Oops

I forgot the bags at work last night. The class went really well though (and I'm so excited that you signed up Terra!!!!!) all the ladies seemed to really enjoy the whole process of learning and putting it all together. I'll post the pics when I take some of the finished products :) To make do, you all have to wonder at the fabulousness that is the BLACK PEARL!

Wow this pattern really cooks along and I have to say I am so in love with the idea of no seaming it thrills me to the core. Variegated yarn is so throwback I can't help but love it. I saw a video the CBC did of Chris' paternal Grandparents on the subject of marriage (I HEART YOU CBC!) and his Granddad had the most gorgeous handknit (by Grandma of course) variegated sweater on. You almost see the palpable love knitted into every stitch. Of course it didn't hurt that Grandma & Grandpa were just so damn cute either. I love hearing about how women of past generations were so crafty (by necessity) in all their ways. What a great circle to belong to.

IN OTHER BREAKING NEWS.............

Is now home with us. It has heated seats, air conditioning, keyless entry, power windows and mirrors and plays MP3's. The colour is so beautiful I may have to cry. I LOVE YOU JACK (that's his name ok?)!!

Post felt and a showboat

Alright then, the bags they tuned out to both be: 7 inches long x 6.5 inches wide. Nifty yes? Now the thing is, I knit the stockinette one from a REWOUND ball. Meaning I knit from the outside (I think) and it has a definite skew to it. One of my students, she did the same thing and talk about twisted? It looks nifty but is really a twisty little bugger. I'll have to check with Amy, something to do with the s or z twist on the lambs pride (since it is a single) and I'm so not on the spinning thing.... Maybe I think for my next class we should use Cascade (a plied worsted) instead to manage this. Still they are fuzzy and sweet. Stay tuned to see the next installment with needle felted design!

On the horizon, I have chosen my next project (aside from that poor ol log cabin that sits neglected waiting patiently to be done) for ~ME~! Don't you just wanna die at the loveliness that is Lornas Laces SUPERWASH in Black Pearl? I do. It has a titch of shine to it and just so scrumptious to the touch it makes me and baby jesus weep with joy. Ok I can't *really* speak for him, but I'm sure Kali would love it, so... Close enough.

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and do a top-down Wrap Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. Amy let me try hers on and that was that. Flattering, warm and DID I MENTION THE YARN?? OMG. Sandra was kind enough to make a couple of yarn cakes for me (and I learned how to use the swift and ball winder GO ME!) so I better get a knittin'!



SHOWBOAT ALERT!!!
I had put this up as the leetle head just slays me. LOOK AT ME! says Max the wonder terrier.

NO REALLY! He is just such a showoff...

Pre full..

So the bags are done. They'll be felted in my class tonight. The garter stitch one measures 8.25 inches high, the stockinette 9.25. They are both 7.5 inches wide. Should be interesting to see how they compare POST fulling. The Lambs Pride is really nice to knit with, soft and fuzzy, quite scrummy on the hands. The garter definitely took more to knit than the stockinette, so I had to pilfer a bit of purple to complete the st one. Stay tuned for the results...

We are headed back up to Edmonton this weekend for a 50th anniversary party. Another drive up that wretchedly boring highway. Good thing the MP3 player is loaded and ready to go :)

Oh jeeze...

Please note the messiest fridge around...

So for my fulling class the ever lovely Amy did up a little pattern for the sweetest little bag. I had one student want to make it in garter so thought I would do the same. Actually the plan is do one stockinette too. Lets see how different they are huh?

OMG it is taking me forever. I totally thought I had lost all my knitting chops! Wanna know something? I can't even remember the last time I used straights! It is really different knitting on them. I think I shall have to find some 6mm circs, this may never get done! The weight is all wonky, my wrists hurt and its all a tippy! (and I should really just stop blaming my tools huh?)

HEY SLACKER! GET TO IT!

Text rocks!

I went to my reunion. It was hysterical! I am still the weirdo* (thank god/goddess/allah/kali and/or voodoo man) even after all this time. But in a good way. I had way more fun than I thought I would and am VERY happy that we went. It didn't hurt that I had a whole bunch of girls ask who the hottie was (uh.. my husband!) I was with. He even got in on the action by posing with our yearbook with another husband who didn't go to our school. Most excellent.

Yesterday I went to my first day of work. Work? You say. Yes WORK! I feel very spoiled to say I work at Make 1. Along with my teaching, my Full Of It class runs tonight and for the next weeks on Wednesdays! I am now an official EMPLOYEE. Hurrah!! Its already kickstarted my creativity again (phew) and I have some new projects in the works. In my head at least. Today I go back TO WORK, and teach after. Busy day for me! YAY WORK! Oh and I was proclaimed the queen.. finally someone noticed!!

http://www.make1yarns.com/blog/?p=155





*I look YOUNG (really YOUNG). I knew hating the sun would come in handy one day. No one else had any piercings or anything. Buncha conservatives! V weird!

Hot mess no go

ARGH! I knew that hot mess would be tricky, but it proved too tricky for me. So I went with a slight modification on the pattern found here:

http://magknits.com/June06/patterns/market.htm

I HATE seaming so have decided to do it in the round. I know I'll have to seam the bottom, bt I can live with that. I guess. The yarn I picked up from Make 1 at the solstice sale. Its Phil lin (I think) and should be sturdy enough. I hope. I'm not sure how its gonna look as it called for 10mm needles and I just don't like knitting with needles that big and didn't really want a GIANT bag so I went with a smaller size. This may get all pulled out too.. I am so not motivated in the summer to knit.

On the reunion front.. I know I had said no. BUT I CHANGED MY MIND. And I booked a room so we are going now for sure. I had an old school chum email me and we have been emailing back and forth and she unknowingly convinced me to go. In turn I emailed another old chum and convinced him to go. Now I am officially excited. It should be HOOT. hahahahaha. I hope. I have to find something to wear and lose 20 pounds by Saturday. Thats totally doable right? Riiiiiiiiight. /eyeroll.

Just in case

You all thought I had totally lost the knitting vibe.. NOPE! I have put aside the BOILING hot log cabin in favour of small happy things I can actually finish. Now these don't look like much.. YET. Oh ho but they will. MARK MY WORDS!!!

Nope they aren't giant oversized novelty hats (my husband pooh poohed the idea that these would be great for his giant oversized novelty head.. "NOT EVEN CLOSE" is a direct quote I swear!) they will be...

FELTED BOWLS!! From the wonderful One Skein book. I reckon I should needlefelt some embellishments on them, but man are they fast going! The big ones took about an hour and a halfish. The small one less than an hour. Way to feel productive!

I have also started a wee experiment with the help of the fantasgreat Dana *getablogalready* from Knit Club. We will see how this hot mess gets going. If it works it could be super stupendous!

I'd also like to say HI! to my Mummy in law and Seester in law. I finally sent them the URL so they can check up on me and my craftiness.. NOTE TO SELF.. Maybe don't post pics of WIPS for them ok? I know it seems a durrrrr moment, but PUHLEASE. I am BLONDE OK??? (and as if to further that.. I spelled blonde wrong the first time I wrote it. SMRT. Me fail english? Thats unpossible!) so THERE!

I'm back!

Vegas was hot, shopping was good.

Things in Vegas that were freaky-deaky:

-My husband checking every single slot machine chair we went to sit down on for Old Lady Pee. He was pretty sure there would have been at least one, Luckily he was wrong

.-No recycling. Only the air. Garbage cans full of beer bottles. And pop cans. And water bottles. Who knew? The man thinks they are slowly filling in the Grand Canyon with broken glass. maybe he is right?!?

-People walking around SMOKING. I know I am so Canadian in the way I was SHOCKED to see folks walking around EVERYWHERE (even on the ELEVATORS!) SMOKING. HOLY SHIT AMERICAN ALL CIGARETTES STINK. ~for those of you not in the know, there in no smoking in public place here in Canada. I also live in the least progressive city here and still.. NO SMOKING. Nowhere kids are, can anyone smoke. I like it. ALOT.

-Drinking in public. Like walking down the street/hallway/mall/wherever. This I was ok with. I came to embrace it even. Even though I still looked for recycling bins, I got used to tossing my beer bottles in the (gulp) garbage.

-I saw two homeless guys there. TWO. And NO BUGS. Maybe they eat each other? Ah... recycling at last!


Things I LOVED about Vegas:
-free booze.

-Penn & Teller. I talked to to Teller after the show (and got pics with him, the man got one with Penn, who called him BOSS, and they signed our program) and HE TALKED BACK!!!!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT???? TELLER TALKS!!! The best show EVER. SO AWESOME! Now I am a die hard freaky fan. 4EVER. (I am aware how lame I sound ok?) and will post the pics soon.

-20$ Kobe beef burgers. Honestly? The best burger EVER. It was actually worth it. *drool*

-The service! Wow you Americans sure have our asses kicked in terms of service. No SHIT! The only place I found lacking was the uber hip Urban Oufitters and our server of Kobe Beef. They looked like typical semi slackers and I actually found it kinda charming and reminded me of home. But other than that, YOU WIN USA!

-How friendly everyone was. If you smile at people, THEY SMILE BACK AND EVEN SAY HI!!! wow.

-The Monorail. Monorail.. MONORAIL... MONORAIL! -All the spectacle. I can't even say anymore then that. SPECTACLE.

-Winning 14 dollars on my second pull of the slot machine. I of course lost more than that by the end, but the winning? YAY!

-Watching the man win at poker. COOL. They gave him a chip worth 500$! We took a picture before running greedily to cash it in.

-Finding my way around alone. It would be tough to get around in Veags if you couldn't read. Thank Bob for my good Canadian edjumacation.

-Cheap and plentiful cabs. Not like here. And door guys that can get 'em for you. Bless them.

-Always having my room (at the Luxor in the tower with a view of the pool no less!) clean when I got back to it.

-Anything you want, 24/7. Just a phone call away. NUTSO!

Things I DIDN'T like about Vegas:

-45 degrees celcius? Who thought that was a good idea? Not me. /shudder And HOT WIND. Thats just gross. Going down to a balmy 37 at night. NIIIIIIIIIIICE. not.

-The guys who try to rope you in to FREE SHOWS/FOOD/WHORES (ok I made the whore one up but I bet if you asked...)!! YOU ONLY NEED TO GO FOR A TOUR OF OUR TIME SHARE etc... ANNOYING MUCH? We got very adept at giving them the brush off quickly.

-Wow.. is that all I didn't like? AMAZING.

No knitting. Nope none at all. But my class went really well the night before I left... BIG STUPID SMILE!!! :)

Vegas bound

I have to teach my first class tonight!! Needle felting 101 @ Make 1. We weren't sure if it was go or not, but now more than enough people signed up and away I go!! I'm nervous/excited but woot.. GO ME!!

After that I am Vegas bound. HELLO SHOPPING! Have a wonderful week all... and no I'm not taking my knitting. It is even hotter there :P

Old pic below

This is Max. Well.. it does have some Max fur on it. Little felted animals are ruling my brain right now.


I am so tired of that log cabin, especially at 30+ degrees. Its time to bust out some small stuff. Maybe some yummy felted bowls? I have also decided NOT to go to my 20th reunion. I have the luxury of having 2 years to choose from (hurray for the second year Gr 12.. good ol Alberta!) and since I've been sussing out the site associated with my grad year, I see a few people that I could happily live the rest of my life without seeing going. So NUH UH. I have an enormous sense of relief.

I've had a few requests for the Gorgon shawl pattern. If I have time, I'll try to post one soon. Really easy peasy, but I'm rather strapped for time right now so it will have to wait.

Happy hot weekend all....

Slow but going

It is moving along s o s l o w l y.. but it is moving. I met up with some pals last night and while knitting is mostly what we do, distraction was had by the evil NINTENDO DS and its wicked game ANIMAL CROSSING: WIDE WORLD. Having been cracking out on this little time suck, I was so excited to see my crack-ness was matched by the marvelous Dana. We met up, and Ds to DS fun was had by all. And the picto chat feature? OMGWTFBBQ. More fun that any 13 year old boys knitting women should be allowed to have.

So I made a decision to quit the barely formed Rollergirls team. They want the kind of commitment (practice 3x a week!) I am not ready to give pretty much anything right now, and it wouldn't be the most fair thing in the world to try to drag it out. Whatever.. I am an oldie anyways and hate team sports. What was I thinking?

Ah Vegas... so much shopping I want to do....

Stash this

I have made almost no progress on the retroghan. I have lost steam as the idea of going to VEGAS is all consuming. So consuming in fact that I had to buy a new bag...

Ain't it cool? I should be able to find that on a conveyor belt I think!

KNITTING CONTENT BELOW---------------


I have one stash shelf that is all odd balls (haha). This is why I bought One Skein. Maybe I should pull out a wee project to do. It may be more motivational to actually finish something in a short amount of time eh?

I also have another shelf that is full of nifty stuff with no purpose.

Ah... Manos.. you didn't want to be a moebius, what do you wanna be? Hey blue green, thick and thin wool.. you've been around for a while (lets not talk about dusting the yarn ok?) have you figured out what you wanna be when you grow up? Me either...

/END KNITTING CONTENT (more rambling)

We had our first Rollergirls practice last Sunday. Wobbles. Thats me. At least I didn't fall.

No piccies today

Nope not a one. I am still plugging away on the log cabin, albeit slowly. Its been too damn hot to sit with pile o wool on my lap, thankfully the weather broke yesterday and we had some rain. And more hail, but really thats niether here or there huh?

We have booked a trip to VEGAS baby! We leave July 25th. I've never been before! WoOt! I am V EXCITED.

Also on the good news front, I am teaching two classes at Make 1!! Here is the newsletter:

http://www.make1yarns.com/newsletters/m1yarns_july2006news.pdf

See? Two classes!! How exciting! Boy I love that shop and the rockin' Amy and Sandra. They are just the best :)

I am suffering a little bit of the insomnia right now.. maybe some more knitting is in order, you know to calm me. /eyeroll

So bluuuuuue

Log Cabin AHOY (totally mixed up that metaphor or whatever it is ok?)...

I am so not a blue gal. I dunno why but its never been a favorite colour of mine. My husband on the other hand? Well I guess this is why this is for him!

Last week was filled up with other things besides knitting. Shocking yes? The boy graduated from Gr. 9. It would have been with honours but his poor sewing mark (65% which is damn good by my standards for a kid who only went into it for the girls) kept him out. His average was over 80%, but that damn option... oh well! HIGH SCHOOL in the fall. /falls over dead

Anyhoo.. its been hotter than HELL here which is of course why I thought that knitting a Log Cabin afghan out of 100% wool was GREAT IDEA! No really. WHAT AM I THINKING??? Not much apparently. Its from The Mason Dixon book and it is really really REALLY fun to knit. I think I'd love to do one out of cotton next. Mmmm... cotton. The yarn is my Knit Picks order and the colours look true on my monitor. Maybe not yours I guess but its funky retro-a-licious! The man should have been a child of the 70's I reckon.

I have other interesting non knitting news too.. my 20th high school reunion is in August and I have sorta almost maybe kinda decided I wanna go. Again... WHAT AM I THINKING!?! Wasn't highschool itself enough? Can I lose eleventy twelve bazillion pounds before August? Will anyone remember me? OMG what if too many people remember me?? Funnily enough I was talking to my FIL about this the last time I saw him. He said he went to his last reunion (40 years maybe? How can that even happen??) and immediately regressed (Like OMG theres Mr X! Whatta loser..) then caught himself (like OMG That is totally not me! I wouldn't say that now!) and I of course have paraphrased. My sweet FIL would probably never talk like a Valley girl. Although I have seen him sing Britney Spears (Thank you Cranium!). I digress.. (SURPRISE!) though.. WHAT AM I THINKING?? Ah well.. time will tell. Maybe time will tell too much though.

Boy I hope it cools off here.. heat sucks.

How could I not?

Oh my what is this????

Bag bag, what's in the bag??

How could I NOT buy this delicious alpaca-ness? It was 50% OFF!!! Now THAT'S a deal. I know there is one random skein of burgundy in there (which goes against my NO ONE SKEIN rule) but I swear it'll be used. I SWEAR!! Make 1 had the most phenomenal sale.. I'm not sure if its a good thing that I'm going back on Saturday for my spinning class. Dangerous indeed. I also picked up the new Knit Scene magazine and think I know the next sweater I HAVE to make. The Central Park Hoodie:

Isn't it yummy? Mmmm...

Now I'm off to the spa for a morning of pampering. Facial (and alpha hydroxy treatment!) and pedicure. A very lovely Giftmas pressie from the man. He was scared I'd never use it, but I was just waiting for it to be closer to summer so I'd have purty toes. Behold Riverside Spa:

http://www.riversidespa.ca/index.htm

I'll be thinking of you all.. oh who am I kidding? I won't be thinking at all.

Holey smokes.

I was inspired to start a wee scarf (inspired by the gorgon I reckon) that was all a-holey. I have a hank of handspun a pal gave me for a gift a good long while ago that deserved to be done up into something nifty. Its not the best spun stuff I have worked with (gauge ranges from thread to bulky but who am I to complain? The twist was set at least and it was a GIFT!) but I thought this may be just the project for it.


Its super soft merino and you can see the fuzzy here!

It'll look much better when its blocked. Really. Went to knit club last night! Yay! Today I am gonna hit the Make 1 Solstice yarn sale with some hot chicks. Why not? You can always use more yarn right??

Now go look at this:

http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html

And the next time you need an insult.. you'll look mighty SMRT! :)

Good morning morning!

The weekend passed in a blur (like most do I reckon) of knitting, movies and some shopping. Mmm... three of my favorite things. I headed over to Make 1 on Sunday to chat with the ever deligthful Amy and Sandra and found a couple of knitting pals already there so whats a gal to do but hang out (all afternoon!) and chat. Henry the bear had come along for the ride and was passed from hand to hand and now I swear there's no living with him. His hydro-cephalic head is even more full of compliments from the adoring legion of ever growing fans. But really, look at him..

He needed to pose with his afghan warshrag to show off himself and the happiness that is cotton.

Two down, how many million to go?

While I was at Make 1 I *had* to pick up the One Skein book. I had thought about ordering it from Amazon with some Bday $$ my SIL had given me, but couldn't stomach the thought of waiting 4-6 weeks to get it. That's just the way I roll ok? But really, since I was there.. who could resist? I think (like my dear Kathy) I need to make some felted bowls for various and sundry gee gaws and totchkes I have hanging around. Also.. I had to fondle a ridiculous amount of yarn that was all so kitteny soft it was almost unbelievable. Mmmmm... silk and wool blends are calling me!! *What* they are calling me is an entirely different matter.

WARSH IT!

Wow... Who knew a warsh rag/dish cloth/kitchen towel could be so hot? I think I have a new obsession. A whole drawer full of these is such an appealing thought! The stitch pattern is so easily memorised you can even do it while watching UFC and cheering/screaming/jumping up and even if you lose some stitches (but that flying knee was a thing of beauty I tell ya!) the kitchen cotton is easily picked back up. I see many, many more of these in my future. I think its good to have a small pick me up project in the wings don't you? While waiting for yarn to arrive that is :D

My SIL has sent her rollerskates down for me! I have my first Rollergirls meeting on Monday (no skates needed though) and am quite excited to see what this is all about. Hopefully they don't pee their pants at the old lady wanting to join..

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

rain

Its absolutely pouring today. Not that I mind. I don't really like outside that much so rain isn't too much bother. Besides it looks so pretty..

I started a warshrag while watching "So You think You Can Dance"* last night. I had no idea how the slip stitch thingy was going to work, but its really, really nifty looking. Kitchen cotton is so damn cheerful to work with. I can just daydream about having all these wonderful vintage-y looking kitchen linens. I should really put up some shelves in my tiny kitchen and find me some milk glass. I love the way it looks. Not the greatest photo I know, but one does what one can.

The dog is V upset at the rain however.. its like a bath everytime he goes outside. Haha! Wet Dog!

*I love these skill based shows. So sue me. Besides dancing=teh cool.

Oh my!

Well I did it, I finished the gorgon. Its ever so lovely (if I do say so myself!) and soft and and and..

It was a lot of mindless stitching but I'm SO pleased with how it came out! The colour looks true as well (at least on my monitor) and is scrumptious! These are unblocked photos and now I'm actually not sure if I will do a lot of blocking to it. It has some pretty nice shape as is. That Alpaca is absolutely wonderful to work with, dreamy and soft. I cannot ever rationalise going back to slightly ick yarn. I do believe it was the Yarn Harlot who said (paraphrased) work with the best stuff you can. Its your legacy! Ok I will.. no telling me twice.

I caved and ordered that wool from Knitpicks.. 4 shades of blue for my delovely husbands giant granny square afghan. How could I not? I also picked up some cotton for doing some warshrags (from the Mason Dixon book.. Which rocks all kinds of socks mmkay?) from Wallyland today. I have to have happy hands or all is not well.

I turned around a minute ago and found this:

How could anyone be sad with this little guy sitting by your side? That's Max for you all who haven't been introduced. He's my (almost) 10 year old Terrier (maltese/silky) buddy, friend and pal. He likes bonies, schmackos, belly rubs and groveling. Oh and sweaters. Being 11 1/2 pounds of terrier fun can be a cold job.

And now I leave you with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyEnG_DEB1I&search=ghost%20world

Really I dare you to watch and not wanna dance. AIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYI!!!!!!!