First day of Upper Division

So yesterday was my first day of upper division.  I was pretttty nervous. Heck, I'm still nervous!

Here was my first day of school pictures: yeah, it's kind of a tradition. =]

This one is great.  =]

So the first day was academically pretty great, socially: pretty tough.  But that's okay.  I'll make friends as the semester and upper division keeps going.

Oh, and to top it off, my new glasses came in yesterday after I got back from class.

What do ya think?

 I honestly think they rock.

I might even go as far as saying they make me look smarter (definitely nerdier)!

What do youthink?

I hope they make me smarter (if not look smarter), because well...here are my school textbooks for this semester.

And I'm already getting sick of reading.  I think I've read about 8 or 9 chapters so far and a bunch of tutorials and I'm only on the first class...phew!

Tonight is my first lab class.  I'm really nervous about this one so I hope it goes well.  I'll let you know! =]

Love,

LeeAnn

Father/Daughter Hang out day and a Quick Update

Just wanna say a few things so you all know I haven't forgotten about you!

Last week daddy and I were able to hang out for the day! It was really great.  We went for a long walk with the dogs and then went to my school to pick up some of my books for the next semester! woohoo!  We walked around the campus and I showed him all of the changes that they are making.  There is construction completely covering the campus, you have to walk all the way around the outskirts of the campus to get to the other side if you park on the wrong side or have multiple locations (ask me how I know!) 

After that we went to see The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Wow. It was simply fantastic.  I am a Planet of the Apes fan and grew up watching not only the original ones but the awful squeals too! haha!

I think this movie would be a perfect opportunity for opening discussion and debate.  I can see parents taking their teen kids to it and discussing all of the ethical issues that are brought up.  There are tons, everything from animal testing to what makes (constitutes) a human (i.e. language, intelligence, etc.), and much more.  I think this is just such an opportunity to take advantage of, even in a school environment.  

However if you're not into all that thinking deeply junk then this is also a fantastic movie! ha!  It has a good mix of action and story line.

So thank you dad for such a great day.  It was really fun and I really enjoy hanging out with you.

On other news I am knitting and crocheting! I swear!

I am currently working on a lot of projects at once and so that's why I'm not getting any finished project posts up.  I do have a few projects I haven't posted but I haven't taken pictures for them or I want to get some additional pictures than what I have now.

I've also been working on an educational class for my knitting skills and knowledge.  I'll give more information on it when I get more into the process.

Hope you are all doing wonderful!

Love,

LeeAnn

Music Recommendations: The Growing Room

Hey guys!

So my boyfriend and I are avid gamers...I mean, we did meet on Xbox Live after all.

Well there are these some very famous groups in the gaming community.  One of the members of a famous group of this kind has a brother.  This brother is the singer in a band called The Growing Room.  Now I didn't find them but my boyfriend did and he sent me the link.

And I realllly like them.  So I'm letting you know about them.

This is their video "My goodbye."

If you like them please promote them.

It's so hard to get noticed without a record label and yet when you are signed you can't make your own music anymore...okay, I'm just not going to get into that.  The point is, if you like them there are a few simple things you can do that will really help them out!

You can:

Like them on facebook.

Subscribe to their Youtube channel.

And you can tell your friends!

Love,

LeeAnn

Hello Everyone!

Welcome welcome! I'm so glad you made the transition with me to my new blog address.  This is really a sign of a change in who I have become.  My old blog address was created for when my blog was designed mainly to keep my parents informed and to post some school stuff with a few crochet projects.  That blog address was L and her ramblings.  

My new blog address (as you know!) is Knit and Smile.  I think this really shows the way my focus has transferred on my blog.  My main portion of blog posts are about my knitting/crochet/crafty experiences.  Sometimes I have things going on in my life and other misc. things. 

~~~

So onto the blog post! I know I said I was going to do a finished project post but I decided I was not happy yet with my finished pictures. So I'm going to give you a look at what is going on with my crafty experiences lately.

I completed a shawl last week that needs a good washing a blocking then it's all done. (This is a different project then the one I was to post today.)  I'm pretty happy how this looks and I think it will really blossom when it's all clean and pretty! =]

 After I finished this shawl I was at a loss of what to do. I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that I raced to get it done and finished in a little over 5 days!  So to get my creative desires flowing again I tinkered with a few projects.  I started another Horai stole

I'm really loving this color!

Then I worked on a current project and turned this...

to this...

This is a practice run for a blanket I'm going to make for Vlad and me.  This is going to be the top of a cushion to help my butt out when I'm studying and sitting on my desk chair.  

I love everything about this chair but after hours of study...it needs a little more cushion! haha!

 I also did a bit of sewing (which is practically unheard of from me)!  I mended a pillow seam and am very proud of how it turned out!  I also make a hanky for Vlady.  I had been planning to do it for a long time and even had the fabric but just haven't gotten to it! So here it is...

That is the mended pillowcase that the hanky is posing on.

I was telling my mom how my room looks comically crafty now that the sewing machine has a place on my desk.  There is crochet bunting and crochet hearts hanging from the ceiling, a crochet blanket on my chair and an inspiration board and yarn inspiration everywhere. Now that the sewing machine is there it's almost over the top! lol!  Here is a view of it sitting on the desk.

I was going through my game cabinet looking for something for mom and I made a lovely discovery.  Besides finding two forgotten puzzles (I love puzzles) I found this...

Isn't it cute!?  It's a little cross-stitch kit! I've never been a good cross-stitcher but I think I'm going to have to get this done because I would love to have this in my home.  Funny how you stay interested in things, even years after.  Now if you knew me as a little girl you would probably know how weird it was that I liked this.  I was the ultimate tom-boy and avoided everything girly.  (Something that was rather difficult for someone who did enjoy crafts.)  That means that this kit was probably the least girly thing to chose from that I actually liked!

I think it's kinda crazy how much I've changed over the years and how much I keep changing.

Here is a picture of something I might start working on again...

Have a great day everyone!

Love,

LeeAnn

Changing now

I'm changing my blog address now!  I hope it will be www.knitandsmile.blogspot.com.  Fingers crossed!

I'll be posting a finished project post on my blog tomorrow so you can be sure that you're still following me! 

Last blog post explaining blog address change can be found here.

See you tomorrow! 

Love,

LeeAnn

Blog address change!!!

So very soon I'm going to change my blog address to something more simple instead of the l-and-her-ramblings one.  It will be in a few days because I want to give people a chance to see this post before the URL you go to won't work!  

So here is what will happen.  I will change the address on Saturday night (August 4) or Sunday (August 5) and if I do or don't I will do a blog post stating it.  To find my new blog address you can either email me or go to my blogger profile: http://www.blogger.com/profile/04125966749385214463.  On my blogger profile the blog will be under "My blogs" and will still be Knitting with a Smile.  If you just click on that link and subscribe or bookmark the new URL you'll be able to continue seeing my posts!  

I hope I don't lose anyone in this transfer and I'm sorry for any inconvenience it might cause you!

Love,

LeeAnn

FO: Boneyard

Boneyard

Pattern: Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West (My Ravelry Project Page)

Size made: 28.5" x 52"

Craft: Knit 

Materials

Needle used: US 8 (5.0 mm) US 9 (5.5 mm)

Yarn used:  Loops & Threads Impeccable

Color: Navy, White and Clay

Total Yardage Used:  490 yards

Bought yarn from: Michaels

Project Details and Feedback

Duration of Project: July 5th to July 14th, 2011

Modifications: I started off with the US 8 and saw that the fabric was a little stiff so I switched to the US 9 before the first color change. The next modification was the color changes.  I just did them

Make this pattern again?  Yes! Especially with a yarn that has a beautiful heather.  I would love to do that.

Final thoughts/ recommendations: I'm really very happy with the finished results.  I'm very fond of this shawl and I love the colors.

 

Love,

LeeAnn