"The pink princess, often to be seen in a lopsided tiara, driving an open-top sports car with her arms straight up in the air, is suffering something of a career plateau."

4:46:20 PM|||jenifleur|||Not much knitting because I'm too shakey still to hold the needles for long. I did about an inch on the socks, managed to screw up my cotton candy shawl yet again and I can't make a decision about the wedding shawl. I blew two hours yesterday wathcing VH-1's 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs. A few of the ones I am embarassed to say I actually like(d): #32 Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings", #10, Huey Lewis and the News' "The Heart of Rock-n-Roll" and #13 Aqua's "I'm a Barbie Girl". I strongly object to their choice for #50-Corey Hart "Sunglasses at Night". That was a good song and Corey is still a fox. Also, #4 Limp Bizkit "Rollin'". Yes, bad lyrics maybe, but then I come from the 80's when lyrics didn't need to make any damned sense at all. And it's hard to imagine how they could have ignored Chumbawumba. I guess that would have taken the top 100 bad songs.

And this is for La, in celebration of her inability to commit to a yarn for a baby hat:

.

Feel free to steal if you're a floozy too. Sorry I've been so crabby, La, I hope to feel better very soon|||108552944078872895|||the post with very little content9:16:03 AM|||Laura|||I have been caught at my own game! I HATE it when my own cleverness is used against me. Here's what happened...

Last October I won an auction for this book on ebay. Now, even though I got the book for a relatively good price, it was still a bit expensive, and I was feeling a little guilty about it so I came up with this brilliant idea...tell me DH that it is my birthday present from him. So when it arrived, I brought it in, opened the box and exclaimed "Aw, Honey, what a wonderful birthday present! It's what I've been wanting for a while! How did you know??? You are SO thoughtful." After giving me his best "WTF" look, he walks over to me, looks at the book, looks at me, takes the book, and the box, and states....."I'll take that....your birthday isn't until the end of December, that'll give me plenty of time to wrap it and to find the perfect card."

I just stood there with a whatthefuckjusthappened look on my face; hands still outstretched, as if still clasping...completely stupified. Shitfuckdamn! And here I thought I was being so clever.

But wait, there's more.....

His birthday, Father's day, and our anniversary all fall within the same month. I was planning on getting us errrr...him a digital camera with all the bells and whistles. I had just begun my comparison shopping, when, last Thursday I come home to...."Honey! You are SO thoughtful! What a perfect birthday present! How did you know that it had just been released!"

At this point, 3 thoughts chase each other across my mind...First, "Because you TOLD me. You've been telling me for the past month." Second, "I'm a GREAT gift shopper. I watch, I observe, I put THOUGHT into my gift-giving," and Third, "how DARE he use my own tactics against me, dammit!"

But, looking at his oh-so-handsome face, I realize that he was SO happy to buy himself whatever it was holding reverently, I decided, ok, I'll play along!

He had bought himself (at a really good price) the newly-released NX-01 model kit. For those of you who don't speak Sci-Fi.....the NX-01 is the first Starship Enterprise, from Star Trek "Enterprise", the prequel to all other Star Trek series, and one my hubby watches religiously. Ok, who am I kidding, I watch it religiously too. DH LOVES building models. He now has every Starship Enterprise kit. And one day, when we have the room, he'll actually get to build them. Right now, he just collects them...like I collect yarn. It's a good system.

But I digress....

So, I figured, ok....this is something that will make him very happy, and I can STILL get the digital camera, and feel less guilty if I'M the one who uses it most. So, in the spirit of what happened in October, I cheerfully announce "Ok, I'll be taking that! Your birthday isn't for 2 more weeks! It'll give me plenty of time to wrap it and find the perfect card..." which was immediately met with "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't! I've already started it!!!!" Then he immediately bolts for his stash...Shit! outsmarted again!

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Note to self: Snatch the box BEFORE you reveal your sinister plan.

Token knitting content:

I was hoping to have pictures of all the new and gawjuss yarn I got on our SEXpedition Saturday, but the batteries in the SS's digital died. (See the need for my our own?) So, tomorrow, I swear!

The two LYS we were originally planning on going to turned out to be dead ends, one was a mail-order, and one no longer exists.

Now, a couple of months back, I decided to compile a list of LYS in the greater LA, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties (just in case I was ever in the neighborhoods), with their hours of operation, some driving directions...etc. I remembered that one was in South Long Beach, in a rather touristy part of town, it had a funny, Frenchified name and it was located near a non-toursity chain business of some sort, on 2nd Street. I figured, hey! how hard could it be to find???

So, after driving up and down a 10-block stretch of 2nd, 3 times, not finding anything that looks like it could be a LYS, Jen and I decided to go to the OTHER side of the bridge, because at least there, I can find a phone book and look up the address. (I was not about to be defeted by vagueness, dammit!) So, over the bridge we go, past my favorite Sushi place, and...Holy shit! What do you know, there on our right we just passed "Lis Cat" (funny Frenchified name), a shop that had skinny eyelash scarves galore hanging in their front window (obviously yarn), in a tiny shopping center right next to Rite-Aid Drug store (non-toursity business on 2nd street).

It was a great little shop, witha good variety of yarns packed into a tiny, cozy space...a Stitch n Bitch session around a round table, interesting snatches of conversation, lots of home-baked goodies on various horizontal surfaces, and all prices clearly marked. Jen went back to the same group of yarn over and over again, somehow superhumanly resisting it's irresitable pull. I got lots of hanks of cotton (of which I'll have pictures tomorrow), most if it for Bottom's Up hats for my nephews. Since it's the ONLY pattern I will ever buy from that particular designer, I'm going to get my $4.95 worth out of that damned pattern. But I got some frivolity yarn too: 3 hanks of candy-colored cotton, for the candy-along. Just gotta figure out what to make out of it. Jen had some good suggestions that I'm taking under advisement.

More later on the second LYS, what ensued within it's walls, and the outcome. (talk about a teaser) I guess I'm getting pretty good at thinking like a 50s episodic TV show...

Until next time...|||108550630733662141|||Drat...Foiled Again!11:03:44 PM|||jenifleur|||The SEXpedition went alright, two of the stores we aimed for no longer existed, but we found another and hit La's LYS. (I'm sure she'll provide links, she's good that way and I'm lazy today) I bought a couple balls of Odyssey for some guy xmas prezzies, a ball of sock yarn, felted clogs pattern and the summer Knitter's. Normally Knitter's is a -eh- what the hell, it's only a few bucks but I wanted the Lily of the Valley pattern. This pattern calls for 2000 yds of mohair, it's for advanced knitters which I am not, and has over 90,000 stitches. I am a lunatic. This project is crying out to be dominated. It wants to be the wedding shawl. Upon consultation with husband, he thinks his little sister would love it, so there's no way out now. I even bid on some yarn for it. It's feeling like one of those false bravado, what the fuck was I thinking things right now.

Sunday not much. Laid down for a nap and while I was sleeping the virus fairy left a cold under my pillow. I hate that bitch. How does it happen? I mean, you lay down for 15 mins, apparently free of infectious disease and when you get up, your hair is in a whafro, your teeth have socks on them, what was once your throat is now an accident investigation zone and your formerly angelic patience level is reduced to zero tolerance for the existence of other humans (felines and canines, too). What sucks worse than anything is that the DH had this and the fucker didn't have the decency to complain and be a pain in my ass. Why should I be pissed about that you might ask? Because now when I whine and try to get sympathy I feel GUILTY! You shouldn't feel guilty about being sick. Having a cold is like a get out of jail free card!!! No house cleaning, no dinner making, no grocery shopping, no bill paying. In fact, someone should be rubbing my feet and lavishing sympathy on me, but since that someone already had this crap and failed to be high maintenance (and is busy playing video games right now), I guess nothing for me. From now on, I get every contagious disease FIRST or we just don't get sick.

The Cotton Candy Shawl was giving me lip, but I slapped the bitch in the face and everything is fine now. I've got a pair of socks on the needles. Those sucks are behind me, these are the shit. If I could only hold up the needles right now some actual progress could take place. La is currently trying to tempt me with e*bay finds, she thinks if I go down into the pits of hell with her, she'll at least have knitting company. But my tolerance level is higher than hers, I've been at it longer!|||108538042438703591|||Weekend ReCap10:50:44 PM|||jenifleur|||Ok, there's hope for me yet: Wendy posted How to Wash Wool Yarn. I'm going to try it in the morning. I'd do it tonight, but I'm drinking cocktails instead. Thanks for all the suggestions. The stain is odorless, so who knows.... If it doesn't come out with soap I may go as far as trying denture tablets, I used to use that to safely whiten vintage fabrics that had yellowed. Failing that, I'll have nice clean wool to dye. I'm hoping to use this for "the wedding shawl", an exercise in lunacy for my husband's little sister who's getting married in the fall so white is preferable, but I can always buy more yarn for her and make this a nice oatmealy color (ok, so you might not think that's "nice", but I'm thinking Madli's Shawl here) and try my hand at dyeing. Right? Thank you LOADS, Wendy. That's the spirit of sharing, and what makes knit blogging so cool.

**No luck, stain is still there, guess I'll be dyeing that hank at some point. It was totally worth trying though, and now I know how to wash yarn.**|||108529196649293597|||Hope Springs Eternal9:48:45 AM|||jenifleur|||I have some white fingering weight that was given to me, and I just discovered it's got a mystery stain on it. It sort of looks like someone spilled coke on it, but I have no idea. I'm sure the person who gave it to me didn't know about it, that's not her style. But how the heck do I wash yarn? It's 100% fine merino wool, shrink resistant. (And looking at the label it appears I have 1375 yards of it, wow!) And for that matter, once I do get it washed how the hell am I going to dry it? My husband has built up a resistance to the balls of yarn that occupy every nook and cranny but I don't think he'll be happy if I string out 1375 yards of yarn all over the apartment to let it drip dry.

Any ideas?

La and I are going yarn shopping this afternoon, checking out 2 LYS's that we've never been to before. I remember back in January when I took her to her first yarn store and she stated firmly that she would always try to keep only enough yarn on hand for two projects, no more. I giggle hysterically about that every time she buys yarn for sweaters she thinks she's years away from making or bids on yarn at e*bay only because she likes the colors and thinks its a good price, not because she knows just what to make with it. Her stash is bigger than mine. (I'd like to think it's because I maintain self control, but we all know that's not true.) I've got too many projects lined up so I have to stay focused or all wool will break loose around here. Actually, lately I haven't been all that interested in buying yarn for projects I won't be able to get to for who knows how long, so my "restraint" is really more like apathy. Maybe I'll find a treasure today, who knows. (Please don't let either store have Koigu!!)|||108524644521981507|||Out Out Damned Spot11:27:45 AM|||Laura|||
BootyCall, B.A.B.B.s & Bunny (mug) by candlelight 

My brother LOVED this shower gift. He said the colors will match the new nursery perfectly. I didn't even know they were redoing the old nursery. Aaron, the man-unit recipient of this gift called Matt, my other brother and the father of The Thief and Gorgeous Boy on Saturday and told us he was flying in from Colorado to work in El Segundo for a week, so Matt got us all together for an impromptu BBQ on Sunday. (Coincidentally, that is when I gave mom her hat, and that whole little comedy with Joey ensued).

Later that evening (and a few Bud Lites later) Matt decided he was going to help Aaron play dress-up. Resulting in:


Ok, I didn't "get" why they were laughing snickering giggling like a couple of school girls until my mom explained that THAT'S a NASCAR jacket, Tony Stewart's (who????) to be exact! Okaaaaaay.....anyway......whatever. WTF?


Now I have proof positive that I was adopted!|||108516407076994619|||MO'FOs10:03:40 AM|||jenifleur|||
Happy Friday 

La and I are trying to stick with Blogger rather than move to another host, so I'm determined to figure out what makes the new software tick. An interesting "bell or whistle" that comes with the new Blogger is "Hello", a free instant messenger which will resize, caption and upload photos to your blog for you, the above is a test drive. If you're on Hello and you want to chat, my user name is the same as the "posted by" at the end of each entry. Or I'm on Yahoo IM, too, email me and I'll give you my user name there. (I've gotten a lot of unsolicited popups there so I'm trying to screen out the trash.)

Progress mounts on the Cotton Candy Shawl, but pics would be just more of the same. I got my yarn for the first of the 6soxsalong today from Elann, so I'll be ready for the June 1 start date on that.

Just so you know I don't always complain, the weather here is gorgeous! Mild temps, some clouds, breezy. Wish it could be like this all the time. I'd go sit outside to knit, but I'm not wireless here at home, and I need to stay on the IM with La because, well, I'm addicted. Have a delightful weekend.|||108515901173028058|||11:50:02 AM|||jenifleur|||Here are some knitting pics, who thought I had it in me?



This is my cotton candy shawl, item #1 in the Candy Along. Blue Mohair, triangular shawl pattern from the spring FCEK. On the right, please note the artsy closeup. Hey, lace looks like crap til you block it, what do you want? I can't put this project down, I love it so much. Yes, I've had all my typical fuckups and rip outs, but it's not kicking my ass like usual for some reason. I'm keeping it. I should give it away so I have good excuses for the other two shawls I'd like to knit, but I want this. And the next one is pink mohair (#3 in the Candy Along), who else but me would ever want such a thing? So I won't be able to give that away either. And I'm dying for a Charlotte's Web. Here's the thing, does a person who has never worn a shawl in her life really need THREE of them? Probably not. There's always the stuff you want to wear and the stuff you want to knit. Sometimes they coincide. The stuff I want to knit, I justify by making as a gift, but I somehow doubt there's anyone in our family dying for this stuff. Hm.

Here's #2 in the Candy Along:



Looks like that Brach's taffy candy, huh? Don't know what I'm making with it. Any suggestions? It's all wool, I was going to do a felted project. Please don't say bag, I'm on a bag hiatus. Cat bed? Yarn basket? (same thing, really.)

If you look closely, you can see some purple jacaranda blooms in the pics. Anyone know a good recipe to kill trees? I'd chop them down, but I'm renting and I think the owner would get pissed so I need to be more stealth about it. Jacarandas suck year round, but most of all when they are in bloom. Sticky, sappy, messy, have to vacuum everyfuckingday trees. |||108507990253468243|||Candy, Candy, Candy, I Can't Let You Go....11:36:30 AM|||jenifleur|||We threw our tent and sleeping bags in the car in case we wanted to camp here and there, but the first day we went to Sequoia National Forest and didn't want to leave, so we started right out with the camping. Here's a pic of some big trees, and one of my dog's first night of camping.


Wyatt was in absolute heaven, well at least until dark settled in and a deer came stomping near to our campsite at which point he turned into terror dog. I scared the deer away with my flashlight and he settled into a continuous shiver inside the tent after that. Come morning, he was back to hog heaven. This ritual was to be repeated on a nearly nightly basis.

From there we drove back across the state to the coast, stayed in Napa and then continued northwards. We camped on a cliff over looking the ocean (kinda scary, the road was crumbling away and had to be closed to vehicles, very perilous looking.) and headed through the Giant Redwoods and north into Oregon. Camped again, in Tugman State Park, very close to a rather desolate and beautiful beach on a beautiful campground. Oregon has the best State Park Campgrounds of all the six states I visited. I had the best, hottest, higest water pressure shower of my life in the cleanest restroom ever at that Campground. That shower will live in my memories forever! We continued up the coast of Oregon, into Astoria-right at the Washington border. It's a really old city at the mouth of the Columbia river and has some amazing old Victorian buildings, but overall the place depressed me somewhat. Next day, we drove over the bridge to Washington and it was amazing!

In Washington, the drive was slow and winding, a light rain was falling and we saw FOUR Bald Eagles! We couldn't get a pic of any of them, there was no place to pull over, but it was an amazing sight, I assure you. Washington was my favorite of all. We rode a ferry across to Whidbey Island, here I am with the dog on the ferry:



We both are dying now to move to Whidbey Island. Gorgeous! Small, very old, charming. A nearby island is the home of Alpaca Patagonia, which I unfortunately did not get to visit. I have a feeling I'll be going back, so I'll visit eventually. We drove up to the Canadian border, without crossing into Vancouver, where the dog chased a goose for a bit, then back down to camp amongst the bunnies, which the dog also attempted to chase along with chipmunks. Next, we raced through an eastern chunk of Oregon, through Idaho and into Utah.

Utah has the worst drivers I have seen in my life and let us not forget that I live and drive in Los Angeles. Salt Lake City was depressing, but the scenery throughout the state once outside the city is breathtaking. We visited Arches National Park, the Great Salt Lake (which is surprisingly green), camped a couple of times and got into Arizona. We visited Canyon de Chellys on the Navajo Nation, where the dog made friends with five muttly Navajo dogs and we saw some Anasazi ruins. Next, the Painted Desert, Petrified National Forest, more camping, Tombstone (Wyatt was a big hit in Tombstone, they let him in the stores, restaurants and even into the Birdcage Theater Museum but the gunfights terrified the poor thing) and then my husband got a cold so we came home.

No yarn. Not the merest suggestion of a skein, hank or ball to be found the entire trip. I found one yarn store just over the Oregon border that was a shack behind a bar, but it was closed down. I found another in Eureka which was closed because it was Sunday and one I can't remember exactly where called Dharma which also was closed because it was Sunday. Ah well. Not only that, but I didn't get much knitting done. Did one pair of sucks. Using the toe up, 2 circs, both sox at the same time method I learned much, but missed my goal of socks and ended up with sucks. I also started my first Candy Along project, which at the time I didn't know was a Candy Along, but here is a bit of me knitting it by the campfire, in PJ's with no makeup, drinking, looking like hell:


And now we're kickin' it because we all feel a bit like this:


Sorry it was so long. If you stuck around to the end, thanks!|||108499479026615257|||From the Vacation Files10:52:26 AM|||Laura|||Brought to you in Glorious Technicolor...

Ok, for those of you playing along at home, you can see the "The Beave" has been replaced with "Miss Kitty". Let me show you why:


As you can see, it's way to girly and pretty, even for someone as orientationally confused as Beaver Cleaver. This is my first attempt at doing lace, and I'm loving it. Yes, it's a very simple lace pattern, but remember, I'm still requiring a HUGE learning curve.

*click*

And on THIS channel is the conclusion of "Gilligan" This WAS a boring story, to begin with....gift for mom, came out really floppy, yadda yadda yadda, but, as with every good story, in the end there was a twist. Let me explain:

When last we saw him, Gilligan was:


Now, the final scene....

Mom, ala Shirley McClaine in Steel Magnolias

"We wear funny hats and grow things in the dirt, that's what old Southern [Cailfornia] women do!"

Now, I'll let the sequence speak for itself:



That face can mean nothing but mischief...


Uh...........Huh! Ha! I KNEW it!


And he's off! Just as fast as his 18 month old legs in floppy sandals can take him to....Mow the lawn.

His mom exclaims "I can NEVER get him to leave a hat on his head for more than a couple of minutes." And when MY mom tried to take it back, he shrieked to the high heavens. So what does this mean for La? I've gotta make 3 more BOC hats, one for Joey (the thief), one for his brother, Mikey (aka Gorgeous Boy), and one for their cousin Alex. So, stay tuned for "3 Little Buddies and the Return of the Claw!" coming soon|||108498980917676423|||Changing Channels9:24:42 AM|||Laura|||for the following editorial...

I just had a couple things to say on the subject Jen addressed in the previous post. Now, I don't know who is the author of the blogs that are "shrieking to high-heaven" but the fact that this has been addressed by no fewer than 3 different bloggers makes me sit up and take notice. My views are similar to those of Jen, Kim (wish you had a button so we could link you) and Erica.

I don't pretend to know much about blog etiquette, but the one thing that I have always understood was that we, who blog on a common theme, share. We share our experiences, triumphs, failures, advice, sorrows, joys, whatever it may be, and that brings us closer as a community. We often ask each other for advice or support.

Here are some examples:

1. Jen:

She painstakingly and meticulously figured out the parts of Salt Peanuts that the Veronik Avery left out of the pattern. This took her the better part of 4 hours. Not only did she post them here on our blog, but you can find them here, on our WEBSITE . Is she screaming "intellectual property"? Hell no! She put them there so that others can benefit. And many MANY bloggers site (and thank) the work she's done on it.

I get tickled pink when Jen or I have been mentioned, credited and/or linked on other blogs. Ok, so call me simple, or whatever, but to me, that means that #1. people are reading our stuff, and #2. We are sharing and contributing to our knitting blog community.


2. Sarah C.

Called to our attention a really cool cast on technique in a recent post: Twisted German Cast On. Thanks Sarah!

and the greatest contribution in blogdom ever came from:

3. Rock Chick in giving the knitting and blog world the word "fucktard"

Damn, in looking for, finding and citing those examples, I derailed my train of thought! What was I trying to say???

Oh, that whoever it is who is screaming plagiarism and theft of intellectual property needs to get a fucking clue, do a serious ego-check and get over it.

This rant was brought to you by...

'NUFF SAID!


And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

|||108490158509832510|||We Interrupt this Program....1:39:28 AM|||jenifleur|||Never understood before when people said "so and so just ate my last post". Now I do. And it was a "good one"

I've stayed up late to catch up on the knit blogs. Oh how I have missed you! But there seems a certain stink permeates my new neighborhood. I have been gone nearly two weeks, and though handshakes may have occurred, tearful hugs exchanged which I have missed, some Very Important Stuff has had its surface scratched upon.

Perhaps you wish I would not stick my two cents in-if so, skip this~~~~> The origins of blogs rely heavily upon links. Finding some blog or other site with news that interests the blogger or of which the blogger thinks the audience may have some interest has long been the platform upon which our pillars have been built. Shortly thereafter came the the threats and accusations of theft. Since that time, the accepted ettiquette has been to credit the last two, if in fact there are two, sources you found your information and to link them. In other words if you see a cute pattern for a knitted strap-on snatch on KNITBLOGA and you also see it on KNITASNATCH.BLOGGA and PUBEKNITS.BLOG, (I sincerely believe these blog names are fictional, if not I apoligize abjectly) you post the picture and/or the link with credits to the most recent two blogs or websites you found it on (sorry, bad grammar-been spending lots of time with hicks). It is accepted within the blog community that we cross-reference (with links/credits) in order that we promote that which brings us together-in our case, KNITTING. I do not advocate the theft of intellectual property (for the love of wool, if you think that, read way back in our archives), but the public admiration and subsequent linkage thereof surely cannot be equated with theft! Surely in order to promote and uphold our love of knitting (spinning/crocheting/whatever) we must be more open. Pending the approval of La, my co-author and best friend, I am posting this:


OBVIOUSLY we don't want you to steal from us. But in the interest of promoting our common interest, I want to extend the idea of sharing. Link to us freely! Thank you, Kim for spurring us on toward more charitable ideas and Erica, I stand behind you. Let's work toward making the knit blog community pleasant. It's knitting for chrissakes! It has brought people together for centuries, lets not rip it to shreds over something so obscene as imagined slights.

Ok, heavy post over. "Oh heavy heavy!" Damn, was "The Young Ones" God's gift to televison or do I belong in an institution? |||108486977160777366|||I hate the new Blogger Software. HATE. 10:24:20 PM|||jenifleur|||I am. And have loads to share, but not tonight-tomorrow. The only thing I have to say is that there is a very serious, terrifying yarn vacuum whose borders extend from Los Angeles north to the Canadian border, west as far as Idaho and down into Utah and Arizona. We need yarn disaster relief in the western U.S. and we need it fast. Start rallying the troops, we got work to do!|||108485810002329346|||I'm Baaaaack.....3:15:56 PM|||Laura|||Well, the weekend found me recovering from a monster cold, so not much of interest happened. Well, maybe it did, and because I felt so much like crap it just didn't SEEM interesting.

So, instead of knitting content, I'm gonna crap out and post one of the more interesting questionaires I've found blog-surfing.

A - Age: 39
B - Band listening to right now: Hoobastank “The Reason”
C - Career future: Business Owner
D - Dad's name: Boyd
E - Easiest person to talk to: Jen
F - Favorite song (right now): Someday by Nickelback
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Both, but can’t have either
H - Hometown: Highland, CA
I - Instruments: Piano
J - Job: Executive Assistant and Small Business Owner
K - Kids: None, stepkids: 2 Tony and Christina
L - Longest car ride ever: Philadelphia PA to Highland CA
M - Mom's name: Lilly
N - Number of people you slept with: Huh? Riiiiiiiiight!
O - Observation: Women are no longer the weaker sex (actually we never WERE!).
P - Phobia[s]: Spiders
Q - Quote: “Never interrupt your enemies while they are making a mistake” – Napoleon Bonaparte
R - Reason to smile: My nephews. It’s good to see my brothers get a little payback. Those boys are truly amazing….I could watch them for hours, and when they start crying, I can give ‘em back
S - Song you sang last: “My Immortal” Evanescence
T - Time you wake up: 6:51
U - Unknown fact about me: I was adopted
V - Vegetable you hate: Cooked bell peppers
W - Worst habit: Smoking
X - X-rays you've had: EVERYTHING!
Y - Yummy food: EVERYTHING! But seriously, grilled moo.
Z - Zodiac sign: Capricorn/Dragon

NOw, how's THAT for a cop out?

Actually, I've got some content, and have taken pictures for it, just waiting for the SS to d/l them from his camera so I can use them. Hopefully, if I'm lucky, it'll be tonight.
|||108483281665685221|||Nothing New Yet10:19:37 AM|||Laura|||1. In-basket - empty
2. Items awaiting client pick-up - 6
3. Office supplies - stocked
4. A/R & A/P - up to date
5. Desk - clean
6. WIP column - shrinking
7. UFO column - same
8. FO column - growing
9. Housework - caught up

******Addendum: 10. Balls/Skeins/Hanks of yarn purchased....0 a big fat whopping zero! No needles, no books, no magazines....nothing knitting related. Zero...Zip...Zilch********

What have I become? These are the signs a woman who has decided to be a responsible adult, one who gets things done in a timely manner. Why?

Because Jen's out of town, and I've got plenty of time on my hands. I DO so very much miss our bullshit sessions in IM...the gossip, the venting, the cattiness (not at each other, but at the poor souls who were unfortunate not to be born US), as well as the knitting help, the on-line "window-shopping" we do together, the time wasted in the company of a close girlfriend, doing nothing except "being". I hope she returns soon, I'm running out of things to do, and I'll have to start inventing projects for myself, which, I'm afraid, will make the DH very nervous.

In the meantime, Home Depot finally our bathroom door in...we only ordered it 6 weeks ago. What the fuck did they have to do, chop down the tree themselves? Lowes and OSH are starting to get more and more of our business.

So now, we can finish the bathroom remodel. Last week, the DH installed the plumbing, pedestal sink and cabinets, and hung my towel ring. All that's left to do is staining the door and the door frame (my job), installing the molding around the door frame, installing the door, door knob and TP holder (DH's job), and we are done! That was one project that took MUCH longer that either of us had anticipated.

I'm on the final repeat of B.A.B.B.s. I thought I would NEVER get done with that blanket. I'd swear that I was at 30" for weeks....that some unseen entity was sneaking in at night and frogging back everything I had knit that day.

Next project: The Beave....an 18 x 18 Critter Knitter Binkie made from the Comfy Knit Snuggle Pattern on the Hugs for Homeless Animals website in Lion Brand Wool-ease in the Pines colorway. After that....it's time to start Salt Peanuts. Actually, if it turns out right, I'm considering giving it as a gift to my MIL for her birthday in August.
|||108455696117190239|||Withdrawal Symptoms9:22:31 AM|||Laura|||Will Gilligan make it off the island?

The answer is the usual....hell no! Has he ever? Gilligan wasn't ready to make his grand appearance perched atop of my mom's head on Mothers' Day. I've had to rip back more times than Liz Taylor's had husbands. Yeah, I was disappointed, to say the least. So, instead of a gorgeous sage-green hat mom got a day of ME!

Since the DH was going to go out at the large Renaissance Faire on Saturday, and, in this heat, you couldn't get me out there even if Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Collin Firth, Val Kilmer and Michael Shanks were all there, holding goblets filled with ice-cold margaritas, dressed only in loin-cloths awaiting my arrival.

The faire is very near where my parents live; about a 20-minute drive. So mom got my undivided attention for 8 hours. First I treated her (and myself) to pedicures and manicures. Next we went shopping. Now I'm not a "label" and high-end department store kinda gal. If I can find a quility garment at a decent price that looks good on me, I don't care WHERE it is I got it at. So we went to Ross. I LOVE that store.

Let me give you a little background on La. You see, 7 years ago I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the condition, it is caused by a hugely overgrown thyroid gland that pumps out the tyroid hormone in such mass proportion, and if left unchecked or untreated can lead to cardiac arrest. The treatment is simple: Erradication of the thyroid gland, usually done now-adays by using radioactive iodine. To make a long story, well, not quite so long, I underwent the RAI treatment and 6 months later I had gained 40 pounds due to the fact that my formerly extremely-high metabolism rate crashed, and the following 3 years I steadily gained another 20. The ONLY good thing to come out of the weight gain, is that I now finally have boobs.

Holy shot, (no, that was NOT a typo) Batman! 50 pounds! I, who at 5'6" never weighed over 130 before in my life (except for when I was pregnant) was pushing 190! Un-fucking-believable.

Finally, after learning new eating habits and finding a source of exercise that doesn't bore me to tears I have, in the past 18 months, lost almost 40 pounds. (I've got about another 12-15 to go before I'm happy, but I'm working on it). I've gone from a size 18 jean, to a size 12. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) most of the things in my closet are either shapeless to hide the fact that I was built like a mashmallow, and WAY to big, or if they fit, they are so outdated that I feel rediculous in them. Also, my summer wardrobe contains a rather boring palate of color....beige, white, khaki, olive, black....lots of black (it's slimming, you know).

I have a waistline now! There is a definite separation between my boobs and my ass! So at Ross I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm still timid about getting stuff too body hugging.....the shelf that holds up my boobs hasn't 100% disappeared yet ... but my mom and the other ladies there helped me get over that inhibition. I bought clingy, I bought colors, I bought crops, I bought slinky....I bought and bought and bought, unfortunately, spending all my yarn money I allocated for a trip to a LYS in my mom's area. Don't worry, I got the DH some stuff too. He's been understanding about the whole "not when it's this damned hot" renfaire attitude of mine.

We then had lunch at Bakers, a fast food restaurant they've only got out in the 909....not here in LA, and it was off to go antiquing, which my mom loves. By 4:30, I had hit shopping saturation level, and we called it a day, but, damn, we had a blast!

So, I'm still working on Gilligan...getting closer to completion. Now that I don't have that deadline, I can take my time on the things I'm less familiar with so I get them right. Also, I think I'm going to embroider it when it's done. Not quite sure what yet.

In the meantime, to make myself feel better, I took some pictures of some FOs.


Critter Knitter Binkie #1.


Critter Knitter Binkie #2.

Got at least 2 more CKC Binkies in the line-up, but can't start any until I get a couple of things cleared out of my WIP and UFO piles.|||108429538127786489|||To Be Continued...4:17:30 PM|||Laura|||Finally....FINALLY I got my much-anticipated Summer edition of Interweave Knits. Let me tell you, I'm fairly drooling! It is chock-full of knitting goodness. Here's MY list of must-do's, in the order that I'm lusting after them

#1. Juliet Pullover. This is one I can actually (probably) tackle in the near future. I LOVE the beads and ribbon treatments. And this one? Me keepy! No givey away. Mine ... MINE ... MINE!

#2. Snuggly Baby Hats. With everyone and their sister (except me....whew!) expecting, I've had lots of sugarly-worded requests for hand knits. These are just way too cute! I especially like the cable & bobble hat.

#3. Cropped Cross-stitch Top. This one has "La" written all over it. My taste, not my skill. It's girly-girl in all the right ways, ruffly, texturized and very interesting; a dazzler. Looks a little difficult, and I might not be ready for it yet, but someday...

#4. The Victoria Tank. As my 4-year-old nephew would say..."That's just GORGEOUS!" (that's got daddy in a uproar of a tizzy, believe you me! But Auntie La think it's funnier than shit.) Yeah, I know, it's designed by Veronik Avery, that's why it's #4, instead of #1. I may change my mind once I get done with Salt Peanut...we'll see.

#5. Madli's Shawl. I'm going to have to study this one to see just how difficult it is. I recently bought this yummy peach mohair on ebay that's just screaming to be a shawl for my SIL (the mother of Gorgeous Boy). Hmmmm The more I study the pattern, the more I think she'll get this shawl NEXT year for her birthday.

Dumb question of the day: What the hell is a nupp?

#6. Lace Blouson. This one looks very pretty, and not too difficult. I may even be able to do this one very soon.

#7. Streaming Leaves Shawl. Simply breathtaking! Big, snuggly, beautiful!

Now, if only my skill matched my taste, huh? One day....as Bob as my witness, one day it will!

Now, I have a question. I'm in need of a little advice. Due to Gilligan vs. The Claw, my fingertips and hands are drier than that damned volcano on the island. What do you knitters use to either combat already-existing dryness and soreness and/or use to prevent it from happening? I'm in dire need here. If I don't do something soon, I'll have the same sort of split in the same damned finger I had at Stitches West. And all you who read Jen's post on it know how bad THAT was. Nobody wants me to be that whiney little bitch again, do they?


|||108397326578807128|||It's ALL good!1:27:22 PM|||Laura|||And it appears as though The Claw is winning. But the battle's not over yet, though I don't think I'll make my deadline of Saturday morning. First of all, the pattern called for size US 6 x 16" circular needles. I guess I'm a Loosy Goosy, I had to go down to US 5 to knit to gauge. Also, there is no way in hell that a person can cram 130 stitches in 4 strands of sport-weight mercerized cotton on 16". (Found that out the hard way). So after interchanging my Denise Interchangeables several times, (BTW, found out that when they ask for 16" circulars, it's the total length, not just the "cable"), taught myself a new way to cast on, I was ready to go....

enter The Claw

Dillema #1. Two words for ya: Mercerized cotton, though very beautiful, and very cool to wear is a major bitch to knit, and 4 strands together is just murder. It doesn't "move around the needles". I tried coaxing...nuh-uh. I tried coercing...nada. I tried begging and pleading...nothin' doin'. So I decided the only way to make these things do what I want is to strong arm them. Beat the the pig-headed suckers into submission. And their response? This.... Ungrateful little bastards! So the rythm goes...*knit a little-shove-pull-shove-pick up suicide stitches lemmings-pull-repeat from * ad nauseum.

Dillema #2. La's busiest week ever.
Monday: Dental appointment. Nice pearly choppers but lost 1.5 hours knit time
Tuesday: Create business plan from conception to print by 8:00 pm for outside client. Earned extra $$$, but took away 2.5 hours or knitting time. This is not a good Knit/Dollar ratio
Wednesday: Eye appointment, for which I was so late due to every body and their fucking brother out on the roads for Cinco de Mayo, the place was closed when I arrived.
Thursday: (today)After-hours training to assist Financial Planner in her seminars for which I will get paid $$$, but will lose 2 hours knit time. Again, not a good Knit/Dollar ratio
Friday: Hit 2 grocery stores and the bank, while waiting for traffic to become LESS rediculous than normal so that I can then go and take care of Jen's furries. Which reminds me, that picture you see below this post in Jen's last post? That's the most I'll see of Ed the ENTIRE time I'm there....chickenshit! While I'm spending time making the kitties think they haven't been abandoned by sharing space with them, I'm going to turn hanks into balls (there's a penis joke in there somewhere). So at least I'll be doing something knit-related, even though it's not going to be to Gilligan's advantage.
Saturday: The day that Gilligan is supposed to air. I don't think we're gonna make it. Thank goodness I promised my mom a fun day of antique shopping. Perhaps I'll find a consolation Mother's Day gift to go along with the good-stinking bath stuff I already got her, and then present Gilligan to her next week.

Well, now that I have my fingers limbered back up, and my hand uncramped, it's time for round 2.|||108387677756569585|||Gilligan vs. The Claw9:02:12 PM|||jenifleur|||I'm off on a little week (or week and a half or two week) road trip. I'm bringing the laptop, so if I'm somewhere with internet service, I'll be sure to check in to see what you're all up to and give you my updates. In the meantime, don't let La run amuck here with the blog. She's in charge of these:


note how Ed is in the "three legs hanging down" position. He learned it in yoga.

And THIS is how much of a FUCKTARD I am:


How much of a FUCKTARD are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ponder that while I'm gone.|||108373007466670459|||See Ya9:57:19 PM|||jenifleur|||

It's finished. The Curse is lifted. I thought I would never finish sewing it, but there it is. I was so happy, I even put it on in this unbearable heat just to take the pic. Done. Have I mentioned that it's done? Oh, and if you haven't sewn yours up yet, the key to getting the yarn to not unravel into a pile of pubes is to wet the end that hangs off the needle. Liberal amounts of spit really help.

Next:
PLUS EQUALS

Which means I've got a blue mohair project creeping up. Lace. I'm in my lace phase. Yep.

Wanna see something cute? Well, only I will think it's cute, but still:


What's so cute about that you ask? Those are my husband's socks I knitted for his roman re-enactment. Every time he wears them, he hand washes them and carefully lays them out to "re-block". Even though he's not very happy with them (they shed), he takes very good care of them. Which is why I'm going to knit him five new pairs. This time I'll use Esprit. He likes the way the alpaca feels but the shedding is less than ideal. Live and learn.

??Ok, the question is not how someone got here by this search query, but why they were looking for "christmas sucka my cock"??|||108364685318412972|||Free At Last4:36:42 PM|||Laura|||Well, Booty Call is blocked and ready to be shipped to my SIL in Colorado. They're just waiting on B.A.B.B.s to go with it.

I got my Denise Interchangeables today. Jen was a major contributor to this acquisition, constantly touting the benefits of these needles and singing their praises. Also, I got so damned tired of wanting to start a project, only to find out that I don't have the right needle size, or the right cable length, and have to drive across hell's half acre (literally! It's THAT hot here), only to find that JoAnns doesn't have them in the right calbe length, and Tall Mouse only carries them in aluminum. Screw that! These will almost eliminate the great needle scramble altogether.

I've got 4 days to swatch, knit, and block Gilligan, aka Bucket O Chic, so it'll be done and mom-presentable in time for Mother's Day. 4 days to knit a shaped piece in the round. 5 dwindling, teensy, not-enough-hours-in-the-day-to-do-what-I-already-have-to-do-let-alone-add-a-project-to-it days. So, now it's time to see just how well La works under pressure. I'm not sure how it will go, but the one thing I AM certain of is that there will be alot of cursing involved. Please, consider that your only warning!

Oh, and wish me luck.

Gilligan ... everyone ... places! Aaaaaaaaaaaand roll 'em!

|||108362788760759443|||Gilligan Pilot, take One ... and 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...9:54:51 AM|||jenifleur|||Got my new Interweave Knits, had a quick look and as usual there are any number of things I wouldn't mind knitting: Cabaret Raglan, Lace Blouson, Ballet Pullover (it's boobalicious), Juliet Pullover, Stripes Go Round, The Yarn Girls Tanks, Anniversary Pullover is a nice men's sweater (a rare treat), Streaming Leaves Shawl, and the one I must and likely will do: Madli's Shawl. When I saw the Victoria Tank, my eyes popped out of my head it was so pretty, then I realized Veronik Avery designed it. hhhhhhh. And comparing the men's pullover pattern with her tank pattern , her directions are twice as long. Strike Victoria Tank from my list.

I predict we'll see loads of knitters making the Knot A Knitted Paper Bag. Though it's too shapeless and blumpy for me, it's the sort of thing I believe most people will love. Also, I suspect the Fair Isle Bag will find many enthusiastic knitters-I like this one a lot but I'm not ready for Fair Isle. All in all, another issue chock full of good ideas. And this time none of my money went to crochet patterns, how nice. |||108351791112080312|||Summer Interweave Report8:32:43 AM|||jenifleur|||The title is because not only do I sound like one complaining about Salt Peanuts, but I have broken a record for the most times I've ripped something, reknit it and still retain interest. The right front of SP is much easier, knowing the pitfalls as I do, but I've made so many DUMB mistakes I'm now on version 6 of the right front. I have been too lazy to find a row counter, I spend too much time knitting while blog surfing and I fail to count the number of stitches I should have on the needle. And yet, despite it all I still like this sweater. I hope to finish it this weekend, though, so it can be all wrapped up before I head out on vacation early next week.

We've decided to head north, I've got a hankerin' to see some giant redwood trees. From there, who knows? We may head up toward the Canadian border, then east, south and back via Arizona. I'm the type to have a lot of well planned and fixed ideas but I've totally let go this time and we'll see which way the wind blows us. Hopefully somewhere cooler than L.A. I'm sick of triple digits this early in the year, it's been a sucky sweltering spring. bleh. It's strange to read around the blogs-some people are talking about how spring has finally reached them, while it is nothing but summer here. I've decided to take some socks, my Renaissance Tunic and a new lace project with me, so I shouldn't be bored, knitting-wise. And I will definitely be on the look-out for yarn shops along the way. mmmmm vacation yarn!|||108342628308098046|||Broken Record