Well, I've been packing, cleaning house, remodeling a bathroom, and getting ready for my Leap Day party I'm throwing tomorrow. Ok, so the party was just an excuse so that I could say I wouldn't be able to attend a wedding, a wedding which I would rather gouge my eyes out with my aluminum knitting needles than attend. No...better yet...I'd rather be forced to knit with only Red Heart ON aluminum needles, that's how much it would have sucked going to that wedding.
I'm really starting to get revved up about our trip. It'll be a small vacation. What's even more exciting for this dork (me...hello!) is that I've never been to New York, or to Yale, but what's MOST exciting for me is that I'll have 5 hours non-stop on a plane in which to KNIT!!!!! each way. Thank god we're flying Jet Blue. DH can be happy with his direct TV, and I can be happy knitting. Let's just hope that at the end of the 5-hour flight, we're not on the verge of killing each other due to nicotine deprivation.
So.....tomorrow's blog will probably be the last from me for a week, unless I can sneak into the library, or beg the indulgence of a student...."Please let me use your computer! For the love of Pete...I've gotta blog!!!!!" I probably won't be able to blog until I get back the following Monday. But I'll report on all the touristy things I do, all the yarn shops I find in the Village, and other such stuff.|||107803734673965686|||Leavin' on a Jet Plane....
the house. And, well, I'm just going to let them get blamed. I can't have any aspersions cast upon my knitting fetish and the animals shed so much anyway.... I just hope I won't be allergic to my sweater. Nothing could suck more than that. I love love love alpaca. I love the way it feels running through my fingers and off my needles! "It feels like BUTTA" (where the hell did I get that BUTTA thing? Can someone please tell me, it's driving me crazy!)
I extra love the way his socks feel and if his hooves weren't so big, he'd never get to keep these socks. You know what they say about big feet, right? Yep, big socks. The yarn gets a pretty hefty halo and I thought the socks might be too fuzzy for his masculine romanness but he says no. Well, he said no, then he felt them and said NO! So fuzzy, sheddy, sneezy handspun alpaca socks are on the needles. Someone please tell me it's all the chemicals I used to clean the house today and NOT the yarn that's making my allergies bad. I didn't have any problems with the other more "commercial" alpaca I've used. And I really love the way this yarn looks, it actually looks like a twist of soft, silky hairs. And Mr. Most Sensitive Feets in the World should love the way they feel. Seriously, this man is like the "Princess and the Pea" of socks. One little purl stitch sticking out too much would give him a blister. (Lord, the instructions I received: I need a pair of knitted socks for my roman character, they need to fold over here, not be too tall, and they shouldn't have any ribbing or anything in the heel because it will rub. And not too textured cause I would feel it and I don't want anything that I can feel, I have to hike and drill in them and they could get really uncomfortable, can you knit them without ribbing and stuff in the heel? Nothing rough, it has to be soft and springy...........) Then again, he might like them so much I'd have to knit more for him. Which is okay, but would mean knitting less for me. See what I started with this whole alpaca obsession?|||107803465066056534|||Trouble in Paradise
The other sock is almost done, I slowed down a bit because I caught yet another fucking cold and my hands were too weak and shakey to do much else besides drop stitches. Eventually I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start eating healthy again so I don't catch everything that comes around. Especially considering that its eating into my knitting progress. Everyone else seems to get lots done when they are sick, but I hardly feel like holding the needles up when I don't feel good. Luckily there are lots of blogs out there so if I can't knit, I can read about other people doing it! |||107799906564439242|||Since I Don't Have Enough Knitting Projects on the Horizon
Just looking at this makes me drool!
The marketplace at SW was amazing. So many great yarns, so little $$$. That's the only thing that sucked about SW. I'm starting to save up now for next year.
All in all I didn't do too bad. Only made 1 or 2 gratuitous purchase. I got some Eros ladder ribbon yarn in bronzes for a scarf for my SD from Adela's Yarn ; 1100 yards of hand-dyed merino and 1250 yards of hand-dyed cotton blend from Interlacements at really great prices. I'm going to use the merino for that baby blanket I've been threatening myself to make for my June-arriving nephew, and the cotton blend for something for me. It's that nubbly texture that I'm so loving. I also took home with me 4 alapaca puppies who practically jumped into my bag from Honey Lane Farms those people with that great booth that Jen got a picture of. I think that the Honey Lane Farms booth was my favorite. It was all alpaca and hand-made soaps, simply displayed so you could spend more time there without being overcome by noveltitis (what you get when the booth just explodes with all sorts of sparkly, fuzzy, funky stuff, and either you just gotta have it because you were a feret in a former life, or you get shoved out of the way because the person behind you was). The ladies were really great, and indulged us in our alpaca admiration rituals.
Ok. Gratuitous purchases. I finally got my Lantern Moon rice basket. I bought the biggest one they had, so I would have an excuse to buy more yarn to fill it up. I get it home, transfer my stash from the gift bags they were in, and holy shit! it's already full. What the hell am I gonna do now??? Guess I'll just have to buy another one.
I picked up another pair of the Brittany birch knitting paddles (the super-long needles), and Debbie Bliss' "Baby Knits for Beginners" just had to go home with me as well. All in all, I think I restrained myself pretty well, but let me tell ya, I needed a drink after all that restraint! Oh well, there's always next year!|||107783206411048882|||La's Lovin' her Loot!
I'm so excited! I know, I know, what do I want, a fucking medal? Yes! Who gives out the sock medals? I can't believe it fits and everything. I used to say a knowing "hm." to myself whenever people would go on about how they really enjoy sock knitting. I thought "how boring" and "why would you knit socks". Well, now I know. Not difficult, but not boring either, nearly instant gratification and they are much nicer than crappy target socks! I'm a convert. Somebody tell me what other sock yarns they like so I can load up. My SOP is to find something I want to knit and knit hundreds of them, or at least 2 more than it would take to burn me out on it.
On the gripe front: last night our local NBC channel spent 20 minutes of a 30 minute program reporting on the rain. No less than 5 different reporters were standing in different parts of L.A. in the rain talking about how it was raining. "That's right, Jim, I'm standing outside in (insert community) where it is RAINING! It's really coming down and there is much cause for concern!" hhhhhhhh. Yes, a concern in the burnout areas from the wildfires, to be sure. But not one word about Haiti, only a passing nod at the elections, gay marriage and the constitutional amendment, and a very brief 3 sentences about the helicopter that went down in Iraq. I realize I live in a desert and all, but jesus christ! You would expect people to be building fucking ARKS from the way they reported last night. I guess nothing in the world is as important as a couple inches of rain. Why has nature not culled off these fucking idiots? Okay, sorry about that, feel better getting it off my chest.|||107781615600038465|||My First Sock!
This was the center of Honey Lane Farms' booth. It was a "pen" full of skeins of alpaca. I walked up and buried my hands up to my upper arms and wiggled my fingers! Several people laughed, but everyone was doing something weird-rubbing it on their faces, talking to it, sniffing it. La said it looked like a pen full of puppies that needed to be adopted. And everyone was saying "this one wants to be a scarf, this one wants to be my shawl....". This is the best marketing technique I saw all weekend. Who can resist all that super soft alpaca right at snuggle height?? At one point, so many people had their hands in up to their elbows that the pen broke loose-right where I was standing-and several escaped! They were trying to follow me home, I just know it. I only adopted two, but there were lots of good homes because on Saturday the bin was nearly full and by 1:00 Sunday it was down to about 1/3 its original stock. I only wish the hat mine is destined for was higher on the priority list, because it is by far the thing I'm looking most forward to knitting. Oh well, I can snuggle it either way I suppose. Hey! Maybe I should make a pillow out of it!|||107768560062719668|||My Favoritest Thing
You are Woodstock!
Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
|||107766989952478636|||From the Peanut Gallery
--Don't make a knit bag the size of a diaper bag. You will be too tempted to fill it up, and it gets incrementally heavier the more stuff you put in it. Then you gotta lug it around with you all day. Though, something that heavy and big comes in mighty handy when, after you've said "excuse me" about a dozen times and the person still doesn't move.
--Don't tell everyone in your office that you're going to knitting convention, no matter HOW stoked you are about it. Because all you'll be doing Monday is answering the "So how was your weekend" "How was the convention" "Did you learn anything" barrage of questions instead of putting things back in order that your temp totally fucked up. These people don't even knit, what do they care?
--Do your "filter maintenance" BEFORE you even leave for the convention. A clogged filter results in a foot in the mouth, especially when you see something particularly tacky in a booth, but don't realize the vendor is sitting right behind the offensive object.
--Don't make a list of the only yarns you're going to buy and expect to stick to it. In my opinion, this is just silly, foolish, and a waste of time, brain cells and paper.
--Do buy the large bottle of Jose Quervo pre-mixed margaritas, not the small one. You'll need it for the knitting drinking game on Saturday.
During your classes:
--Do bring only what you need. The classrooms are small, and there's no room at your table for your diaper bag filled with yarn, books, notes, gadgets, needle roll, etc.
--Don't sit behind an old lady who chatters constantly, trying to impress everyone with the fact that she knows the teacher personally. If you do, you run the risk of your eyeballs falling out of your head, due to excess rolling of them, and then you won't be able to finish your diamond purse.
--Don't talk to yourself out loud constantly because you're having trouble. Everyone will know, they'll think you're a little nuts, and it will provide your best friend who is sitting next to you with limitless amounts of material with which to make fun of you in your blog. If the class is a little intimidating, just suck it up, and shut the fuck up.
--Don't pull out all your FOs in the Beginners Basics class. I'm sure you're proud that you've done 12 scarves, but I don't want to see them, especially if they're ugly and all made of acrylic.
--Do learn how to make scarves out of pretty natural-fiber yarn. Repeat after me "Red Heart is crap" (learned THAT one with uber ugly WTF)
--Do pay attention to what time your Beginners Basics class starts. If you show up a half hour early, you will be forced to endure the "Ugly Scarf" parade.
In the Marketplace
If you want to be bashed with an angry lady's diaperbag, or punched---
--Do refuse to move, even when you hear "excuse me" behind you 12 times, each time the tone of voice gets closer to the danger level. No, I really don't want to get around you. Really, I want to be trapped inside this booth forever. I'm just testing vocal tonality.
--Do shuffle your feet. If God had meant for you to pick up your feet when you walked he would have attached them to your legs with a joint of some kind, possibly an ankle, and he would have made it so your toes flexed.
--Do push the angry ladies out of your way so you can get to the MILLIONS of different balls of fun fur, sparkly metalic yarn, and eyelash. I realize many are irresistably drawn to the novelty yarns like weasels are to shiny things, but be warned, this one will probably get you bashed AND punched.
--Don't insist on: First, making your husbands attend with you, and second, make them wear that day-glo rainbow sweater. The fact that they're willing to attend with you already says that they love you and will do anything with you, no sense in adding even more humilation. You love him, don't you? Why would you do such a thing? Please, ladies, for the love of Pete, enough is enough!
--Do bring a face towel or a tissue to catch the drool. Many of the vendors had so many beautiful balls of yarn, needles, rice baskets, books, patterns just begging to go home with you, I needed a drink (read several) to relieve the parched desert my mouth had become.
|||107766401858562647|||La's List of Do's and Don't
*Do not wear your heaviest, warmest coat no matter how cold it is outside because you will swelter in the marketplace.
*Do wear your heaviest, warmest coat, no matter how warm it is inside because in the classrooms you will freeze.
*If you will both be attending classes AND shopping the marketplace, do understand you're screwed. Or else, do get a room in the same hotel in which the event is held and be screwed for money.
*Don't say aloud how tacky you think something is, in case the vendor is sitting right there. (La!)
*If you see something you want, Don't pass it by because you'll spend an hour trying to find it again.
*Don't buy books during the busiest part of the day. Do buy them at the end of the day when the lines are down and you won't have to carry them as long.
*Don't shove two angry looking women out of your way so you can look at the thing they are looking at. They will kill you. Next time they will come prepared to do so.
*Don't try to jam 6 hours of classes and 3 hours of shopping into one day, forget your aspirin and then go to the pub nearest the convention thinking you'll get a quick beer then back to your hotel, this is retarded thinking and will lead to dumb ideas like a knitting drinking game.
*If on day one you realize the hotel has no Starbucks, and later that same day you drive by a nearby Starbucks, Do make note of where you saw it so you won't wear your shoes out trying to find it the next day.
*Don't take your convention ID off when you go to the pub, otherwise the waitress will ask you 14 times if you're part of the convention. On second thought, she probably will ask anyway, so go ahead and take it off if you want.
* And for the Love of God, please do not have your conversations/gatherings right in the intersections of the aisles. I'm begging you, please don't do that.
And with that, I would like to share a conversation I had between classes on Saturday. Thinking my class was at 1:00 I left the marketplace to haul my tired ass up to the fourth floor, but finding it wasn't until 1:30 and finding no seating on the 4th floor, I went back down and sat down to knit. A very old, but very sweet, nice lady asked if she could sit beside me and the conversation went something like this:
old lady: I promise I won't bother you, I'm just so tired.
me: oh, that's okay, please rest.
old lady: what sort of cast on is that? I've never seen it.
me: long tail cast on
old lady: it doesn't look like it, what are you knitting?
me: a purse from my morning class, trying to keep at it so I don't forget what the teacher said.
old lady: that's a purse? It doesn't look like it.
me: yes, the diamonds are interlaced and the whole bag is a diamond shape at the end.
old lady: those don't look like diamonds.
me: oh, well, it will when it's done, I hope.
old lady: what kind of yarn is that?
me: this is wool, and this is alpaca.
old lady? wool? doesn't look like it.
me: well, that's what it said on the label.
old lady? oh. would you like a catalog, they gave me one but I already had one.
me: sure, thanks
old lady: here you go, they gave me one, but since I already had one I don't need it, maybe you'll enjoy it.
me: I love yarn catalogs, thanks
old lady: yeah, I don't need two and I already had one when they gave me this one.
me: yeah....who needs two?
old lady: so, what are you making again?
me: uh-oh, time for my class.
So I went upstairs to the fourth floor, stood near the pool and watched the rain while I knit for 20 minutes waiting for the class. Add to the list of dont's: Don't randomly invite old ladies to sit down next to you, ESPECIALLY if they promise they won't bother you.|||107765629363356553|||Some More Don'ts and a Few Do's
So, what did I buy? I didn't stick to my list, that's for sure. I bought "Knitting Without Tears", "Baby Knits", and "Embellishment Techniques". I bought a gigantic hank of variegated merino and one of merino/rayon, a 1000 yard hank of variegated blue mohair and a Moebius scarf pattern to go with it, some ebony glove needles and ebony circulars, 2 hanks of variegated tan and pastels mohair (a hat for me), 2 hanks of natural alpaca (DH's roman socks), some Lana Grossa sock yarn for me (3" done already) and a new subscription to Interweave Knits. Enough to last a little while anyway. Pictures:
I think the merino will be a shawl for me and the merino/rayon will be one for my MIL (Christmas present). Gee, a hat, a moebius scarf, a shawl and a pair of socks for me out of this pile o' loot. Guess I should finish my Renaissance Tunic so I can wear the whole lot to the next SW all at one time!
|||107765377439645899|||More SW
That's funny as hell! Harsh, but funny. What's the saddest part about that report on our first class is that most of those I was saying to myself. Now I realize that I talk to myself WAY too much! The class was a little above my skill level, and I felt a little overwhelmed. Not trying to make excuses, just telling you all where I was coming from. My finger WAS cut, but what Jen left out is that it was infected, so much so that it was throbbing the entire time, and I ripped it back open half-way during the class.
By the end of the evening I felt like such a fucking baby because it hurt so much. I mean, it's not like a stab-wound or anything, it's a teeny cut on my index finger, but it sure hurt like hell. The peroxide helped a little. The alcohol helped ALOT. No better way to treat a wound that a good healthy dose of alcohol. That was probably the problem all along: too much blood in my alcohol stream.
Oh, by the way....deflicted: a person who is both defective AND afflicted.
More from La later|||107758032766235562|||In my defense.....
La: my finger hurts (cut on tip of index finger, not good for knitting)
Jen: (knits)
La: my finger really hurts
La: uch, my yarn is splitting
La: uch, my purling sucks
La: my finger hurts
La: I'm the slowest knitter
La: my finger hurts
La: uch, I dropped a stitch
La: Jen, can I use your scissors
Jen: sure (knits)
La: my finger really hurts
La: I wish I'd picked the other pattern
La: I wish this class was in the afternoon
La: I need a cigarette
La: my finger still hurts
La: why does mine look like crap
La: everyone is so far ahead of me
La: uch, I think I'll frog this
Jen: don't frog it, it's not a race, just learn the technique
La: I know, but...
La: uch. EVERYONE is knitting faster than me.
Jen: don't worry about it.
La: my finger hurts
La: and I'm completely difflicted.
Jen: DIFFLICTED? WTF is that?
La: when everything is wrong.
Jen: (writes down "difflicted" in notebook) ok....
La: well, it is. plus my finger hurts.
Jen: stop complaining and knit.
The finger complaints continued well into the night. The really sucky part was that I had a hangnail, one of those ones that hurts like absolute HELL, but I had to suck it up and not say anything 'cause I'd told her to shut up about her finger several times. We drove around Oakland looking for a drugstore for some neosporin and bandaids, but to no avail. Eventually we found a newsstand with bandaids and peroxide, and settled on that. I think the thing that finally relieved her pain was the liquor.
We invented a drinking game for knitting. You have to take a drink everytime one of these things happens: you start or end a row, reach a stitch marker, increase or decrease, find a knot in your yarn, join a new ball or color, frog part or all of it or drop a stitch. There might have been more, I was too drunk to keep track of them all. The problem is that you never sober up because as soon as you do, you find you have to frog everything you did and it starts all over.
More later|||107757804791483999|||Another bite sized morsel of SW
1. Ladies, don't bring your husbands to these events. They are miserable and more importantly, in a place as crowded as this, they're in the way. Dragging their feet and standing in the middle of the aisles. Send them to a pub or something.
2. For every cool, beautiful thing you can knit, there are 4,597 hideous, wretched things you can knit.
3. You do not, I repeat NOT, have to wear everything you've ever knit at one time.
There is a whole lot more to say and pics to post, but I'm soooo busy at work it'll have to wait until this evening. Oh, and does anyone out there know if Alpacas adapt well to apartment living? I must have a pair of baby alpacas. And my husband says its okay, he likes llamas. Still "NO" on the monkey, though.|||107755938018827054|||Afterglow
You are "turbo" charged.
Fast moving and classy, you get things done with
power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be
deceiving, since what you really value is
quality and efficiency. As you're careening
around those corners in life, finishing a dozen
knitted objects each month, stop and smell the
roses. Don't miss the beauty of process!
What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Ok Jen, YOUR turn.....|||107730843950057064|||La's Results
2 days later...
"Hey La, you gotta try this thing I just found....it's the greatest thing ever"
A week later...
Hey La, have you seen/read/done (insert thing here)...it's the shizzy!"
A month later....
Ok, you get the point.|||107730820009663867|||Second Opinion:
You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!
What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
This can't be right. Fun? Free? Into Everything? Every day a new beginning? I want a second opinion.|||107730269527572676|||Test Results Are In:
People give you yarn they inherited from some unnamed source. This yarn is almost always the stuff you would never buy, but as a knitter, it's next to impossible to turn away a helpless trash bag full of unloved yarn. It's like turning away a skinny wet kitten meowing piteously at your doorstep-just can't do it. "I'll find a good home for this yarn, maybe give it to a charity." Yeah right, or stuff it into the stash.
And here is the pretty Rio I bought:
And here is some sock wool I bought on ebay. The white is what I was going to make DH's Roman socks out of, but I think he'll want more than one sock, so I guess I'll be buying more. The yellow was a free sample sent by the seller, who hand spins her yarn. I know a lot of you do that, but it impresses me because to me it seems difficult and time consuming.
And finally, Thank you Rock Chick for the word "Fucktard"! I've used it several times already and you're right, it's incredibly handy. In that spirit, I have coined the word "Criptard" for all the crippled retards who do rennaisance fairE. If this offends you, it probably refers to you. And for all the rest of them "Rentard". You know who you are. |||107729921469599556|||Some Yarn
The KKKnit bag is almost done! It's looking good, but it's friggin huge! Rocket scientist that I am, I decided that the original size of pattern didn't look deep enough in the bottom and sides, so I added 4 inches. Now that I look at the almost finished product, I realize I'm gonna be toting around a friggin diaper bag! Well, I could justify this by saying that all my knit projects are my babies. I also added pockets....huge pockets.....4 of them 5 by 5. I guess I'm living up to my mantra: If something is worth doing, it's worth OVER-doing.
We've got less than 24 hours before I leave for SW! I'm really looking forward to the classes. I got 5 balls in various colors of alpaca for the Diamonds are forever class, and I had originally bought one ball of the pretty verigated blue to use for practice in my Beginners Basics class, but the DH almost gushed (almost) over that yarn, so now I'm gonna have to set it aside (and probably get more) to make something for him. We're making progress. One month ago he stated he didn't want me to knit for him. I think he's coming around!
On Sunday, Jen and I plan on spending all day in the marketplace. I need to pick up yarn for at least 3 projects.....1 boys baby blanket for my nephew who's due in June; 1 fashionable flashy scarf for my stepdaughter (she informed me that she's an upper west side gal, whatever that is. Some New York thing, I guess); and 2 eyelash scarves, one for my hair dresser and one for the daughter of one of my colleagues. The daughter is going to Australia in June and I wanted to make her something "California" to take with her. Plus it will help keep her warm, especially if I use a nice alpaca for the base yarn.
One of my next projects is to work on my ribbing. I'm going to do a scarf for my SD's husband, or my SSIL, in this really cool burgundy and black yarn I picked up from La Knitterie Parisienne. It'll also give me a chance to use my Brittany's for the first time. Really looking forward to that!|||107722616752169997|||About knitting.....for once
that's Ed enjoying the dog's bed. I believe the dog was under my bed at the time sulking about it.|||107715811373805577|||Whole Lotta Nothin
Re: fat ass dog. La, I LOVE to say I told ya so, and on Saturday, I believe I called your dog obese. Love Saber though I might, I'm glad he got sick so you would be forced to look the lard ass in the eye. (ew) Find a dog park, he can run around and act like an ass while you sit on yours. Just don't take the knitting, it will be filth and slobber infused inside five minutes. 20 pounds must be something like a third or even a half of his body weight! He's the Hambone of Dogdom!!!
Today's Selection of Non-Cohesive Rambling, Brought to You by COFFEE: One more shooting day of this show=One more early wake up! 3 days til we take off for SW! No more knitting til the weekend...poop...(unfortunately the next several days will be less knitting, more wrapping.) Rain tomorrow! HOORAY!!! Anyone not living in a desert will think I'm loony, but damn I miss the rain. Aw crap, tomorrow was my only chance for washing the Filth Mobile before the roadtrip. Oh well, I'd rather have rain than a clean car. Mmmm. Beer is good. Hey, why is everyone so worked up about the gay marriages? Every gay marriage=two people not breeding, that can only be good, right? Especially if they adopt a child that nobody currently loves, that seems win-win to me. Has everyone seen the Quiznos commercials with the weird ass hamster things? www.rathergood.com is my favorite website, if you like weird shit, this is your HQ. Check out "we like tha moon". Brits are a strange, wonderful lot, aren't they? And finally, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS. Seriously. 17 million animals die in shelters every year. That is fucking ridiculous! This is an issue we can do something about, people. K, out!|||107708540652036719|||Revenge of Boring Blanket
I'd like to start my Renaissance Tunic, but I don't have the right needles, was planning to pick them up at SW, so I guess I'll do one of these knit rabbits from the Debbie Bliss book to keep myself occupied.
I wanna do Salt Peanut from the spring issue of IK, maybe a knit along will spring up. I've never done a Knit Along and don't intend to begin by starting one myself, but I do like that sweater, maybe in another color. If anyone hears of a salt peanut KA, let me know. Ok, now to squander the remainder of my holiday..|||107697265996740680|||Progress
But, for some reason I couldn't quite get all revved up this time. Nothing much really popped out at me yelling "YOU MUST OWN ALL OF ME!" like it did the last time I went yarn shopping. Maybe I'm saving all of my energy and overexuberence for this weekend (not to mention all my extra pennies). And, from a girl who has little self-control when it comes to gratuitous shopping, that's saying alot!|||107695459826559846|||My New Favorite Place
Drove back out to Santa Monica where we hit Yarns Unlimited. We stocked up on needles and yarn for the SW classes and we both bought some extra cool Rio (mine in variegated peachy/purply, hers in blues) for some baby gifts, we both have babies arriving in our social circles. This store is a very weird mix of yarns. Heavy on acrylics and novelties, with some wools and cottons not quite rounding it out. There is only room for about 8 people at one time and La actually got shoved out of the way by one of the employees. Shoved. Needless to say we won't be making that drive again in the forseeable future.
Next off to Wild Fiber, which I had been told was a lovely store but pricey. It is a lovely store...probably the most attractive, best laid out and easisest to shop of all the LYS's we've been to. The prices varied, some were less, some more than what seems standard but La picked up some Brittany Birch needles for $7.50 which is a great price. They had a great selection. Their book section was well organized and stocked. The only thing I bought was the spring issue of Interweave Knits, which I was extremely pleased to see had the cover all done in PINK!
After that, we went on down to Knit Cafe (which was featured in the last issue of Knit It). The store was much smaller than I pictured, with a small but nice selection of yarn. Their needles and accessories lacked. I bought Toy Knits by Debbie Bliss and La bought the Vogue Baby Blankets book. The knitting Gods were with us as we found parking right in front of all 3 stores. Anyone who doesn't know the Santa Monica/West Hollywood areas won't understand what a fucking miracle this was. Then we stopped off for some Thai food and back to my place to knit.....sorta. For a few minutes anyway.
I did knit after she left, trying to make progress on the Lilac Purse. I think the 2004 Christmas Purse-a-thon might cure me of purses forever. What ailed me when I came up with this scheme? Easy, fast-oh yeah, and BORING. Well, at any rate, we're both set for next weekend. Actually, we both may now have enough supplies to last us 3 years on a deserted island with no yarn stores before we run out and that's before we descend into an orgy of yarn buying at the Stitches West marketplace. I may have to move to a bigger place after next weekend. |||107688222487250076|||Expedition Report
Got the Patternworks order, so no worries about my yarn and pins for SW! If you've never used Patternworks, they are on my list of favorite online yarn stores . I included a note with my order that I needed it prior to a certain date and if it wouldn't make it, please to let me know. They emailed me right away, I called them to place it on Priority Mail and they were really, really nice and extremely helpful. Plus they have a beautiful catalog they will mail to you and mine are always aged from the amount of use and carrying around they get-so much fun to look at!
HTML kung-fu?? Well, if so, I'm a white belt. I've gotten a few things, but the blog has a ways to go...a work in progress it is still.|||10767385881980167|||I Swear This Weekend I WILL Knit!
I knew it was getting out of hand when, while at the dentist getting some particularly painful procedure done, I usually go to a "place" in my mind. I'm sure you're all familiar with that place. The fantasy world where you and Johnny Depp are stranded on a beautfiful tropical island, and he's mute...yes THAT place. Well this time that place wasn't populated by gorgeous men hanging on my every word, looking at me longingly. No. This time it was populated with all the yarn I could imagine....novelty, squishy, roundy, fluffy, furry, blues, pinks, greens, grays, purples; you name it, it was there, and I was knitting all kinds of cool stuff, stuff that's beyond my skill level, with all these yarns, and everything turned out FANTASTIC, no frog pond, no dropped stitch. I was in heaven, then she zinged me with that damned drill, and had to start all over again.
So, sure, I've "flown solo" a couple of times recently, a quick jaunt to Tall Mouse, a dash off to JoAnns, but it's not the same. It's just not as fulfilling as sharing S.E.X. with a partner. I mean, when going at it alone, you have no one to exclaim to; no one who quite understands that your squeal of pleasure means that you have just found the PERFECT verigated yarn for your new-to-arrive nephew's baby blanket; no one to share the touchy-feely part of S.E.X....NO ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU!!! You're not gonna walk up to any stranger with a couple of balls in your hand and arbitrarily say....."Squeeze these! Don't you just LOVE they way they feel!" Especially if that stranger doesn't happen to be a yarn person, or even worse, a *shudder* scrapbooker.
Less than 24 hours to go until my next S.E.X.! I think I'm getting all a-flutter! I've got to get yarn in at least 2 different colors for my SW "Diamonds are Forever" class. I'm thinking of going with aubergine, eggplant, gun metal gray, and slate gray. Probably overdoing it, but my motto has always been "If it's worth doing, it's worth OVERdoing". I also need to get another set of circular needles. I've got them in size 10, 11 and 13. Now I think it's time to work toward the smaller sizes, but, I can't get those until I get my DaF yarn. Then I need to get at least 1 more set of dpns, maybe 2. Got one set already in 10s. Oh! I also need to get some different kinds of yarn for my "Beginners Basics" class. I think I'll take what was left over from Uber WTF. Gotta get rid of that crap somehow, and maybe a couple of cheapy balls in different weight. Damn, gotta wait 24 more hours. Time for a cold shower.
Then, in a week, we'll be off the Stitches West, where Sunday I will indulge in as much S.E.X. as I (and my wallet) can possibly handle. I need yarn for a boy's baby blanket, 4 eyelash scarves, and of course, a couple of books. And then the rest will be an over abundance of shameless, repetitive, gratuitous S.E.X. Whew!
Anyone got a cigarette?|||107669648595294963|||S.E.X. Deprived
Aristocat! You're a sophisticated cat, proud to
hold your head up high even when somebody ruins
your day. You do have your bad hairball days,
but instead of freaking out over something,
you'd much rather take it in stride and move
on.
What kind of cat are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
|||107665439548053869|||Oh, These Quizzes are Getting Closer
Saber, The Giant Sheltie: Wondermutt and Poopeater Extraordinaire
When DH informed me that, since we now owned a house, that he wanted a dog. He told me about the sheltie breed, and how they were not large dogs. He lied through his teeth. Of course, I didn't find this out until after the dang thing was full grown. He's got his charms. Just ask Jen about his "battering ram". I'm still waiting for my little dog.
Sassy and Momoze in a rare moment (to be used later for behavior extortion).
No. He's not doing his Mike Tyson impression, they're actually sharing the each other's space. A rare moment indeed since Moze is such a prima donna.
Momoze: Princess (yes I KNOW he's male) and Litter Box Monitor of the Year.
He looks all sweet and innocent, gazing up at me lovingly, don't let that fool you. What he's really thinking is "crack this gate just an inch, and I'm SO gone!!!! I'll make you chase me for weeks."
Sassy: The next generation in the evolutionary chain. Cat standing erect.
Evidence that refutes my DH's claim that all cats are dumb. (Well it helps in the erection problem when you have such a great "counter-weight") She also drinks water using her paws. Next, she'll grow thumbs, and THEN I'm in trouble!|||107662724421922604|||La's Precious.......
Need before SW
several sets of dpn's
a couple circs I don't have
Brittany cable needles
hopefully my yarn order will come, or I'll need yarn and coilless pins
Want to find at SW
needles size 000, 0, 1
4" dpns in several sizes
really cool sock yarn
yarn for DH's roman re-enacting socks
Knitting for Cherished Babies book
Knitting without Tears book
Gossamer Web books
Interweave Knits subscription
circ point protectors
wool winder-which is likely not in the budget right now, but I'm dreaming of the deal of a lifetime.
I'm forgetting stuff, I know it.
I should look for sweater yarn for someone's Christmas gift (someone who reads this blog, so I won't mention names), too.... I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait. Is it next weekend yet?
|||107662427242747146|||A Week To Go
This is Wyatt, my foundling mutt. He also goes by "The Tan Dog of Happiness" because he's the happiest dog ever in the history of dogdom. The only things I have found that make him unhappy are smoke, loud noises and cameras, so this picture where he doesn't look like we just beat him with a stick is rare. He is certain that cameras are going to spell his demise someday and he gets so worried that we feel like we're abusing him by making him have his picture taken, so unfortunately, I won't have many to post.|||107653053578099168|||The Rarer But Also Important Dog Photo
Jack, the bigger one, thought this was cute at first....
But then Edward grew. Jack is not as amused now.|||107646340596655427|||Obligatory Knit Blog Cat Photo
That's ok, Jen, I think I found a group that meets in Whittier, and they seem really sweet, not at all a part of the SnBLA crowd. One lady, Simone, is a teacher's wife from back east somewhere, and I've chatted with her in IM. Seems really down to earth. Their next meeting is this Saturday, but you and I already have a date for S.E.X. Even though you've been cheating on me with Lola, I forgive you. Maybe after we return from SW, we can check that group out. Or we can continue to be our own group of 2. I think I'm ready to graduate from scarves and all things rectangular and garter-stitched.|||107644268018877937|||Jen: I've got your back!
I was wrong -earlier in a thread on Knitter's Forum, many people disliked the very name of Deb Stoller's book "Stitch N Bitch" because it had the word bitch in it and someone pointed out that if you take it as a verb, the way it was intended, and not a noun, it wasn't offensive; I agreed and thought Deb's book was trying to say knitting was for everyone including the young and hip. Evidently not. Now it seems the book is being used as a battle cry for various different groups, creating an "us vs. them" mentality. It's KNITTING for chrissakes, not the struggle for world domination. I don't think Ms. Stoller intended the book to become that, but since it has, I'm now no longer recommending it.
And I was looking forward to the show ending and perhaps joining one of the LA area stitch-n-bitches because I thought it was just a place where knitters hang out together and knit, now it seems like it's a clique and I don't want to go. I don't know if I have enough tattoos or too many or if I drive the right kind of car or have the right sort of pet, but I know it was never meant to be like that.|||107642924862655458|||I Was Right, I Was Wrong
41 balls of apaca-y delight.
Ever wondered what an uber ugly green wtf is?
This is Roadkil when it was still a WIP
Here's a closeup of pursey's little butterfly blocks|||107637428559711345|||
I don't think I've ever seen 41 like balls of alpaca all in one place before. It is softer than a baby's ass, too.
That should put me in a really good mood, huh? Nope. PMS or something, maybe I don't need a label or excuse for it, but I am in a pissy mood. I have nobody to blame except myself which just exacerbates it, too. The world would be a much nicer place if nobody except me lived in it. "oh, but you'd get lonely after awhile" NO. I wouldn't. Not everybody wants or needs to be with others of their own kind to be whole. Besides, the ample parking would more than make up for any lack of human contact.|||107636856725365373|||Alpacalicious
Yesterday, as I was cleaning house, I was looking at the pieces of my knit bag, and realized that SW is only 13 days away, all I've done is cut it out, and they're not going to assemble themselves. So, I told myself that I can't start any new knit projects until the bag is as far along as I can go without putting in the pockets, which Jen PROMISED she'd help me with on Saturday. Well, that was kinda short-sighted of me, because now I have nothing to knit at work. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Sometimes I need to think things through better before I discipline myself.|||107634891191367453|||Going Through Withdrawals---
No snow drifts, frozen pipes, leisurely afternoons spent lying by the wood stove knitting a nice warm alpaca sweater which I might still be able to wear when it's done....Hell, if I knit the Renaissance Tunic in the alpaca I ordered, I might only be able to wear it when I visit the Berkshires, where my husband's family lives---except every time I visit, they have unseasonably WARM WEATHER. We went for Christmas this year and it was all "springy" and wet. Not one week after we left-record breaking COLD. Same thing for our wedding. We married Dec 28-a fine time for snow and a winter themed wedding, right? Wrong. I had an off the shoulder gown (sewn by the DH, no less) and he made me a velvet cape to go with it because it would be so cold that time of year in the Berkshires.... I was hot without ever putting it on. The day after we left for our honeymoon in sunny, warm Australia-blizzards in the Berkshires. There is nothing like cold weather to inspire the knitter. No wonder all these trendy L.A. knitters knit skinny scarves and bikinis. This sucks.|||107630451035046100|||Go Ahead and Hate Me....
Something for all those "I've been knitting since before it was cool" people to get pissed about. Well, it's a good time for yarn stores, isn't it? Which is good for us because it makes yarn widely available and inexpensive, so I won't be mad-for now.|||107630067435669884|||Headline News Courtesy of Yahoo:
You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.
What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Well this is my result! ha! Traditional; look delicate; respected and revered??? What is the color of the sky in THESE people's world?|||107626509547587171|||What kind of Yarn am I?
You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.
What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I dunno, the warm and fuzzy thing not so much. Stubborn? Gee, what do you think, La?|||107610284740610599|||What Kind of Yarn Am I?
'Ask Jeeves' never, ever, ever points me in the right direction. I find it particularly offensive that they have ripped off one of my favorite characters-Jeeves-from my all-time favorite author-P.G. Wodehouse-in order to lend their stupid search engine some shred of credibility which clearly it does not deserve. Jeeves is the epitome of the perfect English gentleman's gentleman. He has all the answers. He is pragmatic and intelligent, and he gets Bertie and all his friends out of all of life's little jams. 'Ask Jeeves' never has the answers. It's far from logical and completely stupid. The boys down at the Drone's Club would not approve of this jackassery!!! ok, I feel a little better now.|||107603927982662561|||Jeeves is a Jackass
|||107602120284952578|||Elaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!n
Blogger has very quickly and nicely upgraded our account to host images. (the one above is the link to our website, which is currently down) What fantastic service! I recommend them to anyone looking for a home for their blog.
|||107601592946174143|||Loving Blogger!
Lilac Purse: 2" and moss stitching..............|||107594533565517362|||Which Came First, the Knitting or the Blog?
You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla
I will probably die from not getting my way!|||107593215702794073|||A Death I Can Live With
On a different note, I started on Sassy's ass mat. Now, Sassy is a tortoiseshell calico, and I wanted to make the ass mat match her, so she will even look fatter while sitting on it (and she's pretty damned fat now). Found the perfect stuff, and you'll never guess where...Tall Mouse! That place I was dreading to go to last week. Come to find out, when the shelves are stocked, they have some pretty cool and funky yarn. Who'd have thought??? They also have a good assortment of knitting needles. Anyhow, I found this short-clipped eyelash in the perfect verigated blend: orange, yellow, brown, and black. They also had this other stuff that's short eyelash mixed with this bumpy and oh-so-soft-and-squishy yarn in brown. Mix that with the copper and the black long eyelash I got at *gag* JoAnn's, and voila! We've got calico kitty. Can't wait to see it.
Now, I'm deliberately going out and meeting people who have cats just so that I can make them cat ass mats that match their feline dictators. The real challenge is going to be to match my other cat, Momoze. He's gun metal gray and white. His patterning is such that it looked like a white cat bumped a ladder holding a bucket of dark dark gray paint and spilled it all over himself and that the painter got so mad, that he dunked the cat's tail in what remained of the paint, just for good measure. I have NO idea how to match that! But I'll have fun trying. Just think of all the yarn combinations I get to go shopping for! I don't know why I bother though......if it's fuzzy, he'll LOVE it....literally.
They've also got the really super-soft micro fiber stuff I'm considering getting for one of my Stitches West classes that calls for 3 or 4 balls of different colored yarn in the same weight. It's all roundy, and vivid colors, and when you squeeze it, it becomes like nothing.......ooooh! I get a shiver of anticipation, and my knees get all jelly-like, my fingertips start tingling just thinking about it! Is that wrong? |||107587828327220600|||Making Progress
Monkey bag: done. Except I realized yesterday I should have added a removable shoulder strap. I put interior yarn ball pockets with a flap over them and grommets to thread the yarn through. No more tangled up messy yarn. I daresay, my yarn will be less dirty in the future as well. Take that, plain old ugly knitting bag!
CO the lilac colored purse for DH's sister, decided to knit it in moss stitch.
Observation: You know when you put your knitting down because you've run into a clusterf**k and you don't feel like dealing with it at the moment? Well, I discovered that the problem does not solve itself magically. When you pick it back up again, there's that stupid problem you forgot all about. grrrrrrr.
|||107583269605483879|||