Does This Count As Lace?

I'm thinking yes.

Isabeau Shrug is one of Chez Plum's many patterns.

I'm doing it on Elann's Endless Summer Connemara in a really pretty lilac color. I love Connemara! If you are looking for a cheap and soft(after washing it's super soft)cotton yarn I recommend it.

The cuff is so pretty. The whole pattern is so feminine, it almost has a Victorian feel to it, atleast in my mind.

There's clever decreases that cause a little ridge. I love that.

And the yarn overs. I'm awful. I have to admit that I'm a bit ADD when it comes to lace. I have to count stitches every other row or so because I tend not to pay as close attention as I should. But the yarn overs are making a pattern that is perfect for the shrug. I'm enjoying this. It's a good first lace project, I think.

I finished Tempting. It's blocking. And since the sun hasn't come out since January, or so it seems, I don't know when I'll get outside to take photos. As it is these were taken on Hub's chair. If he knew that I laid knitting on his chair, I'm sure he'd do the invisible cootie spray to get the girlie funk off of it.

So Temptingly Close.

I'm up to the sleeves on Tempting. What a quick, easy, beautiful sweater this is turning out to be.

The sleeves I knit flat. I hate, hate, hate dpn's and I don't own 2 size 8 circulars so I knit the sleeves flat. I remembered to modify the pattern so that it works.

I should have it done soon. Yippee for me.

Also, sorry for the crap photos. The air conditioner's in the good window, lighting wise. Overexposure happens.

Cheater.

OK, so you know how you go on a diet. You're all set- you've bought fresh veggies, you shop for new work out clothes, you throw out all the crap in your cupboards, you do well for about 3 days and then you start to get that feeling. You know that feeling, that nawing, that little voice inside your head that says...go ahead...eat that piece of cake. Grab that chocolate chip cookie....go ahead, you'll work out twice as long tomorrow....you deserve a break....do it, do it, do it!

And that craving just doesn't go away. No matter what you do. You keep yourself busy-knitting, computering, talking on the phone, chasing after the boy. Then one day you snap. Maybe you had a rough day at the office. Maybe it was a long commute home. Maybe you just throw your hands up and say screw it.

Well, I have a confession. I cheated the other night on the knitting nightmare diet. I know, I know, I know. One book. I got it on sale. And it's a sock book. I don't have too many of those, unless you ask Hubs, and what does he know about collecting? I've resisted for so long, my friends. All that came to a screeching halt after receiving a Barnes and Noble coupon. Damn them.

But ohhh, the getting's good.

Go ahead, call me a cheater. I got my big girl panties on and I can take it.

Dear size five 24" circular needle again,

Screw you. I started Tempting instead.

Love,
Your Knitting Mommy

Dear size five 24" circular needle,

I know you have been missing for over 24 hours now. I've searched for you all over the house. I've torn apart the knitting stash (I'd forgotten how much yumminess is in there!). I've checked and rechecked the knitting basket in the closet. I've looked in the Denise Interchangeable set. I've looked under, around and in the couch.

I don't know where you are, but please come home. You are missed and I would like to start knitting my Bitchin' Mittens now.

Thank you.

Love,
Your Knitting Mommy

PS If you don't come home soon I'm going to be forced to use the interchangeables. Don't make me use them...I will.

Is it just me or??

Ok, so when you post on blogger you have to sign in. You also have to do that damn word verification every time. Does it drive anyone else crazy?? Not the every time part, but the word verification itself. I never get it right on the first try. Am I a dolt?

Could they make the letters so we could actually read them? Or make a word that makes sense or atleast spell out a swear every once in a while so I get a chuckle out of it??

Saturday (today for most of us) I have a craft fair with my mom. Nothin' like standing in the blazing sun trying not to get too lobster-fried even though you slathered on 45 sunblock. Gotta love being fair skinned in the summer.

I did manage to make almost 8 washcloths. I'm hoping to sell atleast a couple of them. If I don't it's ok. My family loves them and will get them for the holidays.

Yippee! I won!! I won!!!

Ysolda had a contest and I won!

And you can also find out my real first name.


Heehee.

You know who to blame.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Lifeguard/swim instructor. I was 15 at the time and the youngest person to ever get certified in my state. They made an exception because I was good and I trained hard. To prove that I could do it my partner was a 200 pound blackbelt. Yeah, I was about 85 pounds soaking wet.

2. Ice cream scooper. Worst job ever. I sympathy tip scoopers big time- that's how bad it was.

3. Office manager. Got fired. But before getting fired I was sexually harrassed on a daily basis and pretty much made to feel like I was crap every day. Delightful

4. Door to door salesperson for cable company. Scary people out there, let me tell ya.


Four Things that Annoy the HELL outta me:

1. People who can't drive, or drive like they don't care about anyone else on the road. Tailgaters are at the top of the list.

2. People who talk during movies or sing during concerts.

3. People who are pick their noses in public. ew.

4. People who are rude to waiters.



Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Practical Magic

2. Goonies

3. Lord of the Rings trilogy

4. Star Wars. The original one. Not the new version. I'm talkin' 70's style graphics, none of this computer generated stuff. lol


Four things that I regret most:
This is a hard question for me. I do my best to not have regrets. I think dwelling on the regrets of your past makes you stop living for tomorrow. I want to get a degree. I think that's my only "regret". Everything happens for a reason.



Four places I have lived:

1. Pennsylvania

2. CT

3. Maine

4. CT


Four things about me I betcha don't know:

1. I love the smell of bleach and skunks. Not together though.

2. I have 2 tattoos.

3. I have abandonment issues(thanks, Dad)

4. I was accepted to a very popular photography school but didn't go.


Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Rescue Me

2. The Price Is Right

3. Oprah

4. What Not To Wear


Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Hawaii

2. Jamaica

3. Los Angles and San Diego, CA.

4. Figure 8 Island, NC


Four places I would like to be right now:

1. On the couch, knitting. (Ditto Sachi)

2. Scotland

3. Having a drink with the LA SnB girls.

4. Hawaii



Are you still reading? Tag, you're it. And yeah, I'm reading them. lol

Amazing, isn't it?

I find it amazing that knitting sometimes follows the ebb and flow of my life.

I'm still working on washcloths, still washing (and drying and sorting and folding and putting away) clothes, still taking care of the boy, the house, everything.

I'm feeling a bit, um, disconnected from everything. Like I'm going through the patterns of everyday life but I'm not really present in the moment. I didn't knit for almost 3 days because of time and life issues. This morning the boy was taking his nap, the computer was shut off because of a lightning storm that blew in from no where (or so it seemed), and I sat down to knit another cloth.

After a few rows I realized that I wasn't paying any attention. I was listening to the thunder (praying the boy would sleep through it), watching mindless tv, and daydreaming. I looked down to see where I was and I see this.

I dropped a stitch a couple of rows down. It's a white stitch smack dab in the middle of the photo, it's hard to see. I haven't done that since I started knitting 4 years ago.

I gotta start being present in the moment.

More later...

Clean clothes = happy mommy

No knitting yesterday or today. The dryer was fixed yesterday and I'm playing catch up to about 15 million loads of laundry. Ok, millions might be exaggerating, but it's atleast 15 thousand.

I'm so happy that the boy can wear more than a diaper and that I now have burp cloths that aren't stuck together by once mushy, now unrecognizable, food from 2 days ago.

Yes, I was that desperate.

And more good news!

Go over to Chez Plum's blog and welcome her new little one to the world!


Also, I'm taking part in my very first knitalong. Eek! I've never done a real mitten. I did a 2 needle contraption that might be called a mitten by a five year old, but by handknitted mitten standards, yours would have to be pretty low to call these mittens. I'll see if I can dig them out of the closet to photograph them for your viewing pleasure.

I've also never put a "button" in my sidebar. It might take me a few hours. lol Stand by...

Breaking news

The hubs started the swift last night.

We tested it out and it works! He needs a washer (whatever the heck that it. We're having trouble with the dryer, hon- not the washer...) and to clean it up a bit.

I'll have photos soon.

More later...

Question

So hypothetically, if I received a gift card to a certain large chain craft store that happens to sell certain items that I might not be allowed to purchase for certain amount of time and if I hypothectically wanted to use the gift card for said disallowed purchases, would that be breaking the knitting nightmare diet?

Oh, can I add that I got my yearly 15 percent off coupon from Barnes and Noble. Yeah, can't buy knitting books.

Craptastic.

BTW, dryer still isn't fixed. They ordered the part today. They, meaning the nice man behind the counter at a random parts store. Not the mean, nasty bitch behind the counter at the Sears store. I left there with a smile- he even held the door open for me. The witch at Sears told me (with that wonderful "Fuck you, I hate this place and I'm doing something for you" attitude)it would take 10 days. They are both ordering it from the same place. The random parts store was also 10 bucks cheaper.I go tomorrow to pick up the piece. The hubs should have it installed tomorrow night.

I'm not even going to mention the swift. lol

Quick knits do not mean interesting knits.

I'm sooooo done with washcloths.

But I'm doing a craft fair with my mother, so I have to make them. I'm hoping to make enough profit to offset some of the money I blew at the birthday yarn sale.

It would be really cool to make enough to totally cover the bill. It would basically mean that all of my christmas gifts were paid for by others.

The cloths go quickly, it's just that there's other things that I'd rather be knitting right now.

Hell, there's other things I'd rather be doing right now- like drying my clothes. But since the effing dryer still isn't fixed, I can't do that now, can I??

You can't prove it.

First of all, let me just say that I love the name Ysolda. To the point that if my next child was a girl, that's the name I'd choose. Move over Chloe, Ysolda's moved in.

Secondly, Ysolda posted in her blog that she was hand dyed new yarn. There's something about reading about new yarns and colors being made that makes me say, "I want that." It's not a great habit to start while on a yarn diet.

Anyways, she posted that the yarn was for sale and I emailed her which one I wanted. I was so excited to get this yarn that I trudged out to the mailbox daily, unshowered and still in my jammies with gobs of baby food stuck in my hair, anticipating the yarn's arrival. I knew it would be lovely. I knew the colors would be vivid. I knew I'd instantly fall in love with this yarn.

Oh, people- I did. It is stunning. The photos she sent me didn't do this yarn justice. It's soft yet sturdy. The colors blend together perfectly. I adore this yarn.

I have no idea if she has any left. I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy more while I had the chance. It's gorgeous yarn. And those two light blue orbs? Stitch markers she made. Yeah, she enclosed them as a surprize. I love gifties like that!

And I know what you are thinking- that it breaks the rules of the yarn nightmare diet. Well, smartypants, I got it BEFORE the diet started. So there. And even if I didn't, you can't prove it.


Off topic, no one volunteered for the meme. Don't make me start picking people at random. I will. Come on, someone must want to do it.

Red Cami- Done

The dumb red cami is done.

I should be happy. A finished product is a finished product, right?

Well yes, and no.

It's not blocked. Why, you ask? Well, we here in the fine Northeast have been getting rain again. And the dryer is still broken. Normally I block cotton by putting the it in the sink, running water on it, let it soak, towel dry it, then put it on my dryer while it's drying towels. The dryer gets warm, but not hot and it dries the item pretty quick. It works like a charm every time.

No dryer, no blocking.

The edge still rolls because it hasn't been blocked. But I've solved the problem with the shoulders. It fits me like a charm(even though I made a size small on smaller needles than called for AND I did a perfect swatch AND I'm about 2 sizes bigger than who it's for.)

I'm still cranking out washcloths.

And still no swift and I'm sad to report that the hubs asked to have the count up discontinued. I was breaking his balls about it and honestly it's not fair of me to do that to him(even though we here in bloggerville find it humorous.)

I have to go to the *gulp* laundromat today. Anyone ever bring a 6 month old to get clothes dried?

I'm dreading this.

And hey, wish the hubs good luck on his proposal. The bid is due today and he can finally be normal again. Three years of work culminating into one day. Not even a day- it's like minutes. Anyhow, wish him luck, will ya?

I'm off to bake oatmeal cookies. 'Cuz lets face it, after going through that much stress, what else can a guy need?? (Don't leave ideas in my comments, I know what you are thinking. lol)

This post is brought to you by the letter "C"

I have no idea how meme's got started. But I volunteered, so here I go.

10 things that start with the letter "C".

Chocolate. One of my favorite foods, ever. I eat it almost daily. And it keeps me away from crack, yet another "c" word.

Chicken. I had it for dinner last night. I'm a mean chicken nugget maker, let me tell ya.

Cards. my friend Jool has cards for sale. Go check out her site and buy some.

Crying. The boy has been doing alot of this lately. And frankly, I'm sick of it. lol. Seeing as he's only 6 months old, I guess I better get used to it.

Craftster. I love this site. I kick myself for not going on there sooner than I did. I've learned and seen so many creative beautiful ideas there.

Connecticut. The state I currently reside.

Candy. God I love candy. Any kind, any flavor. Except banana. That's just nasty.

Celtic. I love anything celtic. Anything. Really.

Camping. I love camping. If you didn't really know me, you'd think that I'm too chicken shit to camp. In all honesty, I am, but I suck it up and go. I hate bugs. But I love nature. Yeah, that's gemini speak for, "I'm nuts".

Cash. I need more of it. Who doesn't?

Who else wants to volunteer? Leave a comment saying that you do and I'll pick a letter for you. You then write 10 things in your blog about it. Check Sachi's blog for more info.

And on the seventh day...

Nothing.

Last night was the Yankees/Red Socks game he attended with a buddy from college.

Tonight it's hockey.

Tomorrow night is going to be something else.

Thursday night will be spent in a drunken fog. Yes, this is a planned drunken fog. I'm hoping to join him to a certain extent. I'm not sure where the boy will be, but it won't be home. As much as I try to pretend to be that parent, I'm not.

Good news is that his big stress related job bids Thursday morning (hence the planned drunken fog) and he will be home much more and less stressed out. I hope. God help me (and him) if he's not.

In other news, F%$K my dryer. Seriously. It's broken. And if the hubs doesn't have time for the swift, he doesn't have time to fix the damn dryer.

I have 1 towel left. And it's hockey night. Think the hubs would mind if I made him dry off with a washcloth?

Anouk-DONE!

Yahoo!

Anouk is off the needles and looks fabulous! I can't wait to send it to my cousin.

It's a quick knit. I modified it a bit. Who doesn't do that?? The sides are seamed and I didn't add pockets. Plus, I didn't change colors.

The neckline isn't as wonky as it looks in the photos. When the dress is on it doesn't pucker.

So, it's added to the done side show. I mean, slideshow.

What's next? The shrug. And washcloths. I'm doing a show with my mom in a few weeks. Hopefully they will also be quick knits.

And in swift making count up news, well...there is none. Day 6. It could have been here by now. Even if it was shipped from overseas.

However we did go to the casino and he did win cash, so maybe I'll give him a little slack. Especially because he shared his winnings. And I lost it all in the slots. Heehee. Sorry, hon.

Why I love consignment shops

$10 bucks. Let's keep that number in mind while reading this post.

I'm going to interview for a knitting teaching job that starts in October. So, my knitting teacher (who retired) warned me to find cheap needles in various sizes because no one ever comes to class with needles and it's taught at the high school, not a store so it's not like I can grab a pair from the shelves and give them to the students to use, plus no one ever gave her back the borrowed needles at the end of class...anyhow I told my grandmother to be on the look out for needles when she goes to her weekend tag sales. I told her not to spend a ton of cash, but that I needed quite a few pairs. She called me last week and said that she found the mother lode*. Oh my.

She said there were a ton of needles, all sizes, shapes, textures. Come and get them.

This is what she picked up.








Enclosed was about 120 dpns. There's 2 circular needles, 2 sizing measure thingys and various sized single pointed needles in every length and width imaginable.

Oh, but this. This is my favorite find. I don't even like dpns, but this is too cool not to love. It's a wooden box and inside is 5 dpns. On the box is an old sticker with "knitting pins" written on the side.

The needles are very thin and made of steel. They are small. Tiny, in fact. The gauge thing I have goes as small as 0 and these were probably a size or two smaller.
Who makes steel knitting needles anymore?? You can see that they were hand filed at the points. I adore this.

There's actually a TON of steel dpns. They range from 5 inches long to about 10 inches long and they are all different sizes. Look!


What do I do with them all?
I wish they were circulars- I'd have a blast with them. lol

Anyways, not a bad find for ten bucks, eh?







*edit to change "load" to the correct spelling, lode. Thanks Cherry Blossom for writing it in my comments, making the anal-retentive me look it up on dictionary.com. Yes, it's one of my bookmarked favorites. Leave me alone. lol

Still no swift.

Day 4. No swift day three was filled with babies getting weighed and immunized at the doctor's office. Not much knitting done, having a cranky baby wiggling in your arms tends to slow the process.

I told you. I told myself. Granted, hubs has been busy working on the biggest deal in his career. Busy, like 50 hours a week at the office, busy. I feel bad busting his chops, but then I look at my lonely ball winder. It's crying out for attention.

Wendy said to have him make me a wine rack. Oh no. See we have a wine rack- or 3 (Hubs collects wine) not to mention the liquor cabinet, and two bookshelves. He's making me a damn swift now. If it's not done by Monday morning I am going to buy CASHMERE. That's right. Cashmere! And not just one skein either, oh no. We're getting a sweater worth here. And not the cheapy Debbie Bliss stuff either- nope. Cashmeretherealstuff. And it won't be on sale.

More later. I gotta tell ya about the score I got at the consignment shop last week that I totally forgot about. And since it was last week, it doesn't count on the knitting nightmare diet.