Knitting with Corn!

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-12T10:11:00.003-04:00

I suck!

2008-10-12T12:53:00.005-04:00

Has it really been nearly two months? I'm really really bad at this blogging thing.

Life has been extraordinarily busy. In roughly chronological order: a cousin announced her second pregnancy when she and her half sister came to visit with a set of adorable and ohsoTINY twin girls and a very grown-up two year old, took a trip to Okeechobee to visit Grandparents, there was a wedding shower and subsequent cruise ship wedding for some friends (we did not get to go on the cruise but the ship was magnificent and the wedding was lovely . . . speedy but lovely), Mathboy's sister announced her first pregnancy(she's due around April 30th), Mathboy had his surgery and was in Tampa General Hospital for four days and then his dad stayed with us for five days to help care for him during the early stages of recovery (he's doing really well by the way. Three week check-up is on the 20th and we're confident that everything will be perfect), and we quietly celebrated our third anniversary on the seventh of October. Throughout all of the busy travelling around and visiting though, there has been knitting.

I finished the mimosa for my co-worker.

(Euroflax linen in Champagne with jet, amber, and coffee coloured silver lined glass beads)

Made a stocking hat for Miss Em from a pattern in Itty Bitty Hats. Note the matching pom pom . . . and yes, it will fit her little noggin . . . it's just crazy stretchy.

(Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Flamingo, Creme Brulee, Sea Foam, Lilac, and Honey Dew)

Started, and frogged, a pair of Six-Pack socks designed by Wendy Johnson and available here.

I think the yarn is lovely (Fibra Natura "Yummy" in some numbered and hard to remember colourway) but it completely and totally obscured Wendy's beautiful cables and eyelets.

Started and frogged ad nauseum before near completion (waiting for a report on gender before choosing between two different cuffs) a pair of baby Coriolis socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

see how the one on the left looks all cute and neat and the one on the right kind of resembles a hot mess? That's what happens when you don't actually read the pattern for the opposite foot.

Top: "boy sock" with narrow applied i-cord cuff. Bottom: "girl sock" with flouncy applied i-cord cuff.

And last but not least I tackled a EZ's surprise jacket in the original baby size.

Jacket and socks are all made with Lion Brand Microspun in black and the the poorly named "Lilac".

Next up? Adult Coriolis socks in the yarn I used for the failed six-pack socks. There's also a stole that I want to make for myself but let's be honest here . . . we all know that I'm going to stumble across ninety-dozen projects that I just have to make for other people (like the four bsj's that I want to make for the twins, their older cousin and her little sibling). *sigh* I know that I am capable of astounding selfishness but you'd never guess it from my knitting.

Catching Up

2008-08-19T21:22:00.004-04:00

Ok, first and foremost . . . TA DA!!!! The new home of the stash.

They're cotton closet organizers from Walmart and I used two of the shoe sized ones and one sweater doohickey. Mathboy hung them in an unused corner of our bedroom and I'm quite pleased. It's not completely stocked yet because I was photographing and making notes as I went and it took longer than I anticipated. Of course as with everything else around here I received some unsolicited assistance . . .

That's Noko's tail. Isn't he helpful?

There has been more mail-ey goodness over the last few weeks; Some more birthday stuff . . . Watermelon Bombe roving from The Loopy Ewe and these adorable ball o' yarn earrings from knit picks.

Also from KP was a copy of Elizabeth Zimmermans "Opinionated Knitter" and the five skeins of yarn I needed for the Stripey Stocking Cap from Itty Bitty Hats. I went with all five of the pastel shades from the Swish Bulky line and I'm really pleased with the way it's coming out.

Now, about Mathboy. Sometimes I guess I paint him as a bit of an ogre and that's just not accurate. First of all ~~he hasn't got green trumpet shaped ears~~ he has an incredible amount of patience. Not with everything mind you, just ask anyone who's watched him play a video game, but he puts up with my flakiness and frequent bitchiness with an impressive amount of forbearance. He's never ever called me any names (not even a flaky bitch) or put me down in any way and disagrees with me when I say disparaging things about myself.

Anyways when it comes to finances he's the boss. He knows exactly how much money is in the bank at any given time and what the credit card balance is and I'm lucky if I still have the five bucks that I think I have in my wallet and sometimes "find" my credit card in my wallet and think "ooooh yeah! I have a different credit card now" (I've had it for two years!). The truth is that I need a financial keeper. It's not a gender thing it's just who I am. I am a world class, gold medal spendthrift and always have been. Worse I tend not to think about things before I purchase them and I often end up with a lot of junk. If I ask first it means I think about it "can I justify this purchase? Where will it live? Will I use it frequently?" and if we can't afford it it's a no or, more often "Can it wait?". The upshot of that is that I ask before I make a purchase greater than $10 and we continue to have enough money for frivolities like the mortgage, car payments, and dog food. It doesn't work for everyone and that's fine . . . as long as it works for us. < / end rant >

Quotes from Kids

2008-08-18T23:35:00.002-04:00

Started the new school year today and overheard this from the back of my highschool bus: "don't mess with her man, she's knitting."

Hurricane day tomorrow and maybe (if we have power) I'll finally get around to discussing my oh-so-fascinating shoes and the reason why Mathboy's stance on my yarn budget is ok. Really. Oh, new stash accomodations coming too.

Conversations with a Mathboy

2008-08-04T21:39:00.005-04:00

Edited due to my embarrassing inability to correctly spell "Qiviut"

Me: What is your favourite thing about my knitting?
Mathboy: [blank look] Keeps you from strangling me? 'Cause your hands are busy.

Me: What is your least favourite thing about my knitting?
Mathboy: I have to listen to you talk about it all the time.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as good?
Mathboy: Uhhhhhh, the pinwheel sweater

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
Mathboy: It can be. Depending on how much their husbands let them spend.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
Mathboy: Video games, carpentry, reading.

Me: Do you have a stash of any kind?
Mathboy: Video games, tools, DVDs . . . if it's out in plain sight does it count as stash? (Looks at the shelves with 400+ DVDs lining the living room wall)

Me: Have I ever embarrassed you, knitting in public?
Mathboy: Embarrass isn't the right word.

Me: Do you know my favourite kind of yarn?
Mathboy: Qiviut . . . don't ask me to spell it, I just know you want to put it against your boobies. (He's referring to the time I found a pattern for a hat for a teddy bear that called for Qiviut. I was horrified and could come up with dozens of better ideas including just sticking the skein in my bra and wearing it like a soft and fuzzy little pet)

Me: Can you name another blog?
Mathboy: Uhhh, Knitting with Eileen, Yarn Harlot.

Me: Do you mind my wanting to stop at knit shops wherever we go?
Mathboy: Sometimes.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Mathboy: No. Seems like a waste of time. You should just do it and get it over with.

Me: Do you read my blog?
Mathboy: Yes.

Me: Have you ever left a comment?
Mathboy: No.

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
Mathboy: No.

Me: Anything you'd like to add?
Mathboy: [Shakes head no]

Birthday Loot and How Guitar Hero Gave Me Chapped Lips

2008-07-30T15:50:00.005-04:00

The first of the three (and a half) orders made with my birthday money is in. My parents and sister gave me a Loopy Ewe gift certificate and on Friday night (yes the instant I saw the gift certificate . . . why do you ask?) I placed an order with Sheri for some pretty pretty roving.This is "She Sells Sea Shells" from Enchanted Knoll Farm available both at Loopy Ewe (yarn here, roving here) and Etsy
This one's "Tanzanite" from The Dyeing Arts (roving only). Both are merino superwash and weigh 4 0z.

My shipment was packed in a clear vinyl Loopy Ewe tote bag with a little note welcoming me to the Loopy Groupies.

and as I looked admiringly at it, I realized that there was more in it than there ought to be.

See that red tissue paper? Evidently the tote was not the end of my Groupie goodies. I pulled everything out and found all of this:

Two skeins of Regia 6 ply in "1133", a crampon style key chain, and five starlight mints (Loopy Kisses . . . . I hear they're a little more chocolate oriented in the cooler weather).

After I took everything out and played with it a little bit and then put it away I noticed that Tachi was behaving more oddly than usual. It turned out that a little friend had come in with my package and she'd caught him under one of our end tables. It was a very small green anole and she left him alone when I told her to. I caught him, grabbed the camera and then we went outside for a photo session (blurry hand photo included for scale). I last saw him on one of the Dwarf Ixora in the front garden.

Mathboy and I spent Saturday celebrating the July birthdays. There are three of us within a week of each other (well actually four, Mathboy's cousin has a two year old who was born on Mother of Mathboy's birthday but she lives a few hours away so her celebration was another time) so we all get together and have one happening for all of us. Bro in law brought Guitar Hero for Wii with him and we all had a go. I found out that I'm guitar hero challenged and in spite of being right handed am forced to play lefty. If you look at the photo of my hand above, you might be able to see a scar in the center of my hand. I was born with a hole about the size of a dime in my palm and it caused some permanent nerve damage in my left middle finger. Anyways, Mathboy liked GH so much that we picked up our own copy the next day and we've been playing it together a little each day. This is where the chapped lips come in. Turns out that when I'm concentrating really hard I pull my lower lip up over my upper lip and if I do it often enough . . . well, pass the Carmex please!

Birthdays and Monkeys

2008-07-25T00:17:00.004-04:00

Ok, well, no monkeys really. On Wednesday I went to Lowry Park Zoo on a field trip and while I did see lots of monkeys I was more interested in seeing and saying hello to some of the newer residents. I was disappointed by the absence of the cheetah but there was a lovely F150 in his or her enclosure. I chose not to photograph that because I see more than enough pickups on a day to day basis. Something that did catch my attention was this:

The vignette is supposed to give you an idea of a long abandoned safari camp somewhere on the "Dark Continent". I was highly amused at the frosty cool bottle of Zephyrhills water perched on top of the rusty old camp stove and started to take a picture . . . not even noticing the Zoo guys in the background. They asked if they could help me with anything and I laughingly told them I thought their water was funny and why. They chose to add to the humour by displaying the shiny new DeWalt drill they were using on the "campsite".

After I'd toured the African section I stopped on the way out to see the (relatively) new African Penguin exhibit where this guy showed a deep interest in my shoes. I suspect that, like everyone else, he was trying to figure out how they stay on my feet. (more on that another time)

Now, I didn't take any pictures of monkeys but I did giggle a little about the Orangutans' plan for what to do when it's far too hot out to move. Evidently I've been underestimating the cooling power of straw and cotton sheets:

The Tufted Deer worried me a little bit. What herbivore needs fangs like that?

Near the tufted deer there was a Nicobar Pigeon being victimized by a much smaller Bleeding Heart Dove which amused me because somehow the pigeon reminded me of the Predator from the AVP movies.

I think the Bearded Pigs are new too or at least I'd never noticed them before but they certainly are well named:

Last but not least was this beautiful fellow . . . sorry I don't have any obstruction free photos. I could have waited for the child to move but more crowded in and I wanted to fondle!

I asked his minder what happens to his fleece upon shearing and she told me a sad tale full of birds nests and chew toys for tigers. Evidently there is a volunteer at the zoo who spins but she was given the fleece from some of the llamas after they were shorn last and never got around to spinning it so they've been using subsequent fibre elsewhere. *sigh*

I wandered back to my bus after I was done with the zoo (well, done with the heat really) and sat in the shade with my fan going and knit upon the never-ending-beige-beast-of-doom.

No pictures of it yet . . . one of these days!

Today Mathboy is taking me to Cypress Gardens for my birthday. This is the first time in our married life that we get to do something fun for it! Two years ago he had to be in Texas for the week and last year we had to scrub down the Big Yellow Beast for annual inspection (we smartened up this year and paid a coworker to do it. Hooray for free enterprise!)

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

2008-07-10T14:24:00.002-04:00

Well heck. I was all set to show pictures of the garden (such as it is) and the National Zoo in D.C. and some of the yarn Mathboy bought for me and the Mimosa in progress and I've just realized that all photos are in Mathboy's laptop which is currently at work with him.

....To be continued

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T14:54:00.003-04:00

Fyi my other choice was this . . . funny yes, appropriate? Probably not.

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T14:21:00.003-04:00

See You Next Week!

2008-06-22T15:27:00.002-04:00

WWKIPD

2008-06-17T00:16:00.004-04:00

Saturday was World Wide Knit In Public Day and the nearest one to home was at Citrus Park mall. When I arrived it was nice to see a mix of both old and new faces. The organizers had a little raffle and among other prizes there was a skein of Noro sock yarn that I would have loved to get a better look at. I hope Susan brings it to the UnMeetUp on Wednesday!

A little guide to navigating the faces at our knit out:

Thanh, Sharon (better known as Madame DeFarge), Kathy, Kim, Susan, TobeyL, Linda (thanks for those two names Kathleen), Sandy, Kelly, Lori, Me, and Kathleen.

Kathy was crocheting a mystery shawl with some Paton's Lacette that was just so pretty I'm feeling inspired to use it to make this for my mum for Christmas. In addition to the creative stimulation floating around there was, of course, fibre. Kathleen brought me a bag of black Shetland (I think) roving to play with. Surprisingly enough I even tried! Today I took the wheel down from its perch between the television and fish tank (fish tank is currently empty and dry) and took a legitimate crack at making yarn. No pictures because there is no yarn but I did manage to conclude that my drive band was a little messed up. A length or two of tobacco string and some Ravelry surfing later I had my double driven wheel spinning in the right directions but it's still not quite right. We'll mess with it tomorrow and hopefully get it going nicely.

Mememememe!

2008-06-09T19:33:00.006-04:00

What is your first name? Robyn

What is your favorite food? Today? Chicken with Broccoli and steamed rice (searched chicken broccoli rice)

What high school did you go to? T.L. Kennedy (an actual photo of the school. I was quite surprised)

What is your favorite colours? purple and green

Who is your celebrity crush? Heath Ledger (loved Knight's Tale . . . in spite of Shannen Sossamyn)

Favorite drink? Chocolate Martini

Dream vacation? Right now? Cottage with Mathboy and the dogs.

Favorite dessert? Ice Cream . . . for the moment

What did you want to be when you grew up? Veterinarian

What do you love most in life? Mathboy

One word to describe you: Quirky

Your flickr name: Cornsss

Want to play too?

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image. (I misread this and simply chose the first image that came up . . . Mathboy, your pretty eyes were still on the second page of that search)

c. Copy and paste each of the URL's for the images into Big Huge Lab's mosaic maker.

d. Leave me a comment so I can come see what you came up with.

Credits:

1. Robyn Weeping Willow, 2. Chicken Broccoli Casserole, 3. Cooksville, 4. purple and green, 5. Jake Gyllenhaal's tribute to Heath Ledger, 6. dark chocolate martini, 7. to my friends in the south, 8. Flickr meltdown, 9. Amelia Update: Desperate Times, 10. DSC00643, 11. Eye Candy, 12. Old Blanket

Last but not least . . . a photo that much better represents my beloved:

Spinning my Wheels

2008-06-08T15:41:00.002-04:00

Still not spinning my wheel though. My latest excuse alternates between "gee, I should really have another bobbin or two so I won't have to worry about stopping once I fill this bobbin" (note the optimism that I seem to be feeling about reeling off a whole bobbin when I've barely ever touched a wheel or drop spindle) and "gee, I shouldn't really start anything on the wheel before I've properly refinished it". We'll see what happens this week when I'm all by myself with it for eight hours a day.

The Champagne Mimosa is . . . well I'm still only on the fifth row. I've made it to the eighth row a few times but I keep needing to rip it back a row or four. It's all good though. She'll be beautiful when we're done with each other. I think.

The front garden bed is moving right along. We (read *Mathboy*) are nearly finished digging it and the mulch and ground cloth are waiting patiently to be put into place. Even better, it seems like maybe the rain is here for the summer so we'll be back to a nice evenly green lawn again. w00t!

Are We There Yet?

2008-06-03T20:30:00.003-04:00

My countdown widget tells me that I've got fewer than 21 hours before I'm officially on Summer Vacation. I've got to tell you that it can't possibly come soon enough. Not only have the kids this year been exceptionally trying (like the creepy twerp who spent his entire ride today tying the seat belts into knots) but it's just plain ole' hot. I'm tempted to take a thermometer on the bus with me but somehow I suspect that verification that it's 100+ degrees would be disheartening to say the least. Now, in knitterly terms, how hot is it? Almost too hot to knit with linen for Pete's sake. Your hands get really sticky and the yarn just won't glide smoothly along the way you need it to.

What's all this doing to the Mimosa (ravelry link) that I'm working on? Well, I can't count any more and have to keep ripping back a row or five because I can't even figure out where I've gone wrong. I had hoped to be done with the border chart by the end of the week and it's just not going to happen. I spend my days knitting in between trips and my nights correcting the mistakes I made during the day. Oh well. I might be able to make up some time once I'm not captaining the cheese wagon seven and a half hours out of the day.

In other news, we're putting in a front garden bed. It's kind of a learning curve for me. I had a pretty decent little garden in Ontario but stuff that works in zone 4 or 5 will probably be deeply unhappy here in zone 9. Take Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) for example; They're one of my favourite plants but they like moist, rich, well shaded soil. They're probably not going to do really well in our southern exposure, full sun from about 11:30 to sunset, sand/clay soil. It's all good though . . . Year round Canna Lilies will be nice. And more roses!

The Problem With Monogamy

2008-05-19T11:39:00.006-04:00

. . . is that I get so focused on one thing that I ignore everything else. And no, it's not the spinning vortex. I'm feeling a little intimidated so I haven't really gotten past the "okay, lets get the wheel going consistently in a single direction" stage. In the period of time since I blogged last I've completed a Mimosa shawl (Designed by Sivia Harding (more Sivia here) for Big Girl Knits)

It was a gift for my mom and I had the marvelous Chris of Scotts Mountain Crafts design a matching set of earrings and shawl pin to go with it.

I've also finished a pair of Blue King Cabled Mitts (which I insist on typing mitss for every time)
Last but not least I knitted a doggy doorbell for Bairu. Instead of asking to go outside he just sits next to the back door where we can't see or hear him. He's in the habit of nudging the doorknob with his muzzle (we keep the doors locked or he might just be able to go outside . . . he can open round door knobs) so we hoped that if we hung some bells for him he'd learn to ring them. He's mostly connected the dots so I'm calling it a qualified success.

Ome's okay with the dogs going out. . . she just doesn't understand why we insist on letting them back in.

About a Wheel

2008-03-02T11:22:00.004-05:00

The Friday before last I was on a hunt for Kumquat Pie to take with us for our weekly card night on Saturday (we're such party animals!). I parked my car on the edges of Hysterical Downtown Dade City (more antique shops than people) and headed for a shop that was rumoured to sell the creamy treats. It was about 20 minutes past five and as I approached I saw a woman collecting a sandwich board from the sidewalk. Since the board was in front of the store where I was going I assumed that the lady with the board would be able to assist me with my quest. Well, I was right . . . but not the way I'd thought. It turned out that the first store was actually closed and Penny, the sandwich board lady, was the proprietor of the antique shop next door. She told me where I could go for kumquat pie and, as I had to go past her store to get back to my car, I asked if, by any strange chance, she might have any spinning wheels in stock. Of course she did and I went in to take a look at it. The wheel was tucked away in a corner (evidently it's far too tempting for patrons children for it to be left in easy reach) and when I flipped the price tag I was shocked to see it was only $85. I guess my surprise showed because she hastily said "that price isn't firm". I smiled and said that I needed to think about it.
Upon my arrival home, I told Mathboy what I'd found, how much it was, that the price was negotiable, and made a point of saying how very crazy cheap it was even without bargaining. On Saturday, I mentioned it again and made Mathboy drive past the shop just so I could oh so very casually point it out. I'm sure I was about as subtle as a cast iron frying pan to the face.
Monday I was home sick (otherwise he would have been home before I finished work) and when Mathboy was on his way home he called and told me that he'd done some shopping and asked if I was feeling up to giving him a hand with his purchases. I was and when I heard him pull in I went outside. He popped the trunk on the car and went to grab the mail and when I lifted the trunk lid, there she was! He's a sneaky critter!
The wheel's going to need a fair amount of work before I can start spinning. At the very least I need to find a drive band and the whole wheel has got to be cleaned and oiled/polished. It's possible that the treadle requires replacing as there appears to be a crack or split along the length of the left side. There may or may not be other parts that I need to find as well so I think I'm going to wander down to Palm Harbor soonish and visit Uncommon Threads with the wheel and get some advice.

Squee!

2008-02-26T12:01:00.002-05:00

Now if only I knew what to do with it. . .

There Are No Words

2008-02-21T12:22:00.002-05:00

Breakthrough!

2008-02-17T17:48:00.004-05:00

Evidently wonders will never cease. Last night on our way home from the home of some friends Mathboy said "If they're open, next week when we're up here, let's check out Mystic Fibers"

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! What?? Wait! Who are you and where is my husband?

It turns out that my theory has been right all along. Mathboy has been reluctant to agree to any sort of major investment in the knitting thing and it's because Mother of Mathboy is an enthusiastic crafter. In her crafting life, she's done ceramics, plastic canvas, bunka, quilting, cross stitch, stained glass work, knitting, crochet and a host of other things. She's been very enthusiastic about each activity and, as a result, has a home that somewhat resembles a small, very well stocked, Michaels. Mathboy was afraid that I would show the same enthusiasm for knitting as his mother had for each of her hobbies but then, like his mother after gathering every tool ever thought of, move on to the next shiny thing. Evidently though, in the two and a half to three years that I've been knitting, I've proven my devotion, particularly through some trying times in the last month or two that really made me rethink this passion of mine, and he's realised that I am a Knitter and it's not going away any time soon. Woot! Onward and upward.

P.S. If you haven't already, go HERE and sign up for some squares. There's a little boy out there who could really use our thoughts, prayers, and some wooly love.

Somebody Loves Me

2008-02-15T11:12:00.005-05:00

ETA: Go read Miss Scarlett's post here and if you can spare some yarn, kick in a square or two won't you?

Valentine's day yesterday was nice in spite of Mathboy being at school until fairly late. He received his traditional pear jelly beans, peanut butter cup and assortment of cards secreted in various locations, and I found this little guy waiting outside for me when I stepped out to get the mail.

In other mail related news, I purchased some Rowan Soft Baby from Christine of Three Dog Knits (she's still got some destashing to do and her prices are really really reasonable. Go Here) and it came on Wednesday. The yarn is a (sadly) discontinued single ply wool/cotton blend and it's softer than teddy bear fur. I can't wait to make a Baby Surprise Jacket from it (I think that's what it wants to be) and since the stuff is handwash only (good thinking there Rowan) I guess I'll be forced to put it in my own hope chest* rather than inflicting the handwash only madness on some poor unsuspecting new mom.

*it's a hope chest because we're not actually trying yet. Just sayin'

Is it a full moon?

2008-02-13T20:37:00.003-05:00

People these days are lunatics. Lunatics I tell ya.

When did everything that happens in one's orbit become all about them? What am I talking about? Here are some examples:

a) A certain blogger who shall remain nameless says (and not for the first time) that she doesn't wish her readers to go nuts with their concerns about her health and start firing uninvited medical advice and one of her readers becomes very affronted and states that it's not all about the blogger . . . well, um, it's her blog isn't it? If it's not about her, who pray tell, IS it all about? It's certainly not all about the blog readers.

b) I made a comment in my last entry about the Austermann Step that I'd just received. It turns out that the person who so passionately disliked Step still reads my blog (this honestly astounds me since evidently the very thought of me drives her to tears) and took great offense to my offhand quote and decision to think for myself with my yarn selection. Evidently it was a grave insult. Since when does my opinion about yarn of all things amount to derision? Furthermore, what's wrong with this woman that she thought I was making a personal attack? I used the quotation because it's stuck with me since the first time I heard it. It struck me as oddly naughty sounding (try googling hairy splitty slimy and see what comes up) and still makes me giggle. Other than recalling that I didn't think about her at all and my opinion one way or another had absolutely nothing to do with her.

I guess my final thought on all of this is just that some people need to get over themselves or seek therapy or something. It's not all about you . . . unless it's your blog *grin*

The puppies know that it's actually all about food.

The Postman Cometh

2008-02-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

What came in the mail this week:

Monday brought Austermann Step in mint (#30) from the Loopy Ewe . I've heard this yarn derided as "hairy, splitty, and slimy" but I'm looking forward to trying it. In particular the aloe and jojoba infused fiber should be paradise for my poor dry fingers and toes.

As always, Sheri included a little treat with my purchase and this time around it was a teeny tiny little "Loopy's Red Sock Kit" (that washed out card in the background is the pattern)

Wednesday brought a treat from the bonus rewards on our evil plastic money. I've wanted a foot spa for ages and it's nice to finally have one that massages and stuff . . . instead of just a plastic bucket that I put hot water in *grin* In addition to the toy for me, Mathboy get a bench sized drill press, and we both got a shower clock/radio/ mirror gadget.

Today, from Susie at Perchance to Knit... (second link is her Etsy shop) a skein of her stunning handpainted 20/80 cashmere merino in Waikiki Sunrise won in her recent Funny Farm contest. It's gorgeous, as is the little matching Swarovski crystal stitch marker.

Lastly, also in todays mail, a power cable for my laptop. Badly needed because not only had *someone* decided to taste the cable but the plug itself was frayed and worn. Nice to have the laptop working properly again.

I think we have a Wiener . . .

2008-02-05T18:12:00.001-05:00

Or an established yarn identity anyways.

Meet SeaWool:

and Basic Merino Sock:

Thanks Christine and Ravelry !

Oh, Crud.

2008-02-04T19:15:00.001-05:00

Remember these pictures?

Notice how there are no tags or ball bands on these skeins of yarn? I had them, I just pulled them off in the interests of showing the yarn to it's best advantage. Now though I find I have a problem. The pictures are titled as "Merino~brown and gold" and "Sea Wool~pink and brown". In my stash though, the former is wearing the Sea Wool label and the latter is dressed as Basic Merino. I guess it's not a huge deal, since both sets of socks (once made) will be mine but it bothers me SO MUCH to not know which is which.

Any ideas on how to get 'em properly sorted out?

Yarns and soaps and pussycats

2008-01-24T20:46:00.000-05:00

Nashua Handknits "Ivy" in Natural, Dark Teal, and Seafoam. It's 50% alpaca, 45% merino, and 5% "Estellina" and so very soft. Someday, the twelve skeins I received (well, they gave me six, three each of natural and seafoam, I rounded it up with a third colour to make a sweater's worth) will become an hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knits.

Tonnes of gift certificates for the Loopy Ewe have, thus far, netted me a bottle of Soak in the "Celebration" fragrance (since sold out), Wendy Johnson's pattern for these socks, and four skeins of Dream In Color "Smooshy" in Wisterious. It's been a full twenty four hours since I last went into the stash/guest room to pet it, but I think of it often *grin* It's going to be a Jeanie when I finish my current home wip.

Speaking of that . . . . it's a Mimosa in all of it's linen and bead glory. I darn near killed a certain cat today when he took it upon himself to liberate the shawl from the cone of yarn I was working from. While I was working on it! I didn't even know what he was up to until the connection was severed.

Maybe he was registering his objection to the amount of attention I've been giving my knitting?? After all, while I was photographing the yarn, he was doing this at the door . . .

I Gotcher Pictchers Right Here.

2008-01-23T20:49:00.001-05:00

Alright, I owe you folks about ninety seven photos so let's get right to it.

Six Teeny Red Sweaters . . . and one "Big" one

Pinwheel Jacket for Miss Em.

Paton's SWS and a Circ for my Secret Santa Victim

Innocent Kitty who just wanted a nap in a cozy place for cryin' out loud.

Tomorrow (or eventually anyways) Yarn Porn! Mimosas! (A whole 8 rows!)

Spooky accurate Batman!

2008-01-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

K, most of these blogthings are wildly inaccurate but I did this one today and holy cow did they ever hit the nail on the head! For me anyways. Mathboy answered the same one and it was way off.
Anyways, without further ado . . . My inner child:

Your Inner Child Is Sad

You're a very sensitive soul.You haven't grown that thick skin that most adults have.Easily hurt, you tend to retreat to your comfort zone.You don't let many people in - unless you've trusted them for a long time.

How Is Your Inner Child?

No promises about the posting of any pics, but there are some. Completed pinwheel being modelled is not among them . . . silly me. I was so tickled by Mathboy and Miss Em's daddy making Princess Leia jokes that I didn't even pull out the camera.

Coming up for air. . .

2007-12-06T11:36:00.000-05:00

Resurfacing briefly from the sea of miniature red sweaters that I'm flailing around in to say "go look at this!" It's a Clap! But it's got Cables! I adore it.

What to do, what to do?

2007-11-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Secret Santa drawing started today at work and I got a crocheter! We have a ten dollar minimum but not a set maximum. I was thinking maybe a Brittany hook, a pattern, and the yarn with which to act upon the the pattern . . . Crocheters? Any suggestions?

Tales and Tails.

2007-11-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

The Tale:

Once upon a time, a knitter was making her way to work for the second half of her day. As she waited at an intersection for her opportunity to make a left turn, a big bad wienie failed to notice the knitter innocently stopped in the turning lane and slammed into her with nary even a screech of the brakes.

The knitter was very nice about the collision (honest to goodness! I really was!). After all, what does screaming do other than increase tension? Besides, the way the population triples (yes really) with the arrival of the snowbirds, that's become a busier intersection than we're used to . . . making it rather dangerous. The big bad wienie told the insurance people that the knitter "came out of nowhere" (the knitter would have had to, as there's quite literally nowhere, other than the direction the big bad wienie came from, to come from in that part of the intersection) and somehow caused the collision. *shrug* She's lying, and the truth will out.

The Tails:

Our intrepid knitter had to travel to Plant City today (a journey that later proved entirely unnecessary, but that's neither here nor there) and on her way back, spotted this:

Yeppers, that's a ummmm, herd? of llamas. I think. Alpacas all have hair in their eyes right?

About another 20 minutes down the road, I snagged an opportunity to take a picture of these guys:

First spotted a week or so ago . . . on the route I take to get to/from work four times a day!

However, these guys are clearly not petting zoo sheep or maybe it's just that they spotted and feared the wool-lust in my eyes . . . as you can see:

If you look closely, you can see that the whole flock is headed for the hills.

Incidentally, just what do you call a gang of llamas anyways?

Pictures at least.

2007-11-14T20:58:00.001-05:00

Lotus "Chemo Cap"~Bernat Bamboo, size 10.5 US bamboo dpns, Tulip Lace

Green "Chemo Cap"~Bernat Bamboo, Stockinette, Size 10.5 US bamboo dpn with a k2 p1 rib

Hallowe'en party ...at long last. Sandy as a Big Ole Stereotype *grin*

Some Hillbilly...Woman? from somewhere *shrug* evidently she feels pretty.

Tachi as "StinkerBelle"

Bairu as Scooby-Doo

...and his props. Kelly as Velma, and John as Shaggy.

The reason I'm not at all garrulous in this post.

What that virtually undamaged car did to my poor innocent baby.

Yes, I'm ok.

We Will Remember Them

2007-11-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

~
We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

~
Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

~ Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae MD

(1872-1918)

Kinnearing!

2007-11-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

So I kinneared this photo at work today.

Forgive the cruddy cellphone picture quality. I feel that it would have been less kinneary if I'd hollered at the girl "hold still! Let me grab my camera"

Anyways, why am I taking photos of the back view of high school kids? See that little yellow circle? That's pointing out a ball of Lionbrand Homespun . . . . white I think, with what looked like Susan Bates size 10 needles. Knitter in the wild!

ummm, New pics old post?

2007-11-02T11:54:00.000-04:00

Hiya! Lazy blogger here just pointing out that you no longer need to strain your imaginations wondering about my Clap or the clappish cap.
Scroll down to view 'em.

Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long Legged Beasties and Things that go "Tink" in the night.

2007-10-31T20:36:00.000-04:00

Have a safe one everyone.

Cat for Sale.

2007-10-12T11:59:00.000-04:00

Really. He's adorable and all (if you can get past the "I'm so happy that I'm gonna drool on ya" thing) but I'm sooooo done with his habit of chewing wires. Some of the things he's noshed on include a telephone wire, the power cord for my laptop, and, most recently, the cable for the digital camera. I've got lots of pics to show and no way to show them.

So. ~~Picture~~ Behold Mathboy modelling my completed LionBrand MicroFiber Clapotis in "Lilac" (cornflower blue from the same people that call tangerine "Mango")
~~Picture~~ Behold a very small LionBrand MicroFiber drop stitch cap in that same shade.

Picture the beginnings of (at long last) my Strikke-along project . . . Elann's Pinwheel Sweater in . . . guess what fibre and colour of said fibre? This has got to stop because if I keep showing up at knitting with that yarn I'm certain that Eileen's going to try to stage an intervention.

(ETA: Ummmm, so I'm a bad strikke-alonger/blogger. Didn't take any pictures of the early stages of the Pinwheel. Not going to take any current pictures right now either.)

The pinwheel is coming along nicely but somehow I lost the plot around . . . I dunno, maybe row 7 or 9 and at least one of the intervals between increases is too short. Or maybe the others are too long. *shrug* Maybe I'll frog it one more time on the weekend if I just can't stand it. Or not. Isn't knitting fun?!

Celebratory

2007-10-07T17:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Second Anniversary Bill, I love you.

Oh good lord!

2007-10-01T21:01:00.000-04:00

K, still no final plans on that strikke-along that started today . . . but! Kelly, Eileen, and Sandy . . . I know ya'll looked up qiviut right? Right??
Well, for those of you who are all lost and stuff now, here's the story. There's a pattern in my pattern-a-day calendar called Matilda's Hat and Scarf. Matilda is a teddy bear and the hat and scarf are made of qiviut! I was totally and completely outraged at this. Last night at knitting, I declared, in my disgust, that if I had a skein of qiviut I would not waste it on any frakking teddy bear. Nope. My qiviut would be a much loved pet who would live in my bra during the day and sleep on my pillow at night. There was much hilarity at this (in part because my cohorts were not familiar with that near-mystical substance) but I think I may have gotten the last laugh thanks to this cartoon of Franklin's (scroll down for the 'toon)

ACK!

2007-10-01T12:16:00.000-04:00

It's October already and the Strikke-along started today. What's my problem you ask? Well, I still haven't decided on a pattern. I'm thinking some sort of stranded colour/fair isleish, black and red or black and white, felted, water bottle tote. Bah.
I'm off to tote the kiddies around, maybe I'll have a solid plan when I get home.

Arrr, Booty!

2007-09-19T11:11:00.000-04:00

Me mates from the Mystic Twisted Fibre and me went to seek the legendary treasure of Fiber Arts in Odessa and came away with some magnificent plunder. Bloody Rocks Sandy liberated some sock yarn as did meself (I be Robyn the Crazin' Canajian)

Mate Kelly the Silent Speaker was but a guide and enabler on our maiden voyage to Odessa.

Upon me ARRival back at the good ship Zephyr me first mate, Bald Bill Red Eye, presented me with a parcel from the end of the world. It were my winnings from Crazed Kristy the Generous

One of the ships rats got into it while I were makin' pictures . . . a sure stamp of approval.

(note: there are NO pictures of this stuff without a black and white cat lovin' everything.)

In the parcel there be three skeins of Berroco SoftTwist, three bARRs of handmade soap, note cards, stickies, foot soak tablets, and a must have for all pirates . . . pretty earrings.

I be leavin' ya now with pictures of other booty from a contest prize on the Silent Speaker's blog (beaker yarn), and treasures won from our voyage to the Commonwealth o' Virginia (Fleece Artist) and a final picture of me treasure chest.

Sign of the Season

2007-09-14T19:24:00.000-04:00

Current scorching temperatures notwithstanding, fall is clearly coming to my neck of the woods. I saw my first true snowbird the other day.
When I lived in Ontario, I always watched for the first robin of spring. Now that I live in a place where we see the robins in the winter, I watch for fall's first snowbird.
Snowbirds can be confusing. In spite of their ordinarily migratory nature you'll often see see the Damyanky Arveeus year-round. They are an American snowbird that migrate for two or three years but eventually find that they enjoy the wide variety of citrus fruits and golf courses and establish permanent nests. Often these nests are in preserves and they quite naturally will flock with other members of their species. It is virtually impossible to spot them once they shed the tags assigned them by the home state.
On the other hand, the Canadian variety (Canuckiseh Arveeus) is easy to pick out. Even on the coldest mornings (by Florida standards) they can be seen in their light weight summer plumage. Usually spotted travelling in pairs they prefer large vehicles (either minivans or Buick's) and are easy to distinguish from other Canadians with similar plumage by their slow rate of travel. Other than their high tolerance for cooler temperatures and differing origins C. Arveeus is virtually impossible to distinguish from the more common D. Arveeus.

Bits and Pieces

2007-09-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

I've been messing around with picking instead of my usual throwing style of knitting. Holy cow! Once you get going it's lovely. Until you realize that you're going to have to knit through the back loops after you complete a purl row. Yes, I know what I did wrong and with some care, I'll get it right eventually.

Hallowe'en is coming, and with it, a Tampa Chix with Stix party at my place. It's a costume party and I can't quite choose between "hill billy beauty queen" and "little girl playing dress-up" Both will involve very badly applied makeup in hideously unflattering colours and pigtails (or maybe a side pony for the dress-up costume) and one will involve a set of those oh-so-attractive BillyBob teeth. Or blacked out teeth. Hmmmmmm decisions, decisions. It's entirely possible that I'll even post a picture or two of the end results.

Embarrassment and E-mail

2007-08-31T19:42:00.000-04:00

Kristy is having a contest over at her blog with many great prizes (go! Join! I'll wait.) and one of the things that she's looking for in the way of submissions is your most embarrassing story. Well, in addition to the three I've already dug out of my suppressed memories and shared over there, there's this one. . .
In September of 2005, I joined Mathboy for a week in New York City. We had a lovely time seeing the sights although, to my sorrow, we never made it to Ellis Island to visit the Statue of Liberty. When the week was up I returned to LaGuardia and got there in plenty of time for my flight home to Toronto. I successfully negotiated my way through screening and customs and on to the correct gate and took a seat in the waiting area (this was B.K. [before knitting]). After what seemed like forever, they finally made the boarding call for my flight and, after handing my ticket over, was guided to my seat. I had just gotten settled when a large group of Orthodox Jews boarded (yes, that matters) One of the men approached me and told me that I was sitting in his seat. I smiled and jokingly suggested that he would have to spend the flight in my lap if he meant to sit there (whoops . . . evidently I shocked them with my brazenness). Amid gasps of horror from his companions (yes really . . . and the men were more upset than the women) he stomped off to get a flight attendant. Well, it turned out that this airline (who I would boycott if I could remember which it was) had TWO flights, with the same flight number, within an hour or so of each other, both were headed to Toronto and I was meant to be on the second one. I shamefacedly slunk off the full plane and found an isolated niche in which to await my actual flight and cool my flaming cheeks.

Did any of you Florida types receive the latest e-mail from Knit'n'Knibble? Well, e-mails. I could be wrong but I suspect the proprietor has a bit of an infection going in her computer. Either that or she has a lot of answering to do to the entire mailing list whose addresses were made available in two of the three messages.

Foolish thoughts.

2007-08-21T18:36:00.000-04:00

Every so often I get homesick or start missing my previous job. Today is one of those days and there's only one reason for it; The Harlot is trekking to Aurora Ontario. In my previous life I drove for a commuter transit company that included routes from Toronto to Aurora. One that goes right past the yarn store in question.
In my oh so vivid imagination, I'd be driving the bus that Stephanie would take to get to the gathering this evening. Of course, this assumes that I'd know who she was, that I would have discovered knitting and the knitternet had I stayed put in Canada and it also assumes that she'd take the bus and not save some time by carpooling up.
*sigh* I'm a goofball.

Rambling

2007-08-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

First day of school today and I'm already writing a referral. *sigh* Only time will tell whether early crackdowns will set a course for decent behaviour for the rest of the year.

Mathboy was inspired over the weekend and tonight he made dinner. We had a selection of cranberry juice or sweet tea marinated fried chicken. The sweet tea was ok and the cranberry was reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner. Good but odd.

No knitting was done today as it was just far too hot on my big yellow cheese wagon. On the other hand, I have been delving more and more into thinking about spinning. There's a whole line of wheels out there made of PVC piping and I'm starting to wonder if I can convince Mathboy that it would be fun to construct an ancient tool out of thoroughly modern plumbing supplies. After all, they're cheap and if I don't take to spinning, he can take it apart and use it for spare parts *grin*

I Have, I Wanna, Not Likely!

2007-08-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

The first order of business today is to thank Alyson for her thoughts on my party going dilemma. I think she's right and while I'm sure that Mathboy could effortlessly handle the slings and arrows of silly muggles, I'd rather not put him in a position where he needs to. So. The knitting will stay in the car alone, but not unloved and very much missed.

Now. You're in for a leedle bit of whining but it's part of today's story.

I first learned to knit as a child of seven at my grandmother's knee. I don't recall what the yarn was but I know for certain that the needles were part of a set of ten that I still own today. Have you ever heard of finger knitting? It didn't take me long to become bored with it and I eventually moved on to "interesting" things like cat's cradle and other string figures. Right around the same time, I had a role in "The Gingerbread Man" as the Old Woman who bakes the Gingerbread Man. My main props were a rocking chair, a set of straights and some blue yarn. Being the stickler for detail that she still is, my mother cast on 20 or so stitches and taught me to knit so I could be an authentic "old woman" it still didn't stick but it helped lay the groundwork for my future as a Knitter.

A few years later my heart's desire was a pair of legwarmers. Well, it seemed that Mrs. Claus either had far too much to do or a really mean sense of humour and I received two balls each of mustard yellow, teal, and purple yarn . . . in, as I recall, a chunky scratchy icky stuff. She also included a pair of needles and a pattern. I did not continue the path to knitting at that time. I did, however, receive three pairs of legwarmers that year. Pink ones from my parents (who were much nicer than the Claus's evidently), blue from my grandmother, and a pair of hand knit mustard, teal, and purple ones when my mother took pity and saw I was never going to do anything with that odd scratchy yarn.

Nineteen years later I found myself living in Florida with no friends. Of course I had Mathboy, his friends, and his family but I had no friends of my own and no idea how to make any. My mother in law and her friends had long been in the habit of circulating books around their little group and when I moved here I became a stop on their book-go-round. One of the books was Debbie Macomber's "A Good Yarn" I read it and fell in love with the idea of knitting socks but more than that, I fell in love with the idea that knitting could bring these lonely women together and help create friendships. I dragged Mathboy off to Michaels and bought the Susan Bates "My Knitting Teacher" kit and the prettiest yarn I could find (give me a break here, I was new) because I was going to make a blanket! Yep. With two 4.5 oz balls of Red Heart Baby Clouds in Tutti-Frutti. I'm not sure what kind of blanket I was planning to make with a total of 210 yards of yarn but there ya go. In my enthusiasm I cast on FAR too many stitches for the straights that I was using and soon got irritated with it and moved on. My next kick at the can was Wendy Johnson's Kitty Pi. I completed it and followed it with several more that I accessorized with little cabled catnip stuffed mice.

It's been over a year now and, while I certainly wouldn't describe myself as an accomplished or expert knitter, I can certainly say I've come a long way. Best of all, I've made some friends along the way. Both in the Blogosphere (Hi Kristy!) and in the real world (Hi Alyson, Eileen, Kelly, Sandy, and everyone else!)

I still have a long way to go with this knitting thing as the list below shows.

I've used Bold for stuff I've done, italics for stuff I want to do one day, normal for stuff I'm not planning on doing, and red for stuff I've never even heard of.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn (I even know where to buy it and, in doing so, contribute to a good cause)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk (does cotton/silk blend count?)
Moebius band knitting (haven't even done it accidentally)
Participating in a KAL (would that be a knit along?)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn (clapotis part I is only partially complete but it is a soy blended yarn)
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (I'm pretty sure that Mathboy has learned by proximity)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living (oh hell no. I'd starve to death)
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting (ummmm, isn't it all textured?)
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves (assuming fingerless count, otherwise, it's on my to-do list)
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows (does the little eye/neck pillow herbie I made for my MIL count?)
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (but not on purpose)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Gotta Question.

2007-08-13T21:51:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, it seems like I only ever blog any more when I'm whining or want something from you all and I promise I'm working on changing that. Probably.
Anyways. Over the next three weeks, Mathboy and I have been invited to two parties hosted by his co-workers. One's retirement party and the other is just a gathering. I know many of the people who will be attending but not well and some I've only met once.
My question is this; Should I take my knitting? It would probably be a sock but it might be Clapotis.
Mathboy would say, if I asked, but I'm not, that the knitting should stay in the car but he also thinks that the knitting should stay in the car when we're going to a restaurant or assorted other places where I just know that I'm going to get fidgety without a dose of yarn. (took the knitting into the red and blue home improvements store the other day, over his objections, and it saved me while he played with plumbing bits for half an hour).
So. What say you all? Non-knitters are also welcome to comment.

yay.

2007-07-25T09:43:00.000-04:00

I'm thirty. Remember when you were a child and 30 was older than you could comprehend?

My celebration started wonderfully with a phone call from my area manager (at 8:09) asking me to please come in and do the year end cleaning of my bus. I then got to open the second and third cards in a series from Mathboy (his family motto is "Nothing in Moderation") and listen to lots of moaning and complaining from him that the boss lady had had the nerve to call before nine and ruin all of his scheming and planning to start my day with a smile. Evidently there was meant to be singing and flaming brownies.
Now I'm off to spend my birthday detailing my bus (which I had planned on doing anyways), feeling ill (still running a low grade fever), and, hopefully, going to the doctor's office to see if she can figure out what my problem is.

Still Alive

2007-07-24T19:11:00.000-04:00

(edited to try to repair the odd spacing and ask what bloggers problem is with spaces and pictures.)

Long overdue post with PICTURES!

Firstly . . . about two weeks ago, I met up with Alyson, Chris, Kelly, Phoebe, and Valerie (no that link's not a mistake, Valerie is one of the brains behind Yarn4Socks) at Knit'n'Knibble in Tampa. From there we went to dinner (well, Alyson, Kelly, Phoebe, Valerie and I) at Pane Rustica which was delicious, reasonably priced, and under lit. Our third, and final stop, was a nearby Barnes and Noble where we chased away an older woman (who was so deeply ensconced in her cozy chair that she'd actually brought a blanket from home) by being unruly and giggly. Well jeez. What else can you expect from a gaggle of knitters?

From left to right: Me, Valerie, Alyson, and Kelly.

Photo credit goes to Valerie's very patient husband Reuben.

The following Sunday was our usual knit-out at (lately) Jason's Deli where Sandy was kind enough to model her clap-in-progress. Incidentally, I'm working on one in the same colour (because I ~~abandoned~~ put the SWS one on hold). The yarn is Lionbrand Microspun in Lilac. Because of course periwinkle blue is the first colour I think of when I think of lilacs. *sigh* Anyways.

The monkeys were completed in plenty of time to be gifted to my mother in law this last Sunday but on Friday I decided to make something else to go with them.

Any guesses what?

Here's a hint (Mathboy made this part)

Oh! Saturday we picked up The Deathly Hallows and I read it on Monday. Like Kelly, I devoured it in about 5 hours. My problem now? Mathboy won't read it until he's finished the series he's reading right now . . . and he wants to read the first six in the Potter series before he reads book seven. *sigh* Keeping mum about it for goodness knows how long is liable to kill me.

Lastly, here's the evil large green bug who's been munching on my roses. Anyone know what it is?

I'm off now to consume large amounts of orange juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, and soup in an effort to combat whatever the heck it is that's been inflicting a fever and headache on me so that I feel somewhat human tomorrow (not feeling one's mortality on one's birthday is kind of a nice thing) and on our trip to Virginia Friday.

Ravelry

2007-07-16T15:02:00.000-04:00

So I toddled over to Ravelry to see where I am on the list . . . .

Found you!

You signed up on July 3, 2007

You are #13011 on the list.

7143 people are ahead of you in line.

4187 people are behind you in line.

32% of the list has been invited so far

*sigh*

Graft and re-Graft

2007-07-10T18:18:00.000-04:00

Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel the need to point out the silly things that I decorate my blog with but LOOK! It's a skinny cute little knitting me (with pointy ears! )! If you want your own cute little knitting you, head on over to www.meez.com and join. In the space where it asks who referred you, type cornssss (note the fourth s) and you'll get five free coinz to deck yourself out (can't get the knitting or the wedding ring without coinz). In the interest of full disclosure, I also get coinz for any references that join up . . . but they're of no use in the real world. Also, Kelly? They've got Hairspray outfits! I'm ashamed to admit that I could easily send hours in there messing around and playing dollies.

On to the knitting content. I finished monkey 1, did something that I was calling kitchenering, and decided that it looked absolutely horrible. There are no pictures because it was very very bad, however, I do have witnesses to the badness.

Last night found me on the couch, muttering and grumbling as I returned to this point:

Once I got back to the start, I ran the video found here, watched it maybe three or four times, gritted my teeth and settled in to graft my little heart out. In the end, I did this:

I could only be more pleased if it'd looked like this on the first try.

And so, I'm proud to present Monkey 1.

The cool sock blocker is a bent-out-of-shape coat hanger. I found the tutorial here thanks to this post of Kristy's.

Tonight you'll find me on the couch doing this:

and watching Mike Rowe play with reptiles on Dirty Jobs.

Incidentally, Monkey 2 came to the immigration offices with me yesterday and evidently the size 2 bamboos she's on were not deemed nearly as dangerous as the zeros that Boudica was on. No chin poking test this time (the last time I was at the immigration offices, the screener checked to see how dangerous my needles were by stabbing himself in the chin repeatedly with them.) and while I was able to while away my time without getting bored, all of the knitting I did got frogged thanks to a ginormous error made as soon as I got there. I got my new stamp and so I'm good to go for another year. Next year at this time, I'll be able to apply for my long term (ten year) green card. Woot!

Monkey Passion

2007-07-06T23:31:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, the monkey sock and I went to its place of conception. I'm only about three or four inches away from the toe and rather pleased with myself.

Here's Monkey enjoying the music and lights.

Today, Mathboy and I went for a stroll around our wildly overgrown back yard and found this lovely little fellow and his entire family and all of their friends attempting to overthrow our backyard. I really need to get out there and mow. In case you're curious, that's a purple passion flower

Mean spiritedness?

2007-07-06T12:25:00.000-04:00

I'm a horrible person. Mathboy and I received a wedding invitation from one of his cousins today. This will be her third wedding and I'm just aggravated by the whole thing. You see, the invitation included two things that should not normally be included in a wedding invitation:

1) Registry cards directing us to the places where they've registered for a heck of a lot of stuff for two people who are evidently already cohabiting . . . one of whom, as I mentioned, has already been around the block twice.

2) What amounts to a coming out announcement. We had no inkling that Cuz was a lesbian but it was made plain in the invitation that entreated us to join in celebrating the marriage of so-and-so's daughter to so-and-so's daughter.

Bah. I don't think I'm a homophobe . . . but maybe I am. Maybe I'm reacting in this manner merely because I think that homosexuality is wrong. I don't dislike gays and lesbians. I grew up with an honorary uncle who was quite gay, one of my childhood friends came out about five years ago, I had a friend who had two mommies, Mathboy has an aunt who came out 15-20 years ago . . . I like most of these people (the exception is the former friend who decided that people disliked her because she was gay and not because she was a raging bitch) and all are welcome in my home. I just happen to think that the lifestyle is wrong. I also think that illicit drug use and cigarette smoking are wrong and yes, I know that habits/addictions are chosen and many would argue that homosexuality isn't. I don't really want to go there.

Anyways. As long as you're not harming anyone else, I really don't care what you do. How does all of this circle around to Cuz and her partner? Well, sending an invitation to a same sex wedding without giving any of the family (including elderly and conservative grandparents) any idea that you lean in that direction, or are even involved with anyone, kind of smacks of confrontationality (is that even a word?) I'm probably particularly irked because we've tried to keep the lines of communication open but any contact, including Christmas cards and wedding invitations from our end go ignored and unanswered.
What do you all think? Am I just being an uptight, judgy, right wing bitch?

Edited to Add: Mathboy tells me that I am, in fact, a homophobe . . . but he also says that I can't help it. My contention is that I can dislike a behaviour or action without disliking the person.

Happy Independence Day!

2007-07-04T11:46:00.000-04:00

With malice towards none...With charity for all; With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

~Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-01T00:28:00.001-04:00

^click me!^

Ok, Choke Me.

2007-06-28T22:15:00.000-04:00

Booo, hiss! There will be no Oreo sharing this Sunday as we have familial obligations in Okeechobee for the day and it's unlikely that a) I'll be back before 8 and b) in any shape to go anywhere after the drive down and back. There is a shiny spot in this though . . . think of all the knitting time I'll have!

I'll leave you with some pictures of the dogs "protecting" me from the rabid killer gopher tortoise who made the very poor decision to enter our yard a week or two ago.

"It's alive!!!!"

"Get Tachi! Get it"

For those who are concerned about the fate of our visitor, I locked the dogs in the house and gently removed her from the yard. She was last seen working her way north. And, for the record, the Gopher Tortoise is not known to be particularly blood thirsty or threatening unless you happen to be a slow moving piece of vegetable matter ;-)

Mail Call

2007-06-27T12:53:00.001-04:00

Hooray! I got mail! A totally unanticipated package from some friends on Canada's west coast.

Packaged in a re-recycled box (that I used to send some gifts to Mathboy once a long time ago. Before I knew what a destructive toad Tachi was)
Look! Canadian Double Stuf Oreos . . . and a pretty puppy card. And packaging peanuts.
The Oreos will likely be joining me at Starbucks on Sunday if anyone's interested in tasting them.

Incidentally, Monday's mangled bits of metal were size 000 aluminum Susan Bates double pointed needles from this set.

Roller Skating Sox and Evil Pets

2007-06-25T17:25:00.000-04:00

On Friday I did a field trip to a Tampa Roller Rink. I worked on the Clap for a few hours and then decided that I really need to cast on my Monkeys. I completed my cast on, joined it and had just begun working in the round when a woman walked up, asked if I was knitting socks and began fondling my yarn. Clearly a Knitter. As I'm rather shy (shaddup Sandy and Kelly. It's true!) and don't do well one on one with strangers, I didn't really have much to say. In retrospect, I could have asked if she had any wip's with her, would she like to join me, where she buys her yarn . . . So, stranger from the Roller Rink? If you're reading this, I'm not snotty...until I get to know you :-)

Monkey at the roller rink. Forgive the crappy cellphone pic.

The weekend was fairly uneventful, I was late getting to Panera because we spent Sunday afternoon in Tampa visiting with some of Mathboy's relatives but once I got to the restaraunt we had a giggling good time.

This morning I interrupted an impromptu "learn to knit" session on my bedroom floor. I've had to dissuade the dogs from thinking they could knit in the past but evidently I wasn't forceful enough in pointing out that 000 needles are just not a good idea for beginners. The needles were cheap, and it was my fault for being foolish enough to leave them where ~~the rotten beasts~~ instinct driven darlings could eat them but I'm still royally ticked.

I am a follower. And a joiner. But mostly a follower.

2007-06-19T19:35:00.000-04:00

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

All Your Yarn are Belong to US!!!!

2007-06-14T16:42:00.000-04:00

What do you want Puny Human?
Begone now.

Will Penicillin Work at This Stage?

2007-06-12T12:29:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make. I've caught the Clap. I thought I was safe, in fact, I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even think it was dangerous anymore but it seems that I was wrong.
Let me explain. Mathboy's favorite aunt has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and ever since she received her diagnosis, I've been wondering what I could knit for her. I thought about this, this and even one of these but frankly, she's just not a frilly person and while the Dragon Wings would probably do nicely I'm afraid of it taking longer than we have. Of course, there was also the small matter of decent laceweight not being free. As I looked at, and eliminated, each pattern a sibilant whisper echoed in the back of my mind.
"What about clapotis?" I had all sorts of arguments against it; it's more of a scarf than a wrap - it calls for sock yarn doesn't it? But, in the end, it drew me in and I'm trying it in the SWS natural blue colorway. I've swatched and the only thing I'm really worried about is getting the stitches to drop nicely . . . SWS is a little sticky. My other concern is that it's not easily washable and it is going to the house that Red Heart keeps warm. That being said, I'm probably overthinking it at this point in time. After all, I still need to finish the anniversary throw . . . crap, by this weekend. Gotta go!

Happy WWKIPD!

2007-06-09T19:05:00.000-04:00

WWKIPD

Playing with Linguistics

2007-06-07T12:28:00.000-04:00

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Canada. You probably get irritated when British people and Europeans think you're from the States, but over here we wouldn't make a mistake like that.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

So Spoiled

2007-06-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

Evidently the budgetary constraints don't extend to alcohol :-)

I should explain. One of my all time favourite alcoholic beverages is the Cherry Cheesecake. It's a mixed drink that consists of one part Cranberry juice and one part Vanilla Schnapps. I've been wanting one, I kid you not, for a year. However, Vanilla schnapps had proven themselves to be nearly impossible to find here. I would go into liquor stores or bars and ask and always get blank stares. Finally I approached the owner of an ABC who was from Boston and he knew what I was talking about. I was so excited . . . until he told me that he hadn't ever seen any Vanilla Schnapps outside of the Northeast. My next step was begging friends and family who were travelling north to please, please, stop in a liquor store and see if they could find me a bottle of Dr. McGillicuddy's delicious vanilla elixir. No dice. I resigned myself to waiting until I could make a trip home to Ontario where I would make a pilgrimage to the LCBO and stock up. Well, last night, Mathboy came home with a mysterious brown paper bag.

Oohhh, Vanilla Liqueur. How nice. And then I noticed the little scrolly bit on the label above the name.

It's Dr. McGillicuddy's! Albeit a fancy import *snicker*. I love that you can buy Molson's and Labatts in the import section too...not that I would. Anyways, I had a bottle of cranberry juice in the fridge so I was finally able to satisfy a year long craving. Mmmmmmmm. Go find this stuff if you can. It even comes with a little tag filled with recipe suggestions (next on my list of things to try? The French Tickler) but you can pretty much mix it with anything. Hurray for Canadian booze.

Holy Hannah!

2007-05-31T17:27:00.001-04:00

Remember this? Well, it seems Ms. Fields liked it soooooooooo much that she wore it again.
That is all.

Moving on

2007-05-31T14:07:00.000-04:00

Boudica is on a time out, thinking about what she's done

You'll notice that I've frogged her completely and even rewound the yarn and now she's going to hang out in her little orange bag while I focus on other things. Like this:

My sister and brother in law are celebrating their first anniversary on Father's Day and I'm making a small afghan/throw for them to celebrate the occasion. Yes, I know that I only have 17 sleeps left to complete it. Thank goodness for my Clifford needles.

No Pictures, Just Grumbling

2007-05-29T12:41:00.000-04:00

I should have known better than to approach a pair of socks named after Boudica with anything less than the utmost respect because people? They are kicking my booty. I've cast on for them no less than six times since Friday morning and I'm still not past the first dozen rows! The toe technique that Designer Mim has chosen is, according to Sensational Knitted Socks, an "easy" toe. Mmmhmmm. Yep. Easy. Easy like giving yourself stitches in the sole of your foot. Sure it can be done but not without considerable amounts of discomfort, cussing, and alcohol. I'm almost at the point (and knowing I can do this is why I love knitting) where I'm going to rip the whole thing out, again, and just do a short row toe which for the record is easy.

What's really ticking me off is that I know that I'm smarter than the yarn but I just can't seem to grasp the technique I need here. It doesn't matter what videos and descriptions I use online because I need someone to look at what I'm doing and either show me where I'm going wrong or tell me if I have it right (Mathboy says it looks good to him but the boy's a muggle). I would love to wander down to my not so local yarn shop for help and advice but there are two problems. A) as I've mentioned, they're kind of far away and B) I don't feel comfortable going into a place of business with items not purchased there and asking them to help me. It would be different if I could pick up a couple of skeins of sock yarn or something while I was there but I really do need to hold off on unnecessary spending for the duration of the summer. I guess in the end I'm just going to have to keep plugging away, trying things, until it looks right.

That's enough whingeing. I'm going to go take another crack at them (socks, if you're reading this, I have nothing but respect for your beauty and intricacy) and contemplate how much I would love a Caramel Coretto from Second Cup right about now.

Goin' to the yarn store!

2007-05-24T19:07:00.000-04:00

I've been extremely hard on my dpn's lately. There was an incident which I won't go into detail about but it may have involved a certain ... glove-like item leaping out of the open window of a school bus travelling at 55 mph. Turns out that even powder coated steel has a hard time dealing with speeding asphalt. Two actually came out unscathed, two had burrs and the fifth, well, I think of it every time I pass that stretch of road and sincerely hope that its final resting place wasn't in some poor saps tire. The other incident involved my size two bamboo dpn's and my knitting/book bag. All I'm going to say here is that you should be gentle when putting your sock in progress into a book bag that has a large and heavy binder in it.

When the metal dpn's bit the dust, Mathboy suggested that I make do and refused to even consider a trip to my nearest yarn store (which, as it's nearly an hour away, is not a good week day destination so we go as a couple while doing other things in Tampa on the weekends). However, on Monday when I sheepishly admitted to my latest accident and told him that I was going to need to replace two sets of dpn's, he said "oh, ok. When we're done at the immigration office on Friday, we'll go to Knit and Knibble and get you some new ones".
I was flabbergasted. Even argued with him saying crazy things like "I can live without full sets for a while" and "I can make do". I have since recovered from my temporary insanity and am now plotting routes through the store to get to the needles while caressing the maximum amount of yarn. There *would* be yarn buying also, but as the school year ended yesterday and there are no jobs in my immediate future, I'm pretty much reduced to knitting from my stash. The good news here? Well, my stash is very very small and once I start knitting hair and fur out of desperation, I'm sure that the budget will be rearranged to allow for a skein or two of sock wool.

Incidentally, the immigration office visit should be (please God) uneventful. Essentially the temporary stamp in my passport that declares me to be a Lawful Permanent Resident Alien will expire in July and I have not yet received my Green card. I've been pushing the USCIS to find out why they haven't issued that rather important document and recently found out that they were investigating and that I could expect an answer in October. Three months too late. When I asked what I should do about my rapidly expiring stamp, they told me to make an appointment to have it extended. As this type of joy is par for the course with Immigration, I made the appointment and now Mathboy and I will be spending the kickoff to our Memorial Day weekend running around in Tampa having a grand old time.

Lazy Blogger

2007-05-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

We've got pictures!

I've been very busy not blogging lately.

There was finishing these:

Baking this and assisting Mathboy in the decorating of it:

Finishing Nick's Knucks . . . which he did not receive in the end. Our deal was that I'd give them to him on the last day of school and he decided to skip. *shrug* Someone will give them a home.

Making these:

And of course, variously confusing and downright tuckering out some of the animals.

Victoria Day and other things

2007-05-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Victoria Day!

Comment answering:

As a child I remember being told that the hole in my hand happened when, as I developed in utero, my middle finger grew into my palm. *shrug* It might even be true. That finger is certainly shorter than it ought to be and also slightly crooked. Incidentally, it occurs to me that I misspoke concerning my knitting and my funny hand. I have not yet been able to master knitting continentally because I can't maintain tension with that finger.

The Yarn Harlot, to my knowledge, will not be coming to Florida. *sigh* Nor will I be in Toronto for the Represent event up there. These things make me sad.

There will likely be photographs later of socks, knucks, and evidence of Mathboy's renaissance man tendencies. :)

By the by, Look! I can give things titles now. Easily pleased ya know.

2007-05-17T18:55:00.000-04:00

Whoops!

Kristy tagged me for a Random Facts meme and I totally missed it for um, oh say, nearly a week. *sigh* In retrospect though, it could be because I got all distracted by yarn porn and talk of short rows. So, without further ado;

Robyn's Random facts.

I was born with a hole the size of a dime in my left hand. I have a lovely scar to this day that I use for distinguishing between right and left (sad but true) and debates about stigmata. Because of the hole, the middle finger of my left hand has little to no sensation which makes typing and piano playing interesting, but does not affect my knitting in any way.

I used to think that bus drivers, particularly public transit but also school bus, were crazy. Now, having done both, I know it's true.

I love to cook. I hate to clean. We would eat a lot better if fairies would be kind enough to swoop into my kitchen on a daily basis.

Mathboy and I met on the Internet. We were not plotting romance when we had our first face to face meeting, but he tells me that when he saw me at the airport that first time, he knew he'd marry me one day.

I loved the series "Firefly" and actually scheduled my wedding in such a way as to be able to watch the movie "Serenity" with the friend who introduced me to the television show. Also, I heart Adam Baldwin. (No, I'm not totally insane. It also had a lot to do with the fact that I wanted a candlelit ceremony and a long sleeved gown. Both were more easily accomplished in October.)

My cats are Hemingways or American Polydactyls and have extra toes on their front paws. They have all their claws and use their extra toes like opposable thumbs which can be very, very, bad. When we adopted them, their names were Jack (a black and white short hair) and Jill (tabby and white medium rabbit fur[she's so soft!]) which we thought was very unoriginal so we changed them to Otokonoko (Japanese for boy) and Otome (Japanese for girl). Noko and Ome for short, or, as my mother in law calls them "Ohno" and "Ohmy".

We have a fruit salad tree in our backyard. It's got Meyer Lemons, Honeybell Tangelos, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Valencia, and Navel Oranges.

There will be no official tagging of people because all of the people I feel comfortable tagging have already done this. If you're reading though, and you haven't done it, consider yourself tagged! Leave me a comment so I can ~~stalk you~~ read it.

Kitty content!

2007-05-11T18:57:00.000-04:00

Mathboy has read the blog and he is not amused. Evidently, it's just not right that I have not explained his blog name. So . . . here goes.

My husband is highly intelligent. The man has a mind like a well oiled steel trap (unlike my mind, which is more of a rusty steel trap. Facts go in never to be seen again). Anyways, his all time favourite mental pastime is playing with numbers. He's constantly running formulas and calculations in his mind. Again, this makes him my complete opposite, because I've always joked that I wear toe socks so that I don't have to take my shoes and socks off in order to count past ten. Because I am mathematically challenged, whenever I hit a calculation that is beyond my ken, I turn to him. You can see an example of his mathiness in the comments section of this entry of Kristy's. This is why he is Mathboy.

Now for some Yarn Porn:

That's Wooly Wonka's BFL sock yarn in the River colorway and the pattern behind it? That's Mim's Boudica Sock pattern. They were shipped on May first, and I've had 'em for a while, but I've been too busy fondling the yarn and working on the Crush sock of doom to focus much on posting them. Today I wound the yarn into two separate and equal balls. . . not that I can do anything but fondle it until I'm done with the C.s.o.d. *sigh*
Oh, and while I'm talking about those C.s.o.d. beasts, I've turned the heel on the first one and can officially count myself as being on the home stretch. Woot!

2007-05-07T18:38:00.000-04:00

There's doings afoot! (With apologies to Kristy for my worse than usual grammar).
First, these came:

So, naturally, I promptly dove in and devoured my new books. (fyi, it's not a good idea to read a book like the Harlot's while there's a cranky muggle in the house. Giggle-snorting tends to poke the beast) "Casts Off" was reassuring because it reminded me that I'm not alone as a knitter, and I have been feeling a little lonely lately. Of course, it was also deeply deeply funny.

"Sensational Knitted Socks" is kind of an Idiots Guide to Knitting Socks and it led directly to this:

Yes, that's Mathboy modeling a pair of . . . well, deeply feminine socks. They're for my sister and frankly, chickie has feet like a duck. 9 1/2" around and 8 1/2" long. The yarn is Modea Dea's "Sassy Stripes" in the "Crush" colourway and I'm knitting the socks on size 2 needles. At this time, I'd like to mention that I love love LOVE the magic that is short rows. It started out straight, but now it's a smiley face! Gnomes!

Other goings on have included making another step toward having a proper office in place of our screen room/porch/lanai. To that end, Mathboy and his dad spent yesterday sheathing the frame that they installed a few months ago. Everything went well and we learned something new. Evidently our puppy thinks that tar paper is worthwhile entertainment and snack food.

Evidently, eating tar paper is thirsty work.

2007-04-17T19:38:00.000-04:00

There's not much excitement in my little corner of the world lately. I've been plugging away at Nick's Knucks and while the right one is hideous and destined for the frog pond (stupid intarsia and lack of creator patience) the left one is, thus far, looking like something I'd actually give to someone.

In the midst of all of the blandness I've been struck by a glittering ray of temptation; Mim's Boudica socks. I have been ~~plotting~~ thinking about getting the kit for these with the River colourway from Wooly Wonka for my mother in law, and a skein of either Sea Wool or Merino from Fleece Artist in Amber for me. I have a pair of celtic inspired amber earrings that would look gorgeous with 'em. Is it sad that I'm accessorizing my accessories?

2007-04-06T19:18:00.000-04:00

HAPPY EASTER!

Look! Horse Poo!

But, through the miracle of JellyBelly jelly beans, they become adorable little nests. The recipe I used can be found here. I recommend cooking the chocolate mixture for a minute and a half to two minutes in order to get a firmer drier texture. If you try the nest variation, I recommend having a helper. As you drop the oat/chocolate mix on your lined trays, they'll follow along and either jam the "eggs" in place, or make dents in the mounds.

2007-04-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

This was my very first finished object. It's one of Wendy Johnson's Kitty Pi pet beds. I hunted all over Tampa for chunky wool and finally ended up settling for Noro Kureyon held together with Cascade. I don't remember what the novelty yarn was but I loved it passionately. I struggled with the cast on, knitting in the round (remember this was my first foray into knitting) holding two and three strands of yarn together, decreasing and all sorts of other things I'd never tried before.

I finally completed the Pi and carefully felted it. I then spent the next several days chasing the cats around and sitting them in it, rubbing catnip in it and generally doing everything I could to encourage them to love it. It took a while but they did eventually deign to use it, in spite of the natural tendency of a cat to shun all things that may be for him or her. They learned to love it and it became part of their games and occasionally they would accidentally kick it off of their little hangout as they wrestled together.

This morning I awoke to find this:
I resisted the urge to weep, although it was a close thing. I resisted the urge to kill the dogs (who were responsible for the destruction), although it was an even closer thing. I did call Mathboy and tell him that I hate his dogs and that they are hell spawn (this is the second thing that they've killed in the course of three days. Sunday we came home to a sea of fiberfill from one of their beds. Zipper pulled apart, liner in shreds, pillow itself partially shredded . . . )

Anyways. Since sitting around plotting the demise of my DH's beloved pets isn't productive, I'm now taking suggestions for what I can do to repair/rehabilitate the poor Pi.

Oh, by the way. Anyone want some dogs? They're really cute . . . when not shredding things. I'll even throw in the Sponge Bob blanket for free.

2007-03-28T18:53:00.000-04:00

Eureka!

Well, in all fairness, I don't know that I made any great discovery that will improve the world of knitting but it makes me happy.

Did you know that, when knitting in the round, if you turn your work for the first row (after joining your cast on stitches) you'll end up with a really pretty purl row at the start of your work, and no jog! Well. Ok. There might be a jog if you don't cast on an extra stitch at the end and knit it together with the first stitch but I usually still get a jog even when I do that so I'm pleased with myself.

Also, when knitting something like Knucks (look! I linked! Sorry, big moment in my little world) Make sure that you try on all of the fingers to be certain that they're the right length and that you don't end up with, oh, say, an index finger that's two rows longer than the middle finger. 'Cause it just looks dumb. And it's kind of hard to tink down from a cast on edge. *Grin* Just sayin'

2007-03-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

I've been hearing a lot lately about how I must be very patient and I have to come clean. Patience? Not so much. I'm incredibly impatient. Some days, the only thing that keeps me sane is my knitting and the sure knowledge that Spring Break, Summer Holiday, or Christmas break is right around the corner. In fact there are some days when I can't even look *that* far ahead and I have to focus on my next seven minute break. Do I enjoy my job? Absolutely. Are there days that I find it more frustrating than I have words to express? You bet. So no. I'm not patient. What I am is decently compensated for a very challenging job that I enjoy 80% of the time and that I am able to leave when I step off of my bus.

Wanna see what else I'm up to?

This is a housewarming gift for some friends who are moving into a brand new home in two weeks. It's Lion Brand Homespun in "Mediterranean" and I'm expecting to use 12 skeins in total.

I'm using these:

And if you're wondering just what size that is . . .

Yup, U.S. Size 50. These are Lion Brand's "Speed Stix" and they're enormous. I'm holding four strands of yarn together and getting a really soft fluffy fabric out of it. Love the Speed Stix. It's a little like knitting with kindergarten crayons, or carrots, and they make me giggle but things just knit up so fast! Hmmmm, could that be why they call them "Speed Stix"?

2007-03-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

We were visiting with some friends last night and talk turned to hitchhikers. Our friend Adam related this story;
One evening he was on his way home from some grocery shopping and saw a man waiting by his truck. Adam asked if he could help him and the man said he needed a ride home. This was Wisconsin in the 80's so Adam didn't hesitate in agreeing to take the man where he needed to go. The fellow hopped into the truck and, a few minutes into the drive, offered to repay Adam's kindness with a blowjob. As it happened, they were close to a police station, so Adam pulled over and told the guy to get out of his truck right then and there. It wasn't until some years later that Adam saw a face that he'd never forget on the six o'clock news. His overly friendly hitchhicker had been Jeffrey Dahmer.

2007-03-24T10:27:00.000-04:00

The Elizabeth blanket came to work with me for its portrait session and I showed it to one of my colleagues who is a quilting and sewing type. As I put the blanket back in my bag, she asked if I sewed and when I said that I don't (very well anyways) she told me to pick up some fabric, measure the folded blanket, and draw her a picture of what I wanted in the way of a blanket storage bag! Well, I had no idea what I wanted but Bill and I picked up some cute fabric, a pair of honey bee shaped buttons, and I returned to Connie and said "can you do a flap?" And this is what she came up with:

It's got a nice little front pocket, the flap, beautiful emerald green lining, and a hidden strap. I love it to pieces. I could have done without PoohBear . . . simply because I think Elizabeth will outgrow it for ten years or so but since the nursery is done in Pooh, and since Elizabeth's daddy is Bill's oldest and closest friend, he got his way on the fabric choice.

My apologies for the blurriness of the photos. Evidently I've been having a series of bad picture days.

In other news, I've been working slowly on a pair of fingerless gloves for one of my bus kids. If he manages to avoid getting into trouble for the rest of the school year he'll get a pair of black gloves with deep red stars on the backs (his colour and design choice). These are the fingers :)

2007-03-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

I've finished the baby blanket! It's all blocked and I'm just waiting on a friend who was kind enough to offer to sew a pillow/pouch for storage. The whole shebang should hit the mail by Wednesday at the latest and with a little luck and some cooperation from the USPS it should hit Richmond Saturday or Monday *grin*

Blocking:

Something tells me that I need a larger cat free surface for blocking.

Edited to add: I used four balls of Bernat Baby Coordinates (hooray for Michaels/Walmart yarn) in Lemon Custard and cast on 128 stitches with a set of Susan Bates 4.5 mm circs (which I will never ever use again! Ever!) After six rows in garter stitch, I started a feather and fan pattern with a six stitch garter stitch border. I then knitted in pattern until I decided it was long enough, did another six rows in garter, and bound off.

2007-02-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

I am a school bus driver. The observant among you may have noticed that the photo of the baby blanket (still incomplete) is taken against a background of school-bus-seat-blue pleather but I digress. I drive a group of high school and middle school students who like to fancy that they live in da ghetto. Yo! 813 represent! Anyways, it's most gratifying when these corn-rowed, blinged out, baggy panted ... well, hoodlums stop on their way up the steps and say "Miss! What is that? How do you do it? Is it easy? Show me!" I doubt that they think I'm cool or anything bizarre like that, but I'm definitely an anomaly in their little lives.

2007-02-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

My Beloved, modeling the thrummed mittens (complete with idiot strings) scarf and hat all currently winging their way to Ontario. Everything is Plymouth Encore. Hat was knitted on US 8 circs and dpns, Scarf was knitted on 5.0 mm needles in a k1 p1 rib until I got sick of it, and the mittens . . . hmmm, I'll have to hunt that down for ya'll.
Mitten close up. I quite like them.
Kitty Pi knitted from the pattern in Wendy Johnson's book of Noro Kureyon and Cascade Heather held together . . . should have taken a picture of the outside and it's too late now as it too is en route up north.
The still unfinished baby blanket. Bernat Baby Coordinates in Lemon Custard. It's essentially a feather and fan lace with a six stitch/row garter border knit on US size seven needles (as an aside, I despise Susan Bates circular needles. They don't relax for anything.)
Skinned Muppet Flip flops. I'm sort of embarassed by them but look! Finished knitting!

Pictures!

2007-02-19T14:02:00.000-05:00

Don't you hate it when you run out of yarn and time and you were planning on wearing your latest creation? What to do, what to do . . .

Edited to add: The lovely lady in the ombre blouse and no pants is Patricia Field, presumably of http://patriciafield.com AND an Oscar nominee for the costumes in The Devil Wears Prada!!

2007-02-06T17:31:00.000-05:00

Heh, I got comment nagged lol. I will be posting more in the future when I'm not under insane self imposed deadlines. I went from finishing the christmas hat/scarf/mitt set to working on a feather and fan patterned baby blanket. Both are pale yellow, the scarf hat and mitts done in Plymouth . . . uh . . . something *wink* (encore maybe?) and the baby blanket in Bernat Baby Coordinates which is shimmery and I love it! The blanket will be about 45" long when it's done, is 18" long at the moment and the shower it's going to is on the 17th of this month. Gotta go!

2006-12-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

Unlike some of our knitting brothers and sisters I move along on certain projects at glacial speed. As a result, I've been working on a Christmas hat, scarf, and mitten set since, oh, October. They are to be mailed to my oldest friend as soon as I finish them (hopefully still in time for her to enjoy them this winter). Tonight, I was at a christmas party with a group of near strangers and, as I often am these days, was sitting quietly knitting my soft buttery yellow yarn into a scarf. One of the other guests (a woman I've met twice before) asked if I was knitting for "a reason" I was dumbfounded. Of course I'm knitting for a reason. Don't we ALL knit for a reason? I smiled and said yes, I was in fact knitting for a reason. She became all excited and congratulatory and asked when I was due. Horrors! The person evidently assumed that the only reason a woman my age (29) would knit anything would be because of impending motherhood. *sigh*

2006-09-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

Had some fun today chez Corn. The whole immigration process meant that I couldn't start working until recently and I've been looking for work but decent jobs (read "things that I don't totally abhor the thought of doing") have been thin on the ground. Yesterday, I stumbled across an opening for school bus drivers and leapt on it. Today I spent hours calling and recalling Canada to get in touch with all of my references, and finding a place to send faxes from. What does this have to do with knitting you ask?? Well, as I awaited the transmission of my faxes at a nearby printer/copy shop, I spotted a business card for "Hookers Haven". Because there were sheep on it instead of merry widows, I'm fairly comfortable in gleefully announcing that there is a fiber craft store within a 20 minute drive of my home! With any luck they'll be better stocked than just shelf upon shelf of red heart "crochet thread" as my husband's grandmother calls it. (not that there's anything wrong with red heart . . .I just want to play with things that won't melt in a car on a hot day y'know?). Anyhow, I digress. Possible lys nearby! Woohoo!

Once I'd finished up all of the job hunt related tasks I made tracks for a yarn shop that's a mere hour and change away from my home for a sit'n'stitch and some roving for those thrummed mittens I have planned. This was my first s'n's and I had a grand time. As expected everyone was warm and welcoming and I was fascinated by the variety of projects that each person had going. I think I might have been the only one there with only one wip with me. Most impressive was Linda who was knitting a really pretty sweater that almost perfectly matched her nails. And did I mention that Linda's blind? She taught herself the magic loop method too.

Todays purchases were: 4 oz Merino Roving, a pair of 5.0 ml Brittany Birch straights (so pretty) aaaaaaaaaand, for Grandmother Purl, 50 grams of Cotton Licious in Periwinkle.

Tomorrow? Another s'n's at the Carrolwood Barnes and Noble.

2006-09-18T15:24:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am. Why have I started a knitting blog? For a couple of reasons. Most of the people around me would probably rather I was able to converse for more than half an hour without mentioning yarn or needles so this will be an outlet that won't make my loved ones crazy. My other objective is the hope of making some new friends. I'm fairly introverted and it's been difficult for me to meet new people here in Florida. Knitting may seem like an odd hobby to take up in the land of sunshine and citrus but I know I'm not the only one here. I just need to find a local yarn shop that isn't an hour or more away!
I've been knitting since June 2006 and to date I've completed 4 of Wendy Johnson's Kittiy Pi pet beds. My wip's include a pair of these http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer06/PATTtuliptoes.html , and a hat made without a pattern. Planned projects are a scarf and a pair of thrummed mittens to match the hat. Oh, and I can't forget the squares for the Grandmother Purl blanket.
Pictures will be along as soon as I figure out how this whole thing works . . . Toto, I don't think we're in msn space anymore.