How I've missed you!

Yes, I've been gone awhile... no, not much has happened.

I suppose the reason I haven't posted in such a long time is that I haven't had much to post in regards to bicycles or knitting. Much has happened to my poor $40 Schwinn (renamed Ghost and then Ducky). In the end I decided to scrap it, keep the wheels and donate the rest of the bike to the Kickstand. I've given Picard to my mother (an anniversary present, she's wanted a new bike for awhile now) and replaced both with the mystery bike from Georgia, that's right Georgia.

Won this baby on ebay for $8, so I didn't mind driving 6 hours there and back to pick it up. There wasn't much information about it on the post so I wasn't sure what to expect of the shadily pictured womens road Peugeot apparently purchased on a military base in Germany. What I was not expecting was the most beautiful, fun riding bike I've ever owned; and that's exactly what Regina (temporary name, we'll see if it sticks) is!
I've been doing some research and I think its an '89 Peugeot Lavandou (P 15 Z) which is very difficult to find information on...
Here's a picture from an old catalog I found the pdf for:














Some interesting news in the Gainesville Sun (not a bad periodical) this morning:
http://gainesvillesun.com/article/20080402/NEWS/804020344/1002/NEWS
Apparently we're home to some pretty ancient pre-historic burial grounds and there might just be more where that came from. I guess I'm just giddy at the thought of a potential "dig" off Archer... I really want to be able to say "hey look a dinosaur" on the way to Lowe's or something.

More interesting Gainesville News? YES!
http://gainesvillesun.com/article/20080324/COLUMNISTS/803240317/1022/news01
I'm psyched about the bike path but I swear to God if they tore down Maui Teriyaki for a f***ing sports center I'm going to cause a sink hole of my own. As if I'm not already gagging over the prospect of a "condo-hotel" on one of the most commercial intersections in the city! I'm not even going to go into all of the zoning atrocities.

In more personal news, I have a friend who friendship I'm concerned about losing and I've deciding that the only way to solve this problem, is through textiles. I've decided to knit him this: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTjh.html
Jackyll & Hide is perfect for him and I expect a good responce.
Does anybody want to do a KAL (knitalong for those unknowing of knitting abbreviations)? Not that anyone reads this I just figured I'd ask cause it might be fun.

More cool knitting stuff:
I've discovered an AMAZING BLOG/groupthingy...
http://buffykal.blogspot.com/
BUFFY BUFFY BUFFY!
thats all I have to say.

Ghostly Prospects:
Have you ever been on one of those kitchy-yet-oddly-goosebump-inducing ghost tours in historic towns. I hear the best are in St Aug, New Orleans and Savannah (top 3 haunted cities in the U.S. according to the Travel Channel). Well, recently I've been reading up on the various "haunted locations" in Gainesville and was surprised at the amount of spots and phenomena that have been reported. It seems very strange to me that a tour such as these ghost tours doesn't exist in Ye Olde Hoggetowne. As a result I've decided to start drawing out a comprehensive walking tour with stories and evidence of ghostly encounters in the more walkable portions of Gainesville. If anyone has stories to share or ideas that could help me with the planning, I'd be ever-so-grateful.

CRAZY YARN LADY

Sorry for my lack of posts recently, Winter Break lead to a severe lack in biking and an overload on the knitting front.  Couple that with a fast paced travel plan and you're trying to fit wayyy too many movies into one visit with your mother.  With scarf production at full speed, I don't know if I can even remember everything that was made but (of course) I'll try:

Scarves:

One brown scarf with vertical slit for pulling other end through for dad.

One Multi-Colored scarf frenzy knit with ribbon and size 30 needles for stepmom (with matching head band)

One long-ways knit mini-scarf for sister in variegated pink and purple yarn.

One ridiculously long garter-stitch red-as-your-canadian-sunburn scarf with tassels finished on the airplane in the way to getting stuck in Madison WI. (strangely, static electricity in the cold Wisconsin air caused the tassels to fray out and look freakin' sweet when I arrived there.)

One post-holiday ribbon regular-sized-your-average-scarf knitted for my mom upon her notice of similar scarf knitted for stepmom.

Hats:

One Crown-patterned personalized "JOE" hat for stepdad in stockinette stitch and lace patterning.

One Bobble-top variegated "artful" yarn cap knitted from "Urchin" pattern off knitty.com, intended to be beret however, forced to be a bobble hat upon running out of yarn with utter lack of yarn stores within a 3 hour radius of St Augustine. (knitted for self)

One Bonnet self-conceived pattern, idea stemming from a scene in the very disappointing film "The Golden Compass" where little protagonist girl wears a little bonnet.  Knitted in super chunky yarn for sister, successfully adorable (however she refuses to wear it, mostly because she's 4 and doesn't like having things on her head that aren't ridiculous.) 

Misc.:

One pair of green mittens begun for self... unfinished.

Two coffee-mug cozies ( in stockinette and lace pattern at top) knitted for mom.

One last-minute shawl knitted on size 30s for grandmother with ethereal yarn and strategically placed flowers sewn on.

Two fingerless mittens (pattern from the book "Weekend Knitting") garter stitch for a good friend who needed them way before I actually gave them to him.

One fluffy purple chunky-yarned vest with a missing panel due to lack of yarn supply... hopefully finished in the near future.

This crazy wraparound cowl and ear-warming head band for mom.   It's very fluffy.

So there was the payload for the last two weeks... pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

In other news the winter wonder ride is coming up this Sunday.  WOO!

Also, if anyone is interested in purchasing anything listed above... I do knit for compensation, and I take requests...

Also, I apologize for the horizontal photos, my preview not auto-corrects them and then auto-uncorrects to the origional state when I upload them bloggifileifically.

Up next, that lovely loop-lace patterned scarf... also, vest-a-palooza.

I hardly knew ye...

So I'm probably about 7 rides into the new bike and crash bang boom... I run it into the side of the thirteenth st tunnel. The cool parts are:

A. It was after my final exam in Arch History 3

B. I flew over the handlebars (which I've never done but always kind of wondered what it was like)

C. It looked hilarious (according to bystanders and friends nearby.)

The not-so-cool parts are:

A. The magnificent vintage handlebar tape that I went through so much trouble to get and wrap onto Ghost (the bikes new name) is all torn up on the left handle and I don't think its going to survive.

B. Ouch

C. Negative street cred.

Regardless, here are the photos of injury imparted unto both Ghost and me as a result of said incidents (since I know that's what you really want to see, you sick bastards.)




Look at that, we almost match...















And this one is matched with a series of bruises on my thighs resembling somewhat the clusters in the milky way... (galaxy, not choco-bar).








So this was all yesterday and today, I arouse my self from a deep slumber at 5:10am to go to work. The work part was uninteresting however, on the way to the lab I stumbled upon this...

I always feel very sneaky when I find things like soaped up fountains on campus. I must posses a Ninja-like stealth, speed, and intuition for mischief to happen upon this scene after the perps have fled the scene and before the fuzz has discovered it. Anyways, I was wearing all black and one of my lights was out so I got out of there before being stopped by security and questioned as to why I was out at this hour, if I'd planted the dastardly soap, and why oh why I was taking pictures...

Aside from adventures in crime-stopping, work is over for the year. Finished with exams, I'll clock in for my final shift of the semester tomorrow at precisely 2:00pm eastern time and end it precisely two hours later. This may give me the free time I need to finish knitting those non-denominational winter holiday gifts and apply for some more lucrative work. They've got my number at Video Rodeo (the rental place across the street) but do they know how to use it? More knitting news coming up next time...

Thus I will leave you tonight with a fond farewell and a friendly yet respectful-of-your-personal-space hug and be on my way...

Meteor Shower tonight, peak at 2 am. If you're awake don't miss it!

Au revoir readers.

Free Hair Cuts, not Budget Cuts!

I recently cut my friend Katie's hair, super indie!!! I put up before and after yes?

youlike?

So anyways, thats all, Im doing some covert knitting thats all about christmas gifts so I gotta keep quiet about that shiii, my friends read this, I can't have them finding out secret present goodies before they happen can i?

Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah.... get the baseball bat.

Well, it's official. Tim Tebow has won the Heissman (sp?) and UF has made some interesting news this year...

On some rather unfortunate news, the new bike has begun to piss and moan lately. The cranky noise seems to be emitting from the bottom bracket meets the crank area and could be due to a need for oiling or perchance a need for tightening... hopefully once I purchase the correct socket wrench for the job I can tighten the joint to it's full potential and that will be all. Does anybody with bicycle experience have any suggestions? The sound occurs mostly when pedaling on the down stroke with the left crank.

More interestingly, Austin and I have decided to nip this Rico-throwing-littersand-all-over-the-floor problem in the but with some good old fashioned crafting. It's time to pull out the surplus poplar from this years architectural projects and put it to good use making one of these:
But I was thinking about decorating the exterior with some tin-can tile mosaic and shingling. I saw an article in Craft Magazine (pretty amazing periodical, if you haven't checked it out yet, DO! http://craftzine.com/) about creating "tin can tiles" by cutting off the bottom and tops of cans and then flattening them against a surface and nailing them down. In the article they were used as roofing for a little projector box attached to the back of a bicycle for mobile cinema. It is my strong belief that mobile cinema should be available on most, if not all, street corners.

If anybody actually reads this, let me know if you have any suggestions, if you've build a litter home before or if you've seen anything interesting. I want Rico to feel at peace and secluded in his litter cabana but not too isolated. He gets freaked out when he cant find people.

On the knitting news-front, I've reached a point in my life, as a young woman about herself in the world, when I am realizing the necessity for fiscal acquisitions. I need money. And in return for this cold hard material, I am willing to offer my services as a knitter and craftswoman extrordinaire. I will knit projects within reasonable size in a reasonably short period of time to the scale of say, a hat and mitten set, scarves, mp3 cozies, other sorts of cozies, purses, cowls, booties etc... If you have a project in mind, just email me at britvonh@ufl.edu and I will be able to give a predicted cost and production time for the item. Tis the season, is it not?, to buy quality, hand-knit, woolen gifts for those you love... they really do make perfect gifts. Personalization is available, from names to not-too-complex graphics, and we all know you're tweenie daughter will just love that faux-name-brand tea cozy with the name of her favorite top-forty pop-rock band she loves so much embroidered in gold you've been meaning to get her. But for serious guys, I need cash... and to make that happen, I will knit you any scarf your heart desires... I am willing to sell my speedy fingers in return for material comforts, take advantage.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Must get back to the "real" job... however uninteresting and suicide-inducing it may be.

Ta-ta fair friends!

Working thru the stash... not working.

So lately I've been on a completely selfish and guilty gift-less knitting spree, knitting personal project after personal project late into the night and plotting for more.  I felt better after giving away my beautiful thick woolen lace scarf (not pictured) to a friend last night, however, much colder against the prevailing winds on the new bike. I really need to get ON those x-mas gifts. 

 

Anyway, the latest has been a thin scarf, mostly for show, I can't imagine any warmth being provided from this baby.  I'm using the "Loop Lace" pattern off of Knitty's hat "Pinky" for the ends... who knows what will happen in between... (meaning I've yet to decide and knit and ripped out stitch after stitch of ideas never creating one that truly works with the lace)... its a mystery!!

Pictured below: Rico looking photogenic and Scarf

The yarn I'm using is Artful Yarns' "reality" which cost me a pretty penny from the local textile shop Yarnworks (adorable little shop in Gainesville, if you ever visit, GO THERE!) but it was worth every cent.  Maybe this can become a christmas present?  I think I'm more fearsome of parting with the yarn than with the scarf, and thats bound to happen anyway.

Ah well, I'm off to face to world!  Rico doesn't say goodbye but purrs emphatically...

Ciao Chicos!

Hello to the Interweb!!!

So, this is my first blog posting ever in this world wide webbing of ours and I'd just like to say cheerio to all of those out there who may be actually reading this...

I realize, however, that I don't have much of a following as of yet. This will change, of course.

An introduction to me:

-I love knitting (of course)
-I love bicycles, working on bicycles, riding bicycles, looking at bicycles etc.
-I love writing music which usually ends up disappointing, inevitably, yet fun.
-I love mon chat... Rico, a monstrous mew to you...
-I have always wanted to start a knitting blog... you know, you always end up on them, following links and what not, and I kind of idolized those people behind the recipes and fair-isle patterns.

So on with the posting...
...Today I became official admin and list mastah of the Gainesville Community Bicycle Collective's free repair shop's website: thekickstand.org. If you are interested in becoming involved in the collective, either to talk about bike repair or to look at pretty shiney things I can add you to the listserv, muah ha ha haaa!

On a more fun note, I finished building my beautiful Schwinn le tour flip flop bike today! Weee, fun riding ahead. Pictures to come.

Also, Rico has taken to playing in his litterbox. He's a dirty kitty. I cleaned it this morning, only to find sand dunes covering my recently swept wood floors once returning. Not to mention, Rico, the Mr Sandworm-kitty-fantastico popping out of the box, covered in litter sand, out for blood.

Well, I'm off work in about five, so I'll take off for now. More pictures and knitting news on the way...

...come to think of it, the Holiday Season is the perfect time to start a knitting blog... lots of rushed projects... lots of help needed... lots of bragging.

Sayonara Amigos!