You Wanted FO Pics?

You got 'em! First - my Chrysanthemum Tea Shawl from Amazing Crochet Lace. This is a FABULOUS book. If you crochet, you really should give it a look. Blocking: Artfully draped over, er, a box: And now, semi-knitting FO. I went to Ikea (Ah, how I love thee...) last Friday night (while Kris was working from 6am to 4am. Yes, you read that right. A 22-hour day. And that was just the start of the weekend...) I was going there to pick up a shelf unit. Specifically, an Expedit bookcase. Why? For this: My new stash organization system. I was really, really tired of ugly plastic boxes piled up against the wall. It was a total pain in the ass to get into anything that wasn't on the top level, and it just wasn't PRETTY. Those boxes on the far left? Those would be the same kinds that used to house the whole stash. The 6 orange canvas drawers on the bottom shelves hold sock yarn (yes, all of them) and the 4 baskets hold random single skeins that don't have projects planned yet. The two big lidded baskets on the floor house spinning stuff - one for bobbins and spindles and my lazy kates, and the other for in-progress fiber on spindles. Oh, and this: Is all stuff I'm going to be putting up for swap or sale in the near future. (OK, maybe not "near" - I've got stuff going on every weekend in May, so it might not be until June) And the completely non-knitting FO - our new powder room! We attacked it last week and finished it up on Saturday. Previously, it was white walls, a ridiculously oversized mirror, and a very, very basic sink cabinet and sink. Blah. We tore out everything but the floor and the toilet, and now we have this: Pedestal sink! Yay! And the decorating inspiration - four of Kris's photos of the flowering cherry tree out front: Now, back to work on Tomato before Cristi completely humiliates me by finishing it. I'm fairly certain I'm losing this particular race, but I'm ok with that. Mine's going to be cuter.

Just to be silly

I saw this on ZantiMissKnit's blog and it made me laugh. Your Celebrity Boob Twin: Lucy Lawless Who's Your Celebrity Boob Twin? And my friend Carrie has joined the world of the craft bloggers! (She's a crocheter who also knits, so I can't really call her a knitblogger.) Check out her new blog: Pocket Size Studios.

Comcast, thou art my nemesis

So, yeah. If anyone was wondering why I missed last week's Yarn Pr0n Friday, blame Comcast. well, Comcast and the ice storm that hit the Baltimore-DC area last Tuesday. See, Tuesday night (the 13th), the storm hit. At 11 Wednesday morning, I was chatting online with my hubby and my friend Kaz when the cable went out. We'd had an outage earlier that week, so I didn't think it was any big deal. I sent Kris a text message asking him to call Comcast to check on it, since he had the number. Then, at 1:30, the power went out. It stayed out until 4:00 on Thursday afternoon (which was a lot faster than it came back for some areas). Luckily, we had already made reservations for our Valentine's Day dinner out (Yay Melting Pot!) AND the restaurant still had power. We spent a surprisingly cozy night under 5 blankets and a comforter, and woke to a rather chilly house and some really chilly fish in the tank. We called our friends Hyon and Drew, and luckily they had an extra tank that they could set up at their house (that, and they had power). We took the fish, their heater, and their filter over, and spent the day hanging with them. At about 6:00, Kris and Drew came back to the house to check on the dogs and feed them, and I got a triumphant text message on my phone: "We have POWER!". So, yay - only about 24 hours without, and the house warmed back up surprisingly quickly. Since we'd been without power, it wasn't like we could really USE the internet, so we didn't worry too much about calling Comcast until Friday. They gave Kris about 6 different stories about how it was an issue with the account, an "Area 51 error" (Tell me THAT doesn't sound like BS...), all kinds of things. Finally, they agreed to send a tech out on Saturday. He was supposed to be here between 8 and 11. At NOON, Kris called them (again) to ask where he was. In spite of the fact that Kris told them EVERY TIME HE CALLED that we have VOIP and if our internet connection is out, our home phone doesn't work and that the tech would need to call his cell phone, the guy still called the home phone. He finally got them to call the tech and get him to come over, where he spent (I kid you not) 5 minutes looking at the modem and said, "Yeah, it must be a problem with the hard line somewhere. I'll put in a request for them to check it." Sunday comes and goes... still no internet. Monday, Kris calls (AGAIN), only to find that the tech never told them anything about us - no service request for the line, nothing. So, they tell him they will check it. Tuesday, still nothing. He gets them to send another tech on Wednesday, again reminding them that the home phone doesn't work and that they need to call my cell. I could check voicemail from our cell, so when there is no sign of the tech by 11, I do. Guess who left a message saying that since we weren't home, we would have to call Comcast (and sit on hold for half an hour) if we wanted to reschedule... Grrr.... At this point, I've had it. I no longer care about getting the Comcast stuff back up, I just want to be DONE with it. Happily, we had already decided about a month ago that we were going to switch from Comcast and DirecTV to Verizon FiOS (fiber optic) for our internet and tv. The installation was originally scheduled for last Thursday (the 15th), but they called us on Wednesday to reschedule because of the weather. The rescheduled install? Yesterday. So, since I only had to wait one more day anyway, I just couldn't deal with Comcast any more. Strangely, I sat here watching tv, and suddenly, at about 3pm, the phone rang. Now, that shouldn't happen, since we had no internet connection. I looked over at the router, and lo and behold, there it was. We were back. Just in time to ditch them the next day. How's that for timing? So, yes, that's the saga of my last week. It's been a little insane around here. I've been knittyboard-less, and Kris has been without his World of Warcraft. Luckily, we did survive. :D I even got a good amount done on my Fair Isle cardigan! (pictures probably this weekend, along with the ones of all the packages I've gotten lately). And, now that you have slogged though all of that, how about a little yarn pr0n? OK, how about a LOT of yarn pr0n? First up, a little more souvenir yarn - some Koigu I picked up with Mtwelovett to make myself another pair of Wyvern Socks. And the "planned project" list (you know, because it wasn't long enough already...) Someday, these will be... ...Zephyrstyle's "Rusted Root" in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in "Candy Apple" ...Zephyrstyle's "Green Gable" in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in "Raging Purple" ...Zephyrstyle's "Wicked" in Artyarns Supermerino in color 106 ...and Knitty's "Thermal" in KnitPicks Gloss in Serengeti So, there you have it, my dears. Another week in yarn pr0n. Until next time! (which hopefully won't be as long!!)

Happy New Year!

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve, everyone! And just because it wouldn't be like me not to jump on a bandwagon, I saw this on CPurl's and Andi's blogs: I think I can live with that. :D

Vegas Pics

At long last, hubby has made it through the ridiculous pile of pictures he took in Las Vegas. He's got a Flickr album of them up here. And to all of you who asked about sending more hats - yes, yes, yes! Keep sending them! Once I hit 198, I'll get them to the hospital, and then I'll start collecting for the next batch. And because I've decided to make this a continuing project, I've started a blog speccifically for it here: Hats for Alex. It's still slightly under construction, but the basics are there. I will continue to post pictures of the hats that I receive over there. I've also set up a gmail account for people to write to for information about the project - hatsforalex@gmail.com

Awesome Quote of the Day

Courtesy of bluecanary on the Knittyboards, in reference to eyelash yarns: "It's called 'novelty yarn' for a reason. Trouble is, the novelty wears off fast!" Seriously - I think there needs to be a t-shirt or bumper sticker that says that...

I'm here! I swear!

So, I'll recap the vacation soon, but I do have two quick things: 1. I am SO SORRY that I missed last week's YPF. I originally planned to write up the post before we left, and then put it up while on the road, and I just didn't get to it. I thought I'd have a bit of time to post something quickly while in Sin City, but I was wrong. I'll do better this week, I promise! (Cristi - I'll give myself 30 lashes with wet acrylic, ok?) 2. Re: Weird Al - I love that so many of you are fans, too. :D And as such, I feel it is a moral imperative that I point you to this NPR story about his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful". And here, to download the song, which is just as funny as is expected. Ok - vacation update soon, I promise! But first, a sneak peek at my new hair, courtesy of my brother the faboo stylist:

A silly recommendation

OK, y'all may not be aware of my deep, undying love for Weird Al, but I absolutely adore him. I think he's a genius. And he's got a new cd out. Straight Outta Lynwood I picked it up today, and have been giggling like a loon since I got home. The polka is, as usual, awesome.

Yarrrrrrrr!

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, this picture that Kris took at the Ren Fair this weekend: How awesome is that? His name is Stefan Rosario - he's the nicest guy, and he has a great gallery of pictures people have sent him here. We were chatting with him while looking at kilts in one of the shops. I'm betting he's going to have a blast there this weekend - it's Pirate Weekend at the Faire! (And yes, we're probably going back. We finally broke down and bought costumes to wear for Halloween and at the Faire, and Kris needs a couple of accessories.) And in non-pirate news, Carbon Leaf has a new cd out - Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat! Mine came in today's mail. Yay!!! And we FINALLY got a copy of Robin Hood: Men in Tights on dvd, which we have been waiting for for years. It's the dopiest movie, but I love it. And in knitting news, I joined the Grey's Anatomy KAL. I'm FINALLY going to start working on the Handyman Sweater from the Fall '05 issue of Knitter's Magazine. I'm making it in Cascade 220 in Black and Grey, so it's totally appropriate. :D ETA: I shrunk the picture, so that might help those who are having formatting issues with the blog. I hope.

Hail, and well met!

Woo hoo! We're going to the Maryland Ren Faire today! I will post lots of pics (Kris is, of course, taking his camera) and will eat much food on a stick. And then I have to take library pictures for this week's blogstalking. I got so excited about the first Yarn Pr0n Friday that I completely forgot to work on that. Oops...

Friendship

Warning - this is a knitting and food-free post. =) I've had a lot of cause lately to think about friendship. I have chosen not to get into the specific here, but suffice it to say that someone I thought was a friend proved (very clearly) not to be. I had a pretty fair number of friends in high school and college, some of whom I was VERY close to at the time. It saddens me to think that I have lost touch with most of them. I am really only in touch with four people from high school (Kir, Robin, and Donna - the ones I went to Kennywood with this spring, and Mike, who I hear from sporadically), and one from college (and since she's my cousin, I'm not sure that counts). I also have some good friends that I have made since being married, most of whom either went to school with Kris or married people who did. Anyway, lately, I have had cause to turn to some people I know only from the Knittyboards for support. The funny thing is that even though I haven't met some of them in "real" life (It bothers me to refer to the Knittyboards as somehow less real because they are online...), I am as close to them as some of the people I see on a regular basis. And these people, with whom I technically only share an obsession with using sticks to turn string into something useful, have stepped up to the plate and been some of the truest friends I can imagine. They have let me vent when I needed to, made me laugh with some really snarky comments, and have made me believe that I will honestly get through this and be ok. I'm not sure all of them know just how much they have touched my life, but I have to take a moment to thank them. I'm not sure I can ever repay them for this, but I love them all dearly, and I want to make sure that they know it. Thank you, guys. You are amazing people, and I am so lucky to have found you. Hugs, Pam

Apparently I am a Bad Blogger

...or else I just have friends with too much time on their hands. (You know I love you both, CBear and Yorkie). I'm making some progress on the Christmas knitting, but I can't really post about it, what with the recipients reading my blog, so you'll have to wait on that. I am also behind on my blogstalking assignments. I'm playing catch-up this weekend. Honestly, nothing all that interesting going on around here at the moment.

Arrrrrrgh!

Check it out! I finished the "We Call Them Pirates" hat for Kris! I actually finished it a couple of days ago, but had to block it and then wait for it to dry. Stupid cotton hem. =) It is KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in "Coal" and "Cloud", and KnitPicks Shine Worsted (for the hem/lining) in "Ebony". The Shine Worsted was a killer on my hands (US1 needles...shudder), but the Shine Sport doesn't come in black. I'm really happy with how it came out, since this was my first real Fair Isle project. There were a couple of places that I pulled the floats a little tight, but most of them stretched a bit with blocking. This is a cute project, and a lot of fun to knit. Which is good, since I am making another one for my brother for Christmas. And Kris says it is nice and warm. Because, you know, Tom will really need that in Vegas. Hee. We did something last night that was totally new to me, and way more fun than I thought it should be. John was meeting up with a couple of his old medical school friends and invited us to tag along. We went to the Montgomery County Fair to watch the demolition derby. And it was AWESOME. Kris took his camera (of course) and took a ton of pictures. He's posted a few of them here, but these are a couple of my faves. This couple was sitting in front of us. Judging from her hair, we are guessing that they actually got married yesterday and were spending the evening at the fair. How cute is that? This was the car that won the "small car" division. And the driver? Was a woman. :D We really had a blast. And we also had some awesome food. There is nothing like a county fair funnel cake. Yum. And my dear Siress Yorkie? Every hour on the hour? Really? I have to believe you have more important things to do than see if I have updated my blog. =)

Personal Growth

You know how when you are a kid and someone does something to hurt you or make you angry, your first reaction is to lash out and get back at them? I think it is a sign of maturity that I have managed not to make any snarky or mean comments to someone, even though I have been sorely tempted. And let's face it, what she did WAY warrants it. And I'm not even going to publicly out her for what she did. Because I'm going to be bigger than that. 11-1/2 hours until the guessing game deadline! Still no perfect scores yet...

A Little Progress

So, after looking carefully at the Sizzle pattern and realizing that when it says"blah blah blah, repeat 6 more times" it means that you do that a total of SEVEN times (*facepalm*), I ripped back and corrected it. Of course, by the time I realized it, I was already onto the front, so I partly ripped the back, stuck it back on the needle, and finished the front before going back to it. As of today, I am here:I am quite happy with how it is coming out, and I am hoping to get the back finished either today or tomorrow. I am still debating lengthening the straps a little bit, because I am thinking that I should have added more than an inch in the waist section. I really don't need this to be a cropped shirt. Nor does the rest of the world... I finally got a picture of the Cigar Gloves I made for Kris. For my first gloves, I have to say that I think they turned out really well. However, if I ever say the words "black", "worsted weight" and "size US3 needles" in reference to the same project again, please slap me. I did them both at once (until the finger bits) on 2 circulars, and I think it only took me about 3 days. It's a well-written pattern, and I am definitely intrigued to tackle more gloves in the future. Of course, I really want to make these for myself at some point. Once I find an obnoxious enough sock yarn, that is. We did have an adventure here Sunday morning. The boys (Kris and our friend John, who is staying with us until he closes on his new house at the end of the month) were still asleep, so I came downstairs to check email, etc., only to find that my monitor was... less than functioning. Sometime in the middle of the night, it had gone completely haywire and was showing nothing but a gray screen with a few random pixels lit. I went to wake up Kris, who spent a bit fiddling with it and then called HP Support, because (Yay!) it was still under warrantee. So, they talked to him for a bit, confirmed that it really was dead, and are sending me a new one. For the time being, Kris moved his monitor over here, and he is "making do" with just his laptop. According to the HP site, though, the new one should be here tomorrow, which means Kris can keep his Wednesday date with his WoW buddies and not be stuck with the laptop (which works perfectly well for gaming, but the screen is smaller) And have you seen these? Knit Picks, you are my nemesis! First, the awesome new needles, and now these bags! And they MATCH the needle case. They are deliberately appealing to my completely anal-retentive nature! I was going to be good and wait on them for a while, but I showed them to Kris, and he immediately said, "Wow - those are classy-looking. And that's a good price. You should get them." So, yeah, I did, along with the chart keeper. And I decided to splurge on the faster shipping, which means that according to the tracking, they will be here tomorrow, where the yarn and additional circular needles I ordered last week won't be here until Thursday. Hee. (And yes, folks, I married an enabler. Is it any wonder I'm keeping him? I mean, aside from the fact that he's damn cute?) I'll post pics and my thoughts as soon as they get here.

I'm Here!

I've been really bad lately about blogging, for a variety of reasons. First of all, this past weekend was that grand tradition of debauchery - EdFest! Basically, this is a group of people who have gotten together for a weekend every July since right after their freshman year in college, which makes this the 15th year. (I didn't start going until after Kris and I were married, so this is only my 7th year) It's pretty much an excuse to hang out and drink a lot of beer while acting like a bunch of goofballs. This year, we were in Wintergreen, VA, where we rented an absolutely beautiful house. It was an awesome weekend, and I think Kris and I both needed a little time away. Kris got some great pictures (as if we expect anything less), which he has posted to an album here. For anyone wondering, the crossed out XIV replaced by the XV is because we had all been calling it EdFest XIV, until we were there and someone actually started counting. That would be when we realized it was actually XV. Oops. =) I did wear the completed Bombshell this weekend, and although I told Kris that I wanted a decent picture of it, this was the best he did. Oh well. I'll get one at some point. I was working on my next project, Sizzle from Wendy over at The Garter Belt. It's an awesome pattern, and is coming along quickly in spite of the fact that I can't count. If the decrease rows say "repeat this 6 more times", that means you do it SEVEN times total. Duh. So, I got through the back and was partway through the front when I realized my mistake and I had to rip the back to the point where I needed the additional set of decreases. No biggie - it would have annoyed me if I hadn't done it right. I'm using the KnitPicks needles on this, and I have to say, I am really, really happy with them. There have been lots of reviews on these out there, including a couple from people who were less than thrilled with them (Grumperina found them too heavy for her taste. They don't bother me, but that's a pretty personal thing.), so I'm not going to go on ad nauseum. I'll just say that I personally am very pleased with them, and have ordered a second case and some 24" circs. That way, once case will hold the interchangeables, and the other will hold the circs. I think that should alleviate the crowding issues in the case. I am part of the Stitch Marker Swap over on the knittyboards, and I finally finished making all of mine. Here are the 9 sets I made. The top photo, left to right, are for Clotho42, hotmama, and purrl. The middle ones are for adore_one, PrincessRach84, and tionaknitsinaz. The bottom ones are for merrymom, allwoundup, and jennyknitnpurl. (If you click the linked names, you will see a closer picture of that set of markers) I'm really pleased with how they came out - I hope the recipients all like them, too! I received my first two sets right before I left for EdFest. The top ones are from AKKnitter, and the bottom ones came from mrsmotter. I am actually using the ones from mrsmotter on my Sizzle shell right now. I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! Oh, and I've also joined in on the silliness of the "blog stalking" over at the boards, so there will be some odd pictures coming up around here. I missed the shoe collection flash, the "what's under your bed" pictures, and the "freezer flash", but I'm still thinking about going back and catching up on them. Maybe. =)

Three Quick Things

First, I finished Bombshell! Yay! It really came out well - I'm very happy with it. I'll post pics and more details on the pattern tomorrow. Also, I did start playing with my KnitPicks needles on the edging for the sweater, and I am in love. I am really happy with them. Again, more detail tomorrow. Finally, a sign that the apocalypse is clearly nigh - my father has a blog. The pictures are from their neighborhood's semi-annual crawl - 10 houses, each house is a country with an associated drink. They walk from house to house, drinking at each one and then spend the rest of the evening at the last house. My folks' house was Cuba - they had Mojitos and Cuba Libres. And yes, I crocheted Dad's faux Castro beard out of fun fur. I'm so ashamed...

They're Here!

Yay! My needles arrived!!! That's the Options set, the 40", 47" and 60" cables, the size tags, the needle sizer, some extra pockets, and a bunch of the circulars. Now to keep myself from casting on yet another project, just so I can play with them. You know, at least until I finish Bombshell... (Hey, I've finally made it past the ribbing! There is hope of finishing it!)

Weekend Recap

Had a good weekend. We went up to PA to see Kris's Mom and my folks. One of the reasons we went up to see Kris's Mom was so that he could deliver something to her. When his Dad passed away in April, Kris and I talked about buying the urn for his ashes, but I suggested to him that maybe he should make something. His Dad is the one who taught him woodworking, so we decided that would be a fitting tribute. Kris designed and built this: The light wood is cherry, and the dark wood is wenge. I think it is absolutely stunning. Like I told Kris, I wish to hell he hadn't had to make it, but I think he did a beautiful job on it. While we were there, we took a walk with his Mom and Onyx (their black lab/Rottweiler mix) around the old farm. Kris took a bunch of pictures and posted some of the best ones on his flickr page. We spent Saturday night at my folks' and took Dad to lunch at the Olive Garden on Sunday. He claims never to have been to an Olive Garden, which just boggles my mind. We had a great lunch and a nice time just hanging out with them. In the car on the way to and fro, I finally started my HushHush. I cast on and got through about half of the lace at the bottom. At the moment, it's just kind of a pink pile, so I haven't taken any pics just yet. That, and it's been raining like mad here since yesterday (although it looks to be clearing up), so the light is less than ideal. I did realize that between the HushHush, the Pomatomus socks (currently in time out due to some issues on my part. Trying to figure out how to fix them without ripping. Not sure it's going to be possible. Sigh), and the Candleflame Shawl, I am using nothing bigger than a US2 needle right now. And it is killing my hands! So, the solution? Cast on something else, of course! :D I recently swapped with chadzturtledove2 on the Knittyboards, and she sent me 8 skeins of the coveted and discontinued Lion Cotton-Ease in Ice Blue. She also sent me some really cute patterns for it from an issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting. I'm seriously considering a sleeveless turtleneck with some of it. For the time being, though, I started the Bombshell tee from Big Girl Knits. It is really a cute pattern, and I can't wait to see how it comes out! And how sad is it that I have gotten to the point where using US8's is using "big" needles. What happened to the woman who feared anything smaller than a 9? Oh, and just for massive amounts of temptation - check out this blog: Cupcake Bakeshop. I am totally drooling over some of her recipes and am absolutely going to try some of them. Eventually.

I <3 Carbon Leaf

Had the BEST time last night at the Ram's Head Inn in Annapolis. We went to see Carbon Leaf with Jen and Hillary, and it was an AWESOME show. The Ram's Head is a nice small venue, so even the furthest tables were near the stage and you could see the guys clearly. Plus, they were just SO good! They played a bunch of new stuff that will hopefully be on the new cd, which is coming out in September. Yay! Hillary was a total hoot at the show. She wasn't familiar with Carbon Leaf, but I knew shed like them, so I invited her to come with us. She LOVED them. She kept looking at me after every song, saying "Oh, my God! These guys are GREAT!" By the time we left, she was bouncing up and down, totally in love with the band (and I think perhaps harboring a bit of a crush on the lead singer Barry, who is rather a cutie.) I love introducing new people to Carbon Leaf.