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Zarzuela Knits and Crochets
My blog about my knitting, crocheting, and anything else I feel like ranting about!

More good stuff....

4.28.2005
You're willing to tell the world all about it -- about the delightful week you're having, that is. Yes, you're usually the most private of creatures, but at the moment, you're so happy you just can't stop talking about it.

That was my horoscope for yesterday...very wierdly true.

And the fun keeps coming in my first week of celebrating...

Today I got to go to a Master's tea at Yale in Trumbull Saybrook College. And who was the guest? None other than Debbie Stoller - author of "Stitch n' Bitch" and "Stitch n' Bitch Nation" not to mention founder and editor of Bust magazine! It was a very cool event. She talked about how she got into knitting and why she decided to do the books. She also talked a bit about Bust and why she decided to do that. Not to mention her time at Yale (she has a Ph.D. if you didn't know) and her research. During her talk the master's cat decided he needed to be with the center of attention and got comfy in her lap. It was hilarious! And his purr was the loudest, weirdest thing I have ever heard. Kind of made me wish I had recording equipment with me because you would not believe that sound unless you were there!

Afterward Debbie did some book signing and was gracious enough to pose for a couple of pictures with some of us:



That's me and Sami with Debbie and holding our newly signed books. (Incidentally, yes I am wearing Tempting. I decided it was finally warm enough for a public debut. She was well recieved and I think she may live her life unaltered. The length didn't really bother me and others seemed to think it was fine too.)



See! She was even nice enough to sign my copy of SnB Nation next to my picture (yes I'm in the book...with horrible hair I might add since I had just come from yoga class that particular night).

It was definitely a cool way to spend a Thursday afternoon. And after that I went to our usual Thursday night SnB in North Haven! The fun just doesn't stop around here lately!

Tomorrow I have a gig in Mahopac, NY (which may not be so fun. I got the call Tuesday, the gig is tomorrow and I don't know most of what we're playing. Not to mention there is rehearsal from 3:30-6:30 and the concert is at 8pm and they aren't providing dinner! WTF?! "You may want to bring dinner." Um..yeah...I think I'd better unless you want the second bassoonist to pass out from low blood sugar before the concert starts!) and Saturday is the CT Sheep and Wool Festival. A bunch of fellow SnBers are going and some are even going out with me for drinks afterward to celebrate my freedom from academia (as a student anyway)!

I'd definitely say my first week of freedom is going quite well. :)


Super Secret Project - Revealed!

4.27.2005
Tonight was the big gifting of the super secret project so I can finally tell you all what it was. It was a "baby blanket" made for J. and S. who are expecting their first child next week! Only this is not just any baby blanket. It is the "mother of all baby blankets"!

It was made by 13 members of Stitch 'n Bitch New Haven. Each person made two squares for the blanket, either knitted or crocheted in the pattern of their choosing. Each square was 12 inches and made with Caron yarn that we all chipped in to buy. It was then up to me to assemble the squares. People who worked on the project include Sami, Eklectika and Lauren who have blogs and T.M., K.U., A.F., B.K., L.B., L.H., S., D.W. and A.N.

It was very cool to see this all come together. It took us all about 3 months just to settle on a color scheme! Then we finally bought the yarn and went to work distributing it in secret (no easy task since we used to meet in rather small places) making sure everyone had half a skein to do what they needed to do. Then it was the rush to turn in squares to me by the February deadline. Just about everyone made it, and some of the ways they got me the squares were quite creative. Many were handed under tables and behind backs when J. wasn't looking! We really never thought we'd pull it off and keep it a secret, but we did!

Needless to say, if you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I've been a bit busy since February. But after finishing school on Friday I was finally able to put it together this Saturday. Sunday Sami and I got together and bought the necessary wrapping and card and Sami wrapped it all up. In the last couple of days I made up a chart so she would know who made each square and included that in the card. Sami was even nice enough to make a little icord teddy bear for a gift tag.

Ok, ok, Pictures already! I can hear you loud and clear! So here they are:


Here's J. with the gift bag and the card




Notice the cute little teddy bear on the bag (Sami said she'll post the pattern link to her blog when she gets a chance.)




And here is J. with her husband S. holding it up for all to see. Unfortunately you can't see the whole thing here. There is a whole row of red at the top and purple at the bottom that I was too close to get in the pic. And of course I'm a dingbat blogger and forgot to take good pics of the squares before Sami wrapped it all up!

Anyway, thanks to K.U. we got in touch with S. this week to make sure J. made it to tonight's meeting! Afterall, she's due next week so we wanted to make sure she got the blanket in time!

All in all they seemed very happy and surprised and that makes me very happy too. Great job everyone! And good luck to J. and S. with your new family!


Reading for pleasure?!

4.26.2005
Thank you so much to everyone for the nice congratulatory remarks about my impending graduation (and the cotton ease! LOL). While things are basically out of my hands now, I'm still kind of holding my breath until I see my degree posted to our online system. And you better believe you will all be notified in big bold letters when that happens!

My plan to celebrate is going pretty well so far. Sunday I got in knitting and Starbucks with Sami before we went to a Passover celebration. It was like Thanksgiving in April! So much yummy food and very nice company. And thanks to Sami I got me one of these:




Which I've already started reading* and I'm totally loving.

Yesterday I went to work in the afternoon (which doesn't sound like a celebratory thing to do I know. But as crummy as the weather was yesterday I didn't see much point in not going. In fact, I had considered taking this whole week off, but why do that when it's going to be rainy and cold off and on? I'll wait for nicer weather.) and finally, after many months, went back to yoga class in the evening. It's amazing how happy that made me. It was so nice to be back there doing a good thing for myself with a great teacher. It made me so happy that I even did a little on my own this morning when I got up. Note to self: Don't ever stop doing yoga for four months again!

In knitting news, the AGB is coming along nicely:


(just trying to do something a little more creative with the in progress photo)

I'm almost done with the first sleeve. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the length. I really need to measure myself from the center of my back down my arm and figure out just how long 26 inches really is. I fear my wingspan may necessitate a bit o' lengthening.

I'm also determined to finish Mariah in the next couple of weeks. I may need a bit of assistance with the zipper though...

And now that I have all this copious free time on my hands, I'm planning on visiting the public library to locate some pleasure reading (or listening...audio books are cool in that you can knit/crochet/eat/drive/whatever while you "read a book" and are definitely my idea of multitasking) if I only knew what the heck I wanted to read! Any suggestions of something good to read for the academically tired mind of a 20-something year old semi-feminist knitter/crocheter who lives and votes in a blue state would be most welcome!

* A little aside. There's been a bit of talking in blogland about how the bookbookbook "insults" crochet on page 45. Now that I've read it I can say this: Puleeze!!! If you read her blog you know her sense of humor. I really doubt this was a pointed comment. If anything, it was meant to ruffle a few feathers. Why must people take themselves so seriously?!


The yahoo and yippee heard 'round the world

4.23.2005
As it is finally official, let me get the big news that I eluded to yesterday out of the way:

I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!
FOREVER!!!

If you heard delighted cries of "I'm done! I'm really done!" coming from the direction of CT yesterday, that was me! I cannot begin to explain how happy this makes me, or how it has only just begun to sink in. Yesterday I turned in my graduation portfolio and my last paper, and while I was on campus I even called the person that handles my graduation application to check its status and was informed that upon completion of my current course, I am good to go. And go I will. Screaming and jumping with the kind of delight that only comes upon completing 9, count 'em, 9 years of higher education. It's been a long road and I am quite happy to be done with it. And I refuse to let the fact that I don't yet have a job secured get me down. I am going to celebrate this, and celebrate it hard, for at least the next three weeks. I figure one week for each year I've been in library school should do, yes?

And what does one do when they have something so momentous to celebrate? Why, in my world at least, they go shopping of course!

Mission #1: Find cotton ease yarn before it all disappears.



Mission accomplished. Don't worry, Sami and I didn't buy every store out. But we did take a good sampling of the goods while we could. I was really hoping to find some black, but I did find the two colors pictured above that I liked. That's 4 balls of sugarplum for a summer tank and 6 of cherry red for a longer sleeved garment yet to be determined. You also might notice that Simba is modeling a new collar (gotta spread the wealth ya know!) which I think is just darling (but I'm a typical mother in this instance).

Mission #2: Find some fun new spring/summer clothes.



Mission accomplished. I'm sure you all know what the top is by now. The skirt and shoes were found at Old Navy. The bag, which I just love, was found at T.J. Maxx for $20 off the original price. Not pictured was the biggest bargain of the day, a three piece suit with a short sleeve blazer and knee length skirt in a light blue color, perfect for the possible warm weather interview. Regular price $280. T.J. Maxx price $72. I think I done good.

Incidentally, depending on the weather, the above outfit may go to a Passover celebration tomorrow evening. I'm not Jewish, but some friends are, and I'm totally all about a party! Not to mention I think it will be a very cool chance to learn about someone else's customs. I'm pretty excited and it was so nice to be invited.

The big news for today, the super secret project is finished! Thank goodness I finished school yesterday because it literally took me from around noon until about 10pm tonight to finish it up! Look for the big public reveal here sometime next week.

And now I think I will go figure out what one does when they do not have school work to do on a Saturday night...


Thank you!

4.22.2005
Thank you all so much for the comments on Tempting in my last post. You all are so sweet to offer so much wonderful advice for my dilemma and I honestly feel so much better about this project now! I think I've decided to wear it once, wash it and see how I feel about it after. If the length bothers me, I'll fix it then. And now I know HOW to fix it thanks to all of you! I think if I was going to do that, I would take Jodi's suggestion and unravel from the bottom and bind off again. Seems like this would be the easiest thing to do. And so I wouldn't loose the stretch of the tubular cast-on I might try the Kitchener bind-off found in the Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. Has anyone ever tried this bind-off before? It's supposed to be complementary to the tubular cast-on, but I'm wondering if it would work with 2x2 rib? If I get to that point, I may give it a try with a swatch first to see if it will work out ok.

Also, in case you didn't see, Holly left fabulous bow tying instructions in the comments (which I'm hoping she doesn't mind me reprinting here):

"The best thing my father ever taught me was how to tie a bow. Bow tying 101: Starting with two loose strings to make the first knot, right over left, under and through. Make a loop with the right string, bring the left over the top and under to create another loop. Pull tight. This works anytime you want a straight bow. If you want it crooked, start with left over right."

I gave it a try this morning and my bow looks awesome. Thanks for getting me through Bow tying 101! :)

As is normal for me, it wasn't long after Tempting vacated the needles that I had to start something else. Here's the beginnings of "A Good Bias":



The pattern is from this year's Spring IK. I just couldn't resist it for some reason. I've never owned a shrug and therefore have no idea if I will like wearing one, but you have to have one to know that right?! I'm making it with Knit Pick's "Elegance" yarn in Cornflower. It's a baby alpaca, silk blend and I'm really loving working with it. Not too splity, nice and soft and generally cooperative. The only real problem I'm having is that I apparently cannot count to 10 on a consistent basis. I usually say, "I'm a musician. I can only count to four." and it is so true. I started this at SnB the other night and had to rip it and start again. I frequently get to the end of the row and have to frog back too, but I'm not too annoyed as yet and my record seems to be improving. And I didn't think this was lace knitting, but I'm apparently wrong according to my SnB buddies, so yippee, I'm knitting my first lace project!

One other thing from the comments. I too am not a happy camper about the apparent discontinuation of LB Cotton Ease. I am therefore embarking on an expedition to find copious amounts of it around the southern CT area today with Sami. Wish us luck!

I should also have big news tomorrow...stay tuned.


FO?!

4.20.2005
Instead of writing that 5 page paper or going to bed at a decent hour last night I finished Tempting.

And here she is:



Black bar to protect the not so innocent (good god does this pic suck or what?! It's really hard to take pictures of yourself. Have I mentioned this?!).

I learned some good things with this:
1. Tubular cast-on.
2. Purling in the round (although I still hate it).
3. Yarn overs are really easy.
4. Cotton ease rocks.

But... I'm not all that happy. Don't get me wrong, I actually loved knitting this, I really like the fact that I got the neckline to work and there isn't any bra strap showage. Two things though:

1. I obviously missed bow tying 101 somewhere along the line 'cause I can't do it and have it look nice to save my ass.

2. I think the body is too long (and I don't think blocking is going to help...but maybe a wash and dry would?).

What's your vote? Frog it and shorten the body or leave it alone? HELP!!


Too funny not to blog about...

4.19.2005
For those of you battling spring allergies:

You simply MUST check out Andrea's new battle gear! And if you aren't battling spring allergies A) I don't like you very much at the moment and B) you should check it out anyway just for the laugh! Kind of reminds me of my winter battle gear.

That is all.


If the trees would stop trying to kill me I'd be fine...

4.18.2005
Please allow me to continue to add my thoughts of misery to the rest of you who are dealing with spring allergies. I finally started taking drugs yesterday because my eyes were so watery I could hardly see. Blah.

Enough of that though. I really had a lovely weekend which ended with an impromptu tea party with Sami and R.B.! It was so nice. We sat out on the deck and sipped tea and ate munchies and just chatted and knitted (and they witnessed the fact that my apartment was indeed sparkling clean after all my work on Saturday afternoon. One must have witnesses to these things afterall). The weather has been so beautiful around here the last few days and it's supposed to last a few more. That makes it rather difficult to think about going to work or writing papers, but at least I had a good weekend to get me rested for that stuff. Thanks for coming over guys! It was fun!

I mostly worked on Tempting this weekend. For the sleeves I was totally rockin' the tubular cast-on:




I wanted to do them two at a time with the magic loop. The thing I shouldn't have done was try to start them at 11pm after a crazy gig (crazy in that a 45 min. drive took two hours and I ran on stage as they were starting to tune! Not good!). Eventually I got the cast on rearranged and was good to go. The sleeves are only a few inches long before joining them to the body so they went real fast. By the time Sami and R.B. came over I was ready to join them to the body which now (after some yoke rows) looks like this:



This is such a funny looking thing without a body in it! Anyway, if you are going to do this one, a word of caution: Make sure your ribbing pattern lines up when you join the sleeves! I didn't notice that one of the sleeves wasn't matching up until the second round and then I had to tink it. Blah. I hate that. But I knew it would make me crazy otherwise so I fixed it.

Also, if you want to join a knitalog for this you should check out the Curvaceous Tempting Knitalong (thanks for the link A.!). They are even compiling the pattern modifications that people are planning on doing. I think this is good considering I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the neckline just yet. I don't want it as off the shoulder as it was intended to be, so I think I'm just going to keep knitting a bit longer than called for. I'll have to see how it looks when the yoke is done.

After this I'm really hoping to finish up Mariah and the super secret project...but now that I have my yarn I really want to start A Good Bias! I guess the good thing is that I need the same needles for that as I do for Tempting so I have to finish that first. Maybe that would be the way to keep from starting so many things...only have one needle and make everything on the same one. Nah...I'd probably start knitting with chop sticks or a screwdriver or something....


Goodies!

4.16.2005
Look what the nice mail dude brought me today!


My first yarn from Knit Picks!

These little lovelies would be (from the top)
5 skeins Elegance in Cornflower for A Good Bias
1 skein Alpaca Cloud in Pepperment for Branching Out
1 skein Sock Landscape in Rocky Mountain Dusk for something I haven't thought of yet

The colors are a little different than I thought they would be except for the Pepperment. The sock stuff is a little darker and so is the Elegance. I gotta tell ya though...I can't stop petting the Alpaca Cloud! It's so amazingly soft!

Of course Murphy's law has proven itself again. I knew as soon as I ordered these they would finally release the summer yarns. Sure enough... they did. Got the e-mail this morning. Bah. Oh well. I'm happy with my newly acquired pretty stuff.

Enough blogging and spring cleaning! Time to get knitting!


Tempting progress and fate

4.13.2005
Spring in CT is definitely here and my head is telling me all about it. All I've been able to do after work the last two days has been go home, eat and knit or crochet. Sounds terrible I know but the sinus headaches I could do without.

Here's part of what I've been working on:




Exciting, no?! That's tempting in all her k2 p2 glory. A bit boring but just fine with my right now. Of course last night I was looking at the directions again and realized that I don't have another size 8 addi to use for the sleeves when I get to them (I don't do/own dpns either). I think I'm going to have to get creative with stitch holders for this. I'm thinking two straights with rubber bands as point protectors (since I don't own enough of those either). That should work right?!

I also did some work on the super secret project. Not nearly enough, but some. I'm hoping to be on to phase 2 of that by the end of the weekend (between interludes of major spring cleaning!).

Getting up at 6am is just not a good thing for me. I'm doing a gig that's about an hour drive away and starts at 9am this week. Well, that was the schedule for today and tomorrow at least. Friday I don't have to be there until 6:30 PM. And I wonder why I'm tired.

I've also been spending way too much time at the computer lately. In the last two weeks I have created a website AND just finished creating a streaming slideshow for school. Oye. Enough is enough already! One project left at least and then I'm finally done. Just a 5 page paper on webquests...that shouldn't be too hard right?

I'm debating if I should go to SnB tonight or just go tomorrow and work on the super secret project tonight. I can't take it to SnB with me which is what causes the problem. Decisions decisions...

And if I'm not already insane enough I just put myself on the list for an audition in mid-June. At least tentatively, in my mind. I had a job interview in February that I still haven't heard back from and a couple of applications out that I haven't heard from about interviews yet. If I don't get the one job and/or don't get interviews until next month then I'll start working on the audition. I'm just glad that I have options. There are a lot of people in my position that don't. Then again there are a lot of people that don't have to put their lives on hold like I seem to be doing of late. I'm planning a bit of a remedy for that though.

Must go back to yoga class as soon as last project is done. Period.

I feel like crap lately and I know this is part of the reason. I also need to start spending more money on food and less *ahem* on yarn. What a life eh?

Well enough random rambling for today. I leave you with this which I ask you to file under "Who knew?!"


plastic
You are plastic.
Futuristic, milky, and silky, you are willing to go
where no crafter has gone before. You can do
just about anything, with strength agility, and
pretty colors to boot! While you are good at
slipping and sliding out of sticky situations,
remember to stay where and when you are needed.
Don't overdo it on star gazing when there's
earthbound knitting to be done!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla




Mariah Monday plus

4.11.2005
Even though I had to work this weekend and didn't get much sleep for part of it, I had a great weekend! I stayed up way too late on Friday at L.H.'s birthday party (which was tons of fun). You've gotta love a party that involves knitting and wine. However, going home at midnight and getting up at 6am to go blow on a contrabassoon is not recommended. But Saturday was spent eating, knitting and shopping my cares away with Sami. Between two different places, here's what I got:



At the top are three skeins of Noro Kuryon, two of which were purchased to go with the one in the middle that I already had. I think they may become this bag but with different handles. The other four skeins are more Cascade 220 that may become a striped version of this bag when the pattern comes out. I see a serious need for a top loading washer in my future.

The other thing I must announce to the world is that my graduation portfolio was completed on Saturday and approved within a few hours!! I just need to burn the files to a CD and turn them in to the department before the 30th of this month. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I also cannot tell you how happy it makes me to say that I have exactly 19 days of classes left in my academic career!! I really need to get one of those cool little countdown thingies for the blog. Anyway, expect a lot of "only ____ days left!" announcements in the coming couple of weeks.

I thought it might be a good day to let you know what the current state of Mariah is. Here's a pic:



The current state is that the neck is WAY too wide. I finished the raglan decreases and thought I would just keep going in order to close up the neck a bit, but now it's getting too long from the armpit and the neck is still too wide. The plan is to insert a lifeline, rip back to a row after the arm cables ended (cause lord knows there is no way in heck I'm going to rip back and do those again!) and try decreasing three stitches instead of two and adding a couple of decreases to the back. That should bring it together more quickly and if it looks real funny, I'm planning a fold over collar anyway so it should be covered. Of course on top of school and work this week I have two rehearsals and a concert so there may not be much done on this. I also really need to get that super secret project done too so that may have to take more of my attention.

Speaking of stuff to do, I'd better get to it!


Tempting, but not so satisfying?

4.07.2005
Who me start another project?




Guilty as charged! Yup that's tempting on the needles already. Go figure.

But there is good news and bad news with this project already. The good news:




I have successfully completed by first tubular cast on! Thanks to Sami boldly going before me and telling me the waters were fine I did this last night at SnB. Not too bad. The only real problem was that the waste yarn didn't come out like it was supposed to and I had to pull it all out with a crochet hook. Not too terrible.

The bad news: I can't purl in the round like I normally do and it's driving me crazy! Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while already know that I am a weird ass knitter. This basically means that I have to knit differently in the round than I do when making flat pieces, mostly because I do this weird thing where I twist my purl stitches but I untwist them when I knit on the other side. Since that doesn't happen in the round, big problem! Until now I haven't really had to purl in the round, but if one is going to do 2 x 2 rib one must purl. Damn it anyway.

You can see by the first pic that I have managed to do this correctly, but that was only after knitting and tinking a row and a half. I hate tinking too. I don't have time in my life for going backward. So my quick and easy knit is turning into a bit of an annoyance. So much for quick and easy. Obviously, I supplied the bitching at SnB last night! However, R. suggested to me that I explore the Norwegian Purl, which I just did, and I think I like it. Maybe all is not lost. We shall see.

I also must let you know that I have a super secret project I am working on which may take time away from my usual ho hum fab content. As it is super secret, that's all I'm saying. I will probably add a progress bar to let you know how far along it is. After it is complete there will be a big reveal. You can beg and plead all you want, but I'm not talkin'!

One last thing, if you are as desperately in need of a serious vacation as I am, check out Fabric of Life Retreats. One of our N. Haven SnBers is co-owner of this new venture (who, by the way, did not ask me to post this for her. I'm just doing it because I think it's cool and I so want to go!) and they have some really wonderful sounding retreats planned including Yoga and Knitting! Now if only my job/life situation would clear up so I could go to something cool like that....


Unhappy kitty...

4.04.2005
Just a quick post to let you all know I'm back to CT and catch up on a couple of things.

First, I made it back by one of the only routes out of Ulster Co. NY right now. Things are not good at all and all the schools and most of the major roads are still closed. You can read more about it here. I remember flooding as a kid (hello, I mean there is a creek or stream every two seconds, we live in the Hudson River Valley after all) but nothing like this. You could see spots where the water cut along the side of the roads like a knife. Very not cool.

I also returned to a very unhappy Simba. She had tossed her extra water dish across the room, knocked over a drying rack full of clothes, and ate two holes in one of her bags of food. I can't be mad at her though. I left enough food and water for an extra day, not two. Poor kitty!

On to happier things. I haven't gotten to tell you that Friday afternoon a bunch of the New Haven SnBers got to meet Alison! Here's a pic:




From left to right we have Sami (who just got a new blog!! Peer pressure works wonders. ;) Go say hi!), K.U., FHBF who belongs to Lauren, Eklectica, and Alison with her two absolutely transfixed boys (apparently Spongebob is to children what yarn shops are to me. Go fig.). It was tons of fun and I hope we get to do it again sometime soon!

I also promised a clapper pic and here it is:



Not the best pic but it will have to do for now. I wore it back to CT and plan on using it a lot. Since Diana asked, I used almost all of my three skeins of Koigu (which were 175 yards each). This is way less than what the pattern called for. I basically followed the pattern as written except that I knit to the end of my second skein and then started the decreases at whatever point that was. In other words, I didn't do quite as many pattern repeats. If this is clear as mud I will try to explain better when I have more time. You might also check out the end of the pattern because there are suggestions for changing the size. The other thing I would do if I did it again would be to purl the stitches that are going to be dropped. That would mean I wouldn't need a billion stitch markers and things would go a little smoother. Just a thought.

That's it for now. Lots to catch up on since I ended up in NY for an extra day and a half. Although there will be good Mariah progress to post sometime soon. Stay tuned! ;)


Stranded on an island

4.03.2005
Well, not quite but almost. I came back to NY last night to give my Dad his birthday card and have cake last night. If you don't live in the Northeast you might not know that we've been having a bit of rain. Yeah, a bit... as in Noah get the ark. I was planning on being back in CT tonight but plans have changed a bit. My parents live across the street from a gravel pit and we noticed people working over there last night. This morning, one of the owners came over to let us know what was going on (they aren't supposed to work on Sunday according to local law). Well, apparently our county is in a state of emergency. Several bridges are gone and basically every road out of here is flooded over. There is a hot dog truck stuck under one of the local bridges, quite a ways away from where it was supposed to be. One area has a truck and trailer stuck and only a few inches of the roof is showing. The only way I could get out of here would be to take a bunch of back roads I don't really know any more and even that isn't a guarantee. Guess who's staying put?

The major tragedy of this all is that I have all this time and not enough yarn! I brought Mariah with me and finally finished the arm cables last night. I'm still yoking along and might even be able to finish today but I'm working on the last ball I brought with me!! And I didn't bring any of my other projects with me because I didn't think I'd have time to do anything with them!! :'(

All is not lost however. When I run out of yarn, I'll just have to start making squares for HMB. :)

Oh yeah, and I finished the clapper Friday night! :) I washed it and blocked it here last night. As per Eklectica's suggestions I put it in a washbasin with warm water and a little shampoo, sloshed it around, and rinsed it really well. Then I took a bunch of towels and squeezed as much water out as I could. I put a big towel down on our dining room table and laid it over that. I didn't even need pins because it was so big it hung off the edges. It dried pretty quickly and feels nice and soft now. Needless to say, no pic yet since the camera is in CT.

Well I guess I'll go back to working on Mariah now. If nothing else I suppose I can sew up some of the seams when I run out of yarn to knit with since I left extra yarn tied up at the joinings. Hopefully I'll make it back to CT tomorrow to give you all an update. Ciao for now!


I'm related to an April Fool

4.01.2005
First things first: If you are feeling charitable today (and this really isn't hard to do so get off your can and do it) go over to this blog and leave a comment to raise money for Breast Cancer.

Second first thing: Look who left the 5th comment on the last post! *Jumping up and down like a kid that just saw their favorite rock star* My blog has been graced by a book authoring celebrity!

On to the other stuff:

What's this we have here?



Oh, yeah, that. That would be MORE YARN!! Hehehe... After work yesterday I made a little side trip to the local Joann's (which has definitely expanded their yarn selection. Thanks for the tip Eklectika!) with some coupons and *she who does not have a blog and should get one* ::cough, wink:: [otherwise known as SnB buddy Sami] only to have *she who does not have a blog and should get one* be smart enough to actually read the coupons and discover that they were not good until April 7th. Now honestly, why the heck do you e-mail coupons to potential customers and make them wait a week to go out a use them? Do you like torture? Do you have any idea what people like us are like? The coupon is an excuse to go shopping and must be used as soon as it gets into our hot little hands. What do you people not get about that? Obviously the people that handle these things are either a) not crafters or b) of a gender that does not have the shopping gene.

Obviously you can tell that this didn't stop us however. My wallet thinks I shouldn't go "browsing" with friends anymore...but I told it to shut up. So my color is Candy Blue and *she who does not have a blog* got Blueberry. What are we making? Tempting! We were inspired by Lauren to go with the cotton ease for another (hopefully) quick knit.

Nevermind I have an only partially yoked Mariah staring at me at the moment and several other projects calling from another room. Yeah, nevermind that.

And nevermind the fact that I now must spend hours of my life developing a website for my graduation portfolio and must ignore those calling projects. But at least I know there will be some fun this evening...but I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

And if you think April Fool's sucks, just remember, it could be someone's birthday.
Happy 82nd Grandpa, wherever you are.