Issues

You want issues? I got 'em. But let's stick to the knitting issues for right now.

I'm still working on Clapotis and I'm about half done. Yay.

But I'm about a third done with man socks now, which are coming out awesome btw.

And then last night I decided to cast on for Soleil. One lace repeat down.

I am a knitting slut. I jump from project to project.

If she only had an attention span....

I have a notoriously short attention span. It's like I'm doing something A, and then ding-dong, that little inner doorbell rings and I realize that I would much rather do something B. Or I'm walking through my livingroom on my way to the office to do something and I totally forget and plunk down on the couch to watch a Buffy rerun. But then a commercial comes on and I go to the boys' room to fold some clothes.

Flylady says this is why I have a messy house. She says that I have to fight that urge to flit from thing to thing to thing to thing... Well you get the picture. She says the timer is my friend. And that I can stick to anything for 15 minutes.She's kind of right. If I apply her principles I get things done. But dangit, you have to pay attention to have the stick-to-it-ness to even get started applying the stupid principles.

Wait. Why was I typing about my short attention span? Oh yes. I was in love with my Clapotis. I had dropped everything else to work on it. But then I cleaned up my knitting corner. And realized that I really wanted to start on the man socks. So I did. I'm hopeless you know.

Warning: Lots of whining in this next section!

In other news the baby came. The dad called us. But that was because my stupid husband left a msg yesterday on behalf of an out of town friend to find out how things were. Did he not understand that we weren't supposed to call them? Now, I know there is a baby, that the baby is definitely a boy, and now I have to spend money. Or else whip up stupid baby socks or something. I don't know. This whole situation is still giving me gas.

And right now, being in this city, and not having to work, and getting to stay home is *not* wonderful. We're broke. And the friends that he grew up that I thought were so wonderful? Not so wonderful. Either that or I'm just hateful. Let's recap. Not invited to the baby shower by Friend A. Friend B only calls me when she needs me to watch her kids. Friend C now has figured out that hey, she can also call me when she needs a babysitter and no time else. Friend D lives 5 minutes from us and we haven't even had lunch with them. Friend E we had lunch with once when we moved here and then nada.

I joined a bible study at church. Not feeling the connection there with these ladies. I was really hoping to find some friends. The lady at my LYS is so sweet. But I'm not sure if she's sweet cause she really likes me, or just because I spend so much money with her. I haven't really clicked with anyone I've met at SnB. Although I've only been to a few. I don't know.

So that leaves me with my sister. Who I love, and who is a wonderful friend. But that's it. One year in this city and I have one friend. One who *has* to be friends with me or my mom will yell at her. End of story morning glory.

For the meantime... in between time...

I updated my sidebar with cute pics of all my WIP's, my FO's, and the projects just sitting there in my stash all forlorn-like. I'm gonna make a nifty page, but right now this is whatcha got. Here's a nifty review:

My passion right now is my clapotis. Being worked on lantern moon 8's with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolors.

These gator mittens are a labor of love for my boys. Worked in different acrylics on size 5 and 7 dpns. This pattern is from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation. Notice on the snout of the later gator mitten how I used to purl before I learned properly. Um yeah, I need to whoop it up on those. My boys have been waiting for those forever!

This was bought long ago and far away at my first trip to my beloved LYS KnitWitz. It's just a simple garter stitch scarf worked in Splash fun fur on size 13's. But it's a bitch to knit. I had to frog the entire thing because I had subtracted and added so many frigging stitches.

This is my very first completed sock. From the book Knit Socks! the Starter Stockinette pattern worked on size 3 dpns in Cascade 220. This was very easy with the good instructions and pretty fun.

Soleil -I have started and frogged many, many times. But I’m still gonna do it. It will be worked in Elann Endless Summer Sonata in Mauve, on Addi turbos size six.

The man has been pining for socks. Now that I made a successful sock, I think I’m gonna jump ship on the first pair and start on these dress socks for him. The heavy ones won’t be useful for me for a while. And I’m hoping he will love these. Size one dpns and Opal fingering weight 100% wool superwash.

These are all the things I’ve finished since I started knitting around the first of the year, give or take….

Orange & Pink Booga Bag - fun and easy. I liked this one even better than the Noro version. Worked in Peace Fleece on 10.5 circular and dpns. Pattern here.

Knitty’s Branching Out - beautiful and fun. My first lace project was a Mother’s Day gift for my Mom, who loved it. For first-time lace makers though, don’t choose Rowan KidSilk Haze like I did. Choose something more froggable. Of course the beauty of this is the reason I’m working on a lace scarf of my own design. Stay tuned for that!

Sophie - Fun and easy. This is by the booga lady who designs cute bags. Done in peace fleece. Personally I think you need at least a skein and a quarter of this for the pattern, whether you use peace fleece or Cascade 220.

Booga Bag - Done in Noro Kureyon #95. Only took maybe 2 and a quarter skeins. Cute, but not as sturdy as my peace fleece version, and pilling very badly.

Messenger Bag - for my sister. Based loosely on the Meema tote from Stitch ‘N Bitch. Not my favorite project.

Meema Tote - Besides the evil marsupial pouch, this was fun. I carry it around all the time and always get compliments. Also made in (you guessed it!) Peace Fleece. I loves me some Peace Fleece!

Baby Hat - Done in Red Heart baby clouds. Cute but now I wish had done something snazzier for the baby who received it.

Baby Blankie - Matching blanket in same yarn. Using the pattern off the wall at Michael’s. This and the hat were my very first FO’s.

I'm a trendy girl!

I find myself drawn to the same patterns that *everyone* else is doing. All the cool knitters are doing it. You know you wanna to!

*Sigh* And here I was priding myself on the fact that at the ripe old age of 32, I was finally starting to carve out a self identity. Nope. I'm a follower.

So in that spirit, we present, yep, you guessed it, clapotis.



I'm working it on the recommended size 8's (my overpriced lantern moons), in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolors. The yarn is a sport weight of course, so it's making for a lighter, slightly airier clapotis than the others that I've seen. But hello. I live in Florida. I don't need a parka.

The yarn however, is a dream. It dropped the stitches perfectly, and it's soft and wonderful and beautiful. I ended up with some pooling in section one, but I'm not worried about it. I figure it will be much less obvious once all the stitches are dropped.

I need to go listen to some obscure Indie rock so that I don't feel so clique-ish and dirty.

Completed Striped Booga

This was made in Peace Fleece - Perestroika Pink and Firebird Orange. Less than one skein of each. And at my LYS Peace Fleece is only $6.50 a hank, so this is a nice inexpensive bag. I used the free Booga Bag pattern from Black Sheep bags and the random stripe generator found here.

With a measuring tape for reference.



And all done up!

One down, a million to go...

My pink & orange striped booga bag is blocking. So yay.

But apparently this led my husband to believe that I spend all my time knitting and none of my time properly organizing his socks. No. Don't laugh. I'm serious. Apparently he arranges his socks in his drawer. Dividing them into long white socks, short white socks, and dress socks. And he was actually having quite the sh*t-fit this morning because his short and long white socks were mixed up. And it took him three entire extra seconds to find a pair of long white socks. Cause you can't wear short white socks with high top Docs to work. *sigh*

So today instead of knitting I have to make some things around the house extra shiny so that he will shut the eff up.

Not knitting - Fruit!

Were you aware that there is a gray area concerning the line between a fruit and a vegetable? I was not. I mean there's that whole tomato thing, but I thought everything else was pretty clearly defined.

Not so.

True conversation in bed last night. Keep in mind that I truly believe my husband thought he was getting some.

Him: Did you notice the squash is flowering?
Me: Yeah. Wait. I thought only fruits flowered.
Him: Nope.
Me: Tomatoes flower. What's the difference between a fruit and vegetable again?
Him: Name a fruit.
Me: Tomato
Him: Name a fruit that isn't in the gray area.
Me: Strawberry.

And this is where my husband lost his mind. Apparently strawberries are in the gray area. And me choosing tomatoes and then strawberries was me being contentious, hateful, and taking the whole fruit/vegetable debate to a "personal level". (In his defense I did call him crazy for suggesting that a strawberry was not clearly a fruit). I begged him to drop it. You would not believe the ramblings the man made about strawberries, tomatoes, personal fruit & vegetable attacks, and something about vines and trees. Which I totally could not hear cause I was laughing so hard. Which just pissed off my crazy husband even more. Finally I told him to shut up. But no.... he just kept going. So this is the reason why:

A. I slept on the couch last night and

B. I didn't speak to my husband this morning. I figured if he talked I would laugh and then I would be in more trouble.

FO-palooza!

Yes, I do realize that it's so out of date to call anything a "palooza" but that's exactly what I'm shooting for. I have a bunch of stuff in my pile that just needs to be finished. So I will finish it. I will finish (or frog if necessary) all the half-done stuff in my pile(s).

But not the blanket. I am not knitting a blanket for people who apparently don't like me. Backstory: My husband has three "best" friends. One is female and I get along with her (and her husband and kids) just fine. Two are male. Midwestern male best friend is ok, nice enough, and has a nice wife and cute kids. No prob Bob. Local male seems to like me. But I could be wrong. I like his wife. At least, I thought I did. They invited us to stuff. My husband has had these same friends for like 25 years. I don't know. They were supposed to come and play cards about a month ago. But they called off. I've been to busy to reschedule re-inviting them to play cards. Geez. But this whole baby thing is quite upsetting. I asked the man if he minded if I shirked off on the blanket. He said no. He understood. I knitted a blanket for the new baby for Midwestern male. And a hat. I think they just don't like me. Which sucks. Because it's my husbands good friends. But I'm sorry. I'm not gonna slave over this blanket and grit my teeth on every stitch for a baby I might not see til it's two. I told the man if and when they call us regarding the new baby we'll just buy something. But I ain't holding my breath for that.

So stay tuned. Soon there will be a veritable plethora of FO's for your viewing pleasure! (Is plethora better or worse than palooza?)

The crappy realization...

So I'm slaving away on this beautiful two-toned sage green big bad baby blanket for some "friends" of ours. The baby is due in like two weeks. And I'm way behind. But then I realize I wasn't invited to the baby shower anyhow. So yeah. I'm re-thinking that whole present. *sigh*

For your amusement...

So I'm a vegetarian. In case you were wondering. Now I know you weren't, but it does give me some good story material. My husband is a vegetarian, and so are my kids. And for the record...

MY KIDS ARE NOT MALNOURISHED!

Sorry to shout, but I get that a lot. Since we went veggie over a year ago I have carefully weighed and measured my sons (5 & 6) to make sure they didn't magically stop growing since we went veggie. They didn't. And they eat healthier than any McDonald munching, lunchable for lunch every single day kid you'll ever meet. But one time, a room mother told me that big J (my kindergartner) bites his nails. (Um, yeah, I know that. It's a terrible habit, he got it from me.) But then she went on to let me know that he bit his nails due to a dietary deficiency (wtf?) and that it was most certainly because we were vegetarian. Um, yeah. Sure. (And of course I came home and looked it up and even called my doctor who actually laughed me off the phone.) But it's not true. No one bites their nails because they are vegetarian.

Wait. There was a funny part to this story. When we were newbie veggies we headed out to the only place in our former hometown where we could get strange vegetarian food. Trader Joes. And we loaded up our cart with all sorts of interesting sounding vegetarian goodies. (Most of which taste like ass btw - you live and you learn.) And we come to the chip aisle. Now my boys love pirates. They have pirate playsets, and pirate hats, and the whole shebang. So I spy something. Something cute. Something that certainly my boys will get a kick out of.



Trader Joes was packed that day. In fact just seconds earlier I ran into a couple of reporters from the paper that I used to work at. It was loud and it was bustling. And I say to my sons, "Hey boys! Check this out! You wanna get some Pirate's Booty?" And that's when it happened. For some unknown reason a hush fell over the store. A hush that did not extend to my younger son, who was four at the time.

"MOMMY! WHY WOULD YOU FEED US A PIRATE'S BUTT?"

I'm pretty sure it showed up in the next day's paper under the heading of "Seen and Overheard". I was afraid to look.

Sock success!

Ok, so I only just finished the ribbing, but I am feeling pretty darn confident. And working with Cascade 220 is a dream, even on the size 3 needles.

I have 300 other projects I need to do, but I seem to have new-itis. The newest project is the most exciting!

m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e

This past weekend was Disney. It was amazingly fun. And if anyone wants a rec for the perfect weekend to go, pick Mother's Day. No lines and great weather. Perfect I tell ya!

I didn't get much done on the Big Bad Baby Blanket on the trip. I had to frog it awhile back and the seed stitch made me carsick for some reason. Who knows.

I swear that I am gonna get this sock thing. I bought the Knit Socks book and the yarn to make the Starter Stockinette socks. Wish me luck!



In other news, I feel the need to make myself a cute button. And to be amusing enough that folks A. read me and B. steal my button! So I'll be back when I'm button loaded and more fun. :p

Gratuitous Booty Pictures...

Trust me when I assure you that you don't wanna see my bum. No these are booty, as in loot pictures.

First off the beautiful glass marbley magnet thingies....



And then the rest of my loot!



I'm pretty darn sure I have the best Secret Pal ever. Plus, the travel mag she got me has Disney tips. And of course we're headed there this weekend. So yay!

I'm getting ready to go take a nice long bubble bath and read my new book! Thanks SP!

I feel so relieved...

Now that she's finally done, blocked and ready to go.



The boys were fighting this morning over who go to wear it for the picture. My baby looks like my baby (5) in his incredible pajamas. But my 6yo looks way too old in that picture. He's getting too big too fast.

The boys painted a treasure chest and a birdhouse that we're sending off to my mom as well. I miss my mom. Something terrible. And in other news...

Curly? Curly wood? You don't say.

Yesterday I was sitting in the car line at school. By the way, I get some of my best knitting done in car line. Stuck in a car, not moving, nothing to do. It's good times. Anyhow, I'm working on the very last repeat of my branching out when I feel a gentle "plop" on my lap. Plop? What the heck? What in the world could be plopping on my lap? And I can't see through the haze of the kidsilk....

Now this all happened very quickly, but in my mind it was that painful sort of slow motion. Oh no. It's a bug. A big bug. Maybe one of those bugs that Florida people say aren't roaches, but they really are and it's on me and if I jump out of the car like a freaking maniac, all of the other moms are gonna talk about me. Big time.

So I take a deep breath, part the curtain of kidsilk haze and peer down into my lap. It's not a bug. It's worse. Way worse.

It's a three inch piece that has broken off the end of my Lantern Moon Needles. The needles I paid $20 for without blinking an eye because they work so well on the kidsilk haze.

And that gentle readers, is when I started to cry.

And my windows were open so damn it all, the other moms are gonna talk about me regardless.

The bright side is my LYS. I took the needles in and showed her. She said it was made of funny "curly wood" and that she had another pair that she had to exchange with Lantern Moon. She handed me a new pair (made of straight wood?) and sent me on my way.

And as you can see, the scarf is gorgeous and finished.

The End.

Bite me baby.

Actually the design bug has bitten me. The designing my own knitting type things. It's slightly frightening since I've been knitting for like what, 3 1/2 months or so?

But I'm kind of disappointed in the types of plus-size knitted garment patterns available and I'm thinking - damn, I can do better right? Right?

Which leads me to the current project - branching out. I'm almost done. And it's completely beautiful. It has an ethereal feeling to it. Gorgeous I tell you. You've seen the pretty green scarf. Today it will be finished, blocked and then tomorrow packed up and sent to my mama in Ohio.

But I bought another ball of Rowan Kidsilk Haze. In candy girl, which is this awesome burgundy/magenta/fuschia color that I have good intentions to take a picture of. To make some sort of fun and lovely scarf for myself. But I don't wanna do the branching out pattern again. I have a book from the library, with some lovely lace patterns. So I think I'm gonna pick one, modify it, and make myself a scarf pattern. And then maybe I will post my free pattern on my blog or somesuch. And other people will think it's so gorgeous that they will make it and post pictures on their blog and I'll be pseudo famous and....

I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to go finish my mama's scarf.

In other news I think I've been sleepwalking. And doing strange things. More on that later.

Blessed progress...

There is a mistake, near the top. But frogging this Rowan KSH is a nightmare, so I'm pretending it isn't there. I have nine repeats done, out of a suggested 36. So I'm about 25% done. I really need to send it on Thursday at the latest, so I need to buckle down. But it's gorgeous, no?