A bit of progress to show

I'm in the homestretch on Cherie. I even had Amanda take a picture of me trying it on, see:



I have a few more layers on than I would normally have underneath it. but overall I'm happy with the fit. I'm hoping the bottom opens up a bit more when I block it and it gains some length. Of course I could just lose some weight but whatever...

I ordered the yarn for Mirepoix for some bizarre reason. Well ok it was because I had a gift certificate from KnitPicks to spend. I don't imagine even looking at it until January though. I also bought one of the Harmony needles points to replace my MIA 9 for my set. I figured it was as good an excuse as any.

Nothing much going on overall so I think it's time for a bunch of pointless links:

Damn those Bushs, they seem to think that Knitters
are part of the Axis of Evil.

If you're a geek like me you may actually be interested in what exactly the writer's are striking about here's a blog post by one of my favorite comic book writers who is also a writer/producer for Lost.

This granny blogs but she doesn't seem to knit so I suppose that helps that stereotype.

Finally the news I've been waiting for. I always said I preferred to weigh about 20lbs more than the doctors say I should. Of course I have a bit to lose before I get there;)

Happy Wednesday!

Taking Stock

Since it's the beginning of May I thought it was a good time to revisit some of the goals I set for myself in January.

Knit From Your Stash -
This is actually going very well. I haven't purchased any yarn since December. I did receive some yarn as a gift and some freebies from the Yarn Harlot's Represent event but that's allowed. I have knit about 17 skeins/balls from my stash since the start of the year. What I'd really like to do is catalog my stash, get it into a spreadsheet so I can really see if I've made a dent. I also want to go through and figure out the yarn I know at this point I will never use. This weekend is a bit busy so I don't think I'll get it done then but maybe next weekend.

Off the Shelf-
Not so good on the book thing. I've bought at least 3 books and have grabbed countless freebies. So I've made very little progress there. My husband pointed out that my goal of no new books until my birthday was foolish anyway since we have Book Expo at the end of May. That is the mother of all book conferences and I always get a ton of books from that. Hell, I still have a stack sitting in my closet from the last one. It's a double edged sword being a bookseller who loves books.

Run-a-go-go -
Ha ha ha 'nuff said.

Blog Poll has been down since yesterday so I have no freakin' idea which pattern won. Falling in Love was in the lead last time I was able to access it so if it's not back up by Monday that is what I will use. That's the one I wanted anyway;). Thanks for voting!

I have been hanging out at the new hot spot for knitters, Ravelry. My favorite popular kids all hang there and one of them was kind enough to extend me an invite as it's still in beta so it's not open to the public yet. Go get on the waiting list though as it's really a pretty cool way to participate in a knitting community.

A few links I wanted to share.

Check out Stitch THIS! over at Cafe Press. I love Liv, she's such a great mascot for the bad ass knitters of the world.

Did you know that knitters now have our own Wikipedia? WikiKnitting I haven't checked it out much yet. Too caught up in Ravelry but it looks pretty informative.

To quote a good friend, "thank Christ it's Friday"...

Have a great weekend!

How an object becomes finished...

6:30 PM last night:



2:00 AM:



7:00 AM this morning:

I'd like to claim it was all love for my child that kept me up to finish this sweater and while that helped, the bottom line is I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I needed to finish the damn thing. I have to admit for all the bitching and the endlessness of it I really love this sweater. It has a huge flaw in the placket portion. I really screwed up the spacing of the button holes that I added. The ones I made were kind of sucky too but I firmed them up with a bit of crochet. I also wish I had gone up a size. While it fits him perfectly he is a growing boy and I'm afraid it won't last him long. On the other hand I suspect it may stretch out a bit with wear so it may be fine. Of course without a trip to Katonah there's no way I could have gone bigger. This is all the yarn I have left:

I got a little panicky at the end and sped up my decreases in the last few rows and that seems to have been a wise decision. I love, love, love raglans at the moment. The lack of finishing at the end is an amazing and beautiful thing. A little kitchener under the arms and I'm done. I'd like to make ones for Rinaldo and Avery at some point.

My day yesterday was better. One of the issues that ticked me off on Wednesday was resolved and that brightened my mood quite a bit. The fact that I'm on vacation next week makes today a better day already.

I did have some linkage for you that I was too cranky to share.

My aunt was in the newspaper. I can't tell you what the article says, it being in Icelandic, although I can think of 4 people who read my blog who can read it but she attended a conference on services for blind children in Iceland. She's in the red coat with the glasses.

Ann alert!

Nora Ephron is an evil woman. I have had enough conversations with Ann alone to disprove her theory.

Finally here is an article I ran into this morning about a knitting ghost. I'm pretty sure my needles get red hot when I'm pissed too.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Here's a couple of fun links and a meme to keep you busy while I get lost in the endless sleevage.

My friend Gary's wife Virginia whose ceramic work I adore (really, the only mug I drink my tea in and the only cup I'll drink my milk in are both Virginia originals) has opened an Etsy shop that you should all go and buy from now...

and some silly ones...

I'm glad there will be more coffin options for me since my original choice seems to have gone out of production.

I'm sorry for Mexico and Australia but any moth that doesn't eat wool is a friend of mine.

We're actually supposed to have faith in our government when they spend money on things like this.



This is a fun meme, stolen from Dephal I especially like my Soap Opera name and my Goth name:

1. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (First 3 letters of first name plus izzle)
Nanizzle

2. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Blue Tiger

3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Joyce Pond

4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Matnacra

5. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Purple Root Beer

6. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's middle name)
Julia

7. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Valentine

Feel free to steal it if you like...

I am so sure you are here to see endless rows of stockinette, right? Here ya go:


What too boring for you? Yeah me too. I should have 9.25 inches at this point. Last I checked I had 6. Boring, boring, boring. I know I said I was going to start something else to switch off to when I get too bored but I'm afraid I'll put it down and never pick it back up.

Of course I can't complain too much. It's Valentine's Day and snowing and I have the day off so that's all good. I also was given these when I woke up:




Who wouldn't have their day brightened by that?

I didn't take off for anything fun, I am taking my mother in law for her hearing aides. I am hoping this will help cure some of the strife that's been occurring in my house. At the very least if she gets into arguments with anyone she'll actually know what she's arguing about.

I had my knitting group last night. If what I am working on is boring at least I have friends who do more interesting things. Claudia whose work has appeared here before when she made a beautiful shawl is working on a yoke sweater for herself. This is her swatch:

The picture really washed out the color but it's a gorgeous eggplant purple and the fair isle is amazing.

Marsha, whose birthday it is today (happy birthday Marsha!), made this adorable teddy bear from Knitty Gritty:

Marsha is asking our group to make squares for an afghan for the injured soldiers who are getting rehabilitation at the Fisher Center in Texas. They held a tea party for the soldiers last year that was a big hit so they are doing it again this year and she wants to make an afghan to give as one of the door prizes. We're hoping to have enough squares by the end of March and we may even put it together at one of the meetings.

Finally since I've no real progress for you it's time for interesting links:

Claudia told me about this guy, I know Rinaldo wishes he had received one for Valentine's Day.
If you don't have a tarot deck handy just pull out your Ipod Tarot Deck.
Do you miss your Wonder Woman underoos as much as I do?

Ann read this!
Finally a peace protest I can totally support.

This may be the best news I've heard all day.

Yes, you really can knit anything.

Happy Valentine's Day!