Why the yarn diet?

I want...at least they're sold out.
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I started spinning up my batts from Terra Bella Spun last night. I'm really loving the fiber it creates, the colors are spectacular. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my progress but this is what she spun up in the Raindrops on Lily Pads colorway. I love it.
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We're going to a little wine tasting tonight. Everytime I think of wine tastings I think of Goldie Hawn in There's a Girl in my Soup. Oh what a mess she creates all because she doesn't spit. You should all watch this movie it's great. It has Peter Sellers in it and again he's awesome. I said this when I talked about Dr. Strangelove but its just so true. Peter Sellers is amazing in every one of his movies. I love him.
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I'm apparently loving a whole lot of this today. At least that means I'm in a good mood. Maybe all this sun is doing me some good.

Yarn Diets Are Hard

This whole yarn diet thing stinks. I've been to The Point twice already this week and I have managed to not buy any yarn but it wasn't easy. Last night we were there for sit n knit and I just knit away on my loopy ewe socks and stuffed food in my face in effort to not touch the yarn. It was tough, being surrounded by yarn and not buying any but I made it. Then I went on The Loopy Ewe this morning and I noticed that little miss Sheri updated. OOO there are so many yummy things up now. I want them all. I've resisted, so far. Hopefully I can keep it up.

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Anyway, I stumbled upon Angela Catirina's etsy shop today. I can't decided if she a creative genius or if she's just crazy. But isn't always the way it is artists and designers? I have to say I am amused by her designs, especially this and this. I guess I need to learn how to crochet now so I can whip up some crazy things. What would Carl say if he came home to find me working on some of these things? Now that I'm thinking about it I think I should make some of these things just so I can see his face.
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I know this is probably nothing new for any of you but I just started listening to Cast On today and its absolutely wonderful. I had heard rave reviews from tons of people but had never taken the time to listen. I usually listen to podcasts at work but today I realized I was all caught up on my regulars and needed something new so I decided to check Ms. Brenda out. She really is amazing. Her voice is so soothing I actually started to drift into an almost meditative sleep. I kept having to stop listening, walk away and then come back. She's awesome but almost too relaxing. Again this is probably nothing new to you guys but I wanted to share my new love. I love you Brenda!
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Ok off to knit. Have a great night!

Dye Class

I had a great time in class this morning and I'm a little sad that I didn't buy more skeins to dye.

Aren't they pretty?

I couldn't decided which picture I liked more so you get two. The blue/brown/green/purple one is this merino silk and sterling silver blend. I love it. I wish I had dyed more! I have the label somewhere in my wallet and I will have to order some bare skeins and dye some more when I have some time. The green/brown/yellow one is just superwash merino. I like that its a little more earthy and manly. I can't wait to make socks with these.

I'm tired. Its been a very long day but I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to Jen and her family. Jen lost her grandpa yesterday. It was something sudden. I'm sorry I was out of communication all day today but if you need anything Jen I'm here now and I'm going to charge my phone now (sorry it died this morning and just got a home a few minutes ago).

Socks Socks Socks

I finished the lite brite socks.

And I started my Loopy Family Frolic socks. I'm loving the claudia hand painted and the fair isle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I need to put the little faces on each sheep and I need to make one black but I'm planning on doing on the duplicate stitch stuff at the end.

Now I'm off to The Point for my yarn dying class!

uuuuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhhh

Went out for my brother's birthday last night...Didn't even drink that much...want to die I'm so tired...when did I get so old?

I've been found out!

Carl's weird stomach ailment flared up again yesterday and he stayed home from work. I think he should see a nutritionist because I swear this is all diet related but I'm getting off topic. Carl cannot sit still and gets bored very easily so if you leave him home alone for a while he will clean the entire apartment. This is usually really nice but yesterday he did something he never does, he cleaned up my stash! I got home and the basket looked suspiciously tidy but I said nothing. Later, over a glass of wine, he broke into his speech. I guess I had done a really good job hiding all my purchases till now because the boy was floored by the quantity of yarn stuffed into and around the basket. Honestly, I don't think my stash is that bad. I know knitters with a lot more yarn but that argument did not help me. I am now banned from buying any more yarn until I actually make a dent in what I have. I also got a little lecture about how I cannot start decorating with yarn. I never brought up the subject but I was thinking about it. Sometimes its really annoying that we're so connected, I swear he can read my mind. So I guess that yarn diet really has to happen. This really stinks. And I just figured out that if I order from The Loopy Ewe once a week the craptasticness of work seems to magically disappear. Of course the danger of that plan is that I could end up broke with more sock yarn then anyone could knit up in two lifetimes. Though I could always build a little fort out of the yarn and live in it. The wool would keep me warm!

Catching up because things have been NUTS!

Work has really been out of control these past few weeks so I apologize for the delay on showing you guys my sock wars socks.

These are the one’s I made. They’re so tiny looking I hope they fit you Ms. Jackson.

And these are the ones that killed me. I love the color and the “dead men tell no tales” antenna ball! Arrrrrrrrr matey you killed me.

We left work early on Friday to head down to Pennsylvania to see Carl’s little sister graduate from College. It was a lovely and tiring two days of graduation fun. We stayed at this awful Holiday Inn in Mechanicsburg. It was set up like a motor inn so our room opened to the parking lot which always makes me nervous. After a long drive in the rain and a long loud dinner we headed to the hotel and hoped we could get some rest. My throat has been bothering me for the past couple days and all that screaming at dinner really did me in. We settled in for the night and Carl went right to sleep which meant snoring. Loud deafening snoring combined with the sore throat meant that I didn’t fall asleep till about 4 am. This made Saturday particularly difficult. I was very happy to be home and in my own bed last night. I passed out without any problems. Also I’ve been trying not to take too much which is making some people happy. I think my voice is just strained. I’ve been talking and a lot of the time loudly because of the background noise for over a week now. It needs a rest.

I have been working on my clapotis when I can but there’s been so much going on here that I haven’t had the chance to knit as much as I like. In an effort to make me feel less stressed I’ve been working on our vacation plans. Knowing there’s a break in a few weeks has really helped me stay focused and not lose my mind. Ok its helped a little, I still feel like I’ve lost it a little.

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Looking at Mom's bleeding hearts always seem to help.

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Ok errand time.

Question from Monica

I received a question from Monica about the flair jacket but unfortunately I can't respond via email so I'll just respond here.

The jacket was easy. The only difficult part was setting for the neck/body and sleeves. Once you've finished the raglan its super easy. I think I knit the small version and it fits well on me and I have a 34-35 inch bust. I like the flair but personally I wish I had done a few more increase rounds so it could flair more. But I love it.

What yarn did you get? The Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton is awesome!

Happy knitting.

I'm dead...

Carl called this morning to tell me the bad news...my socks arrived, I'm dead. He also informed me that they're "EW Turquoise!" He hates turquoise but I love it! Unfortunately, I have to got to some women in business dinner thing so I won't be able to see them to much later tonight.

I guess its back to regular knitting.

Bang Bang

You're dead Ms. Jackson from Reno, NV!

My Sock Wars socks are done and DHL is picking them up and sending them out! I succeed in killing someone before getting killed. I'm happy and I never want to knit these socks again. I feel bad for my target though. I didn't kitchner the 36 sts left on each toe and did a three needles bind off to save time. They're kind of ugly but the rules say you need to finish them not you need to finish them AND have them be pretty.

I have pictures and stories and all kinds of fun things but those will have to wait.

YAY! I killed someone woooo!

Itchin to knit

I didn't get the sock wars pattern till 10/11 this morning so I was already at work and unable to start. With 10 minutes left here I'm starting to get super impatient. I know that some people are already half way done with their first sock and I haven't even started! I'm going to be dead before dawn folks...

I made yarn!

Wooo my first yarn!

Hello Kitty would you like some grape vodka?

On my way to work yesterday I noticed that the Lever House building on Park Avenue had changed their art installation from many naked men to little Hello Kitty fountains. Now these aren’t just any fountain, they're fountains of Hello Kitty tears. Look she’s crying!

WEIRD

Last night my knitting group had a little going away tea party for one of the girls who is leaving us for a month or so. It's very sad. I really like Sarah and will miss her terribly. We went to Alice’s Tea Cup on 64^th street and it was a lot of fun. When the tea pots came we noticed (well Jess did) that the little kitty on top had a little ball of yarn. Its almost like they knew we were knitters.

I promised pictures of the new sock so here you go! They’re really comfy. I like this yarn a lot. With the help of my knittery friends I figured out what this colorway reminds me of – Light Brite! These are now my Light Brite socks!

Oh and my Namaste bag came! And at the perfect time as I was starting to feel really shitty and thought I was actually getting sick and not just suffering from allergies. Then my package arrived and for some reason I felt much better! I love it! It’s soft and easy to clean and HUGE. I might be able to fit a whole sweater in here!

Carl came home with vodka tonic ingredients just now and he noticed as he took the bottle out of the bag that he bought grape vodka. We are now experimenting with our nightly drink and its actually good even if it does smells a little like children’s cold medicine.

If you don’t hear from me for a while it’s because of sock wars. I should be receiving the pattern around 6 am tomorrow and I’ve got a lot of knitting to do. Wish me luck!

There's a break on the horizon

We finally booked a vacation. June 18th to the 24th we will be in San Fransisco and Northern Cali. We thought we'd stay the first two nights in San Fran and then head up North to wine country and do some camping then B&B then camping then back to San Fran for our last night. However, this is all we have planned so far. We've got tickets and I think a car. If any of you have any suggestions on where we could stay in San Fran, Napa/Sonoma and camping please throw them out there. I'm also looking for any yarn related suggestions. I'm allowed to go to a few yarn stores if I go to a baseball game or something equally Carl-like. So where do I go? Are there any fairs or fiber shows at that time? I think we're also looking for general tourist info and since I have a blog and you guys are so awesome I thought I'd press you guys for info while Carl reads the travel books (I'm also lazy) so let it rip people you have a few weeks to tell me what I should do on vacay...oooo the power!

Of course this means I can't spend money since we put the flights on my credit card (thank goodness AMEX raised my limit) and well my income hasn't increased so I think I'm going to be on a strict budget for a while. Luckily I have tons of knitting to do. Including all that sock wars knitting and the 8+ ozs of roving that arrived on my doorstep the other day that now needs to become yarn and the 11 balls of Bernat Cashmere I bought this weekend to make the Somewhat Cowl. All this should keep me busy but we all know I like to stray...we'll see how good I do.

I finished a sock from the Great Adirondack Yarn Co. Soxie in the black magic with pictures to come. I used one of sockpixies' patterns. I really want to cast on the second one but I noticed that I need those needles for sock wars and I won't be able to finish sock #2 before the 9th so the second sock will have to wait. Its really killing me not to cast on the second one though. I don't have Second Sock Syndrome because I'm compulsive about finishing a pair, its like the opposite of SSS. To not cast the second one on is just torture.

New contest over on Learnersperknit I never win these things but I thought I'd help spread the word and increase my chances of losing! Seriously though, who doesn't love a good contest?

Spring really is here...

and my allergies are kicking my butt. Today has been miserable but at least its just allergies and not a cold.

Last night Carl and I made a whole tube of Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls and split it. That's four each in case there are healthy people who read this and I have never made Pilsbury Cinnamon rolls before. That's also WAY too much sugar, carbs and well food! We woke up feeling like shit and vowed to be good the rest of the week. I had one salad today for lunch and a few other things when I was hungry and now my stomach is stretched out about 12 million inches and I want to just roll around in pain. Those buns were such a bad idea.

I'm working on a pair of socks to get me ready for sock wars. I hope to have at least one done tonight so I can cast on the second. I want to knit my sock war socks two at a time but I've never done this so I'm a little scared. We'll see if I want to take the risk when the pattern comes out.

Oy the sinus pressure is killing me...must lie down. I need summer to come so this can stop.

Oh and I just found this site and the yarns are so yummy looking. Has anyone ordered from here before?

Quick Pic Update

Thanks to my mother's superior sewing skills the Flair Jacket is totally done and ready for its reveal!

Mom also made me a new bag which I’m IN LOVE with!

Oh and a little peak at my sock wars yarn (the one on top) and the Brooklyn Handspun I bought at The Point last week (the one on the bottom).

Don’t you just wish your walls could look like this?

Told you this would be quick.

Woo Friday!

It's finally friday and I'm super excited! The rain and fog can't even get me down! Thankfully, work is much calmer today which is great. It's been really rough and I've racked up some OT hours this week so I decided I should treat myself to a little something, but what? I could buy more sock yarn but where would I put it? I could buy yarn for the new sweater pattern my colleague gave me but I'm already working on three things. I KNOW, I new knitting bag! I went over to The Loopy Ewe looking for goodies and what do they, a new namaste bag! I ordered the Laguna bag in Turquoise! It is so freaking pretty! I want it to come NOW! Thankfully Sheri is really good about shipping I know I'll have my bag before I know it! Then I went over to Namaste and saw all the colors they sell and I now want this bag in charcoal too and maybe olive ooo and Hollywood Pink....sigh...why can't I have them all?

Happy Friday boys and girls!

oooo just saw the clutch I want that too! Then I could bring socks out on the town with me and no one would know I had my knitting with me. AWESOME! Maybe next month.

Way too busy

Things need to slow down a little so I can take some time to sit down and blog. I really enjoy blogging and it’s been killing me to have to neglect you all for even a few days. I hope to be done with the craziness so I can focus on my knitting and my blogging.

In the meantime let’s recap:

Saturday my best fried Meghan came up to spend the night with me and to practice her knitting. She arrived in the late morning and we ordered a pizza and sat down with some yucky red heart that I keep on hand for charity blankets (not that I have ever been able to finish more than 5 squares) and teaching purposes and I taught her how to purl. I had been trying to find a new garter stitch project for her that wasn’t another scarf but I didn’t like anything I found. I decided it was best to just teach her how to purl and open the doors to the world of knitting nice wide.

Once she had mastered stockinette we walked up to Annie & Co. to find a project and some yarn. She decided to knit a simple baby sweater that’s knit in one piece in St st. We picked up some pretty Kelly Green yarn, I think it was Zara. I picked up Kim Hargreaves Heart Felt since I have been drooling over the pictures online. I also picked up some Soak and some plain buttons for the flair jacket.

We got home and Meg started to cast on but took a little nap instead. I tried to finish the flair jacket while she napped but it turns out that I have no idea how to put buttons on in a normal fashion so I had to take them off. I will be going home this weekend to make my mother put the on since I’m incapable of actually sewing them in a straight line.

After naps and showers we headed out with some friends to drink and have a good time. And we did, till about 2 am. We got home and just crashed.

Sunday we had to get up early (well its only early if you got to sleep at 2am) and run downtown to Pangea to meet two of the knittery friends for brunch. We had a really nice time and the food was great. After lunch we headed off to Brooklyn (yah I know I went to Brooklyn and on the subway too!) for the Bust Craftacular. It was a lot of fun and I picked up a few goodies. I sort of bought anything that had a cameo on it because I really love cameos and I’m starting to become obsessed. After a lazy lunch we headed home. I made sure Meg had cast on her sweater and did a row or two before sending her off to the train station.

After Meg left I cast on a clapotis because I needed mindless knitting and vegged on the couch watching Father Ted till it was time to sleep.

Monday saw the return of Carl and a very busy work week. I had to work late last night so I could come in early this morning and send out some things but now it doesn’t look like that will happen till late this afternoon so all that preparation was for naught. Oh well at least its Thursday. Though I wasn’t able to make it to my regular knitting group last night I did manage to get down to The Point on Tuesday for a Sit and Knit meetup. I had a lot of fun and it was nice to do something non-working related. I picked up yarn for Sock Wars III and they had just gotten a shipment of Brooklyn Handspun in so I just had to grab a skein. I did get 10% off all my sock yarn though! Damn wool fumes got to me again.

I need to post pictures because I have a lot of WIPs and that means I have to share my progress. And I have made some progress. And I’ll show the flair jacket as soon as it has buttons, promise.