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Mar 29, 2007
Play With Me Okay, now it's time to post some of the things I wanted to post yesterday. Today is for knitting booties. Heather is still sick, Kyran is getting sick, and Mr. Shad has work tonight. Oh, and I finally fixed my Haloscan HTML so that it is on my archive page as well as the main page. People who were viewing my page on Bloglines (I assume) linked directly to the archived post, and were still posting comments via Blogger. It was making me nuts. So, I went in this morning and fixed it. You can still see the comments people made via Blogger, but not the Haloscan comments. In the future there won't really be any to see. Trust me, if I could figure out how to display the Haloscan comments on the page, I would do that. Maybe I will, but today is not that day. It's rainy and crappy, and I really just want to have fun.
That brings us to today's game! It was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I forgot to close a stupid tag and Blogger ate my post (I swear...some days....), so today it is. The game is, "Sock Yarn Frenzy!". Alright, yesterday this game had a much lamer title. lol
SOCK YARN FRENZYNow, the goal of the game is to help me figure out what to do with some of my sock yarn. I like to have patterns for things when I buy them. Except with sock yarn, which somehow just magically jumps into my virtual shopping cart all on its own.   First picture clockwise from top left: Ruby Sapphire in Trudi, Wollmeise's am kalten Polar, J. Knits in Maryland, and STR Lucy. Poison Nr. 5 and Rolling Stone both already have a purpose. The second picture was a gift from blogging buddy Ann-marie ( remember?), and is called Neopolitan. Instead of you all just randomly listing patterns (which by all means feel free to do), I will supply you with a list of patterns I want to do, but just haven't yet. Some are links to pictures since they are from a book, they are also in no particular order. I think that's all for today. Back to booties, I'm hoping to finish the blue and white ones first, in time for the very last bit of ProjSpec's first triad. Labels: life, procrastinating, socks, yarn 09:23 | | 
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Mar 28, 2007
Wednesday I Feel Better Just for SpiteAnyone else enjoying my Except for Monday lyric theme? It actually started way back here, even though I purposely misquoted it at the time.
Anyways, it's not spite that's making me feel good today! I am definitely back in the springtime groove! With that, I present to you Thelonious! (hm, gotta stop using exclamation points)
 Specs, since I am taking a break before beginning the second sock to work on those baby booties. Bad Kitty! Pattern: TheloniousYarn: Wollmeise in Poison Nr. 5 Needles: Addi DPN in size 2.5mm Notes: Despite the traveling lace panel these socks are still rather stretchy. I think it's all that ribbing. My foot measures 9" at the arch (because I have a crazy high arch), and 8" at the ball. Also, I ended the patterning 2.5" from the tips of my toes...because that's just the way I am. Oh, for the love of your eyes, get yourself something to magnify the chart for the leg!!! You will go BLIND squinting at the teeny-tiny symbols. lol  Took pics of some fun things too. More stuff from CafePress, I love it. Just search knitting, you'll turn up PAGES of the stuff! My favorite is the thong. COME ON! It says Yarn Slut...on a thong! How funny is that? Oh, maybe it's just me. Lesley and I apparently ordered the same shirt. hehe Now we can be crazy knitting shirt twins. UGH! Blogger ate my post AGAIN! >.< Labels: frustration, life, socks, Thelonious 16:31 | |
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Mar 27, 2007
Tuesday, I Get a Little Bit SidewaysI'm not sure where my brain is. Outer space? Thelonious progresses, could have finished sock #1 if I hadn't had motherly/house-wifely duties. *sigh* PRGE is fun. I really hope to keep both of my pals as friends.
Also, I was looking at my list of goals, I have accomplished a lot. Well, considering it's only March. Still have seven things to scratch off the list. In my search for the perfect steeking project...what do you guys think of Eunny's Deep-V Argyle Vest? Yes, I added to the list...are these not too cute? I've been eyeing the penguin up.Labels: blah, goals, knitting, steeking 22:24 | |
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Mar 26, 2007
Monday, Which was Never Good Anyway Actually, it is a good Monday so far. The weekend wasn't great. Had some stressful and unhappy things happen. Some of which were my fault. None of which I feel like talking about really. So I'll sum it up for you.
Friday: got new glasses, waited for Mr. Shad to come back from Hampstead and went to knitting shop
Saturday: took kids to park (hot), waited at tattoo shop, argued with Mr. Shad at Wal-mart, waited at tattoo shop more, did NOT go to knitting shop, wound Poison Nr. 5 into a ball by hand (hmmm 520yds by hand? bad idea)
Sunday: cast-on Thelonious, realized Mr. Shad had taken camera to work with him!
Well, there is obviously more, but these things are all I'm really covering at the moment. We've been working on my tattoo design but so far it's just not working for  me. I have to be really happy with it, I mean, it's going to be on my body forever. Gotta take some pics of Justin's tats to share with you guys. This time I'll remember to take my cam with me, they totally lost the pics they took. lol Thelonious has made some serious headway, I've already started the heel flap. I don't know if it was the quiet day yesterday, the yarn, or the pattern; I just can't put it down. Speaking of the pattern, seriously, click on the picture and take a peek at that chart. Trust me, you won't be able to read it, I can't even read it. lol I mean not when it's printed out, it had to be on the screen. My printer didn't print that page out correctly, and it's SUPER tiny. I need a magnifying glass.
Today is exciting though because of the mail!! My PRGE package came  today! It's awesome. Mr. Shad walks through the door with an armload of mail and says "Well this is a new one...." and tossed me a 2 liter soda bottle. Yep, it was stuffed with gifts! Ah the cleverness of Una! I of course took pictures and then went about opening the package, er cutting the bottle open. Had to be careful though as I didn't want to damage any of the goodies. :) The bottle contained EZ's Knitter's Almanac (YAY!), Ruby Sapphire superwash sock yarn in Trudi, Caramel filled Hershey's kisses, some cute mini-nail files (which got hidden in the picture), awesome stitch markers, a keychain, a pencil topper and sunflower seeds. :) My garden will be pretty this year.
    Even the little card was cute! And the ribbon was all turquoisey and brown,  which I have a thing for right now. Everything in the package was great! There is 550yds of the sock yarn, that's enough for some knee-higs for me! I can't manage to get a good pic of the yarn, it's all dark tealy and lavender like. It's very pretty. Kyran has already claimed the pencil topper, he's walking around with it on his finger. hehe My CafePress.com order came in today too! All you see today will be the penguin magnet, I didn't want to overload you guys on pics. Isn't he cute? **** Oh I'm a dolt****I forgot to mention that I finished my Endpaper Mitts. Around Thursday evening I belive? But I didn't want to write up another post and then other things got in the way of my posting until now. Got them done in time for the last stretch of Project Spectrum.  Labels: endpaper mitts, finished object, PRGE, project spectrum, socks, Thelonious, yarn 13:57 | |
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Mar 22, 2007
Stupid Blogger I had a lovely post. Just wonderful. About things in spring that I love. And trying not to post too often, getting my wheel. AND BLOGGER ATE IT! Wanna know why?! Because I used an apostrophe. >:O I will update this later, when I stop being mad about spending 45 mins writing a blog and getting all of the right links for you....
**** Edit ****Okay, I feel better now!!! Guess what?! My Wollmeise came in today! It's just so beautiful.  I want to flash it all over blogland! But I will settle for posting extensive pics here. Oh, and the last thing I was waiting on for my PRGE came in today as well. Woohoo! I can ship it off tomorrow. Could have done it today but Mr. Shad didn't wake up until 2-ish? Then I had to take him to pick up his motorcycle. It is beautiful outside. Now I have to do the Top 8 Things I'm loving right now list, which I stole from Lesley. Obviously the family is even before me on my eternal list of things I love, so we'll just skip them and move to things that are currently making my life bliss. In no particular order: 1. My Wheel! We ordered it last night, and I realized today that I am not limited to traditional wood stain colors. I guess TV can be helpful, I saw a commercial for Minwax last night and got so excited. I'm thinking Wild Berry or Cherry Blossom,  what about you guys? At first I thought, OMG! They'll flog me at the guild if I do that! Then I realized, no, they won't. They can talk about me if they want, but it is MY wheel and I can do whatever makes me happy. Staining my wheel purple would DEFINITELY make me happy. Soooo glad I got it unfinished. :) 2. Yarn! It doesn't matter how many times I see yarn, buy yarn, knit with yarn...I love it. Every skein is beautiful and the handpainteds are each a work of art. When I get a package with yarn in the mail I light up! I've always loved to get mail (when you're bored you should all write me a letter), and to find yarn in the mail is fantastic. Even if I know I ordered it. 3. Vacation! I'm going on a vacation, with my husband, in a hotel, without my kids! The tickets have been ordered, the reservations made...and no kids! Did I mention that yet? Plus, I get to join Kristi's knitting group while I am there. Which is totally awesome. We are going to visit the Winchester Mansion, something I've been dying to do for about half my life. It really makes me happy. 4. My LYS! Aside from all of the  yarn there...the ladies are just amazing. They are all so wonderful and make for an eclectic group. Yes, we can be loud and crazy, but we help each other out and it is a wonderful network. Rhonda moved away, and Blogless Jennifer is leaving next week, they will still be a part of our little group though. Melissa has some of the coolest ideas EVER, she teaches needle-felting, breeds sheep and angora rabbits, and does a MILLION other things. Check her out. 5. Yarn! I mean MDS&W! This will be my first year and I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I really want to get a chance to meet up with some of the bloggers I know out that way, Elizabeth, Lolly, Mama-E, and maybe even Eunny? Busy year for me huh? 6. Bloggers! I know I've covered this already, but hey, it doesn't hurt to repeat it.  7. PRGE! This is too much fun! My pal is great, she doesn't even tell me I'm nuts when I ramble. lol Sunne, our babysitter moderator is really great. She is tough but fair, as long as you play by the rules things are good. :) 8. New Glasses! Alright, you're all going...what? Kyran broke my glasses last week so I get new ones. Getting a new look is always exciting, prove otherwise. Labels: blogging, happiness, knitters, knitting, lists/surveys, pretty, purchases, spinning, yarn, yarn addict 09:57 | |
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Mar 21, 2007
Whoosh That was the sound of my days rushing by! I have just been soooo busy. But I'm actually much happier when I'm busy. It's weird, and actually not really related to my time at all. More so, money. See, after our tax returns and incentive bonus, we cleared about $14G this month. (can I get a hell yeah!?) It's nice to not be extra stressed about money, to buy things I've wanted (my wheel), and to get a chance to spend some time with my husband, just my husband. Everything is pretty much right with the world, and I'm not afraid to say it has a lot to do with having that financial blessing. People like to say money is the root of all evil, they are WRONG, that is a misquote. The actual quote says that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Get that? If you ever use it wrong on your blog, I will correct you. That is one of my biggest pet peeves, please. Money is not evil, it is inanimate, has no soul. It is our glorification of it that opens the door for evil.
Whoops, tangent. :)
Things are good.  My spinning is getting better, I ordered my wheel, I'm getting good ideas of what to get my PRGE pal, some yarn arrived today. I got to go knitting tonight and OH! Kristi said that I can join her knitting group while I am on vacation! Cookie will be at the BMFA camp thing, but that's fine. Knitting with cool people is always fun. Just glad they don't think I'm nutty. hehe
It's amazing what practically 4 straight hours of knitting can get done. Seriously, I get bored with plain socks way too easily. These socks will take me awhile. But having my "military spouse" class gave me a lovely gap of time within to knit and not be bugged by little ones who want to hold my hand. We had a lovely conversation  about sock knitting and Frank and Martha socks at the shop tonight. It was funny. Jennifer (blogless! the shame) is a Frank too, she is using some Zen String yarn right now in a truly funky colorway. Which unfortunately I don't know the name of, I think Aloha? I definitely turned her onto Wollmeise, which I cannot wait to get. I have had a bit too much fun shopping recently, especially since I like to use my pal as an excuse. It's like, oh, I'm buying for her, why don't I just get myself something too?Labels: frank and martha, happiness, pictures, pretty, PRGE, purchases, socks, yarn 20:22 | |
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Mar 20, 2007
I'm Just NOT a MarthaIt's true. I can't be a - Martha. I took the quiz, and read the descriptions, no doubts about it, I'm a Frank. Definitely. And I am trying. Really, I am. I don't expect to have these socks done in time, but I wanted to try to knit something out of character, to see how I do. *sigh* This is as good as it gets folks. Actually, to make matters worse I am wearing some Frank-type socks in the pictures! Ugh. Ironically, both yarns are Cherry Blossom Fibers. The socks I'm wearing were the Blue Flash "I Dreamed of Africa" socks. The socks I am knitting are a toe-up version of the Madder Ribbed socks from Knitting Vintage Socks in Nermal. The colors are neutral, but it's still variegated. lol And I had to do something other than  straight stockinette as I was kinda scared I'd never finish them, stockinette bores me. Really, the only reason I picked this ribbing pattern was for the name. Come on...Madder ribbing? Oh yes, I'm so doing this again in a bright pink and purple, so I can call them my "We're all Madder here" socks. bwahahaha! Yes, I'm nuts.
Anywho...Endpaper Mitt #2 is a tubular bind off and thumb ribbing away from completion! Actually, I got it to this point last night, and then realized that Justin had stolen the computer and I had NOT printed out the directions. Bad Kitty, bad! Oh well, I got through the last bit and managed to not break any more needles.  Since my 0s are metal (KnitPicks) needles, I'm not too concerned with them breaking. I am just procrastinating now. That means I have to start the Converse booties, and I'm kinda scared. Granted, I've done the pattern about...5 times already. Still, I am worried they won't be good enough quality. My seaming really does suck. *sigh* I wish the stuff would get here for my PRGE pal already! If it's not here by the end of the week, I'll email Sunne and let her know. Not like I won't dish out the extra couple bucks to overnight it or whatever, it'd be my fault and I DON'T wanna end up on that deadbeats list.Labels: endpaper mitts, procrastinating, progress, rambling, socks 17:19 | |
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Mar 19, 2007
I'm a Creepy StalkerYes. That is right, I went to Cookie and Kristi's blog, just out of curiousity, to see where Purlescence is located. Since we are now going to be in California for vacation and I knew they were in Cali somewhere. Seriously, I didn't have much hope since it's a big state. We'll be visiting San Francisco a lot too while we are there, and Purlescence is WAY closer! So, now I'm being a stalker and emailing Kristi (still too shy to email Cookie) to ask if they wouldn't mind me soaking up some of their glory while I'm out there. I also want to meet Nathania and the other girls there. If I go to no other yarn shop, this is the one I want to visit. *sigh*Labels: funny, knitters, life, stalking 11:01 | |
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Mar 18, 2007
Green For St. Patty's Day Man, I had a much better post title in my head before I went to sleep last night. We're still finishing off those cupcakes, who knew that 30 cupcakes would be so many? lol I can't wait for April and those new ProjSpec colors, bring 'em on!! Of course, I was already playing with green. :)
Yesterday I finished spinning the olive and plied the two together. I love it. My plying still needs a lot of work, it's hard to figure out how to balance them. In theory it is easy, but in practice, well not so much. On a plus note, I really want that Kromski Symphony. Tuesday I will go in and solidify my order. :) Spinning on it was a dream, I couldn't believe I finished up all of that olive AND my plying all in one day. The chocolate seemed to take forever to spin. Definitely still uneven too, I still get those slubby spots here and there. Either way I have 194 yards of yarn now! Yay! What I'm thinking is that I'll spin the rest of the chocolate (I only had about 4oz of it) and try to spin up enough olive to match it. Then I'll figure out what I want to do with however much I have. Right now, I'm actually thinking of...*gasp* a scarf! We all know how I feel about those. Maybe I'm delusional.
I also bought (okay actually, I put it on my "tab" lol) a small roving kit. It's some diferent colored wool that my LYS owner (or maybe it was Melissa?) blended together (with some flash!), it's called "Midnight Sky". Now, if you even think you might be my PRGE pal, please stop reading. Originally, I had planned to spin that Cherry Blossom Fibers roving for my pal. When I saw it though, I got selfish pangs. *sigh* I'm a bad pal. So, I bought the Midnight Sky to replace it. lol Actually, the Midnight Sky is pretty too. I had been wanting to buy it for myself for awhile, but decided that it would be rather fitting for my PRGE pal. Being that it is purple, black, and blue. There is some white/grey in there too. The flash is even purple. :)
 Labels: pictures, pretty, PRGE, rambling, spinning, wool/fleece/roving, yarn 10:53 | |
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Mar 16, 2007
Happy Knitversary!To me!! lol So, I did my best to enjoy the day, even though some crummy things  happened. In staying with that outlook of the day, I'm not telling you about the things that did not make me happy. So, here is what made me happy today:
I got commissioned to make 4 pairs of those Converse booties! The lady will pay me $10 per pair, and since I'm using acrylic I'll have $30 profit. That is pretty sweet. More money to fuel my habit. :)
To celebrate my knitversary, I made cupcakes. I tried to make them look kinda like balls of yarn, but I'm definitely not as good as Carissa. So, they came out kinda ridiculous looking. They still tasted good. hehe Also, I spun some tonight. Man, I have been jonesing for some spinning time. Justin says to order the wheel tomorrow, I think I will. I'm thinking the Kromski Symphony, I tried it out tonight and it felt so smooth! The double treadle looked kind of daunting at first, but it gave me something to do with that other foot and made me less likely to hit my shins on the bench. The colors are looking soooo good to me, I was trying to step outside of my teal/turquoise and brown combos. I was down to olive green and baby blue (already had a full bobbin of chocolatey brown), the gals at the shop voted olive. It looks good too. Here is some yummy goodness (as always, click for larger pic):
    Hmm, what else? We are now going to San Jose instead of Phoenix. Which is where the Winchester Mansion is!! I have  wanted to see this place since I was about 11 or so. This is way more exciting to me than Phoenix. Picked up some more things for my PRGE pal, still waiting for a few things to arrive before I can mail her package out. Started some kinda plain toe-up socks out of my Nermal yarn, I was doing the Snowflake socks, but I hated it. Now it is going to be a lame version of the Heelless Sleeping Socks from Knitting Vintage socks. The roving I ordered from Cherry Blossom Fibers arrived today too! It's so gorgeous, I'm pretty sure she has been crawling around in my head. Plus, she's great. Seriously, go there sometime. Is that it? Oh, no, Justin says I can still go to MDS&W!!! That is fabulous. Tomorrow will be even better, I am sure. I mean, it's St. Patrick's Day folks. :) Labels: blogging, happiness, knitversary, spinning 22:11 | |
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Mar 15, 2007
Run Away!That's what I feel like doing right now. Mr. Shad has proposed a small getaway sometime in April, I cannot express to you how much I am looking forward to this. Seriously, I want to pack up and go right NOW! Instead I am trying to maintain my sanity, which includes buying yarn, knitting yarn, and making yarn. lol Although I haven't had much time to spin, man I want my wheel. Anyways, we are going to Phoenix for a few days, anybody in Phoenix know of some good knitting shops? hehe Of course, this makes the chances of me going to MDS&W even less likely. I wish that I could just bring myself to drive there on my own. Still a bit scared of drives like that though.
I've got knitting going on, I swear it. The batteries are dead (still) on my digital camera and I just don't feel like taking pictures. Anyways, the sweater for my LYS owner is inching along. Like, literally. I'm 10 inches in and have 3 more to go before separating the sleeves. It's not my favorite thing to be doing. Tonight I will probably finish up my Endpaper Mitts, as I am excited about them. I also started those Snowflake socks, but I just don't know how I feel about them. Love the yarn, the pattern...not so much. Bleh. I might just rip it all out.
It feels like I've stretched myself too thin though. Let's see, I've got the PRGE going, Alpaca-along, the SAM3 KAL, the sweater I'm knitting for my LYS, and it just feels like everything is all getting smushed in my head. My best friend is supposed to come see me soon, and there's this vacation, and MDS&W.... *sigh* It always feels like I'm forgetting something. So many designs in my head. Should I share them? I'm not sure if I want to submit them somewhere, or if they will work out right, or if anyone will even like them! Must...remember...to breathe.
Something cool, I don't know how many of you read Cookie and Kristi's blog, but I do. Anyways, they are both wonderful, Kristi responds to every comment I post and has been really encouraging about me spinning. Well, in my latest comment I linked her to a picture of my Monkey socks, because we seem to all have such similar taste in colors, here is her reply:
"I saw your monkey socks and I love them! I meant to comment on your blog, but I guess I didn't -- sorry! I think I even IMed Cookie and told her she had to go look at them because they were Monkeys in awesome colors!"
-Kristi
How cool is that?! Maybe I'm exaggerating the coolness factor for my own benefit, still, it made me extra happy. I didn't even think they had time to read the blogs of knitting peons like me. :) Also, you should all seriously (well those of you who love socks) check out Wollmeise, I ordered two skeins and don't regret a cent of it. Actually, I wish I had ordered more! The colors make me want to squeal! lol I'm going to be using Poison Nr. 5 for the Thelonious socks. Pictures once things begin to arrive. :)
(P.S. Tomorrow is my one year knitversary!)Labels: blah, endpaper mitts, forgetting, socks, yarn addict 15:56 | |
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Mar 14, 2007
Is it Sleepy Time Yet?Sorry, I meant to post this earlier and totally got sidetracked. My digital camera needs recharging so I took pics with my webcam, forgive them. I picked up some yarn for designs I have in my head. Lately I've been having designer dreams. Honestly. Gotta sketch out the one I had last night, it was pretty...unique. lol
 The cream (white) yarn is Universal Yarns Pace, for a pair of socks inspired by Cookie's Millicent (which I bought the pattern for!). I'm very excited about them. The black is going to be a cow-like bookmark for my Aunt Marcie. We both collect cows, and at least this way it is useful. I got some Bryspun 2.75mm needles, it's really the only sock needle size I don't have. Also, my LYS owner is awesome and let me borrow some 2.5mm Brittany needles.
I'm trying not to spend money. But it's just not working. I think once I get my tattoo and my wheel I'll be satisfied. Mr. Shad is just not moving fast enough! I need his help with the design of my tattoo, the bum. There are many plans for my PRGE pal right now, I am excited by all of them. We can't talk about that here though. Though I really don't think my pal reads the blog, at least she's never commented on it. Still, I don't wanna jinx it.
Cookie's website is up. I already bought three of the patterns. And I am wanting to do Millicent badly (I'm talking staring at the pattern right now bad), but I want to do it in the Louet Gems Pearl. Now, $30 isn't actually bad for a pair of socks, considering that's what I spent on Suzanne. Except I am trying to save money to spend on my pal. Now I am sleepy and can't remember much of anything that I meant to post about. *sigh*
Oh, I'm forgetting something. That's right, my rant about how I hate my current birth control. It's making me rather depressed lately, and very insecure about my body. Which is actually out of character for me, I tend to not care much at all about how I look. Also it makes my visitor well, extremely unpredictable, I can't even call it a "monthly" visitor anymore! Bleh. Now I am going to knit on my sock or sleep. Night!Labels: blah, blogging, gratitude, purchases, rambling, sleep, yarn 20:59 | |
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Mar 13, 2007
Yarn Mafia?I had an interesting conversation with some random person on Yahoo tonight. I thought you all might appreciate it. :)
Random guy: what do you do?
Me: I'm a stay-at-home mom and a contract knitter (which doesn't sound nearly as cool as contract killer, but has a lot less blood)
Random guy: lol
Random guy: how does one become a contract knitter?
Me: Hm, well, you need something knitted, and you talk to a person, who talks to a person, who talks to a person, who calls me
Me: lol
Me: Actually, the owner of a nearby yarn shop offered me the job
Random guy: so you have to know people that know people
Random guy: kinda like the yarn mafia
Me: exactly ;)Labels: funny, Yarn Mafia 23:15 | |
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WowIt's amazing the response that I received to my last post. Many of you really understood what I was saying. Although I didn't actually cry, there were quite a few times that I felt overwhelmed and emotional. Thank you. :) Today I have tons of pictures for you all.
 First, something beautiful. There really are not a lot of pictures of Nolan. Any of you have more than one kid? Then you know how it is. The first baby you spend roll after roll of film on, the second child, you get a video camera. So you have tape after tape of the kids together, and a few scattered pictures of Baby #2. By the time you get to Baby #3, you don't even remember where the camera is. Or you are too busy taking pictures of yarn. *guilty grin* He is quite stunning, and always smiling. It boggles my brain how happy he is, I can't wrap my head around the idea. I've never seen anyone so happy in my whole life. He fell asleep in a little corner between a pile of clothes and the fireplace the other day. After just looking for a bit (it was kinda cute) I berated Mr. Shad (Hey, everyone else gets a cute name for hubby! Why not me?) about leaving him there. Nolan smiled at me even after I woke him up to move him to the crib.
 Next, a disaster. Which would be my house. To make it worse, my knitting paraphenalia is all over the place. Even after hubby made me my lovely workshop in the garage, it seems my kniting still makes it's way into my bedroom. Oh well. I was inspired by Lana's post to share with you the disaster that is my knitting. Yes, I'm disorganized. Except for in my own head. lol I've labeled each of the pictures in Flickr if you can't figure out where the knitting content is (or what it is). Just so you know, I did not move anything for your benefit. Everything was right where I left it before stealing having this idea. I did open my purse to snap a shot of the inside, but that's all. Not even all of the pictures are here either. How horrible is that?
You'll notice in one picture that my Endpaper Mitts are STILL in progress. Let me  tell you why. See, I received the replacement needles quite some time ago. But I wanted to finish the Monkey socks first. So, after finishing the socks, I worked on the sweater for my LYS owner a bit then switched back to the mitts. At the time I had ripped it back to only 5 rows of the first 10 row repeat. I spent most of the day knitting on them, and remembering why I had loved them so much in the first place. Sometime that evening (about 2/3 of the way into the palm) we had a bit of an accident. I'm beginning to think that the "knitting gods" don't want me to finish this project. You see, I bought a set of Brittany needles size 2.5mm because Kyran had broken one of my Addi 2.5s, leaving only 4. Which is still enough for a sock. Well, the Endpaper Mitts needed 5 needles, and Addis are expensive. Then I broke two of the Brittany needles, no big, just use the Addis. Nope, throws off the gauge! Fine  then, order replacements from Brittany. They send 3 needles when they replace them. Which gives me an extra needle (5-2+3=6), so I didn't throw a hissy fit when Heather snapped one Saturday evening. However, when Kyran stepped on the entire project and consequently broke one needle, I could have screamed! So I put him in his room to avoid actually yelling at him for something that, really, isn't his fault at all.Labels: accidents, babies, blogging, endpaper mitts, happiness, knitting, messes, pictures 13:18 | |
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Mar 12, 2007
Composition on Knitbloggingcom·po·si·tion [kom-puh-zish-uhn]
–noun 1. the act of combining parts or elements to form a whole.
2. the resulting state or product.
3. manner of being composed; structure: This painting has an orderly composition.
4. makeup; constitution: His moral composition was impeccable.
5. an aggregate material formed from two or more substances: a composition of silver and tin.
6. a short essay written as a school exercise.
7. the act or process of producing a literary work.
8. an academic course for teaching the techniques of clear, expository writing.
9. the art of putting words and sentences together in accordance with the rules of grammar and rhetoric.
10. a piece of music.
11. the art of composing music.
12. Fine Arts. the organization or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified whole.
13. Grammar. the formation of compounds or derivatives: the composition of “aircraft” from “air” and “craft.”
14. a settlement by mutual agreement.
15. an agreement or compromise, esp. one by which a creditor or group of creditors accepts partial payment from a debtor.
16. a sum of money so paid.
17. Printing.
a. the setting up of type for printing.
b. Also called pagination. the makeup of pages for printing.
18. Mathematics. the process of making a composite function of two given functions.
That is quite a definition, however, in this case I'm using (loosely) the ninth definition (which I underlined for you). Be gentle, I wrote this very early in the morning. Also, it contains personal information that is hard for me to share. There is no knitting content in this post, so just don't read it if you aren't interested.
Where do I begin? I've said it before, but have never fully expressed my love of the knitblogging community. My husband took the good computer with him over the weekend and I though, "Well, good. Now I'll really get some knitting done". I had no idea what effect being with that link to the internet would be like.
First, a bit of background, to understand better my response to the community blogging provides. When I first moved to North Carolina, two and a half years ago, I was very lonely. We had one child, no cable or local television, one care and I was miles away from everything familiar. Things were not very good, it's rough to be a young mother married to a Marine. Ask anyone who's done it. Moreover, the therapists were telling me I had hypo-manic-depression, my husband and I were going through marital counseling after only six months of marriage...I had never felt so alone in my whole life. At one point I was so desperate that I attempted suicide, it's hard for me to talk about even today. Still, as I stated previously, I want to tell you all of this so that you can see what all of you and knitting have meant to me. This was all in the summer of 2004.
There is about a year gap between "the bad time" and the point when I began to knit. In that time my marriage progressed, we had a second child, I got a job...things were looking up. My husband was always supportive of my creativity and love of crafts, he was always encouraging me to look outside of myself and find friends. With time I made friends who had similar interests to mine and became less closed off. Life was getting into a comfortable, happy groove. Shortly after Heather's second birthday and Kyran's first, we received some unexpected news.
I was pregnant again.
You can imagine how we felt. My body doesn't handle pregnancy well, not to mention the negative effects the hormones have on my already unstable emotions. As Justin likes to put it, I get psycho. lol At any rate I felt a real depression coming on. I was looking for any way to distract myself. Most of my free time was spent aimlessly surfing the internet. Even though I was doing "something" it often felt like nothing and was boring. On one of these occasions I turned up a picture of this ultra cute knitted hat...with kitty ears! Which I now know to be the Kittyville hat, of course. Having ever been the crafty type I said to myself, "Self, you can make this!" Thus began my introduction to knitting. My first attempt (a pair of legwarmers in Lion Brand Homespun) came out a miserable and hideous failure. I've since thrown them away, even though I am the sentimental type, they were depressing me.
Now, had it not been for my discovery of The Tail Spinner, I might have given up entirely. But I was not to be thwarted. In March of 2006 I walked into my first yarn shop, and a part of me has never left. It was awkward at first, I felt a little uncomfortable and afraid to be laughed out of the shop on account of my age. Though I had never felt reserved before about going into a craft shop. The owner, Linda, was kind and helped me to get my bearings. She set me up with the materials for making my first hat. I am still of the opinion that hats are better first projects than scarves, however that's not what I'm writing about here.
Being the internet junk I am, I Googled many things knitting related: patterns, techniques, actually that was how I found The Tail Spinner. So, it only seemed natural to begin a blog. Never did I realize how big this would all become for me. Knitting is the best drug in the world, and yarn junkies are some of the coolest people out there.
Many of you have never me me "in real life", still I feel that you might know me better than some of the people who have. We are all so different, different paths, homes, personalities, this one overlapping interest is enough for us to reach out to one another. In knitting, we have a common bond. I feel as if I could call you up to get together for coffee or tea (though I drink neither), or perhaps we might take our kids to the park for a play date. My knitblogging friends feel more real to me than the "friends" who live around the corner. People that I don't even bother to call, despite that my husband was gone for five days and I was alone with all three children. Our community is strong. We help one another out with knitting problems, support and encourage each other in our knitting ambitions. I've received many comments and emails of praise and inspiriting words when I've felt down. You are all so kind, I look forward to checking my bloglines every day and reading your updates. Some day I do hope to meet some of you in person, maybe we could get a slice of pizza? Without my internet, I felt truly lonely again. The knitblogging community has helped me to connect with people and given me friends. A new sense of self worth that I could find previously has been instilled by those of you who take time out of your day to read what I write here. It might sound silly to some, but not me.
What am I trying to say? Simply that I appreciate each and ever one of you, you all mean something to me. I consider you my friends, even if this is our only correspondence. Thank you for reading my blogs, hopefully I am as good a knitblogging friend to all of you as you are to me.Labels: blogging, gratitude, life, rambling, reflections, writing 11:01 | |
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Mar 10, 2007
Friday and Saturday Take Too Long Well, they do when hubby isn't here. I have no friends. Boo. I wrote a nice long blurb about the knitblogging community, my question to you all is: should I post it here or on my LiveJournal? If you all don't want to read it I don't want to make you scroll through the whole thing just to get to the knitting content. It's about 2 pages (front and back) handwritten.
Anyways. The night my hubby left I was immediately bored. Instead of knitting though, I decided to clean. I reorganized my knitting bags. In that process, I  realized my DPNs needed a home. And my 40" circulars for magic looping. Basically, I needed a place to keep my sock needles that would keep them from ending up all over my purse. So, I spent about two or so hours trying to remember how I made that case for my Secret Pal. Too bad only one of the 20 or so pictures I took came out well. The fabric on the outside says "Moo..." on it, the inside has cow print fabric. I'll try to get some good pics of the inside, this one will have to do for now. It only has two rows of pockets, one for my DPNs and one for my circulars. The only circs I have in there are my sock circs (sizes 2.5mm and 3.00mm) and some size 4 and 6 circs. The 4s are from making Knucks. It's a nice compact size that fits in my purse, and it folds up like a little book. Now I think I need to make a small sock knitting bag out of my leftovers. Noticing my theme yet? The needle udder, the cow notion bag, cow measuring tape, and now the DPN case. :D
Also, I finished my second Monkey sock. I love them, I'm wearing them right now, even though I have no reason to be. The shoes I put on for these pics are my favorites, except that they are totally unreasonable. I've never worn them anywhere. They are sexy and fun, and complete punishment. Okay, my brain is officially done for the night, so I'll post later.
 Labels: finished object, needle case, socks 18:48 | |
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Mar 7, 2007
Just to let you knowI've started using Haloscan for my comments. Your comments did not disappear. It's just that I like to reply to comments individually instead of posting a reply in my own comments. Which seems kinda silly. So please leave your email address when you comment, unless you really don't need/want a response to your comments. :) Thanks!14:32 | |
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Mar 6, 2007
Things I've Forgotten Man, this head cold has seriously messed with my memory. First, I sign up for a LINKS class (military thing) and send them the specs on the kids (free daycare!!)...and totally forgot that Heather would be in daycare. So then I had to email my KV (more military stuff) back and let her know that Heather wouldn't be there.
Then, I forget that I gave Kyran cookies and he likes to take a bite out of each one and then "lose" them. Well, Nolan discovered them. So, right about the time I was supposed to go pick up Heather I find a smiling little face covered in yucky brown cookie mess. Call the daycare and tell them I'll be late, give baby quick bath.
Yesterday, when I blogged I forgot to mention the trip to Parriss Island. Which didn't happen. Yep, that's right, I'm a horrible friend after all. lol Here is the  rundown, the ceremony was going to be at 10 am...subtract 6 hours for the drive, plus an extra hour for traffic getting on base...10-7=3. That's right, we had to leave at 3. So, hubby wakes me up at 2:30, now mind you that he got home around 10 and has not been to sleep. Yea, that's really exciting. I had only been asleep since midnight. Not much better. Upon waking I hear wind and rain battering my siding. Great, now we have to drive in the rain. I'm an uneasy traveller and the whole time he is gone picking up the babysitter I am giving myself a mental pep talk. When he does get back to the house I say (without thinking) "Can I just tell you how much insanity this is?" to which he replies, "Yeah, I know. Let me check the weather". He does and realizes the weather isn't going to let up until 10. We canc (more military jargon, short for cancel) the whole trip. Our bags are out in the car, he's hopped up on energy drinks. I go to sleep. We called the next day. *sigh*
Most importantly, well to those of you looking for knitting content, when I had my  camera out yesterday, doing my thing, I forgot to take pictures of a new addition! I love to try out new yarns. This came highly recommended by Beth, so imagine my surprise when perusing the shops that gave SAM3 discounts, to stumble upon a store that sold it. It's called J.Knits yarn, and although I'm not actually sure how she chooses the name/color combo, she names them after states and cities. That's right, you guessed it, I bought Maryland. I wonder if I can get into contact with her and ask why green and pink? Oh well, it's perfect for ProjSpec and I have BIG plans for this yarn. Or maybe I don't. Maybe I'll just use a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks?
Well, that's it for now. Give me any suggestions you have! Oh, and the shoes have already been claimed. :)Labels: forgetting, life, project spectrum, purchases, yarn, yarn addict 12:21 | |
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Mar 5, 2007
Fog and Socks The fog is in my brain. I, like just about everyone else in blogland, am sick. My family is sick. Heather was home 3 days last week, man I thought I'd lose my mind. Nolan just started the coughing/runny nose thing yesterday. *sigh* Everyone is drugged up, including DH who seriously should have stayed home today. Whatever.
So, I've not been knitting today. Last night I finished the first Monkey sock. I guess later on I'll CO for the second one, my body just isn't into it right now. But I want to do it soon before I forget what I did the first time around. For example:  I did an Eye of Partridge heel. I really like how it turned out. Having never done one before (to find out how I googled eye of partridge heel, lol, the link to the directions is above) I was a little worried about how it would look. But, I liked the way it seemed to display the colors in other people's socks. What do you guys think? Had some difficulties taking the pictures for this. See, the shoes that I wanted to use, well I wear a size 8. These shoes are a size 6.5 (US), and I don't even know what I was thinking when I bought them. Except maybe that they are cute. The picture of the shoe hanging off my foot is my absolute favorite! It's kind of fitting (or not? lol), who needs shoes that fit when you've got great socks? If you absolutely love the shoes, or know someone who would love them, and happen to wear a size 6.5 email me. They are free to a good home. The shoes have found a home!
The only thing that even might be not pleasing is the slight pooling around the heel/gusset area. Still, it's not a big deal. Just adds character.
 A little fiber to cheer us up? I don't know about you, but it always makes me  feel better. This came in the mail for me today from my blogging buddy Ann-marie, she has an etsy shop too. There's some yarn there similar to the Suzanne that I might snatch up if nobody jumps on it. I'm thinking a Newsboy cap and some wristwarmers (or legwarmers?), probably striped with some solid Cascade 220. Hmm.... Labels: blah, gratitude, happiness, knitting, progress, socks, yarn 16:14 | |
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