It’s a pity too because they’ve got this great knit dress in royal blue on sale right now… Maybe I can make it myself with size 0000 needles and threadweight yarn, y/n?

In other news, my holiday knitting has come to a standstill, but I’m still on track. I was knitting the Kiri shawl on the bus, and I didn’t really think before shoving it into my bag before getting off and some of it came undone. I really, really do not want to frog; it was going so quickly before my carelessness! I’ll have to study hard under bright lights to see how to fix it without ripping back. It’s three or so rows, but that’s about 900 stitches. No, thank you!!! But omg, Fino Alpaca with a twist is so pretty knitted up. It really is transformed by the pattern. I got it out of someone else’s stash of Ravelry and when it came, the colour looked a bit washed out and unassuming, but it looks so vibrant when actually knit! It’s a gorgeous transformation. I only hope lace shawls aren’t completely gauche to the person to whom I’m gifting it. It’s hard to feel people out without giving oneself away, but since we’ve got similar good taste, I’m hoping she’ll like it. ;]

I had more people on my list, but I’ve whittled it down to five people plus my three best friends here in WA. One of my good friends in TX is getting married soon, so I’ll skip on trying to squeeze her in for Christmas and instead make something really amazing for her wedding gift. I don’t know what yet. :) For my other friend, I don’t know if I should knit a scarf or a neckwarmer… scarves are so maddening and tedious!

I’m ignoring the election news today. I’ll surely go mad if I follow it like some of my friends are doing. I’ll just wait until the results are announced and either be elated beyond words (I really will scream or cry, I think) or start packing my bags so I can move to Europe accordingly.  My fingers and toes and eyes are crossed. ;) eta: the night is over and Obama won. All is good.

I’ve changed my layout again, since we’re past Halloween.

First start out with a clean, moisturised face!

I wash and exfoliate with Dr Bronner’s Magic soap. This stuff is crazy. Three drops lathers like a handfull of soap! I have a 9:1 mix of water and soap in the bottle since it’s so concentrated. After that, I mist my face with a mixture of tea tree, lavender and rosemary in water. These three essential oils are natural antibiotics. Rosemary is supposed to stimulate blood flow and lavender is supposed to calm it. Using this helps keep pimples from external elements at bay. Doesn’t save me when I eat dairy products, though! :(  Last, I use unrefined shea butter as a moisturiser. Shea is full of nutrients and is easily absorbed into the skin so it doesn’t clog your pores.  It’s helped even out my skin tone, and I actually don’t wear make-up as heavily or as much as I used to before simplifying my routine. These are the only things I ever put on my face as far as product goes!

I was going to put a picture of my clean face to start with, but it was all red from scrubbing, so I think I’ll save your eyes and move on. ;)

Colours!

Here’s what I decided to use, minus my shadow colour. From the left, MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork, Eye Shadow in Sumptuous Olive, Sushi Flower and Sketch (not pictured) and eye shadow brushes from The Body Shop. I use synthetic brushes because I hate the feel of animal hair on my face. xP The Body Shop brushes are the softest synthetics I’ve used so far. I forgot to take a picture of the powder, but it’s my mum’s old Prescriptives loose powder. I’m planning to go in and buy their All Skins Mineral Powder though, because I really like the coverage of the regular loose powder, but they don’t sell it anymore! I use powder instead of liquid because my face always looks oily by the end of the day with liquid make-up. Plus, it just doesn’t feel nice.

Un: Foundation

I use a large brush to apply my powder. It gives really light and even coverage, so it never looks like I’m wearing a mask. I like to start at my jaw and work up in circular motions. I brush all over, even over my eyes and lips.

Deux: Eyebrows!

I have naturally thick (very thick), naturally arched eyebrows. I like to keep most of the fullness and accentuate the shape just a little bit. I used to do my brows thinner than this in high school, but looking back on old photos, it definitely was not a good look for me! Ah, youth! Haha. This is usually where I stop most days now, plus mascara. When I use eyeshadow, that comes last. :) I use Rimmel.

Trois: Groundwork

This paintpot by MAC is very appropriately named. I apply it with my finger over the whole eyelid. This helps my make-up look more vibrant and fresh. I have gone up to 10 hours without creases!

Quatre: Main Colour

This may be a bit hard to see… photographing eyeshadow is tricky. Anyway, here’s the Sumptuous Olive colour applied from the inner right to the middle. I love to wear green, but on me, it makes me look dead, so I have to get warmer greens (more yellow) and pair them with warmer shades on the spectrum. I use the stiff brush for applying colour.

Cinq: Contrast Colour

My warm colour is Sushi Flower! It’s candy pink, but a widely flattering colour. I apply this from middle to outer eye. No blending at this point, so you can clearly see the demarcation.

Six: Shadow Colour + Blending

My shadow colour is Sketch, and I apply this from the outermost part of the lid into the crease. As a general rule, all of my dark, dark colours are warm shades. Sketch is a deep red-purple, and anytime I do a smokey eye, I use something similar, with touches of red or purple in it because cool colours, unless very bright, don’t work for me! Blend it all together. I use the soft brush for blending.

Huit: Mascara

I use Aveda Mascara + Rose. This picture is of one eye with mascara and one eye without it. I love this mascara because it smells like roses! However, it is one of the flakier ones I used, so I make sure to rub it a bit after it dries. It’s not terribly bad, though, and it comes off really easily with a wash, which is nice! It goes on really nice and evenly too, and you don’t need too many overlapping strokes to get full coverage.

Fin!

Lastly, I put on lip gloss and I’m done! The gloss here is The Body Shop Lip Dot in Billberry Juice. I like to wear blush, but I really only wear it when I’m going for a more natural look– that is, no eyeshadow and a natural or nude colour gloss. Since my skin is dark, I use a vibrant orange or pink colour. I’m not wearing any here but it kind of looks like it anyway!

About a year ago, I cut my hair and let it grow out naturally. It was chemically straightened before.  It was strange at first; I’d never had short hair before, but now I wish I’d done it sooner!

Anyway, besides that, I changed the layout into something festive for Halloween! I got a job, so hopefully I will get paid in time to get a costume… I still have no idea what I should be. Something warm, haha. It’s cold here!

In the meantime, I’ve been studying, working on commissioned art and working on my webpage. It’s mostly functional, but I can’t get the subpages to work! Who knows PHP?

I was going to post a make-up tutorial of sorts, but I’ll do it later. Happy October!

Anyway, I’m a fiend for cables. As I write this, I’m knitting the most tedious cable cardigan. Yesterday I was swearing I’d never knit cables again because I’m dying of boredom. I’m somewhat of a monogamous knitter; I can’t have two ongoing projects of the same type going on together. I can knit a jumper and a scarf at the same time, but not two jumpers or two scarves. But anyway, my vow against cables won’t last too long because I really can’t help myself when I see something this gorgeous! Cables add so much interest to any piece!

Pull à Torsades

Isn’t this beautiful? These cables, however, are significantly less arduous than the ones I’m working on now. I even love the colour… Charcoal grey is one of favourites, but I want to work in something a little more… I don’t know. Maybe a chocolate heather. This was a really popular shape/trend last winter, but I think it’s still beautiful. I don’t really keep with what in or out anyway; I only care about what looks good!

Veste à Capuche

This is so chic to me. It makes me miss when my hair was long and straight, haha. Because I can’t wear hoods or wrap scarves around my head anymore! I have some yarn that would probably work with this, but it’s 100% alpaca and I hear alpaca tends the grow vertically… so, I don’t want it to end up being a knee-length jacket.

Cape

This is just what I’ve been looking for! I totally forgot that I had it in a book laying around. I still can’t make out some of the instructions for this one, but I’ll look at it more when I’ve finished the cardigan I’m on now.

Gilet

This would look so pretty in a silk/merino blend! I like the colour in which it’s shown, but it would look funny on my skin, I think. Maybe an olive green or mustard yellow… my two new favourite colours. Either would look fabulous with this colour under:

BCBG Silk Charmeuse Top

Which happens to be my favourite colour ever. :)

Nordstrom Plush Square Cape (right)

Stella McCartney Oversize Cardigan

Stella McCartney Snood

I’m really into volume right now as well. I want to make the snood, but I wouldn’t be able to wear it with my hair being so huge, ha ha! I need to braid it down for the winter anyway, so maybe I’ll think about it. I have some sport weight alpaca yarn in charcoal that would be really nice for this. All I’d need is some black and a light grey for the stripe.

Shoes next time. x)

So, with winding down unpacking and getting into the ‘I don’t have school!’ mindset, I’ve been preparing to buckle down and analyse a pattern from a hat to recreate it.

But I was looking on Ravelry for something on which to use up my stash and I stumbled upon a pattern already written for it! I’m pretty ecstatic right now for it. The original hat is about $170 but it’s been marked down to $100. I still feel that’s too much to spend on holiday gifts. I might buy some cashmere yarn now, just so it’s really nice. :) eta: Here is the link, for Ravelry members!

As an aside, I love how easy it is to find fine fibres in yarn, but I hate how there is a distinct lack of small fabric stores! I want silks and wool and things, but there aren’t as many fabric shops are there are yarn shops, and I hate buying things like that online! Oh, well.

Now all I want to do is knit sweaters and hats all day, but I have some studying to do. :P

So, in my absence, I have moved 2,000+ miles from home. It was not fun. Originally, I was supposed to have flown on 1 July from Dallas, TX to Seattle, WA. I had everything packed up and gone: my clothes, furniture, bed–everything. But things didn’t go as planned. Naturally.

I was notified by my school that I wasn’t cleared to graduate because my academic advisor told me to take a course I didn’t need and didn’t count toward my degree. So… I had to take another month of class at my own expense because of their mistake. I’m not as mad about it anymore because that’s a huge waste of energy, but still, I’m out $2K because of my school’s mistake. That’s money I could really use now that I’m moved in a new state and unemployed.

Anyway, the grad ceremony was uneventful. I graduated .04 points short of graduating with honours, and that upsets me more than anything. Can’t they round up?? Ahh!!! Oh, well. Now, I’m in Seattle in unpacking limbo (I’ve been here for 2 weeks, but don’t have enough furniture for everything) and studying computer languages so I can get a job!

Haven’t been knitting or doing anything much, but I have lots of stash so I will probably start on my Christmas knitting in October. I really want a DSLR these days because Seattle is so green and gorgeous with wild berries and flora I’ve never seen before! And hopefully I will get gift certs to fabric stores so I can start on my sewing! I have a few things that I’m really wanting to make.

I leave off with my current project:

My sister made a table in one of her classes and since it’s pretty plain, I’m decorating it. I’m still not sure if I like this drawing on top, but I’m only good at drawing people and fail pretty spectacularly at anything unique and graphic. I’d have liked to do scrolls and flowers and all, but I can’t draw things like that. :(

Tofu Coconut Curry

INGREDIENTS
* 1 pkg firm tofu (pressed)
* 1 can coconut milk
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/2 tsp brown sugar (or to taste)
* 1 Tbsp curry powder
* 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger, divided
* 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 bunches green onions, chopped
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
* 1 pkg baby fresh mushrooms, whole
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* salt to taste

1. Press the tofu so that it’s nice and firm. I learnt to do this somewhere, but I forgot where. Basically, I put a heavy iron pot on top of tofu wrapped in paper towel wrapped in clean dish rags for an hour. This makes the tofu firm and it absorbs the flavour better, I think. :)

2. I like to strain the coconut milk before Bring the coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce and spices to a boil. Only add half of the ginger and half the garlic and save the rest for later.

3. Add in tofu and cook until hot. Add vegetables but don’t cook them too long. You probably should add the mushrooms first and the tomatoes last. Cook until vegetables are tender but firm.

4. Lastly, stir in basil, ginger and garlic and turn off heat. Make sure to taste the food as you’re cooking to make sure it tastes the way you like it. I like to add lots of pepper because I love the mix of spicy, salty and sweet.

I think that’s it, but I really suck at giving directions because I tend to cook intuitively. But it should turn out okay. :) Serve over purple or jasmine rice! Purple rice is really good and it has more nutrients (namely fibre) than white rice. Try some!  I mixed them together for this recipe since I had so little purple rice left, but it really makes things taste richer than they would otherwise

Looking at this pattern, there is a bit of a problem on the left-hand side. The outermost cable in the centre pattern lays on top twice instead of weaving over and under like a cable usually does. This isn’t touched upon in the errata (and there was months worth of waiting for multiple error corrections), but I think I’ll go ahead and change it because I hate the way it looks. Unfortunately, I only analysed this after doing two runs through the pattern, so I’m not going to go back and change the few I’ve missed. But, at least it’s on the back and I saw it in time to make the correction of the front. I can’t wait to finish this… I wanted it to be all finished so I can wear it during the cool Seattle nights, but if I can finish it before the end of September, I’ll be happy. Then I can think about whether or not I want to burn myself out on holiday gifts. :D If I end up doing anything for the holidays, I’ll probably keep the list very short.

In other news, I’m finishing my last class before graduation and moving was a complete pain. Hopefully the next time I move, I’ll have much less accumulated junk!

I have a recipe to share later. In the meantime, cheers!

Anyway, I’ve not been doing much else besides packing. My knitting has been put on hold and in fact, I need new needles to finish up the trim for the camisole I talked about last entry. Packing is an ordeal, let me tell you. I have (or had, I’ve been diligent about throwing things out) 10 years worth of accumulation in my bedroom. Luckily, my bedroom is all I really have to pack (as opposed to say, the entire house) and since I’ve had my furniture since I was 5, I am justified in saying I don’t want it anymore! So, I’m just moving my bed and my TV stuff and possibly my desk. Ah. Now if it were up to me, I’d leave my desk too because it is enormous, but my dad got it for me and I’d feel bad leaving it since it’s not very old.

I got to go see Sex and the City last weekend with a friend. It was amazing, and I realised that all my clothes and shoes and crap and I’m probably going to throw everything out and get new, ridiculous and impractical clothes and shoes. Not really. Well, maybe a little, but I won’t throw out everything. But that’s how I felt immediately after leaving the theatre: I need to go shopping. It was a fun time all around! The audience was really enthused as if I was in a Harry Potter screening or something– even down to the dressing up!  I really want the blue Manolo’s… they were perfection.

Other than that, all is well. I got new spectacles! Check ‘em out.

I am a big dork, obviously.