I've been blogging on LiveJournal for just about 2 years now. Last year, I bought my own domain, but never did anything with it. When it came up for renewal last month, I had to decide whether or not it was worth keeping. So I've made the decision to leave LiveJournal for what I hope will be a more flexible blogging platform (I decided to go with WordPress since it was pretty much built right into my webhost). 

Luckily I was able to export my old journal entries over to the new place. I've made too many awesome friends here, so I will still be very active on LiveJournal (checking my friends list daily/participating in the communities) but I will not be adding any new content here. I hope everyone who is interested will add my RSS feed to their friends list so y'all can read me as easily as before!

The new site is: http://karmakitties.com/ and if you'd like to continue reading me from LJ, please add karma_kitties to your friends list! 

Thanks to everyone who has made my stay here so great and I hope to see you at the new place!

EDIT: I think I have it figured out thanks to you guys! I use Yahoo for my webhosting and it turns out Yahoo offers Wordpress and Moveable type to build my blog right on my domain for free! I'll start working on it! Thanks again!

Hey guys,

Does anyone on my list know anything about the internets? Specifically, building a blog? I'm thinking of starting up a new blog on my domain, and I know exactly what I want, but not how to accomplish it. I would appreciate any help! 

1. My friend Rob (the one who's trying to break into the yarn bizness) ordered me some fantastic Schaefer yarn. His prices & customer service are great and his shipping is super fast! If you visit his eBay store, you will find Blue Heron and Schaefer yarns now, but he's working on getting more and different kinds of yarn. If you're looking for either of these yarns, I would recommend paying him a visit! (Full disclosure, Rob & I are friends and I want to help him get his business started, but I receive no compensation for pimping his wears, so buy in good conscience!)

I ordered 3 skeins of gorgeous 'Anne' sock yarn and 1 skein of even more gorgeous 'Nancy' in the "Jane Addams" color...this Nancy stuff is a great deal...600 yards (!) of a thick and thin, handpainted worsted merino per skein! I'm hoping I have enough for a snuggly scarf and hat set!



(what, doesn't everyone take their yarn to the beach?)

2. While at the beach this weekend I knit a pair of little baby socks for a friend's upcoming baby shower. These are made of Koigu KPM in color '1135' (bright red-orange). I hope she likes them! I love this color and I may have to make a pair of these for my own baby.

OK, so here is an example of a day in my life the last couple months:

6:45 AM: Alarm goes off. Hit Snooze.
7:00 AM: Alarm goes off. Think about going to the gym this morning. Hit Snooze.
7:30 AM: Alarm goes off. Hit Snooze.
7:45 AM: Alarm goes off. Contemplate calling in sick.
7:50 AM: Roll out of bed. Stumble to bathroom. Dry heave in shower.
8:05 AM: Leave for work. Keep plastic bag on lap so I can drive and puke at the same time.
8:45 AM: Arrive at work.
9:00 AM: Eat breakfast, usually a bagel.
9:15 AM: Throw breakfast up.
9:30 AM - 1:30 PM: Attempt to work, think about puking, try not to puke, pee every 8 minutes, catch up on blogs, try not to fall asleep.
1:30 PM: Lunch, usually fruit. Fruit is the best thing ever, it does not make me throw up.
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Think about working, resist urge to kill co-workers who ask "So, how are you feeling?" ALL THE TIME.             
5:00 PM: Drive home.
5:30 PM: Arrive at grocery store, resist the urge to puke from smelling and/or looking at and/or thinking about food.
5:50 PM: Arrive home, dry heave for 15 minutes.
6:15 PM: Go for walk. Feel pretty good for about 45 minutes.
7:00 PM: Eat dinner (this will consist of cereal. Every. Single. Night.)
7:20 PM: Think about puking, but body ultimately decides cereal is acceptable.
7:30 PM: Think about doing some knitting, or sewing, or quilting or reading or anything productive.
7:31 PM - 10:30 PM: Lay dormant on couch watching baseball game. May or may not involve crying jags.
10:30 PM: Dry heave
10:35 PM: Bed time! Finally! The best part of the whole day!
11:30 PM: Get up to pee
12:45 AM: Get up to pee
2:30 AM: Get up to pee
4:45 AM: Get up to pee
6:00 AM: Get up to pee
6:45 AM: Alarm goes off. Hit Snooze.......

BUT the good news is that I am into my 2nd trimester and Ohmygod I feel great! I don't feel nauseous all day! I can occassionally eat something other than cereal for dinner! I don't feel like I am going to collapse from exhaustion! I actually went to the gym this morning! For a whole 25 minutes! I actually finished knitting something! 

Pattern: One Skein Wonder 
Size: 17"
Yarn: Karabella Aurora Bulky in 'cream' - 100% extrafine merino wool - 4 balls
Needles: Denise circs - size 8 for body and size 6 for ribbing
Time: 2 months of on and off beach knitting
Modifications: I used ribbing for the sleeve cuffs instead of seed stitch because I hate working seed stitch
Thoughts: I wanted to knit myself a sweater, but being pregnant, who knows what size I'll be at various points. I figured a shrug would pretty much fit no matter what. This is my first garment (if you can call it that, it's so easy). I like the fabric resulting from this yarn, but it was a pain to knit with at times. The way it's plied made it really easy to snag/unravel. Maybe it was the needles I was using...spit splicing it was also difficult because the resulting joins ended up super fat. I couldn't get them the same thickness as the rest of the yarn. I don't know if this is just because it's a bulkier yarn, or if it's because of the plies. Either way, I am happy enough with the finished product.

Front:


Back: 


I have about 3 hours worth of work left to do on je_reviens t-shirt quilt, some socks to knit, and a baby quilt to put together. This fall I plan to knit a Clapotis, an Odessa hat, a scarf / hat set for myself, a scarf for my husband, possibly some baby things, and maybe a couple Christmas gifts if I have time...we'll see!

We're back from Fire Island! It was a really nice and relaxing trip! The weather was perfect! I am happy to be home though (though less happy to be at work today...bleh). I have like a zillion friends entries and bloglines to catch up on today, so let me know if I missed anything super exciting! 

We had our first maternity visit today. I love my midwife, and we were able to find the baby's heartbeat! It was freaky! She told me that she may not be able to find it because I am only 10 weeks and apparently my uterus is tilted (I had been told this before at a routine gyno exam a few years ago, but apparently it's not that uncommon). She said that if the uterus is titled away from the belly, it's harder to find the heartbeat. But she said that it would tilt back the correct way once I get further along, so that if she couldn't find the heartbeat this week, that she should be able to find it at 12 or 13 weeks, so not to worry. She called my husband back into the room and put the doppler on me and said "That was fast! Hi mom, hi dad!" and I was like "What are you hearing??" Because all I could hear was static...so she moved it over a little and turned up the volume and there it was, a loud, fast thumping! I was like "What is that??" And she was like "That's the baby!" and I said "How do you know that's not my heartbeat?" and she moved it over a little and said "That's YOUR heartbeat," which was MUCH slower. Matt just stood there wide-eyed like he couldn't believe it. I was like "What, did you think I was faking??" ha!

So anyway, I am very relieved (Once they can detect a heartbeat, the chance of miscarriage goes down significantly). It's a nice way to start off my vacation! 

We're heading to Fire Island, NY for the week. I'll be back Sunday 7/9. I'll have my lappy with me, but not sure what our hotel offers for internet connection, so if you don't hear from me, I'll catch you in a week! You can see last year's Fire Island pics here.

I have a lot of projects I am working on and trying to get finished, but being extremely nauseous 24 hours a day has put a crimp on my previously productive lifestyle. After working all day, when I get home all I want to do is lie dormant on the couch, trying not to move or vomit...the weekends are a little better, but I'm still making slow progress on everything, making for boring blogging. I'm finishing up a t-shirt quilt, and working on a One-Skein-Wonder for myself since I figure it's something that will fit now, and when I start to get bigger. It's about half done.

I'll be on vacation all of next week, so hopefully I can get some beach knitting done and I'll have something to show when I get back.

Today I offer pictures of the yarns that I have accquired over the last week. I am SO on a yarn diet now! I've only ever knit ONE pair of socks, and yet I cannot stop with the sock yarn...I've gotta get my knitting production back up before I can justify anymore yarn purchases.

Maybe someday the sun will come out again and I'll be able to get some decent pictures(srsly, it's been raining here in Massachusetts for like 3 months solid...enough!)I bought a light tent so I could take better indoor pics, but I need to get a couple brighter lights to make it really work well...anyway...

( Sock yarns in here )

The last couple weeks we've had a stray kitty visiting us at the new house...she hangs out in the driveway waiting for us to come home in the afternoon, and then as soon as we get out of our cars she is rubbing all over us and meowing. When we open the front door, she runs up the stairs and waits at the door to our apartment, meowing the whole time. Sometimes she will run in the apartment, but as soon as she sees one of our existing cats, she goes ballistic and hisses and freaks out scrambling to get away (meanwhile my cats are just looking at me like "what's her problem?")...Lately we've been leaving a bowl of dry food and water in the hallway outside our apartment so that when she runs upstairs she can have something to eat. She's usually keen to go back outside and run off again once she's done eating.

I feel bad because I don't know what her deal is. I don't know if she belongs to someone or what? She is kind of skinny and doesn't have a collar...I would consider taking her in, but she is an outdoor kitty and my cats are indoor kitties, and I don't want her bringing fleas or anything else into the house. Secondly, she really seems to despise other cats so I don't think she'd get along with my guys. Thirdly, I don't want to steal her if she belongs to someone...I worry because we live right off a very busy street and it's not a safe place for cats...I don't know if I should just continue feeding her whenever she comes around and hope she stays OK, or if I should bring her to a shelter or what...

Here she is: (I am just guessing that it's a she, I don't know for sure...)

Did I tell you guys I was pregnant? 

:)

I was going to wait a few more weeks, but I think the cat is leaking out of the bag, as I've had to ask some questions over at the pregnancy community and some of those members have been commenting in my journal (which is cool!) but I didn't want you guys to hear it through the grapevine. So hopefully everything will turn out OK and I won't be punished for breaking the first trimester rule!

I went off the pill in February and I was told it would take 3-6 months for my body to return to full fertility, so while we weren't doing anything to prevent pregnancy, we weren't going to start "trying" until this summer. I guess the baby didn't want to wait that long because I found out I was pregnant on our anniversary a couple weeks ago (awww) and I am just about 7 weeks along. If all goes well, the estimated due date should be 1/27/07, but I haven't had my first OB appointment yet, so we'll see if that changes.

I am very, VERY nauseous and we're very, VERY excited! This is the first child for both of us! Now, that being said, I have no plans to turn this into an "all baby, all the time" journal. Even though I love hearing about people's pregnancies and babies, I know not everyone does, and I know I have some people on my friends list who aren't into the whole 'omgz baybee!!1!' scene. I will probably post baby related crafting and whatnot, but if I feel the need to get baby-crazy on everyone, I will set up a baby filter so as to only inflict it upon those who are interested.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some dry heaves to attend to...  :)

OK, I took some pics of the new place last night. Some of the rooms are still messyish, and we haven't really done much decorating yet (like putting artwork and pictures up and stuff), but this will give you an idea of how it looks anyway...not pictured is the huge multi-roomed attic/3rd floor, because that is still a huge mess...

Firstly, we finished the big move this weekend. Man, it was so much work. I seriously never want to move again. We have WAY too much stuff. But it's done, and everything is unpacked, so I'll get some pictures of the new place this week.

Secondly, whew! I *finally* finished these socks for my Sockapaloooza buddy! They are almost a month late, but my buddy was very patient and they are now on their way to her. 

Specs:

Yarn: Gems Pearl by Louet Sales
Color: Willow
Pattern: Modified version of Knitty's Thuja pattern
Needles: Size 1 Addi Turbo 40" circs for Magic Loop

This picture is pretty true to color.



I couldn't really try these on once I finished the foot since my partner's feet are way smaller than mine, but here is an in progress pic so you can see the detail of the seed stitch rib on the cuff. I hope she likes them!!

Today is my 2nd wedding anniversary! Matt and I were married May 22, 2004, at 4:00PM, at Hamilton Hall in Salem, MA. My grandmother is a minister and she performed the ceremony. It was a lovely day. Even though he doesn't read my journal, Happy Anniversary Matt!

Since I wasn't on LJ back then, I thought I'd post a few wedding pictures.

Illustration Friday topic this week is: "Sorry. "

I don't really like this one. It came out too small and it's rushed, but I haven't updated in a while, so, there it is.



In other news:

Pretty sock yarn from redmelde!! This colorway is called "Early Evening." I really love her handpainted yarn! You can see more of her awesome stuff here!



She was also nice enough to send me some awesome stitch markers! They are perfect!

When I got home yesterday (after an awful day at work), I saw a package waiting for me. It was wrapped in brown paper and the return address was from Canada. I had no idea what it could be until I saw the custom slip which listed the contents as "handknit socks." I instantly knew it was my Sockapaloooza socks and I ripped open the package! The socks were wrapped in tissue paper, so I couldn't see them yet. I opened the card first....it was the most perfect card, a kitten wearing a handknit sweater!! My sock buddy was really attentive! She knew it was my birthday, and she knew all about my house related trials & tribulations! 

Then I checked out the postcard from Toronto to find out my buddy's true identity...she had listed the sock stats on the postcard and the first thing I saw was:

"Yarn: Koigu KPPPM"

Sock knitters can imagine how excited I got at this point! The pattern is "Badcaul" from one of my favorite designers, Anna Bell of My Fashionable Life! And my partner turned out to be the wonderful Erin of Oddball Yarns! 

Dudes, these socks are SO PERFECT. She picked what has to be the best colorway for me, featuring orange & pink! I can't tell you how much I *love* this colorway! The socks fit *perfectly*! I wore them to work today! I feel fabulous in my black t-shirt & cardigan, jeans, black shoes, and bright orange socks!! Thank you SO MUCH Erin!! I love them more than I could ever say! I feel like I don't deserve such awesome socks! It's just the kick in the butt I need to finish my pal's socks ASAP!

 Enough babbling, here are the pictures!!

Look at that card!!



Look how perfect they fit!



Look how cute they look with my new shoes!

So my birthday was on Saturday and I had a great time! My husband took me to my favorite Mexican place for lunch, and then to the Red Sox game! We beat the Orioles handily, so it was a lot of fun. My husband also gave me an early anniversary present of diamonds to complete my wedding set! That was awesome. I am not a particularly girly girl, and hardly ever wear any fancy jewelry, but I have to admit, I do like my wedding set, a LOT. 

When I got home saturday night there was a package waiting for me from redmelde which was also awesome. Then Sunday we spent all day painting at the new apartment, which is looking great! The walls in the living room were a puke salmon color which is now a lovely spring green...all that's left is to paint the hideous baby blue bathroom and then we can start moving in for realz!

So, I had a little bit of free time today, so I decided to participate in Illo Friday this week...the topic is "Fat."

You know it's time to lay off the kitty treats when stuff starts orbiting around you...

Hey guys, I recently came in contact with an old friend of mine who's wanting to become a yarn retailer on eBay...he wants to be known as a specialty yarn shop. His wife knits and really likes Blue Heron yarns, so that's what he's got in stock right now, but he's wanting to know what people want so he can start carrying other stuff. I'm on him right now to carry Cherry Tree Hill stuff and he's looking into it. Check out his store and drop him a line if you'd like to see him carry anything else!

I just bought 2 skeins of hand-painted  Blue Heron Beaded Rayon from him and it's gorgeous stuff! This is the hibiscus colorway. I've got about 1025 yards of it and I'm hoping it's enough for a tank top.



Bonus yarn I got last week!

Well, I emailed my Sockapaloooza partner explaining the dealio and she is really understanding and told me to take as much time as I need! Phew! So I ripped back to the heel flap (Thanks to redmelde for the lifeline tip, it worked like a charm!) and am back on the gusset with no mistakes so far...hopefully I can finish the pair by the end of next week!

Tagged by sunshinedreamer...

Date:	2006-04-17 11:56
Subject:	New apartment, for realz this time!
Security:	Public
Mood:	relieved

So, after the Nahant fiasco, we finally found a new apartment! This one looks like it will be for keeps! We've made the downpayment, and have the lease, and we're set to start moving on May 1st! This landlord could NOT be any more different than those other clowns...he is SO NICE. We're really excited!

The apartment is in a quiet residential neighborhood in Danvers, MA (it will be SO much quicker to get to work in Woburn from Danvers than it is from Salem!) It's the 2nd and 3rd floor of a big old white house. It's officially 3 bedrooms, but really it's like 7 bedrooms, since the 3rd floor is a massive finished attic with 4 bedrooms. He said he'd like to be able to rent the attic out as an apartment, since it's so big, but there's no plumbing up there, and he hasn't wanted to deal with it, so he's just given it to whoever rents the 2nd floor. It was originally "servants quarters" in the 1800s when the house was built. It needs a cleaning and some new paint, but it's perfect up there otherwise! I can have my own yarn and fabric stash room, and my husband can have a music room for his gigantic LP/CD/stereo equipment collection. Some of the rooms have interesting paint jobs...the room I have eyeballed for my stash is a bright lime green (cool!) and one of the other rooms is a dark navy blue with red trim...The rest of the attic can be used for storage.

The main part of the apartment is great too. Nice and roomy. Tons of brand new windows. Newly refinished hardwood floors. Laundry hookups in the apartment, eat-in kitchen, pantry, bathroom, living room, and 3 bedrooms. The whole apartment has been freshly painted, but since we have a bunch of mixed paint leftover from the Nahant thing, we asked if we could paint and he said yes. So the living room and master bedroom will be a pale willow/sage green (it's a dark peach now...bleh) and the baby room will be a bright cheerful yellow (the yellow was intended for the kitchen in Nahant, but he doesn't want us to paint the kitchen since it's wallpapered and doesn't want us to rip that down right now....that's fine. I think it will be nice in a baby's room!) and the bathroom is currently a godawful powder blue, and we'll be painting that a very pale butter yellow. The rest of the place we'll probably leave as is. It's got a lot of charm and I think once we get it furnished it will be fabulous! 

I will take pictures when we get moved in, but until then, here's a rough & crappy drawing I made to give you an idea of the floor plan:

-Progress continues on Sockapaloooza socks. It's going to be a challenge to get them done by the deadline. Damn fingering weight yarn!
-Progress continues on je_reviens t-shirt quilt
-We may have found a place to live but I don't want to get into it until it's finalized, seeing what happened last time...We'll know by Saturday whether it not it's happening.

Meme from spinsterbat
001. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
002. I will respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or not so creepy/personal.
003. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
004. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
005. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

spinsterbat's questions for me:

When/why did you start an online journal?
I started my journal in October of 2004, when I discovered both Illustration Friday, and Loobylu's Month of Softies. I needed a place to put my stuff, but I had no HTML knowledge to build a website myself. I was already familiar with LJ since I frequently browsed some of the craft communities here, so I just decided this would be the easiest way to do it. Now that I am slighlty more blog-savy, I might be happier on blogger or something, but I really like the communities and ease of reading friend's pages, so I'll probably be here for a while.

Are you still working on illustrations?
I haven't done any illustrations in months. I used to do all my illustrating during downtime at work, but I have been a lot busier at work lately, so I haven't had time. I was also not happy with the quality of my work compared to others who participated in Illo Friday. I'd love to get a tablet at some point, but with knitting and sewing, I don't really have time to draw at home, and I couldn't get away with using the tablet at work, so it hasn't been something I've persued. I am sure I will get back into it at some point.

What are your long term plans for your artwork?
No idea. My long term plans for my life right now involve finding a place to live, starting a family, possibly looking for a new job...I've always looked at my artwork as a way to relax and have fun. I don't think I'd enjoy it if I was doing it for a living. If I happen to be able to make a little money here and there on side projects, that will be fine with me. Otherwise, I am happy just to do it for fun!

If you could have any career, what would you do?
Easy! I'd be an elementary school teacher. I still hope to be able to accomplish this someday, if I am ever able to go back to school.

What is your favorite food?
This is harder because I like so many foods...My default answer for this used to be lobster, but since I only it occasionally in the summer, I'm gonna go with cheese. I really, really enjoy all forms of cheese. I don't like goat cheese, but that is about the only one. Fresh Mozzarella & summer tomatoes drizzled with some balsamic and olive oil is seriously my idea of heaven. :)