"Crochet is in the spotlight! Interweave Knits magazine is introducing a special issue Interweave Knits Crochet in shops and newsstands only, September 7, 2004. It’s chock-full of hip designs, fresh looks, scrumptious yarns, wearables, décor, gifts, and much more. If you have a current standing order for Interweave Knits magazine, you will be automatically shipped this special issue at your regular standing order quantity.

8:03:42 AM|||jenifleur|||This is a good start to the week.


The first picture is for the colors, the second is for the lace pattern. Technical notes: I used Koigu Kersti instead of KPPPM, which is the recommended yarn. Kersti is slightly heavier than KPPPM so I used size 8 needles rather than size 6. I only did a small amount of color 5 (red) because it was a bold color and added a 6th color (blue on bottom)to tie into the first color. I completed 170 rows rather than 154. Rather than the recommended 6 strands doubled for each tassel, I used only 3 strands. Six was too fat and it overwhelmed the delicateness of the lace. So you could say I screwed with the instructions a bit. You'd be right. I'm pleased with the results, moreover I just love working with Koigu Kersti.

Also-I have been adding links over in La's sidebar, so if you're trying to find out about TKGA Burbank, Fabulous Fiber Fest, etc, there you go. More stores, too, including some good spinning suppliers. Oh, and no you can't see my hand made yarn yet. Cuz it SUCKS.|||108843694234554170|||Charlotte is Done9:22:14 PM|||jenifleur|||The trip to Village Spin & Weave was great. Tortuga is just a cool person, smart and fun. She's also generous, she brought a couple of spindles, a book and some wool to lend me for learning purposes and this is the first time we ever even met. Also, I managed to make a purchase:




Two spindles, big & little (Ashfords), a book and some wool to get me going. (Oh and some 0000 needles/finger skewers.) We'll see how my first efforts turn out. On the way back from the store we took a walk on the beach and saw some dolphins. One pulled out his best SeaWorld move for us by jumping well out of the water, doing a twisty flip and back in again. I've seen them jump out of the water in the ocean before, but I'd never seen them jump all the way out or flip anywhere besides Sea World, it was astounding! How cool is that?

The other night while walking the dog, I was talking to my husband about the upcoming spinning endeavor and he goes "oh yeah, you just do this" (starts "air" spinning) "With this hand you spin the spindle and then your hand goes here and you do this" (makes motions of adding bits of wool) "and then it starts piling up on the shaft....." I stopped and just looked at him in disbelief. Turns out he was taught to spin with a potato on a stick in his Waldorf school when he was little. Reminds me of the time he was watching me knit and busts out with "When I knitted my scarf...." out of the blue. "YOU know how to knit?" "Yeah, but never learned to purl. I made a really ugly scarf with leftover wool and the colors were hideous.." I guess he never thought it would be of interest to me to inform me that he knows how to knit and spin until the moment it popped out of his mouth. Freak. Husbands are weird. I guess if we've been married for 9 years and I'm still learning new things about him it's good; although I can't help but wonder what surprises he'll have for me in the years ahead.
|||108831205408645870|||Success4:43:20 PM|||Laura|||Or does anyone else feel guilty when they haven't blogged for a couple of days? I don't really have much to write about. Been in a shitty mood since I got word about my DH's job, though last night we found out (through a conversation with a guy who does the ultra-uber top secret shit for that company) that it very likely isn't in jeopardy. One never knows with Delphinians these days, but today I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Yesterday was my 3rd wedding anniversary. This is a landmark for La on 2 fronts. #1. This is the first time I've remembered the date correctly, and #2. My first marriage only lasted 2 years. We went out for a nice dinner, and had a very relaxing and romantic time.

I've channeled all my nervous energy into knitting, but still I don't have much to show for it since my 2 remaining projects are biggies. I've finished the back of Salt Peanut, but still scared shitless of the fronts, so I haven't started on them, but will probably do so over the weekend if I can get some interruption-free time (yeah, right). I'm about 1/3 of the way done with Grape Ape. I had finished Red Vines back in Colorado because I wanted to give it to my nephew Alex before I left. I'm trying to figure out what to start next....either that blue & green bottoms up hat Gorgeous Boy is expecting, or the sage shawl.

Speaking of Alex, that kid says the damnedest things. One evening, while he was being particularly stubborn about eating dinner (more like not eating), his mom put him in the high chair, and told him he couldn't get out until he ate all his chicken. About 10 minutes later, my mother comes into the room. Alex looks at "Grammy Mammy" and stated in sheer desperation, while stuffing his face with chicken, "I gotta get outta here!" As if he was being held hostage, and the chicken was his ransom.

Then, Sunday, Alex tagged along on the trip to take me to DIA (which I think is the coolest-assed airport ever). His grandpa "Papi" on his mother's side said to him "I want a nalgasandwich" (for those of you who don't speak Spanish, that's an ass sandwich). At which point the little 3 1/2-year-old voice from the back seat squeaked, "I lost it" Papi asked "Well, where'd you lose it?" "At the store...." Where does he come up with this shit. He just amazes me!|||108820838863638840|||Is it just me?1:41:18 PM|||jenifleur|||I got nothing much of interest to say. What's new, eh? I haven't picked up the needles since Weds because I'm trying to finish the Roman costume. I decided to go with him to an event that takes place in 2 weeks, so I gotta finish. Also, I've been spending way too much time on the computer reading journals. Staying up too late, getting up too late, etc. Today I have to douse the entire apartment in toxic waste in order to "clean" it and do laundry. And go to the market. Ugh.

The reason I asked about the 0000 size needles is because I think they are the closest to "period" needles I'm going to get without making my own, and I'd like to knit at the roman events without inciting too much historical rioting. My understanding is that the oldest needles ever found are something like 00000000,(like 25 sts to the inch) but that would be like knitting with a piece of wire. I can't imagine, though, it would take me like 4 years to finish a pair of socks on 0000 needles, with yarn thin enough to work on them, so I may fly in the face of history.

Tomorrow I get to meet Tortuga and maybe buy a drop spindle, or if not, at least some fleece and then I'll order the spindle online. This is also destined to while away the hours at the roman events while still doing something I want to do. A small price to pay to make my husband happy, really. Especially since there are no corsets involved, and no 50lb velvet or double lined silk steel boned stiff bodiced ultra hot gowns involved.

Alright, calling all local knit bloggers: I'm going to Santa Monica Fiber Fest in August, TKGA convention in Burbank in October and Stitches West in February (oh you think it's too early to start thinking about that? La and I already have the hotel picked out and are watching flight prices, as soon as classes open up we're on it like white on rice. We learned, oh yes.) If you're going too, and you want to hook up, let's do it. Email me. Let's have a knit blogger's breakfast,lunch or dinner/drinks or something. |||108819733842851971|||Sorry12:02:02 PM|||jenifleur|||I could have managed to fuck up my highlights on my own, thank you very much. And it would have been cheaper, quicker and there's no way in hell I would have had to endure a Celine Dion-A-Thon either. I'm now a brunette with platinum blonde stripes. I've always been a brunette, but the stripes are new. So, that's what I get for saying I'm always happy when I come out of the salon and also for telling Erica that I think it's worth the yarn dollars spent to go to the salon to avoid mishaps. Oh, cruel karma. Next stop, the drug store. I still have to dye my own fucking hair. The time spent under the dryer worked out, I came within a row and a half of Charlotte's doneness, and then being who I am, that is to say, stupid, I decided to add a 6th color. That's right, I'm gettin' brand new on ya. Stand by for the outcome. I never heard back from Threadbear on my next colorway, I assume I lost out.

*** Update: Rob just emailed me, I did lose out on the colorway I originally wanted, but he offered me something better:

"Lioness"-hey, I'm a Leo, I got a birthday coming up, so I'm buying it. Thank you Rob! ****

Has anyone reading this ever knitted with 0000 size needles? (1.25 mm) Was it as horrible as it sounds? I'm thinking of getting some but I have some doubts. I'm almost certain they would cripple me, but I'd like to know from someone who's tried them.
|||108810457320342153|||'Cuz I'm A Blonde, yeah yeah yeah11:18:39 AM|||jenifleur|||I think I can finish Charlotte's Web today while I sit under the dryer waiting for my highlights to process, so it may be an FO very soon. I'm trying to nab another one, but you've gotta be quick to get the Threadbear colorways. I'm not getting my hopes up.

Tortuga is heading up to Solvang to Village Spin & Weave this weekend and invited me to go along. This times out perfectly with my sudden burning desire to learn to use a drop spindle. Wait, it gets better. She is picking me up and doing the driving. I know! I think I'm going to endeavor to be more like her in the future. She said, hey I'm going, if you wanna come along, come on. So to all my friends and family who are used to me taking care of all the plans and ensuring the follow through: it's over. From now on you will be notified where you can find me if you want to spend time with me, but it will be up to you to be there or not. Speaking of spinning, The Queen of Stash has bought all the yarn in the world and has begun to make her own. Not only that, she made some spindles and knitting needles. And she informs me that she is the proud new owner of a spinning wheel as well.

Ok, lots of you knew about this, but I didn't until I randomly got a catalog in the mail: Woodland Woolworks. Wow, good prices. And they have lace yarn, which I am finding is not all that easy to come by sometimes.

The owner of my apartment building sold the building last week. None of us even knew it was for sale. We're all pretty worried, most of us have been here for a long time (me since '91), so our rents are really low. While I'm paying under $900 a month, most apartments around here are going for $1200-$1800, so most of us are in mini-panics about getting the boot. We found out they have to pay the tenants $2000 to boot them and they have to do $10,000 in improvements to each unit. But $2000 does not a house down-payment make and there's no fucking way I'm paying $1200 or more in rent. So we'll just worry about it until we can do something about it. Still it could be worse. Carrie and Alison are both diving into the stormy sea of Veronik designs. I shudder just thinking about it.|||108801604197836949|||Still Not There8:55:13 AM|||Laura|||The intelligence of upper management in large software corporations is so lacking it astounds me.

My DH works for a well known corporation which shall remain nameless (due to possible libel). But I will venture to say that the ancient Greeks used to have one at Delphi.

Some mental midget fucktard came up with the brilliant idea to move my husband's department to India, stating that it will save money. What the fuck? Someone is being seriously shortsighted. I see 3 major problems with this:

#1. My DH works in the proposal department. Proposals which are sent out for U.S. Government contracts. Now, the last time I checked, the United States speaks AMERICAN ENGLISH. So the proposals need to be written in American, not some book-learned Engish English.

#2. With the way this company does business, everything is left until the last minute, and proposals are no exception. If they were planning on saving money on labor costs, those alleged savings will be eaten up (and probably more) in shipping costs alone. I don't know how many times my DH had to ship proposals the super-priority had-to-be-there-last-week rates. And THAT was domestically.

#3. It puts my DH's job on the line and that makes me and my DH very VERY nervous. I hate being nervous. It just plain sucks.

Chances are (I hope) this V.P. will pull his head out of his ass soon enough, or I'm gonna have to fly to the East Coast and kick it outta there for him. And even if the department gets moved to India, the V.P. was informed that my DH is an in-house graphics artist (which was met with a raised eyebrow of interest, a very good sign), and may just be shuffled to a different department. He telecomutes from home most of the time, anyway. Unfortunately, the interim department manager has been put on a gag order until the big pow-wow on July 1, so no info is leaking out. And you all KNOW how I like to be on top of things. I must know EVERYTHING!

In the meantime, to save my sanity, I've thrown myself back into my knitting. The back of Salt Peanut is almost done. I'm working gradually on Grape Ape. It was pretty industrious of me to take on a 36 x 36, when I'm planning on doing 1 more in a basket weave (for an even 6) and the deadline is starting to creap up.

I have decided to make the pretty mohair contraband I left at Jen's into a pretty lacy shawl for my sister-in-law in Colorado.

PUPPIES!!! 

In visiting her home for the first time, I realized that she loves the color sage too. So I have validated my need to make 3 out of the 4 shawls I want to make. Out of all of them, I want to keep Charlotte for myself. Also, I now have alot of pretty Interlacement Merino wool I had earmarked for a baby blanket that will no longer be a baby blanket. I might use for the candle flame shawl now.

|||108800795557015177|||When it rains, it pours.5:22:34 PM|||jenifleur|||Husband had the day off, so I was mostly hanging out with him instead of knitting, but I do have some pics. First, the Cotton Candy Shawl completed:


It's too big, but it's soft and comfy.

Next, a non-knitting pic-here's my roman costume, the colors are weird on my monitor, the dress is a grey-blue and the palla (toga-like wrappy part) is a light terracotta color. There's more work to be done here, but you get the idea:


And here's a Charlotte update. See how I didn't post a pic since the 3rd color? I was building the suspense, knowing everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting to see what my Charlotte looks like.


It's a good thinking project. Do you do that, knit certain projects when you need to sort things out in your mind or make decisions? Some are too complex, but as soon as I pick this one up, my mind sort of clears and that's important, because as yahoo tells me:



It's true. Everyone else can ignore me but for some reason I'm unable to tune myself out.
|||108795099450301726|||Bits8:41:00 AM|||Laura|||Last Saturday, at 8:05 pm; after the funeral, gravesite service and following reception, the doorbell rang at my brother's wife's parent's house where we were all gathered. I ran to the door as it was being opened, and there, standing on the front step was a young, pretty, dark-haired woman holding an apple pie. This was Gwyn, and I was so thrilled to meet her.

Earlier, when I informed my family that a friend of mine was coming over for a little bit, they looked a bit perplexed. The last time I was in Denver was 20 years ago, and that was to attend USAF Tech School at the now non-existing Lowry AFB. They didn't think I had any friends in the area, just family. I explained to them all about the knitting community, and the even tighter-knit (pun intended) knit blogger community. Well, my pessimistic accountant brother (the one who lives in CA, not CO) gave me a raised eyebrow:

"What if this woman's a raging lunatic, a psycho-bitch from hell?"

"Then she and I will have much in common," was my only reply.

I explained to him that knitters and knit bloggers aren't dangerous. There's like an unspoken code of ethics that we uphold. It's not like internet dating for crissake! He STILL didn't get it. Moron!

We had dinner, a beer, stepped outside for a smoke, and then she and I took ourselve off to the music room where we spent the next couple of hours seriously knitting and chatting. Each of my nephews who were just returning after a fun time at "Slurp and Slide" (not the real name of the place), and other various members of the family breezed in and out to chat and share space with us for a little while. At one point, Gorgeous Boy came in, spied Gwyn's blue bucket hat, clapped it on his head, and announced that his favorite colors THIS week were blue and green, all the while looking at me pointedly. Thank goodness I haven't made his Little Buddy yet.

Gwyn's visit was very comforting, soothing and enjoyable. She's a chatty gal, though....don't let her quietness and reserve of her blog fool ya! But, for once, I was in a quiet "place", so it was perfect. I learned all about her family, her loving husband, and her kids.(Her oldest daughter has my favorite girls name, Isabel. Izzy for short). She told me about her aspirations for her future, the despair she feels over a friend's poor choices, and the frustration at the inability to do anything about it but stand by and watch things unfold, ready to help put the pieces back together when everything falls apart, but secretly hoping that it doesn't. (Jen and I are VERY familiar with that situation, aren't we?)

As 11:00 approached, we stepped outside for one more companionable ciggy, she got into her toy and child-furniture packed mom-mobile, and headed out for the hour-plus drive back home. It was the perfect ending of a very trying week. And I'm glad to say I've made a new friend.



And on the lighter side, here's got a perfectly useless quiz result for your enjoyment.


Fun and spunky, you link, there for you are! This
is all fun and games, and you do what you
damned well please!


What kind of blogger am I?
brought to you by Quizilla
|||108792245226083452|||I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends...9:22:29 PM|||jenifleur|||How to know if he's the one, #593-292:
If your guy comes home from work to find out you're sad and then rather than telling you to get over your self-indulgent pity party and act like an adult he A) Listens to your woes, B)tells you he loves you and he's sorry people suck so much, C)THEN goes to the store to buy wine even though he worked 12 hours and drove 1.5 hours and his dinner isn't ready because you're full of yourself, he's the one. I love you, Lemon.

**He reads this blog, but prefers to hide behind the anonymity of the lurker. Even though his site has referred several readers here.**|||108787860488548773|||Non-Knitting Stuff Only I Care About9:54:41 AM|||jenifleur|||The Irish fair was L A M E. Sheepdog trials consisted of 2 dogs and 5 sheep, or I should say appeared as if it would have consisted of that. The show I was in time for was cancelled. There wasn't enough of interest to keep me there for another two hours and that includes my husband, who was there with his roman legion. No fiber whatsoever. To get beer one needed to stand in a line to buy tickets and then stand in another line to exchange those tickets for actual beer. So I didn't even bother with it. Two long lines for beer or go home and get wasted, you make the call. Add to this the fact that it cost $5 to park and $16 to get in and you can imagine my bitterness at the outcome. Ah well. I wore my cotton candy shawl, which drags the effin ground if I don't bunch it up, and got some very nice admiration from a few people.

Charlotte is now at 134 rows. 20 more plus fringe! I think I'm going to order yarn for the next one, there are some KPPPM colors I want that my LYS doesn't carry. Speaking of LYS's, there's a new one Steph hooked me up with. It's called Unwind and it's less than a mile from my house. They just opened not quite a month ago. I went in on Friday and chatted with the owners. They carry lots of Rowan, Jaeger, Mission Falls, Collinette. No Koigu or Lorna's yet. The store is neat and orderly and there's room to grow. There are two seating areas in front with comfy chairs and a large table at the back, which does NOT interfere with your shopping. I didn't think it was possible! I think I may have found my new home away from home. The owners are really really nice. They give you a punch card to earn $ off future yarn. I got two punches already...

Anyone up for a Madli's Shawl KAL? To be started in July or August, I think. I want to swatch it in baby alpaca instead of lace yarn, just because. Yeah, that's right. I got something to prove.|||108783862125129129|||First Post of the Summer6:23:34 AM|||jenifleur|||Today my husband went to (secret, big bad confidentiality agreement) work.
Today I had coffee by myself and surfed the blogs while listening to 80's Rock.
Today I get to send part of my stash on to someone who will use and enjoy it.
Today I saw a monster.
Today my house is clean enough that I can ignore it.
Today the low-carb bread that tastes like this is finally gone.
Today I look forward to drinking beer and watching sheep dog trials over the weekend.
Today I am slightly thinner than I was yesterday.
Today I am wearing my favorite pink corduroy skirt.
Today I will buy more Koigu.

Juan Valdez is happy and so am I.

I had this page open while I did some work at my desk and juan was dancing away in my peripheral, I noticed that he dances in perfect rhythm to every single 80's song there is. |||108756719566090764|||Ten Awesome Things4:20:26 PM|||jenifleur|||What a difference a few hours makes.

Bad: no road trip
Good: husband got a job

Bad: he'll be working so I have to do all the housekeeping
Good: husband got a job

Bad: he won't be able to hire me
Good: HUSBAND GOT A JOB

Good: won't have to deplete savings. Good: more undisturbed hours to myself. Very Good: yarn moratorium is over.

Also in the last couple hours?


He's on to me. |||108751478452588557|||Fickle Fate10:28:34 AM|||jenifleur|||No job. So it looks at this point like I'll have the summer pretty much free to knit up my stash. We talked about maybe taking another road trip too. Looking on the bright side, with the credit cards paid off, unemployment covers the basic bills and there's a bit in savings for emergencies and such.

I was good and started one of the hats I need to make. I didn't get too much knitting done yesterday as husband dragged me downtown to the garment district to buy fabric. I found 60" wide 100% linen for $6 a yard, which is a great price. I promised him I would go to one of his roman things in august, hence I will need something roman to wear. It's the same weekend as the Santa Monica Fabulous Fiber Fest, so the compromise is that I only get to go to that one day and he only gets me at his event one day. So I need to sew, but this makes it a little difficult:



I pointed out where exactly my sewing machine is because I wasn't sure you could pick it out all buried in my husband's crap. So whether or not he actually gets me in costume at that event depends largely on whether he cleans this up while I'm still motivated to sew. If not he has nobody to blame but himself. Heh heh.

By tomorrow I may have progress pics worth looking at on my sweater. |||108749457415447540|||The Luck Continues in its Streak11:13:04 AM|||jenifleur|||We watched the pilot last night for the show we're trying to get. It is really good. Funny, dark, stylized. Of course pilots are always better than other episodes because there's tons of money and time. For example; a show that has a budget of $2 million per episode and 7 days to shoot it probably spent $4-5 million and 2-3 weeks to shoot the pilot. At any rate, liking this show as much as we did will make it that much more bitter if we don't get the job.

Meanwhile, Charlotte: I'm on row 95 and color 3 ran out. I need 6 more rows worth of it. And since colors 4 and 5 will take more yarn, being longer rows, it's safe to assume I need more of those as well. Plus fringe. Buy more koigu? Twist my arm. There are a couple of catches though. I don't absolutely have to blend the colors this way which means if they don't have more of those colors I'll be okay. And I'd like to wait and see if we get this job before I rush out and buy more yarn. If we don't get the job, I'll just forge on ahead. I have more yarn than I need, just in different colors, so it means I'd have more than 5 colors going on here. Not my first choice, but it will do if necessary. See, this is what I get for going with the Kersti instead of the KPPPM. Kersti has less yardage per skein. But I liked the colors so much better, you see. At any rate, I will be buying more Kersti in color 3 eventually because I just really love the color. Dilemma: buy more yarn I don't absolutely need or get a haircut and my nearly 2" roots done?

My percentage bars are actually moving! I picked up the Renaissance Tunic for the first time in I don't know how long. I was worried because the portion I've knit so far was in my old, wrong purling method, so I didn't know how the new style would blend, but it's fine. I hadn't realized how close to the armholes I'd gotten either. What a pleasant surprise. One more repeat of the cable pattern and I should be able to split off for the armholes into front and back. It would almost be weird at this point to have this project finished and not in my knitting bag.

Husband wears his socks this weekend, at which point I will find out if I have to make more or if I'm relieved of the sock sentence due to inferior materials. Which leaves an opening in my "small project" bag. (Yes, a large one-sweater, a medium one-shawl and the small one. Plus the one that's been reserved for critter knitters blankets.) I should get the needles clicking on some of the little Christmas present projects I have planned so I can make my self-imposed deadline of August for xmas present completion. I have 2 hats and at least 1 scarf to do. You know, the sort of projects that are easy so just bang 'em out, but boring as hell so ignore 'em.

I gotta get rid of some yarn, too. I'm sick of looking at it and don't want to knit it. I wish I could say it was Noro and Bliss and Rowan so someone might actually be willing to take it off my hands, but of course I'd probably not be in a rush to dump it if it were.|||108741144490848131|||Nervous Energy Equals Knitting Progress. Good to Know.10:23:23 AM|||jenifleur|||Finished that pair of socks. He tried them on and I quote "they fit perfectly!", so when there's something wrong, I can come back here and look at this entry. I also added 25 rows and started a new color on Charlotte. This color I am head over heels about, it's oranges and greens. I think I'd like to make something out of just this color, like maybe a tank? But that doesn't make sense, does it? A wool tank.. Well, anyway here's the pic of the new color (you didn't really think you wouldn't be subjected to this did you?)



In other news, there's a job interview this afternoon. A show that shoots on a lot that's only about a mile from my house, nearly all stage work (LOVE) and sounds like it will actually be watchable. I really want this job, so cross your fingers and wish us luck. If we get it, I may be back to work quite soon. (please please please please please) I wish I could tell you all about it because it sounds interesting, but in the interest of keeping the job if I get it, I'd better not.

Has anyone out there been to the Taos Wool Festival? If so, is it good? The husband wants to drag me to some roman event in South Carolina, so I feel I deserve to go to Taos and drag him along. He agreed, but if it kinda sucks I'd rather find something else to drag him to. Suggestions?

Oh, have you all seen this? Not the capelet, the fair isle! Wow!! I think you might like this, Erica.

**edited to add: The interview went well, he has good contacts in the producer end of things, but the competition is pretty stiff. We'll know in 24-48 hours. I know there's nothing to do about it but wait now, but I'm stressing out. Plus I ran out of yarn on Charlotte and I've switched to the Renaissance Tunic. Ack! Waiting and worrying is the hardest part.**|||108732092004782015|||Little by Little1:31:33 PM|||Laura|||That's how I deal will sorrow. The house is clean, the laundry done, garden weeded, bags packed and an FO to report. Here it is being modeled by a reluctant Saber:


Well, that, and I got very VERY angry. I know what you're thinking. "La? Angry??? Say it aint so!" A wise woman told me recently "I think the strong among us use the anger to stay that way, it's a power we can understand and harnessed, unlike the pain; but it gets in the way once its usefulness has passed, so don't hang on to that part." Very sage advice. Whereas, the angry got me through the last couple of day, it will not be any help once I reach Colorado.

I was fine in my numb. I was cruising along, getting the office set for my absence. All was fine. All was dandy. Then, I logged on, went to our blog, and read Jen's kind words of understanding, which started this prickling feeling behind my eyes. Why is that I wonder? How can act of such a simple kindness move you to tears? Whatever the reason, I'm glad that she posted about it, because I had no idea of how to do it myself. The words just escaped me. Again, a first!

I'm leaving tomorrow, driving out with my parents and my little brother, so I've packed lots of knitting and a couple of books. In addition to Salt Peanut and Grape Ape, I'm taking along this:

 
Which will be made into the next "Little Buddy" bucket hat for my nephew Alex. Staying with the candy theme I have decided to name this one after Mr. Jen's FAVORITE candy in the whole wide world: Red Vines.

I'll be returning on Sunday to be back here at work on Monday, and I'm not sure if I'll have the time or opportunity to post. Right now, I'm just playing it by ear. Whatever my brother and his wife need, be it dinner made, laundry done, dishes washed, Alex (babysitter) duty, I'm their gal. Thank you all for your hugs and warm wishes. Not to sound cliche or anything but "This too shall pass." And I'll be back to my usual lazy, bitchy, wise-assed self.|||108724705671085363|||Keeping Busy10:18:23 AM|||jenifleur|||And I have knitting progress. I finished the Cotton Candy Shawl. Boy is it huge. I'm not happy with it either. The lace pattern I like, but it increased in length way faster than in width. The sucker goes down to my ankles. And it's not even the extra stretching out I gave it. It's the triangular lace shawl from the spring FCEK. Well, I'll find a place big enough to hang it up, get out the panaoramic lens, back waaay up and take a pic so you can see what I mean.

Husbands socks finally have heels and a partial cuff so I'm nearing completion on the world's most boring socks pair 2 out of 5.



These are from Esprit Sock It To Me, which he picked out as probably the perfect sock yarn from samples sent out by elann. Of course now he has a pair of them suddenly the alpaca ones that shed are better because they are softer. He has feet the Princess and the Pea would envy for sensitivity. He feels every purl stitch as if it were a stone in his shoe, I don't know how he manages walking around in target crew socks the rest of his life. Well, if this pair isn't all he dreamed of, that gets me off the hook for the next 3 pairs.

I started Charlotte's Web. I made a vow that after having read so many blogs where people have ripped their first 50 rows out I would pay close attention to avoid that trauma. So the first thing I did was NOT read that it's from the top down, in effect reversing my color choices. That's ok, I wasn't dead set on any order. Then I didn't read that color 2 is a&b mixed. Rip! Well, I made it back up to row 53. Row 50 seems to be a common level of progress for one evening of knitting, so I stopped there.


It's really true what everyone says, this is addictive. And yes, I've already got in mind a second one. Inspired by Maggie's Charlotte, it hit me that a friend of mine would love something in those muted tones. Of course, I won't copy exactly but that first color on mine would be a good start.

Yesterday I ran to the market for some hamburger buns (those pretzel buns are so good!) and ended up filling a basket as usual. I got in line behind some ancient woman who needed to pay with food stamps, cash and a credit card to cover her groceries. The transaction was more complex than a Time Warner merger and took forever. I kept thinking "can't be much longer now" and there'd be some computer malfunction. I kept thinking that if I moved to another line it would take just as long. I was growing more and more irritated. I kept hearing Gwyn's words: "Clearly she was put there to teach me to chill the fuck out." At long last the manager rang me up. "Seven fifty seven." He said. "That can't be 7.57!" I said. "Trust me." He only charged me for my bottle of wine and gave me a discount on that. My groceries were free to thank me for being patient and standing there not saying a word or looking pissed. So my irritation at the world in general just evaporated. But I feel kinda bad, because although I didn't let it show, I wasn't as patient as I appeared. Lesson learned: chill the fuck out.

After dinner I turned on the computer and there was an email from La in my inbox. Her nephew, the baby she knitted the booties and blanket for, was due June 18 but his umbilical cord got wrapped around him and he died. So there is great sadness and terrible loss in her family and my heart goes out to them all. She won't be here for awhile, she has to go to Denver for a funeral instead of a birth and I hope that knowing we're all here thinking about her brings her some level of comfort. There are no words that can undo the terrible unfairness of life or take away the pain, but La, we send you hugs and comfort.|||108723638336684587|||I'm Back1:45:57 PM|||Laura|||
The Gauntlet... 

Unfortunately, I know exact where Jen's at. Mother Nature aka Satan's Sadistic Whore, has decided to bestow upon me an early 40th birthday present! I have had the distinct pleasure of being in raving, full-on ranting uber-PMS mode for 40 days and counting. How did she know? What I always wanted....a 24-7 month-long rage, with no end in sight. Hey, gee, thanks you evil bitch! Yeah, she likes to play fast and free with us approaching 40 types. Not only do I have THIS to contend with, I get to look forward to participating the annual Squash-a-Tit festivities. Woohoo! I'm really living now! Snip...Snipe....Snark....Snarl

Now, I walk into the office, and all the men run for cover, and I'm talking LAWYERS here. My boss BARELY makes an appearance (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Hell I've even scared MOST of the telemarketers into not bugging the shit out of me every fucking day. Hell, not even the women are safe anymore. There are a couple I'd just love, LOVE to throttle!

When I get home, the dog cowers, my precious Momoze (mama's boy, as the SS calls him) hides under the bed, and my DH and SS are quiet and sweet all the time. Do you know how unnerving that is? The only one gutsy enough to venture out is Sassy. I attribute that either to the fact that she's female, thus thinks she's immune to my wrath (ha!), or she's just too dumb to care.


Brazen Hussy 

Honestly, I don't see how my DH has retained his sanity. I'm sure he has contemplated murder once or twice (at least). I know I would have. He would easily have been able to get off scot free with the "She needed killin'" defense. Hell, every man in the world would probably declare it an international holiday.

And then I get asked, by no one specific person "Why do you always have to knit?" Huh??? Where the hell did THAT come from? After my eyes stop rolling, and my cheek stops twitching, my first reaction is to say, "Well, if I didn't, I'd have to kill someone, and right now? you're the only one in the room with me" But, my "filters" catch it, and I mutter something about calm and relaxing and balancing out. Of course, I'm not knitting a cotton candy or a brad pit do me doggie style shawl, so that could always change.

Well Ribbit aka the Scarf Of Indeterminate Length or S.O.I.L. for short, has reach 60" and is off the needles. Unfortunately, it's rather elongatedly tube-like, and not scarf-like at all. Jen has assured me that the shape can be resolved in the blocking. Since this is my first-ever FO that needs blocking, I'm still a little skeptical, and a little unsure of which method would work the best. So, I'm reading. hhhhhhhhhh Adding yet another UFO to my list.

Plugging away at Salt Peanut, slowly but surely. This boring part is REALLY fucking boring. The only thing that keeps me interested in it at all is the squooshiness of the yarn and the promise that the front panels will be harrowing. Ande is also plugging along at a consistent rate. Now I'm afraid it's gonna be too small. Well, I have until next Saturday to finish it, and try it on the little monster angel.

I started my 5th critter knitter blankie. This time I'm doing an adventurous 36" x 36". Let's SEE If La can make this one a square, huh? (doubt it) I'm using the Quick Knit Throw pattern, in 2 different colors of Bernat Soft Boucle: white and yeah, you guessed it, aubergine. I have dubbed it Grape Ape. I wanted to make ONE of these in a color I like. The pattern calls for size 35 (WTF?) needle. I decided to use size 13. Otherwise, the critter who gets this binkie would end up popping his head through and strangling himself, which, in my book, is not a good thing. It's turning out pretty so far. I estimate that I need to do 18 repeats, and I'm only on #3.

The DH and I are planning to see Shrek 2 this weekend. You see, I LOVED the first one, especially "Donkey". Though I find irony in the fact that Eddie Murphy's best role in a long time is that of a talking ass.

Now they've got Antonio Banderas playing a pussy that makes fun of himself as Zorro? What's not to love? True, I freely admit that my taste in movies isn't as sophisticated and refined as Jen's, and I actually like many of the animated full-length features. And...No! I'm not being sarcastic....for once.

..."Yeah...Uhuh....And that's the way it is..."|||108698743971916985|||Yeah...Uhuh....Life's Like This...10:49:15 AM|||jenifleur|||So Shrek 2: ok, funny, but why is everyone saying it's as good or better than the first one? Puss in Boots is pretty funny but everything else is more of the same with fewer jokes. I enjoyed it I just think its overrated. We didn't make it to Van Helsing yet, a possible work thing came up so maybe today.

I dropped out of the 6 Sox KAL, I'm cranky and the hundreds of repetitive emails I get everytime someone drops a stitch is like nails on a chalkboard. I think this is why I don't belong to many lists. I don't mind reading that sort of stuff on people's blogs, because I've chosen to go read it and all my daily blog choices are intelligent and witty people. I think that if you don't know what an ssk is or how to execute a yarnover, perhaps socks are a bit advanced at the moment. On a list to which hundreds (sometimes more) subscribe, it gets to be too much really quickly if you feel the need to email us all and tell us what color yarn you chose, how many stitches you cast on or that you've completed another repeat. Throw in the occasional sob story of how the socks will become a gift to a dying woman at your church with a plea to the group to tell you what yarn is best for that situation. Ok, now I sound like KnitFlame. I really am cranky.

I think I'll take a few days off and see you all when I crawl out of my hole-hopefully with a better disposition. |||108697795556850906|||I Beg to Differ11:10:34 AM|||jenifleur|||I have no knitting to post because I have reached the part in the shawl where each row takes so long that progress appears non-existent. I don't think it's interesting to write about, and more pictures of blue mohair lace are dull even if I do enjoy knitting it. I will tell you though that I pulled the knitting up sharply to turn it and as luck would have it, I was sitting on the bottom of it so it's really stretched out and I hope the blocking will correct it. If not, I'll bestow it as a present to someone who won't know the difference. All other knitting has been pushed aside until this is done.

More reasons I haven't got much knitting to post is because I've been spending time on the website and yesterday we decided to catch up on some movies over the next several days.

Yesterday was Troy and Day After Tomorrow. Troy: La already mentioned this, but let me just state that I never thought I'd live to see the day they'd make a movie so bad Brad Pitt's bare ass couldn't save it. What's so bad about this movie? Everything. For starters, all the old warriors are fat guys. I liked that they were old, but they are warriors, they shouldn't be fat. The dialogue and writing was terrible. The sets look like Disn*yland or some idiotic theme restaurant, just unbearably contrived. And the costuming was so painful it hurt my eyes to look at it. Think Jerry Garcia in a toga. Yes, tie-dyed togas and dancing girl bells. The armor was all utter fantasy and not even well executed. The fight scenes were way too long and appeared to be some matrix/martial arts choreography. Just pitiful. I marvel to think how many people had to say yes to this before it was greenlighted and then to ponder the amount of money it took to produce it. What's worse, I'm sure the production design will get nominated because evidently the academy doesn't know its ass from a hole in the ground.

Day After Tomorrow: Jake Gyllenhaal. That's all that mattered. Actually, while this movie wasn't great, I didn't think it warranted quite the pan it got from critics. I think though that when big budget movies like this get all preachy it's terribly hypocritical. You would not believe the amount of wasted resources even small productions expend. But back to Jake. I'm sure Rock Chick agrees that enduring Dennis Quaid's stitlted dialog was completely worth it. Ever since "Highway" I have been in love with him and unlike RC, I don't feel pervy about it at all. He is priority #1 on Hump Island.

Today is Van Helsing and Shrek 2. Don't worry, I'm not expecting anything from VH. But it will suck even more on the small screen. Now on to the trailers for the summer sewage. "I,Robot"? Are you fucking kidding me? Do we need yet another movie wherein Will Smith shouts "OH HEEEELLLLL NO!"???? No we don't. We really don't. "Riddick" has Vin Diesel in it. It also has Judy Dench, which I cannot fathom. Vin Diesel and Judy Dench in the same movie-has the world gone mad? In case you haven't seen the trailer, here's some dialog "It always inspires when worlds fall"; "Sometimes the best way to fight evil is with evil"; and my favorite: "Are you going to get the monsters?" "I am the monster." In the trailer, they're throwing their BEST STUFF at you. La and the DH are out of the will for wanting to see this. "Dodgeball". I almost filed for divorce yesterday when the husband snickered at that preview. More Ben Stiller doing the same tired old Ben Stiller shtick. I guess people must pay to see it still. "Vanity Fair" interests me strangely though I think the costuming will leave me crying. The one movie I cannot wait for is "De-Lovely", that is my kind of movie! "Garden State" looks pretty good too. So out of the whole summer, there is precious little to look forward to as usual. What a waste.|||108689367409643103|||Summertime Blues10:55:07 AM|||Laura|||Here is an example of the revisions I had to make to the pattern:

1. CO 98...push distraction back with foot until you have achieved your CO. Work lace rib as follows:

2. Row 1 and all WS rows: P1, k, *p2, k2; (remove weeka from foot and throw) rep from * to last 4 sts, end p2, k1, p1

3. Row 2: K1, p1 (state..."Daddy wants to play too", throw drool infused weeka to 'daddy' on other couch, cringe as you accidentally hit him in the face; look contrite and appologize while secretly giggling) *k2tog, yo, p2; (remove drool infused weeka from various body parts, knit bag, worked rows; wipe hands to deslobber) rep from * to last 4 sts, end k2tog, yo p1 k1.

4. Row 3: synchronize rep row 1 with time it takes for weeka to be retrieve, pranced from the door, to 1 lap around the coffee table, being squeeked in tempo with "hoofbeats", to final destination: somewhere on your exposed skin so as to elicit the most immediate reaction, and prompting the quickest throw reflex.

5. Row 4: K1, p1, *k2tog p2; rep from * to last 4 sts, end in k2, p1, k1(realize it has been too long since the last interruption, and get up to investigate why, only to find weeka abandoned, and the distraction with head in litter box, quash gag reflex)

6. Row 5: rep row 1; (scream, "leave the goddamned cat alone!", steel glance away from knitting for a fraction of a second to see distraction and cat alternately taking whacks at each other, each with their left paws; to end with the cat being "herded" up the stairs with a resounding and excited "and STAY there" vocalization)

7. Row 6: K1, p1, *yo, ssk, p2; rep from * to last 4 stitches (glance up to see a look of high anxiety on face, sitting on all 4s at the door, glancing between you and the doorknob and then back to you; get up, let distraction out; close door); to last 4 sts, end yo, ssk, p1, k1.

8. Row 7: rep fow 1. Get up; open front door which has taken a huge pounding in the last 5 minutes as you desperately try to finish the row before you had to get up.

9. Row 8: rep fow 4. changing steps in parenthesis to: (remove weeka from foot and throw)

10. Rep rows 1 - 8 one more time...

Now, if you don't have one of these, disregard the above revision.


The Revisinator.... 
I wonder, instead of wiping the drool off your hands, if it could be used to "block as you knit"? hmmmmmmmmmmm

Here are the results of the revised pattern thus far:

No Frogging Required... 

Lace Close-up 



So far, I've got the green-light from my inspectors:

Inspector 69 

Inspector 42 






|||108671878071228054|||Salt Peanut Revised - Part Deux2:33:10 PM|||Laura|||2 great books arrived this weekend, both won on ebay. The first, the cutest book I ever saw....24 cute cuddlies with which to use up my scraps and left-overs. Then, today this beauty arrived, from The Fuchsia Fleece . I thumbed through it briefly between knitting and doing my work. It's wonderful. I highly recommend it to ANYONE who is interested in lace, or to anyone would like to venture out into the pattern-designing unknown (not me!...not yet!). It has both stitch library AND shawl patterns, plus draping techiques, history lessons, and other great tidbits. A VERY beautiful book. And one of the best things about it? It came with a bookmark that has a bright pink "Fuchsia" alpaca on it!

NEWFLASH!!!

I'm sure all of you will be shocked to hear, but La is a dumbass...yes, there's no denying it, I'm stoopid. You heard it here first, folks.

Saturday, while shopping for ice cream (for some reason, I am no longer lactose intollerant, and where that is good news for my taste buds, it's a sad state of affairs for my ass and boob-shelf), I was shocked to find out that the after-dinner mints I named the Little Buddy after isn't AndRe, it's Ande, hence the name change.

Speaking of Ande, it took me casting it on 3 times to finally(?) get it right. The first time, I casted on with 4 strands, 2 of the flash, and 2 of the left-over green mercerized from my mom's bucket hat, over US size 4 needles. It was way too big. Now the flash LOOKS to be the same weight yarn as the merc. cotton I used for my mom's, so I figured it was safe to do it that way. WRONG! After ripping, I decided to cast on with 3 strands; 2 flash, 1 merc cotton; and drop the merc when it says to reduce amount of strands. Well, after knitting about 5 crippling rows, I looked at it, slipped it over my head. Now, if I was knitting this for The Little Thief's older brother, Gorgeous Boy, I wouldn't worry so much, cuz that kid's got a HUGE-assed noggin. But for Joey, it was still WAAAY too big. So, I ripped THAT, and cast on again with just the 2 strands of flash. I'm past the brim, and now I'm working in just 1 strand. Keep your fingers crossed.

OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST

The California Knit Bloggers ring is up and running and we've got members! Jen did 95% of the legwork (100% of the creative/artwork), and it's membership is steadily growning. Jen did the research, got ownership of the ring, designed the buttons and wrote the code. (All I did was research a few CA knit bloggers) Thanks Jen! I'd like to welcome all the CA knitbloggers to the ring, and invite anyone else who lives in the state of CA to join. There are alot of bloggers I never knew existed, and am now reading regularly. Jen and I are even considering organizing some knit-togethers in various regions of SoCal, and hope to see you Bay-area and Northern CA bloggers at Stitches West next February.

Salt Peanut is trudging along, and Ribbit aka The Scarf of Indeterminate Length is STILL holding at 55 inches. hhhhhhhhhhhhh|||108664729007899373|||Mail Call!11:04:17 AM|||Laura|||Listening to the radio on my way in to work this morning, I heard an advert for an open casting call for "Fear Factor". They're looking for individuals as well as teams, i.e., twins, husband/wife, siblings or best friends. Yeah, I can see Jen and I going up for that....what would they do to us? Tie us down and throw skinny fuzzy scarves at us? Lock us in a room filled from floor to ceiling with Red Heart yarn and size 45 straight aluminum needles, giving us only a week to fill the otherwise empty room with knitted furniture, for which the only patterns we're allowed are by Veronik Avery? Or worse yet, take away our knitting needles, books, yarn, and the internet, forbid us to bitch about men, and then lock us in a room full of angry scrapbookers? OH! the horror!!!!

Yeah, I've had it with "reality" shows. #1. there's nothing real about them, and #2. each reality show concept that airs is one less show my best friend could be working, therefore minimizing her chances of ending her "between jobs" status, and sending a much-needed abeyance from her yarn moratorium (great word Bron).

About a 10 minutes later (after only playing 1 song) they ran another series of commercials. This time, there was one for "hairless laser SKIN removal" WTF?

Last but not least....boys BOYS! what were you thinking? Hugh, Brad...what the fuck? What made you think you could make the WORST movies of the summer (and it's not even summer yet) and remain secure on Hump Island? I mean, an almost-naked, panting, sweating Hugh couldn't save the writing of "Van Helsing", nor could Brad's bare ass save the disaster that was "Troy". What, am I supposed to get my movie kicks this summer from a green ogre, a talking donkey, and some wand-wielding, wise-cracking British kids? Say it aint so! Take care, gentlemen, you're about to be replaced by a couple of Jen's dishwashing dildos!




Have you ever had one of those days when it feels like the entire world is making fun of you? 

And that was my Friday vent

ON the knit-front...

World, meet Miss Kitty


"She's ready for her close-up Mr. DeMille


Ok, ok bad La...no doughnut! That was a real stretch I know. "Miss Kitty" was my 3rd Critter Knitter binkie, and my first endeavor into lace, which I now LOVE and is NOW my favorite thing in the whole wide world.

For Erica's of Smiling Tiger fame, Candy-along, I've started working on Little Buddy Andre, a Bottom's Up bucket hat in this:


Classic Elite Flash "Shady Lane" 

The colors remind me of Andre's After Dinner Mints, crumbled and sprinkled over top of vanilla-bean ice-cream, with warm chocolate syrup drizzled over top, crushed peanuts sprinkles and a dollop of whipped cream. Yuuuummmmm!

I'm also working on Salt Peanut. I'm in the boring part of the back; the part where Jen advises me to enjoy and remember, because I'll eventually long for the boring days of old.

Ribbit, aka "The Scarf of Indeterminate Length" is still in existence. You know, I just don't get it! I've been knitting on that sucker dilligently, all week, and it's STILL only at 55 inches long. (The target length is 59 inches). I detect the fine workings of the Masked Unraveler yet again!

I still have to order my pattern for Charlotte, and I'll start on that soon. |||108637613595748893|||What Are They Thinking?1:01:25 PM|||jenifleur|||I had not one, but three jobs fall through this week. Well, ok, one hasn't officially fallen through but it seems to be at a dead end. (And truthfully the one that seemed like a sure thing promised to be a miserable 7 months.) So the yarn buying stops now and does not resume until I get a job. I don't know why the thought of it should pain me so, I've enough yarn to last months, if not years. Let's do the math.

a=Job(value is 0), b=$, c=time, d=stash.

a X b=0
c + d=fo's
d - b=fo's

Conclusion: plenty of time and plenty of yarn adds up to finished objects. Especially when the time normally consumed by yarn shopping is now replaced with actual knitting time.

I'm starting to think I like to buy yarn and plan projects even better than I like knitting because although all that makes sense in my head, my heart breaks a little when I think about the temporary stoppage of yarn flow. Luckily a couple of new job possibilities have peeked over the horizon, we'll see. This industry is so unpredictable. I could get a job tomorrow or be unemployed for months, there's no telling. Maybe I can even start the TKGA swatches.....nah.|||108629408562682528|||What The?11:47:06 AM|||Laura|||Hello. I'm La and I'm a Yarnaholic.

It all started out innocently enough...my best friend taught me how to knit. The rest of the story is pretty usual. We spend, on the average, one afternoon a month together discovering and crawling through various local yarn shops, rarely leaving empty-handed.

I didn't realize I had a problem until recently. Last weekend we planned to get together to organize our Critter Knitter Blankies and yarn donations, to ball my multitude of hanks, (hanks balls!...teehee), and to knit. Well, you read in Jen's post over the weekend....we ended up hitting no less than 3 yarn shops...2 we've never been to before, and La Knitterie Parisiene (my personal favorite).

The first one, both of us walked out of empty handed. What the fuck? That has NEVER happened before! I mean, there were some gorgeous yarns and books there. but nothing that screamed "Take us home with you." We were feeling pretty good about our new-found resistance.

Then we went to the second one, another we hadn't been to before. It had a red-cross on the signage, I mean, how perfect is that? as if to say "Knitter's First Aid" We drove up, and the "closed" sign was out. Shit! Not to be deterred by a stupid little "closed" sign, and feeling secure in our new-found self-control, I decided to throw caution to the wind! I jumped out of the car and try the door...it was unlocked. And there were people inside. Knitting! Giving Jen the "all clear" we entered.

Again, I was feeling confident....nothing was luring itself into my hands....until Jen pointed out THESE lost little puppies:


Mohair! and in my one of my favorite colorway....yarn GREENS! We did the math in our heads, and realized I needed 4 skeins to do a nice-sized lacy shawl for myself. Now, any of you who can count can see that I'm snuggling 5 skeins. Well...I couldn't just LEAVE the last one behind like a little lost orphan now could I? That would just be cruel. What kind of monster do you think I am???

Last, we hit La Knitterie Parisiene (or LKP) for short, and the events of our arrival happened just as Jen described them. Jen and I BOTH got bit by Charlotte...here's my selection for the Web.


Did I stop there? Hell No. I had to go one step further. You see, on our trip in April to Eva's Needleworks in Thousand Oaks, I got 2 skeins of the Berroco Linet. Now 2 skeins aint enough to knit shit. Come to find out, LKP had more, so I grabbed 3 more. LKP has EVERYTHING!

But isn't it gorgeous?


As we were leaving LKP I was feeling SO guilty. We stopped for lunch, and I started obsessing on how guilty I felt. My guilt ran so deep that I asked Jen if she could hold my "contraband" until I could bring it home little by little.

Then, after reading Jen's post, admitting her addiction, I felt so ashamed. Yeah, I have a low tolerance level for resisting gorgeous and well-priced yarns. Yes! I try to do my part to support LYS so there will always BE LYSs! I'm only human dammit!

Then I was reading Bron's Blog II, more specifically, her post entitled "Stash Redux", and I realized that, while I had a low resistence level, my stash does not require and entire closet....yet. And I agree with Bron....I LIKE looking at my yarn, not just looking, fondling, feeling, squishing, matching...I mean, if I could, I would unravel all of my Bergamo Muench into my bathtub, strip down naked and just roll in it. But in my defense, I have very little gratuitous yarn. Moost of them are earmarked for future projects. Yes, I admit, some of them for projects it'll take me a couple of years to get to, but they're earmarked nonetheless.

So, I made a pact with myself...no more yarn purchases until TKGA Convention in September.....except for the Lambs Pride wool that Steph found for me on sale for the Candle Flame (aka Vagina-&-String thanks Tortuga) Shawl.

Yes, I AM a Yarnaholic, and I'm damned proud of it!|||108620552031913654|||Resistance is Futile3:49:46 PM|||jenifleur|||Mine is mostly wasted on the computer. For example, I've been testing the utter limits of my html retardedness in order to build a site ring. Yes. Another damned Knit Blogging Ring. But this one is mine. California Knit Blogger's Ring. If you're in CA, and ya wanna join us, see the button in La's sidebar. There ain't no party like a left coast party, people, let's not forget that.


I've been trying to finish the Candy Shawl so I can get to work on Charlotte's Web, haven't worked on the socks, but the 6sox KAL started today, so I'm getting a backup on the sock front. And I'm finishing off a former baby blanket I had started in order that I may give it to Critter Knitters instead. So you can see that my computer efforts are really time well spent. I think it's avoidance tactics. I need to finish up stuff I'm not currently interested in so I can start stuff I want to do. In lieu of knitting pictures, I give you this:


I have no idea what it is. I saw it on vacation. I wonder if the silver balls in front are significant.|||108613096657842557|||Where Does All the Time Go?