the orange yarn, please

i'm so sorry!

2005-07-01T13:49:00.000-04:00

i feel so bad for not posting and causing worry. all is well! i'm just megabusy with things, but it's all over now. well, almost, anyway. i had to finish up our school year, get the portfolio ready to hand in to the school district, get ready for our homeschool evaluation, and then finish planning and getting ready for our girl scout day camp, which officially ended yesterday. unlike last year, i broke no bones! i did trip over a rake and fell on my face, though, but i can't even say that i hurt my pride, b/c no one saw. anyway, i was the director for the camp, and we had almost 40 staff members and about 125 campers. it went well, despite the intense heat, and the best part is that it's over!

i have absolutely nothing new, knitting-wise, to present to you in an orderly fashion. i did ask my favorite yarn shop, labadie looms, to come out to camp and demonstrate spinning and weaving, which they did (our theme was medieval times). the kids loved it. so did i, although i was disappointed that they didn't bring any merchandise for me to fondle. they handed me some wool with deer hair blended into it to satisfy my craving.

again, i'm sorry for my lack of presence and general inconsiderate silence. i hope you all forgive me! thanks for your emails of concern and luv. as life settles back into a norm (god willing), i can hopefully take up the needles again and move into first gear. take care!

md s&w

2005-05-06T09:03:00.000-04:00

is tomorrow! or at least, that's when i'm going. and my lovely houseguest, the wonderful elisa,is coming, too! is there a meet-up point where everyone will be? nothing like asking at the last minute. :p

after a week of hacking our way through the dense, unfriendly woods ...

2005-04-30T22:50:00.000-04:00

. . .my girl scout troop and i finally reached civilization, where we made merry with large liters of diet dr. pepper and endless vats of fettucine alfredo.

okay, well i may be stretching the truth a little. we actually never got lost, we were only there for one night, the woods were rather friendly, i didn't get to celebrate with any diet dr. pep because it was all gone when i got home (ahem, hubby? you got some explainin' to do!), and i had a filet o'fish instead of the fett alf, but you get the idea. i was happy to get home. i loved camping and being with my daughter and the rest of the troop, but gosh, i missed my boys! (and cloudy, too!)

mike kept busy while i was away and finished up the floor downstairs:

great job, hun-bun!

our food turned out great, except for the poor orange cakes. to refresh your memory: we were to scoop out an orange, pour in cake mix, and bake them over the coals. well, our coals were leftover from our monkey bread at dinner time, and we never thought to do up some fresh ones. so the cakes weren't done after the prescribed 15 minutes. or 20 minutes. or 30 minutes. after 40 minutes, we decided to give it up and feast on the cookies people had brought instead. the cakes did smell divine, though. they were just, uh, overly moist. here's a shot of marah and her dear friend, L, who no longer has a black box over her face:

so anyway, i haven't blogged in over a week:
gabe's periodic fever syndrome + mike's far away clients = very little computer time for me

mike's back, and gabe is better now, so voila, here i am. i am late in my thanks, too. my secret pal revealed herself a little early because she is currently away. julie was my pal, and she was so sweet, kind, and generous. thank you so much, julie! her grand finale present was the following:

a cone of classic elite (my first cone!), two soft wool/mohair blend skeins in glorious orange, and a needle case to match the ones she had sent me. let me tell you, julie is a very talented gal! she's also very kind, as she sent marah a needle case, too (marah now feels so knitty!), along with a little glow-in-the-dark sheep, and gabe got a neat little telescope/compass gizmo. thank you, julie! you're a sweetie!

i also received some sweet raok's this week - marina sent me some luscious lavender sachets that smell just absolutely divine, and jenn, aka knitwit momma, sent me some beautiful knit picks sock garden yarn in "daffodil,"

along with a great cd with 80s hits. i can see my madonna lace gloves and white duran duran shoes now . . . ah, the (embarrassingly) good ole days . . .

oh, here's some proof that i'm actually knitting - two wips:
the pink opal socks (using yankee knitter classic sock pattern)

and the 70's suede jacket (done in berrocco cotton twist instead of the suede) from the 2005 knit it! magazine:

i'm still only on sock #1 of the pair. i just have had no time. the sweater right now is actually just the bottom half of the cardigan from whose top i will eventually pick up stitches to do the rest of the body. it's pretty dull knitting at this point, but that's what i think i need - just "veg knitting," if you will.

and here's one fo - a "yo, drop it!" scarf for my sis's birthday. it's done in giglio ribbon on size 13's i think. i can't remember what i used, needle-wise. it was a week ago - give me a break! it looks jumbled up in the photo b/c it's doubled up and lying on itself:

thanks to everyone for their camping well wishes, as well as patience with me for not blogging or leaving comments on blogs. honestly, it's just been a bit of a struggle trying to keep myself together and going these days, with all the things swirling around this way and that, but my world's still turning at the end of the day, and i guess that's all that matters. have a great rest o' weekend!

wish us luck!

2005-04-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

well, my girl scouts and i are off today for some good old-fashioned camping . . . in the rain. wah! i'm hoping to fit things in between the showers, and possibly even keep going despite the showers. sometimes it's fun to do things when there's a light sprinkle out there. but if it's raining hard, it's inside our luxurious quarters we go! it's times like this that i'm thankful that the majority of my girl scouts aren't into tent camping. hooray for pseudo-roughing it!

my fingers are aching from cutting and scooping 22 huge oranges for the cake in an orange dessert tonight. i'll let you know how they are! we're also having walking tacos, where you put your taco meat (i'm having soy, thank you very much - i'm not a fan of ground up intestines) and toppings inside a bag of corn chips, and you can walk around eating it, hence the name. this is a new one for us, like the oranges, so i'm hoping it's good. after dinner, we'll be sitting around the campfire and singing songs, eating s'mores, and having a blast. i hope the rain doesn't show up at that point, although i plan to have a makeshift indoors campfire (some logs and a lantern underneath for the "fire") and some indoor s'mores with my indoor s'more maker. i am prepared!!! (famous last words)

in knitting news, i've started the 70's suede jacket with my berroco cotton twist. this yarn is okay; it is pretty and very springy, but it's also very splitty, which drives me bonkers. i'd post a pic, but my camera is already packed! i hope to work on it tonight while we adults are downstairs, listening to the girls having fun upstairs. my other wips - clapotis and some socks - are not getting much attention, but they'll have their moment, i'm sure. i hope, anyway.

the wildflower walk this week was a lot of fun. the weather was absolutely beautiful, and we saw tons of varieties of wildflowers. of course, my favorites, the dutchman's breeches, were there, waiting for me! i got some pictures, but again, the camera is packed for the camping trip and i didn't upload the pics yet. while we were walking, there was a deer crossing the creek, getting a drink. it would've been a great moment had there not been 30+ people there blocking our view. crapola. still had fun, though!

oh - the red bean ice cream was purchased, not made by me. i wish i could make it! we haven't used our ice cream maker for a few years, but i bet homemade red bean ice cream would be delish!

have a great weekend, and send us some sun, please!

oh yeah!

2005-04-17T19:56:00.000-04:00

check out the creamy goodness that is red bean ice cream:

mike worked so hard on the floor today and was really in a bad mood, worried that he wouldn't get it done. well, he's about 96% done! it's nice to have a little bit of good old normalcy back in the downstairs of our home. seriously, what is it about redoing a room in your house that makes the whole place go batty? anyway, i thought i'd reward him with one of his favorite desserts of all time. anyone else out there a fan of this stuff? it tastes great. kind of like chocolate goes exotic.

i have very little knitting news to report. well, i actually did finish up something, but i can't show it until this weekend, after i've given it to the person who is getting it for her birthday! she knows who she is . . . but she doesn't know WHAT it is. ha! sorry, sis :)

aside from the downstairs being a mess, i've also been busy with girl scout stuff. this upcoming weekend, our troop is going camping. okay, we aren't roughing it at all, but we're still camping! just because the place we're staying has a cathedral ceiling, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, electric heat, two floors, etc. doesn't mean we aren't really camping. we're cooking all of our meals outdoors. that means something, right? the one thing we're having that i'm excited to try is "cake in an orange," where you cut an orange in half, scoop out the pulp (and use for something like fruit salad), mix up a cake mix, pour it into the half of orange, and then cook it on the coals. of course, i love oranges because of their color, but i really love orange flavored cake. i'm looking forward to that and the other things we'll be doing (earth day theme - lots of fun recycling crafts!), but the forecast is for rain both days. i can easily adapt all of our activities and meals indoors, but i don't want to have to!

at least i'll have tomorrow - our first wildflower hike of the season. i'm psyched! it counts as school for the kids (i even made up a worksheet for them to help them identify some of the flowers we'll see), and it counts as a pure dose of happiness for me. i live for spring and wildflowers. among other things. here's a shot of some dutchman's breeches i took a few years ago - i hope i see these tomorrow!

i've got a shout out to give! hey rox, thank you so much for the yarn you sent for my knitting club! rox, aka fearless knitter, sent a bunch of encore dk and other fun things. my girls are going to love this so much! thanks for your generosity!

well, keep your fingers crossed for sunshine this upcoming weekend, please! and have a great beginning o'the week!

i'm floored

2005-04-11T13:25:00.000-04:00

it's been quite the weekend here at ye olde orange homestead. one of us had the brilliant (read with sarcasm) idea to redo the flooring. see, our old carpet, which i fondly renamed as "stainmart," was, well, stained. and smelly. remember that old cat-ignores-litter-box problem little cloudy had a few months ago? although she is doing better, the carpet was still wearing her battle wounds, and they were rather pungent ones at that. so we rolled up our sleeves and replaced the floor with some laminate. it has made a huge difference. poor cloudy, however, seems a little at a loss and can't figure out why her litter box away from home has vanished.

the worst part of the whole project is that when the builders of our home originally poured the cement for the floor, they thought it'd be funny if they didn't pour it evenly, so laying planks of laminate on an uneven floor has been a true delight. argh.

hey, secret pal! thank you for the beautiful circular needle case you made! my secret pal is the most crafty, talented secret pal evah. she has sewn me a little bag, a mini dpn case, a regular-sized dpn case, and now this lovely circular needle case - all out of the same orange-oriented fabric. thank you so much, dearie!

i also got some really sweet prezzies from some awesome raok'ers. check out the cool note cards and lamb's pride sent by amanda at clothesknit. she also sent a cappuccino filled chocolate bar, but gee, it seems to have disappeared. okay, i just didn't want to shoot a pic of an empty wrapper. thank you so much, sweet amanda! that was a lovely surprise indeed!

then, today, i got another raok from abby, the knitlette. she sent me this 2-ply jamieson and smith shetland wool that she dyed with wilton. how beautiful! i'm really looking forward to making something lacy and orange :P thank you, abby! you're a sweetheart!

aw, yeah! i almost forgot to mention that my berrocco yarn finally came in! it is bee-yootiful. check it out:

bad self-portraits are fun!

20 skeins of pure violet delight!
now i can finally start this up:

i was worried that spring would pass me by and i'd still be waiting for the yarn for the darned thing. patience, my child. patience.

lastly, i may have mentioned this before, but my darling hubby, the mikemachine, has a fascination with any and all things japanese and chinese. he found this one website where this lady will send japanese snacks from her catalog to you. his order came in the other day (enough to feed a junk food army), and it contained yummy things like macadamia nut oreo bars, banana split sundae pocky sticks, and qoo drink (made by coca-cola). we opened up our big box o'cavities right after we finished day one of working on the floor. it was fun knowing that i had pre-paid my fat grams in advance and could eat what i wanted!

lastly, if you're in the market for a new felted bag pattern, you have to see the panes bag from trish, the bloomin knitiot. it's really quite cool!

happy monday (oxymoron?), all!

take that, winter! and other quips

2005-04-07T15:31:00.000-04:00

1. our palette has expanded beyond broken browns and wintry whites.

the above photo taken by gabe.

2. no more stale snow crunching under our feet.

3. sour faces are quickly disappearing.

4. take that, winter!

(end of spring photo shoot)

5. clapotis resembles underwear at this point. with beads. i'm almost done with the increases.

marah is proudly modeling my shawl drawers.

6. my berroco cotton twist still hasn't come in. i called the lys in question, and the first response i got was "if you haven't been called, it hasn't come in." well, duh. my question, smarty toots, is when it will be expected. i've waited over a month. i want my yarn. she put on the owner, who said it was backordered twice, but a shipment is coming in tomorrow, so she's hoping it's on there. seriously, if i can order yarn from an online shop and get it within a matter of a week, why can't a lys do the same? gripe gripe gripe gripe gripe gripe GONG.

7. i am happy to report that my homeschool knitters club met and really enjoyed the yarn ends and what not that lauren and jenn sent along. thank you again! my evil plan to turn these girls into stash divas is coming along just splendidly. mwah ha ha ha

marah gave up after doing an exhausting two rows. :p her faceless friend somehow finds the strength to carry on.

8. i think american idol has worn its welcome on my telly. how in the world could nikko be voted off and scott and anthony be safe? what in the world. anyone have a favorite out there who is still on the show? i'm just underwhelmed with the lot of them this year.

9. i have repurchased part of my youth by winning auctions on various 80's cds on ebay.

10. "i'm in the kitchen." my creepy find of the week is ghost voices. in looking on the web for haunted places in maine (where we're headed in july for a vacation), i came across this website of professional paranormals, or is it paraprofessional normals, and they have this one activity where they place a tape recorder in a haunted place and just let it record. this group has put these captured ghost voices onto their website. they are supereerie! don't listen to them when you're alone or trying to impress someone with your bravery. click on that link above and scroll down to see the list of available creepy auditory delight.

have a wonderful weekend!

i'm a fool

2005-04-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

because it's april fool's day, and i didn't prank anyone! i just plum forgot. (do plums forget a lot, hence that expression? just wondering.)

i haven't been blogging much, and i'm sorry. it occurred to me last week that the kids are up to day 146 with our homeschool, which means we have 34 days left, officially. this also means that we have to get crackin' and work hard to finish up our subjects. in our state, we're required to homeschool for 180 days. we can definitely go beyond 180, but i like to be at a certain point in each subject when we reach that day. since the days are a-dwindlin', there isn't much free time to blog and what not.

or knit! i simply have had no time, unfortunately. therefore, i've made very little progress on my pink opal socks, (about 6 inches done out of 7 on the leg of one, count 'em - one, sock) and absolutely no progress on clapotis. the yarn still hasn't come in for the 70s suede jacket, and while my yarn did arrive for the hourglass sweater, i still have to get the needles. whenever i get a chance to run out for some, it's usually evening, and no lys is open. i wish ours were open later around here. they keep bankers hours. i wonder if bankers knit? if they do, they better think twice about going to a lys for supplies after work.

good news! gabe lost his first tooth. he's very proud:

unfortunately the one that he lost WASN'T the half-broken one on the top. i'll get you, my pretty. and your little roots, too.

i'd like to thank two wonderful knit bloggers for their kindness. first, denise sent me some really pretty wool for a nice pair of mittens. thank you, clever and creative denise! check out the terrificool sergeant pepper's postcard :)

then, today when i got home, there was a package from the generous jenn. inside was a huge selection of yarn for my homeschoolers knitting club (which meets this tuesday!). thank you, jenn! you should've seen my daughters' eyes popping out of her head when she saw it all. between jenn's recent send and the earlier send from the lovely lauren, my homeschool knitting girls are going to have one fun stash dive! thank you!

one fun thing i did find time to do this week was run to jo-ann's for some material for some capris. i made some two years ago, and they're so fun and easy to make. the pattern's a cinch. anyway, i had been bitten by the sewing bug two years ago, but my broken leg last summer kind of put all creativity on hold (except for knitting, which was very easy to do while lying on the couch, watching passions). now i am def more mobile (did i sound like a rapper when i said "def?") so i'm happily rebitten. yay! i'm a sewer again! :p

i'm a sewer.

'scuse me, have you seen my brain?

2005-03-23T07:05:00.000-05:00

because i don't think it's around here anywhere. sorry to not be around for awhile. i've been the sole parent for the past few days (mike's away on business), and i've had infinity plus two things to do. i think i've knitted maybe twenty rows total in the past six days. argh! plus, i'm mega behind in reading blogs. i so look forward to catching up!

while i miss mike something awful, the kids and i have been living it up. they're on spring break this week, so i let them stay up late, and we're all camping down in the living room. i go to sleep each night listening to them giggle. they're awesome and are instant spirit lifters.

btw, have you seen this show? it's house, on fox, and it's one of my current favorites. what always fascinates me is how english actors can affect an american accent, like the star of this show does. i guess it makes sense - we can pretend to have an english accent. but for whatever reason, i always think it's harder for an englishman to sound like an american. and what's more, how is it that some english singers sound american, and some sound english? hmm.

at any rate, i did manage to order some berroco cotton twist for the little "70s suede jacket" that i want to knit up. here's the sweater, one more time:

and i chose this color:

sweet violet

unfortunately, i have no idea how long it'll take to come in. the lys i ordered it from isn't the quickest with these things. but i had a gift certificate, so finances won out over instant gratification.

i've also been working on some pink opal socks (shout out to susan!) and a clapotis! any guesses what color mine will be?

i received some great yarn for my homeschoolers knitting club from lauren, who also sent me a cool prezzy. i'll post a pic once my camera gets new batts! thank you, girlie! you're a sweetie.

also, my wonderful sis took me out for a smorgasbord breakfast as a belated birthday prezzy, and also donated to my yarn fund. i got some mission falls 1824 cotton in a pretty clayish-mauve color. i was originally going to do clapotis in that, but i think i'm saving it for something else a little more special. thanks, mabs! *waves at sis*

hey, here's a great fact for you to chew on (or not): if you don't close the lid of your toilet when you flush, microscopic particles of your recent bowl deposit will fly out - i think at a distance of 6 feet or something. i heard it on that how clean is your house show. so you might wanna close that lid next time you go, for your toothbrush's sake. (i originally had 60 feet, but thanks to jen's comment, i stand corrected. still, the fact remains - it flies.)

hope you weren't eating breakfast. which reminds me, i got me some pops down there. oh yeah!

p.s. have you ever come to my blog and seen nothing but the orange yarn background? that's been happening to me lately, but i wondered if it was just me.

2005-03-17T15:36:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

(which means all of my old blogger comments are gone. wah! oh well. i hope this makes commenting easier!)

i love lucy!

2005-03-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

i finished her up this a.m. here's cloudy staking her claim on the pre-felted version:

for size reference, that's a weeble sitting on it (one of three childhood toys i still have), and there's my big toe in the bottom right corner.

and here she is, being blocked.

stats: i used 10 1/2 circs and straights, 3 skeins of lamb's pride "orange you glad", and the pattern is the lucy bag from two old bags. fun, easy, and quick. excellent for that mindless knitting while watching american idol.

lucy ended up being a nice, large bag. marah (my dd) says she's really looking forward to finding my cell phone in this bag. marah enjoys sarcasm and moonlit walks on the beach.

check this out! one of the girls in my homeschoolers' knitting club made this for me:

it's a little knitting pin. she used orange yarn! isn't she a sweet coolie? thanks, a!

mmmmm know what i had for breakfast this morning? here's a clue:

yeah! it's cream of wheat, baby. i love cream of wheat! i like to make mine very lumpy so that you have to chew it infinite times before it goes down. it has to be made with lots o'milk and sugar. oh yeah!

but i guess i should've added some green food coloring, since today is st. patty's day! so have a happy one, everyone!

thank you . . . thank you very much

2005-03-14T20:57:00.000-05:00

i realized today that i am in my fat elvis period. this doesn't mean that i drip with sweat in a white, bell-bottomed pantsuit. it does mean more rice cakes and less girl scout cookies. at least i'm not eating 100,000 calories per day, like the King did before his demise. read about his daily diet if you're interested. there's even a sound clip of a guy talking about elvis being dead.

i remember when elvis died, and i was like 7 or 8. my granny and i went into montgomery ward's department store (are they still around?) and bought one of his records of golden hits. "poor soul," i commented, as we paid for the record. my grandmother and the salesman both laughed at me. what was so funny?

anyway.

i'm delighted to say that the pretenders are being inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. i love early pretenders - back before their mid-80s hits. have you ever read about their early history? it's rather heartbreaking. anyway, i really admire chrissie hynde for her raw genuine spirit. but not for the shirt & jacket ensemble she's wearing on this album cover:

okay, knitty-wise: amanda is a dear chum of mine. we've never met, but we know just about everything about each other, and we're almost identicals. except i don't think she's going through a fat elvis period right now. so amanda, being the sweetiekins that she is, begifted me with the queen kahuna crazy toes and heels sock knitting book. i'm really excited, because it shows how to do different methods than i'm used to for sock knitting, and really helps you customize how you want to knit and wear your socks. how cool is that? almost as cool as amanda! thank you, girl!

i hope to post a pic of the completed, delightful orange lucy bag for you this week. but first it needs to be, uh, completed. it's already delightful and orange. two out of three ain't bad. i have just the small strap and some kitchener stitching to do, some felting magic, and then voila, she will be done. it was very easy and fun, and working with lamb's pride worsted only made it even more enjoyable. all of that thick and thin and thin and thick in each strand. maybe this is lamb's pride's own way of being a sympathetic fat elvis with me. God, i love knitting.

p.s. thanks for all of your input re: canada & passport stuff. i'll take my tattered birth certificate in case my license isn't enough. the photo on it is pre-fat-elvisian, so i may not be recognized by that alone. thanks!

hip hop hooray!

2005-03-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

this little guy just hopped in to say hi!

actually, he's no "little guy," he's a little hefty. i think he thought that if he had carrot cake instead of just plain carrots, it'd be the same difference. wrong, dude. your cotton tail is getting lost on your big bunny booty!

this was a fun knit. i did use the baby cashmerino that my wonderful secret pal sent to me, with some size 5's and this pattern, and i knit away. all in all, it took about 3 hours to do. fun, quick, instant gratification, and cute. what more could a restless, impatient knitter ask for in a project?

good news: my homeschoolers knitting club is growing! we are actually running out of space, it seems. the girls are doing great work. some are knitting scarves, one is doing a hat out of some black bernat boa, and some are just doing practice pieces. marah is working on a washcloth (turquoise, her favorite color!) these girls are awesome!

here is marah's washcloth:

however, some of the other customers at the bookstore where we meet are so incredibly mean. this one guy had me so upset, i was fantasizing about pouring a nice piping hot mocha latte over his balding fat head. he was so annoyed that we had the area reserved, that he even sassed the employee who was helping me set up. when my girls showed up, he said "my God, we're surrounded." what a *insert your favorite curse word here*! things like this really get me bothered, and they shouldn't. i guess i can never believe it when people are blatantly rude, even though i should know better. sheesh. if he wanted to read his book in peace so badly, he should've bought it and scampered away to his hovel of hate. cheapskate weirdo grumpbiscuit.

anyway, it was fun to watch the girls go crazy over my stash giveaways. i had a bunch of yarn ends and things i don't plan to use,and i put them in a box for the girls to rummage through. so hey, if any of you have any remnants or the skein-ends that you want to get rid of, i'd be happy to help you find them a new home. these girls love getting yarn! feel free to email me if you have something you'd like to dispose of, and i'll give you my address. thank you!

now, onto another question - do you need a passport to go into canada? we're going to be so close to the land of maple leaf when we go to maine this summer, and i think fdr's vacation place is around where we're going to be staying - but he vacationed in canada. i won't pay $75 for a passport just so i can see where fdr sipped his lemonade. i love my presidential history, but not enough to part with that much buckage. anyone know?

kyoto ky-oops!

2005-03-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

i had pledged to myself that i wouldn't post on my blog until kyoto was done. i had grown tired of saying "i'm still chugging along on kyoto." i could've just reworded it, but the message would've been the same - kyoto wasn't done!

but now she is. however, there's a catch. in fact, there are two catches - these two road blocks that are on my chest that make kyoto seem shorter in the front and longer in the back. i want this blog to have unscary pics, so you'll have to deal with a body-less shot:

so i gave it to marah. she has yet to develop, uh, road blocks, and while it looks a little big on her, it's very cozy. she had wanted me to make one for her in the same colors (she was the one who chose the color for the sash, anyway), so she got it earlier than she expected! (p.s. i hope my gentle readers know that i'm not bragging about said road blocks. i'm pretty disgruntled, actually.)

specs: four seasons roma in aruba aqua & jo sharp summer soho cotton in sailboat; size 5 circs. i didn't modify the pattern in any way, except that i added onto the length of the torso when my sleeves ended up not being centered correctly. instead of taking off the sleeves i had slaved over, i undid the cast on edge of the back portion of the sweater and added a few rows - sweater surgery!

would i make kyoto again? not for myself, but i would for someone else. it was a fun knit, but it certainly wasn't a quick one. my next project is the "70s suede jacket" in the 2005 issue of knit it. i tend to not like a lot of the patterns in that magazine - they're kind of, oh, i don't know:

-y

but this one's cute:

i'd like to do it in the berroco suede that is called for, particularly the shade named wyatt earp. however, being the mom of two young children and one income, i'm not about to spend over $100 for yarn for one sweater. so i'm currently trying to find a substitute. i don't want wool, because i don't want anything that will pill. i'll probably search for a fun ribbon yarn that would make this very springy and light.

in other knitty news, i frogged lucy. i know you were all so kind in saying that she didn't resemble tigger, but i couldn't take it. every time i picked her up to work on her, all i could see was this:

don't get me wrong, tigger can be cute. mostly i found him annoying, though, and tended to identify more with the morbid eeyore. thanks for noticing. anyway, lucy is now on her way to being clad in pure orange delight. ahhhhh. but i want to thank celia for her kind post and support!

non-morbid update: my wonderful secret pal sent me a second prezzy. look what i got! a needle case for my dpns! now i have the one my mom made me for my regular needles, and a special case for my double pointed babies. thank you, secret pal! your talents amaze me!

well, today's our homeschoolers knitting club meeting. and it's snowing! hooray? hoowrong! why, just yesterday, it was 68 degrees! it was so nice that the kids and i searched for signs of spring, and found several, in a nature hike at a local park. looks like it's back to looking for animal tracks in the snow! *sigh* i think mother nature has her winter hat on too tight.

begifted

2005-03-02T08:48:00.000-05:00

today is show and tell day for me! i am excited to share the pictures of some wonderful presents given to me by some wonderful people! first, check out how talented my secret pal is!

she made this little orange bag - perfect for toting around my sock knitting projects! she also gave me these cute little ice cube-inspired stitch markers, some wool wash, and some yummy debbie bliss baby cashmerino. i think i might use it to make up one of these little knitted bunnies, a la alyx and laura! her little pressed flower card is perfect for me - i am a wildflower freak and am beside myself waiting for the first blooms to greet me. thank you, secret pal!

and look at what my mom made for me for my birthday. she sewed this needle case!

isn't it awesome? my mom is a fabulous sewer. i pronounce this "sew-er", not "sewer," as in "waste treatment facility." i'd call her a seamstress, but to me, that implies that she works long hours slaving over some rich lady's dress. what do you call a sew-er?

finally, i had to begift myself when i saw these cute sandals at bj's the other day. all i need is my orange nailpolish adeptly slathered on my toenails, and i'm all set! some warm weather would be helpful, too :)

the toes on my right foot look like they're miniatures, but they're not. i guess i had them curled up for some reason. weirdo :)

my cute dh is so, well, cute! we passed by this shop the other day that had all of this "red hat society" stuff in it. do you have the red hat craze where you are? it's a bunch of women over 50 (i think that's the age requirement?) who wear red hats and have a grand old time. well, there was this shop with this red hat stuff, and in the shop window was a red feather boa scarf. he thought it might be a yarn shop, mainly because he saw this scarf, and the name of the place is "the barking sheep." i told him no, it was a red hat shop.

"Oh," he said. a short silence followed, and then: "well, do they make yarn, too, like red heart does?"

no, my cutie, they don't. but thanks for stepping into my world for a second and talking about yarn!

hey, have any of you interweave knits subscribers gotten your spring issue yet? i haven't. apparently it was mailed out around 2/16. what's the story!?

i'm about to blow away here. i think they must be filming winnie the pooh & the blustery day here. of course, the windiest day of the week is always trash day, so that means i need to go and chase our trash cans and recycling bins down the street. maybe i'll put on my new sandals just to show the weather - i mean business! i want spring NOW!!!

a fun & fast weekend

2005-02-27T19:26:00.000-05:00

is it friday yet? wait, it's sunday evening. how did the weekend go so fast? well, at least i have a bunch of stuff to show (and tell) for it!

fun things first! the delightful sUsAn and i met up at a lys this weekend to put faces to our names, which was megafun. sUsAn said she could finally put a voice to my blog. i'd never thought of that and told her that if i knew that that was her agenda, i wished i'd greeted her with a deep, manly baritone instead of my typical squawky squeak.

anyway, we were so excited to meet, and i think the planets must've been lined up in the yarn constellation because the lys we went to was having a sale. we walked in and were greeted with "everything in this basket is 40% off, this one is 20% . . ." and we just stood there, like hungry clownfish chancing upon some really dirty anemones. what? sorry for the image. i was tired of the typical "kids in a candy store."

this is what i got:

clockwise, from the top right: debbie bliss cashmerino aran, crystal palace cotton chenille, artful yarns ballet, filati ff's shine (in two different colors - mulberry and sky), some locally spun merino silk for ene's scarf (ha, like i'll ever get to that), some opal sock yarn in orange and pink, and some green crystal palace splash for marah.

susan begifted me with the orange opal magic sock yarn! (thank you, friend!) and we both grabbed us some pink opal magic, which we'd both been craving for quite some time.

do you like how i didn't take a picture of this historical meeting? yeah, me too. i brought my camera. i even remembered i had it when i dropped it (inside my purse) as i knelt down to check out a yarn clearance basket. but i totally forgot to say cheese. oh well. you'll just have to imagine the meeting. insert my manly baritone voice and you can have some audio to dwell on.

here's a project update: i am currently sashing up kyoto, and once that's done, it's all downhill from here. (take that anyway you like). apparently they say that the hardest part of this sweater is the putting together. since "they" could be someone big, hairy and mean, i will try not to anger them and will struggle every second while putting kyoto together, just to make sure i don't prove "they" wrong. (that should read "them," but i was going for the effect.) cross your fingers or, if you can, your toes. i can't, but i need all the luck i can get.

and here's an fo - the peacockial scarf. it's done using some teal choo choo (crystal palace) and some olive colored trendsetter eyelash. marah's new marshmallow peep is modeling it for us.

speaking of models, i am tired enough to admit that i spent about six hours yesterday watching america's next top model, season 3. susan, did you put something in that water you gave me? anyway, there were no marshmallow peeps, but the girl who won has the last name of "pig"don, so i guess that's close enough.

to sign off, here's a shot of marah and gabe at last weekend's maple sugar demonstration. gabe's holding some maple sugar cotton candy. *insert shudder here* that stuff is sweet with a capital cavity!

mutt post

2005-02-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

this post is a mutt because it's a mix of this and that. this is what happens when you don't post for over 4 days. you have a bunch of stuff that doesn't connect very well (except for the fact that you lived through it) because it doesn't have a short period of time holding it together nicely and neatly. first, we'll tackle the non-knitting news:

a. i had to remove this part - it was only me talking about taking 100 scouts to nyc this summer. but whenever this part is up, my sidebar keeps moving down to the bottom of my page. what in the world?!

b. my diagnosis has changed (i think). it's a bulging disc that has me all ouchy. i went for some physical therapy today. it wasn't half bad, although i'm not sure that electric stimulation thing really does anything other than make you feel like you're in a bad sci fi movie from the 50s.

c. we're going to maine this summer with my parents. my mom is a little afraid of bears. i told her they can't get in the cottage we're renting. my question is, can they? the wildest thing i have in my world is a hungry child. and they're rather easy to tame. so, anyone know anything about maine bears?

knitty stuff
a. i now officially have too many wips going on. i did shorten the list by finishing up the drop-stitch table runner i made:

uh, it's orange.

i did it on size 15s with the cortez expedition i got from
dj runnels.

b. another wip: my lucy bag, which i'm doing in lamb's pride shade "orange you glad" and some pretty manos del uruguay. i had intended to throw in the manos every now and then to give it a big slub effect. however, mike told me that he thought my bag looks like tigger.

that isn't exactly the look i was going for. now i'm not so hot about this bag. pffft.

c. of course, i'm still doing kyoto and am almost done with sleeve 2. then it's the sash, the putting together, and the wearing. finally.

d. i also started up a fun scarf using some crystal palace choo choo and trendsetter eyelash. personally, i don't like eyelash yarn. i have used it in the past, and it is okay, or, as randy jackson says, "it's just alright for me, dude." but the choo choo is a teal and olive blend, and the eyelash is olive. it has a very peacockial effect, and i happen to like that bird. so i'll post a pic and you can tell me how ew it is or isn't. just please don't say it looks like tigger.

e. the wonderful elisa is beyond wonderful. she sent me some beautiful orangey jaeger matchmaker merino and some fun bath beads, along with a really sweetiecue card. she rocks . . . and rolls. when ds gabe saw the bath beads, his face lit up. know why? not b/c he imagined his mom finally getting some peace and quiet and time to herself in a nice hot bath. no. it was because he thought it was candy. somehow i don't think he'd like the taste of them. thank you, sweet elisa!

f. i got some eros in for some fun spring scarves. here's a pic, along with elisa's jaeger:

thanks to amy for giving me the color for the easter egg eros!

g. finally, this is non-knitting, but a knit blogger tagged me with the tv meme. thanks, erica, for the tag!

1. How much space is left on your Tivo or Comcast Box? Well, considering that I don't have either, I'd have to go with the obvious answer: marshmallows.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of TV series and if so, which one? No, although I've implied a beg or two for the first series of the OC. Hint duly ignored.

3. What was the last TV show that you watched before reading this message?American Idol.

4. List five shows you won't miss. Must see TV: American Idol, The OC, The Apprentice, Surreal Life 4, and, arrested development. I like to catch Passions, but you won't hear me admitting it.

5. Name 3 people to whom you will pass this stick. Since I took a bat's lifetime to respond to this tagging, I think I'm safe in saying that everyone has probably already done this one.

Sorry this was so long. Ew.

today, i'm half of a 70 year old

2005-02-18T08:09:00.000-05:00

i was born on this day in 1970. here are some other monumental things that happened in 1970:

1. paul mccartney announces that the beatles have disbanded

2. apollo 13 returned to earth, and the first earth day is celebrated.

3. both the ford pinto and the american motors gremlin were introduced.

4. the first known exploding whale incident occurred. (i'll spare you the pictures)

5. J. Lo, Mariah Carey, and Lara Flynn Boyle were also born this year (again, i'll spare you the pictures).

this has been a pretty exciting week. earlier i received some raok's:

it's more orange yarn!!!! wooooooooohooooooooo!
orange regia sock yarn and some orange filatura di crosa orange cotton. orange orange orange!
thanks to cara and michelle for these lovely gifties. what to do, what to do!

i have one fo to report: i had this yarn from a year ago. no label, no nothing. it's a ribbon yarn (woohoo!) with a few strings hanging from it. i decided to make it up into another yo, drop it! drop stitch scarf:

it's really long (i doubled it up in the photo) . i'm finding that i'm only catching onto trends when they're already gone. i hated novelty yarn scarves when they were "in," but now i'm really starting to like them. i feel kind of gross in that respect. like the girl who wears high fashion items when they've hit the clearance bin. just behind in the times i guess.

maybe that's because i'm half of 70. :)

my funny valentine

2005-02-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

does anyone remember when ralph malph sang "my funny valentine" on happy days? well, i'd like to share with you the details of my very funny valentine.

my valentine is so oddly funny. his sense of humor is so subtle and dry, which is one reason why i'm so attracted to him. he and i love to sit and watch shows like family guy with tears in our eyes because we're laughing so hard. fortunately, our darling children have the same sense of humor. otherwise, they'd just think we're weirdos. there's time enough for that line of thinking when they hit teendom.

my valentine is also very sweet. he knows what mama likes. see? proof is in the pudding, er, presents:

(that's an orange sharpie, diet dr pepper (he got me two bottles!), an orange gamecube controller, and a buster keaton dvd set.)

but most of all, my valentine is very loving. he'll miss the latest episode of teen titans just to fix my parents' computer. he'll come home hungry and tired from work at 9:30 at night, after having just eaten his first meal of the entire day only minutes before, but he'll still sit and read to the kids before they go to bed. he'll run to Office Max after working on a sunday afternoon in order to get me ink and paper for the printer so that i won't fret about the papers i have to print. he'll take my place as day camp director when i do stupid things like stand on a wet log and break my leg. and he'll sit and patiently unravel my tangled yarn while i just sit there and watch tv.

hey valentine. i love you. you're incredible, and i'm blessed. thanks for loving me.

END OF MUSH - END OF MUSH - END OF MUSH

sunday was a great day. i met up with heather and rachel marie at gallery 141 for some knitting fun! rachel brought her sweet little baby, elvira - isn't she cute?

she carries elvira around in a baby sling. it's too precious.

here's heather, working on her big kureyon hat, and rachel, wearing her valentine scarf. at the bottom of each end are some of her handmade felted beads.

and just for proof that i am indeed working on kyoto, here's a shot of me wearing one of the (unseamed) sleeves, which i've recently finished:

i have one more sleeve, the sash, and then the seaming to go, and i'll be all done. i can't help but be psyched! look, even this guy is excited for me:

thanks, everyone, for your help with the whole cd burning issue. i finally figured out how to use windows media player and immediately burned away! thanks for all of your input. it's highly valued and appreciated!

happy heart day!

note to secret pal - thanks for the valentine! it was the only one i got in the mail, which made it doubly special. thanks!

a list

2005-02-11T17:02:00.000-05:00

i can't find any way to link together anything i have to post about, so i'm listicizing today:

1. i love february. we're still in winter (yay, snow!) but spring is in sight (yay, wildflowers & birds!). aside from that, february is the home of valentine's day - my favorite holiday - and my birthday! i posted a few months ago that yoko ono and i share the same birthday. you have to understand how cool that makes me feel (humor me - not many things make me feel that way!).

2. i got this yummy rowan magpie thru eBay:

i loved the price, and i love the color. heck, i'll go all out here - i just plain old love magpie. rowan has stopped making it (the dummies), so i'm grabbing it as i can. i know our lys still has it in stock (thank goodness the lys owner is a pack rat), but hers is at non-discontinued prices (translate=$13 per skein). it's such a thick and cozy wool. i won 3 skeins of it - just what my stash needed. i think i hear it groaning already. oh wait - that's just my hubby, looking at my paypal history.

3. oc watchers - dude, what's up with sandy? he's a fool. i think those eyebrows of his are applying pressure to his brain or something.

4. i'm running the girl scout day camp this year for our area, and our theme is the middle ages - you know, renaissance, medieval stuff, etc. i've got some ideas going, but i'd appreciate any others - craft ideas, games, etc. if you have any, pass 'em along, please! this would be for girls ages 5 to 17.

5. sweet honey! i was raok'd! check out this sweet little dip bowl and valentine's day spreader:

thanks, wendy g! she also sent cloudy some fun kitty toys (and i got some conversation hearts and heart-shaped confetti). what a sweetie! btw, the bowl came without the guacamole. i just happened to have made some yesterday, and it went perfectly in my new little dip bowl!

6. i'm finally enjoying kyoto. i heard the sleeves were horribly boring, but i'm actually enjoying them. the seed stitch cuff is just so sweet and intricate, and now i'm at the stockinette stitch part. yeah, that can be pretty ho-hummy, but it's perfect for watching my favorite tv shows. it's like a sock - great tv knittin'.

7. but i miss sock knittin'. i have some great opal magic sock yarn waiting for me, but i need to get kyoto done. plus the lucy bag. . . i'm currently in search of some pink opal magic (#1043) sock yarn - if you have some burning a hole in your stash bin, please name your price! someone used it on the sock it to me! sock knit along, and her pink feet look so cute!

8. finally, what cd burning software do you all use? we have deep burner, but it keeps malfunctioning. dh just ordered nero, which i'd used and loved before, but i've got some friends waiting for some cd's and mixes, and i'm tired of waiting. what do you all use?

that's it - except for a little cloudy update. she's doing great! the litterbox is now her friend. unfortunately, she did such damage to the downstairs rug (which was already pretty shoddy) that we're putting in laminate floors. hooray for house projects (not really, but i'm trying to fool myself into doing the work)!

happy fastnacht day!

2005-02-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

have you had your fastnacht today? if not, feel free to lick the screen:

fastnachts are the pennsylvania dutch's attempt to rid the house of lard and other yummy things (!) in time for self-denial during lent. so they fry up these donuts, called fastnachts, and sometimes sprinkle them with powdered sugar (you can eat 'em plain, too, but yuck). we bought a dozen. there are 3 left now. and yes, that is powdered sugar that you see on my chin! (but not 9 donuts' worth.)

i want to thank you all for your kind get-well wishes, once again. i feel like i need to stop belly-achin' about things, like cloudy's attempt to decorate our downstairs carpet (we're putting in hardwood floors - take that, meowsie!) and my neck pain. i found out today that i have something called mild stenosis, which is like a narrowing of the spinal canal. i hope you've finished licking that fastnacht, i don't want to ruin anyone's appetite. :p

do you know who is wonderful? why, it's allison , the neophyte knitter, and alison, a creative genius, who both sent me lovely raok's! allison with two L's sent me some gorgeous orange wool that was waiting patiently in her stash to be used:

single-L alison sent me some yummy recipe cards. one is for a white chocolate raspberry bar. that beats fastnachts any day! thank you, sweet al(l)isons, you two are truly kind!!

i've been plugging away at kyoto. i'd show you, but it's just the back, front left, and front right sections, all stockinette, all in aqua, all ho-hum. i've decided to do a project in between each section of kyoto so that i don't get bored with it. i'm currently working on the right section but have already started a table runner using the cortez expedition i got from eBay last week. it's more than half-way done, and i'm actually using the yo, drop it! scarf pattern from stitch and bitch and have cast on about 20 stitches to make it table-runner width. it looks very folk-artsy, and i needed me some of that to help balance out cloudy's "creations."

on that appetizing note, don't forget to eat a fastnacht today! (if you don't have any, any donut will do!)

is it safe to come out now?

2005-02-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

because last week was a big meanie! i had shared the continuing story of cloudy (who is doing much better, meow, thanks), but i didn't tell you about the herniated disc in my neck, or about the tooth i chipped while munching on a pretzel rod, did i? let's just say i made plenty a physician happy last week with my bemoaned state. fortunately i have a humdinger of a mama, who happily came over and took charge until i felt better. thanks, mom!

speaking of pretzels, did you know that in the mid-atlantic region, the average annual per capital consumption of pretzels is twice the amount in the rest of the U.S.? apparently, we each eat 4 lbs a year compared to the rest of you all, at 2 lbs. so, what else do you all snack on?

i have no super segue to go from pretzelspeak to this next topic, so pretend i gave you a real clever one and chuckle here as you continue to read.

my first mittens are completed! these were from a pattern in bev galeskas's felted knits, and they were a very quick knit.
they called for size 10 dpns, but i used 10 1/2's just for the sake of cheapdom. the yarn is nature spun worsted weight in color 109 - spring green. these only took one skein, since each one has a whopping 245 yards. the felting only took a few minutes on these, and they're a perfect fit. woooooooo! now all i need is some snow (none of this melted crud that's outside right now)!

yesterday i was raok'ed! allena of starknits sent me these pretty little stitchmarkers. they're so cute. i had admired the heart one on her blog, so she made sure to send that one to me, along with a pretty red and yellow one:

thank you, allena! you sure made my day!

question for you mozilla users out there - is my blog illegible? sweet colleen , the subway knitter, told me that on mozilla, my orange words blend into my orange yarn background - my second background isn't showing up. i checked it out, and she sure was right. i changed my second background to a bland puce-vomit color, so i'm hoping that helps.

another question - does anyone want to make me a new banner for my blog? this one is boring (i did it so i can say that). i'd like something a tad bit more fun. at this point, anything would be more fun than what i have, so you know, the sky's the limit. if anyone has the technological prowess to do this, i'd appreciate it!

before i sign off, i wanted to share a shot of marah's knitted cat toy with you. she learned the skills of fringe and knit two together on this project. she liked doing fringe; she didn't like k2tog. i offered to show her how to make the fringe all one length, but she wanted the fringe to fall over cloudy's face like those car wash things hang over your windshield. i think she did a great job! her new project is a turquoise (her fave color) washcloth - she's learning the fun-loving yarn over!

lastly, beware of this creature. he will shoot you and get you in the mood - but in the mood for what, i'm not sure. perhaps a veggie burger?

kit kat hooray!

2005-02-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

she's home! my little cloudy girl has a urinary tract infection. we got some yummy pills for her (they smell so bad - wish us luck!), and she should be back to normal soon. i was sooo excited to get the phone call from the vet.

"cloudy peed, so you can come and pick her up."

words you never expect to get so happy about!

there's plenty more good news to spread around like butter. check out what came in the mail:

if you go to eBay on a yarn hunt, please check out life's an expedition . her yarn is so gorgeous, as you can see above. there was a little miscalculation on my part for the shipping, so she sent me a free ball of rose and jack, as well as some homemade soap (smells so good!). i had already gotten one of my auctions free because she combined the shipping. she also sent a cool homemade card that has samples of all of her gorgeous blends of yarn. if you haven't already, see what yummies she has for your stashing pleasure!

now it's time to play a guessing game. here - can you guess what i'm making? here's a tough clue:

i'll give you a hint: it has a thumb.

i don't have unusually large hands, in case you were curious. this one, and its soon to be cast on mate, will be felted.

thanks again everyone for your get well wishes for my little kitty girl. all of your comments really perked me up. we're so excited to have our girl back home!

good stuff bad stuff

2005-01-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

first, the GOOD stuff

hooray for my lovely friend susan (who is going to hit a lys with me this month!!) for tagging me with the music bug that's been going around. here goes:

1) Total amount of music files on your computer:

Yeah, my lawyer (read= husband) has advised me not to answer that one. Let's just say I used to be good friends with Mr. Kazaa (before I knew he was a bad man).

2) The last CD you bought was:
Keane - Hopes and Fears

3) What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
"I'm Waking up to Us" - Belle and Sebastian

4) Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

a. "You and Me Against the World" by Helen Reddy - my mom used to sing it to me when I was little. sniffle.
b. "I Will," the Beatles. It's a song that's special to Marah and me. I used to sing it to her when she was a baby (now if she hears the first few lines, she says "Mom, stop!"). When she was 2, she tried to sing it to me. Too cute!
c. "St. Judy's Comet," Paul Simon. I sing it to Gabe. He smiles and sleepily shuts his eyes when he hears it.
d. "Never My Love," the Assocation. Mike and I danced to it as our first dance at our wedding. We're old souls.
e. "(Just Like) Starting Over," John Lennon. Uh, you know, the whole "my dad left when I was 10, the same year John Lennon was shot" thing. It just reminds me of that time period. As terrible as it was, my mom, sis, and bro and I got a lot closer and did goofy things (like spy on his new house while eating doughnuts in the car). So this song is kind of like happiness and sorrow all rolled up into one.

5) What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?
elisa , b/c she rocks. heather, b/c she rocks, and alisha b/c, you guessed it, she rocks.

now, the BAD stuff
well, remember i had said cloudy seemed to be fine again? nix that. she started peeing again downstairs, and then proceeded to poop in marah's room. i called the vet. i thought she was fine, and i didn't need to do it, but i had to. obviously something's wrong, you know? well anyway, i could either collect her pee in her litter box and give it to them to inspect, or take her there, and they'd collect it there. okay, problem is, she doesn't pee in her litter box! so i had to take her there.

"sometimes it takes four days for a cat to finally pee when they're here, just so you're warned," the vet nurse said.

what will i do early tomorrow morning without my turner classic movies and knitting buddy? she always perches on the top of the chair i sit on, and then rolls around and trills loudly in the sun when i open the blinds. i hope she's okay. this sucks.

gabesoxyarnlove

2005-01-30T21:21:00.000-05:00

fo alert! fo alert! i finished up gabe's socks. one foot fits fine; the other is a little snug - yet both socks measure out to be the same size. i guess his feet are a little uneven. i know they say that the typical human left foot is a little bigger than the right, but i didn't come across that problem with other socks i've knitted. well, he loves 'em and they keep his toes toasty, so that's all that matters!

one thing i noticed while knitting these - i used some heavy worsted for this pair, and the decreases were very obvious. i've decided that i prefer ssk to k2tog tbl. the latter looks a little sloppy. anyone agree? (or care? :p)

here they are (in a very wicked witch-esque pic):

ignore the toe in the corner. i don't know who put that there.

on friday, i ventured over to Labadie Looms, which is nestled in quaint little bird-in-hand (yup, that's really the name of the town). i got some great additions to the stash family. observe:
3 skeins of lamb's pride worsted in shade M110 - orange you glad

to go along with this, one hank of manos del uruguay kettle-dyed wool in colorway 106 (autumn):

i'll be using both of the above for my lucy bag. the main color will be the orange you glad color, and i'll every now and then add in some manos -- slub style. so it'll just be some random autumnal rainbow thing going on.

i also got some yummy opal magic sock yarn in colorway 1051:

i'm really excited about that! i also picked up some nature spun worsted in shade 109 - spring green:

for some felted mittens a la felted knits. it'll be my first try at mittens, but i'm hoping that it's just like a sock without a heel, but with a thumb.

wip report: i am done with kyoto's back and am now in the middle of the front left portion. i worked on it today when i was knitting with two great gals, rachel marie of gallery 141 fame, and faith from syndactyl salutations. i'd emailed/blogged with them before, but it was our first face-to-face meeting, and it was great! ( heather! i missed you! hope to see you soon :) )

kitty update: cloudy is doing tails better than she was a few days ago. on saturday morning, she started to show some energy and was back to eating. she didn't hide upstairs under the bed all day. saturday afternoon, she was lying in her favorite sunny spot. and this morning, we discovered that she has begun to use her litter box again. woohoo! (okay, so little things excite me!) i'm so happy to have my littlest girl back to normal, feeling good, and meowing up a storm. you know, cloudy is a very vocal little kitty. when we sneeze, she meows. i really do believe she's saying "bless you." (it may actually be "shut up" when i'm on my 14-in-a-row sneezing marathons.)

our house smells back to good and cloudy is sunny again. thanks again to everyone for their helpful advice!

the line has been crossed

2005-01-28T09:37:00.000-05:00

you know, the line that no husband in his right mind should ever cross? yes, that's right - i'm talking about

invading a woman's purse!

last night, i had to go to a meeting. when i got back home, the kids came running to the door to tell me that cloudy had had a few more "accidents" last night. great.

"she's hiding right now."

double great.

"dad was worried that she'd do something in your closet because she kept running in there, so he's cleaning it out."

cleaning it out (out out out out) *insert echo here*

triple great.

i look down at them, one eye twitching, as they continue in their unintentional pursuit to unknowingly drive me mad.

"and look, mom! we got some treasures out of your old purses. he's cleaning those out, too."

now, wait just a minute here! cloudy isn't going to make boom boom in my purse.

this, dear friends, is where my husband has crossed the line.

i already leave the door open when i go to the bathroom. my every waking minute is spent teaching my children or cleaning the house or cooking dinner. (i signed up for those roles, and i enjoy them. no complaints here.) but my purse? that's mine. no one needs to go in there but me. it's where i keep subtle reminders of who i am, right down to each grocery store receipt, inkless pen, and band-aid wrapper.

i think the worst part of it was when dh came downstairs and told me i had too many gum wrappers in my purse.

don't get me wrong - i love my husband. see, i am a very temperamental gal. he puts up with a lot and even spoils me something rotten. if i'm out of diet dr. pepper and he's in his pj's already, he'll get dressed and run to the store to get me some. he's a really wonderful guy.

but what got into him last night? what made him decide to invade such a sacred-to-me place? i guess that seeing as how he has forgiven me for a multitude of sins, i'll do likewise, this time. maybe when the aroma of cloudy's little "present" hit his nose, he went crazy and didn't know what he was doing. yeah, that's it. insanity by reason of cat crap.

but next time, if it happens again, i may have to sneak more than one of his goldberg peanut chews out of his secret stash to get even. then we'll see who feels violated. ha!

the secret pals questionnaire & a thank you

2005-01-27T09:34:00.000-05:00

i'd like to dedicate this post to my secret pal :)

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I'm not a yarn snob, and I think every yarn has its purpose. The Red Heart was great for the Hallowig! But I wouldn't use it on my Kyoto sweater, just because I don't like the feel of it on my arms.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No. I'd like to learn to spin, though.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Uh, sulfa drugs, but I doubt you'd want to send me any of those anyway :)

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since Fall 2003.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No, but if I did, it'd be filled with books on knitting, cooking, sewing and homeschooling.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love the smell of lavender, and I use Moonlit Path stuff from Bath & Body Works.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Yeah! White chocolate is my favorite, and anything peanut buttery :)

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I'm currently fascinated with the stitch marker making hobby.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like anything from classical to contemporary, but I don't like C&W. I grew up listening to it and was horrified when I discovered that fact to be true. I also have a slight aversion to men yelling their lyrics. I can indeed listen to MP3s.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
I've been in love with orange since I was little. I even had an orange "mood lipstick" that would change colors depending on your mood. Mine was always . . . orange. I like any color except red and yellow. They belong on a hamburger if you ask me. Pastels are kind of pukey, too.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
One hubby, two kiddos, one pee-happy kitty, and a green anole are my happy housemates.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Uh, what? I wish I knew. I kind of like things they way they are now, although I wish we lived in a big old farmhouse in a small town *insert John Cougar Mellencamp song here*

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I love ribbon yarns and sock yarns. For worsted weight, I am a fan of Lamb's Pride worsted. I love how the thickness varies.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I never met a fiber I didn't like (except for that one bran muffin I had).

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
SOCKS!!!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
See #15. But also, I really love making felted handbags. I'm a purse hound.

17. What are you knitting right now?
A pair of socks, the Kyoto sweater, and I'm really trying to cast on for the Lucy bag and Ene's scarf (from Scarf Style) but I can't commit to four WIPs - I'd go insane.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I made one for my daughter. I think they'll go the way of the eyelash scarf.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
It depends on the project.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
They all serve a purpose, but bamboo is a girl's best friend.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Yeah, baby!

22. How did you learn to knit?
I took a class at a lys with my mom. We had so much fun!

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
It just turned one year old! Happy Birthday, forgotten scarf!

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
i like birds in general, and our family likes to go bird watching. but i guess my favorite animal would be a turtle.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
of course christmas is tons of fun and makes me feel very warm inside, but i really love valentine's day.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
i collect cookbooks and dust bunnies :)

well, secret pal, i hope this gives you some insight to the non-mysterious being that is me. (if you're one of my family or friends reading this who has no idea what "secret pals" are, it's like a mystery gift exchange thing that knit bloggers sometimes do.)

A NOTE OF THANKS
everyone was so helpful and considerate with their kitty cat advice. i really appreciate all of y'all taking the time to post some tips. i'll be taking cloudy to the vet to see what's up. in the meantime an update:

she hasn't gone wee wee or boom boom in her current favored location since i steamed the area. and thanks to the recent savory meals i've made, the scent of steamed cat pee is dissipating. she's currently cuddled up with marah, watching tv. which reminds me, we have to get school started! thanks again.

cloudy isn't being very sunny

2005-01-25T15:53:00.000-05:00

meet cloudy. she's my cat. i love her to pieces. she's a year and a half old. again, i love her to pieces.

however, she seems to be having a problem lately with using her litter box. oh, she'd always have an occasional "accident" every now and then, but here lately, it's been more now than then. her favored potty place is behind the dining room table, right by the kids' schooldesks, where she plopped one out during marah's slumber party (good morning, girls! heh heh) and later on wee willie winkied on mike's shirt that was lying near that same area (why he put his shirt near the crime scene bewilders me, but i never pretend to understand a man's mind).

what's the deal, cloudy? it isn't new litter. it isn't new food. there is nothing new in or around the house. anyone have any tips or suggestions? feel free to throw 'em at me. i had to steam the floor yesterday several times just to rid us of the haunting aroma of cat pee. now it just smells like steamed cat pee. help!

to cheer myself up, i followed a link supplied by the zibnificant wendy . there's this awesome homespun yarn seller at this eBay store called life's an expedition. she has some wonderful blends of yarn there, and her descriptive names are very mouth-watering. seriously! "grape juice," "hazelnut latte," "frosted wheat," "charcoal fantasies . . ." okay, the last one isn't mouth-watering, but the yarn is gorgeous nonetheless. here's what i bought/bid on/won:

rose & jack (a la titanic)

grape juice (a la beverage)

cortez expedition (a la peanut butter sandwiches)

her yarns are blends of new zealand wool and either other wools, cottons, or synthetics. i'm just crazy about them. mmm-hmm! plus, she's supernice, too, and sends you cool emails :)

the other exciting thing that i'm, uh, excited about is this:

another felted bag :) what i like is how the handles double as flaps (or at least the shorter one does, as the longer one tucks inside it.) has anyone out there made the lucy before? i might use some caramel colored alpaca that i picked up last fall, although i'd really like to make a deep cranberry one, too. the pattern is by two old bags, whose city shoulder bag was the first felted bag i'd made (which was last winter).

of course i'm still plugging away on kyoto's back, but i had to start up a pair of socks for gabe. i'd made some for myself, for marah, and for mike - it was definitely his turn! i'm using a very heavy worsted weight on size 5's, and the yankee knitter classic sock pattern does cover weights from fingering to worsted, and sizes from babies to men, which is more awesome than marshmallows (which i don't like a lot, so i'm not sure what that means really).

warm feet for everyone!

today's forecast: knitty, warm and cozy

2005-01-23T16:04:00.000-05:00

which means it snowed. big time. the perfect excuse to not run here and there, do this or that. just the chance to sit back, relax, and guiltlessly knit. ahhhhhh. better than calgon, i tell ya! (which i've personally never used. my mom forbid it when we were younger, citing its potential to make you break out.)

i finished up marah's yankee knitter classic socks, which i've now officially renamed "marah's birthday socks." i'm telling you, the creativity is just gushing out of my ears. anyway, her birthday is monday (she'll be 10 - double digits *sniffle*) and i really needed to finish these up fast. the problem was, i'd lost the pattern. i thought it was in my sister's car, but she looked, and no dice. so on thursday i went out and bought another copy at ye olde lys. on friday, my sis calls. "you still looking for the sock pattern?" well, it was in her car. so now i have two copies of the exact same pattern. one for each eyeball? each sock? each needle? pfft. i'm sure i'll find someone who could use it.

anyway, here they are, as modeled by marah:

i used size 2 brittany dpns, and some gorgeous trekking xxl sock yarn. i have a bunch leftover and might use it along with this plymouth italy baby cotton fingering yarn i got from elann last week.

i'd like to use the italy baby and the rest of the trekking and finally get around to making the hugs and kisses socks. however, i've still got kyoto to work on - i decided to frog the sash section and begin working on the back. it's straight stockinette, so i don't have to fuss with the double seed stitch just yet. thanks to everyone who gave me kyoto advice.

i also still want to do ene's scarf from scarf style and finally picked up some addi turbo's last week to cast on. that would be my first lace-style knitting, as well as my first experience with a chart, so i'm a little intimidated by that, but also rather excited. kind of like the first time you eat pufferfish. which i haven't done, but i imagine it's intimidating but exciting. or maybe just plain stupid.

anyway, an overdue fo shot:

it's my yo, drop it! scarf from snb nation. i actually finished it last week, but i kept forgetting to take a picture. i modified the pattern by not having two rows of knitting in between the yo/drop stitch rows. why, you ask? well, it's simple really. i forgot to. heh.

i leave you with a shot of the latest addition to my stitch marker family. remember when lisa (aka knittikins) discovered the joy of using hello kitty shoe charms as stitch markers? well, i spotted some shoe charms this weekend of a different kiddy variety. here's a hint of who it is:

who lives in a knitting bag right by your feet?
yellow, stitch-marking, and plastic is he!
his friend, who's a star, is pictured on one, too -
put them on your needles is what you should do!

sing it to a popular nickelodeon cartoon theme song and it's obvious!

hee hee!

kyucko

2005-01-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

what do you get when you mix full mental engrossment in american idol while knitting kyoto?

you get kyucko. observe:

see that weird line in the middle of ye olde sash? well, i must've done a purl-knit row instead of a knit-purl row, or vice versa, versa vice. crapola, man. do you know how long it took me to do this, with its 210 cast on stitches and size five needles?!?!? well, it took awhile. i have to frog half of it. marah says "let it go! you can't tell."

but i can. i don't want to say "here's the sweater i knitted. and oh, here's the complimentary flaw i included."

marah said, "mom, it's your first sweater, relax."

uh, no, marah, it's my third.

"oh." she replied. "well, still . . ." she trailed off.

anyway, that was yucky, but this is the anti-yuck antidote. check out this awesome raok from illanna ! she took the pic i had on my blog (where moe was modeling mike's alpaca scarf) and turned it into a stitch marker - clever, cute, and very kind! she also included a very sweet, uplifting note. thank you, illanna! you rock and roll, sweet susie.

i also got my crafter's choice books that i'd signed up for:
the knitter's bible
knitting on the edge
felted knits
the knitter's handy book of sweater patterns

i'm excited to find a chunk of time where i can sit down and read these mamas.

and it finally snowed - and it's play-worthy snow! woohoo! hopefully by the next time i post, i'll have frogged half of kyoto and turned it into kyesso and not kyono!

ouch.

2005-01-18T22:20:00.000-05:00

duh. no one told me that when you shut the trunk of your car, you shouldn't put your head in the direct line of fire of said trunk. um, yeah. ouch.

all ouchies subsided (or at least became forgotten) when i got to the front door today after a very long day - there was a big yellow envelope. see, a few days ago, the wonderful wendy of zibibbo fame told me to be on the lookout for a big yellow envelope. could this be the same one? oh yeah, baby! check out the sweet generosity of that sweetie in sicily:

(bad picture, great yarn)
this was some gorgeous turquoise sparkle and fluff that i'd admired in a scarf that she had made. "marah (my dd) would love that," i said. so she sent some to me with a note - "for your kiddo." marah was quite happy :)

but you know, i also got some of this:

it's orange yarn!!! hot hogjaws! i was so excited. wait, what's with the past tense?! i still AM excited!

life is much better in the present tense.

wendy, thank you!!!!

hey, did you ever use a pressure cooker? i did, but only once. i bought this great one last year, used it once, and put it away. i guess i was freaked by all those creepy stories about them blowing up in your kitchen or growing feet and arms and grabbing your children and selling them to carny folk. well anyway, i dug it up out of the disaster that is my downstairs linen closet (oh elisa? wanna come and pull some of your ocd magic on my house?) and managed to create a really awesome din-din with it last night - pasta e fagioli. man, it was good! the recipe was from lorna j. sass's vegetarian cooking under pressure, a cookbook i recommend highly. if you want to use a pressure cooker. or if you have one and don't necessarily want to use it, but feel obligated to for whatever reason. and you eat vegetarian. even if only on occasion. okay, shutting up. now.

i bid you adieu by sharing with you a beautiful mid-atlantic winter sunset (taken by a mediocre photographer using her mediocre camera):

huzzah!

2005-01-17T08:40:00.000-05:00

i wonder why we stopped saying huzzah. it's a fun word. anyway, here's a list of huzzah-worthy things from the past few days:

1. we went to dc this weekend and took my parents. that was the most exciting part - my dad hadn't been there in over 30 years, and my mom has never been there. taking in history through their eyes made it all the more fun. here's mike, gabe and marah making pretty at the air and space museum:

this display always cracks me up - they show the different layers in an astronaut's suit. this layer is the first one - the "fecal containment layer." the guy's face shows bitter humiliation. it just cracks me up.

2. i finished yo drop it! and am pleased with the results. i altered the pattern by not including the "knit rows 3 and 4" directions. i'll take a picture of it and post it later.

3. it finally snowed! it's just a confectioners' sugar glaze out there - not a full-fledged vanilla buttercreme. but it's still icing, i mean snow, and well, huzzah to that. here's a front porch view:

4. marah helped me pick out the contrasting color for kyoto - she saw jo sharp's summer soho cotton in sailboat and suggested it, and it goes beautifully with the aruba aqua that we got from elann (it's four seasons roma). it looks pretty cool together:

5. gotta love this double seed stitch pattern:

it is going to take a little longer than i'd like, but that's okay. maybe it'll teach me some patience.

6. our state's farm show is over now, but this weekend on one of our local cable channels they showed the entire "sheep to shawl" contest. since i don't go to the farm show, it was a nice treat to be able to see the only thing i'd ever go for and not have to go to see it. (huh?) they sheer the sheep, card the fleece, spin it into yarn, and then get to work on weaving a shawl. the shawls are gorgeous - and the winning one (which was loosely based on frank lloyd wright's "falling water" ) fetched $2500 at the following auction. huzzah!

7. i've been raok'ed -twice! two sweeties, manda and kate both sent me gift certificates to adagio teas. i'm really excited! ever since i met up with heather and had some calming tea with her, i've been back into tea. i appreciate the kindness - thanks manda and kate!

8. american idol starts up this week!

now, 2 things not so huzzah-worthy:

1. i discovered that one of my brittany dpns has snapped in half. i pulled out my socks to finish up the last one, and i saw this big splinter sticking out of the one dpn. they have a guarantee - anyone ever take them up on it?

2. i lost my sock pattern ! i haven't seen it since saturday. i'm at the heel flap for the 2nd sock, and i don't know it by memory yet. guess i need to go to the lys and get another. drat it!

well, that's it for huzzahs and unhuzzahs. i better get the kids dressed for the snow before it melts. have a fun day!

a fun list of good things

2005-01-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

top five reasons why i have a smile on my face today:

5. the o.c. is on tonight, which means . . .

4. i have been successful in making dinner at home the past few weeks (as opposed to blowing money at restaurants);

3. i am going to a lys (oh susanna!) today or tomorrow to get the rest of my yarn for kyoto;

2. i was accepted onto the fiber raok ring! woohoo!!!! and last, but not least:

1.
that's my marah, knitting away!

i also need to report that i'm a part of the sock it to me sock knitalong, and it's great fun. it's actually the nicest kal i've joined - everyone is SO friendly and encouraging. i love it there! click on the blue link two sentences ago to check it out.

i have a kazillion billion things to do today, mostly girl scout related. i'm beginning to feel a little spread too thin as far as scouting is concerned and will be giving up a portion of my responsibilities at the end of this year. i'm a troop leader and organizer/consultant, as well as the day camp director and events coordinator. i feel very happy and good with this decision - i'll finish up the year and then hand the reins over to someone else. when i spend too much time focusing on a volunteer activity and not as much time focusing on matters at home, that's not good for anyone.

it's another grey day here. which do you use, grey or gray? i feel like "grey" is more mellow, as if "gray" were brash. anyway, it's also almost 60 degrees. i wish it would snow and be cold and normal. january is not behaving this year.

i think we're going to the smithsonian air and space museum this weekend, to satiate gabe's hunger of all things spacey. last weekend we visited the u of penn's museum of archeology/anthropology. it was amazing there - all these statues that people used to worship for various religions sat silent and stony in the galleries. it made me wonder how much energy these blocks of marble and stone have absorbed thousands of years ago from people who put so much hope and emotion and faith into them and that which they represented. you could almost feel the energy flowing out of these faces. marah was scared. it was a little spooky.

anyway, i hope we also get to the smithsonian's national museum of american history. i live for the first ladies' gown display! i've always held some major awe for all things historically presidential.

i must go now and pick up some colonial tape looms for my girl scout troop - we're doing a "yarn and fiber arts" badge, and i'm teaching them how to weave a tape next week. have a great day!

it's january 11, which means that . . .

2005-01-11T16:53:00.000-05:00

i must wish a happy birthday to that colonial cutiepie, mr. alexander hamilton:

happy birthday, al! feel free to visit your morbid side and leave him a little note.

well, today was my first knitting club meeting - and it went very well! i ended up having about 15 girls and their moms, and we squeezed into a cozy little nook at the bookstore. i only had to teach three girls how to cast on, and one of them already knew how to knit, so it wasn't as hectic as i had worried it would be. we meet again next month, when we'll be learning about essential knitting tools, different types of needles, and all about a kids' knitting book (kids knit, sarah bradberry). this time around i gave them info about different types of yarn, and i passed around a few samples of them, minus cashmere, angora, and linen. they seemed to really like the mohair!

marah is working on a cat toy from the above mentioned book. isn't she doing great?

she's using up some of my leftover cascade quattro, as i'd mentioned before. she has a few more decreasing rows, and then she's ready to cast off and add some fringe, a string, and a bell for cloudy to enjoy :)

i finished one of my trekking xxl socks from the yankee basic socks pattern . i chose the 3x1 ribbing. i've decided to give these to marah for her birthday, which is coming up in two weeks. she'll be 10. where did the time go?!

i hope she likes them! i'm happy to point you in the direction of a knitty bloggy friend's first sock - the incredibly beautiful and kind elisa! she did an awesome job! welcome to the world of socks, elisa. now you will never escape. mwah hahahahahhahah

while i'm working on that, i need to focus on kyoto because the yarn for the top portion finally came in!

i need to go to a lys and get some black for the bottom and then i'll be a castin' on!

a delicious end to an undelicious day

2005-01-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

let me just say this: i am not the morning person i used to be. while i can still get up at 7 and be happy and cheerful, i can't get up earlier than that and maintain said cheerfulness like i used to. see, i had to get up at 5:30 this morning. now maybe some of you think i'm a wake-up wimp, and you're probably right. but it was the fact that i had to sit through an hour car ride to gettysburg and then have my butt meld to my metal seat for 7 hours during a girl scout training, and then ride another hour home (with a headache bigger than mount rushmore).

the scout training was for being director of this year's day camp. isn't that the same thing where i broke my leg last summer? yes, it is. i'm giving it another try and will vow to keep my bones intact. the cool part is, mike agreed to be my assistant director. our theme is "dragon days," which will be focusing on the middle ages, and i'm so psyched! he has a ton of great ideas. reason number infinity why i love him so.

enough of this mushy stuff. anyway, the delicious end that came to this undelicious day was the french toast casserole i had made for the kids (and my parents, who watched the kids). it is beyond words delicious. not because i made it, but because the recipe is kick-hindquarters. i'll post it at the end in case you don't believe me and want to try it yourself!

knitting: i got some elsebeth lavold silky wool in color 20 the other day so i can make "ene's scarf" in scarf style. it's going to be my first chart pattern, and i'm nervous but very excited. i'm hoping i can borrow some smarts from fellow knitters who have charting experience (hi, papaya - aka fruitychick) if i ask nicely enough (or entice them with girl scout cookies!) :p

so anyway, here's the yarn, along with marah's debbie bliss merino dk in a lovely grape color, which she'll use for a drawstring bag she's going to make as her next project:

i do still plan to make kyoto, but my yarn hasn't arrived yet from elann. and i am still making those fun trekking xxl - yankee socks, but i have to start something else. it's a sickness, i tell ya. a sickness.

speaking of sick, that's how i felt when i discovered that not only did a.c. moore have no more of my giglio ribbon yarn for my yo! drop it scarf, but it's been discontinued by the folks at knitting fever. whatever for, i don't know. i have a passion for ribbon yarn, but oh well. i guess they don't give two rats' buttocks about me and my passions. pffft i say, pffft. well, i did lots o' googlin' last night, and i found that knit2purl2.com has it, and - get this - at a discounted price. i guess that's the good thing about discounted yarn - you'll miss it, but you'll get it cheap as dirt while it lasts. i got another ball to finish up my ydi! scarf, as well as some in another color to make one up for a special sister who puts barbie boots on her fingers and makes them do a cabaret dance while singing barry manilow's "daybreak." she knows who she is :)

oh yeah, here's that recipe - it's from marah's new cookbook, blend it!:

Overnight Baked French Toast
12 slices firm white bread (I used Texas toast)
6 large eggs
2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch salt
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
4 T. butter, softened
1 T. maple syrup

1. Arrange bread slices in four stacks in 8" square baking dish.
2. In blender, combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and blend until smooth. Slowly pour over bread slices; press down bread to absorb mixture, spooning egg mixture over any uncoated bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, stir brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup until combined. Spread evenly over each stack of bread. Bake until knife inserted 1" from center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

If you have a bad day, make sure you've made this and have put this in the fridge the night before, and have it that night of the bad day. You will feel better, honest.

sock-o-rama

2005-01-06T19:40:00.000-05:00

i was a little fearful of these little kate moss inspired dpns. i mean, size 2 and all. the smallest i'd used before was a 5. but you know, they really aren't that bad! fortunately i haven't wanted to snap them in between my fingers in a moment of frustration, so they may last.

here's a wip shot of the one i'm working on now:

i've enjoyed this sock so much that i've almost kept myself away from it. does that make sense? it's like i'm being a miser with myself. maybe i think i don't deserve the sock. maybe i need to get out more.

i'll admit, i am 80% on the way to getting cabin fever. no, we have no snow. yes, i have a car and can drive it. but i haven't wanted to leave, really. like tonight - i could run to a.c. moore and get that last ball of giglio for the yo! drop it scarf, but it's so foggy out, and i don't feel like dealing with that. yesterday, it was a little icy. the day before, too rainy. are these excuses, or am i just being responsible? or is being responsible an excuse?

do i know what i'm talking about anymore? in a way, but not 100%.

today i taught 4 people (3 were young girls) how to knit. i have 19 people coming to the junior knitters club next week. i'm kind of nervous because many of them have either not knitted yet or are new to knitting, and i'm worried that i won't be able to pay enough attention to each person to help them enjoy their club time. i am excited, though, because i'm going to show them how to make knitting journals, using a covered composition book technique that Denise from creative exile kindly shared with me. i can get cheap composition books (like 4/$1) at a local amish grocery/discount store. i am majorly psyched.

marah knitted today! she was working on a cat toy from her new knitting book, and she learned how to knit two together. i was very proud :) the tough thing is, she's using some of my leftover cascade 220 quattro, and the plies are splitting right and left. she's having a hard time judging if something is a stitch or a split. while it is tough, i can help her through it knowing that any future ply splitting will be a piece of cake for her! or maybe a piece of ply. :p

Gimme an R! R! Gimme an Uffles! Uffles!

2005-01-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

and that spells ruffles, as in i finished it this morning. woohoo! it's supposed to be 86" long; i think i made mine about 80". mike kept saying, "how long is that thing?" he's supportive and kind and all that good stuff, but once he starts noticing my knitting, it tells me that i'm either making something extremely weird, or something extremely big. since ruffles isn't all that weird, i'm going with the big option. in this case, big=long.

here i am in ruffles, sans head:

(edited to add: i made it using highland collection peruvian wool from elann, in the russet shade. sorry 'bout that!)

i wore it to a local elderly day care today, when i took my homeschool girl scout troop over to play some table games with the folks there. we had a small turn out of girls, but we still had fun! the girls played jenga, a fun card game called "tutti frutti," kerplunk, and did puzzles. but what has this to do with ruffles? well, one of the ladies there was staring at my scarf like crazy and asked me, "what is that you're wearing?!" it's funny - she didn't ask it in the sense of "what is that delightful accessory you're wearing?" but more in the vein of "you may need assistance with that thing you have hanging around your neck." i told her it was a knitted scarf. she just kept staring.

and that's pretty much the reaction i got to it all day, really. just staring. my friend rose said it was pretty cool, but mostly everyone else just stared. is ruffles stare-worthy? or was i unbeknowingly wearing a pepperoni from today's leftover pizza hut lunch somewhere on my shirt? unless the latter is true, and said pepperoni fell off while i didn't see notice, i may never know.

i'm psyched. know why? i have started up a homeschoolers knitting club! oh yeah!! we're meeting once a month at the local barnes and noble, with next week being our first meeting. yes! i have to feature a book each month, so i'm starting with kids knit by sarah bradberry. marah's going to knit some of the projects in it to show the group what can be done, and that things can be done. i also hope to take them on a few field trips, including a local alpaca farm. this is too cool!

a few of you have mentioned lengthening kyoto. yeah, i'm not a midriff-baring kind of gal (i have two c-sections to thank for that, but that's okay), but i like the idea of wearing it shorter over a longer tee shirt. i may lengthen it after all, though. i think i'll have to play it by ear (or by midriff).

while working on kyoto, i'm going to continue my yankee socks, and i might start up the forbes forest scarf out of scarf style. i still have that yo! drop it scarf, too, but i have to run and get another skein of giglio for that.

but right now, i'm not running anywhere. my ear hurts when i swallow, and i feel like i've been steamrolled. yippee!

my last fo of 2004

2005-01-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

was this pair of socks for mikeypoo:

he says they're really warm, and he loves 'em! they're done using the same pattern as before, the cabin fever "first socks," and i have to say i have really enjoyed doing socks with this pattern! i used plymouth encore again, and it was okay, but a little fuzzy.

i was working on mike's socks while we were driving to his parents' house last week, and we had stopped to get gas. i noticed two of the station workers there were looking at me and laughing, and i was starting to grow paranoid. well, mike was out there pumping gas and was told me that they were astonished to see someone knitting with five needles. "do you see that? she's knitting with five needles," said roscoe (i don't know if that's his name, i just assigned it to him). i was happy to hear that it was astonishment that had them laughing and not anything hanging off of my nose.

so i finished those socks on new year's eve and immediately began with another pair, using brittany's in a size 2 and trekking xxl , a gorgeous fingering weight sock yarn:

it's fun, albeit a little different than the original socks i'd done, which called for worsted weight yarn and size 5 dpn's. i have to say, i'm in love with brittany dpn's! they really hug the fiber well, without making you manipulate them too much to let go.

the pattern i'm using for this new pair of socks is awesome - it's from yankee knitters, and it's their "classic socks" pattern. it gives you the directions for using fingering, sport, and worsted weight, as well as sizes ranging from baby to men, all in one pattern. there are a kazillion numbers listed in the directions since there are so many options, so i really had to circle the size i was doing so i wouldn't get lost!

just to weird myself out, i work on the socks for an hour, and then go back to scarf style's "ruffles," using size 6 needles and worsted weight wool. my fingers take awhile to get used to the difference in weight!

this week it's back to normal - back to homeschooling (we've had off for 3 weeks), back to planning for Girl Scouts (cookies go on sale tomorrow!), and back to basic homemaking stuff (now i can't use wrapping presents or xmas shopping as an excuse for not having dinner ready!). while i feel a little blue that xmas is over, i kind of am welcoming the return to routine. we took down all the xmas deco yesterday, and it's a little sparse looking, i must say!

another thing - i joined the kyoto knitalong, which officially begins 1/15. i am excited to begin!

happy 2005, everyone!

new year's in kyoto

2004-12-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

did you ever hear yoko ono's song, "don't worry kyoko (mummy's only looking for her hand in the snow)"? oh, okay, just wondering. it has very little to do with what i was going to post, except for the fact that i thought her daughter's name was kyoto, and i decided to make the kyoto sweater, so i was going to use the song title as my post title. but alas. it won't work, because her daughter is kyoKo, not kyoTo. yoko and kyoko's story is kind of sad, by the way.

anyway, after much browing and perusing and searching and surfing, i've decided to attempt kyoto as my first for-me project of 2005 (that's considering that i finish with my ruffles scarf before the year ends, and if not, the kyoto is #2 for 2005). here's kyoto, from knitty's winter 2003 issue:

i'm playing around with the colors a bit by changing the lime green that you see into this:

it's four seasons roma in aruba aqua. i got it for a steal at elann. the pink part will be black, and i'll just slip some of the aqua into the black sash section where the original white stripe is. i'm psyched! i had made a sweater for myself in october (remember "saltpork"?), and i have worn it once, because it's not my style. it was from a class, and you had to do the sweater they chose. it's okay, but not my style. kyoto is.

i worked on ruffles today a little, but not a lot, because we had to run to mike's parents' place again to give their laptop some cpr. sometimes i can knit while riding in the car, and other times i get way too carsick. the latter happened today, so i couldn't do much ruffling!

also, i went over to susan's blog (i'm knitting as fast as i can). she has up the link for her sock pattern, and again the proceeds go to oxfam to help the tsunami relief efforts. the pattern, "hugs and kisses socks," is adorable, and it's five bucks. check it out!

and finally, i'm not sure how or why i came across this bit of weirdism, but it's worth clicking on this link if you haven't met your bizarre quota for the day.

rrrrrruffles have rrrrridges

2004-12-29T21:09:00.000-05:00

i am loving this ruffles scarf pattern from the scarf style book. i'm using the peruvian collection highland wool from elann that i got a few months ago. it's in russet, which i renamed sweet potato just because i don't like regular russet potatoes. here's my wip shot:

here's what the middle of the scarf looks like if you open up the ruffles:

the wrap and turn short rows in this pattern make for a really cool right and wrong side - each of these has a purly side and a knitty side - all on the same side! (huh? trust me, it makes sense, even if i don't.) i'm a huge fan of patterns with short rows - they're just too fun! or perhaps i just need a life.

in other news, wendy from zibibbo has a wealth of info on recycling yarn - there's a recycling kal for 2005. this is something i've never done, but i sure do have a lot of sweaters that i don't wear any more and that are begging to be added to my yarn stash. how cool is that?!

did you ever get stuck in a word rut where you keep saying the same word or phrase over and over? i'm hoping to find a replacement for "how cool is that." any suggestions gladly accepted. this phrase is taking over my life.

finally, and most importantly, you have probably seen this link elsewhere in your blog travels, but i wanted to share this info with you about network for good. you can select from several different organizations that are collecting funds to help aid the tsunami relief effort.

plus, over at i'm knitting as fast as i can, susan is selling one of her original sock patterns, and all proceeds will be going to oxfam. i think this is so generous and wonderful of her!

orange, anyone?

2004-12-28T19:16:00.000-05:00

since it couldn't be a white christmas (rats!), my in-laws made my christmas an orange one with these orange gifties!

we were at mike's parents' house for christmas, part deux today. i brought bread and dessert (it was banana split cheesecake, and man, was it good!), and they made the rest of the fixin's. i don't know if i could ever get enough of butternut squash! however, i got a little too much of the spicy shrimp scampi, and for the majority of the afternoon and evening, my tummy has reminded me that i can no longer eat the way i used to when i was 17. bleh.

my mil bought me some red heart bright and lofty, along with a cabin fever mitten pattern, because she couldn't find mittens to match the orange boots and bucket hat.

she thought i could knit my own mittens! well, now that i've made friends with sock patterns, i might be able to introduce myself to the knitted mitten family as well! we shall see.

in knitting news, a friend of mine had a baby in late november, and i finally got around to knitting something to send her way. i made the one-hour baby booties in snb nation, and the umbilical cord hat in snb. the hat was very fun to make, and the booties really did take just one hour.

i still need to find buttons for them, but i really think i should just pick up some stitches and do a bobble to put through the button hole. i don't want to be known as the friend who gives hazardous gifts to babies.

heather and i knitted at borders on monday and had fun! she is starting a booga and picked out a really pretty colorway of noro kureyon. (to pseudo-quote garfield: i've never met a kureyon colorway that i didn't like.) i continued to work on a pair of socks (same pattern as my first pair, from cabin fever) for mike. at this point, i have one of his socks completed, and about two inches left to do on the second foot, and then i need to do the toe section. i'm doing them in a charcoal color from plymouth encore. this was supposed to be a valentine's day gift for him, but he saw the completed one lying on the table and proceeded to try it on. well, at least i know they fit.

i joined the scarf style knitalong, and i'm going to work on ruffles first, i think. i am loving this book to pieces. after i finish ruffles and my yo! drop it scarf, i don't know what i'm going to do. i like the janda hoodie in the knit wit book, but i also wanted to do gigi at some point. but i also like kyoto of knit wit/knitty fame. and then there's the rowan cork collection book i have, and i really like a few things out of there. so who knows what will grace my needles next? i feel like i did when i was in college and finals were done, but i was still on campus with tons of free time . . . so much freedom, that i don't know what to do!

i must've done something good

2004-12-25T22:50:00.000-05:00

because i sure did get a nice knitterly haul for christmas this year! my wonderful hubster gave me three knitty books: scarf style, last minute knitted gifts, and amy singer's knit wit. although i knew about all of them, i waited until today to enjoy them. he also gave me a gift certificate to my favorite lys (oh susanna). thank you, sweetie pie!

my mom and dad gave me two gift certificates to two other lys. i am just beside myself with excitement! plus, my little marah made me a stitch marker.

my family rocks!

but before i received any of those gifties, i had a very knitty christmas eve, thanks to my krsp3!

that's 3 balls of jo sharp kid mohair in grey, 2 skeins of manos del uruguay cotton stria, and three balls of classic elite isabella. she also included a bag of gumballs (the kids went nuts; i think i saw maybe one or two of said gumballs once i made their presence known), and a pocket planner. "she" is angela from new york. thanks so much, angela! i've really enjoyed my gifties!

for the most part, we've had a great christmas and enjoyed our little family get togethers. everyone seemed to like their london beanies, felted purses, and other knitted gifts i gave them. my mom adores her classic cloche, and i'm ecstatic over that! we have one more get together to go on tuesday, and i have more knitted gifts to hand out then. the best part is, mike's off all week, and i couldn't be happier. well, yes i could. i could use some snow, for the love of orange crush! sheesh.

speaking of orange crush, i finally decided to do something with this orange-gold-black ribbon from giglio that i bought a few months ago, so i decided to try out the "yo! drop it" scarf from snb nation.

it's been fun - i especially savor letting the dropped stitches fall off and laughing at them as they fall. ha, i meant to do that, you stitch! ha! the kookiest part of working on this scarf is the timing. i'm currently working on another pair of socks, which i tend to work very tightly. then i get to this loopy ribbon yarn with these big metal needles (which is rather nauseating) and this loose tension and it's just hysterical to watch my hands get confused.

there are only 50 minutes left of christmas 2004. spend them well . . . knit! (with family around, of course!)

orange knittikins

2004-12-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

today was the day i got to meet lisa! i was so excited! i got up this morning and finished up my last knitted gift - another london beanie. i had finished one yesterday morning, too, so i am officially done. yes!

marah is modeling the larger london beanie #3. this one was done using the remainder of the rowan magpie that i had used for the first larger london beanie. i love that yarn. it's a shame it's been discontinued. fortunately, one of my lys still has a bunch of it, so . . . that makes for a happy me.

i did this, and all of the larger london beanies, on size 8 addi turbo circs, along with size 8 clover bamboo dpns. i like how the dpns make the tops of the beanies kind of swirly:

this one (larger london beanie #2) was done using some black wool that i bought at a little yarn shop/sheep farm in belleplain, new jersey, called north country knits. cute little place.

after i finished the magpie beanie, i got ready to go and meet lisa and her huz, ben! marah decided to come with me. we talked and had lunch, but i couldn't stay long because i had a bunch of errands to run for tomorrow night (we're having christmas eve at our house for my family). we are already thinking of meeting up again at a place that is equidistant from both of us.

lisa is a real sweetie! she's so adorable and fun. i really enjoyed meeting her! she brought along her audrey purse, which ben knitted, and the lining she put in it was really awesome. she - and he - did a great job! i also got to meet stevie , which was great. the cables were so thick - she's doing a wonderful job on that, her first sweater and first cables project! i admire her for taking a bite out of a big project like that. go lisa!

she gave me and marah some hello kitty "stitch markers" (aka shoe charms). we are really going to enjoy using these on our knitting projects! thanks, lisa!

now i have to cook, bake and cook some more. i hope everyone has a wonderfully merry christmas!

i smell good

2004-12-21T19:18:00.000-05:00

which isn't so unusual that i need to post about it, but it's like this: did you ever put on a shirt or sweater right after you put on perfume, and then decided to wear another shirt? well, i must be wearing a recent reject, because i can smell my perfume on my shirt, and i didn't put any on today. wow. my rejects smell good.

anyway, here is marah a la poncho:

'tis true, she at first turned her nose up at the color of yarn i'd picked out, not knowing it was actually for her and her poncho. but now that it's knitted up, she really likes it and doesn't even remember saying she didn't. there are other things swimming around a 9-year-old's mind, mom! sheesh.

i finished up the weaving and fringing last night while watching real world/road rules battle of the sexes, which is kinda lame this season, but i'm a junkie so i have to tune in. i was going to save the poncho for christmas, but i really wanted to see how it fit and get that immediate *ahhhhhhhh* feeling of seeing something turn out okay.

i also finished the larger-sized london beanie for my dad. here's gabe giving it a try:

and so that you can see the difference in sizes between the two patterns, here's gabe modeling the original london beanie:

i'm currently working on another larger one for my brother-in-law, since the one i'd made earlier wasn't going to be big enough. i cast on for that one this a.m. while watching navy blue and gold from 1937, starring jimmy stewart and robert young on tcm. i have about 10 more rounds, and then the decreases. and then it's one more beanie and i am done with christmas knitting.

speaking of christmas and knitting, i had asked the huz to get me last minute knitted gifts and scarf style for christmas, and he ordered them last week at amazon. however, they won't be shipped until january 17.

well, that simply won't do!

so our plan is to go to both the local barnes and noble and borders and see if they still have them in their store stock; if they do, he'll buy them and then cancel his amazon order. while it would be kind of cool to think that christmas will still be arriving in january for me, i am not a patient gal.

nor am i full of self-control. allow me to share a typical scene at our house:

i get very scroogey when it comes to my diet dr. pepper, as can be evidenced by the size of cup i gave to mike at dinner time:

i am hoping that i can create and stick to a resolution for 2005 that will eventually leave me less dependent on this always-beckoning elixir and more dependent on things my body really needs, like water. i just hope i don't trick myself into considering that there actually is water in diet dr. pepper, thereby relishing the loophole in my resolution.

speaking of relish, i am about to relish a meeting with the wonderful lisa of knittikins fame. how cool is that? she and her huz are making their way through my area on the way to some family visits, and we're going to meet up. i'm so excited!

before i sign off, i have to direct you to nancy. she has a picture of viggo mortensen bringing her some tidings of joy under the mistletoe. you have to see for yourself!

baby, it's cold outside

2004-12-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

but i've got my smokin' needles to keep me warm. i finished marah's poncho (sort of):

as you can see, i still need to do the weaving bit, as well as add the fringe. it won't be an xmas surprise, because i had to try it on her to make sure it would fit her. i had used 10 1/2's instead of 13's, and while i think 13's would've been a better idea, the 10 1/2's were fine. could it stand to be a little bigger? yeah. does it still fit her? yeah. will i complain? not at the moment. anyway, i enjoyed doing the crochet bind-off and found that it really made for a nice edge. it was the first time i'd used that method, and it won't be the last.

i went and met with heather on sunday at a coffee shop to knit. but we didn't knit one stitch. no purls, either. know why? the rowan magpie wool i bought for my dad's london beanie was a tangled mess. heather was kind enough to sit there and do the majority of the untangling. we (mostly she) worked at it for two hours straight, while we enjoyed our orange rooibus tea, chatting away about all sorts of stuff.

here she is, with her fabulous wine-colored lamb's pride bag, pre-felted. great work, girl!

anyway, when i got home, i worked four more hours until i saw that he was on abc family. mike kindly volunteered to finish unraveling the mess while i sat and watched this:

oh, yeah, i watched the rest of the cast in the movie, too. i mean, there were other people in the movie, right? i, uh, well, um . . .

i'm almost done with my dad's london beanie, done in a larger size, thanks to this. it is turning out really nicely, and i hope to be done with it by tonight. i love how knitters are sharing all of these awesome ideas and fixes for things in this wonderful knitblog world of ours. i have only one awesome and wonderful thing to share with you right now:

shiny happy entries holding hands

2004-12-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

it's fun to think back to things you used to think when you were a kid. like when i'd hear the heat miser's song from the year without a santa claus , i used to think that he sang:

"whatever I touch/it turns to melt."

the real lyrics are "whatever I touch/starts to melt in my clutch," but "turns to melt" just sounded good to me at the time. it still kinda does. of course, i made the big mistake of telling the huz about that, so now it's a ritual to be teased, which i enjoy for some weird reason.

anyway, i love feeling like a kid again, and it does indeed always happen this time of year. sometimes my inner little girl will show her chubby cheeks when it's time to catch lightning bugs, but usually she surfaces in december, sticks around for a few snowball fights, and then vanishes and leaves me with a renewed sense of self, as well as a fresh approach to lingering woes.

here's something i used to do and have tried to continue the tradition, although my memory fails me often. i have this dictionary that used to be my grandfather's, aka pop. pop died when i was 9, but i still hear him telling me not to pick my nose and can catch a glimpse of him in his dark-rimmed glasses if i don't try too hard to imagine it perfectly. so yes, somehow i became the owner of this dictionary, which is totally cool, because it has an entry for the beatles, complete with little b&w photo. anyway, i had begun this tradition of writing the date on the inside cover page, sometime close to either christmas or new year's.

it looks like i started this when i was 16. since it's on my mind now, i'm going to write in it now so that i don't forget and feel like a schmuck when it's january 2 (which is usually when my inner little girl is starting to pack her things).

knitting. i have worked a little on the poncho for marah. it's been crazy here, so i did it when i could, which would include stoplights and traffic jams. susan understands. does anyone else out there do this? it was actually kind of relaxing, and it helped me forget that i really needed to, uh, say good-bye to the three diet cokes i had at lunch.

one of my friends, who now lives in the bahamas, had a baby girl last month. i'm going to make her the umbilical cord hat from snb, along with a pair of one-hour booties from snb nation. i'm psyched. i went with plymouth encore ( colorspun in 7990 and chunky in 241 ) for ease in washing as well as ease in wallet :)

i'm very excited to share this with you: this was one of our gifties today at our family gift exchange:

it's a vintage lamp, yes. but do you see the color, gentle reader? (i always wanted to say "gentle reader, so humor me, especially if you're not gentle.) it's ORANGE. is it not delicious? i would say that it is indeed scrumptuous. i am excited to work on replacing the lampshade with something a little more, er, non-toxic. any ideas?

i also got me some of these orange gifties today as well.

life in orange is good.

feeling a little (bah hum)buggy

2004-12-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

i don't know why, but i've been a little grinchy this week. i've had a pestering headache, which hasn't helped. i tried to make me-self happy - i bought pops,

i watched tcm three out of three mornings so far this week, i even had a friend over today and made oreo balls to eat with her, but i still was kind of grumpy.

ah well.

we've had a busy week so far. monday was kind of open, but tuesday we went to a local nursing home and our homeschool girl scout troop performed a little christmas pageant for the folks there. here's a picture of marah during the bell-ringing portion of the show.

she also played "Good King Wenceslas" on the piano, which was a big step for this shy girl. (she had no choice, being that i'm the troop leader and i was emceeing the event and put her name in the program, but still, yay marah!)

i have started her yarn harlot poncho using the blackberry peruvian collection highland wool from elann. it's really a fun pattern and is my first poncho, so, you know, it's just fun! i had a bit of a stupidity attack when casting on, mainly because it calls for a 29" length circular needle and my stitches wouldn't stretch to join in a round. duh, michelle - use a smaller length or dpns and move up as you increase. yeah, i knew this, but i just thought i'd play stupid for a little bit and see if i'd get on my own nerves. it worked!

here's moe howard, playing the role of a trendy poncho-wearing shy chick:

tomorrow we go to see the nutcracker ballet. it starts early in the a.m. (early=9:45) i'm looking forward to it, b/c my parents are joining me and the kids, but it also means no tcm tomorrow morning. spending the time together in such a festive way will be well worth the sacrifice. besides, this morning's movie was a real dud.

thanks for all your kind sock comments! since you were all so nice, i'll do no more sock puns. hey, by the way, don't you think moe howard looks very socksy in that poncho? oops. that one just happened to slip out. not really.

alert sock-obsessed knitter alert

2004-12-13T16:38:00.000-05:00

i did it! i watched tcm this morning and sat there and finished up my socks! see?

i have to say, these were a lot of fun. no wonder some of you are so sock-crazy! here i am wearing them (ignore the pajamas):

my right leg is a little bigger than my left because of the broken leg thing. i don't know when that's going down, but i'm thinking now might be good.

this is such a busy week. every year around this time, i swear that i will never let myself get too busy, and then bam! it happens. i guess it's just natural, with all the fun stuff going on. but still. i just want to stop and smell the pine tree! oh wait, we have an artificial tree. drat.

guess what?! i have a new knitting buddy!!!! heather and i met up at a coffee shop on sunday and sat and chatted and knitted for two hours. she's working on a felted bag, her first, and she taught herself to use the circulars last weekend. she's doing a great job! heather chose a pretty wine color from lamb's pride, and it's gorgeous. did i take a picture so i could show it off? no, because i'm stoopid. i brought the camera, though. it sat undisturbed in my knitting bag the entire two hours. duh. anyway, i had a great time. thanks, heather!

her husband made her a very simple yet very ingenious design for her knitting pleasure. she has a shoe box, and he made a hole at the end of it, so she puts her yarn in it and strings it through the hole. it sounds very simple, and it is - it's one of those "why didn't i think of that?" moments.

now that i'm done with these fun socks, i'm going to start up marah's poncho, make a few london beanie presents, and then figure out what i'll do for valentine's presents.

heh, just kidding :)

sock-sess hasn't spoiled me yet

2004-12-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

you tired yet of these sock puns? i hope not, b/c i'm obsessed with socks right now. why? because i finished a sock! it is lonely and is waiting for its mate. hopefully she will be somewhat identical to the first one. i am just so excited!!!!!

the heel is called a square heel, and apparently it is an easier type to do than a typical heel. it is also called a "common heel," but the pattern designer said that that's a strange name, because it isn't common.

i did try it on, and it fits like a dream. i'm so psyched! my feet get very cold at night (i can put a heap of blankets on them and they act like i'm subjecting them to penguin world in antarctica), and i usually have to wear socks. these are really warm and cozy . . . and made by me. i have wanted to knit socks for over a year now. wow. what a sense of accomplishment i'm feeling! i wish i could yawp like howard dean, scary as it was.

i went into a lys today (oh susanna) and it was one of those comedy of errors moments. in the first place, the shop is just stuffed with yarn. i happen to like it, but others have complained (i have written about this before). anyway, this lady knows her stuff. i asked her if she had rowan yarn. (i'm making another london beanie.) yes, she said. what kind? magpie, i said. yes, she said. what color? something in the navy line? she walks right over to this shelf that is hidden behind a couple of boxes of yarn and shows me a whole cubicle filled with rowan magpie. as she searches, a bunch of it tumbles out all over those boxes. she doesn't flinch. i just marvel at all of it, hoping my drool doesn't land on any merchandise. i think i'm being helpful by holding some sample sweaters back, and then it happens - they all fall down. there are about seven sweaters in all, beautifully knit up and happily on display, and i made them fall. it was a true charlie brown moment. she didn't seem to be upset, but i apologized until i think that was bothering her. oh well.

i did find out that magpie is discontinued, as well as magpie tweed. i tried to find a pic on the web so i could show you the shades i bought, but they're nearly impossible to find (the shades, that is). once i finish the beanie, you'll see the colors, but i'll tell you now, i got a navy tweed and a colonial blue that is one of the flecks in the tweed for the accent stripes. i'm making this beanie for my dad for christmas, and his head is larger than the average bear, so i'm going to have to increase the pattern as well as add those knitted rounds in between the decreases (something else i'd written about earlier).

i hope to begin my second sock tonight. i am also considering adding some leaves to the flower i put on my mom's cloche. any ideas on if that's necessary or not? i was just going to knit two of the petals in some green peace fleece that i have and sew them on. we'll see. woohoo!

if at first you don't sock-seed . . .

2004-12-10T21:13:00.000-05:00

okay, i have tried this two times in the past and have met with a major lack of success. but last night, i decided to give it another try. behold!

can you believe it? i hardly can! i'm doing socks! i bought this yarn and pattern early last summer, and it's finally making sense to me. i'm so excited!

i'm using a pattern called "first time socks" by cabin fever. they make it so very easy, telling you how many stitches you'll have on each needle, etc. they use a five-needle method, and it is less and less scary with each round. the yarn i'm using is plymouth encore colorspun in #7009, which is a blend of off-white and light blue. it's worsted weight, which is a little heavy for socks, but hey, it's what the pattern calls for, and who am i to question that? i'm a sock neophyte, that's what!

another exciting part of the day was finding out that i'm finally being recognized on bloglines. yay! (i won't even tell you that it was because i had the one site feed thing turned to "no." oh wait, i just did tell you. oops.)

the final exciting part of the day was making christmas cookies with my mom. she came over with some delish chocolate chunk cookie dough that she had whipped up at home. it was the recipe on the back of the baker's chocolate bag, and it was incredible! i was in charge of cut-outs, so i looked up a recipe and found one on southernfood.about.com that was from the 50's. it was perfect and tasted just like the cookies i'd made with her when i was a kid. we had fun! here's my momma:

well, i'm working on the heel flap now on the sock, and i'm anxious to continue and to knit until i see double. does anyone have any vision problems when they're knitting for awhile, where you look up from your knitting and can't see clearly? i hope not, but i also hope it isn't just me.

thanks for all yer sweetiepie comments! :)

if you ever want to win money,

2004-12-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

then play simpsons jeopardy with me, and play for money. i was the winner tonight in our house when we played it, but that was sheer luck. i swear, i've been watching the simpsons for years, but the answers to these questions just evaded me. the name of homer's bat? don't ask me.

i was all set to make a scarf to tie around my mom's cloche, but as i was working on the scarf, it just didn't seem right. so i came across this pattern on georgia's on my mind blog, and i realized it was the perfect fit for this hat. so i grabbed some leftover cascade quatro that i had used last spring for a felted purse, knitted up a flower, and sewed it on:

i hope she likes it. if she doesn't, i'll keep it, b/c i do!

my big happy news for the day is that marah, my dd, gave knitting another shot. marah is an adhd kiddo, so it's hard for her to focus on something that takes patience without getting extremely frustrated. as i was showing her a cast on, she was getting a little grumpy, because she said i'd showed her this last year, which is true. but that was last year, and she hadn't knitted, or actually cast on, since then. so i just kept making her laugh until her good mood returned. in the end, she did very well. i had given her some arucania nature wool leftover from yet another felted bag from last year, and she just did some garter stitch with that on some 9's. then, i told her she could make a little sleeping bag for her beanies if she knitted a long, wide strip and then folded up the end and sewed it to the other one along the edges.

well, nothing could hold her back! fortunately i had just organized my stash this a.m. so she could really see her options clearly. she chose some pretty blue angel hair and cast on with some stubbies in 17.

here's my proud knitter:

she managed to finish, with my help here and there. i'm so proud of her for sticking with it.

gabe kept himself busy by taking self-portraits like this one:

i just want to thank all of my readers for being so nice all the time. i appreciate each and every kind word and message and comment and email. i feel very lucky to have stumbled across this knitblog world, yup i do.

must-stash

2004-12-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

i woke up and, seeing what was facing me, realized i couldn't face it any longer. my stash was a MESS. i had it all neatly piled in a wicker basket at one time. but then i'd buy some more, well, you know the story. i'm sure you've been through it yourself.

i dumped out my basket-runneth-over on the bed.

out of the corner of my eye, i saw a tower of bin/drawers that my husband bought me last year. it just had silly things in it, like porcelain cups i had wanted to paint this summer, some random scraps of construction paper, and a handful of page protectors.

taking a cue from the organization queen, lauren, i decided to evict the current bin residents and organize my stash according to type and/or weight. i'm happy to say i finished this task this morning and am already admiring the empty spot on the floor where my former stash resided.

woohoo!

last night i finished mike's london beanie, using various leftovers of previously made beanies' yarns (mostly lion brand and plymouth encore). the problem is, it looks like this:

while the original is much longer (just go to the link above).

i consulted with susan, my beanie guru, and hers turned out short as well. i had wondered if, in the directions, where they give you the decrease instructions, they assumed that you knew to add in a "knit one round" in between each decrease, because it didn't say to do that. i, in fact, didn't do it, but wondered, b/c every other beanie pattern i've worked on has had that instruction in between their decrease rounds. however, this pattern seemed to be very direct and informative, such as telling you exactly when to switch to dpn's and color jog information. well, if anyone else has made the london beanie and has turned up with a long one, like the pic, let me know!

speaking of color jogs, check this out:

color jogs! mine aren't usually this noticeable. i guess that's something i need to learn about. i know there are tons of websites with valuable information about them. i think since i won't be doing any more colorwork before the holidays, i'll just put it on my post-xmas plan of action as an area to study. i have no problem doing colorwork when it's not in the round. but give me those circs and another color of yarn, and bam, it's jog city.

speaking of library books (just humor me here), mine were due on tuesday. the videos were due last tuesday. now, before you assume anything, i DID return the videos . . . albeit a day late. that's 8 videos times $2 a day. oopsies. the books are $.10 a day, and i have maybe 15, so that will definitely begin to add up. i could have renewed online, but i knew i had that video fine and wouldn't be allowed to. i wish i were more responsible. our libraries are really suffering from funding cuts and stuff here, so maybe my irresponsibility is actually benefitting someone for a change.

now that's the best tasting pickle i ever hoid.

i can see

2004-12-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

i can see the local elementary school from my bedroom window, and it brings back memories. when i was a kid, i hated going to school, and i could see my elementary school from our bathroom window. i used to wonder why i couldn't see my house from the school. i still wonder about that.

anyway, for lisa, this is a pic of gabe with the hat on, for reference.

marah wanted to get in the picture, too. as you can see, neither child is really ready and facing the day. there was a tom and jerry movie on tv. it's december. i'm busy. we're taking it kind of easy these days, as far as school is concerned. that's just how decembers are here. by the way, marah's name rhymes with laura. i named her that because i always liked the name, back when i was a "guiding light" fan. i don't watch soaps anymore (despite a very embarrassing addiction to "passions" this summer when my leg was broken and i was desperate for entertainment), but i clung to the name and gave it to my daughter. she likes it, i think.

when i went to the snb nation booksigning last week, i told marah that i was upset with the fact that i'd be missing the o.c. she said, "why do you like that show, anyway?" my answer was:

but later i thought more about it and realized that he looks a lot like:

that kind of diminishes my interest. i was never really a barney rubble fan.

then, i thought about other celebrity look-alikes, and i came up with this:

jimmy fallon

and

buster keaton.

don't they look alike? i think they do. my sis called last night to tell me that turner classic movies was having a buster-keaton-athon, so i ended up watching it (duh). i fell asleep, though, during spite marriage, which blows because i hadn't seen that one before. oh well. if you have never seen any silent movies before, i highly recommend you check out any buster keaton flick. charlie chaplin always gets the fame, but buster keaton is just ingenious.

i was thinking of making this post word-free,

2004-12-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

because i think i talk too much. i even asked my friend rosealee if i talked too much. she's honest enough to tell me if i do, but she said no. so unless she just wasn't herself today, it's possible that my wordiness is all in my head.

anyway, i wanted to show some post-felting results on my classic cloche for my mom.

do you like how cluttered my countertop is? i have the hat blocking and drying on the kitchen counter, and behind it you can see a collection of those supermarket cookbooks - you know, the ones that are right above the conveyor belt? i have way too many. some of them i haven't cracked open for years, but i can't seem to part with them. it is a mess that serves no purpose, but is loved none the less.

anyway, the hat is a little big, and it's kind of funny when you put it on for that reason. my mom seems to think she has a really mega large head, so i think she'll like it. she was 10 lbs when she was born, and she thinks most of the weight was her head. i think her head is the same size as everyone else's, in which case this hat will be a little big on her. however, i'm making a scarf to tie around it, and that might make it a little more snug. i was really worried that this off-white wool wouldn't felt, and i shared my worries with lisa, who assuaged my fears by reminding me of other peoples' off-white felted success.

i made these cookies for my girl scout meeting today, but i ended up not having to part with them because one of the moms in the troop had already signed up for snack today. these are just way too good, and not because i made them. it's because the recipe is so yummeh.

it is sooo foggy here! i feel sorry for gabe, because he had wanted to see jupiter passing behind the crescent moon tonight . however, as i read more closely, it appears that this event happened this morning around 3 or 4, so we would've missed it anyway. oops.

finally, here's our christmas tree. since i don't have the wits about me to decorate the blog like my talented blogpals have been doing, this picture will have to suffice.

we switched back to an artificial tree this year. i kinda miss the scent when i'd vacuum the fallen pine needles. maybe i'll get a pine tree car freshener for christmas to make up for it. if i were famous and i made that comment in a magazine or on tv, legions of fans would send me little pine tree car fresheners. somehow, i feel that i'm safe from that deluge.

check out how cool nancy is - she made rice sweat!

i'm wip'ed out

2004-12-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

yes, oh yes. i have finished the afghan from hades. i extinguished the flames before i took this picture of it:

it really wasn't diabolical, i don't mean to discredit a perfectly fine blanket. the problem with it was that, as i had said before, the pattern was just really screaming for attention, and not very subtle at that. you know, one of those "k4, p2, k2, p1, *k3, p12, k5, p2, k65, p235ad g aa;lsdf;" kinds of things. it was done on 17's, so that helped. i am just really glad it's done. it took me a while to get into it and really give it the attention it wanted.

i also managed to finish the knitting portion of my mom's classic cloche:

(modeled by gabe)

the pattern actually called for some colorwork, but i saw something in a lys (oh susanna, for my local readers - that's you, heather!) where the owner had felted a hat and then tied a knitted scarf around it, so i decided to skip the colorwork on this one and borrow her idea. i have plenty of novelty yarns left over from various projects, so i'll be working on that this week after i felt this big mama. i have to laugh at mike's reaction to the size: "uh, you are felting that, right?" he's learning the lingo. i don't think he'll ever be a knittin' huz like lisa's cuddlebunny or lauren's snugglemuffin, but at least i'm not speaking greek to him any longer.

now that these two wips turned into fo's, i'm officially wip-less. tomorrow, the poncho for my little marah.

oh, and to answer amanda's question, i knitted nothing at the party. mike said it would make me even less social than i was planning on being. since he's such a good guy, i listened to him and just clung to his arm, squeezing it when i was annoyed. i think the hand prints are just beginning to wear off.

does anyone out there watch arrested development? it was so hysterical tonight. it's always funny, but they just kept doing this charlie brown thing, and it had me cry-laughing. that was the second time i did that today. see how wonderful life can be post-afghan?

the party's over

2004-12-04T23:04:00.000-05:00

so let the party begin! woohoo! i get such anxiety for these things. it really wasn't too bad this year, though. (i'm talking about my husband's company christmas party. i like christmas, parties are so-so, but put them together and add a dash of workplace, and it just spells "get me out of here"). the president's wife was sitting next to me, and it turns out she's a knitter! so i had some great conversations with her about things. plus, she considers iceland her second home and offered to give a slideshow presentation and make icelandic pancakes for my scout troop. how cool is that?

anyway, this is us. we're happy and warm and fuzzy b/c this was taken on our way out of the party. mike looks wonky, but really he is just tired.

the good news (other than the party is over) is that my afghan is about 1 hour away from being done. i could finish it tonight, but it's too big to bring up to the bedroom and work on in bed. i need elbow room, so it has to stay downstairs. looks like it'll wait until tomorrow. i am going to work a little more on my mom's cloche and maybe start marah's poncho.

i'm just so darn excited that the party is over. our plan is to win powerball so that we don't ever have to go to another company christmas party again. woohoo!

warning: this post is a downer

2004-12-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

ugh! so my elann package comes today, and i was really excited. i ordered some of their peruvian collection highland wool in two colors: #1898 - boysenberry, and #3729 - russet. it came in and looked awesome! it had a photo op, and i took it:

(i was going to write "hi," but there were too many skeins, so i had to make an "A" instead of an "I").

i had bought the boysenberry color to make marah the very harlot poncho for christmas. i thought i'd give her a sneak peek of the yarn(she has no idea i'm making her this) and ask her what she thought of the color. her response?

"it's okay."

i'm hoping that it just isn't impressive in its little peruvian collection label, and that once she sees it all knit up into a poncho, she'll be more enthusiastic. oh well.

i've not entirely decided what to do with the russet, but i have decided to rename it "sweet potato," and will probably do a handbag. elisa , is the sophie fun? i might try that or the felted daypack that nancy did. or maybe something entirely different! all i know is it'll be post-Christmas.

tomorrow is my husband's dreaded company christmas party. there's still time to catch a cold and not be able to attend, but time is running out. at least i got a new outfit and free meal out of it. but i dread -- with a capital HATE -- this event.

in other words, i don't want to go.

it isn't as bad as i make it out to be, i guess. i try to look at it as an event that both he and i dread, and we can commiserate together. but still. i could be cozy at home, knitting! i told him the only way i'd go this year is if he'd let me knit. if i knew it wouldn't draw attention ("oh, what are you doing there?" "oh, look at mike's wife - how quaint"), i'd happily bring along the classic cloche so i can finish it up. you know, this is beginning to be more of an upper post than a downer. yes, that's what i'll do! i will knit at the party.

now, do you think he'll mind if i stay in the car so i can knit in peace?

that was so cool!

2004-12-02T21:59:00.000-05:00

that was so fun/cool/awesome/exciting/insert-word-meaning-all-of-the-above-here! here's how the night went:

so debbie stoller was doing her booksigning at chester county book company, which is about an hour from my house. my hubby was working about ten minutes down the road from there, so he figured we could meet for dinner and then go to the book signing. what a sweetie! only when we got to the bookstore and i saw how incredibly humongo it was did i realize that he didn't just come along to support my hobby, he came to shop, baby!

this place was huge. i managed to point out some things that would make great xmas gifts so that he wouldn't be shopping without a purpose during the book signing. heh.

debbie was so cool! she was wearing "flower power" and the "headline news cabled newsboy cap", both featured in snb nation. i was expecting her to just sit behind a table and sign books, but she actually had a little presentation, which was so awesome. she told her own personal knitting story (the one that's in snb), and then she proceeded to pass around examples from snb nation. they were all really cool, but i have to say that "poster boy" was really impressive to see in person. if you don't have the book, you can virtually thumb through it. it's really cool to think about an art imitating an art, as in knitting recreating a screen print on a handbag. it was just really cool. (okay, i think i passed my "cool" quota for this paragraph.)

she ended her presentation with a q/a session, and then we got to get our books signed. see?

a kind lady who sat next to me offered to take our picture. marah doesn't look too energetic, but that's because she spent the whole time saying, "will you knit me that?" and "how about that one?" gabe sat on my lap and rubbed every sample on his face (we have a yarn-cheek rubber, people!). fortunately we had wiped the pizza sauce off of him before we left our permanent mark on the samples.

(don't look at me, look at debbie. i need my roots done and my cheeks turned off.)

lauren , have a great time meeting debbie in dc! and susan, i wish you had come! maybe if there's ever a snb 3 book and book signing, we can go together and have fun!

and mayflower, my hands feel like they've been coated with resin after working with that lanolin-istic wool. they kinda feel like i've been rubbing my hands on the hair of someone who doesn't know what shampoo is. eep indeed!

deb stoller and me

2004-12-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

thursday has arrived, and it's time to meet DEBBIE STOLLER!

i'm psyched. mike is already working in the area where she'll be signing books tonight, so i'm making it a family event and meeting him there for dinner. then, it's autograph time! i'll try to get a pic with her for ye olde blog.

i worked a little on my mom's cloche last night, but not enough to show any pics. i have to say i'm not really excited about the wool i'm using. i bought it at a little wool shop on the way home from stone harbor this summer. it's just really raw wool, you know? it has the vegetation bits every now and then, and my hands are just covered in lanolin when i'm done knitting for the night. i hope that when i'm done and i felt this hat, it gets over its little roughness tantrum and settles down.

allow me to jazz up my entry today with a few random pics i took last winter:

i love snowy trees.

we haven't had any snow yet. come on, let it snow!!!

ze pattern, here she is:

2004-12-01T16:39:00.000-05:00

round dish cloth

ingredients (hee):
1 ball kitchen cotton (like sugar n cream or lion brand kitchen cotton )
size 8 needles
tapestry needle

Cast on 16 sts.
Row 1: Knit to end.
Row 2: K4, yarn over, K 10, turn.
Row 3: K back to end, turn.
Row 4: K4, yo, K9, turn.
Row 5: K back to end, turn.
Row 6: K4, yo, K8, turn.
Row 7: K back to end, turn.
Row 8: K4, yo, K7, turn.
Row 9: K back to end, turn.
Row 10: Bind off 4 sts, turn, K one stitch. (you now have 16 sts on one needle). Turn.
Row 11: K 16 sts, turn.

Repeat Rows 1-11 13 times. Leave a long end when cutting yarn. Thread a tapestry needle and sew two ends into a round.

Enjoy. Or, as Marah says, "wah-LAH" (aka voila).

fo, fo, fo!

2004-12-01T08:55:00.000-05:00

(for my non-knitting family who is reading this, the title "fo" means "finished object," as in "I finished knitting something, and it's a recognizable object!") woohoo!

so, here it is:

what? you didn't know i was knitting a christmas washcloth in the shape of an overly ambitious poinsettia? well, i didn't know it, either, until i found the pattern yesterday and thought it looked like fun.

and it was! so i sat down my mom's classic cloche, ignored the afghan, and shooed the grey windy day away by knitting this cute little thing. i feel kind of sorry for it. i mean, it's destined to spend a lifetime of sitting in a christmas storage box for 10 months, then being subjected to dirty dishes, turning rancid, and then being churned around in hot soapy water for the other two months.

hey michelle, it's just a dishcloth. get a grip.

the pattern is my first experience with short rows - and it was really fun! it was one of those free patterns that someone types up and hangs up at a craft shop. i'd be happy to share if it anyone wants it.

anyway, thanks for all your sweet comments on my 100 list. you feel kind of bare when you put that up there, but i've never been a private person, so why start now? anyway, your kindness, via comments and emails, was very uplifting. thanks!

have you ever knit with inox circular needles? if not, you should give 'em a try!

they're not as fast as addi turbos, but they are cool because the needle portion is almost satin-y, and it has a unique slide that the addi turbos don't have. they aren't as pricey as addi turbos, either. i only saw them in one of our four lys, so i wasn't sure of how popular they are.

and thanks also for your get well wishes for gabe. he woke up warm today, but not hot, so at least he's on the downhill part of this month's episode. we go to the pediatric rheumatologist this month for another check up, so maybe something further will be determined. right now, it's still "fuo" - fever of unknown origin. for four years. my poor little space boy.

did you know you can get heat miser address labels?

too much!

haircut 100

2004-11-30T13:14:00.001-05:00

that was an 80s band, but it was the only thing i could think of with 100 in it, because, as you will see, i'm posting my *100 things about me* list. hope you still like me after reading it (if you did to begin with, that is)

1. I was born in Baltimore, MD in 1970.
2. I share a birthday with Yoko Ono (2/18)
3. I like that fact, b/c I love John Lennon.
4. I have an older bro and sis, who are both married with kids, like me.
5. My daughter, Marah, has the gift of healing.
6. My son, Gabriel, has a heart of gold.
7. Gabe is chronically ill and gets sick every 21-28 days with a big fever, mouth sores, sore throat, sore legs, and stomach pain. no one knows why.
8. My husband puts up with a lot of my stuff and is truly one of the good ones.
9. I’m rather emotional and very temperamental.
10. But I still make a good friend b/c I listen a lot.
11. Mike and I met in 1989 at college
12. I thought he was scary at first
13. He liked me and some other girl. I won.
14. He won my heart when he offered his sweatshirt for my burning eyes during a shaving cream battle.
15. We live in a townhouse, and we need more room. but I am grateful.
16. My dad left us when I was 10.
17. He threatened to hurt my mom when he thought she was interfering with his new family. *gag*
18. The night he threatened her, we heard a car backfire outside and feared for our lives, thinking it was a gun.
19. We fled to Baltimore (lived in pa at the time) to my granny’s house.
20. That was the night john lennon was shot.
21. The number 18 is very big in my life
22. I was a catholic for most of my life but am now Episcopalian
23. I love to sew but haven’t since I broke my leg this summer
24. I did not like breaking my leg this summer, but I did enjoy the rest.
25. I have problems saying no and am too busy because of it.
26. I love Emily Dickinson and borrowed a rock from her yard as a memento of my visit to her house
27. I am a huge diet dr. pepper addict.
28. I go through 5 2-liters a week.
29. I’m a recovering bulimic.
30. I don’t mind sharing b/c I’ve found it helps others who need help with eating disorders.
31. I spent 3 weeks in an outpatient eating disorder clinic and learned so much about myself.
32. Dude, they even served us crab cakes.
33. One of my favorite memories is listening to enya while walking in a snowy forest with mike.
34. I love chocolate chip pancakes.
35. I also love pizza and could happily eat it for every meal.
36. My favorite toppings are mushrooms, onions, and pepperoni.
37. And tomatoes. something about fresh tomatoes on a pizza . . .
38. I went to college as an English major, but double majored in Spanish to get a teaching job.
39. I was a high school English and Spanish teacher for five years
40. I quit because I could not devote the time it deserved. my family was more important and
41. I cannot balance time between things and people very well.
42. I tend to become obsessed with hobbies or things for awhile, but then they grow old on me.
43. I was a secretary for three years and typed for over 200 people
44. We've been to Disney World four times and Disneyland once.
45. I'm not really a big Disney fan.
46. I just like being away with my family for long periods of time.
47. We weren't allowed to say "fart" when I was growing up.
48. My brother fed me sand when I was 3 and still denies it to this day.
49. I used to love winter because it made me sad
50. Now I hate being sad so I love summer.
51. I love canning and making jam.
52. I did none of it last summer, thanks to the broken leg.
53. I’m still bitter about that.
54. I was trying to avoid being bitten by a snake at girl scout day camp.
55. I was the director, you see.
56. I was told that if you step on a log instead of over it, you could avoid a potential snake bite.
57. So I stood on a slippery log and lost my footing.
58. I lack common sense sometimes.
59. I go shopping before I pay bills, which is not good.
60. I love going to concerts.
61. I’ve seen Sting, Paul Simon, Counting Crows, Fleetwood Mac, Crosby/Stills/Nash, Wallflowers, Hall and Oates, Michael Mcdonald, and Elton John.
62. I met the singer of the Counting Crows (Adam Duritz) and made a huge fool of myself.
63. I can’t hide my nervousness too well.
64. I was on the tennis team in high school.
65. I had a huge crush on my AP American History teacher.
66. I am related to no one famous.
67. Mike is related to Ulysses Grant and the bodine car driver/racer people.
68. I don’t speak to anyone from high school or college anymore.
69. My house is not very clean.
70. I live for today and not for the future
71. this can be good and bad
72. I used to be deathly afraid of planets after having a nightmare about the moon crashing into the earth
73. gabe’s love of all things spacey made me see it differently
74. I am thinking of taking piano lessons
75. I love to sing but not in front of people
76. to relax I imagine myself ice skating to “the first time ever I saw your face”
77. I cannot ice skate
78. I love cooking and am not too shabby at it
79. however I often lack the time to cook a good meal so we eat a lot of pasta and pizza
80. mike and I have been married for 12 ½ years
81. I was the editor of the college newspaper for two years
82. mike and I were engaged for four years
83. I wanted an outdoor wedding but it didn’t happen that way
84. I hate wearing socks but if I must, they have to be black
85. I hate talking on the phone
86. I do not like parties
87. at a restaurant, I usually order a mushroom cheeseburger or fettucine alfredo
88. I had two c-sections
89. I have a huge scar on my chest because I had a birthmark removed (rather poorly) when I was six and seven
90. the operation was done in halves; they thought I had skin cancer
91. I didn’t, thank God
92. my favorite books tend to depress me
93. I love reading Thomas hardy novels
94. I cannot read madame bovary because I identify with her too much
95. when I’m done reading a book, I still feel like I’m in the characters’ world, and it hurts when I realize they aren’t real
96. I guess that sounds weird, but I’m not worried
97. white chocolate covered pretzels are incredible
98. i graduated summa cum laude and still can’t believe that
99. I am too sensitive
100. My mom is one of my best friends.

and there you have it.

gabe's sick today, and i feel so bad for him, b/c there really isn't much i can do to help him out. he's sleeping right now. i might join him. today i'm teaching a sixth grade homeschool girl how to knit - wish me luck!

*edited to add - i had to reschedule the knitting lesson. but i'm working on a really cute washcloth for christmas - it's round. can't wait to finish it and show you!*

another one more

2004-11-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

well, since mike liked the hat he modeled the other day, i thought i'd make him one identical, but i'd make it a little smaller. the one he modeled was a little long for him. but here's what happened:

see? his little ear is poking out, or at least the bottoms are. he insists it's fine, it's big enough, etc. but i feel like it's back to the needles, where i'll just make him another and give that one to gabe. that kid has a big head, so he should fit this adult-sized hat no problem. it's weird, b/c all i did was take out two rows. *sigh* and i thought i was so clever doing that. pfffft. (he doesn't usually look this demonic, at least not on mondays.)

you should check out i'm knitting as fast as i can , where the resident knitter (i think her name is susan) just finished felting up some gorgeous oven mitts from bev galeskas' book, felted knits . i just love 'em!

i was looking at my knit one, felt two book last night and thought i'd begin the classic cloche for my mom.

i had started a chicknits bucket hat for her, but i was using this yarn that was just too hairy, and when it came time to pick up stitches, they were hard to find. i just wasn't liking it. here's a wip shot:

i might finish it when i'm not pressed for time, like i am now. so today, i'll begin the felted cloche for her, and i'm also going to start a very harlot poncho for marah for christmas. i'm psyched!

one more hat

2004-11-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

i finished a hat for someone for christmas. it's the same pattern i used for my nephew (the red and black striped hat i had done earlier this month), which is from the knit it magazine.

mike (looking goofy) tried it on to make sure it would fit the giftee:

i guess this magazine only comes out once a year, or so i've heard. anyway, it's a really simple pattern. it calls for a size 8 circular and dpns, and the yarn i used was just some lion brand wool ease in both grey and black. mike said he wanted me to knit him something for christmas (i was so excited to hear that!), so i might make him one of these as well, or two or three. i also want to try the seaman's cap that susan had done (and she did it so wonderfully, too!). it looks so thick and warm.

i really want to make leo for mike for valentine's day. the problem is, it calls for Horstia Maulbeerseide Schurwolle, knitted up on a size 3 and size 4, the gauge being 24 sts/32 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch. i emailed the designer, kristi porter, and asked her about yarn substitutes, b/c i can't afford this yarn (dude, i'd need 17 skeins, and this stuff is almost $11 each!)! however, i cannot find the email anywhere. i could've sworn she recommended i try some classic elite, but i don't remember what kind. so how would i go about figuring out a substitute? do i just find something of the same weight that gets the same gauge on the same size needle? how do i do that? in other words, HELP!!

please and thank you.

we decorated for christmas yesterday, and cloudy got into the act:

she was so excited to hide in the greens. just wait until she gets her presents! she won't know what hit her. it's only her second christmas. meow!

white roses & black friday

2004-11-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

okay, thanksgiving dinner was just plain yummeh! my in-laws did an awesomejob on the squash, potatoes, and the turkey. i rocked on that sweet potato souffle, man! today is happy leftover day. i don't quite like the taste of reheated turkey or chicken, but i will be happy with my little bowl of sweet potato souffle, please and thank you.

there was almost a pie snafu. mike knew my feathers would be ruffled (i ruffle way too often) and bought me these to smooth it over:

white roses are my favorites. i love orange, don't get me wrong, but a close third favorite color (black is #2) is white. i'd love for all the rooms in my house to be white, but we're too slovenly for that to ever happen.

anyway, what a great guy. he never reads this, but i'll say it anyway - i love you, mike!!

and even though i've seen it a million plus two times, i had to watch this last night on tcm:

i've asked for the dvd for christmas and can't wait to unwrap it (hubby knows to stick to my list. he's smart like that.) i've loved this movie since i was a little girl. to me, it's all about costumes. i used to tie pillows to my rear and then pull a sheet around my waist, so i'd have a bustle dress just like scarlett.

knitting: i did absolutely no work on the afghan, but i did manage to start a cable hat for my mom . . . and then frogged it. i forgot i'd already started a bucket hat for her (and i may have been a little intimidated by the fact that it was my first cable project!) and anyway, i twisted my stitches when i joined the round. oops. i started on a grey hat for another family member. it's such a simple pattern, found in last year's knit it magazine. anyway, thanks for all of your nice comments on the afghan. and lisa, you and stevie are my inspiration - discipline!

before i go, i have to direct you to nancy's felted daypack from interweave knits . she did an awesome job! and check out her little tamagotchi felted pouch - her own design!

have a great black friday! be careful you don't get trampled on by some well-meaning shopper who really wanted the *insert present here* that you just picked up.

two down, six to go . . .

2004-11-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

i'm on a baking frenzy. last night i did the pumpkin bread and cranberry bread (gotta love that recipe on the back of the ocean spray cranberry bag - it's sooooooo yummy!). today i have to make:

cranberry-raspberry relish
pumpkin pie
cranberry raisin pie
green bean casserole
sweet potato souffle
stuffing

but of course, i have to find room in the fridge for all of these things! i think gabe found a yogurt from august in there the other day and had wanted to eat it. poor kid. he thinks our fridge is routinely cleaned out.

anyway, i've been knitting an afghan for months now. it's one of those projects that i really don't like to do, so i began it in august, did 15 rows, and ditched it for all the other things i've posted for the past few months. but then i realized, oh crap. it's soon christmas, and i have to have this thing done if i want to give it away. it isn't a terrible project, it's just really attention-consuming, as in it has rows like :k3, p2, k12, (k5, p2, k6, p4) to end, p3 k2. so just one wrong k or p and i've messed up the pattern. here it is:

this one shows the color better, and

this one shows the pattern better.

but they're both the same afghan.

yesterday we went to the library. i could afford my fine, which was only $25.10. last time it was $63. i'm very bad about returning things, and the kids always sign out videos, which are $2 a day for the overdue fee. we decided to measure our receipt, which prints out the books we've signed out - it was 61 inches! woohoo! you'd think i'd learn.

well, i better get to cookin' - happy thanksgiving, everyone!

i almost forgot - check out the really cool charity opportunity at wendy knits! it's her 11/23 entry. cool idea!

random tidbits

2004-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

my mind is a big swirlie. no, i don't mean the toilet-head-flushing prank. i mean that so many things are always going on, and i can't think in a linear fashion anymore. it used to be helpful to create a list of things i had to do, but then the lists got too long and started to depress me. here's a sampling of what's going on in my mind right now:

1. i need to email some moms about the knitting club for kids i'm starting up in january - also need to secure the meeting place;
2. a hancock's fabrics just opened up nearby and has every possible lion brand yarn ever made; that reminds me, i need to make a christmas washcloth for a special sibling using some lb cotton i bought there;

3. i gotta get this afghan done for christmas. i started it in august and have no excuses!
4. what in the world am i going to make for thanksgiving dinner? (we're bringing it to my in-laws, since my mil is immobile from her foot surgery) i better make a list (ugh) and go to the store today.
5. i won't be at the next girl scout leader meeting b/c i'm going to a debbie stoller snb nation book signing! i have to get handouts ready since i won't be at the meeting to speak about upcoming events.
6. i need to find someone to lead girl scout day camp with me this summer.
7. i should really fold that basket of laundry before cloudy claims it as her own.
8. i wonder if cloudy caught that mouse in the garage yet?
9. i have no knitting pictures to put in my blog today. eep!
10. i'll have to do an internet search to jazz it up. a turkey. yeah, i'll put in a turkey.

if i don't post before thanksgiving, i want to wish you all a very happy holiday! be safe and enjoy your family time. i'd also like to tell you that i'm thankful for all of you and your help and knitting advice. thank you!

i am hungry for my apple jacks

2004-11-20T08:27:00.000-05:00

but first i wanted to post so that i can eat and not feel like i need to post. make sense? good. maybe you can explain it to me later.

thank you for missing me. *smack*

i made two of those cute lil christmas bells. john lennon is going to model them for you now:

poor guy thought they were hats and got a nasty bump when the actual little jingly bell inside bumped his head.

they were fun to do, being very quick and easy and kinda cute. mine look like hats (hence john's confusion), but if i mash them into the right shape right before i give them to my intended recipients, they won't know a thing (until they unmash and look like hats again, at which point i'll have left the scene).

on another (but still knitting) note, i'm kinda bummed because i'd bought this nice soft brown baby alpaca back when i visited that alpaca farm. i was going to use it to make my dad a scarf, just like mike's birthday scarf, but it turns out it's more of a fingering weight than a DK. does that mean i use bigger needles? it'll be lacy then, and this is for my dad. he can cook, but that's as far as his effeminate side goes.

well, i'll leave you with this shot of marah and gabe at the american helicopter museum in west chester, pa. our homeschool group took a field trip there yesterday. it was a really interesting place - tons of historic helicopters. the docents were very enthusiastic about their subject but weren't able to lower their language level enough for their audience, who had no idea what they were saying. if it weren't for the fact that we all have polite children who could make up for the experience by climbing into some of the choppers, we would've had a mutinous bunch.

that wasn't very nice.

2004-11-18T19:44:00.000-05:00

i'll spare you the details, but let me just say that if verizon ever says they'll call or come out, don't believe them. they didn't call. i called. my hubby called. they said they came and no one was here. I WAS HERE ALL DAY!!!!!!!! as you can see, they finally came, a week after i'd reported that our internet service was down. insert expression of disgust here.

i will say that i really did realize how much i rely on the internet for research and communication. what would i have done 20 years ago, if i was a busy mom-homeschooler-cook-knitter-scoutleading-34-year-old woman and i needed to find a project or recipe asap? i am generally one to bow down to the simple life (no, not the paris/nicole debaucle), but when time's a wastin', i need answers. FAST.

so anyway. i did some knittin'. see?

booga bag. done in noro kureyon #128

it's rounded on the bottom because i forgot the cereal box blocking instructions. round can be good, if not correct.

can't say who this is for, since that person reads this, but here's their hat, done using some black plymouth encore and some red red heart and a pattern from last year's knit it mag.

matching tassled hat (i did the smaller one a few months ago) for my niece for christmas, done using a multicolored blend from plymouth encore:

marah visited a senior citizen day care today with the rest of our scout troop, and she played uno with some of the folks there. she was nervous at first, but she loosened up and had a blast (but didn't win).

i don't know what i'm knitting next, although i have a knit-for-christmas-list that is begging me to pay attention to it. i need to finish up that afghan that i started months ago, but chances are i'll make a few more baby alpaca scarves.

i have a problem - when i get to the end of a knitting project, i tend to be very reckless and ignore things, like i felted a hat without weaving in the ends (didn't matter, but still); i've cut yarn before casting off; i blocked booga wrong . . . i think i just get so excited that i'm "done" that i really think i'm "done." and i'm not "done."

here's a parting pic of me and marah at the senior center. gabe took it - he didn't cut off our heads or anything else vital!

please stand by

2004-11-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

we interrupt this blog to provide you with the following announcement:

my verizon dsl is down and out, and they aren't even going to call to set up an appointment to look at it until monday, so as far as any updates on my blog or comments on yours, i'm in a yarn shop without a cent. (in other words, i'm out of commission!)

wah.

get down, booga ooga ooga

2004-11-10T20:30:00.000-05:00

i was waiting for gabe at gymnastics tonight and finished up the bag portion of my booga. need proof? look no further:

i'm really excited to finish it up, for many reasons - one, b/c it's a felted handbag pattern, which is one of my favorite things to work on. two, it's just one more christmas present that i'll be done with (for whom, i have no idea yet). three, now i can start other things! or maybe finish up that afghan that's been on the sidebar for ten million kazillion billion weeks. tonight i'll work on (and hopefully finish) my i-cord.

you know, i'm in such a hizzy because of all of these christmas presents, and i'm at the point where i'm not enjoying my knitting. so i made the decision tonight that i'm going to limit my list. i can't do it all, and i want to enjoy what i actually can do.

i've decided to make a very harlot poncho for marah. she loves ponchos, and she looks adorable in 'em. i'm going to make one for her in a pretty lavender. she has black already, which would've been her first choice, so we'll go for a pastel, which isn't my favorite, but this isn't about me, it's about that wonderful 9 y/o daughter of mine!

know what's really gross? my cell phone bill. while we were in california, my phone never said "roam" on it, so i called my mom and sister and friend rose to say hey and catch up on all the PA news. however, i guess i was roaming anyway, b/c my normally sweet little cell phone bill turned ugly. $181 dollars worth of ugly. now listen, i wanted to know how things in william penn's woods were going, but not at that price. i'm kinda miffed, but mostly i feel stupid. *sigh*

there goes some stash money. pffffft.

big schnozzes and mitten cakes

2004-11-09T22:43:00.000-05:00

i had originally posted about how i have one and an eighth christmas projects done, and about 20 people i want to knit things for. i pitifully asked you if you thought i could finish, and asked for a kind and gentle answer.

but it occurred to me that many of my recipients are also readers of my blog, so there went that post.

instead, i'd like to say this:

why do i have crushes on these actors?

i was talking with my kids about having crushes on cartoon characters as a child. they think it's hysterical that i used to love:

so sue me. i liked his black feathers and sardonic wit.

back to normalcy: i love these mittens so much, and she's starting another pair . did you ever see one of those cakes martha stewart would whip up, where she'd put a stencil on the top of the uniced cake and then sprinkle powdered sugar over the stencil to create a really intricate design? that's what these mittens remind me of. i could just eat 'em up.

i get so inspired by all of you. thank you for blogging!

P.S. Does anyone have any problems getting notice through bloglines when I update my blog? Let me know - I think my account is messed up. Thanks! :)

my kids are cool

2004-11-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

my kids are cool. know why? because they love this album:

revolver, the beatles

marah has fallen for "eleanor rigby," while she enjoys the horns in "for no one." gabe likes "yellow submarine" - especially the part where paul speaks after ringo sings in the last verse: "every one of us/has all we need/sky of blue/sea of green/in our yellow/submarine, ya-ha." gabe says, "why does that guy follow the singer like that?"

i actually have made the beatles part of our homeschool curriculum. is that obsessed? yes. i'm so excited to show them some documentaries i've taped over the years!

and guess what? i finished mike's scarf! woohoo!!!!! here are the details:

Plymouth Pattern IN42
Yarn: Plymouth Indicieta Baby Alpaka DK, colorway 401 (2 balls)
Needles: Size 6 (clover bamboo)

here's a pic!

and here it is, being modeled by the one and only moe howard:

i finished knitting it yesterday, just in time for mike's birthday dinner (he asked for crock pot mac-n-cheese and a pumpkin roll). it was 95% done; i finished it up by weaving in the ends while watching arrested development. i blocked it overnight, and he wore it today. yay!

if you do any more blog reading tonite, please make sure you include checking out alisha's beaded/cabled mitten . she has a really interesting blog, and this mitten is gorgeous! see for yourself!

my hand is itchy. i grew up believing that if your hand itches, you're about to get a lot of money. i'd better make up a stash wish list, just in case!

edited to add: alisha asked a question below about the "spinner's kiss" that i complained about. i emailed her back, but i thought i'd share my answer, in case anyone else got frustrated about these knots:

i wrote:

hi alisha! i made up that phrase, attempting to be clever. it bugs the crap out of me, though. it just happened again, last night, while i was making my booga. i've come across a lot of these little knots in noro kureyon. i thought that was supposed to be good stuff!
anyway, in a knitting class i took, my teacher told me exactly what you said - it depends on the project. for instance, since i'm felting my booga, it should be okay to continue knitting and leave the knot there - making sure to tuck it in the inside. however, if it's a sweater or something really fine where a knot would be obvious, she will often frog back to the beginning of a row, cut the yarn, go back and cut out the knot, and then begin the next row as if you're beginning a new skein of yarn.
what a hassle! i called it the spinner's kiss b/c i think it's mainly a problem with really natural fibers. i can't imagine a machine making a knot while winding up some good old acrylic, but i could be wrong there.

if anyone out there has any other tips on these stupid knots, let me (and alisha) know! thanks :)

super spanakopita

2004-11-06T19:25:00.000-05:00

there was a greek festival at a local greek orthodox church today, and boy was it yummy! of course i sampled the mousaka and pastitsio, but i really was there for the pastries.

mmmmmm baklava:

mmmmmmm diples:

mmmmmm kourambiedes:

the place was packed, so much so that we couldn't get upstairs to have a tour of the sanctuary. i was rather disappointed, because i'd wanted the kids to see what it looked like. however, i quickly found solace in my honey-laden goodies.

in knitting news, i have been getting quite a few compliments on my felted bag lately. why is this surprising? because i feel like after you've used a felted bag for a few weeks, it gets balled fuzz, aka "pills." i mentioned this problem at a lys, and they recommended that i brush it every now and then to get some of that off. i haven't brushed it yet, but i've gotten compliments. does that mean people like "pills?"

or maybe i'm just my own worst critic.

my weekend goals of finishing mike's scarf and my booga bag have yet to be met. however, tomorrow IS another day. *looks optimistically into the air* i do have to make mike's belated birthday dinner (he requested crock pot mac-n-cheese and a pumpkin roll for dessert) and plan for my co-op class on monday, but knitting is like jello. there's always room (or time).

p.s. isn't this cute?

i'd like to make a whole bunch for christmas. you actually put little bells in them, so they really jingle! am i too excited about this? probably. blame it on the baklava. there's a lot of sweetness in that stuff! if you're excited like i am, click here for the pattern.

check out amy's cool gift tags! aren't they cute?

everyone knows it's windy

2004-11-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

man. good thing i'm not a leaf. not only would i hate the fall out of the tree (hee hee, i made a pun), but i'd be fodder for the wind. in other words, it was windy today. extremely so.

yesterday was mike's birthday, and i didn't finish the scarf. however, i only have about 60 rows to go, which is only about 1/4 of it. he really liked it! i was so glad, b/c i think he thinks a lot of knitted things are very femmy, even if they're made for men. he loved the softness of the alpaca. yippeeee!

here's some pics of it, almost completed:

a close-up of the broken stripes:

woohoo! did anyone see the o.c. last night? i have waited soooooooo loooooooooong for the season to start up again. the hour went way too fast. any other oc addicts out there?

and of course i had to watch the apprentice afterward. i'm glad raj got the boot. he thought too highly of himself.

tonight we're going to some craft shows. i'll have to put on the christmas tunes to get in the spirit. my favorite christmas album of all times is elvis's christmas album (that's what it's called), and the kids have been requesting the wiggles' christmas album. don't tell anyone i said this, but i kinda like it, too! shhhhh!

i hope to finish mike's scarf this weekend, along with the booga bag. i gotta get moving on this christmas knitting, not to mention two november birthdays that i'm also knitting for. (hi keebs! - shout out to my nephew!)

lame post

2004-11-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

this is a lame post.

i am really sleepy. this has been one of those non-stop days. it hasn't been a bad day at all, just busy and long and hairy. i'm usually in bed by now, knitting. i guess posting on my blog is the next best thing.

i didn't get mike's birthday scarf done. it calls for two balls of alpaca, and i am just a few rows away from being done with one, so i can at least say i'm halfway done. i'll be spending the whole day at his folks' house tomorrow, helping his mom with stuff since she just had foot surgery last weekend. i can undoubtedly work on it there - i am going for the gold and saying i'll have it done. he won't be home most of the day, or night for that matter, on his birthday (tomorrow), so it isn't a huge tragedy that i'm not done. i just wanted to be able to say i was. oh well.

thanks to all for your comments on the colorway on my booga. i'm about to start skein two. i like the mindless knitting it provides. i even did it in the dark last night while mike went and voted (i'd already done so that morning).

this is a lame post. i need a picture or something. here:

oh, i can say this: i went to a lys, Oh Susanna, and i have to say i feel badly for the owner. she has a really bad reputation, or at least her store does, b/c it is somewhat cluttered. there's the whole legendary tale of how the fire police shut her down b/c there were too many bags and boxes of yarn all over the place.

but can i tell you? she has every possible yarn you could dream of. i swear she has every type of noro made, and lots of it. she has fun stuff like colinette and rowan and lots of locally spun goodness as well. bunches of pretty cascade quatro, jo sharp, and debbie bliss are bursting out of tons of cubicles.

she also has a ton of books (i picked up a rowan cork pattern book) and magazines. i admired one of the scarves she had hanging up, knit on the bias. she said, "oh, i'll give you the pattern," and she proceeded to write it down on my receipt. she's just so cool. too cool for shoes, really. she's the kind of person that you could just sit and brain-pick for hours and then walk away from, feeling stuffed, as if you had a big plate of fettucine alfredo. with breadsticks.

that lys story saved my post. it may rank now as only being half lame.

sufferin' suffragettes

2004-11-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

as meg reminds us in her blog, GO OUT AND VOTE! we went this a.m., we being me and the kids. they were amazed at how little time it took. i was, too. there were maybe 8 other people there. i'm hoping it's just because i picked the right time and not for any other reason, although i'm sure this being such a vital election, timing was indeed the reason for the lack of line.

i really felt the urge to honor those women who fought so hard to grant this right for their future daughters/granddaughters/etc. thanks, ladies of yore!

in knitting news, argh! this bugs the crapola outta me:

i understand that it is the "spinner's kiss." but it still bugs the crapola outta me!!

it's noro kureyon, which i'm using for the ole' booga bag. (it's in shade #128, which i chose because i loved wendy's butterfly cardigan .) it is boogarific. i'm slow going on it b/c i only work on it at night. knitting makes me sleepy, so i get maybe two rounds done and then debate on using stitch holders to keep my eyes open. rejecting that idea, the booga, and the eyelids, quickly drop.

anyway, check it out, in progress:

do you not see that delicious stripe of orange in the colorway? do you not want to just stare at it for a few minutes? possibly hours?

oh, okay. i guess it's just me.

thank you, secret pal!

2004-11-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

guess what was at my door today? a package! yeah, that's right, a package! and it was for me! from my secret pal!!!!

check it out:

i got me some fun sock yarn - sassy stripes by moda dea. it's in a really fun autumnal blend. is "fun autumnal" kind of oxymoronic? seems that way right now.

anyway, i also got a pattern book for lots of cool socks.

thank you, secret pal! today was really majorly yucky, so it really did make the day a whole lot better. thanks!!!

bolus and candy

2004-10-31T11:04:00.000-05:00

well, trick or treat came and went, and marah put on the hallowig. then she took it off. turns out she didn't like how she looked in it. was i disappointed? yeah. but then my sister, brother-in-law, my husband, and my son all put it on and wore it for a few minutes of our candy walk, so it made me feel better. here's marah, feeling embarrassed:

and now, here's gabe doing his rendition of a skeleton whose hair follicles never stopped growing despite his lack of skin (that sounded gross):

the great news is that i finished bolus, gabe's sirdar sweater.

it was great fun. the funny part was i had done the decreasing and shaping for the right side of the v-neck, and then wondered why they didn't give directions for the left side. so i reversed the shaping and managed to make the left side of the V all by my lonesome. then, when i was putting the sweater together, i saw the left side's directions . . . on the next page. i swear, it's been that kind of week. if you've seen any of my posts in the knitters' review forum, you'd understand what i'm talking about (i'm dumb).

here's gabe, showing off his new sweater with a few of his friends!

my next major project is to make a sweater for myself for mike's company christmas party. you don't know how much i dread going to these things. i actually try to make plans for every weekend in december so that when his company announces the date of the party, i can honestly say i have other plans. they beat me to it this year. crapola. anyway, i'm on the search for a not-too-complicated, i-deserve-a-great-sweater-because-i-detest-this-party kind of sweater. if you have any ideas, you know where to find me. thanks!!!!!!!!

gotta have my pops

2004-10-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

i am a cold cereal hound. i'm 34 and probably should be past this phase. long past it, even. but i will never, ever outgrow my love for little hard crunchy nuggets of sugared wheat/corn/rice/oats.

and we have POPS!!!!!!!!!!!

ahem. anyway, i began working on mike's birthday scarf last night while he slept. mwah ha ha ha. here's a quick glimpse:

i'm using plymouth's baby alpaca DK in a nice peaceful grey. the skein is over there on the bed and it almost looks like a little soft animal in repose.

huh?

anyway, it's one of plymouth's textured scarf patterns for their indiecita alpaca yarn. it's kinda slow going with the size sixes and all, but i'm bound and determined to have it finished for 11/4. if i don't, he'll just have to make do with an elongated alpaca hankie.

he also has requested a bunch of stuff from anime arigato , which i will be happy to begift unto him. we're an anime family! i think it would be fun if we all learned japanese together.

tonight is trick or treat, and i'm hoping the predicted drizzle fizzles. mike reminded me that we bought these huge ponchos at disneyland. the ponchos would cover up the kids' costumes, but they'd still get the candy. and that's all that matters.

my pops await!

drum roll, please (and a big glass of soda)

2004-10-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

the hallowig, she is finished!

marah is going to wear it with her black and lime-green witch's costume on friday night for trick or treat. i'm so thrilled i finished it - and so is she! i kinda enjoyed the decreasing portion with the dpn's, although it was very frustrating when i had some stitches going awol off the ends.

cute as a button (a lime green one)

thanks to manda, i got to see the eclipse! i was dumb, though. i went out and said i couldn't see the moon at all! well, duh. it was at a total eclipse at that moment, i guess. i've always had nightmares about the moon, so it isn't my favorite object in the universe, but i do appreciate a good view of it, especially on nights like tonight, when it just illuminates the cirrus clouds with this eerie glow.

nighty night!

cute little holiday things

2004-10-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

this one lady at knitters' review was looking for a knitted tree skirt pattern for christmas, so i searched and found a site that has tons of little christmas goodies (and easter, halloween, and valentine's day, too!) to knit up!

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/holidays.htm

i'm so excited for the holidays. did anyone watch "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown" last night? i sure did! the kids and i made a fun night out of it with popcorn and cozy blankies on the couch. i missed my favorite part, though - when snoopy rises slowly out of the pumpkin patch and linus faints. good grief! i love it when peanuts specials come on, but they seem so much shorter each year. marah even said last night, "that was, like, five minutes, mom!" when the show was over.

knittin' news, knittin' news, knit-knit-knit-knit-knittin' news

2004-10-26T21:09:00.000-04:00

amanda, a great gal friend of mine, emailed me and asked if i did any knitting on my vacation. did i? oh yes, sir. oh yes. mwahahahhaha

okay, here's what i worked on:

1. gabe's bolus sweater. i had quite a time doing the shaping for the v-neck portion. i finally figured it out, no thanks to sirdar's pattern. "decrease one stitch on the neck edge on the next and every following fifth row." sounds easy now, but for whatever reason, i couldn't get the counting right. i guess all the burgers and fries had gone to my head, or i'd been on big thunder mountain way too many times. i finally got it, and was all ready to start on the second half of the v, when BANG! i ran out of yarn. i bought three skeins. it called for three. what the heck, man?!? i had to call my lys back in PA to see if they had any left. long story short, yes, but the wrong lot number. i just went in and compared my sweater to the two different lots they had left on monday, and one was just right, so i'm almost done with that second v. whoopdedingdong!!

2. booga bag - i started it, didn't finish it. i got to the "pick up the stitches" part, made the cool little moccasin shape and then stopped to work on . . .

3. a scarf for myself, that i was working with ggh's coco in shade #3, ravishing reds.

i had cast on 28 stitches, b/c i don't like skinny scarves. but in the end, 28 was too much, so last night i ripped it all out. now that those needles are free, i can begin making mike's alpaca scarf/muffler for his birthday (eeps - 11/4 - hurry!). i'm doing that in a plymouth pattern in their grey indiecita alpaca yarn.

4. i made a noro kureyon skull cap. it's kinda funny. i have two patterns bookmarked on my pc - one is for a noro skull cap, and one is for the noro kureyon one skein hat. i printed out the skull cap instead of the one skein-er. i thought it was looking kinda small when i was making it, but i thought maybe it was just an illusion or something. or maybe i'm just stupid. anyway, when i finished it and gave it to mike as an early birthday present, well, it looked like he had a bottlecap on his head. so we gave it to gabe, who looks very awesome in it:

he is wearing pants!

while i was at the knitty gritty, i bought five skeins of horstia tweed in shade #12, which is coral. it was actually in their bargain bin, and i had originally picked up two skeins. but the night before we left, i wondered what i'd ever do with two skeins of this wonderfully soft wool blend, so i called. they were closed! but the sweet owner, tracey, said she'd stay another half hour if i could come by then, and she'd open the door for me. thanks a bunch, tracey! i still don't know what i'll do with it. i've found a few blogs with projects done with it, namely the shapely tank, so i might consider that later in the year/spring.

i'm off now to finish gabe's v-neck and put together the raglans so i can begin his neckband. bolus, here i come!

home sweet home

2004-10-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Don't get me wrong, I love to travel. But to quote the late great John Denver, "Gee, it's good to be back home again!" And awaiting me at home were two welcome sights: Cloudy, and a cold 2-liter of Diet Dr. Pepper. Woohoo!

And now, the top ten things I loved about our California adventure:
10. Eating out for every meal and not having to do dishes (although at some point this got really old!);
9. Enjoying the warmer climate while hearing of the chills back home in PA;
8. Seeing the movie The Notebook on the flight back home (Darn those Nicholas Sparks books/movies, darn them!)
7. Getting over my fear of feeling my stomach flip, like Carly Patterson, while on a roller coaster;
6. Putting my hands in the stars' handprints at the Mann Chinese Theater;
5. Counting lots of our vacation as homeschooled days for the kids;
4. Getting an extra three hours in our day, thanks to the time zone change;
3. Finding the Knitty Gritty and being told to "go for it" by dear hubby (sad news to follow);
2. Marveling at the beauty of the Pacific Ocean and how it compares to the Atlantic (they're so different!);
and
1. Spending ten days' worth of time with my beautiful, wonderful family.

*gag*

Seriously, it was awesome that Mike didn't have to work, we didn't have to run here and there for various errands, and we could all just enjoy life and explore together.

Anyway, here are some pics!

Here's Marah and Gabe on the Small World ride (which was just like Disney World's, but longer):

Feeding the animals at San Diego's Wild Animal Park (part of the S. D. Zoo):

Look! I saw a star!

Hee, couldn't resist. Actually, we saw ONE, count 'em, ONE celebrity. It was the boy from Even Stevens (don't know his name; he has curly brown hair). He walked by while I was chomping away on an egg salad sandwich at Johnny Rockets in Hollywood.

So of course, I had to take a picture of this famous star:

*giggle* This sea star washed up on the beach near Newport.

While the weather was great for 7 of the 10 days we were there, we had rain for three of 'em. Here's a warning from the skies (above the LA skyline):

Look at how little Mary Pickford's handprints and shoeprints were:

Here's me and Mike, after he saw my receipt from the Knitty Gritty:

Oh yeah, the sad news. Well, I just got an email from the owner of the Knitty Gritty, (not personally, I joined the mailing list) stating that she's giving up the shop. It's for sale, if anyone is interested. If I had the capital and the desire to move to CA, I'd buy it! But I have neither, so . . .

California is gorgeous. The peoples are so diverse, the land is just simply stunning, with all of its mountains and open sky. And it's mega-exciting. However, I'm really, really happy to be home!

Knitting news? Yup! Maybe tomorrow. I'm exhausted and have a ton to do. Bye!

not back yet, but

2004-10-18T16:39:00.000-04:00

just a little hello post! california is a beautiful place - albeit very busy. the traffic is a true nightmare, which doesn't make it easy to drive around and find the lys's in the area. i did manage to find one, the incredible knitty gritty, which is a wonderful little shop in anaheim with a great selection and a sweet and helpful owner. i picked up some horstia that was in the sale bin, along with some crystal palace bamboo needles, which were very dreamy to work with! i was working on gabe's sweater, aka "bolus," and noticed that i left my size 9's at home (needed for cuff and hem ribbing). darn, guess i had to buy another pair - and some bamboo ones to boot! i also picked up some patterns - for a stole and a basic pullover. i'd like to go back and get some more stuff - i saw something i'd like to send to my secret pal!

speaking of which, i heard from my KRsecret pal! woohoo! she sent me a lovely e-card. thanks, KRSP!

we have five days left here in california, and as much as i love it, i'm ready to come home to my bed, my cloudy, and my kitchen. i'm burgered-and-fried out!

i have lots of fun pics to post, but can't figure out how to hook up my camera to the laptop (hubby's computer, and he's napping right now). the highlight of the trip so far was to visit buster keaton's grave (my middle name is macabre), seeing the gorgeous landscape of san diego, and just being with the family. we're so busy at home that it's nice to slow things down and be together on this vacation.

take care, all!

keane and california

2004-10-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

it's sure been a typical autumn sunday - heavy clouds, chilling winds, crispy air. know what i mean? it's kind of bittersweet. i like autumn, with all its orange and pumpkins and what not. but i adore summer, and this really means it's over, and it's a long ways off. *sigh*

well, we're headed to california on wednesday. i haven't said much about it, have i? i'm excited, i mean, i've never been there, and it should be awesome to have mike home without him leaving or coming home late b/c of work. we'll be there ten days. i'm sure once things wind down here i'll be more excited. i still have a homeschool class to teach tomorrow (we're starting poetry, which is 100% awesome), a girl scout event on tuesday (an outdoor rocks badge workshop!), and lots of housework and laundry to do before we leave (which is 4:45 a.m. on wednesday). i wonder if airlines allow knitting needles anymore/yet.

of course i'm totally psyched to check out the yarn shops in the area (we're going to disneyland, so we'll be in that general area). i'm also geared up to go to a silent movie theater and visit buster keaton sites (house, grave, etc.). i'm a huge silent movie fan!

here's a rare shot of buster smiling:

i'll miss cloudy waking me up everyday with her little paw-paw dance. i hope she remembers me when i get home.

today we visited "harvest days" at a local museum, and it was cool to check out the spinners there. i'd never really seen spinning in action. the two spinners there invited me to check out their spinners guild meetings. do i have time for another obsession?

yup.

anyway, if you haven't heard them yet, check out keane. you might like "bedshaped" and "emily." the song they have out now is "somewhere only we know." unfortunately, it's used as background music in a victoria's secret commercial, which only makes me think of tyra banks' billboard forehead when i hear the song now. oh well.

have a good sunday night!

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

2004-10-09T20:55:00.000-04:00

ha ha, silly me, bringing my pillows and sleeping bag to a girl scout camping trip. i mean, what was i thinking? sleep? me? ha.

the girls (and i!) had a great time. you wouldn't believe the place we stayed in:

that's a view of the living room and loft/stairway. it used to be someone's house, and it is on girl scout camp property. it was gorgeous! a sunroom with skylights, living room, dining room, huge kitchen, two-car garage with tables set in it for activities, and three bedrooms upstairs. the girls were up there and i think finally settled down around 3 a.m. (we had told them lights out at 10, all quiet at 11 - silly us!). they were whispering, so i guess that was quiet enough. we had a blast! however, too many daddy-longleggers crashed the party. who invited them, anyway!??!

i know it may seem that we really were not roughing it, but we did cook outside for our meals. that counts for something, right?!?!

remember that noro kureyon that i ordered the other day from www.woolneedlework.com? it came while i was gone, so that was an added bonus to come home to (mike and gabe were treasure enough!)

booga bag, here i come!

finally, lauren showed a picture of her knitting bag the other day, and i thought i'd share mine. guess what color it is?

but when we were at stone harbor last month, a seagull who obviously was not a knitter decided to leave his "signature" on my bag. see?

i heard somewhere that it was good luck to have a bird shoot the pants cannon on your car window or shoulder. does a knitting bag count?

it's thursday!

2004-10-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

thursday was always my favorite day. when i was young, it was b/c fame was on at night, and then cheers. now, i'm not sure why i still like it. i guess b/c the weekend is right there, bam! as soon as you wake up the next day.

i've had a little pain in ye olde broken leg today. my friend rose said i should be healed by now (i broke my fibula on 7/13). the doctor said i probably won't be healed for awhile. i don't know how long "awhile" is, but it still hurts like a dickens. what's a dickens? and why does it hurt?

here's a shot of the lovely fibula. see how it bulges on the sides? that ain't normal. this shot doesn't look as bad as it does in real life.

today i started on gabe's sweater. i'm going to call it "bolus." bolus has nothing to do with space, as i had originally intended. it's just a gross word. kinda like saltpork. anyway, here's a shot of bolus! (you can't tell, but it's done in a 5x2 rib)

marah had a major eye doc appointment today, and we waited about an hour total between this part of it and that part. so thanks to that, bolus has been birthed. yeehaw!

tomorrow night through saturday afternoon i'm taking my GS troop camping. i'm psyched, but i am really a major homebody, so i'm going to miss my gabe and my mike. but hey, i'm making monkey bread for the girls - it won't be all that bad!

have a good weekend, all!

stash-o-rama

2004-10-06T13:55:00.000-04:00

i think the whole world of knitting was just waiting for me. know why? i am a really bad compulsive shopper. i buy what i don't need. what i do need, i wait to buy until it's absolutely necessary. so the whole "unnecessary stash additions" that are so warmly welcomed in the knitting world really make me feel normal.

so, even though i posted a week or so ago about some patterns that i'd bought (why isn't "boughten" a word?), i got more. why? b/c i didn't need them. and that's okay!!

first, here's my fiber fix:

it's all alpaca. the dark brown smaller balls of yarn are from Snickers, whom i now know personally. what a friend. "can i borrow your hair for a sweater i'm making?" "sure! here you go. *snip snip*" those alpacas sure are true blues.

next, here's some encore chunky.
i'm making gabe a sweater. again, it's from sirdar, so again, the pattern has no name. what will i name it? i don't know. gabe is a planet boy. it might be something with a celestial theme, just for him. any ideas?

along with the encore chunky is some grey plymouth baby alpaca. i had to buy it to get these patterns (you can't buy certain patterns at one of my lys's without buying the yarn for it, and i really wanted the pattern for my other alpaca haul). you also see a skein of noro kureyon for a one-skein hat for mike for his birthday (shhhh!).

thanks for the words of rescue regarding mean lady #1. it made me feel much better! y'all are sweeties!

oh, lastly, here's lime-slime hallowig. i actually had it finished last night, but i started my decreases in the wrong spot, so when i cast off, there was a huge bump in the front somewhere. it was really weird. like a sawed-off unicorn trying desperately to hide in a hallowig or something. i frogged back to the end of the bang section and will give it another go tonight sometime. in the meantime, this pic shows the hallowig, the "lobotomy-ready" version.

other thoughts: if you were alive in colonial america, wouldn't you just love little hammy?

other than being happy to find one in my pocket that i'd forgotten about, i like to find ten dollar bills because they're very aesthetically pleasing. RIP ronnie reagan, but i don't want you to replace hammy on the ten spot. please and thank you.

and if you're like me and didn't ever visit this one website before, you should check out making fiends. thanks to susan for sharing the fun!

hallowigs and mean ladies

2004-10-05T08:49:00.000-04:00

i've started the bangs portion of the hallowig - it's been such a fun project so far. i have to buy some dp's in a size 8 b/c i'll need them for the decreases, so unless i get them today, i won't get much further on that project today. pic soon.

last night's last sweater class was horrible. i finished the sweater, as you can see below. my teacher was happy and excited, and three other ladies were really excited about it as well (one was my mom). but there are these two ladies in the class who are just so sour on everything (the one i'd mentioned earlier - she's the one who said she wouldn't talk to me if i finished the sweater). they were so negative. one of the nicer ones said, "we're so proud of you.!" and mean lady #1 said, "i'm not proud of her. i want to wring her neck."

huh?

then she went on to talk about how some people work outside the home. i said, "i work. i homeschool my children." her response was, "i said outside; i never said you didn't work."

you know what, lady? kiss my hallowig!

saltpork completed

2004-10-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

yeehaw! on our trip to ny and 1000 islands, i finished up saltpork:

it was fun! doing up the neckband wasn't hard, thanks to my felted bag class and mike's grandma, a lifelong knitter. woohoo! i had mike take a pic of me in it, but it turned out to be kinda see-through. i guess b/c it was done on 11's? i'm not sure why that turned out that way.

anyway, our trip to new york and the 1000 islands was fun fun fun! one of the best parts was visiting the paddocks alpaca farm in canastota. the owners, pam keville and mark paddock, were so friendly and full of alpaca knowledge - it was incredible! the alpaca were beautiful - their names were so cute, too! one of them was born at 3 a.m., so its name was "starlite." the baby, born last week, doesn't have a name yet, but she sure did have a great coat of alpaca hair on her! here are some of the cuties:

i did indeed buy me some alpaca yarn, which i'll have to post pics of tomorrow. it was cool to buy yarn from an animal that i'd just met. thanks, snickers!

after we were in that part of new york, we went up to the 1000 islands to visit mike's aunt and uncle, who just bought a cottage there. the view they have is breathtaking. i'll post pics later (i keep saying that). but here's a pic of gabe and marah on an uncle sam boat tour - they were just starting to feel the wind and reacted accordingly:

unfortunately, while we were there, i developed a yucky cold. gabe ended up getting his monthly sickness while we were driving home. as horrible as that is, at least that means he won't be sick for our california trip, which means he'll have a much better time. he is due to get sick the day we leave to come back home.

i have sweater class tomorrow night and am excited to show the teacher my sweater. yippee-ki-yay!!!!!

saltpork is comin' to town

2004-09-30T16:37:00.000-04:00

okay, i made major progress with saltpork last night (in case anyone missed it, i just gave this sirdar sweater this random name. it has nothing to do with the sweater, unless it's the color of saltpork. i don't know. i've never seen it. saltpork, that is, not the sweater.)

see?

'course i cut off the ribbing with the way i had the sweater posing. but it's down there.

here's a raglan detail:

i'm hoping to ask mike's grandma how to pick up stitches on the neckline so i can finish this up! i have picked up stitches before when i made a few different handbags, but they were felted, so i want to make sure i do these right (felting is very forgiving!).

woohoo! off to new york. hope everyone has a great weekend!

more progress on the hallowig!

2004-09-30T10:37:00.000-04:00

albeit very little progress, at that!

cloudy put in her green contacts to match the lime-slime hallowig. *snicker*

boo! and here's some bad timing - i'll be in ny this weekend, camping next week end with my scout troop, and then in california during this. i'm so bummed! chelsea posted about this great idea for bloggers up there to meet - make your own blog bag! this looks totally cool!

i think i'm going to make a booga bag using this colorway of noro kureyon:

#128

wendy is working on "butterfly" using this colorway, and it just made me go and get that very same shade for my booga bag. i'm psyched! i just bought the yarn at www.woolneedlework.com for only $5. something a skein; with shipping, it came out to be about $8 each (i bought three). i think this is a good deal (found out about it via knittyreader's forum). if it isn't a good deal, don't tell me. i'd like to think i did something frugal today!

up to no good

2004-09-29T23:28:00.000-04:00

separated at birth

2004-09-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

the berroco model:

and maria from the apprentice:

it kinda reminds me of susan's blog , what with her pictures of the hallowig and the lazytown girl and all.

our dishwasher's broken. i don't know what's going on, but it won't drain. so that's kinda gross. i took it apart today and found nothing blocking it, but then again i couldn't get in the drain, either. that made no sense. it's 10:48 p.m. that's why! it's been a long day.

on another note, ever hear of these ?

they're leprosy bandages that you knit and then send away (and they then in turn get sent to people in India, i believe, with leprosy). apparently these knitted (or they can be crocheted) ones last longer than gauze ones, plus they can be sterilized and re-used. if i ever get this homeschooled kids' knitting club started, it'd be a great first community service project. has anyone ever knitted some of these and sent them away?

tummy's a-growlin' - time for graham crackers and diet dr. pepper! yeehaw!!!!!!

my favorite meal!

2004-09-29T17:55:00.000-04:00

tonight, mike had to work late, and the kids picked out kiddie tv dinners for themselves, so i decided to make my favorite meal - tofu and peanuts! doesn't it just make your mouth water?

i got the recipe from the wife of one of my college professors. when we were vegetarians, we had this a lot. it's yummilicious!

here's the recipe:
1 cake firm tofu, rinsed off and diced
1/2 c. diced green pepper
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts

saute the above in about 4 T. oil until it looks like it's been sauted. then add this sauce, which you have already mixed together:
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T. molasses
1 T. vinegar
4 tsp. cornstarch

reduce heat and let it simmer till sauce has thickened. serve over steamed rice. oh yeah!!!!

mike now hates tofu (apparently he always did, but never told me), so i sometimes make this for him with chicken and broccoli in it instead.

in other news, i finished saltpork's other sleeve. now it's time to make it up! woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my tongue hurts

2004-09-28T21:40:00.000-04:00

i have one of those raised tastebud things on the side of my tongue, so i'm talking as if i have an orthodontic appliance in my mouth. it sounds kinda cool.

ever hear an alpaca? turn on your speakers and visit here

easy patterns and llama spit

2004-09-28T13:20:00.000-04:00

well, since i am nearing completion with the sirdar sweater pattern, and i had the chance to look through some others last night at the lys, i'm wondering which patterns out there are the most knitter-friendly. in other words, which pattern companies make the easiest-to-understand patterns? i really enjoyed this sirdar pattern (and you can see below, i bought two more - only 50 cents each!). i like fiber trends patterns for hats and handbags. i'm also a seamstress (in other words, i like to sew - if i put "i'm a sewer," that'd just sound gross). some patterns i really like, like mccall's and butterick. but i find that simplicity is just not simple, so i don't buy many of their patterns. so anyway, if anyone has any preferences, please let me know! are there any others out there that are pretty decent to understand?

today we made a countdown chain (just construction paper links) to countdown until our trip to california. okay, i am excited! however, this thursday we're headed up to upstate new york to visit some relatives on mike's side. his aunt and uncle bought a cabin up near the st. lawrence river, i guess it's the 1000 islands area? i don't know much about it, but i hear we're going to visit "boldt castle." anyone ever been there?

something exciting to share! mike's grandma (up in oneida, ny) said there are a few alpaca farms that sell alpaca yarn. um, hello!!!!!!!!! i'm there. yippee-ki-yay!

mike is deathly afraid of llamas, since one spit on him when he was little. i wonder if alpacas spit on people, too?

to answer questions:
lisa - i think the skirted cat down there might be metrosexual, or yeah, he's doin' it up gladiator style. :p

susan - i could go nuts with all the patterns on the internet! did you see how there are a few errors in the pumpkin washcloth pattern? check out the (k1, p1) and (p1, k1) sections that are at the end of each row - they should alternate, but some rows don't.

stacy - that's so cool that you were homeschooled for 12 years! it's good to hear that you lived to tell about it. it'll be encouraging for my daughter to hear! :p

a fun time was had by all

2004-09-27T22:16:00.000-04:00

except for my mama! she had a headache, so she couldn't come to our knitting class tonight. wah! i still had fun, though. we learned how to put together the raglan portions of the sweater, which was pretty cool with a capital awesome. i managed to do a little shoppin . . .

got some patterns:

legend dk #5709 by sirdar

stampata #5008 by sirdar

a shell and shawl by artful yarns (using cinema)

and a plymouth pattern, IN20 - "family pullover with shawl collar and pouch." couldn't find a pic to post. finding plymouth patterns on the web is nearly impossible.

i also manhandled the new plymouth baby alpaca grande. the colors are so warm, and it feels so dreamy:

i love #3317.

they also had a bunch of debbie bliss wool cotton on sale for $3.5o a ball. if i had any ideas of what to use it for, i'd get some. i mean, that's a good deal!

now, for other news: i love halloween. wanna hear a story? when i was 3, we lived in west virginia for a year. my mama decided that we could have a halloween party. i was a witch, complete with big tall pointy black cardboard hat. we jazzed it up with some halloween stickers. anyway, it came time to take everyone home. i started to crawl in the backseat of our plymouth fury, but mama objected, saying she wouldn't be able to see out the rearview mirror if my witch's hat was on. so for whatever reason, she decided to put it on the roof of the car. as in the outside of the car. why couldn't i just hold it on my lap? i don't know if my 3 y/o mind thought of asking this. anyway, i forgot all about it. i probably fell asleep in the car. the next morning, we looked out on the road, and there was my witch's hat - flattened like a possum pancake. mama!!!!

aren't these cute:

the little guy on the left end is so cute! i can just hear him now: meoooooooow.

'nite!

the pumpkin washcloth: the sequel

2004-09-27T13:12:00.000-04:00

thanks everyone for the kind comments about the pumpkin washcloth. a few of you had questions, so here are a few answers!

to Susan: i used a size 8. i think my pumpkin looks a little wider than the one in the pattern, so maybe your smaller one would be better! (p.s. i got the washcloth pattern link from your blog - thanks!!!)

to knittens: it was just some "sugar and creme" yarn, you know, the dishcloth yarn. i think someone had it on sale for 79 cents a ball, and i think i might be getting 2 dishcloths out of one ball.

i think making a black one would be cool, although i wonder if the black would run. i once made some christmas-y washcloths, and the red on the same type of yarn ran and turned it pink. kinda weird, huh?

in other news, my co-op class went really well. the kids were awesome, and i had a great time! 7 more weeks to go. hope everyone's having a great day. i think we're about to be hit by jeanne.