Dyeing again

For those of you experiencing Spring, I just wanted to share this picture. We didn't get any accumulation today, but it basically flurried all day and this weekend is supposed to be very cold.

Mimi and Sugar Bear were both home from school today. I wasn't planning on keeping them both home. Yesterday, when I picked Mimi up at 11:45, four kids in her class had already thrown up. Not to mention, the teacher had been out all week, sick herself. By 3:00 when I picked up Sugar Bear, 6 more kids had thrown up and one of the assistants left sick as well. Plus, I believe there was also a child with strep. Talk about your banner day.

I knew I wasn't sending Mimi today. I know the school worked hard last night disinfecting the living daylights out of the classroom, but I figured, let's give it a couple of days. Sugar Bear was complaining of a sore throat last night, but I kind of thought it was all in her head. She was still pretty miserable this morning and complained all day, so I am glad I kept her home. And boy did I keep them busy.
We dyed eggs and you know, I can't exactly let dye just go to waste. So, I found a rather small ball of off-white yarn I had left over and told Sugar Bear to have at it. She picked her colors and we set it up for the microwave. The yarn isn't quite dry so I can't show you the final pics of that until tomorrow, but I think she chose some good colors and she should have fun knitting with the outcome.
I also got two new books in the mail today. I get reward certificates for Amazon through my credit card, so I figured I would treat myself to some knitting books. Really, I'm trying to get myself back on track because I am so desperate to start knitting again, but haven't yet decided on my project. Probably the DIY socks I mentioned yesterday, but I just haven't gotten to them yet. But I digress . . .

The first book is the new one by the Yarn Harlot. I've loved her other ones so thought this would be a natural for Spring. She's going to be visiting the area soon and I hope to have the chance to go see her. The other book is by the Yarn Girls and I have liked their other books, so thought, what the heck? I mean, really, is there such a thing as a bad knitting book . . . well maybe if it's wall-to-wall Leisure Arts. smile. I'll let you know how both books are very soon.

Knitty Gritty

DH had HDTV needs and so bought us a rather large HDTV last week. The upside of this for me is that we finally have a DVR, meaning we can finally record tv shows that I can never quite fit into the schedule.

Like . . . Knitty Gritty. They are airing it on HGTV and DIY so between the two, it's getting much easier to catch. But, now that I can record it, I can rewind when I want to see something, and when Vickie Howell's enthusiasm gets on my nerves a bit (seriously, love you girl!), I can move ahead just enough to get by.

The last two shows didn't exactly wow me because a) even I am not going to knit coasters for my martini glasses (because frankly, if I'm spilling any out of the glass, I needed to stop drinking a while ago) and b) how often are you really going to use them. Also, yesterday was all about man knits and I can't even go to that subject until I finish the sweater that DH is now starting to harass my knitting friends about (sorry, Beth).

But, today, ah, today was a GREAT show! Socks, glorious socks. And even better, toe-up socks that I haven't tried yet but am looking forward to. Plus all the shows are new right now and they are bringing in a bunch of the bloggers that I read (like Cookie A. and Scout) to do some shows. Thanks to Linda for the heads up on that! The socks today were awesome, and I am a little inspired, especially since they were using Socks that Rock yarn and gee, I happen to have a few (ahem) skeins of that lying around just waiting to be whipped up by someone. The only thing of course, is that I have to convert the pattern from DPNs to circs but, hey, minor glitch.

Why I love you guys

Because friends don't let friends knit fug.

I am officially booting the idea of the pants. Some of my reasons are yours, namely the sag factor. While I appreciate a great pair of lounging pants, I can't imagine spending that much time knitting a pair, nor the amount of money that the Koigu cost at the time that I purchased it. Of course, I would have no problem making socks out of all of it :)

I should make a shawl or a throw I think. I'm just not sure I am a "shawl person." And I'd like to do something for myself. Though, I am usually much more motivated to knit for other people. I was looking the Charlotte's Web Shawl. Very beautiful, but enormous project. And the Clapotis looks incredibly challenging but I'm sure I could get through it if I really wanted to. The problem is the volume of Koigu. We're talking many and varied projects here unless I do something big like the shawl. I did a Koigu headscarf last year that came out really lovely. But, talk about sag, I should never have even brought the pants up now that I think about the drape of that scarf.

And just so we can all drool together, here is the stash of Koigu. Isn't it lovely? The top photo is with flash and the bottom without, just to try to get to true color representation, I thought I would share both.

Horrified

So, I was googling, trying to find a picture of the Koigu pants to show you and I am truly horrified to find out that there was a picture of them in the YouKnitWhat archives.

Now, when I originally saw this photo of the pants two years ago, I was more of a novice knitter. And, now I am looking at them and thinking, "are they fug?" Actually, what I am really thinking is, are they going to look horrible on me after all the work that would go into them and would they just end up incredibly saggy?

So, now is the time to tell me what you really think about these pants. I'm talking painful honesty here, people. Because it's a helluva waste of Koigu if we can all come to a consensus that they may just end up fodder for the fug file.

Filling the Wool Connection void

It's really interesting how many shops and people have been affected in one way or another by the closing of the Wool Connection in Avon, CT.

First, there's Marji's Yarncrafts in Granby. She's taking over the fabulous Ewephoric Weekend from the Wool Connection, with a really great line-up of crafts and teachers (including Lily Chin, who Holly from CT raves is a great teacher). The weekend is May 19th and 20th and I just got my registration info in the mail which I better hop to and send back before all spots are taken. There is a brochure online also. There's a class on spinning I am going to have to take. It's not a good idea for me to get into yet another aspect of the disease called knitting, but if I'm already dyeing my own stuff, I might as well learn how to spin it.

Second, I got an email today from the Village Sheep in New Milford, CT. They are offering an introductory offer of 20% off luxury yarns on your first online or in store purchase to customers who used to shop at Wool Connection (perhaps they sold their email list?). The code is WELCOME so feel free to take advantage of that one.

While we are on the sale subject, Kaleidoscope Yarns has the Fibre Company yarn at 15% off through April 3rd at 5 p.m. (I love a store with specifics). It's a kettle-dyed blend of silk, baby alpaca, and merino wool. Sounds yummy.

WEBS has a bunch of new close-outs, so if you are looking for odds and ends, get there.

And finally, just go look at this Blood Orange Yarn Mama-E dyed. Try not to leave your computer screen looking like a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut.

Knitting Funk

I'm not knitting. I haven't been knitting for over a week. And I'm not even that motivated to start now. I think it's because of one gigantic virus that descended on my when we got back from Florida. I think it was the same one the kids had but mine took a different route via my stomach and then via pink eye. The pink eye has been serious, almost a week now. More of a PIA than anything else.

But, I'm thinking that to get back into the knitting I am going to do something dramatic and go back to a project that I always wanted to start and never got around to. For those of you who know me, they are simply known as, "the pants." They appeared in Vogue Knitting a couple of Spring/Summer's ago and they are made entirely out of mitered squares knitted in Koigu. The fabulous yarn has been just sitting in my stockpile waiting to be loved. And I feel like the squares give you a pretty immediate sense of accomplishment which I am in desperate need of right now. These pants are legend among my knitting friends. If Jodi still reads my blog, I'm sure she's laughing because they sort of became like a pregnant woman near her due date, "anything yet?" "no, nothing."

And, of course, they may still remain that way . . . anybody out there already knit them? I'll have to scan in a pic for those of you who don't know them, but if you have your old issues, they are easy to find, and I think the model was on the beach.

Walk Against Hunger 2007

Yes, my friends, it's that time again. Time to get out your happy feet and Walk Against Hunger in Hartford. I sit on the Board of a local agency, Center City Churches and as part of my duties and desire, we are recruiting walkers and teams of walkers again this year.

The Walk takes place on May 6, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. It's only a three mile walk, so it's very easy, and it's a great event to bring the entire family to enjoy. DH, Sugar Bear, and Mimi will all be walking with me this year.

So far, as part of CCC we have 36 teams, but our goal is 50 teams who will help us raise $50,000. The great thing is, for every one dollar raised it equals ten dollars in food. Awesome!

If you are interested in joining the team, or interested in making a donation, please visit
the Compassionate Soles webpage.

Window Dressing

I've been all quiet on the eastern front because we were out of town for Spring Break. Was an interesting one because we actually relaxed and didn't make it a frenzy of activity. The girls were sick with the "fever bug" for the first half of it so that didn't help, but at least we all got to sleep in.

But, that's not what the blog is really about today. I'm talking about airport security again. Or lack there of. Or further, the fact that they put us through all these hoops to get through security and yet, it's all just window dressing. Case in point . . .

We had already picked-up our bags from baggage claim. DH was on his way to the garage to get the car (which BTW had a completely dead battery when he got there, welcome home!) when I noticed an unattended backpack. Completely unattended. Because I had the kids and the luggage with me, I couldn't seek out the police or TSA or whomever, so I alerted the nearest Southwest employee. Who didn't really care. And, did everything in her power to try to foist the bag off on anyone standing within 50 feet of it. Eventually, what I think was a security guard came over and tried to relay info on his walkie talkie.

This was a comedy of errors. His walkie apparently was working as well as those in the Twin Towers because finally he gave up and used his cell phone to call the person he was reporting the info to. At this point, I think the bag has been unattended for about 20 minutes.

A few minutes later the state police officer shows up and just begins rifling through the bag looking for identification. Since I am no longer physically at the airport, I can use the word I longed to in that moment. What if there had been a BOMB inside of it? That's what the government would have us believe is that people are at every turn trying to sabotage us. So, explain it to me Lucy, what the hell are we doing just rifling through an unattended bag that could have had anything in it?

I know this sounds paranoid, but I'm sitting there with my two children and I'm thinking, if anything happens to us over what seems like stupidity, I'm going to be really bs. We take off our shoes, we put miniscule amounts of liquid in clear plastic bags (because it makes it easier for the x-ray machine to scan?), and we walk through sniffing machines, but an unattended bag on the outside of security, that we can just rifle through and hope for the best.

Don't believe them when they say we are safer, they are only fooling themselves.

Latest Creativity

We are throwing my grandmother a 75th birthday party this weekend, and I must admit, I have been one crafty beotch. She doesn't know it, but I came up with favors that are pretty darn nifty. So, this is a picture of her invitation (sorry to block out the details, you know I love you, but the room only seats 55) EDIT: I didn't design the invite, Anna Griffin did, I designed the favors, just wanted to be clear because you guys were giving me way too much credit:

I went on the Internet and looked up songs that were written in the 1930s. I picked out fifteen fairly well known songs that thankfully, I had on CD, recorded by various artists (Sinatra, Holiday, Fitzgerald, you get the idea).

I imported the image of the flower on the invitation into my CD label program and came up with this:

And I wanted to use them as favors, but I thought it would work great to also use them as table cards, so I wrapped them up and used the extra flowers that came with the invitations (so, like the invites, they are also 3-D):

I can't wait for her to see them! I just finished typing up some "1932 Was a Very Good Year" fact sheets for the table and now I just need to finish gathering some pictures to display and I am finished. Yay!

Spring Knitty is up! Spring Knitty is up

Go there now!

Updates

First, MagKnits has their new issue up. They've got a really cute kids t-shirt in there for all of my free time. They have a couple of pairs of sock patterns as well, but I admit, I haven't looked at them much.

Second, Kaleidoscope Yarns had Cherry Tree Merino Boucle for 25% off in case you are in need.

Astrid also has some really interesting yarn, the Atelier Zitron Unikat. There are some beautiful colors and there's also a free mitten pattern. I wish my last order had not already shipped or I would have ordered this also. She has the new Opal Bamboo collection as well. Really nice stuff.

I stopped by the Wool Connection around 11 a.m. This is my third visit to a yarn store that was closing in the past year. They are getting more sad. They were very picked over except for notions and buttons which were exactly what I needed. There are only four days left until they close, and the knitting world, I imagine, will be a little smaller because of it.


I'll be keeping an eye on my email and add more sales as I get them. And if you have any you want me to post, just send them to me or add them to the comments.

Baby Knitting Galore

Ah, baby knitting. I just can't get away from it! The hat above, is for my cousin's new baby boy. It is much more red in person so it's great for a boy. It's the umbilical hat from one of the Stitch & Biatch books. A really quick knit that looks great and is very soft to the touch. I also have one of two matching booties completed. I've got to get the bootie finished by next week because I will see my cousin then. I'm using the bootie pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (i.e., my knitting gift bible).

I thought I would use Felicity, Sugar Bear's American Girl doll, as my model for the other hat. This is my favorite hat to knit for little girls, especially bald little girls, but it's so darn adorable that it works for any little girl. It's the Moe hat from Berrocco. So unbelievably soft. I've also got a bib finished that needs a button and half a burp cloth. They are the ones from the Mason-Dixon book and they're great because they are knit out of the Peaches & Creme like the dishcloths so they are absorbent and you can just throw them in the washer.
I've still got one baby that is already here, a girl to knit for. I think I'll do another Moe hat and use the same yarn for some matching booties. Seriously, my friends' husbands need to start watching more TV.

I've added some new links under Blogs and under knitting sites finally so check them out!

And justice for none

Linda alerted me to the case of Julie Amero after reading Scout's blog.

Julie Amero was a substitute teacher in Norwich, CT who is facing up to 40 years in prison because pornographic images popped-up on her computer screen while she was substituting in a 7th grade class in 2004. The Washington Post actually has a really good posting on one of their blogs about this article that goes into all the details. So, if you want to know more than I post here, I suggest you visit that blog.

This woman's life is basically ruined because she couldn't figure out how to get these offensive and utterly crappy pop up windows off of her screen. It's incredibly irritating to know that I am living in a state that is wasting time prosecuting this woman when those resources could be put towards putting more pedophiles behind bars. If this woman is guilty of anything, it is panicking.

It all started when she stepped out of the room for a minute. When she came back in the room, two students were looking at a seemingly innocuous site about hairstyles. And then she realized there were pop-ups. When she couldn't get the pop-ups off of her screen she ran to the teacher's lounge, where consquently, no one helped her to get the images off. And one teacher even said something to the effect of, it happens all the time.

There also seems to be some bizarre judicial discretion at work here. Thanks to a friend, I was able to read this article by a local lawyer. The prosecution didn't bother to scan the hard drive. And when the defense did, they found a trojan horse program as well as spyware that was there long before she substituted.

Bottom line, you can contribute to her legal fund at her website.

Call the humane society quick

The look on this dog's face says it all. Kill me now. Please, please kill me now.

Just in case you are wondering where this gem came from, it was on the lion brand site.

Oh me oh my

Where is you knit what when you need them?

I'm not sure who or what I feel more sorry for. I feel sorry for the yarn for being turned into a "let's-wear-our-intestines-on-the-outside-today" top.

I feel sorry for the necklace, just for having to hang next to said top.

And finally, I feel sorry for the effort the model had to go through to look so pouty in the top. Perhaps, she is pouting because of the top?

And seriously, are those her boobies hanging out on the side there? I mean, a little to the left or right and it's a full-on aureola shot.

I just keep hearing, "Holy Christ!" over and over in my head.

Where is her family?

You know, everyone knew that Anna Nicole Smith was an absolute wreck. And from outward appearances at least, nobody seemed to want to do anything to help her. If you ever saw her reality show, clearly this girl was an addict.

And so, it brings me briefly to Britney Spears. I can't say that I really care about any of these starlets one way or the other. But, what I do care about is where the hell their families are. Because, it seems to me that when your child checks herself out of one day rehab, shaves her head, and then remarks at the tatoo parlor that the stain on her purse is Nyquil, there's a problem. Not to mention, where are her children? Where is Dr. Phil when you need him? Flashing your coochie in public is one thing, but shaving your head seems to be one step from the looney bin.

On the knitting front, Linda and I spent Friday letting the kids run the house while we sat and knat. I finished one of the two booties I was working on and got through a good half of the second one before I made some mistake directly tied to my chattiness. And the sock continues, the hand dyed one. I'll get some pictures on here, also of the umbilical hat that I finished.

Oh what a week

First, Tim Hardaway. Why is it that when someone is so obviously an a$$ hole we give him an opportunity to apologize on television. For those of you not in the loop, he's the former NBA player who felt the need to go on and on about how much he hates gay people. Can't you do that in private so that we don't get sucked into yet another celebrity drama of I hate this group of people and now I am on my way to inpatient rehab?

Second, at what point do we stop talking about Anna Nicole Smith and actually talk about things like, oh, I don't know, the dead soldiers still coming back from Iraq? The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan? Global Warming? Really anything but a dead pseudo-starlet?

And third, for those of you with HBO, please, please, please, take the time to scare the hell out of yourself by watching Alexandra Pelosi's latest documentary on Evangelical Christians. The funniest thing was the interview with the minister Haggarty, you know the one who about six months ago had to admit to being a practicing homosexual and a drug user? Yeah, his was easily the funniest part of what otherwise was a frightening documentary. One of my favorite parts was the coverage of the March for Life rally in DC. All the teenagers lining up to carry signs of fetuses and calling pro-choice people abortionists.

I have personal experience, sort of, with this fabulous event. I am not Catholic but attended Catholic high school outside of DC. As a freshman in 1990, the entire school was told they could attend and support the rally OR stay at school in an all-day study hall. Well, since I have been pro-choice from in-utero, I chose not to go to said rally and had to stay in school all day. I can still see the many faces of the other students who came right out and called me a baby killer without even asking what my position was. Anywho, the funniest part of the day in my mind, was the fact that once those students got off the metro, no one was chaperoning them to make sure they actually went to the march and so most of them went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and skipped the rest of the day. I think by the time I was a senior the event was optional.

Oh, and one more tidbit on that front, one of my all-time favorite announcements by our incredibly senile principal. He was discussing the idea (over the p.a. system, mind you) that if a woman got raped she should or should not have the right to an abortion. Well, of course, Catholic school, no abortion, ever, ever, ever. And as he put it, "Besides, most women don't get raped." I believe that he meant something along the lines of most women who get raped don't get pregnant, but ... umm... hello? The saddest part is the girls and boys who believed him.

Baby, it's cold outside

Apparently this morning, it was 10 degrees below zero here with the windchill. We finally got some snow over the weekend, and in honor of that, I just wanted to show you our beautiful boy (who is nicely recovered from the embarrassment of the Elizabethan collar and the loss of his manhood).

On and off the needles

I realize I have blogged very little about knitting lately, though I have been knitting or working on knitting projects (ahem, sewing the sweater) a bunch. So, here's a few updates. First, DH's feet in his first pair of handknit socks:

By the time I took this picture, he had actually been wearing them a while, so there is a bit of fuzz, etc. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I made them using the International Sock of Doom pattern, mostly because I had to use thick yarn, size 5 needles. The reason for the yarn was that it matches the sweater. Yes, the sweater of the neverending sewing together.

On the needles I have a pair of socks for myself:I'm not loving this pattern, but think that I will love the finished product. It's a pattern from Socks that Soar by Cat Bordhi. I think it's called Columbine Peaks. But, I am very excited by the yarn as it was one of my first and best dyed-it-myself from last fall. The self striping is really working. I've had to tink a bunch of times because I screwed up the pattern, but you get the idea.

And lastly, I'm gearing up for some baby knitting. I didn't take a picture of the pink yarn that I will be using for a friend who had a girl last month, but will definitely take a pic of the finished hat from One Skein. These little juicies will grow up to be the umbilical hats from Stitch N Bitch for my cousin's soon to be little boy. I have another friend who will be delivering a girl soon, also. These babies come in waves, though I wish it was more like one at a time! The next wave will be over summer so I can plan a little bit ahead, but really, we all know that I will procrastinate until the babies actually pop out!

Wow!

In an unexpected turn, The Wool Connection in Avon, CT is closing its doors. I'm not sure how many years they have been in business, I am guessing at least 15, but as Linda said this morning, it's pretty shocking that with all of us knit hounds on the rise that they are going out of business. I'm sure there will be more news to follow, as the question now is, will they keep their catalog business going and why are they getting out of the retail store? Too much local competition? Loss of the appetite for running a business? As the knitting world turns my friends . . .

I owe you several updates. The Disney trip update is still coming. There are no words to tell you how amazing it was, but you know me, I will try to write it all up.

Also, a major knitting update. I have photos of what's on the needles, what just came off the needles and hopefully soon, that final finished photo of DH in his sewn up sweater!