Yarngineer TM

Ryan's First

2009-07-20T17:10:00.007-04:00

Here is a pic from Ryan's first birthday. You can see he is doing well and is growing up nicely! Still has some torticolis that gets worse and better, but not yet completely away yet.

Thanks to Jen for the nice comment on my last post. It is great to hear good stories. Our neurologist is such a piece of work. You would think Ryan has two years to live due to the hypotonia. Jen, is your friend's hypotonia a symptom of any larger disorder, or is that the only problem her son has? I keep praying this is a stand alone condition for him. Ryan is very kinesthetic, so I don't imagine he won't be able to keep up with the other boys, either.

Yesterday, I died some sock yarn at Northwoods. It turned out beautifully, and I received many compliments on it. When I can bring it in from drying, I will take pics and post. Who knows, maybe someday I will let out my color sense and become an indie dyer, too.

The latest...

2009-05-26T16:20:00.002-04:00

(As you can see, I originally started writing this post in May! I am only getting back to posting it now. Thanks to Ryan's busy medical and birthday schedule, and lack of internet.)

Stitches South was great. I took classes with JC Briar of STR fame, and Beth Brown-Reinsel.

Traditional Knitted Gansey - Beth Brown-Reinsel

Great class and instructor. Friendly, works the room well, shows you all of the techniques needed to do your own gansey and makes sure you can do them before you leave (as long as you are willing to try). Would take a class from her again. Good handouts.
Sock Design - JC Briar

JC has a dry sense of humor, but I think we all joked around enough to where we felt more comfortable. She is a great instructor also, showing you new techniques and making sure you can do them as well. She is really good at building up your confidence so that you feel that you can be a designer, too. She is a self-proclaimed tech junkie, and loves sharing her knowledge with others, so she is a great instructor for those who aren’t afraid to take on the technical side of knitting. Good handouts.

I have waited to post until I had the latest good news about the last round of testing on Ryan. All of his bloodwork, urine tests, MRI and CT Scans show that he has no known disorders. The neurologist says we just hope now that he grows and develops well despite his hypotonia. So far, he has done just that, meeting milestones on time or ahead of time. He is quite a determined little guy, so happy and smart. I just pray that he continues to have a great life. It is just a shame that we have had to wait 8 months to find out that he is probably fine. It has been a huge emotional rollercoaster this entire year, and I would not wish it on anyone. However, the next step is to visit the geneticist for more testing. When will this end? I just ask that my friends who pray to please include Ryan in their prayers. We keep praying that he is healthy and will live a productive life. That his challenges won't be too great that he can't overcome them.

Hello? Is anyone there?

2009-04-23T04:21:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. I have been pretty busy. I spent a couple of weekends teaching mommies in my mommies group how to knit. That was interesting, but good. I have such a demand for the class that I will probably be teaching knitting for the rest of the year! It is a little tough of a schedule though, as I host it in my home. So it keeps me busy with the weekly freak out of, "OMG! People are coming!" cleaning.

We are on an emotional rollercoaster with Ryan's medical status for months now. Whether there is something serious going on with him or not. Some doctors and therapists think he is fine; others do not. Every time we think he is okay, we get news that we might have to worry. He seems fine and normal, but the doctors want to do more testing. Granted, it took us six freakin' months to even get in to see a Neurologist. Now we have to wait another 6 weeks for an MRI? My husband flipped. Please don't ask what it is about, because even we don't really know until testing is done.

Leaving for Stitches South today. I hope I see you all there.

I know, I know...

2009-01-02T20:49:00.005-05:00

...it has been forever since I have posted. I have been sick since Thanksgiving. I have had colds and viruses that have really kicked my butt. So, I apologize. Life gets in the way sometimes.

My prince is now 6 months old. I love him so much.

I have been trying to clean and organize my office and other parts of the house again. I seem to go through cycles where certain rooms get neglected. Other rooms get more daily pickings up and all. I hope to try to stop doing this (the neglecting of rooms for 2-3 months, piles of filing, ugh). I now have all of my knitting stash in the office. Except for two baskets that have yarn in the living room, so they are serving a decorative function as well. I need someplace to hide some of this sock yarn so my DH does not get overwhelmed by the sheer quantity. Actually, I think he already was yesterday. I showed him my new queue in Ravelry which is now something like 40 projects, not including all of my sock yarn, today. He was like, "Jesus.". I probably have at least 50-60 pairs worth of sock yarn right now. At least he knows we will have plenty of socks when the economic apocalypse comes. I am seriously squashing my purchasing, even at Stitches South. Spending money on baby formula has made that easy. Some people are fairweather friends and don't understand being economically constrained. They can get over it. I am not such a person. My friendship is not conditional. (Well, unless your condition is that you are a beeyotch.)

Now is the time of year to review our knitting resolutions, and make new ones.

2008 Resolutions:

1. Design and publish two of my own patterns. --> Ah, no. I have been a little busy.
2. Complete another Morehouse Farm Sweater kit (from Stash). --> See #1.
3. Restart fair isle projects and finish them, with good gage. --> See #1.
4. Start and complete a project in continental. This should be combined with resolution #3. --> Do dishcloths count?
5. Dye on my own. --> See #1. (I see a sickening trend here.)
6. Use of some of my insane sock yarn stash by knitting baby items. --> You know, I really did try. But when I had to frog a single EZ Baby Surprise Sweater for the 20th time, I decided to stop banging my head against the wall. Seriously, pregnancy hormones made me a mental fruitloop in the knitting department.
7. Put more of my stash and projects on Ravelry. --> OMG. I just did some of this today. I did the project queue. Don't hold your breath for the yarn stash.
8. Knit and/or quilt two baby blankets. One for stroller and carseat, one full sized. --> See #1 and #6.
9. Avoid Christmas knitting requests. This year, I will just say no. The only knitted Christmas presents will be surprises. --> Yay! SUCCESS!

Okay, so I did not get far. The pregnancy hormones squashed my knitting desire (I was too tired) and also made me so horrible at keeping track of where I was in a pattern, so that I made too many mistakes. So I think we will keep the resolutions simple this year.

2009 Resolutions:

1. Reduce Ravelry Queue by 5 projects (this is quite ambitious, considering I don't remember completing anything but a pair of socks this last year).

2. Knit something(!) finally for my son. Please don't give me the bad mother award.

3. Maybe glance at and fondle my fair isle, in hopes of learning better two-stranded tension by osmosis.

4. Avoid Christmas Knitting requests again. I really hate deadline knitting. It brings out the knitting procrastinator in me.

5. Teach others to knit. I am already setting this up for one of my mommies groups, based on another's request. I never even thought of it before. How brilliant! I can make my contribution to the mommies group Mom's Night Ins (MNIs) in an inexpensive way. And I hope to make it fun with nibblies and wine. Because, like Patsy and Edina, everything is better with a drink and nibbly bits.

It's that time of year...

2008-10-21T13:14:00.007-04:00

...where we all migrate to SAFF. I hope to see you guys there. If Ryan cooperates, I will be heading up with my husband on Friday. Now, my husband said he is going with me, and I hope he does but you all know how guys are.

Here are some of the latest pics. He already has his first tooth! I swear to God he will be starting college tomorrow at the rate he is going. :) He is also in a growth spurt.

Isn't he dreamy? Too cute for words. I am just all a-squish.

I have started knitting. It is only a hat for my husband, but at least it is something that I can manage. Ryan is funny as he likes to watch me knit. He stares as if he is trying to figure it out. I let him touch the yarn and the knitted fabric. But not the needles! He is at the grabby stage, and I do not need him poking his own eyes!

Gloriously Delinquent...

2008-09-27T10:20:00.003-04:00

...is how I would describe myself. My mom just left town from her first visit to see her grandson. I have also been sooo busy running around to Doctors and therapy appointments for Ryan. We are still seeing an OT for eating (though we have started practicing spoon feeding to get ready for the next step) and a PT to address his development. He has challenges because he is hypotonic and has reflux. But he has made amazing progress in the last two weeks. He has already rolled over many times, is feeling and grabbing things with his index finger and thumb, and so many other things I can't remember them all. So he is really catching up.

As you can see, he is really a character. He is quiet, observant, and social. Every day, I am more and more convinced that babies are a miracle. Each and every one.

Every now and then I get to see a few knitters. I have to avoid one knitting group because people have shingles in it, and I can't risk exposing Ryan to the chicken pox at such a young age. If I can get my yarn out of storage, I hope to start knitting a hat for my husband in his school colors.

Things are getting better...

2008-08-24T13:57:00.005-04:00

...the little guy is finally managing his acid reflux, thanks to Prevacid and formula with rice cereal in it. He is finally sleeping better, and is smiling alot! I think he was delayed on smiling because the acid reflux put him in so much pain that he did not feel like smiling. Now he smiles all the time! He gets his 2 month old shots tomorrow morning. I am so proud of him and I am looking forward to getting out more after he has the shots. Maybe I can finally start making it to some of my old knitting groups once in awhile!

Here is an old picture of him smiling. It is hard to catch him smiling on film, as he gets serious anytime a camera is near.

And here is a picture of his chubbier self, rockin' the faux hawk.

Of course, I still don't have time to knit. But maybe I will try to work on that. It is hard to do when you know you need to play with your baby and still get chores done. It is funny that he is so big (already 14 lbs and at least 25 inches), that he would never fit into anything I would have knit for him for this winter, even with all of my best guesses as to how big to make it. So it is a good think I did not finish knitting anything!

I am ecstatic! I found out today that someone finally bought my shirt design on zazzle.com (there is a link on the bottom of my page). I think that means I need to finally get off my butt and design some more. It is the tshirt that I wore to Stitches East last year. I know you all know how tough it is to wear or display your art and receive zero positive comments on it. It is almost as bad as getting negative criticsm. Well, that is what had happened to me. So it feels so nice that someone actually liked it enough to buy it! Thank you whoever you are! You made my day. :)

Don't mind while I do...

2008-08-04T16:04:00.002-04:00

...take a break from regular blog posting. The little guy now has acid reflux, and every day is a new adventure with what and how much medication, what to feed and how much, and whether he is sleeping or playing enough. Yes, you can tell this is my first child and he is one grand science experiment (as my mom says).

Anyhoo, here is the picture I used for his birth announcement. I hope you like it. I took it myself. :) I had to take like 80 pictures to get 2 good ones.

Ta daa!

2008-06-27T07:30:00.004-04:00

May I introduce to you, my new son, Ryan?!

He was born after 17 hours of hard labor, and a C-section. He was 8 lbs, 12 ounces, 22 inches long, head circumference 14 inches, and feet over 3 inches long. He is a big boy! In addition to his size, my sacral region was shaped slightly flatter such that a vaginal birth would not have been possible. But this is something the doctors don't know until they go in. That is why after the induction we waited so long before doing the C-section. No amount of picotin made my body progress with the labor (though the doctors, nurses and doula DEFINITELY tried), and he would never have been able to make it through anyway. All I can say is that modern medicine is a miracle, that we are able to have babies under difficult physical circumstances and have both the baby and the mom survive. It is a blessing. I wish this was the case in every country. And I don't feel any less of a mother for not having a vaginal birth. It was just not meant to be. I guess our combined family genetics leads to huge babies! :)

All of his nurses thought he was the cutest. And he really is.

I am healing well, but I really should rest more than I do. I am going to try to force myself to rest more today. My feet are swelling so huge that they are scary looking.

He has feeding problems, so we are working with training him to eat faster, more aggressively, stronger. All I can say is, moms, trust your instincts. Even when the doctors and some nurses think nothing is wrong with your baby, pursue it. I ended up eliminating sources of fussiness until I got down to the fact he was probably not taking in enough milk...so back to the lactation center I went. Fortunately, there I found a nurse who figured it out right away and helped us with a concrete plan. I highly recommend using lactation specialists, especially those who support both breast and bottle feeding. The ones I use are wonderful nurses, some with master's degrees, and IBCLC certifications and experience. Their knowledge of breastfeeding led to the diagnosis of his problem (which extends to both breast and bottle feeding). Even if you don't think you need help, chances are that YOU WILL. So try to reach out for these resources in your community. My lactation center understands that we have to use a bottle as part of the baby's therapy to become stronger. Because if we don't use a bottle, he would take so long to eat enough that the feedings would blur into each other and we would never sleep! He may never fully take to breast feeding, but we will try a little every day. But all of this is okay, as we are doing what we can and what is best for him to grow and thrive.

Okay, enough gabbing. I really need to get ready to feed him again and get back to sleeping. I have only slept about 5 hours. And I still need to catch up from missing sleep for about 5 days! Ah, well one more thing. My husband can't handle the sleep deprivation as well as I. It is really quite funny. All of that GREEAAT Arrrr-my training in sleep deprivation has finally paid off in my personal life. I didn't hallucinate once. I have not fallen asleep on the job (though you ladies who breastfeed know that breastfeeding and pumping do their best to make you fall asleep while you are doing it). And I would let my husband sleep whenever he could while we were in the hospital and at home. He is better at powernaps than I. And since I can't drive, we have to keep him in the best shape we can.

Okay, that is all for now. I really must go.... :)

Still preggo....

2008-06-18T12:40:00.001-04:00

The baby is nearly a week past his due date. If the hospital has a bed available, we will induce tomorrow.

Wish us luck. :)

On the crafty front, I finished my hooter hider. Yay!

Driving for the hoop....

2008-05-30T09:45:00.003-04:00

That is what the baby is doing. I have exactly two weeks until my due date, and the last few days he has been so active, trying to push down that it is kind of funny and scary at the same time. It is endearing, but then you don't want him to come too early. Again, he kicked where the ultrasound monitor was placed on my belly. He always makes the nurses and doctors laugh. My son will have the protective instinct from the womb. :)

One of the things that is so frustrating right now is finding baby products that do not contain bisphenol-A (BPA). Baby bottles are easy, it is the teething rings and other gifts people gave me that are hard to tell. Some you just have to check with manufacturers or guess by how soft or hard the plastic is. For those of you in the same predicament, this link is good to use. Between this and lead paint in everything from China, what the heck are parents supposed to do nowadays? You are basically left with cloth items being the safest toys to use. I guess that is good for a knitter.

I have worked a little farther along on the Baby Surprise Jacket, but not much farther. My back has really acted up this week, so I have been focusing on chores and getting my back better. I was so happy to hear my husband say this morning that he feels this weekend is "...going to be a nesting weekend. I feel like I need to nest." Yay! Hopefully I won't have to remind him 10 times to do the chores we need to get done! :)

If it wasn't for the baby...

2008-05-26T17:30:00.004-04:00

...I would have given up by now. Pregnancy makes me stupid. As in, I can't follow directions for anything other than assembling baby gear. (And thank goodness I can manage that, as my husband cannot. He has NO patience for it.) I had to frog back the Baby Surprise Jacket *yet again.* Someone shoot me now. I managed to catch back up to where I was today, sitting on the back porch and knitting in the nice weather. It is too hot for a pregnant lady to be in the sun, but the shade was not so bad.

I also managed to make it up to the Northwoods Fiber Farm sale. I bought some plain old cascade 220 in hopes of finally doing a Noni bag pattern that I bought back at Stitches East, and some Manos del Uruguay in lilac/lavender color to do a sweater vest for myself.

Edited to add: And thanks to my fellow veterans. Thank you for your service to our country. I will never forget you.

I just have to say...

2008-05-20T11:22:00.003-04:00

...thanks. It is so nice that my different knitting buddies have been so positive and supportive to talk to about the pregnancy. Especially the NwAnon group. It is nice to be around other women who are positive mommy role models, and who give positive advice. It truly means alot to me to be surrounded by optimistic people.

I have to admit that I am really lucky and have not ran into TOO many negative people, but there are some out there. Like the woman who told me that children never get better after the newborn/infant stage. Yah, thanks for that one. Thanks for making me feel like I am sentenced to prison for 18 years. And then other people who (alternately) complain strongly about their kids in private, but do nothing but laud them in the public arena like they are saints. Which is it? I know it is both, but don't act like it isn't. I know I didn't always make my parents smile. :)

I don't know, I guess it is hard for me to understand because I tend to be an optimist. Even when things are really cruddy in my life, I don't stay sad for long.

Ring Momma Administrivia: AlaskanKnitters RingSurf

2008-05-20T11:21:00.000-04:00

I hate to be a negative ring momma, but I had to finally crack down and delete some sites out of the ring. This is because for days, weeks or months now, these websites have failed to carry the ring code. If you are interested in rejoining the ring, life is simple:
1. Add the ring code back to your MAIN blog page.
2. Request to be added back into the ring.

Alright, easy then, huh? And if you need help, let me know. The only thing is, I am about 3 weeks from my due date (I am pregnant), so I may not have the speediest response time anymore. Just be patient with me. :)

In the interest...

2008-05-16T16:33:00.003-04:00

...of full disclosure, I forgot to say in my last post that things have also been just crazy IRL (in real life).

Family issues, vehicle issues, etc.. So that is another reason why I have been away so much. I have to take time out to handle family issues and to handle business. I know you all understand what that is like.

When will these crazy winds die down? I need to clean my back porch, but it is no use if the wind is just going to blow the red clay dust back into my face! :)

I will be volunteering at Paris Mtn Park tomorrow, for Music in the Woods. The concerts are free with admission into the park. Come, hang out and knit!

One month to go...

2008-05-13T16:44:00.003-04:00

...until the baby (should) be born. It is so hard to believe I just let time slip by so much between updates for my blog. But I have had to realize in the last few weeks that I need to slow myself down. I am so freakin' independent and headstrong that I am always trying to do so many things. But my body is telling me, woah. I was getting nauseous just grocery shopping today (after other errands of course). But it is getting tougher and tougher to get stuff done.

In the last few days, I can feel the baby starting to push his head down (the beginning of lightening). It is right on time, according to baby websites.

A friend of mine in one of my knitting groups told me about the hooter hider. So I am going to try to make one. Let's hope my sewing curse does not rear up.

I did finish DH's socks in time for his birthday. I have put away my camera so it is ready to go to the hospital. Let's just say he was thrilled. He has waited WAY too long for those. AND I have frogged back the EZ baby surprise jacket for the 7th time or so, and it is slowly going. It is hard to knit as often when my most comfortable prone position is to lay down on my side.

The nursery is pretty much done. It is time to put away the power tools and set up the lamp and air purifier. :) Maybe then it will be picture worthy.

And here I was...

2008-04-12T11:02:00.003-04:00

...thinking that I was only one week behind in posting to my blog. Man, how time flies. This morning I went to the SC Native Plant Society Sale and bought Darrow's Blueberries, Coral Trumpet, PeeWee Hydrangeas, and Crested Irises. Only the weather is supposed to get really cold at night for the next week. So I will have to make DH help me on his BDay weekend next weekend to plant them all then. I hope that my blueberries really do grow. I recommend trying to find organizations such as this in your area, so that you can learn to landscape your yard with more native plants. Not only will you be working to preserve local wild beauty that is often destroyed by urban growth, but the plants will be much more tolerant of severe weather, frosts and drought in your area. Also, many of the plants are lower maintenance, which is nice if you have a busy lifestyle or physical limitations. Okay, enough of that PSA.

I am also taking a beginning scrapbooking class today. I know a little, but I figure I need to be schooled before the baby gets here. I want to do things right so that I can print out all of these digital pictures I have accumulated in a form where I can actually share some of them with people in a nice format.

Right now I am drooling over the following Fuzzymitten patterns, because I am such a fan of Little Cotton Rabbits. But, I can never seem to get in on purchasing any of Little Cotton Rabbits' productions. My husband is a huge fan of bunnies, and I don't know if you have noticed, but these days EVERYTHING in the baby store that has a bunny on it MUST ALSO BE pink. It is sexist. So anyway, I am drooling over the little floppy-eared bunny (because again DH loves floppy-eared bunnies) to knit it up for our (expected) baby boy.

In the comments to my last post, Tiffany asked if this was my first Baby Surprise Jacket. Yes, it is. And I honestly have not picked it up again for the last two weeks. Bad momma, bad momma! What little knitting I have been doing has been on my DH's sock. Admittedly, I am reading a lot of baby books and doing GRFB chores. So maybe I am not such a bad momma. :) In one book I am currently reading, I actually read a story where one set of parents did not even realize they needed to set up a changing station with all of the supplies, and the crib with all of the bedding, before their baby was born. I can't believe that. You would think some things would be so basic and intuitive. But maybe they work at jobs that take up all their time and stress them out, like I used to. I should pat myself on the back for having two changing stations set up already (on both stories of the house), and all of the same supplies in the bathroom to be used for bathing. And the crib has been ready for a month. I just installed the carseats last week, and will get them inspected this week. I am trying to be ready if the baby is premature. Because that has happened to two of my friends.

Well, I better run and eat something before my scrapbooking class.

So much better...

2008-03-29T09:15:00.004-04:00

My back healed up fine by the next day. No pain at all. I don't know how that is possible; it must be some sort of baby miracle. Either the bath and tylenol worked, or the same hormones that make your joints all lose and drop things also helped my back to loosen itself up. All I can say is thank goodness. Because normally I would be fighting the pain for 3-4 days (or longer at the worst case).

I am trying to get my knitting mojo back. I think it is slowly. I am trying to fit some knitting back into my mornings while drinking my coffee and watching the news. Then I can still spend most of my time later in the day still "getting ready for baby" (GRFB). Part of it is some finishitis (DH's socks) and startitis (Baby Surprise Sweater).

DH's socks are the Garter Stitch socks I have been working on forever. I am finally past the gusset and working on the foot. He will be so happy now since the weather was 78 degrees yesterday and I am finally finishing his first pair of wool socks! (Yeah, doh!)

My baby-chemical addled brain is easily tricked by the sketchy instructions of the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater. Bare with me if I sound like a whiner; I honestly don't mean to. I am normally very good at less than obvious instructions that lead to math, hence the engineering degree. I am just easily confused right now and when I have a tendency to set this down for a week at a time, I forget where I was. The colors are actually much deeper and intense in person.

Pattern: EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket

Yarn: Yarn By Mills Worsted Hand-Dyed

(sorry, I can't find the label)

Needles: Size 5, 36" circ Addi Turbos

And my new STR kit came in! It is gorgeous. I will post about it soon.

Why oh why?

2008-03-27T11:15:00.004-04:00

Why oh why can't my husband remember to take out the recycling ever? Or to even sort it correctly (he is getting better).

I have killed my back today lugging out the paper and aluminum recycling, even with splitting it up into two different containers to lighten the load.

I don't need this with the pregnancy. I *just* entered the last trimester. To try to counteract it, I have already done my physical therapy today but it is not enough. I envision some light walking and ice in my near future. Darn it. I wish I could take advil, but with being pregnant I am stuck with tylenol only.

I had the blood glucose test yesterday. The doctor went to check the fetal heart rate and immediately said "He is a really active baby, isn't he?" My husband and I had to laugh. Because I have been saying for at least two months now how active he is, but honestly we have no point of reference. And I don't want to label my child as "hyperactive" from the womb. That would be some bad parenting right there. But it did reassure me that all of these Rocky Balboa punches that I am receiving indicate that he is THAT active and not just my bad judgement. It took the doctor a little longer to find the heart rate for all of the noise and moving the baby was doing. (I suspect he also enjoyed the sugar rush of that fruit punch flavored glucose drink. :) )

Boston LYS Reviews

2008-03-24T12:27:00.010-04:00

Windsor Button - This store looks a little bit like an old, run down Woolworth's when you walk in the door. But don't turn around and walk out the door! It has a great selection of yarns (including sock yarns), and of course, buttons! Also, the staff was very friendly and helpful. It is a nice place to stop in and get a yarn fix if you are in the area. I bought some plymouth sock yarn there, which I have since sold to a friend at cost. But I also purchased some Malabrigo Worsted in a lovely orange and light blue colorway called Sunny Valley which I have not seen anywhere else. It may be turned into a scarf for my husband.

Mind's Eye Yarns - This store is very close to the T stop. It has a small selection of yarns, I think about 1/3 of which are dyed by the owner. I picked up some lovely tencel blend sock yarn, custom dyed in the University of Florida colors orange and blue (she dyes it custom for the new yarn shop in Gainesville) and then in black, red and white (NOOOO, not for Harvard or MIT. For Cornell.) Locals rave about this yarn, so I can't wait to knit with it. The flash I accidentally left on shows the tencel's sheen. The shop owner is very friendly and happy to stop what she is doing to talk with you.

A Good Yarn - This yarn shop is RIGHT off of the T stop. It is on the same street as the station, so you can't miss it! They have a great selection of yarn packed into their little shop, including plenty of sock yarn. They also have a decent selection of books. These ladies were also helpful, but knew when to let you alone to browse. :)

Newbury Yarns - Very small shop tucked away in the beautiful shopping district of Newbury St., so it is a worth a stop in if you are in the area. I only bought a book here...there is not *alot* of yarn, but apparently they have another store somewhere else in Boston. The employee working there was very nice.

Knit and Needlepoint - This shop is also on Newbury St. The person working there was helpful and friendly, but there was not much of a selection of yarn and some of the prices were quite high (compared to other shops in the area with the same yarn). I imagine it is to cover there overhead of high rent for the location.

Woolcott & Co. - in Harvard Square Area, Cambridge. It is a small store, but not as small as some of the others I have already reviewed. They have a good selection of yarns, and sell enough of some of them such that you can knit a whole sweater (that is something to be said in a world where it seems most yarn stores are leaning away from that trend). They have a good selection of sock yarns too. I bought two hand-dyed sock yarns there. The lovely, subtley variegated red one is Scarlet by Madeline Tosh (a wee pricey but I hope it is worth it) and the blues is Blue Ridge Yarns Jubilee in Ocean Wave.

Dear shop owners,

I wish I could have bought more, but with all of the baby gear I am buying, I really need to limit my purchases. I know you understand the need for financial discipline. Honestly, I bought too much even with my belt tightening.

Man, I need to quit with the sock yarn addiction. The stash is outgrowing my time availability and knitting speed.

My Celebrity Look-a-likes....

2008-03-20T14:49:00.002-04:00

Not the best picture...I had to pull it out from a group picture that was stored on this computer.

Jimminy Crickets!

2008-03-20T10:53:00.002-04:00

Good God! Has it been over a month since I have posted? It does not help that we took a trip to Boston for a conference, and since then I have been generally freaking out by cleaning out closets and cupboards purging stuff. Trying to make room for baby. Getting rid of junk I don't use. Many of you know that I do this periodically anyway, but since my feet are starting to hurt so soon after standing (even with shoes on) that I am trying to find ways I can help fix up the house without my husband being here to help...as in small projects.

The good news is that we have finished painting the nursery and setting up the furniture. I need to get crafty and try to convert the unused bumper pad into a wall hanging for toy storage. Maybe I will do a tutorial on that! That would be cool. The room is still a mess because I turned out the entire closet (aka yarn stash storage central) and am still trying to find places to store the stash. I purged 3 grocery bags of yarn to donate to charity and friends. So I still kept most of my stash of course. I still have to find someplace to put the UFOs, and then organize all of my sewing and knitting stuff that is now relegated to a tiny corner of our office. I will try to get this done today. I hope to install rubbermaid adjustable shelving in the nursery closet this weekend to expand baby stuff storage. I have to wait for DH's help as that will involve leveling an 8 ft track which is a little hard to do on your own. :)

I have already sold a few skeins I bought in Boston. I always go overboard. I will try to take pictures of what else I bought, do some store reviews, and a nursery in progress picture this weekend.

Preggo Rant of the Day: February 8, 2008

2008-02-08T11:11:00.001-05:00

Why is it that when I tell people my back hurts (now that I am only 5 months along), they say that it will NEVER GO AWAY?

Counterpoints:
1. I have had long term back problems for the last several years.
2. I do physical therapy exercises for my back EVERY DAY. I have done them every day for the last 3 freakin' years of my life. (Believe me, there are many nights I wish I could just go to sleep, but I cannot do that without doing exercise first or suffer the consequences.)
3. The chairs at the Knit Inn wrecked my back this last weekend.
4. What ever happened to the power of positive thinking? I believe that if I work on it, it will get better. I don't believe at 5 months I will be resigned to intense pain EVERY DAY for the next 4 months. I would think it would come a little later in the pregnancy. I am not that big yet.
5. These same people did not have these same comments until this week. As if I have magically changed overnight. Edited to add: And why do they walk away from you before you can even argue with them?

Thanks for letting me rant. I know that now that I am visibly pregnant, it is only the beginning of the stupid comments I will suffer for the next few months.

Drumroll please............

2008-02-05T12:31:00.000-05:00

........the sex of our new baby is.......

a boy! DH is over the moon with this news.

See y'all...

2008-02-01T10:42:00.001-05:00

...out and about this weekend. I will try to stop by the Knit Inn this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Just look for the 5-month pregnant lady with short brown hair and glasses. :) I should be the only one fitting that description (I do know at least two other pregnant knitters, but their hair is much longer than mine!). I may be waddling and breathing hard, too. I will also be running around like a crazy woman buying some groceries to make things for Super Bowl parties and to bake sugar cookies to ice in either pink or blue to announce the baby's sex on Monday! I can't wait to find out, and the little gal/guy is kicking and punching my stomach as I write. I must need to feed him some more yogurt and do less typing. :) I also hope to finish painting the nursery in the next few days, to include the faux clouds.

On the knitting front, I did finish a charity hat. Nothing fancy, just a regular ear-flapped hat. Maybe I will finish the fleece artist cardigan this weekend. We can only hope. :)

Is anyone else sick of this election yet? I hope for the next presidential election, we can learn not to start the darn thing so early. I had already hated how long they dragged on before this. Because all of the negativity that starts to come out, just like the intolerance in this election. Just nuts.

This weekend....

2008-01-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that the SC Knitting Guild's Knit Inn will be held. It starts Friday night, and formally ends Saturday night (but informally usually Sunday morning). It is a good way to spend your time before Super Bowl festivities, or to do something nice for yourself to make up for being ignored by your significant other during the Super Bowl. I will be balancing cooking for Super Bowl parties and attending the Knit Inn.

Check out my new Dansko clogs. A little over half off at Mast General, and more top o' the foot space to show off cute knit socks. I know you are jealous. I really don't need to spend money on myself with the baby coming, but since I foresee in the near future not being able to tie my shoes, more slip on shoes cannot hurt. I will probably be living in Danskos and Crocs very soon. :)

I did not get much knitting done over the weekend, but I did order nursery furniture and install more shelving in the laundry room. I am so proud of myself for finally getting the shelving up and therefore being able to clean off the top of the dryer and the few huge things of detergent on the floor. DH finished painting the ceiling in the nursery; we still have to do touch up painting and then faux some clouds on the ceiling.

Yarn P0rn for this week:

I received the January STR club kit. I am excited by the color of this one. I just need to get going on knitting socks again. The pattern is called Serendipity and the colorway is called Dragon Dance in lightweight sock yarn.

And then I bought this Shui Bui sock yarn at The Needle Tree. I went there to buy some knitwear wash for my mom and to see what baby yarns they had. I ended up with this sock yarn. I just need to figure out what I will do with it. They say this yarn has been very popular. There is no name for the colorway, it is just called color #41301.

I am on a push to finish some projects. So I am still working on the Fleece Artist Cardigan on and off, and a charity hat. I hope to start on poor DH's socks again too. Definite SSS.

Don't forget....

2008-01-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

To go vote today if you are voting in the Democrat Primary. You would vote at your regular precinct location, just like in the general elections.

As for me, I have a baby conference to go to today. Woohoo!

Irish Hiking Scarf - done!

2008-01-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

Here it is, in pre-blocked condition. Not bad....

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf

Yarn: Natural Alaskan Alpaca, fingering weight, from an alpaca named "Cocoa" :) I knitted two strands together.

Source: I can't remember the farm's name, my Mom's coworker

Needle: Size 9, 16" bamboo circs

Sorry this post did not happen yesterday. DH ended up giving me those puppy dog eyes to go and help him at work. Which I have to go do again today.

I just think I need something more challenging. Repetitive cables are too boring for me. Or maybe it is the fact that it is just a straight garment, a scarf that never changes in dimension. What is with this crazy mind of mine? I am turned on by challenge...maybe too much for my own good. It is soon time to get off my mental butt and start designing my own patterns, in order to get some challenge in. I hope to do that as soon as I find out what sex my baby is, as I have some ideas in mind for baby patterns. I just want to test knit in suitable colors. I also think sometimes the hardest thing to do is to give yourself that push into the unknown. People who really know me know that I have done alot of different things in my life, because everytime I have fear of the unknown I push myself into doing whatever it is anyway. The pregnancy has me procrastinating more than usual...but now that I am in the second trimester and have slightly more energy, I can tackle more things again.

Oh, and I have sooo many other projects to clean up and finish!

Getting there....

2008-01-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

I just bound off the Irish Hiking Scarf for my mom just this morning. I want to at least weave in the ends tonight before I post some pictures. I do need to wash it and block it, too, before I send it to her, since she is allergic to some natural oils and musky animal smells.

I FINALLY get to go to one of my knitting groups tonight. I have been missing so many of my groups due to classes and board meetings. It seems every organization here in Greenville tries to meet on Monday nights. It ends up being very annoying when you are trying to balance out commitments and schedules.

Between the storm fronts making me sick this weekend, and my laundry room retrofitting duties (new hoses, new vent ducts), not much other knitting was done this weekend. However, I did start looking for baby blanket patterns, and found this nontraditional one on knitty.com. If you have used KnitPicks Merino style, please let me know what you think of it. I want to use natural fibers for my baby blankets since they are more fire resistant than synthetics. Plus, the knitpicks would be inexpensive. And with the baby costs piling up, I am all about saving some benjamins!

Good Morning Greenville!

2008-01-17T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here is what it looks like from my back porch this morning:

Time for a rude awakening. It is still raining, and it is an icy slush out on the roads. My husband will either get pissed when he realizes the new satellite dish is freaking out, or he will just pop in a DVD. I don't know, I give the chances 70-30. Of course, he is still sleeping. Why be awake when you don't have to go to work?

I am nearly done with my mom's Irish Hiking Scarf. Maybe then I will get around to finally posting a picture.

Wish me luck. I have to get to my training and massage appointments today (trying to keep my back in shape during the pregnancy). If I cancel, I have to pay anyway. So I might as well try. I will do okay as I have 4WD; I am just worried about everyone else driving too fast for the conditions.

So please, take it slow! :)

Oh, and something hilarious. I swear my baby belly has grown significantly in the last day. It is kind of funny. Because my DH said to me last night, "You are DEFINITELY pregnant." Then I looked in the mirror and was shocked! I was not this big when I looked in the mirror in the morning or the day before. What the heck?! It is amusing and scary at the same time, to see one's body go through changes so fast.

Squee! STR 2008!

2008-01-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

In the back of my mind it was lurking...I have not heard anything from Blue Moon on paying for the 2008 Club. I was starting to wonder, because it feels like January is almost over already. But I checked my credit card online (Thank God for online banking, because it really has made my life sooo easy) and behold! The charge for the club posted yesterday. Yay! That means I am on my way. I just have to check to see if my friend has seen hers go through or not. I had to send in her registration while she was away on a cruise, so I am a little worried about whether she will be signed up or not.

It took me 9 days to recover from that hellish virus. I am calling it the mondo virus. It seems to wipe out everyone in its path except DH. Go figure. Anyway, since then I have been making a concious effort to Get Ready for Baby (GRB). Lots of reading and phone calls and baby registry junk and organization. And I know my poor husband is stressing out about his work projects. He gave me the puppy dog eyes this morning asking if I could come in and help out. I don't know what the heck to do sometimes. Of course he says he would rather have me organize the house, but the poor man seems to be so stressed. So I have to go in. I may not work for a salary anymore, but I can't get it all done as one think I should. I am going to have to make a conscious effort to work even more. But it is hard. Being pregnant makes one so tired. I spent the whole afternoon running errands (to conserve gas) and by the time I came home, all I could do was sit there with my feet up. It is too hard to try to work in the kitchen from a stool. It strains my back too much.

I hope all of my SC friends will go and vote in the primary this week (Revised to say: Jan 19if you are voting Republican. Jan 26th if you are voting Democratic. Sorry, I blame the TV news for dumbing it down for me and my forgetfulness.). I can't stand seeing on TV how 6 inches of snow in Michigan, and I think it was 30 degree weather, was keeping people home from voting. WTF?! I remember my parents voting in every election in Alaska, no matter what the weather was like. And I would think, that like Alaska, 6 inches of snow in Michigan would be considered a "routine" snowfall. No biggie, break out the shovel and ice scraper and get on with life. The snowplows are out so you should be able to catch the bus to the polling place. I mean, come on. People have no excuse. And before I hear excuses about those less fortunate, YES, I have been without the benefit of a car until I bought my own AFTER college (college paid for by ROTC scholarship and work money). And I struggled to pay it off in 4 years. Yes, I wanted a nicer car, but I bought what I could afford. I rode buses to almost all of my jobs in high school, or walked and took the bus to jobs and classes. I know what it is like to walk home alone at night, on top of 4 feet of snow in the dark cold next to a highway hoping you don't fall down into traffic. Or walk to 6 am ROTC workouts 5 days a week in all sorts of weather. And never did I complain about my situation. You just suck it up and deal. The only excuse would be if your shift schedule vs poll times made it impossible for you to go. So that is what I am saying about voting. It is a privilege not matter what the weather is. And if you don't think it is, just look at what that cutie Chavez is trying to pull in Venezuela. Well anyway, enough of politics. No matter who you vote for, just vote.

Sicky break....

2008-01-05T17:16:00.001-05:00

I think I have the worst cold I have had in about a year. For a while there, I thought it might be strep throat. Normally, I am a pretty tough cookie. But when it comes to that strep throat test, I will still to this day pull my hands out from under my seat and yank the swab from my throat using the doctor's own hands (I sit on my hands to try to prevent this.). I am such a big baby about the whole gag reflex thing, but I can't help it. I guess it is better that I am a baby about that than the drawing of blood and receiving of shots. I can do that like a champ. Anyway, the Airborne is helping me beat this back, but it sure is taking a whole lot of doses (compared to my average cold).

I wanted to go to a knit group last night, and to meet some new people at a ravelry meet up today. But it was not meant to be. I hope I will meet some of you at the Knitting Guild Knit Inn, when I hope to be noncontagious.

So I am going to postpone my Stitches East class reviews for now, in exchange for bedtime. Also, I got some cool new glasses this week. So I am debating on changing my profile pic. I really should. But I will have to come up with some other silly look than Princess Leia buns.

Knitting Resolutions, Revisited

2008-01-04T15:09:00.001-05:00

This is the time of year that we all post our knitting resolutions. I do need to visit my own, and to see what my progress is. I know I have done okay against some.

Last year's resolutions were:

1. Practice knitting continental by finishing more washcloths, then starting and completing an entire project in continental. (Started this last year, need to become even better.) --> Oooh, did not do the last part. Need to keep this one on the list.

2. Restart fair isle projects and finish them, with good gage. --> Uh, no.

3. Knit a pair of socks every month. --> This one fell apart sometime around April. Hey, it was worth a shot. I just fell so far behind by doing other projects, and I am not the fastest knitter. I think I will drop this one.

4. Learn to dye. (Already scheduled for a class on March 3rd to learn to dye my own self-striping sock yarn. Yee!) --> I did take a dying class, but did not feel I learned enough to just up and do it without having to do alot more research. So I will revisit this topic this year. It is a keeper.

5. Start learning to design own patterns. --> Yes, I did take design classes at Stitches East, and will start working on my own baby hat patterns soon. Now that I have a kid on the way, I can feel more motivated. Plus that dreaded first trimester energy slump seems to be waning.

6. Complete another Morehouse Farm Sweater kit (from Stash). --> Started but did not finish. Need to keep on the list.

7. Go to Maryland Sheep and Wool. (Hotel already booked!) --> Done. This one was too easy.
8. Learn to crochet. --> Started to learn from a friend but I did not stick with it. Too many other knitting obligations like the sock a month got in the way.

Now to establish this year's resolutions:

1. Design and publish two of my own patterns.

2. Complete another Morehouse Farm Sweater kit (from Stash).

3. Restart fair isle projects and finish them, with good gage.

4. Start and complete a project in continental. This should be combined with resolution #3.

5. Dye on my own.

6. Use of some of my insane sock yarn stash by knitting baby items.

7. Put more of my stash and projects on Ravelry. --> Such a huge undertaking. I am just trying to still hide the stash in what is left of the new nursery (my former sewing room). Yikes!

8. Knit and/or quilt two baby blankets. One for stroller and carseat, one full sized.

9. Avoid Christmas knitting requests. This year, I will just say no. The only knitted Christmas presents will be surprises.

That is not bad. I still need to do alot more growth and learning in my knitting. I will also be helping a friend to learn to knit, so that will be nice.

I also promise, just because I am having a baby, that I will not ignore my childless friends. I will also not be one of those mothers whose only possible topic of conversation is what my child's poop is like (color, consistency, odor). I can't handle that. I must keep up with current events. Oooh, and a warning...I will be dragging the tike to knitting groups, as soon as WE are able. That is, after we are both on a schedule with sufficient rest.

I also have to catch up on so much that I have left undone since Stitches East. I need to write up Stitches East Class Review. I will try to get it done this weekend. In the meantime, here is my one picture from Stitches East. Two gals on Ravelry, Booksherpa (on the right) and Sweetness (on the left). They were really fun to talk to. And in the middle is my travelling knitter buddy, Mary. She is the same friend I go to MDSW with.

Seriously, what was I thinking?

2007-12-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

I have been helping my husband at work (for free), travelling for knitting and football, taken on a buttload of interior design classes, and have other major changes going on in my life. Needless to say, the Christmas knitting did not get done. Ah well, I have a good excuse. And what is that you may ask?

I AM PREGNANT.

Yep, it whiped me out, totally. In case you were wondering, this is our first one, and yes, we were trying. Please, no horror stories. It is bad enough knowing that soon strangers will come up and rub my belly and tell my their pregnancy horror stories. I really don't need negativity in my life. Only positive thoughts!

Too much running around between everything that I do, then all my free time I needed to spend clipping out pictures from magazines and laying out a design board. (See below.)

I had signed up for Advanced Project in my Interior Design class series. It seriously was a ton of work. Because I had to design half of a house (12 rooms) in 6 weeks, right before Christmas. So I finished a little under two weeks ago. Thank God that the fictional family I was assigned aligned with some of my own personal taste. However, however, however I was seriously handicapped in the area of fabrics. Greenville is totally 10 years behind the rest of the world, and finding exotic/eclectic fabrics in my imagined color scheme (red, yellows/browns, icy blue) that work with 18C and art deco furniture took a few trips. Sometimes I really do wish I lived in a big city again. Because I struggle to even find fabrics for my own house. Also, I had to special order all of the glass tile and wooden floor samples I wanted from a place in Canada. This stuff was not available in Greenville. Sometimes it is just so frustrating. Well I guess it shows well that I was really the only student who designed the bathrooms and closets as well...at least color schemes and fabrics. Why not?!

What made it worse is I had two other classes going on at the same time, so I was in class 3 nights a week. I had no energy left for knitting.

Well, here is a picture of the finished board. Sorry it is kind of junky, as I had to take it with my cell phone camera since I cannot find my real camera. It does not show all of my tile and floor samples, as well as the extra notebook full of pictures of furniture and accessories that could not fit on the board. It is a ton of detail!

I hope to try to get back to doing some knitting this weekend. I feel finally like maybe I can settle down and do something creative for myself.

Not Dead Yet....

2007-11-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

...I really have to apologize for being gone for so long. Wedding trips, Stitches East, family trip, and some other (to remain mysterious) major events going on in my life have really sapped my time and energy. Stitches East proved too busy to even do my cell phone posting. Also, our cable modem died in between Stitches East and a family trip, so I could not post. (I seem to remember telling my husband that our whole network was acting up and probably going down, but you know how guys are. They won't address it till its completely broken.)

On good news and bad news, the organic grocery coop project has ended. The conclusion is that it is not feasible. I am not surprised by this, and expected this outcome from the start. But I held out hope that maybe I was wrong. At least I will have some time freed up.

Hopefully as I get settled in this next week, and rest up, I can post some Stitches East fun.

Test post

2007-10-10T11:20:00.001-04:00

Hello! Test post from phone. ;)

We're off to see the Stitches....

2007-10-10T11:03:00.001-04:00

...the wonderful Stitches East!

Yessirree! I am off today, starting in one hour, to drive 8 hours with my friend to Baltimore. Wish us luck wrt traffic.

I am going to try to post live from Stitches East via cell phone, but since this is the first time, there could be some glitches!

Can't wait to meet up with my fellow Ravellers! :)

Git R Done...

2007-10-03T09:01:00.000-04:00

(...an aside, this post was written 9/23 and I had yet to post it and take pictures. I apologize. I just got back from another trip to Florida, and now I am turning around to go to DC for a wedding. The good news is that I am finally going to see the capital! After that, I will go to stitches. Also, I have been helping my husband at work most days between trips. So it has been hectic around here. Anyway, here is my best at a partial post, I will see if I can swing my husbands laptop to post while I am on the road.)

...I so realize that I am way behind on posting some of the cool new things that I have purchased. And where I am on some things. As glamorous as traveling is, we all know that it distracts us from getting things done. So, here is my attempt at "Git R Done."

The new STR club kit arrived. I have not done anything with it. It is quite cool.

I purchased some Handmaiden Sea Silk to do a small scarf or shawl with. I don't think I have decided on what pattern to use just yet.

The new Cat Bordhi book. Yay me!

I finished my HW for Stitches East! Yeah, yeah all of my whining was just too much. It only took me a few hours. For all of the whining you would think it would have taken days or weeks like last year. But I have been on a real no-crafting mood lately. I was empathizing with a quilting friend about this. We both have been going home and just sitting there, watching TV, and thinking I really need to do XXX but not getting up to do anything about it. I guess it is a lack of energy? Not wanting to mentally tackle anything? Not sure. I am not home at night hardly. I think that contributes to it.

Next on my list is to tackle Part 2 of the Basics, Basics, Basics course. I have alot of feedback regarding my work on Part 1 to read through first. I have not had the focus to sit down and read and absorb all of that. Having worked for so many years under intense workloads and deadlines, I often find it hard to sit and read and truly absorb what I am reading.

I also need to start on my mom's Xmas scarf. So hopefully on these trips, I can get started on that.

Oh, and check my new tshirt design below at the bottom of my blog. You too can proclaim your sock yarn love! I designed it for myself for Stitches East, and decided to make it publicly available since the design website allows me to do that. You can see me wear it around the market on Saturday. :)

Not going...

2007-09-18T11:33:00.000-04:00

...to the Yarn Harlot in Atlanta tomorrow. I just can't do it. DH is having a hard time with the work crisis, so I have barely been sleeping. And we have been traveling way too much lately. I have 4 more trips in October, so I need to save my money for Stitches East and SAFF. I figure that Stephanie will probably be at Stitches East anyway, promoting her book.

That being said, if anyone wants my slot for tomorrow, please post a comment here. I will email my confirmed reservation to you.

Anyone else up for the Yarn Harlot?

2007-09-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

I am seriously wavering in whether to go or not. My DH is going through a work crisis. I will probably still go, but will have to make adjustments to my travel plans.

I hope to see some of you there. In the meantime, I am going to have a hard time posting to my blog until I get some things fixed with my computers at home. I will try to keep posting anyway. :)

Crikey...

2007-09-14T11:41:00.001-04:00

So my internet has been down at my house for a few days. I found out yesterday via email that I did not get the job I interviewed for. Or, at least, I was not in the top two choices out of ten interviewed.

Maybe they did me a favor. Maybe it is not a good sign when the ad asks for engineers and architects to apply, but then they ask you in the interview what it is an environmental engineer studies and does (for a living). Not a good sign.

The good news is that this frees me up to help my DH with his business, and to actually focus on launching a design business, and maybe another commercial real estate business for us. Oh, and then there is that whole issue of me deciding on whether to get serious about graduate school. Time really does fly by. The older you get, the faster it goes past you. You start to wonder what the heck did I do last year? :)

The lack of internet explains why I have not posted lately. I am also on the road again, so I will try to get to another yarn store and get some knitting done. It took two whole days of chugging airborne to purge that chest cold. That is major! Usually it only takes 2-3 doses. But now I am exhausted from back pain and sleeping on a really hard hotel bed. I can't sleep on hard mattresses. Ugh.

I looked into my Stitches East Homework:
1. Find an easy to follow pattern and a hard to follow pattern and bring both.
2. No Homework
3. No Homework
4. No Homework (oooh goody! I may be getting away with this...)
5. 5 swatches as follows:Swatch 1: With smooth worsted wt yarn & appropriate ndls, CO 13 sts. Work St st for 1”, ending after a purl row. Slip sts onto holder.Swatch 2: With smooth worsted wt yarn & appropriate ndls, CO 28 sts. Row 1 (RS): *K1, YO, k1, ssk, k6, k2tog, k1, YO, k1. Repeat from * across. Row 2 & all WS rows: P across. Row 3: *K2, YO, k1, ssk, k4, k2tog, k1, YO, k2. Repeat from * across. Row 5: *K3, YO, k1, ssk, k2, k2tog, k1, YO, k3. Repeat from * across. Row 7: *K4, YO, k1, ssk, k2tog, k1, YO, K4. Repeat from * across. Row 8: As row 2, repeat Rows 1-8 twice, ending after Row 8 of pattern. Slip sts onto holder.Swatch 3: With smooth worsted wt yarn & appropriate ndls, CO 22 sts. Row 1 (RS): P8, k6, p8. Row 2: K8, p6, k8. Row 3: p8, slip next 3 sts onto cable ndl & hold in back of work, k3, k3 sts from cable ndl, p8. Row 4: As row 2, repeat Rows 1-4 until measures approx. 4‰ from beg, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. There is more, but I won't go there. Ugh. I know, I know I am a whiner. But my eyes just start to glaze over. I can't bear to read it until I do it.

Well, I better either try to go take a nap, or get in some gym time to make this pain go away. Wish me luck on the latter. :)

Here I am, Here I am

2007-09-07T17:55:00.000-04:00

...back from vacation.

1. I have been home for < 12 hours and I have already caught a horrible chest cold from my neighbor. How is that for "Welcome home and don't you wish you were still on vacation?" All I can say is the Airborne is flowing.
2. So, I must confess, I did not get any knitting done, except for two rows on DH's sock. Yes, it felt better to sit and read or stare out at the scenery. Total mental shutdown. Plus, the temperatures don't really make me want to knit sock wool outdoors.
3. I could not resist the urge to buy some knitting books and yarn. I hope to update on that tomorrow, when I feel better. I can review some yarn stores for you. Yay! :)

I feel so bad. I will have to miss my friend's 75th birthday tomorrow. She is a Master Knitter and a nice lady. But I would rather not get everyone else sick.

Maybe I will go knit now. Make a big cup o' tea and try to rest some more. The 3 hour nap this afternoon did not make a dent in how tired I am.

So much...

2007-08-28T10:06:00.001-04:00

There is so much going on, but I am on vacation now. So please tune back in next week! Time for some concentrated vacation knitting! :)

Holy Shnikees!

2007-08-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

I feel a case of mild anxiety already starting to hit me over Christmas knitting. For I have nary knit a stitch in the last week. I hope to remedy this soon, as I am taking a vacation next week and the volunteer work should slow down a bit for about a month. Thank goodness. There is nothing like starting to panic when it is only August. The main contributors, other than volunteer work is that I may be starting to work and have also signed up for those Interior Design classes, which the instructor promises will be ALOT of work. I basically get to redesign my entire house. By DECEMBER. Since I already spend most nights out doing various groups, that is alot o' extra work. But I am actually really excited by that. I would love to come up with a whole color scheme and everything for my house.

Yes, I know. I am the one that always signs up for so much craziness going on in my life at once. For once, I am actually thinking I may have overextended myself. That is very rare for me!

I did not get to take any scenics really, on my trip to NC last week. I spent almost the entire day spent in the back seat of an SUV with my two nieces, being permanently set into the shape of a semicolon. Looking at houses and the area. My two nieces, who are 5 and 8, talked or fought the entire time. Now, this is not extraordinary, as many of us know how little girls of those ages are. But it was really quite funny to see my husband be exhausted and frustrated by it. Is it because I have a mommy gene that I can handle it better? Or is it because my brother and I much more actively picked on each other growing up than my husband and his brother? Probably a bit of both.

Some of you know that I love bears. Grandfather Mountain is a privately owned mountain park. There were black bears there in a zoo where you could feed them food pellets. As much as I love bears and zoos, this felt a little degrading to me. All the bears did was sit there and wait for more food pellets. I felt so sad for the bears. Partially because there are better things they could do, and the food pellets reminded me of some sort of unhealthy dry dog food diet. Maybe because growing up in Alaska, you are taught not to feed wild animals, for they are meant to stay wild. Obviously, these are not wild bears, but it still made me feel sad.

Tiny Road Trip

2007-08-16T09:59:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are going to go look at little mountain houses in NC because brother recently closed on one, so we are going to go check it out. It would be nice to borrow his house for skiing.

I am so busy adding stuff to Ravelry, that I have procrastinated on my volunteer work. I think my computer is just too slow. So I am keeping this short today so I can get to work. I hope to take some pics of our little road trip.

Today couldn't BE better....

2007-08-15T09:29:00.000-04:00

I checked my email, and there it twas:

Hey there,

frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!

"Here you go! Thanks for your interest in our little site.Let me know if you have any questions or problems!

Jess"

Arrggh. I have so much work to do today for my volunteer work. Somehow I think that is going to get delayed a little bit. But I do need to sit down and read all about it when I have some time.

Not so great news...

2007-08-14T09:27:00.000-04:00

I had finally headed out of the hotel room yesterday, turned circles in dowtown ATL to get to Peachtree St and on my way to Druid Hills when I get a cell phone call...my DH did not get into the conference. Can't really explain how the system works, as it is a government run thing and we all know how that goes. Even though there is space for more people, they do not let more people in. Don't ask me how that makes business sense, because it does not you see. That is the federal government in action. So, basically, I had to head back to the hotel and check out. Fortunately, I had all of my stuff packed up already since we knew not getting in was a possibility.

This news was really a let down, because I was looking forward to spending two days wandering around on my own time, with no obligations on my time. I never get to do that in Atlanta. Not even time to branch out to new LYS or to see the Aquarium. I DID spend 5 hours hitting Trader Joe's, Dekalb Farmer's Market, two yarn stores and Lennox Mall for some California Pizza Kitchen for a late lunch. I was the model of shopping efficiency. :) I did manage to head out of ATL at 4 pm, and miss the worst of rush hours there and in Greenville.

Sometimes I still wish I lived in a big city. Don't miss the traffic, just miss all the stuff to explore.

I also managed to resist buying more sock yarn. I did buy a skein of Mountain Colors Twizzle in Steelhead colorway at Why Knot Knit. I thought it would make a cute beanie to add to my beanie collection.

Today, I am picking up the house, made two batches of pesto with all of the fresh basil I have growing wild in this heat, and will go to my first interior design class. Not too bad for being home. :)

Soon, my precious...

2007-08-13T09:02:00.001-04:00

I decided to finally check on my ravelry status, spurned on my discussion on the Clapotis Yahoo Group, instead of just being slightly sad to see all of the activity goings on without me.

Found you!
You signed up on June 13, 2007
You are #8770 on the list.
131 people are ahead of you in line. (--> Green is my happy color. And this makes me so happy.)
16104 people are behind you in line.
34% of the list has been invited so far

Woohoo woohoo woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like daffy duck when he gets all excited. So soon, my precious, you will be mine....

I think it is time to get out of my hotel room and go celebrate with some kick a** coffee, and not this hotel junk. (Thought I have to say, this Omni Hotel has some Wolfgang puck coffee, and it is the second best hotel room coffee I have had in my life. And I am a coffee connoisseur, so that is saying something. However, the upside of procrastinating on heading out is avoiding the big city rush hour traffic. Don't worry my dears, Houston has trained me for this insanity.)

I am a deliquent....

2007-08-13T07:37:00.000-04:00

I am sorry for not posting so much. Between volunteering and having my husband drag me out to play golf in 105 degree weather, I am worn out!

But things could be alot worse. I am in the ATL today, and here is the view from the window this morning. I apologize for the cell phone pic, but I left my camera's computer cable at home! :O We are right next to the Centennial Olympic Park.

So you know what that means. Visiting some LYS, going to Trader Joe's and the Dekalb International Market, and hopefully the new Aquarium. Let's hope my husband's company gets to stay for the whole conference and we do not have to go home today. You never know with how the government runs them whether they will get to stay or not. Well, even so, I will still go shopping! There are some nice LYS here, and the food shopping and restaurants remind me of what it is like to live in a large city again. Sometimes I really miss Houston. The people were super nice, and outstanding food. So much to do. But I do not miss that concrete jungle or jobs tied to oil price cycles. :)

I start my Interior Design class tomorrow night, and I am excited. I think it is going to be alot of fun, and a different sort of creative outlet for me.

My peeps...

2007-08-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

I am following Isis' theme for a post, since I am slow on the knitting progress lately.

I dearly miss the North West, especially my hometown. Someday I hope to move to Washington or somewhere.

Here is a picture of my hometown. And here are some others. You can see why I miss it. Don't get me wrong, this part of the country is pretty perfect when it comes to weather, but I still wish it was a bit cooler. I have to figure out somewhere cooler to live that is not a royal pain to live, because my DH cannot take alot of heat anymore. I suspect he is an undiagnosed heat casualty of some sort. Anytime he works outside in the heat, it knocks him out for at least a day.

I have not been knitting so much lately, due to HOA and block parties, volunteer work and shoulder/back pain. Mostly it is the pain that holds me back. I did weave in the ends on the first sock, and have started the second sock, but have not made much progress on it.

In great knitting news, I passed the first installment of my Basics, Basics, Basics course. Now I need to knuckle down and start the second installment here. I should set a goal to start this week. Maybe on Thursday, because today and tomorrow are CRAZY. I think I have four or more appointments tomorrow!

Yarn Harlot coming to the ATL...

2007-08-02T11:52:00.001-04:00

You can sign up for it here. I have already reserved a ticket and a hotel room, where I will stay if I am not employed. :) Otherwise, I may either have to do a late night drive fest or just bag the whole plan.

I promise, pictures soon of the socks. I need to get to work!

The infamous job interview...

2007-07-31T17:24:00.000-04:00

...well, it turns out that they are waiting on a grant announcement. So I won't know whether I am hired or not for a few weeks. So please don't stress about it and please don't ask me too often whether I have heard or not. I don't want to pin my whole life on one interview. :) I think it went okay. It is hard to tell if you knock things out of the park in an interview sometimes. I think I started off well anyway.

Meanwhile, I am debating putting in for another job. We will see.

A little nervous again...

2007-07-31T12:03:00.000-04:00

I am interviewing for a position today. It is with a local nonprofit. It is an unexpected opportunity that I stumbled across, and I think I am the last person they are interviewing. My fear is that I may be overqualified or not the right fit. I do have the right education, and some of the right experience. All of my experience will be applicable. But the position may be intended for someone without an MBA, for someone who is starting out. The job description seems a little ambiguous that way. And I have not interviewed in quite awhile, and I fear that all that time crunching numbers as affected my eloquence (that is a bit true...I fear language centers atrophy when you spend all day working and discussing numbers. :) ). I really shouldn't be so nervous. I am fortunate enough that I don't have to work, but I would like to work doing something that I love and enjoy doing. And let's face it, no one particularly likes being rejected. :) So, wish me luck. Think positive thoughts.

I have finished my husband's first sock, all except for the kitchener stitch on the toes and weaving in the ends. I want him to try it on first before I seal it up. One of the suckiest things in knitting is frogging a completed kitchener stitch (I have done it a few times). I really would like to avoid that. :)

Great friends and mentors are precious things...

2007-07-29T16:37:00.001-04:00

...I owe such a debt of gratitude to friends and mentors that I have been fortunate enough to have in my life. I have lived many places, worked many jobs, been on many adventures and volunteered many hours. And when I look back on some of the great people who have been in my life, I get a little verklempt. Misted up. So many "adoptive" moms, dads and uncles out there, spread across the states. People who have been there in my times of need, times of joy. Please don't think that I did not notice and soak up all the little moments. (The Army taught me to do that...in the midst of the chaos, anticipation or the mundane, to notice beauty in small things.) I just want to say a big "Thanks" to you all. Thanks to your big hearts. I will never forget you, and you can call on me at anytime.

Bless you.

Did you ever notice...

2007-07-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

that friends and family call you more when you have alot of work to do? Not that I don't want my friends and family calling, but it is like they have a sixth sense of perfect timing to call at the most inconvenient times. Especially when you have just stepped out of the shower, are way late in watering your flowers (it is 11 am already!), and have to get going on your market research before you have to go do your other volunteer hours!

I really can't talk too much about the market research I am doing. I know I have told some of my friends in person, but I don't want to get everyone's hopes up about what I am working on. I am just doing some market research and feasibility analysis for a local nonprofit I am involved with. It is good to do free business "consulting" as it keeps my skills going without having to start back at work just yet.

However, I am getting antsy and may start applying for some jobs here. I have tried before to get back into engineering by apply to just a few jobs, but I did not get any takers. :) Oh well. It is not easy when you are in a town that is close to the state's best engineering school, you have been out of it awhile, and your experience is in other states that have different regs. Not sure why employers think that the same skills you had 3 years ago are all of a sudden gone. The same skills that helped you learn your job and do things well so quickly in the past. :) But enough about that.

I am still working on that sock for my husband. Slow going with all of my volunteer work. They are the garter rib socks from Sensational Knitted Socks. I like the garter stitch trim on the heel.

Where has the summer gone? Time has just flown by. I have been so busy, but it is as though I can't remember what I have really been busy doing. I am spread between so many things. :)

And if you haven't already heard, drinking more than one soda a day can kill you. At least, that is how the journalists are reporting these stories. But it seems more research needs to be done before we all panic. I think I already knew that drinking alot of soda was bad, as I have tried not to drink more than one a day my whole life. I agree with the journalists though, basically consuming anything with calories can kill you. So why eat? :)

Oh crap! And now I just saw a report that low bad cholesterol may increase cancer risk. Who can win?

Quiz-o-rama!

2007-07-22T12:38:00.000-04:00

This is too funny. The first one is right on with a Meyer's Briggs test I took in school. But the second one says I am introverted. The truth is, I am in the middle on E and I (slightly leaning towards E) and the same with J and P (with leaning towards P).

You Are An ENTJ

The Executive

You are a natural leader - with confidence and strength that inspires others.
Driven to succeed, you are always looking for ways to gain, power, knowledge, and expertise.
Sometimes you aren't the most considerate person, especially to those who are a bit slow.
You are not easily intimidated - and you have a commanding, awe-inspiring presence.

In love, you hold high standards... for yourself, for your relationship, and for your significant other.
While it's easy for you to impress others, it's hard for you to find someone who impresses you.

At work, you are organized and good at delegating. You understand how to achieve goals.
You would make a great CEO, entrepreneur, or consultant.

How you see yourself: Rational, calm, and objective

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Inflexible, controlling, and overbearing

What's Your Personality Type?

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have low extroversion.
You are quiet and reserved in most social situations.
A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you.
You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have medium agreeableness.
You're generally a friendly and trusting person.
But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.
You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.
In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.
You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.
A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Daisy love...

2007-07-17T14:08:00.001-04:00

I love gerber daisies. This is my first summer growing them, and they last a week when you cut them.

Not quite crocheting, but close....

2007-07-16T11:11:00.000-04:00

The last few days I have been doing something pretty interesting. It is called rug hooking, but I am doing it with fabric scraps.

See the rug hook needle? Looks like a crochet hook with a needle eye at the end.

It has been quite fun, and something mostly mindless to do while watching TV, or needing a break from knitting the plain ole ribbed sock for DH.

Since I am making the loops bigger than the pattern intended, I have ran out of fabric and need to go back to the store today.

I have also been spending some time cleaning and organizing my sewing room. It feels good. I tend to carry my projects and books up there and just dump them in a pile before guests come over, so every now and then it gets out of control if I don't keep up with it!

Oh! And I am so excited! I got into my interior design class! What happened was there is an "intro" class that is not really required but strongly recommended, but a bunch of us had signed up for that before signing up for the "beginning" class. Because, you know, some of us follow the order of things and really don't have the cashflow to sign up for a whole semester's worth of classes in advance! It turned out that during the intro class, our instructor told us that the beginning class was already completely booked and that half of us present were not in the beginning class. You could tell alot of us were annoyed that we were already blocked out, and that alot of those who were signed up for the beginning class were not in the intro class. So I became first on the waitlist (since I oh so craftily woke up early the next morning and called the college right when they open at 8 am to get on the list). I was hanging on the hope that one of those people who blocked us out would decide to drop the class. So I got lucky and it happened!

I hope to go to some knitting groups this week. With all of my HOA and volunteer work, I have not been to one in weeks.

Manos made me weak...

2007-07-11T11:35:00.000-04:00

I have been waiting forever to buy Manos del Uruguay. But when I went up to Northwoods Fiber Farm's shop (formerly Goodwin's) to pick up a bag that I had ordered, there it was right in front of me...solid Manos on sale 33% off. I had been wanting to make the petrol sweater vest from Knitty.com. Honestly, I was going to make it for myself, but my DH has been laying on the guilt thick. (I know, I know, it is a men's vest...but I have a long history of wearing men's shirts and sweaters. I love masculine colors and styles.) So I bought the only truly masculine color left. Thank goodness he loves it! I pointed out the exact same color to him in the evening sky last night. :)

What is that? More Yarn?!

Color #36.

Oh, and I am such a tool. I have already packaged up the swatches for Lesson 1 of the Basics course. And I totally forgot to take pictures. But be proud of me! I finally blocked the swatches!

I gotta run. Tonight we have a kick off meeting for evaluating whether we want to open up a local organic food coop. Should be interesting. And who says because I am not working that I am not busy doing worthwhile things? That my head is out of the business world? Hah!

Movin' along...

2007-07-05T10:45:00.000-04:00

I am so happy....I have finished my first Christmas 2007 present...the modified Father Daughter Hat for my dad. I just hope that it really is big enough to fit his head the way he wants it to.

Pattern: Father Daughter Hat

Yarn: Alaskan Alpaca, sport weight
Source: I can't remember, my mom
Needle: Size 5 16" Addi Turbos

My lovely model, Bruce, decided to model it for me. It is not blocked, but I don't think that would make a huge difference in how it photographs.

I have also finished the 5 swatches for my Basics course. I still need to block them, label them and do their write ups. So, there is much work to be done still.

And I have given in to the guilt trips. My DH is so sad that I have still not knit a pair of socks for him YET. He says he has been so patient waiting for me to knit something for him. I am a bit of a selfish knitter...So I *had* to cast on a pair. I could not find my Lorna's Laces to knit the boyfriend socks for him. I don't know where the heck that yarn is...usually my stash is pretty organized, so I don't know where it is. So instead, I casted on the Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Sweet Pea colorway and am doing the garter stitch rib from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I feel like my knitting progress is unimpressive (which it is! :) ). I may break down and hire my old PT as a personal trainer for a few days a month. Because I feel a little desperate after the last few weeks. Since my hives, I have been consistently working out, but the lower back pain is persistent. I have even made a cranial-sacral therapy appointment. If anyone has experience with cranial-sacral, let me know. I hear great things about it from several friends.

And now some time for viewer mail.....

Fiberitis said...
Beautiful roses. Are you still planning to do the Master Gardener program?

Yes. I have so many interests, that some other schooling may either overtake or be squished in with the master gardener program. So I am going to have to see how things develop here. Either way, it is still on my mind.

Oh, and of course, the japanese beetles are still attacking my roses. Fortunately, only one at a time. So I go out there and start wacking my poor rosebuds in effort to get the beetles off. So I cut one of my new white ones early. I hope in a few days to take a picture of the white rose bush with a few buds in bloom. Then I cut them and take them inside to protect them from those pesky beetles!

A bird has made a nest in my crepe myrtle. So I don't know if I can spray it for the beetles without getting an aerial attack. It got a little risky a few days ago just spraying the myrtle with soap water! :) I heard enough fluttering and chirping that I decided I better head inside before my head got pecked. I love birds, but they can be a pain when one is trying to maintain their trees.

I heart rainy days...

2007-07-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

Today is a lovely, gorgeous rainy day. You know, the kind of slow, long, drenching, drizzley day. I like days like this because the plants get the nice rainwater they need to really make them perk up and bloom, and I get to stay inside drinking coffee and tea and organizing my messy house. :)

On the Father Daughter Hat, I just need to draw the last 8 stitches together and weave in the ends. Yes! I will have ONE Christmas Gift done.

And I need to get back to my Basics course. I need to finish the second swatch. I am a little miffed at myself. I think because I am using the old straight needles, my knit and purl rows are uneven. I have already frogged it once, and might do it again. Why is it this uneveness only turns up when you are doing it "for a grade?" :)

I received the latest Sundara Yarns kit. Such gentley variegated blues...I am in heaven. It is gorgeous and she is amazing.

It is hard to not start knitting socks with all of the sock yarn I have been receiving. But I really need to get that Basics course done. I need to maintain discipline!

And my Tiffany Roses are blooming! This picture is from yesterday. I cut about 5 of the blooms off since then. I like to do that so they mostly bloom in my bud vases, and it keeps me from having to run outside to battle japanese beetles.

Mmmm....quiet time

2007-06-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

Since my last post, I have been trying to turn off the TV more and to read more. Thanks to a neighbor who is alot like me in personality/preferences, I have a new book to read about different types of thinkers. It is helping me to formalize my strengths and weaknesses, and to understand why I was unhappy in my last career...I kind of already knew, but it helps to have affirmation. It also hope that it helps me settle on what I would RATHER do. It also helps to explain my sometimes knitting ADHD, which happens when I get too many projects going (more than 3). :) Ha ha!

I have also started a TKGA class called Basics, Basics, Basics. I am knitting my little swatches and learning away.

I can't believe it has been a week already. I have so much catching up to do. So down to bid-ness.

SP10

SP10 Contest #8: Blog/Post about 3 yarns you're just dying to try/get your hands on, and why!You have until Saturday, June 30th, 2007 to post your entry.

Apple Pie Sock Yarn - Why? I have heard it is heavenly. That the colors are beautiful and it fuzzes up nicely. I have not ordered it yet because it sells out quickly, and she doesn't really do alot with my favorite color, green. So that has kind of held me back just a bit. I also have not seen it in person yet, and I tend to buy sock yarns that I see in person. I have been disappointed in ordering online with true colors unseen. :)
Kauni Rainbow - Have you even seen that sweater? That Yarn Harlot is knitting? Enough said. It is gorgeous, and it looks like an easier fair isle to do! The yarn does the color switching for you! It may become a group project for some friends.
Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid - Really the whole shebang. The Yarn and the Pattern. Because together they just work. But it is sooooo pricey. That is what holds me back on this one. (Anyone want to contribute to my Hanne fund? Pleeeeeeeaaaaaase?)

Why I have the Bestest SP10 Pal in the World update.

Dear SP10 Pal,

Do not despair; I do truly love you. Please forgive the late posting of the glorious packages that you have sent to me. Trust me, I truly understand the anticipation and stalking of your pal's blog to see how much they love what you have sent. So I sincerely and deeply apologize. Please see my post below.

Your Pal,

Yarngineer

Don't cha wish you had a pal like me? Check out the latest package to arrive from Elann.com. Beautiful green laceweight merino and addi turbo lace needles and a beautiful shawl pattern. I think my pal is telling me that I need to get off my butt and finally knit lace in laceweight yarn. Oh, okay, I guess I better!

After taking this picture, I am dutifully going to put the yarn and needles back in their plastic bag until I knit it so that the laceweight yarn does not get all snaggy.

Socks that Rock!

Oh my, this month's is great. The yarn is Firebird in lightweight, and the pattern is the Solstice Slip. It looks easy and pretty. What a great choice.

Christmas

The Father Daughter Hat for my dad's Xmas present is going. It looks different because I have adjusted the pattern to add an extra 3 inches of ribbing, because in Alaska one needs extra protection over the ears when the temperature drops.

But I was silly and did not check my stitch count as early as I should have after starting the decrease rounds. I was over by one stitch, so I figured out that I had forgotten to do one K2TOG. No problem, I think. I will just drop down the few rows and fix it. Ah, but no grasshopper. This alpaca/wool blend is not as elastic as plain wool. So after fixing it and working the stitches back up it was all too loose and gappy looking. Argh. So I had to frog back anyway, and here is what it looks like right now. I still haven't straightened out the stitches to lie in the correct direction after frogging it. And it is soooo unlike me to leave the yarn all yarn-barfy. I usually wind it back up right away. But this summer has been crazy for me. No fear, I will finish it soon. I just need to knit more little swatchies for my Basics course first.

Well, I need to run and start typing up some answers for my Basics course. I promise to post more frequently!

I heart viewer mail.....

2007-06-21T09:29:00.000-04:00

By the way, the new STR kit arrived, and I will try to take some pictures here soon. It is gorgeous. But I feel I must respond to some viewer mail, and then get back to work on HOA stuff. The whole HOA thing is getting annoying. WAY too many meetings, which takes away my knitting time. We have so much work to do, being a new neighborhood.

Judy said...
I miss Yarns Forever too! However, since I am forced to work for a living, when Dianne stopped having evening hours and hired such an unfriendly person for the few Saturday hours the shop was open, she pretty much lost my business. Dianne WAS the shop, and when she wasn't there it just wasn't the same.

I did not originally get into the level of detail to address this, because it becomes the whole chicken or the egg argument. The local market was not buying enough to support the store. (Stores have huge overhead.) So she had to go on the road to do shows, which are potentially much more profitable (And heck, people are there to BUY. Just go to one yourself. It is fun.). Therefore, she had to hire employees to run the store in her absence. It is hard to find good employees, so she had to eventually cut back on her hours because she could not get enough GOOD staff. It also does not pay to keep a store open when very few customers come in during those hours. Therefore, people shop there less because she is not there or she is not open. So it is a vicious cycle, chicken or the egg. (Think, what would you do? And would the store have still been profitable? Good business practice dictates ending an unprofitable business and keeping the more profitable business.)

I personally think it is a little unfair to expect a store owner to always be there. They have lives too. Dianne often had to leave and close the store to run errands to take care of her family. She could not have run it alone for long. I have not seen Dianne in months, but that is as much my fault as it is hers. She is busy running her new business (For which I am happy and totally understand her time commitment there and don't expect her to drop that, so we email each other and read each other's blogs.), and I could not come to the store on Saturdays when she was there. It is on us to find out when she will be there, as much as it is on her to be there to see her customers.

Once upon a time I lived in NY, and the LYS owner was a real jerk, as were 80% of his employees. I shopped there anyway, even driving helter skelter to get to the store before it closed after work, because it was all I had. I supported that store even though the guy was a jerk, because it was a great store, with great yarns and great classes. It was my resource. Sure, I wish the guy was nicer, but I just gave it right back to them when they got witchy. :)

Don't take any of this response personally, I am just trying to put this out there so everyone can see each side of the argument. I also think it benefits the larger audience out there in knitblogland. It is my nature. I should have been a judge...or a psychologist.

Anonymous said...
"What are the three obstacles to work?Indecision, Indifference, and Fear."Interesting concept, and something I'll have to keep in mind. Because, of course, the next question (assuming the thing is a good thing to do) is what can be done to overcome the indecision, indifference, or fear. And that's where the rubber meets the road. OK, enough philosophy for now.

That is exactly the next question, grasshopper. You cannot stop at just the answer to the first question. The first step is to put a name to what is stopping you. The next step is to confront it. Say, "Okay, now that I know I am afraid, why am I afraid? What can I do to get past my fear?" Or indecision or indifference.

There is hope for all of us yet. :)

wrchili said...
I love the quote you used. I often let indecision and fear dictate far too much in my life as well, and I hate it. It's something I'm struggling with as well, because I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one day and wonder what happened to my life.

Amen. Don't live with regret. How about starting with just one tiny thing you are procrastinating on? Is there some class or some activity you want to start? Just sign up and do it. I promise you, you don't have to be perfect. Just try it. You might love it. And if you hate it, so what? Deciding that you do not like something or discovering that you are not good at it is not failure; failure is never having tried at all.

(An aside: You know, I think we women question ourselves even more than men. At least we seem to hold ourselves back more? Well, I know many men who question themselves in this way too, they just don't talk about it very much. And if they do, they talk about it with a woman like me...a nonjudgmental guy's gal. Anyway, it seems as though we hold ourselves back more. Maybe take a lesson from the guys, just go and do it?)

Again, this is the same advice I gave to my 30-year old friend going back to start med school. And I am going to be taking it myself today. :) Now, time to go make some phone calls along those lines. :)

Quiet time....

2007-06-18T17:20:00.000-04:00

I just love Crazy Aunt Purl. So when I read her recent post (her June 15th one to be exact) about quiet time, I couldn't agree more. (However, I LOVE email and loathe speaking on the telephone. I have never liked speaking on the phone. I guess because it is such a pain to be so actively disrupted from your quiet time by a ringing phone. Phones feel impersonal. I would rather talk face to face.) For I have been thinking on and off for months about how nice it is to turn off the TV and to just spend time thinking creatively. I have been doing alot of that this last week, hence I have fewer blog posts lately.

I have been doing some physical housecleaning. Filing bills and getting more organized. And it feels great!

I have been working on some ideas for part-time businesses that I could start. It is hard though. Because, as I have posted before, you get afraid to take that leap to try in case your choice is a mistake. It is ironic; because I am kind of like a "life coach" for my friends. Only I don't charge them money like those cheesy hacks (Y'all should watch the Penn & Teller Bullshit! episode on life coaches). I am the one that they call for initial and ongoing encouragement to take the leap and follow their dreams. I need to take my own advice! It is also scary because I don't want my "professional life" to be viewed as being derailed too much by my various career adventures. Cause some of y'all know that I have been thinking about getting a PhD as well for awhile. Some people are such purists, if you don't remain dedicated to one profession, they think something is wrong with you. But I believe that everything we do has great lessons learned to apply in any job. One of these part-time businesses could actually help me fund my way through a PhD if I was successful. The other would be more for the love of it. :) And what better reason to do a job?

I should take inspiration from my friend, Mary, and my own life thus far. We both are constantly learning new things, and I think it makes us better people for it. My friend Dianne who just takes the plunge into business, herself. I think my new friend Isis is the same way. People never expect me to do the things that I do. "You were in the Army?!" "You used to be a cheerleader?!" "You study martial arts?!" "You knit?!" "You are studying interior design?!" "You know Russian?!" etc., etc., etc.. Why live your life with regret? Just pursue your interests.

Ah, forgive me for the venting. I try not to get into uncomfortable levels of TMI. But it also helps to throw it out there in writing. For years, I have forced myself to acknowledge my fears. Until last year. Now I am doing some of that emotional house cleaning that I have been putting off. (Working jobs with crazy insane hours have a way of shaking you up, but leaving you with little energy to tackle issues.) I have a quote (from a modern performing arts show on PBS that I watched about 17 years ago) that I still hold it close in my mind whenever I find myself stalling on something:

"What are the three obstacles to work?
Indecision, Indifference, and Fear."

So ask yourself, which is it? What is keeping you from doing something? From moving forward?

(People think I am starting to babble crazy talk when I say things like this. But I think it is powerful. As these three categories pretty much fit all of the reasons why I stall on something.)

So my friends, my problem here is both indecision and fear. Still trying to work through them. Maybe I will take the plunge soon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now back to the knitting content: Yay!

Yarns Forever is now officially closed. The local knitting community has lost a great asset. And it makes me sad because I don't think that everyone out there quite realizes it, or is even willing to acknowledge that. But what can you do when some of the local knitters do not support a local store? I am not going to get into the local knitting politics and debates over how much people claimed to have supported that store, but keep this in mind people....a handful of knitters cannot spend enough to even support one local store. We have families to feed and bills to pay. We need all of you out there supporting your LYSs. It is one thing if the LYS does not carry the one yarn you really want and can't order it for you, so order it yourself. But do try to look at the LYS for a substitute first. I consider myself a LYS tourist. I try to visit LYSs where ever I go. I get to help support local stores with my dollars, and I get to see what other yarns are out there. Not every store can carry every possible yarn choice out there. Try doing the same thing on your next vacation.

We all know that Dianne is on to greater things with her handdyed business. Shows are more profitable than bricks and mortar stores with less overhead and more buyers coming in over a small period of time, so we will see her at SAFF. I hope my local readers will go to SAFF, as it is a great opportunity to buy and support small businesses like Dianne's and Miss Babs. I can't wait to get to that show early and scoop up the prettiest hand dyes!

When one door closes, another opens. Goodwin's has moved to Campo Bello, SC, for those of you who do not know. I think it has the potential to be a great store, since there new house has great "bones" for knitting. (Truth be told, I have heard that it was a great store when it was in NC, but was always out of my way. So it is not a new store!) Outdoor fireplace, screened porch, many rooms full of yarn. It is a ways out of town, but I think it will be worth the trip. They also teach classes there, so for those of you who need them, hopefully they can replace our loss of classes that Yarns Forever provided. I am hopeful.

Goodwin's website is out of date, so I am going to post directions to their store that they provided to me:

The new location is 221 N. Main Street Campobello.
Easy to get to, just take 26 and get off at exit 5. Head towards Campobello, go about 3 miles,
turn left onto 176. Shop is about 3 blocks down on your right. Pull on in the driveway. Plenty of parking.

I was able to get the following yarns on my visit to Goodwin's:

Some of the owner's own handdyed sock yarn, North Woods Farm Fiber Co. There is no colorway mentioned. I think she said when that happens, it is just a one time colorway she is experimenting with. I am going to combine it with some old Cherry Tree Hill to do that Chevron Scarf, methinks.

And some new sock yarn I had never seen before. I had to buy it because it was a peachy orange and blue and white, like the Florida Gators. It is Leili from Liisu Yarns in the Fiesta colorway. I have never seen it before. It is 75% superwash and 25% mohair. It is really quite enchanting, and the picture does not do it justic as to how pretty it is.

And I received my Molly Bag replacement from Knit! Yay! I love it.

It is housing my current WIP. The Father/Daughter hat, I am making it for my dad with two strands of the alaskan alpaca yarn held together. OMG it knits up sooooo heavenly soft. I worry though that the hat will not be large enough to accomodate the ole melon head. :) I may have to frog. Also, I was weirdly uneven in my gage when I was last knitting it. Ugh. This is the first of the Xmas knitting to get started.

Honestly, I also felted a Felted Military Belt. But it is quite uneven. I have to laugh. I was knitting it on the wrong needle size while recovering from hives on my hands. I don't care, I will wear it anyway even if its quality resembles those childhood pottery art projects we all made for our moms. If I get to finishing it with the buckle and all, I will post a pic later.

I have the bestest....

2007-06-13T08:47:00.000-04:00

SP10 pal EVAAAAAARRRRRR! (Yes, to show my happiness I will risk sounding like a 'tweener.)

I was a little worried when my SP10 pal posted on my blog that she had sent me a package at the beginning of June. Because I have been so sick, I have not been to the old PO Box in two weeks. I was worried that they may have >gasp<>

But no, it was there waiting for me. Of course, I got into my car and opened it right away. (Those box cutters I keep in there to do my weekly recycling runs come in handy for surprise packages!) And here it is.....

Squeeeeeeee!!!! She ordered for me the Cookie A. sock pattern, Twisted Flower, that I wanted mostest mostest mostest. I know you could not have had a camera in my house...because I had just showed this pattern to my husband last week when I was home sick catching up on Knitty Gritty episodes. I was explaining to him how Cookie A. is the most amazing sock designer, and how I wanted to do this pattern. He thought I was a bit touched, being how complicated it is. :) But me being a bit touched goes without sayin'....But he is so sweet and a bit touched too with his faith in me that he thinks I will be able to do amazing designs someday too.

And the EXACT yarn that it calls for (Louet Gems, which I am looking forward to trying finally), and a set of uber cool lantern moon sox stix. I bet you didn't know that this was my favorite color of green when I was little? My favorite color was green, and I just loved loved loved emerald green. Now, I love all greens. But anyway, I felt like a little kiddie in a candy store. While I was driving, I would pet the yarn. Oooh. Of course, she also sent me two delicious truffles, which I have already eaten (and hence, no pic).

All I can say is, SP10 Pal, you are one cool chica. You must really be stalking my blog. :)

And yes, you are contributing to my knitting ADHD. I am really itching to break out the ball winder and swift (and I will probably break down later today). But I will always forgive you. I don't mind being spoiled so well.

P.S. My dad is from Massachusetts. And I love Boston and my favorite team is the BoSox. :) I used to watch their games with my grandfather. Definitely not just a post-championship bandwaggoner fan here.

Long time, no blog...

2007-06-11T10:17:00.000-04:00

I am so sorry you guys. Seriously, all this illness and traveling has worn me down. And now, all of the antihistamines I am on really make me tired all of the time. I wake up at 7 am, have two hours of energy and then feel like crashing everday. I will try to do a short catch up on some things today, but I think it is going to take awhile for me to catch y'all up.

I had a lovely time on a knitting getaway down at Isle of Palm, SC. Really, our only trips away from the beach were to go eat and to go to the lovely Knit yarn store in Charleston. The owner, Gay, and her staff are lovely people. Seriously. Gay takes time to sit down and talk to her customers, knit with you, help you, whatever. And so does her staff. One of the women in the shop actually made coffee and gave me some when she heard me whining about a headache and my needing to find a coffee shop while everyone shopped.

(Y'all, I honestly thought it was a caffeine headache. That is, a lack of caffeine headache. I am famous for getting these because my cardiovascular system is 98% liquid caffeine. And you other consulting engineers out there know what I am talking about needing to drink copious amounts of caffeinated liquids. But it turns out the headache was really due to the pressure dropping since Tropical Storm Barry was deciding to visit us. Which is now a new type of headache I am becoming famous for, as do many other people in the Greenville area. There is something about this geography that gives one hurricane headaches. But we didn't know that Barry was coming to see us at the time, because honestly, WHO watches the TV when you are at the beach. If you do, your beach priveleges should be revoked!)

My mom and I have an ongoing joke about taking pictures of our toes in different oceans around the world. You can't go to the beach without at LEAST sticking your toes in the water and sand. :)

Anyway, Knit has a great selection of books (so many books!), needles, and yarns! I *finally* picked up some Schaeffer Anne Sock Yarn that seemed worthy enough to be purchased. (When I saw it at Stitches East, it was not as impressive as some of the others I needed to allocate my limited funds to.) I also picked up some addi turbo needles (I can't find sizes 4 and 5 circs in this town to save my life so I must travel to find needles.), and a Lantern Moon Molly bag in red silk. But I can't show a pic of the Molly bag...the piping started fraying on the first day I used it. So it is in a box so it can be returned for a new one.

We had such a fun time at her store. Sitting with local knitters and talking about all things knitting. You can't beat that, ever....And a word of advice: if you ever go on a knitting retreat, make sure someone packs a ball winder and swift (as I did).

The night I got back from the beach, I tried on some aikido uniforms that I had ordered. About 4 hours later, I broke out in a serious case of hives...I won't go into why I had to order polyester/cotton blend uniforms as opposed to the usual 100% cotton ones...but lets just say I suspect the blend and chemicals used on it as the culprit. I am also going to spare everyone the gory details about the progression of my hives. I went to my dermatologist the next day, and they swear it was all the seafood that I ate. But after speaking to a family member who worked in allergy medicine, and other friends, we are more sure it was the uniforms. But I am going to plan a trip to an allergist sometime soon, because my allergies may be getting ridiculous. I think I AM turning into my mother. I am getting more sensitive to things, and that is no fun kids.

So, the irony is like a freakin' hammer. I had to cancel going to my aikido camp because I broke out in hives from trying on aikido uniforms that I had ordered for camp. Not only that, my hands hurt so much that I could not knit for 3 days. And even after that my hands would itch whenever I used them. Ugh. I guess I needed the rest anyway.

I think the final thing today is that I have signed up for Stitches East classes a few weeks ago. I am going to be taking alot of design classes, as that is where my area of interest is in right now. I need to push myself to learn more, as I always have ideas but need to get off my butt in putting them to paper more. Anyone else going to Stitches East this year?

Queen of the Weird...

2007-06-05T11:09:00.001-04:00

I am so sorry I have not posted in awhile. I hope you all will understand. First, I had the hand infection. Then, I was able to go down to Charleston and stay in a friend's condo for a knitting weekend. Then, when I came back on Sunday night, I broke out with hives. A really bad and persistent case of hives. It is very painful to even use my hands, since I have welts on the pads and sides of my fingers. So no knitting, nothing. Not even housecleaning. I am basically stuck just watching TV, and it is driving me nuts. We are not sure what started it...whether it was eating shellfish or something from the mail order karate uniforms that I tried on. Anyway, it just plain sucks. Because of this, I am not able to keep up with my PT and probably won't be able to go to my aikido summer camp this weekend. Oh well.

Anyway, I promise I did start on a new lace tank top, and I will post a picture of the beach soon. We did survive TS Barry. It was kind of fun.

bleeeeeeeeeeeccccccchhhhh.........

2007-05-25T11:11:00.000-04:00

That is the update. Since yesterday afternoon, my antibiotics have "ripped me a new one." Seriously not happy side effects. The best parallel I can draw is if you have ever had serious food poisoning, that is the closest state to what I have.

So I went to the doctor this morning to get my antibiotics changed. And the nurse practicioner had to have "a little talk" to me about not walking in. That I must always call ahead. I told her that I walked in, with the understanding that I could wait all day...that I only did it because I have been so sick and that it is the day before a long holiday weekend. So anyway, I am really upset right now. I always try to do the right thing, and other doctors have never been so ridiculous to me in the past. So I am auditioning for yet another new doctor (the last two closed their practices). If anyone has a recommendation out there for doctors who actually have good bedside manners and want to SEE patients, let me know. Please. Because I guess I should have been warned when this doctor's office hours are only 9-4, and they are closed 10-2 for lunch. And if their voicemail system was good enough like other doctors, I could leave messages with an understanding that it would be addressed. (But I have had such a hard time even finding any doctor, I was desperate.) And also my medication said to see my doctor if I had stomach pain (which I did). At the receptionists desk, they even laughed at me that my medication said such a thing, as if the print out that you get with them NEVER SAY THAT (in my experience they do). I guess I can't win. People today have such a 'tood.

Maybe this is what I should expect from the Greenville Hospital system.

Anyway, I am glad to say I took a dose of the new antibiotic an hour ago. And I feel better already. Maybe I will be able to eat. Well, there goes the only benefit of nausea inducing meds; the weight loss plan. :)

And all of your posts were sweet yesterday. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts.

No, I am not a hypochondriac...

2007-05-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

...there are just a lot of weird little things that happen to me.

For example, my finger is now infected. Really badly. Near as I can tell, it happened at a hangnail site while gardening. Yes, I did clean it with alcohol and use antibiotics and bandaids, but all of a sudden overnight, it became worse. I feel like a pathetic weirdo. I mean, there are people out there alot worse off than me, and for that I am thankful. It seems I get all these strange little health problems and not big ones, thank God. But, it is now an obstacle to golf and knitting. But not bad enough to really put me down. So I feel like I should be doing much better things than sitting around with my hand elevated. The finger feels hot and the whole hand aches. I had to turn down driving range practice with my neighbors, and no aikido tonight. I hope I can get well enough for our golf lesson tomorrow morning.

About the only thing I can do is show you some flowers in my garden. Oh, and I might just be a touch crazy because I bought two hybrid tea roses to grow in my back yarn. I never stop taking on challenges.

Dahlias

Daylillies

Penstemon

And I was so happy to meet Isis in person, finally! We (my Simpsonville Knit Group and I) may have scared her off.... :)....No, I doubt that. She seems to be pretty funny herself. Anyway, we all met at the Yarns Forever 50% off sale. There were at least 6 group members there. Lily bought enough to make an impressive stash on its own. The rest of us did pretty well ourselves. :) I will try to post some of that later, since I won't have alot of project content until my hand heals.

I look forward to having lunch with Isis tomorrow. :) I love making new knitting friends.

I think I am a little pink...

2007-05-21T15:57:00.000-04:00

...because I spent 75 minutes at the driving range today. Today was my first golf lesson with my two neighbors, both named Janet. Teehee. And they both go by Jan, so it is pretty funny. Anyway, they are nice ladies. And they are noncompetitive. So I think we are really going to get along with taking lessons together. There is nothing I can't stand (much) more than overly competitive women when you are all learning something new. I just want to focus on what my own problems are in my swing! :)

>sigh< I have been tagged twice already in the last 24 hours for the same meme. So here I am posting 8 things about me.

1. I am a saggittarius, and am kind of independent and strong spirited as the astrological profile says. (Sorry, was reading some book about that in the Barnes & Noble sale section.)

2. I love learning new things. All sorts of new things, from sports to art to really challenging subjects like advanced science.

3. I have been told that I have cute feet. (Seriously trying to think of unusual things here.)

4. I am developing a list of my last meal dinners this week. You know, the kinds of dinners you would eat if you were going to meet an untimely death. The list was originally started as my must have "O" foods. So far I have: Chicken Tikka Masala (Indian), Pork Pad Ke Mao (Thai), Spicy Tuna Roll (Japanese Sushi), Chicken Kung Pao (Chinese...but West Coast only), Filet Mignon, Chicken ala Rosetti (Italian: Sorry, I don't have a recipe for this one and the restaurant is closed.), really good french fries and a bacon cheeseburger. I need to think of some more. This topic is so Seinfeldian of me.

5. I am a flexitarian. As in a sometimes vegetarian, usually for 1-2 meals a day.

6. I am 5'4".

7. I am learning to play golf.

8. I am going to challenge those after me to come up with some pretty unusual 8 things, too. Just to make this meme more interesting.

I am going to tag Lily, Kirsten, Dianne, Yarnthrower, Fiberitis, and Isis.

Oh, and some new daylillies bloomed. The red and green ones. I will try to get pictures of the next flowers to open because I think the first two that bloomed may have closed already.

Mucho better...

2007-05-20T10:03:00.000-04:00

I am back today, and less cranky. I think it is because I tend to watch nearly zero TV on the weekends because I am so busy. And I am a happier person to be celebrity-news free. I will say that this morning I am making an exception because I am slowing down for once. I am watching too much Food TV, and am printing off alot of recipes. Heck, I have to do something until my husband wakes up.

Yesterday I went to an Afghan Annie party. For those of you who do not know what that is....a group of women get together and each of them knits a 10" x 10" square. Usually someone picks out what yarn is used. And it is usually something inexpensive and washable, like acrylic (such that one can afford to buy all of the yarn for an afghan). Sometimes money is collected to pay for the yarn. Someone volunteers to collect all the squares and assemble the afghan, which is then later raffled off. Only those who knit the squares are included in the group of names from which the winner is selected. We also all bring potluck food to the party. So it can be a fun way to spend the afternoon.

I have started on my afghan square. Does the pattern look familiar? It is the cable from the Inside Out socks....heck, I wanted to do cables and this is the one pattern that was resident in my head when I was at the party. I just guessed how many stitches to cast on and all. I think I am going to be lucky in my guess, because it looks like it is shaping up to be 10" wide.

Notice the lion-sized ball of yarn. Too funny. Someone in our group donated the yarn from some other project she scrapped. So there were something like 10 huge balls of yarn to use up.

I would love to win this afghan. It would match my guest bedroom. I decided to do the cable because the yarn is so plain...which is not a bad thing. Some people already did some beaded squares. Sometimes plain yarn really causes people to get creative.

Casualty of blogging and knitting...

2007-05-17T10:48:00.000-04:00

The 'ole carpal tunnel seems to be flaring up today. And some back pain. And since I have to try to make it to aikido tonight, I better get moving today. I can't sit here too long reading blogs.

Can somebody PLEASE stop the 24-hour Paris Hilton news stream? I DON'T FREAKIN' CARE WHAT SHE DOES. It falls in line with my DH's and my "Why the freak is this news?" ponderings. (We are known to mutter this, directed at the TV about once a day. No, we are not crazy. :) ) It is a shame that alleged 24 hours NEWS channels cover this kind of tabloid junk to the extent that they do. It is the dumbing down of America. No, we can't REALLY know what is going on in the world, just be happy with finding out what drugged up stunt Lindsey Lohan pulled this week...and oh, by the way did you see what designer bag she was carrying while doing it? It is this kind of junk that is seriously causing me to lean to a TV-free lifestyle for awhile. But then I would miss good things like 24. It is time to turn off the TV. And this reminds me of joking with my knitting group last night, that a woman sitting next to me on an airplane trip kept giving me strange and disgusted looks while I was knitting on the plane...but she is better than me because she spent her time reading People magazine. Oh the horror, the horror....

Okay, I know this is a repeat of an earlier rant, but I just can't take it sometimes. Junk news creates mental clutter.

I want to say for the zillionth time that my husband is the sweetest man. He went for his first golf lesson last night (he already plays some, but wants to get better), and one of the first things he says is that he almost bought a set of clubs for me last night. Because he does not want to be out there having fun without me. Isn't that sweet? I told some muggles that he would not make me into a golf widow, but I am sure many of them are saying "Yeah, right." in their heads. But that is not his way.

And this is really not so strange, considering I LOVE sports. All those years in softball have given me many skills that I can transfer to things like golf. And I am a wee bit competitive with myself.

I plan on getting clubs soon, but I want to take some lessons on demo clubs before I pick some out. I had taken some lessons a few years ago and loved it, but did not have time to really learn. I had to work my way through business school, so I did not have the leisure time I would have liked. I am waiting for my two neighbors to set up group lessons for us ladies. But they seem to not really be going through with it...I may have to set up my own lessons.

SP10 Contest #6

2007-05-16T09:05:00.000-04:00

Robyn, the SP10 hostess-goddess has issued another contest edict: Post a picture of ALL your current WIP'S (Work in Progress Knitting Projects) and you will be entered into a drawing for a prize! Tell us when they are from, and if they are old, why they aren't finished yet!

Note: I am leaving out the picture of the amigurumi crochet birdie, because it is not KNITTING WIP. I am also leaving out the picture of the afore-blogged einstein coat (we don't need to go there again).

Lizard Ridge: This is a slow-progress project, considering it is an throw. It is 4 months old, and I continue to work on a few blocks every month. In fact, I have been working on this block for the last day or two.

Fleece Artist Jacket: 5 months old. I procrastinated on seaming it together since I did not have time to do it when I got to that point, and just have not picked it back up yet. I will soon. I am feeling that "spring cleaning" urge to finish up WIPs.

Bird of Paradise Socks: 2 months old. Just need to frog it back and get gage. Other socks were moved up on the priority list.

Snowflake Hat: I think this hat is something like 15 months old? Not finished because my pattern and gage is off. I just have not picked it back up since my two-handed fair isle knitting gage has vastly improved. I will probably restart it this fall.

And to go into the realm of no, I really don't need to spend more money on my hobbies but I can't resist....

30% off at Yarns Forever since they are closing.
50-60% off of quilting thread (and everything else) at a Hancock Fabrics that is closing in Simpsonville.

What is wrong with this d**n town? The good stores are closing. The Hancock fabrics out in Simpsonville was worth the drive because it was a really CLEAN store, friendly, fast service and well stocked. I guess the well stocked indicates they weren't profitable ENOUGH, not just well run. Now we are stuck with the runky one in town. And Yarns Forever closing, well alot of us have already said how we feel about that.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-05-16T09:04:00.000-04:00

Just like some other blogs....pictures of my latest daylilly blooms.

Meme tag....

2007-05-15T16:23:00.000-04:00

Isis tagged me with this meme....hot potato! On it goes....

You are supposed to write a list of statements that begin with I am.

I am serious.

I am wacky. (Yes, I am both. That is what makes what I do so unexpected.)

I am happily married to the sweetest guy.

I am a burned out recovering financial person.

I am still trying to figure out how many things I want to be when I grow up.

I am trying to figure out what I want to be next.

I am scared about that. What if I pick wrong? Not just that, I am not sure which direction I really want to go in right now.

I am both shy and outgoing.

I am a black helicopter libertarian. (Really, I am kidding about the black helicopter thing. But I *love* scaring my DH into thinking I really believe some conspiracy theories. I must get that from my family of jokers.)

I am a good "hack" chef.

I am working on developing my own salad dressing recipes/line.

I am a good teacher. So people say. But not by education.

I am also a "hack" gardener.

I am an eternal student.

I am always taking classes and learning new things.

I am not a jealous person. I am awed and inspired by others with talent.

I guess that's enough.

And I tag: Dianne, Lily, Kirsten, and Laura

Thanks to Deborah, I finally have some Bovidae Farm pictures. Thanks to her for all of her hard work on trying to get them to me!

The view from the driveway/front porch.
My MDSW buddy, Mary, and I on the wrap around porch. I am knitting my Inside Out socks.

And of course, the sheep!

There is alot to be excited about today...but also some sad news

2007-05-14T10:26:00.000-04:00

Bovidae Farm Trip, FO, new sock yarn, Stitches East signups, and I think some more....

On Saturday I trekked up to Bovidae Farm in Mars Hill, NC with some members of our local knitting groups. It is best to visit Bovidae Farm in a group, because they like for you to call ahead and arrange a visit since they are a real-working farm and have alot of work to do! Anyway, we all made lunch dishes and drove up there and ate lunch on their wrap around porch, and petted their corriedale and merino sheep. Most of the flock is corriedale. I forgot my camera, so I will post some pictures when one of the other ladies on the trip sends some to me. They process and dye their own wool, as well as sell some other yarns in a little yarn shop in their cabin. Very nice people...what else can you say about people who let a group take over their house and knit! Hey, at least we brought food! I picked out some worsted weight in their Lichen colorway (dark sage greens and brown to match my eyes) for the rogue sweater. I will have to wash it first because the lanolin in the yarn will drive my allergies nuts.

It is funny, but in this light it looks more of an emerald green. Anyway, it will look great on me no matter what the lighting is.

We decided to leave Bovidae early to visit a yarn store up the road called Yummi Yarns in Burnsville, NC. The ladies in the store were very nice (I think they let us take over their shop for two hours), and they have an impressive selection of yarn, from high end to more modest yarns. Louisa Harding, Rowan, Noro, Hanne Falkenberg Kits, Colinette, Lamb's Pride, etc.. Too many to remember. Anyway, I had fun playing fashion model for the Hanne Falkenberg Trunk Show. I am glad it was there, because I got to try on many styles and narrow down what Iwould really buy if I was ever lucky enough to do so...some day I will own Diva or Mermaid. Man, am I a sucker for scandinavian designs. I will really need to save up for them, as they run ~$250 per kit!

They don't have a website yet, so I will post the info here: Yummi Yarns, 7 So. Main Street, Burnsville, NC 28714, 828 678 9890

I also finished my Inside Outs yesterday! Finally! It took forever since I have been working on many projects and traveling too much!

Yesterday, I also received my Sundara Yarn Petals Collection for May. It is gorgeous! Let me tell you, this girl has an eye for color you won't believe. And this kit is modeled on Dahlias, which I love. I have even planted some this year. I am so tempted to jump into this right away.

And last but not least, I signed up for my Stitches East classes this morning! And I got all of my first choices!! squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I am going to take alot of design classes this year, to work on my New Years Knitting Resolutions. It is time to take off the training wheels and dive in. I know I can do it and already understand some design. But I have not really done much of that yet. Mary and I also have already reserved a hotel, so we are good to go!

We found out last week that our best local yarn shop, IMO, Yarns Forever, is closing its brick and mortar doors. I am saddened by this, but realize that this is also an opportunity for the owner. She is going to instead focus on expanding her growing wholesale and retail hand dyed yarn business, and on starting an alpaca farm. Have no fear, she will keep selling yarn through her websites for Yarns Forever and Creatively Dyed. It is unfortunate, but the local market is not enough to support the overhead of a bricks and mortar store. So, to all of my local readers, please go by and support her while she closes out the store. I know that many of you have not had the time to go there yet, but please make the time. She is open for a few hours on Saturdays, so please try to fit it into your schedules.

My red daylillies are totally in bloom now. Each has about 3-4 flowers per plant, and more buds waiting to bloom. I am excited. It is time to go and feed them some liquid fertilizer, and to plant my tomatoes and herbs.

I think it is time to slow down and spend some time at home. I have been on the road way too much. I need to feel a little more grounded. :) Plus, DH is starting to forget who I am!

MDSW part dos

2007-05-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

There were a few funny things I forgot to post about for MDSW. It is funny how the mind continues to seep things out over time.

My travelling buddy, Mary, threatened to come home with some sheep. In case you are wondering, she already owns 4, and runs a tiny "hobby" farm on her property. I told her, there is no room in a rented Hyundai for sheep! But it was funny anyway, calling home to her 18-year old son and telling him that she had purchased 3 more sheep. (Imagine me baaaahing in the background for effect. I am such an enabler.) We were trying to freak him out into believing he would have to build another fence. :)

In case you think I am cruel, do not weep for Mary. For she has already purchased 4 more sheep (3 Finn ewes, and one Jacob ram) SINCE MDSW in the NC and GA area. So her little sheepy community is growing despite me. :) And not to mention all the bees she has to keep her company. Yes, she is a beekeeper. And a dogkeeper and a pigkeeper.

Then when we went to one of our knitting groups on Wednesday night, I found out that another of our friends had already "appropriated" Mary's skein of STR Fire on the Mountain. And by "appropriated" I mean that she took the sock yarn and hid it down her blouse. (I know what you are thinking, and don't tell me that some of you all have never been struck by the urge to stuff someone else's sock yarn p0rn down your shirt ala Miss Violet. I don't believe you.) But this woman is so sweet, is like a mom to all of us, and does so much for charity that you can't bear to take the Fire on the Mountain back. It turns out she wanted another skein to do a project, so she bought mine from me....if I was working, I would have given it to her for free, but I really need to pay these yarn bills. So it looks like I am keeping the Cracked Canyon after all. I wanted to keep it anyway so there is my excuse. Bought 5 skeins and kept 1. Not bad. I could be a recovering sock yarn hoarder. Maybe I need to create a 12 step program....

And my other friend loved the two sock yarns I picked out for her. I am so happy.

This is going to be a crazy weekend. This afternoon and evening I have a Thimbleberries quilting retreat. And tomorrow is a trip to Bovidae Farm with one of my knitting groups. I have not been able to visit Bovidae Farm since I moved here 3 years ago because you need to arrange visits ahead of time, and I really want to go even though I have been on the road way too much lately. You see, they have a wrap around porch on their house, and they pen the sheep up next to the house so we can pet them. And they process and dye their own yarn. I did not know about this trip until last Sunday. So I have no money to spend at the Farm. But our friend who took our STR Fire on the Mountain wants some yarn from there, so at least I get to buy by proxy.

And I think I am going to take out the impatiens I planted on Tuesday. The weather here is way too hot for them already and I think some are already croaking. I don't want to spend more money, but I need to fork over some to get some flowers that are more hardy. I also need to plant my wild hydrangea. Oi.

MDSW

2007-05-09T10:30:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: Dang! This post is long. So go grab a cup of tea or coffee, take a deep breath, and dive in.

That means Maryland Sheep and Wool to the non-fiber obsessed.

My travelling buddy Mary and I headed out of our burg at 9 am on Friday morning. We (I should say I since I rented the car and did all the driving but I don't mind that) drove 9 hours to get to Frederick MD. There is something special about two people who can talk so much that they never need to turn on a radio for 9 hours. Scary, isn't it? We stayed at a hotel with other knitters from SC, as well as from NY and NJ. I really have to love those Courtyard Marriots. The one in Frederick and the one in Greenville BOTH let us completely take over the lobby and knit away for hours on end. Being the obnoxious, crazy knitters that we are, you would think they would eventually take the free coffee away from us. But no, they have not learned their lesson. We should come with a sign "DO NOT FEED THE KNITTERS CAFFEINE. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE."

Muggles stop and gaze in horror at a group of ladies and men of all ages sit around and knit and, dareIsayit, laugh? Can people who knit really have fun? I mean, there must be SOMETHING wrong with us. Because thank Gawd to some peoples' learned perverted sense of feminism, the domestic arts JUST AREN'T DONE ANYMORE, right? We have been saved from them, haven't we? I do have to say, that fortunately on this trip we left the wine alone. However, (as mentioned in my last post) we would have been WAY outperformed in this regard by a wedding party. (And another aside: Young ladies, if you think you are way sexy and bold when you are stumbling drunk, and that everyone loves you...please think twice before accosting strangers on an elevator. Especially those with needles. We are friendly sorts, but don't be rude. Oh, and lay off the tanning booths/sprays. It does not look natural... :) )

Anyway, fellow knitters, do share the love and stay at Courtyard Marriots since they love us. So please give them your business.

We woke up at 7 in the morning both mornings, left the hotel by 7:45 am. I mean that rocks, doesn't it? Two women who can shower AND eat breakfast in 45 minutes? I am so proud of us...all those 2 minute showers in the Army have paid finally paid off! No, I did not take 2 minute showers, now that I am a civilian I can handle like 5 minute showers...ooooooh, the luxury! Because we were then able to drive the 30 minutes to the fairgrounds and have no problems parking. We even had parking right up front on Sunday. Amazing.

On Saturday, I headed straight for The Fold's booth. Well, honestly not straight, since I stopped to look at some yarn at the entrance. But then Mary reminded me of my mission and obligation to a friend back home in Greenville. Must buy Socks That Rock. Must buy Socks That Rock. So then I headed straight to their booth. I was something like 20th or 30th in line before they opened. Thank goodness I had my choice of all of their colors since I was so early. Ladies, I was the one making a megaphone with my hands asking for two skeins of Fire on the Mountain to be handed back in line to me. Truly, I love you all, but I was getting worried that it would sell out on me before I could even reach it...even though I was only 3 people away. I know it is hard to make a decision on what colorway you want when one is truly overwhelmed by the choices...but it was totally SLOW GOING. I am thankful though that we were able to avoid the STR grabbing frenzy that happened at Stitches East. No mosh pits. Some of us were saying that they should only allow a few people in the booth at a time and to give them a few minutes to choose and then bing! you are done. I honestly think that would be the best approach. Because there are some people out there who kept wandering back and forth to the point that they never left the booth and others couldn't come in. (I know I am exaggerating here.) There is a point where you should figure it out and it is only fair to others that you have a time limit or some other system...maybe those later in line would have a prayer then of getting a skein...just in case you forgot to get one under the time pressure. :) Anyway, I think the people who took the longest were the ones who were toward the front of the line. I guess if you think you earned the right to be there first, you can be leisurely. But, understand y'all, leisure and STR DO NOT GO HAND IN HAND!

Anyhoo, I have often been told I am too much of an optimist, and care too much about sharing for the greater good of the community. Which explains my comments above.

The STR for the friend, Seastone and Fire on the Mountain.

STR for sale to friends: Little Bunny Foo Foo (sold!) and Cracked Canyon. I tend to go a little bonkers on STR, so I pick a few colors and sell at cost to my friends.

After The Fold, I was left to the rest of the festival on a more leisurely schedule. I wandered through everywhere at least twice I think. And then again on Sunday. I had a few shopping missions that I was on:

MISSION #1: Try not to go crazy buying sock yarn for self.

Yeah, right. Well, see below. Not too bad.

From L to R: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild Raspberry. STR Fire on the Mountain. Cloverhill Yarn in Cloverhill. I did buy a Tess' Yarns baby Lace Leaf Cardigan pattern that uses sock yarn. It is one of my plans to use up all this darn sock yarn.

MISSION #2: Yarn for sock yarn swap pal.

First I choose the Cloverhill shown above, but then thought better of it. I mean, really, you are thinking that sock yarn is more my taste, right? Right. You are so right and thank you for pointing that out to me. So now this sock yarn is MINE.

So now here is the real sock yarn for the swap. She says she hates pastels but likes lavender. Unfortunately, lavender is not a popular sock yarn color this season. Don't ask me how they decide what is IN season. I am sure the dyers look at fashion magazines as well as follow their own muses, but lavender is NOT IN. This was the only real other choice other than KPPPM. And anyone can find KPPPM, but who can get their hands on Sheldridge Farms? Not many on the East Coast. Plus it is super soft and quite heavenly. The swap theme is May Flowers, so I hope it is flowery and bright enough.

MISSION #3: Find yarn for a Rogue pullover.

I was auditioning Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair since I had read online that it made a beautiful rogue. And they were going to be there at MDSW. But honestly, after I felt it and looked at it and the yardage vs price, it was just not rocking my world. So I shopped around. I probably should have picked up some Peace Fleece worsted at $6.20/sk sale price, but by the time I settled on that, they did not have enough yardage in colors that I liked. So I figured out that I will probably do it in some Lamb's Pride Worsted, which I totally adore as a yarn. Since I need a wool with a touch of mohair, it should work. And it comes in so many colors, one can be REALLY picky as to what they can choose. So I left MDSW empty handed, but with a better idea of what I will do.

MISSION #4: Find yarn for another Clapotis.

I have already finished one Clapotis this year. And I loved it so much that I decided to step it up a notch and buy more of a luxury yarn that the pattern originally called for. The answer: Tess' Yarns Cultivated Silk and Wool (50/50). I really wanted more of a white to grey to black colorway, but this is the closest she had. I will say it cost me a pretty penny, but I think it is slightly cheaper than the original Lorna's Laces the pattern calls for.

MISSION #5: Try not to go crazy buying something other than sock yarn.

Oops.

Honestly, I had a coupon for Morehouse Farm, one of my old favorites from my days in NY. Who can resist a coupon? This Melody's shawl is knit in the round with a steek. Too cool. It is Morehouse Merino variegated laceweight. I was torn between this colorway and another with navy blue, forest green and rust. It was too hard, but I could only afford one.

And this yarn was a steal at $6 per hank, normally sells for $16/hank. Gorgeous. By Terra Yarns, called Blue Spruce, 60% merino, 20% Baby Alpaca, 20% silk. It reminds me of home. It will make a lovely scarf or something for me.

MISSION 6: Buy artisan jewelry for Mom's Christmas present.

Durn camera. Sorry. That is two swan heads forming a heart with a celtic knot in the middle. By R.E. Piland.

BONUS MISSION: Buy a present for DH.

C'mon, we all know what this is. To distract him from the fact we bought way too much yarn. Appease him with chocolates, food, yarn for him, or whatever. This time it is in the form of a mug, cause he loves bunnies!

One side of the mug.

The other side of the mug.
Pottery by Greenbridge Pottery. Supernice people with the cutest pottery. Go visit their website for good presents. They let their daughters help draw the designs, like the one above.

Oh yeah, and I only remembered that I had a camera for a brief period. Below is a pic of the crowds on Saturday...the weather started to look stormy and there was a cold wind so it thinned out a bit. Hah!...it never rained. I guess all of that NW upbringing paid of there...knowing when the rain is just trying to psych you out. That and knowing to always pack a raincoat. :P And lots of lambies being sheared.I forgot to take pics of the 5 new lambs. I am sorry. I will remember next year. They wanted me to bring them home with me, but I just couldn't take them from their mommies. :)

We left the festival around noon on Sunday. I managed to make record time driving back. We were back home in Greenville around 9:30 pm. Even with a big dinner stop at an Outback. I think I drove 85 mph most of the way home. It was weird, no cops! Not even in NC, where they tend to set up camp on I-85.

I present to you a picture of one of my first daylillies of the season.

I am spent.

I'm not dead yet...

2007-05-08T09:43:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are sensitive, it is just a Monty Python quote...relax and accept my apologies.

MDSW has taken it out of me. Maybe it was the drunken wedding party that kept me up to 4 am on Friday night at the hotel. Maybe it was walking through miles and miles of craft booths and sheep stalls. Maybe it was the yarn sensory overload. Maybe it was the 18 hours of driving there and back. Dunno. But I am beeeeaaaat. (Imagine that being said like a lamb's baaaah.)

I have to say though, my travelling partner rocks! We both talk (but she tells the best stories), like to eat real meals with silverware for dinner but don't mind the fastfood during the day, wake up early and take like 15 minutes to get ready so we can get good parking, and we both like to independently shop and just meet up later. Definitely low maintenance women. We had a great time, and lack of sleep did not keep us from getting into The Fold's line early on Saturday. I think I was like around the 20th to 30th person in that line. So I was able to buy some for a friend.

Anyhoo, I am going to postpone the long update for now. For the weather is briefly cool here in SC, and I need to get outside and pull up my pansies, plant a daylilly and only a few impatiens. I am going to try to make this garden not as high maintenance. Too many impatiens means too much watering time. I will try to do some tomatoes in pots later this week.

I also have to go volunteer at the organic produce buying club this afternoon, so I better get going!

All is quiet on the Southern front....

2007-05-03T07:45:00.000-04:00

But anybody who knows anything about an army...be wary when an army is quiet...as they are preparing to launch an offensive! (Or establish a killer defense, but that analogy does not work here.)

Yes, I am talking about Maryland Sheep & Wool (MSW). My blog has been kind of quiet. I am preoccupied with mainly MSW packing, and I was gone last weekend so I am catching up with things.

MSW packing list:
-iPod and car adapter
-cell phone and charger
-closed toe shoes
-camping chair
-cooler
-sun hat
-sun block
-money
-camera?
-knitting shopping wishlist
-Others' knitting wishlists (something about buying for others makes me feel better)
-sock knitting
-raincoat (I am convinced that 95% of the time, if I bring a raincoat it will not rain. It is not even in the forecast.)
-vendor list (highlighted)
-map

You can tell I am such a gadet geek. The iPod makes many a long road trip fly by.

And now for SP10 Contest # 5:
Contest Number 5 is about to begin. All you have to do is blog about what you do while knitting. Is there aunique way you like to cuddle up with your yarn and needles? Do you watch TV? Do you listen to the radio? A podcast? Do you drink tea? Coffee? Wine? Do you have to wear slippers? Do you have to have peace & quiet? Do you have a fave spot?

Typically, I knit in my bed with coffee, first thing in the morning while watching the news. Or at night in bed while watching tivo'ed programs like 24, Grey's Anatomy, etc.. I sit under my brand new Ott lite which is totally helping with the old eye strain issue. I usually listen to podcasts while driving around in my car. Sometimes I sit in a chair, but often at night I like to spread out in bed to relax my back. I guess sock knitting and smaller projects is best for that. :)

Here is the April Socks That Rock Kit. Walk on the Wild Tide Colorway. Sorry, the Ott lite is not doing in justice, but my sunroom table is covered with stitch marker making stuff (for my swap partners).

I probably won't post for a few days. Since I will be gone to MSW!

This one's going to be short too....

2007-04-30T10:26:00.000-04:00

I finally did receive April STR shipment on Friday afternoon. I will try to take pics later. The yarn is to die for soft. And the pattern looks cool.

I have to tell, for SP10, what is the oldest yarn in my stash. It is the sage green Lamb's Pride Bulky for my unfinished Einstein coat that I posted about awhile ago. It has been in my stash since the spring of 2004. But since I love Lamb's Pride, it will get used someday!

I need to get to the gym to work on my physical therapy, and I need to maybe buy some new khakis or mid-level dressiness pants. After working in more formal office environments, all I really have are jeans, shorts and suits! Agh.

Oh, and something else....Maryland Sheep and Wool is this weekend! OMG. I have to start getting organized here. I need to go dig out wherever the heck we put our camping chairs. Anyone else out there going?

No STR April Package yet....

2007-04-26T16:29:00.000-04:00

>sigh<

Shorter n' Sweeter

2007-04-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

I will try to keep this post brief. I have alot of baking an errands to run today. And did I mention the house is a mess and needs spring cleaning badly? (By the way, we were invited to a First Communion at the last minute for this Sunday (which is out of town), so there goes away one more day for hoping to get DH to help me clean the garage. Ugh.)

First, I received my first SP10 Swap Package. It is way cool and worth the wait.

I have the new Yarn Harlot book, which looks funny. And a really cool metal bookmark, which has the unusual feature of actually STAYING in place when the book is open. It is balanced to just lie there perfectly. Now I know that observation may seem odd to you, but I always have to put bookmarks between the next pages in a book to get them to stay. What can I say, being an engineer and bibliophile I love it. I also have more Knitpicks merino sock yarn and kool aid to dye with...do we see a trend here? I think I have finally reached critical mass of those two things. I no longer have excuses to keep procrastinating so I must dye some already! And chocolate raspberry bar and the cutest bear stitchmarkers to add to my bear collection. I was tempted to buy some on my own, but I did not because of budget constraints and I am glad I did not!

Second, in response to viewer mail:

YarnThrower said...
Your sock is cute! Sounds like your trip was really fun. I agree about the whole dpn thing. I just really like my dpn's!!!! Now of course, you know what we're all thinking when you begin your post with, "I am overdue..."..... Any comment?

Sorry about the confusion. I am trying to conceive (somewhat but not WAY aggressively. :) C'mon now, I don't want to completely freak out my husband.). So, I am sorry for posting something like that. Honestly, I did not even think that it would be misconstrued. Shows you how clueless I am about that whole vernacular. And on the dpn thing...don't get me wrong. I understand that using circs is like finding the holy grail of sock knitting to people who hate dpns. But I LOVE dpns. They fold up so nicely into your bag, and don't hurt my hands as much. Having multiple balls hanging from circs can get tiring when you are in a small space like an airplane.

We finally have our first HOA board meeting tonight. Give me strength....

I am overdue...

2007-04-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

for an update!

I wasn't really motivated to sit down and blog after the Yarn Crawl. I ended up being pretty tired and cranky on Sunday, and all I can figure is that it was due to a lack of sleep. Not even Starbucks can overcome enough late nights and early mornings and transform me into some merry happy sunshine girl. (Which everyone knows that I am not anyway, even if I tried. I am more the calm, serious, inflappable type.)

Last Friday I went to Thimbleberries and picked up my house kit for this month. I washed the fabric yesterday, but I have not started on it. I have also washed the fabric for the table runner, so I hope to start on that sometime soon too. I also picked out some way cool fabric to make drawstring pouches for my husband and my sensei for Christmas.

Note the cool dragons, red and orange fabric that looks like fire, and the blue script. The red fabrics are batik. Too cool! This is my first batik purchase. I adore the stuff.

On Saturday we did the Asheville Yarn Crawl. We could have seen even more stores, but honestly, I did not want to drive us all insane running around at a crazy pace trying to hit the stores farther out from the city.

We started with the mandatory stop at Starbucks before our ~45 minute drive. Then we went straight into yarn shopping!

Our list of stores:

1. Earth Guild - 33 Haywood St., Asheville. 828-255-7818

2. Purl's Yarn Emporium - 51 College St., Asheville. 828-253-2750

3. Asheville Home Crafts - inside Grove Arcade, Asheville. 828-350-7556

4. Yarn Paradise - 6 All Souls Crescent, Asheville. 828-274-4213

5. Yarns to Dye For (Hendersonville) - 927 Greenville Hwy., Hendersonville. 828-697-0630.

All of these stores are great, and for different selections of yarn. Some of the inventories overlap, but there is not so much overlap that visiting all of them is pointless. As a testament to that fact, group members bought items at each store. Each carries sock yarn, so you are covered if you are into that. If you have questions, let me know as I do not feel mentally equipped to handle detailed store reviews of each. We ate at the Tupelo Honey Cafe, which is great and a highly recommend it. We also stopped by The Chocolate Fetish, and I do not have any pictures of my chocolates because all but 2 have been eaten already. I love their European style truffles, much lighter and more enjoyable than the more dense American style truffles (They have those too, by the way. So you can get either!).

I can't really show most of what I bought, because it is for various swap partners that I have. I can share a skein of heavenly laceweight malabrigo (what a deal at ~$8 for 470 yds!)

which I will use to make a branching out. My knitting group pal Sara and I split the last two skeins of the black malabrigo, since the remaining colors weren't really "us." We should each have enough to make a branching out.

I think my squeeing over malabrigo just shows you what a sucker I am for merino wool. It is my absolute favorite thing in the world. Then I guess alpaca.

I also purchased some Brittany Birch dpns to try them. I just want to ask y'all one thing...the next time you recommend that another sock knitter stop using dpns and instead switch to the magic loop or two circs, please don't act like it is the only way to do it and the dpn knitter does not know anything. (Just how it annoys knitters when they are told that whatever knitting style they use is wrong.) Keep in mind that the dpn knitter may have already tried the other methods, and still likes dpns. For example, doing the magic loop is usually best on metal circs. But metal circs aggravated my carpal tunnel. So I tend to return to dpns alot! I only say this because it happens so often! And if you only knew how impossible it is to find size 6 wood dpns in this town, you would jump at the chance too!

I also finished one Inside Out (the ends are not woven in yet, in case I need to rob it for more fiber to finish the second one). But I screwed up on the needle size for the second, so I have to frog that and redo the short row foot. I ended up doing 3 cable repeats on the leg, and I think it results in a good length and nice cabling.

I am not shim-shammin man....

2007-04-20T16:22:00.000-04:00

I have been pretty scarce with the DH birthday jubilee this week. But I have been getting some things done.

A quilt block for Thimbleberries (this is for February, so you can see I am two months behind. Gasp!). I just received the April Kit today, so I am going to try to start on that here in the next week. It is a house and should not be too hard.

A little further on the Inside Out sock. I am a little further along than this picture, so I am deciding on how much ribbing to do before I bind off.

Golly, the flash makes everything look ickier.

And we have had something like 4 new member to the Alaskan Knitters ring in the last week. That is so exciting.

The Asheville Yarn Crawl is tomorrow. Unfortunately, only 6 of us can go. Boohoo...but at least we will be a lean, mean yarn buying machine all packed into one minivan! And we are all in trouble with me as the Cruise Ship Activities Director. (I will try NOT to revert to my old cranky ma'amerific ways learned in the Army...no really, I think I will be so sleep deprived it will not be an issue. And everyone is too cool. I just get cranky when I am around lazy idiots. And I am a sleep deprived officer working 5 jobs.) I will ensure bliss by buying a Starbucks sugar free, nonfat, no whip Cinnamon Dolce Latte. And I am probably going to buy my weight in truffles at The Chocolate Fetish. (That alone should boost my mood.) At least that was DH's directive to me. And hey, he is the bday boy and it is chocolate, so who am I to disobey?

Honestly, their chocolates are so good that if I lived in Asheville, I would probably try to work there. Maybe smelling all the chocolate would stop me from eating it so much?!

Craziness in the world....

2007-04-17T10:24:00.000-04:00

My thoughts are with those friends, families, employees and emergency workers at Virginia Tech. Yesterday was such a beautiful day here, and we were trying to celebrate DH's birthday...but it is difficult to feel joy with such tragedy occurring. Not that long ago, I was an engineering student. Just trying to imagine what it would be like to have the same thing happen to my friends and professors in those classrooms is just unfathomable. People that you are so fond of, that have really influenced your life are suddenly brutally murdered. What could one do? I don't know. And how could one person do that to others? I don't know. I don't think those of us who are not in that frame of mind can truly comprehend it. At my school, people were notorious for jumping into gorges when they were suicidal, they weren't homicidal. How can you stop someone who is so "hell bent" on destroying life? With or without guns, they would find a way to do it. Bombs, knives, poison, whatever....

Everyone, take the time to tell your families and friends how much you love them. Take care of your children and hold them close to your heart...always be there for them as much as you can. Teach them that nothing in one's life is so important, overwhelming and tragic that it is worth taking life. Together you can overcome and handle life's trials and difficulties together.

I'm a little scarce right now

2007-04-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

I am calling these 9 days the jubilee celebration of my husband's birthday. He is having such a stressful time at work that I am planning surprises for him every day. So far it is going very well, but because of it I am going to be a little scarce the next week. I have completed two cable repeats on my Inside Out Monsoon Socks for the STR club. It is fun, but don't try doing a 5/1/5 cable with alot of action going on around you, especially on metal needles! Whoops! and they stitches you just cabled slide right off. It could be stressful if you are not good a picking up dropped stitches. Thank goodness, now I am on size one needles for these, so it is going a bit faster....

Meanwhile, the Alaskan Knitters blog ring has grown by two more members! Slowly but surely, we will unite all the Alaskan Knitters out there. :) It is fun to see what everyone is working on.

I also just have to say how much I am loving my Ott lamp. I no longer have eye strain when I work on my knitting in bed...and reading is nice too!

See you in a few days. Asheville yarn crawl this weekend! Woohoo!

Fun times on a route recon

2007-04-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I drove up to Asheville NC to do a route recon* for a semi-LYS Crawl for my knitting group. You know how it is...we all get so busy in our lives that even yarn stores that are only an hour to an hour and a half away go unvisited. I wanted to make sure that some of the yarn stores that came up on my google search actually existed, or actually carry decent quantities of yarn to make the gas money worthwhile. I have been to most of the stores before, so no big deal for me. But, I did find out that one store does not exist! And another that was just a consignment shop with some yarn no longer carries yarn. And the ones that I thought would be worth a visit still are. It will be hard to get 2-3 cars worth of knitters through too many stores, so we have to limit the list.

One of these days, I need to leave early enough in the morning to actually ENJOY Asheville more. I ended up eating McDonalds for lunch while driving, and this is a crime if you know Asheville. It has so many good restaurants that it is crazy to eat crappy food. But I wanted to try to beat rush hour traffic home because there was construction on I-26. I did make time to stop at The Chocolate Fetish, for some delicious Key Lime Pie, Chai and Raspberry truffles. I warned my husband that if he did not eat his share soon, I would not be able to fight off their truffley siren song. (Note to my SP10 Pal: truffles are always welcome. :) ).

Alot of us are saying we are on yarn diets, but you know how that is. I think some of us will break down when in the presence of awesome yarn. As I did. (Just like a dieter breaks down in front of cupcakes or french fries.) I did buy two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug at Yarn Paradise, with the excuse that one is for my SP10 pal. But honestly, I knew deep down that once I showed them both to DH this morning, he would really like the one I was going to give away (and he did). So I knew both would end up in my home!** Agh! And honestly, it is a miracle that this is all that I bought. I had held out all day before and after this purchase, but it is like a pressure cooker building up steam. You finally get around some sock yarn that you hear raves about, and you are like, well....I will just buy just this one. I must be crazy. Crazy for tightly spun super soft merino sock yarn. It is my personal yarn kryptonite.

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Colorways (top to bottom) Blue Parrot #16 and Jewel #54.

Source: Yarn Paradise

The good news is that I will be going back up in ~1 week for the actual crawl. And so I will have a chance again to buy one of many new sock yarns for her. Or other yarns if I can find a deal for her. Don't worry pal-ly, shopping for you is always on my mind. :)

I have finished that purple and blue lizard ridge block, and have started another this morning. They are so like knitting dishcloths that I encourage you all to take up this project. The blocks make a nice break between knitting other projects.

* It is scary when one channels their super duper high speed Army planning and logistics skills. I was always highest rated on my planning skills. All I know is whenever I get around to having bambinos, they are in for some trouble. Mommy has it all under control! And I will be in for trouble when they do their best to perturb my plans!

** One of these yarns may end up as a gift to one of my sockerly knitting friends! Ahah!

Lizard Ridge Progress

2007-04-09T11:23:00.000-04:00

These little Lizard Ridge squares can be fast and addictive, like knitting dishcloths. I finished the old one I had started months ago, and now I am done with almost two more.

Pattern: Lizard Ridge

Yarn: Universal Yarns Poems Colorways 553, 556, & 564
Source: Yarns Forever
Needle: Size 9 Bamboo 24" circs

I estimate that I have about 1/3 to 1/4 of a skein left after one is knit. I hope to save some money by combining the remnants to make some more squares. Heck, it would even be neat to join different colorways together. It would probably pull the look of the blanket together even more, since the colorways are not quite as similar as Noro Kuryeon's.

Thank you for all of the comments on the clapotis! To answer some viewer mail in summary format:

Yes, I find the four play to be lightweight. I think as lightweight as wool and silk blend can be. It has good stitch definition and a nice sheen. And I can wear it around the house wrapped around my neck like a scarf, and it does not bother me or weigh me down at all. Come to think of it, it might be lighter than my four other shawls....none of which are fine lace by the way.

It took 3 skeins of four play. It is 80" by 12.5". That measurement may have it stretched a little bit, and I think my gage could have stood to be a bit tighter than it was with the yarn. In order to not show my woven in ends...I think they peeked through sometimes to the other side, since the yarn is variegated and the gage loose.

I *would* do another one in four play. The end result is very pretty and comfortable to wear. However, I will probably do another one, but I might do it in the original or a different yarn, just to have and try something different.

I am thinking of doing a mini clap for summer. Does anyone have any recommendations for a lightweight yarn to do it in? Other than bamboo.

The Clapotis is done!

2007-04-05T12:26:00.000-04:00

My Clappy is finished! Yay! Thanks to Dena at Brooks Farm, I had the courage to soldier on and finish! She went home and took pictures of her own Clapotis knitted in Four Play to show me where she had joined on her third skein. And since it looked as though I joined mine at about the same place, I proceeded. There were a few times last night where I looked at the shrinking ball of yarn with some doubt. But I finished it this morning and wove in the ends while watching Season 6 of the Sopranos on cable on demand. (Gotta love watching HBO series on demand. Somehow I fell way behind in my Sopranos. I think it was because of work.)

I want to thank Dena for taking the time to email back and forth with me SEVERAL times. It was really nice of her. It took awhile for her to respond to me because she thought she had already responded to my request. Trust me, I understand that. I used to work a job where I received at a minimum 50 emails a day (that does not include all the phone calls and internet chat requests too). And many were repetitive chains of replies between large groups of people. It gets overwhelming and one tends to get the kind of dementia where you swear you responded to an email, but you probably only did it in your dreams! (It is the kind of work situation where the only time you are not working, you are sleeping. Never again....)

SP10 Hostess Robyn (that is with a y, not an i, remember!) posted the latest contest:
Post a picture to your blog before the 15th showing me either your fave pattern ever knitted by you - or your most hated project that once you finished it - you absolutely wondered "Why the heck did I knit this". Want a challenge? Post both!

Honestly, can I include projects I hated so much that I NEVER finished them? I nominate my Einstein coat. I have not doubt it is a clever pattern, but I don't have the patience for miles of garter stitch. I am a true knitting crazy who craves challenge! In every project. I still have all the yarn, which I will use for some other sweater. Maybe I will turn what I have finished so far into a pillow.

I love alot of projects. But I think I will nominate the Clapotis because it was fast, interesting enough, but simple enough to breeze through it while at knitting groups or while watching TV. It is a good pattern that everyone from beginning to experienced knitters would enjoy.

I also think the Kittyville hats from SnB are fun. But I don't have any pictures of the two that I made from my brother and niece. That project teaches alot: Icords, knitting in the round on circs and dpns, and picking up stitches to attach earflaps and kitten ears.

Regarding my rant: Thanks for all the responses! I love the comments on being a "full-time mom" or "part-time XXX"...that is so true! And I have seen from my brother how much a new baby can absorb so much time! It is totally full-time, no matter whether you work or not. In fact, I had partially read a book (partially becaues it was a library book) that had researched the mommy wars. And you know what, it seems that the one conclusion I found is that we do it to ourselves. One side judges the other for working and being negligent, the other for staying home and being narrow-minded. Stereotypes are made and names called. Honestly, it is silly. I think we should just celebrate the fact that in 2007, women get to make choices either way. Or understand that others may have to work and don't have a choice. But we need to realize that OUR choice may not be the right choice for EVERYONE. And have empathy and compassion for mommies on all sides. :)

I have no doubt my neighbor did not mean to imply it directly. It just reminded me of others who do. I will say that I have noticed that she is a very proud woman...she recently had knee surgery, and her husband died last summer. I do my best to try to help her, offering to help her plant flowers and even pull weeds for her. But she refuses help. She is a very active and self-reliant woman. I guess I just have to wait on what else I can do.

And joke of all jokes: I am now on my HOA board. No one else would fill the offices. So I am secretary. For two years. I told my husband, now he really owes me because he skipped the meeting, and now I am on the board. Anyway, I am trying to look at it as a learning experience. And I am serving with two older gentlemen, who seem to be nice people so I was more willing to do it. We are a brand new community, so there is alot of work to do. Should be a laugh riot. :P

I have finished one block on Lizard Ridge finally. I will try to post pictures later.

Sad, sad times...

2007-04-03T10:18:00.000-04:00

I finally did hear back from Brooks Farm today. They do not have any more of my dyelot. C'est la vie. They do so many shows, I knew not to hope. My choices are:
1. Continue knitting and pray I have enough yarn. Then frog if needed as described in step 2.
2. Try on garment, mark where I can eliminate extra middle section repeats. Go ahead and frog and rip back middle section repeats. Pick up dropped stitches and rock on.

Husband is an advocate to #1. If I do #2, I would probably want his help on marking the garment with stitch markers anyway. I think I will think about this and wait until tonight.

Inside Out sockie is progressing. I have to go to a stinkin' homeowners association meeting tonight, and I swore to DH that I am bringing my sock with me, I don't care what people say. Because we all know that I will be stuck there for hours in some uncomfortable folding chair, hoping to successfully fight the desire to self-lobotimize with my DPNs. I will have flashbacks to high school where I fought that same urge, only with pencils. Ugh. My neighbor (bless her heart) is trying to get me to run for the board because of my numbers background. I say nay. I have enough drama in my life. I made some excuse about needing to take more classes to get ready for graduate school (partly true) and that I am working on some business ideas (partly true too). I do not need to serve on the board with my neighbors whose dog keeps pooing in my yard and they never pick it up, etc., etc.. Okay, enough with that but you get the idea. I don't want to be a slave to people who are miserable and petty. If I wanted that, I would still be working as an FA in some silly pressure cooker company.

Oh, and a warning, the next statement may offend some: The assumption that a person who does not work a "regular" job and who does not have kids has all the time in the world to take on all the other crap in the world that others do not want to do annoys the crud out of me. And that I don't have enough other very important stuff going on that I am really into. I can draw two parallel situations, one of which I have been in:

1. The single person working for a company gets asked to work through holiday vacation plans, nights, weekends for any emergency that comes up because your personal time is not as valuable as those who are married (with or without kids). This applies no matter how many years of experience you have and where you are in the pecking order.

2. Mothers with children who get asked to take on all sorts of stuff at school, church, whatever (whether they work or not). Because it is assumed they "wouldn't mind" helping out, or taking on just a few more kids other than your own for an afternoon. As if you have a ton of free time yourself. (I've seen this happen to my mom and friends.)

Enough said. (You can feel free to submit your own rants on the same topic to me. I will appreciate all views.)

The Project Spectrum colors for the next two months are:
April / May: Green, Yellow, Pink
And Sundara's Bird of Paradise Yarn fits perfectly. Only I am not on gage. So I will have to frog back and start again. On socks, you can see a trend. I love to live dangerously and check gage as I knit. :)

The weather is supposed to dip much colder the next few days. I am not happy about that, but I knew it was a possibility. I just planted some dahlias, daisies, daylillies, basil and impatiens. The dahlias, daisies and basil are in pots and can be brought into the garage for refuge. The daylillies should be okay. I only planted two impatiens, so no biggie. But still. I knew I was living dangerously, but I don't want to wait till next month to plant in that heat.

And now for some viewer mail:

Beverly said...
" Not only do you have a lot of gardners in your guild, there are several master gardeners. I was definitely impressed."

I agree. I am going to go to the garden organizations with some of them. I am going to see if I want to go through the master gardener program myself or not. Growing up where I did in Alaska, the soil is so rich all you have to do is plant something and fertilize it. Here, it is much tougher and I feel I could stand to learn alot more. I also have friends and family who will think I have lost my mind undertaking such a thing; they will think I am wasting my time. I don't care. I defy stereotypes and expectations all the time as it is. :) And I have always had a natural green thumb, even for a city girl. There are also some other areas of interest I am going to pursue this year as well, but I am keeping those to myself. :)

This is going to take awhile...

2007-04-02T10:21:00.000-04:00

I have been diligently working on my STR Inside Out pattern. But I knew I was in trouble but kind of in denial and the whole let's wait and see how it fits before I decide situation. Basically, I am probably knitting this pattern TOO LOOSE. Yeah, wtf? Notice the UBER-pooling situation in the pics below.

And how the ribbing barely stretches on my little baby feet.

So I bit the bullet this morning and took these pics, and then frogged it back to within 1/2 inch of the start of the ribbing (because you all know that I do not want to accidentally frog all they way back to where the provisional cast on stitches were picked up and end up accidentally dropping those too far). At least now the color striping seems to be more satisfactory.

Finally pics of my dream swatch...my apologies to all of you sweet people out there who have been waiting to see it. I wore it out and about last week. I am sure some people thought it was unusual. DH thinks it is cute. With my medium-length hair, it makes another bad hairday option possible. The pics are a little blurry because I had to take them myself.

I still haven't really looked at my More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I have a legitimate excuse. I have started working on my garden, going out and buying flowers and pulling those that did not make it through the winter out of my beds. I bought daylillies, gerber daisies, africian daisies, and impatiens. Thing is, I am now really scared because between a bad fall in aikido and gardening, I may have really killed my knee again. About 1/3 of my knee is bruised today. I almost cried yesterday, worried that I may need to get another knee surgery. So I am trying not to stress the knee too much. I will try to go just do some planting in my large pots, so that I hope that I do not have to crouch or kneel to work them.

I am probably going to join some local gardening societies too, to help me learn more. I am thinking about doing that, especially since some of my knitting friends are big gardeners and are already involved in the organizations. Growing up where I did in Alaska, I did not have to learn much. The soil is so rich that you plant something and it grows like gangbusters. Here in the hard red clays of SC, one has alot more work to do!

This little girl got gage....

2007-03-30T10:04:00.000-04:00

...on my Socks That Rock club kit. Using the recommended needle size for tiny feet. This is great news, because maybe it means I am no longer an anally tight knitter. :) I tend to be a tight knitter, especially on socks. I am hoping this will make it easier on my hands and to do the cables the pattern calls for. So this morning I am going to cowboy up and try the provisional cast on for toe up socks.

As I said yesterday, I received the "More Sensational Knitted Socks" book. I have not really gotten to look at it yet, but I promise to this weekend.

I also received my From the Heart Swap box from my Angel. My original swap box was sent from my pal in England back in the beginning of February, but it never arrived. This is horrible, because I know my pal went out of her way to make a nice package for me. I guess there is some customs agent out there with chocolate smeared all over his/her face fondling what was supposed to be my yarn p0rn! Not nice! Shame on you! You do not deserve such nice things!

Anyway, the swap box was great! I received some Cascade 220 wool, two balls of Regia striping, two balls of Regia Cotton, Chibi needles (Bless you! as I was about to buy some more on my own, since some of mine have grown legs), Godiva chocolates with raspberry filling (have you been reading my blog, eh?), tiny tiny sock needles (okay now you have been reading my mind because I have not been able to find 00 or smaller needles! Stop it!), reinforcing yarn (have never tried it, thank you!), and two sock patterns. Thank you! I have never tried Regia, so this will be great! The cotton blend yarn will be handy for summer socks.

Sorry the picture is out of focus, the battery low light was flashing at me, so I had to hurry.

My DH's birthday is coming up soon. He has been having a very stressful time at work, so I am trying to plan a week of surprises for him. I cannot post them here. But if you have suggestions, please let me know. It can be anything from little gifts to little things to do together because I don't want to completely break the bank.

SP10 Contest Post

2007-03-29T18:42:00.000-04:00

Please post (on your blog) about your favorite yarn and your least favorite yarn (if you have one!) What have you made with it? Tell us about your experiences! - Robyn

Ooh. Well, I have quite a few favorite yarns. So I will narrow it down to two categories: sock yarn and non-sock yarn.

For sock yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight. I have only made socks with it so far, such as the Cedar Creek in my post below. I am so in love with their sock yarn. You can make mistakes, frog it back 10 times, split it, and it still comes back together and knits up beautifully. And I love merino wool, it is so nice to your hands.

For non-sock yarn: Morehouse Farms Merino wools. Again, my love affair with merino. Knitting with theirs is like knitting with cotton candy. Nice and loosely spun but not splitty. Sooo nice. I don't have any pictures of my finished cardigan, but I will try to remember to do that. And their patterns are clearly written.

More Viewer Mail

2007-03-29T16:40:00.000-04:00

I am having too much fun today to really sit here and update my blog to the fullest. Let's just say today has been a great day. It was my first day outside of the house since my skin treatment. I had Starbucks (my first coffee in three days so you can understand how ecstatic I was about that), followed up on the face treatment, got a pedicure (my first of the season), received "More Sensational Knitted Socks" from preorder on Amazon, went to Salsarita's, went to the post office and got my From the Heart Swap Angel box, and went to the gym. And I got to add a new member to the Alaskan Knitters Ring, Bezzie at Random Meanderings. Her blog is quite funny so I hope you all go check her out. She cracks me up and her global nomadishness reminds me of my own. Now I am sitting here blissing out eating my favorite Cheddar Cheese, Tillamook. And I get to go to Aikido tonight. Don't kill my bliss man...I will do a full update tomorrow.

In the meantime, I want to answer some viewer mail.

The dream swatch is from where? It's really cool the diamond holes in it - do tell me how it's done or where I can get the pattern!

You can see the links in earlier entries, but here it is again: Dream Swatch.

Cedar Creek Socks done!

2007-03-28T10:01:00.000-04:00

Yay! I *finally* finished my Cedar Creek Socks. I strayed away from these because I really wanted to get started on that Clapotis and other things. And I started to get bored doing the second sock, which does not usually happen to me. I think I am one month behind on my sock a month goal. Oh well. All I can do is push on. One of the socks is a little tighter than the other.....ugh. I am too much of a tight knitter sometimes.
Pattern: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Cedar Creek
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in "Lucy" Colorway

Source: Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Needle: Size 2 Bamboo DPNs

Hey, that reminds me that Brooks Farm still hasn't written back to me regarding getting more yarn for my Clapotis. That is not cool. If I don't hear from them within a week, I am going to have to start calling.

I am close to finishing the Dream Swatch. I hope to finish later today and post it soon. It is quite pretty. I just hope it looks decent on me! That I do it justice. :)

Fun time with M&Ms

2007-03-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

It was good today to catch up with my friend who owns Yarns Forever. She is very busy dying her own handpainted yarns and doing alot of shows.

Now for some fun. Here I am as my M&M character. Not too pretty?

Happy Spring!

Sorry, there were not any spring backgrounds.

I am almost done with my dream swatch and Cedar Creek socks. Being stuck at home has some benefits. :)

I am ready to cry...(again)

2007-03-24T09:44:00.000-04:00

I am finally on the third section of my clapotis! But last night I figured out that I am going to run out of yarn before I finish. I know you know how devastating this could be. Who knows if I can even get more yarn. I suspect that it is a nonrepeatable colorway that I purchased from Brooks Farm at SAFF. (Yes, I have already emailed them to ask. But my hopes are not high. I have also tried googling, but have not found anyone else with it.) Who really wants to frog back and reduce the number of middle repeats? (Not you. Not me.) When I bought it, their display said 3 skeins was enough. Since then, I have read that people may need more yardage than what the pattern calls for. (Oh no. I wish I had known that earlier. But I came to the Clapotis bandwagon late.) Oh well, if I really have to, I will frog back.

Meanwhile, I am stuck at home being all "shroomy." That is short for mushroomy. It is a gorgeous weekend in the low 80s, and I am inside watching movies and slathering on facial creams and sunblock. Why? I had to get a skin treatment for my melasma which leaves my skin VERY sensitive to sun exposure. Which will require that I wear tons of sunblock and big floppy hats for two months. I figure I will be well enough in time for Marlyand Sheep and Wool (MSW). I am also trying to figure out how to get started on my vegetable pot garden. I suspect I will be in my garage with the door down prepping all the pots and letting my husband drag them outside for me. Ladies, the lengths we go to in order to be gorgeous. Of course, I would rather be hiking, but DH LOVES LOVES LOVES the fact that I just want to sit around inside and watch movies, his favorite weekend pasttime.

I guess I can finally work on the socks I have been putting off...trying to forget about my clapotis heartbreak. :(

Ooh...an even better idea is to start my dream swatch scarf. I need to look glamorous this summer. :) Under my big floppy hats and sunglasses.

I hope all of my friends are having fun in TN at the "other" Southeastern Fiber Fair.

Well....

2007-03-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

You all know I am trying to save money to fund my trip to Maryland Sheep and Wool. But I received a 20% off coupon for Joann.com. So I used this to purchase at OTT Lamp for my bedroom. The additional 20% off coupon paid for the tax and shipping, plus a little bit more of a discount. I justified this purchase by the fact my current Ikea lamp likes to turn itself on and off at whim. And the lamp's cherry wood would match my antique bedroom furniture. Let's all hope that it works and I don't have to return it.

And a friend is ordering from kpixie, so I am finally breaking down and ordering this pattern. Now, I know what you may be thinking, but I already own a store bought sweater that is very similar with long sleeves, and it looks totally awesome on me. And I get tired of boring stockinette sweaters, so this will be a good thing for me to tackle someday. I have not bought the yarn yet...I will leave that to post MSW. Also, I am holding off on buying the SWTC tofutsies yarn that is calling to me....

Don't worry. Meanwhile, I am still stuffing "Mommy's tip jar" (my piggy bank) with all of my spare change and dollars when I break my yuppy food stamps ($20 bills). He's too cute for words. So my eyes are still on my goal of going to MSW. That reminds me, time to get to running my errands and balancing my accounts, etc..

Now for some (obligatory) knitting content....

2007-03-20T10:48:00.000-04:00

Just kidding. My posts are almost all knitting related. But in order to fulfill SP10 hostess request, I am now going to write about my favorite knitting accessory...

I am pretty darn low maintenance. I don't use fancy counters or gadgets very often. About the only things I use are crochet hooks, chibi needles, scissors, cable needles, and plain plastic stitch markers. I don't like heavy and very dangly stitch markers. A swap pal (see below) just sent some nice, small, single bead stitch markers for making socks with so that is an exception. I will say about the neatest thing I have bought and am actually using in terms of a knitting accessory is the Knit Picks magnetic chart board. It folds in half and closes on itself to protect your charts while travelling, the magnets ACTUALLY stick to the board (unlike another board I have purchased), and it can be folded in a way that it props itself up. It is a much better buy at $10 than the plain magnetic boards I have seen selling for $6-$7. So I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to follow a chart or carry their knitting patterns around in a protected way.

My "April Fools The Jokes on You" swap pal Cindi in Orlando sent me a kickin' swap package. Ooh, sorry, I forgot to include the mug and candy in the picture. Anyway, it included a Mountain Colors sock pattern and Joslyn's Fiber Farm sock yarn in Mocaw colorway. I was thinking this morning that the sock yarn has orange and blue in it, the UF gator colors, so I will definitely be able to use this sock yarn. In fact, DH will love it as he is the gator. Somehow she knew I was another chocolate and coffee nut. I guess we all can just sense each other.

And the alpaca yarn from my mom has finally made its way down from Alaska. She told me to tell her what to buy more of....since my mom has already claimed the brown for herself, I am thinking that I need more brown for me! Now I just need to go sit down and figure out how much more of each color that I want.

Now I know you all are jealous of my alpaca yarn. Especially the brown and black.

And I purchased some bamboo yarn to make the Dream Swatch. I love the colors in this yarn, much more brilliant than even those in SWTC's bamboo. So, even though it looks a bit splitty, I will throw myself into using this yarn by sacrificing my sanity to the splittiness just to get cool colors! I really wanted the original yarn used in the pattern because I love and wear those colors, but I have no such luck. So I think this is a fairly good compromise!

Pattern (to be used): Dream Swatch

Yarn: Madil Eden Pring Color 039
Source: Rebelle
Needle: TBD

I went to a really cool little yarn shop right off of the UK campus in Lexington called ReBelle. They carried quite a few sock yarns, and quite a bit of alternative yarns (corn, soy, bamboo, etc..) and many colors of malabrigo. I was so jonesin' for the malabrigo, as they had colors that I cannot get locally. But I held off. I really want to save SOME money to go to Maryland Sheep and Wool. Anyway, I knew I was home when the girl behind the counter sat there, quietly working in frustration on her socks! Thank goodness they had late hours on Wednesday, the day we drove in. Because I did not have any other time on this trip to go yarn shopping. Boohoo! So, ReBelle, you were my salvation! :)

I also did not get much knitting done, but I have been driving to the hoop on my goal to finish my Clapotis. I only have one more repeat in the middle section! And then I get to start decreasing! I am so excited. I will post pictures later this week.