worth missing out on what the rest of the city had to offer.



Congrats, my dear! Bon Voyage and have an awesome time in Kauai!





*Thanks to those that wished me congrats, but it's not my turn yet (I've deleted those comments to protect the innocent). I'll definitely let y'all know when that time comes.

but my dress, it didn't get done.



It was a long, fun-filled weekend. More to come...

And I'm still at work! Yes, your eyes do not deceive. I'm now done with my work for the week and fortunately B will be here shortly to sweep me away into the weekend (gosh that sounded romantic, but there's nothing romantic planned for the weekend at all -- getting me out of work is plenty romantic for me right now). So what's in store for this blog post, a meme.

Katie from katie sews tagged me so here goes.

Eight things you probably don't know about me:
1. I can speak German (it's rusty)
2. I was in a Thai Classical dance and music troop
3. I was in a hip hop dance troop
4. I was in a sorority and was also the president of my chapter (don't ask, cuz I won't tell)
5. I secretly wish I was a DJ (DJ Neta is my all time favorite female DJ)
6. I secretly wish I was a b-girl

and B's here, so you get jipped.. I'll continue in another post.. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Here's an overview to the state of things at bahn yaiAnn..

Number of FOs to be blogged: 10
Number of knitting projects in progress: 1
Number of knits planned: 0
Number of sewing projects in progress: 2
Number of sewing projects planned: 5+
Number of quilts planned: 5
Number of sewing patterns purchased in the last 2 months: too many to count
Amount of fabric purchased in the last two months: My wallet just hurts thinking about it

So yes, it seems that mamaFasu's dream has, for the time being, come true. Sewing is starting to take a huge chunk of my attention and knitting is getting pushed to the back burner (For those of you who are unfamiliar with mamaFasu, she made half of her living in Thailand as a seamstress. When I started knitting, she saw it as a waste of time and expressed to me how much more efficient and useful sewing is). So yes. Here I am, spending most of my days thinking about sewing, patterns and fabric. I watch the time and wait for 5 o'clock to come so I can head home, trace patterns and just feel the soothing hum of my sewing machine against my hands. Gosh, it sounds like I'm turning into a sicko!



So what's the immediate happs in terms of projects and such? The wedding of the year is happening in less that two weeks and I haven't even cut fabric for the dress I was planning on sewing, Vogue 8386. I did, however, make a muslin and am currently working through some pattern modifications. But something happened this weekend and yesterday that stopped me dead in my tracks. I found fabulous fall fabrics that are just calling me out to sew pieces for some new fall clothes. I snagged some black cotton twill, mini black and white houndstooth, creamy taupe wool, and brown tweedy wool. Here are the pieces I'm thinking about.


McCall 5480



Vogue 8413



Design 118, capelet from BWOF 9/2007



Design 117, dress from BWOF 9/2007



Design 116, skirt from BWOF 9/2007


I feel like I'm asking for trouble by even just THINKING about sewing from BWOF. My original intent was to try the "one dot" patterns. But out of the three issues I have, NONE of them have a single "one dot" pattern. I guess I'll give a go at the "two dots" and just take my time.

As for my dress for the wedding of the year, who knows now. But I do have a back-up, so I'm prepared. And as far as knitting goes, don't give up on me yet because I haven't given up on knitting. I can't drag my sewing machine on the bus, so the knitting will continue to live on.

I started Plain Spoken a full month before my friend was due and I was on track to finish and send the quilt off by her due date (scheduled c-section). babyG was born on July 17. It's been over two months. What have I been doing? Naturally working on other things, like dresses and tops and shirts.



Poor babyG has gone quilt-less for two months while I've been crafting away selfishly. I can name the reasons, but the amount of time to go from quilt top to quilt was less than 2 hours. I totally could have finished it and sent it on time. I'm definitely guilty of crafty negligence.

Okay babyG, this ones for you.



Pattern: Plain Spoken, The Modern Quilt Workshop
Fabric: Country Cotton Solids and Symphony Broadcloth
Size: Approximately 38" x 40"

Notes:
This was a fun quilt to make. I followed the string piecing method as instructed in the book. The hardest part of the quilt was the layout. As I mentioned in a previous post, it will probably be easier to use more than 4 colors (the book, I believe, recommends at least 7). Other than that it was easy as pie. I quilted it using this "rolling pin" motif crisscrossed with a bead type motif rather than the nice stiple/free motion style they show in the book (I'm not versed in free motion, yet).



Love those ripples and rumples


I also attached the binding by machine instead of half by machine and half by hand like I did on the Charlie Brown quilt. Sewing it on by machine gives you a visible stitch on both sides whereas attaching one side by machine and slip stitching the remainder by hand gives you an invisible finish. It is more time consuming to do it by hand, but I prefer the invisible finish over saving time.




The quilt back is nothing more than a coordinating polka dot print. I was lucky to find one that pretty much matched the greens I chose for the top.



I hope they like it as much as I do!

And for those of you who want the full shots of the quilt, here's the front and the back.

After taking a million pictures of your most recent FO, how do you choose which ones make the cut?



You've got the artsy, odd angle shot.




You've got the detail shots.




And you've got the shots look the same, but are oh so different.


So in the end, how do you decide which one best represents your finished product and how overjoyed you are without showing all of them? Your guess is as good as mine. Without further ado, I present to you my second dress.*



The "half superhero" pose


Pattern: Butterick 5040, View B
Size: S
Fabric: Majick Beads jersey from purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics

Process Notes:
This was my second time working with a knit (I'm overdue on posting about my first foray into knits, but that will come soon). Much like the first, it wasn't bad AT ALL. The sewing process is pretty much the same as sewing with wovens except that you have to adjust the type of stitch you use (just as Blossom told me, stretch stitch all the way). I also discovered that polyester matte jersey won't take a crease (for the experienced sewers out there, is this true for all jerseys?). This made ironing hems and such difficult, but I was able to work around that by sewing a "crease/fold line" where the crease/fold is to be made and pressed. Then I folded and pinned along the fold line, stitched down the work, then ripped out the fold line. A walking foot was also very handy in making sure that the top and bottom fabrics were advanced along at the same rate as well. (Oh, and the front "wave" from the yoke lining up with the "wave" on the body, TOTAL coincidence. I didn't plan for that at all.)

Pattern Notes:
I would have sewed a size M but I didn't want all that ease (and minimize the likelihood of anyone thinking I was pregnant) so I sewed a size S. I made no modifications at all and I think it fits perfectly. The pattern is labeled very easy and in my opinion (considering this is the second time I've worked with knits), it is. It's well written and I had no points of confusion. However, this dress took me longer than I thought because of all the gathering.

Verdict:
I LOVE the dress and I LOVE the fabric! It's too bad that the style of the dress and the fabric is so distinctive that I can't wear this more often. The fabric is so soft and comfortable, not to mention wrinkle resistant, that I want to make everything in it!

Style questions:
Is this dress work appropriate (I work at a non-profit where the dress code is business casual)? Do you have any ideas on what other shoes I can wear with this dress? I think the black pumps are okay, but I definitely think there's something that goes even better. I feel that the black stands out a bit too much but it works for the time being. I have some strappy camel shoes, but I think those may be too summery since we're moving into fall.

*I've blogged my FO's out of order, but will blog about my first dress soon. I was just able to get pictures of this dress first since an opportunity represented itself (my best friend's bridal shower).

It's practically 1am and I'm still up despite the fact that work has been crunch crunch crunchy as hell this week and as a result, sleep has been lacking. So the deal is this. I'm waiting for my Plain Spoken quilt to complete its whirl in the washer so I can finish it up in the dryer. And why couldn't this wait til tomorrow? My friend's baby was born almost TWO months ago and the quilt has just been draped over the back of a chair waiting to be quilted. I finally picked it up on Tuesday and started quilting. I was almost done, but had to run off to dinner. Then today I decided to try to finish it off. I finished quilting, made the binding, attached the binding, and the next thing I know, it's midnight. I felt like I was on such a roll, that I just had to finish it. Do you ever get that way? It happens to me often, that urge to keep going despite the hour or presence of a deadline.



So here I am.. waiting for the quilt.. wondering if I should make a wedding quilt for my best friend who's getting married in two months .. thinking about the three other quilts I want to make for my three other friends that are expecting in the next 3-5 months.. realizing that I really want a quilt of my own now.. wondering if I really have time to do all of this, plus sew garments, plus knit. You ever have one of those days? Today is that day for me.

Hurray for crafting ADD. Have a great weekend y'all.

After a long unintentional hiatus from yoga (me losing my yoga pass and being too darn lazy to get a new one), B and I finally started up again (There's nothing like having 20 prepaid classes that expire in November to get yourself motivated). At our first class back I saw this woman with this really cute yoga mat bag that I've never seen before. She carried it sling style across her body yet there was no strap. At the end of class I asked her to see it and it was nothing more than a tube of fabric with the ends tied into a knot to form a sling! Instant lightbulb. So me, not having a proper yoga mat bag decided that I could make that very same bag. So guess what.



So instead of going to yoga this past Saturday, I decided to finally make my bag. And let me tell you, it was easy as pie. I literally sewed a tube, keeping the ends open. Then I stitched the middle of the bag closed making one side longer than the other and that was it!


Grab your yoga gear.



Put your yoga mat in the longer of the two halves.



Put your other items in the other half.



Grab the ends of the bag with the mat half against your back and hold them up to your collarbone.



Tie ends into a knot.


Now you're read to go sweat your ass off at yoga.







Easy, right? Right!



Pattern: "Knotty Yoga Sling", by me!
Fabric: random cotton from the sale section at Joanns

Notes: Making this bag really couldn't have been easier. It's cute and functional. What more can you ask for? Except that I already have a modification in mind that will make this bag even better. Stay tuned for a redux!

I entered the weekend late Friday afternoon boarding the bus carrying a thick file folder. You know what that means, I'm supposed to spend the weekend doing some work. The plan on Saturday was to start the day of with yoga, then get some work done and work on some crafty projects. The sewing bug bit me nice and early Saturday morning. So what did I do?



Skipped yoga, traced patterns, washed fabric. Clearly I have my priorities straight. But I was productive this weekend. I have two new FO's to show! And I also have a lot of "old" FOs to show, too. I have at least 10 FOs I haven't blogged about. I really wouldn't be such a back-logged blogger if I wasn't so anal about my FO photos. But of course it also helps to be patient during my self-timer photo shoots, take way more photos than I think I need, have a patient photographer (when available) and also a good background. I just can't stand to just post an FO only photo (with the exception of socks). I like to include modeled "action" shots as well. Ugh, but that's the part I get anal about. Care to share any tips on how I can reduce my anal-ness?

In the meantime, here are some sneak previews of FOs to come.


Something red ...



and something brown ...

.. and some other colors as well. Oh, and before you think I've completely quit knitting, I can assure you that there are knitted items as well. Now pardon me as I get back to my weekend work.

Every since the very first iPod came out waaaaay back in 2001, I wanted it. I laughed at and loved watching the commercial of the dorky dancing guy bounce around his apartment which this new fangled contraption. And of course, back then being in grad school, there was no way I could afford one. I lived most of my grad school lifetime locked up in the computer lab or in my office plugging away on the computer. And what lived in my backpack aside from books, readers, yellow pads of paper and pens of various colors, but a set of headphones and a wallet of CDs. My "don't-bother-me-I'm-hard-at-work" and "y'all fools are being way too loud! don't you have some regressions to run?" tactics at blocking out the rest of the world. And of course it's a way for me to enjoy my music since the older I get, the less I can relate to any music played on the radio (Gosh, it seriously is scary for me to say I can barely relate to what's on the radio now.. and also scary for me to listen to the old school mixes at noon and realize that all the songs they're playing are all the songs I grew up with!). But I digress..



This lovely thing landed in my hands this past weekend. In all it's orange glory. I love it. I know the new iPods just came out this week, but I'm lucky I got this when I did. Orange is no longer in the shuffle rotation. So what took me so long? And why didn't I get a full size or nano? Honestly, the main thing holding me back was the money. I got the shuffle mainly because I want to use this when I work out and an armband holding a nano or full size was just too fussy for me. Plus for $80? It was just a no brainer, that and using my phone to sub as a music player just wasn't cuttin' it.

So do you want to hear the funny thing about this whole iPod business? I'm totally obsessed with podcasts right now. It's not even about the music for me anymore because aside from all the crafty/knitting/sewing podcasts, I've discovered that I can get NPR podcasts and listen on the way to work (very cool because I'm too lazy to switch my clock radio from the sports talk/giants flagship station to NPR in the morning). And my other best podcast discovery is the free language podcasts! I've been all over Coffee Break Spanish and Japanese Pod 101. So for the past week, I've been listening to NPR and trying to learn Spanish and Japanese on the way to and from work. So now I'm a bit addicted to finding cool new podcasts. Aside from these, do you have any favorite podcasts you want to share?