OMG! Can it be...

...yup a finished Dalek:



Aren't you impressed? Well I am damn you;) I have to say I have rarely followed a pattern so blindly. In principal I knew where I was going but since it was literally done row by row I wasn't always sure what the next piece would look like. The shaping is really well done but man row by row instructions are taxing. All in all I'm glad it's finished and the husband is thrilled. It stands on the table right next to his side of the bed ready to exterminate lesser beings at any moment. Of course he keeps us up at night saying stuff like this.

Meanwhile I haven't had the brain power to work on my rogue sleeve. Yes, yes I know the sleeve isn't all the complicated but charts while not as daunting as before are still a second language to me.

When I am low on brain power and energy I go back to my comfort food, socks. I cast on for some Charade socks for Rinaldo (dude, what is up with all this knitting for him, how did he make that happen) in Fearless Fibers merino superwash. Very nice to work with.

Rush is still going. We're in the second week where all we deal with are the screw ups and the sold outs so it's very unpleasant. I will be thrilled when Friday gets here. No more working weekends for me. Well at least for a little while.

Happy Tuesday or not depending on you view...

Just a drive-by post today. I've made no real progress on the finishing of the dalek, nor have I gone much further on the sleeve of Rogue. All work and no play makes Nancy a dull blogger. I work tomorrow but I do have the luxury of Sunday and Monday off which is lovely. The husband sadly only has Monday off.

I'm hoping to get some spinning done and maybe finish up on the dalek knitwise. I doubt that I'll get it stuffed but I'd like to get him right to the stuffing point, lol. Mostly though I want to lay like a vegetable. Ian is already crying anytime anyone brings up the fact that Tuesday school starts. So I am not looking forward to that morning at all.

I've decided since I've had such a poor participation rate so far on my contest (3 so far) to extend it for another month. So the drawing will be on October 1st, rather than September 1st.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

You can tell by the sporadic posting and the time of year that we are in the thick of it here at work. The freshman moved in this weekend. Hell it even made the news. From my perspective it means endless days, 6 day weeks and being in a constant state of exhaustion. Of course to top it all off the boys start school on Tuesday. Oh joy.

I received some more goodies last week to help keep my spirits up however. I had participated in a swap on FiberFlix over the summer. Unfortunately I got shafted. My buddy ( and it wasn't anonymous) never came through with my gift. When I saw that there was going to be a new FiberFlix swap I thought I should let the moderator, Jennifer, know about my partner should she decide to participate again. Jennifer is a real doll and decided to send me a consolation package:
...I feel much better now;) The chocolate is gone. The pattern is picked for the yarn and as soon as rush is over there is a trip to Blockbuster in the offing. Thanks Jennifer I really, really appreciate it!

Since I'm doing better at the whole spinning thing. I decided to use the gift certificate that came with my wheel. I took a trip to Bountiful:

Pretty, pretty. If I ever have time again I will be very happy to try spinning any one of them!

I also hit Knit Picks (hey shopping is a great stress reliever;)) for yarn for the Tomten sweater, picked out by Mr. Mathews himself of course:



Knitting wise I finished the Dalek's body but my color work in the round sucks so I need to fix it up a bit before I stuff. I also need to make the arms. Meanwhile I'm working on the sleeve of Rogue. I figured I'll start small.

Happy Monday all!

Winning Week

I had a very lucky week last week. First up I won over at Chante's blog:
Her fantastic stitch marker for the Sidewinder socks. They're also available in her Etsy shop if you like them.

Then I won over at Bron's blog:

Her Good & Plenty dishcloths.

Thanks to both for making the contest so damn easy! By the way I'm still having that contest for the Brooks Farm yarn. Info is over at the sidebar. Only two people have donated so far, don't make it so easy for them!

Meanwhile Shameka made me do it. I really want to make the Mirepoix sweater for myself. I put it on my Ravelry queue and forgot about it, but Shameka would have none of it. She talked me into signing up for the Mirepoix Knitalong. We're looking at using Dale of Norway Falk. I'm a bit intimidated by the steeking but I have a sewing machine and plenty of liquor so I think I'm prepared;) Thankfully the knitalong starts on the 1st of October so that gives me and Rogue some quality alone time.

Things are gearing up at work but my mother in law has doctor's appointments today and tomorrow so I'm doing the work from home thing. It's a little schizophrenic but at least I won't fall behind.

Back to answering e-mails from work, while sitting on the floor in my jammies, working from home has it's privledges...

I actually picked up the needles a bit this week. I started Rogue but I've decided to go down a needle size. I had decided to knit it at 4 stitches per inch to make the math work better for my size. The measurement on the large is 43.5" and I'm 44" but it was a bit too loose after I washed and blocked the swatch. It's disturbing how seriously I'm taking this sweater. I never wash and block my swatch. I decided to just add a couple stitches for the extra room. It blocks out quite nicely so I think it will be just fine if I knit it to gauge.

I've been moving along on the dalek. Now that I'm finished with the damn bobbles it's going along pretty quickly. Although I keep forgetting to change colors so I've had to tink back every once in awhile:



Man I have never had to explain a project as much as I have to explain this one. I was in the dentist's office with Avery on Monday and people kept asking me what I was making. I decided to just say it was a doll and everyone said of course they could see it was a skirt for the doll, how cute, lol. Even at knitting group no one could quite get that I was knitting a killer robot. It would be the ugliest project ever if it wasn't a dalek. It's quite amazingly good for a dalek though. I did find this short parody video for those of you who haven't seen a walking rolling, talking dalek. Oddly enough his colors even match my little guy:

Have a great weekend all!

By Jove I think she's got it...

Tuesday:


Thursday:


Saturday:


Getting better all the time...

Birthday Redux
I actually did the teeniest bit of knitting this weekend. I worked on the dalek and I swatched for a sweater but I'll get back to that.

I've been meaning to show you a few other birthday goodies and somehow I never did but as my final birthday present just arrived I figured, a month later, it was time to show off a bit.

I bought myself this:

Technically it's not a birthday present as I bought it with my retro check but I considered it one anyway. I've been needing a new machine as my old didn't fair too well in the move. I'm not hugely into sewing but occasionally I'll need to hem something for the boys or line a bag and it really comes in handy having a sewing machine.

Tisha and the boys at work went to the ends of the earth (or Ebay did for them) to fulfill my Bollywood fantasies. I adore the Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan so Tisha found a way for me to declare my love publically:

...and since I can't have him in person, she got me the next best thing, see he's a real doll:


I've decided since I'm a bit old for dolls, poor Hrithik needs to earn his keep. This is the real present that I bought for myself way back in June it finally arrived this week. I've been swatching like crazy to make sure it will fit perfectly. My spokesdoll Hrithik presents:


Rogue. I've been dying to make this sweater for years and while Kathleen keeps throwing down the gauntlet of St. Brigid, I think I'll do this first. I think I might actually complete rogue in this lifetime;)

Time to get some sleep, I really don't like Mondays...

I had planned on sharing some pictures of the products of my spinning endeavors but I seem to have forgotten my camera cable. Damn shame that;) I blame exhaustion I was at work 12 hours yesterday. Mind you I was a bit of a slacker, when I left Tisha and a few others were still here. Oh the joys of rush preparation!

I have spun every night but last night. In fact yesterday I took a virtual trip to Bountiful. Maribel purchased my wheel from them and along with it I received a $60 gift certificate which I had yet to use. Since I am nearly finished with the bag of roving that Gina bestowed on me I figured I could justify obtaining some more.

I'm off to lunch in a few with Risa. She has a brand spanking new job starting on Monday so I will not be able to enjoy our lunches as frequently as I am used to. Of course she'll be close to Seaport so that seems a worthy excuse to head a bit further downtown for a lunch;)

Have a great weekend all!

This is basically a drive by post. I haven't knit a damn thing. Not on swallowtail, not on the Dalek, nothing, nada. Oddly enough last night I was actually spinning on my wheel. I figured if I wasn't up to knitting maybe I should spend that time spinning. I think all my mentors have finally started to make a dent in my thick skull. I have two small balls of horribly spun (half over-spun, half under-spun) to show for my two hour Closer marathon. That is however the most productive I have ever been on it (and let's not even pretend I ever did anything on the drop spindle). Some of it looks pretty damn good if you look hard enough.

Most importantly I seem to have finally gotten the rhythm of it which was my problem up until now. Pre-drafting helps a lot but the pull, pinch thing was a bitch for me. Last night I did it pretty well. Even Rinaldo was impressed. Of course the beer might have helped;) I'll definitely work on it some more tonight.

Maybe I'll even take pictures...

See Bel you didn't waste your money after all...

Tagged and a contest...

My good buddy Carla tagged me:


...and I'm such a baby I've been dying for this one:D

My choices for Rockin' Girl Blogger (it was tough keeping it at five, I gotta say) are:

Gina of Life in LaLaLumay Land
Susan of Labradorable
Karen of Spinning Goth
Kathleen of KatyKnits
Maribel (of course) of The Knitting Cube

Ladies feel free to pass along the crowns as you see fit...

Speaking of cool chicks who rock, my friend Leslie is doing the breast cancer 3 day walk out in San Diego. Les is a very, very good friend and cancer has hit close to her best friend's family. She is showing her support by raising money. I'm sure you all know that I lost both my parents to cancer so I want to do all I can to help her out. For the month of August when you donate to her walk I will enter you in a contest to win two skeins of my favorite yarn, Brooks Farms Four Play. I'm even going to let the winner pick their own colorway. We go on the honor system here, go over to her donation site, make a donation, come back and tell me about it, either in the comments or by e-mail. On September 1st I will pick a name at random. Once I've e-mailed you, let me know what color you want and I will place the order and have it shipped to you. I had been planning a contest for my 500th post (two posts away) but I decided this was a far better reason.

Go on and donate, don't forget to come back when you're done...

Rinaldo won't let me see movies in Manhattan anymore...

...it's not my fault! Really! I mentioned last week that we had an incident where the ticket taker didn't believe Avery was 11. Now I was really nice to that guy, I understood his dilemma but I held my ground and he let it go. Yesterday I wasn't so nice.

I took Avery and few friends to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at IMAX. This was what he wanted to do instead of having a party. I bought the tickets online nice and early. We got there about 15 minutes before the show started. At that point the other adult went to the bathroom and I got on the popcorn line. Once we got inside the movie had already begun and we didn't see any seats. My friend Leslie went to go find an usher, we realized we couldn't sit together but at least they could find us seats with a flashlight. I started to become concerned however when I saw a couple people sitting on the steps and a number of people standing against the back wall. The usher came and offered us a refund. He never even looked for seats for us. I explained that I didn't want a refund, it was my son's birthday and this is how we invited his friends to celebrate with us. He said we could stay but there was nothing he could do to help us.

The last row had 2 empty spaces between every 4 seats for wheelchairs. We made ourselves at home and sat on the floor. About 30 minutes later another usher comes in and tells us that we can't sit on the floor. I ask him to step outside and explain to him that they oversold the theater and I was going to sit where I damn well pleased so I could see the movie I paid for. He said that was impossible, "we don't do that". I told him I bought six tickets, he was more than welcome to find me six seats. He called his boss who told him they had in fact oversold and we could sit where we liked as long as were weren't blocking the aisles.

The kids were great about it and we enjoyed the movie. Regardless I was still furious. As soon as it was over I went to the ticket booth and complained to the manager. I then explained that I expected him to give me free passes to a movie for a later time so I while I told the parents who entrusted their kids to me that they had to sit on the floor for two and half hours at least I could say the next movie they see is on AMC. He of course gave me the passes. I can be very persuasive when I want to be. Due to this latest incident whoever, Rinaldo says I am having a bad streak at Manhattan theaters so I need to stay away from them for awhile.

Swallowtail and I were not getting along. I would miss at least one yarn over every 4th row or so. It was driving me nuts! I ripped it out and I cast on for Rinaldo's Dalek:


The pattern is a little intense, not because it's complex, it's fairly simple but you must pay attention to the row you are on. Each row has different stitches. I'm starting to get the rhythm of it though so I'm sure it'll will be easier as I go along. I'm just happy that it already feels pretty damn Dalek-y to me.

Off to bed!

Is it Thursday already?

This month has completely flown by me. After my birthday we had inventory and the July 4th holiday. Then I was away on vacation. I came back and jumped right in with the kids' camp routine and work having me snowed under. Then Monday and Tuesday we were off to celebrate Avery's birthday. We planned a trip to Sesame place on Monday but the weather was horrid so we went on Tuesday. Back to work yesterday and now the week is nearly gone.

I completely screwed up the planning for Avery's birthday festivities with friends. I still haven't officially invited at least 2 kids. I haven't really cleaned my house since just before we went to Virginia. I missed a blogger meet-up 10 minutes from my house in the Botanical Gardens with Sharon because I was in such a daze from Friday's Harry Potter activities (finished the book by the way, it so rocked but I am so going to miss those characters). I missed Risa's birthday. I haven't worked on the Knit Blogger's Ring in two weeks. I am a complete mess.

I do have some finished objects to show off amazingly enough. I did manage to finish Rinaldo's book scarf before he finished Harry:

It's pretty cute I'd love to make another but I really hated making it. I'm toying with a one sided version. Hell maybe I'll be really blasphemous and do a garter stitch version, flat. We'll see.

Last night I finished my Loksins:
I am very pleased with them. I love the way the colors work with the pattern, not that you can tell by this picture. I wish it were cooler so I could actually wear them.

I brought swallowtail with me to start on the train but to do a provisional cast on one needs scrap yarn. Somehow I forgot that. I do have yarn in my office (are you really surprised) so I should be able to cast on today anyway.

I spent a fantastic day at Kathleen's this past Sunday. It was her birthday and she had her own knitters' get together. It was a lot of fun and the kids and husband had a blast too. Of course Rinaldo's number 1 fan was there so he got to bask in the glow of her admiration, lol. I got to hang with Kathleen's mom Sue, who I like much more than Kathleen;). Granny of Granny's Shop was there as well as another knitting friend of Kathleen's Marilyn and Ann's buddy Ricki. Her husband Kevin was chef extraordinaire and was kind enough to cook something that I would eat, I'm such a pain in the ass when it comes to food.

I think I'll go work on the ring now, of course I could do the work I'm getting paid to do but where's the fun in that!

Birthday Boy!

Today my eldest is 12 years old, he started out pretty cute:
...in fact he kept getting cuter:
He was always a mama's boy:
...until he found more interesting things to keep him occupied:
He's turning into a very handsome young man:
...with a good sense of humor:
Happy birthday Avery!

Avery looks so damn old we actually had trouble getting into the Harry Potter movie on Friday since I had bought the tickets online and ordered him an under 12 ticket. We never did convince the guy he was 11 he just gave up after awhile. He said 11 year old's don't have hair on their legs;)

This week has thrown me for a loop. It's taken me until today to feel like I have things under control or lie to myself enough to believe it anyway.

I thought I would take a few minutes to show you the goodies that I got for myself at Knitting Sisters.

First up I picked up some Noro Iro:

Rinaldo posed the yarn for the picture. Is it obvious that I bought it to make a Lady Detective Hat? I fell in love with Gina's and now I want my own. I figured it was a good souvenir yarn.

I also picked up a tote bag (since I can never have enough bags):

It's my bag of the week. I also bought a hat (I like hats too, ok?):


I have not finished my Loksins. I promised Rinaldo he would have a book scarf for the new Harry Potter book. Here is where I am at 2:40 PM:

The good news is I will be on line at Maribel's store starting at 7 so that's a good 5 hours to work on it. The bad news is that knitting embroidery floss on # 1 dpns is like knitting dental floss on toothpicks. It. Drives. Me. Insane. Hope springs eternal. Of course Maribel should put me in a chair and put copies of Charmed Knits next to me to make me part of the show, lol.

Have a great weekend all! Potter-full for those who want it to be and Potter-free for those who don't.

Miss me...

...I'm back!

At least physically, mentally I am far from it. Vacation was great but the weekend was spent recovering and Monday completely threw me for a loop. It was the first day back at work plus the first day of camp for both boys. Avery severely injured his toe, on the first day! So he stayed home today. Ian had a meltdown when he realized that he had to stay at camp without his dad. When I picked him up they said he had fun and he told me he had fun but now he swears he won't go back (he goes 3 days a week so today he was off). I think I spent more time dropping off and picking up the kids than I did at my desk. Today's been a little better, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tonight I take Rinaldo out for his birthday. We're going to see Patty LuPone in Gypsy so that should be fun. Plus a little dinner before hand. A rare night out for the two of us, definitely something to look forward to.

As for a vacation report. I'll start slow today with the knitterly stuff. While in Williamsburg I visiting a lovely yarn shop called the Knitting Sisters:
It was located in this cute little mall called Village Shops. It was very quaint and it was a crafter's dream. There was a bead shop, a needlepoint shop and a quilting shop all right near each other. I didn't explore too much of the rest but I did visit the wine and cheese shop which was great.

Knitting Sisters was a really nice store. It was huge compared to what I'm used to here in the city:

...and even Rinaldo loved the way they showed off some of the store sample sweaters, although they admitted they stayed up there a long time since it was a pain to get up there:
I haven't taken a picture of my purchases yet but you can get a bit of a preview over at Maribel's where she shows off the gifts I got her for housesitting.

There was some excitement the first day. While at Busch Gardens toward the end of the day I was looking for the park map in my bag and I impaled myself with my one of my #2 dpns. It went almost completely through my hand. I could see it nearly poking through the back. Thankfully it didn't quite make it. It barely bled but man it freaked me out. I was completely light headed, faint and nauseous. I know it was really my reaction to seeing it rather than the actual wound. This is what it looked like the next day:

You can barely see it. The muscle hurts a little still but only in the outstretched position. I have to admit though I couldn't pick up my needles for a few days after that. Poor Loksins aren't finished yet because of it. I am happy to say my needles and I have made up now and I've turned the heel on the second sock so all is well.

Vacation Eve

Today is my last day of work for a week. If last Friday meant nothing to me, today means everything! We leave for Williamsburg, VA on Sunday. Two days at Busch Gardens and Water World then Avery and I split from the rest of the family. Rinaldo and his cousin want to do a third day at the park. Avery and I want to go to Colonial Williamsburg (why else am I going to Williamsburg?) so we'll go ourselves.

I've already scouted out a yarn shop. Knitting Sisters is 15 minutes from where we are staying. Any other recommendations?

I finshed my first Loksins, finally;)

...here it is without the flash so you can see the gorgeous pattern stitches:
Can I tell you how much I love this sock? I really, really love it. It's pretty, the pattern is easy, very straightforward and quick. I'm saving the second one for my car ride down to VA. It will keep me busy for six hours easily. It's so nice to be the non-driver in the family!

Everyone have a great week. Posting will be sporadic at best next week. It will probably be closer to non-existent. Try not to miss me too much;)

Inventory knocked me out. Unlike some people, I am not used to giving up my weekends for this place. Thankfully now it's done. I have a day off tomorrow and then two more days until vacation!

I thought at this point I would revisit my goals to Knit from the Stash and read books Off the Shelf.

Nearly every project I knit from January to June I knit from stash. The three exceptions were:

Anastasia socks, made with gifted STR.
The washcloth/soap sack combo gift. I bought a ball of kitchen cotton for that.
The Soy Wool hat, made with the free yarn from the Harlot's Represent event.

All in all 19 balls/skeins were used from stash. Of course last week I added a number of skeins in the birthday celebrations but overall I'm pretty happy with the dent I made. I also have learned that I am more productive when I keep to one project at a time. I don't know that I can always do that but it's interesting as I would have thought the reverse was true. I've been pretty monogamous this year and I've already completed 20 projects. Last year I did something like 25 in 12 months. I also realized how much fun it is to actually make a project that I planned for. I pulled yarn out of stash that I had bought with specific things in mind and then I made them. How different is that? ;)

Off the Shelf has not gone as well. I think I read 5 books off my shelf and everything else has been purchased. I discovered at least 2 new series this year which led to my downfall. I read the first in each series and then ran out and bought the remaining titles. We won't even discuss Book Expo. At least those were free. My freebie shelf at work is once again busting at the seams as are my bookshelves at home. I'm a book junkie, there is no help for me...

Loksins is going well. I'm halfway through the foot and toe decreases are in the near future. It's very comforting going in the right direction again;)

Friday means nothing to me...

Normally Fridays are my favorite day of the week. I can look forward to a little break, from work at least. This weekend however will be non-existent. We do inventory in my store this weekend. That means I work both days, yes it sucks to be me (and anyone who works with me).

I managed to finish the last teacher gift right on time:

I'm not sure how the teacher who I gave it to liked it but the teacher who is expecting couldn't stop oohing and aahing over the baby kimono, booties and hat. It's nice when gifts are appreciated.

On Monday to commemorate birthday week, I started my Loksins!:


I love, love, love them. They are so quick and easy. I was able to memorize the pattern repeat quickly and I can finish the 8 rows in a train ride. I'm about 3 repeats away from the heel I believe. Cassie recommends 9 repeats but I'll have to see if I want more or less. They are definitely washing away any ill effects my foray into toe-ups may have left;)

The birthday was excellent. I took the day off and so did Rinaldo. He took me to IHOP for breakfast and I was supremely decadent and had funnel cake for breakfast. Then we met up with Tisha and caught Live Free or Die Hard, which absolutely and totally rocked. There were some issues due to a small blackout that occurred while we were in the movies but we were on the West Side not the East so it just meant we had a little trouble getting home. The evening was topped off by dinner at Unos. Gift-wise the boys (with Rinaldo's help;)) got me Guitar Hero II, don't laugh I asked for it. I've been dying to play it. Not to mention I know the boys will love it too. Rinaldo got me a Stevie Nicks CD/DVD collection. Birthday week festivities end tonight with a trip to see Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Park with Maribel,our friend Heather and Avery. Avery and I read Romeo and Juliet together last year (I decided it was time for him to get to know Shakespeare) and I think seeing it will really get him to appreciate it.

Thank you all so much for all the birthday wishes! I really appreciated them.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to me

On June 27, 1969 I was born.

Since I have control issues I attended my mother's baby shower:



I knew I was a star from early on:


Sadly I was afflicted with a lack of fashion sense:


Thankfully a love of black clothing and rock and roll hair helped during my teenage years:


Now all these years later I just know not to get in front of the camera at all;)

Thank you for all the birthday wishes!

What happens when you decide to have a blogger bash for your birthday...

Blog celebrities show up at your doorstep:

...it is the world famous Onslow:
Bloggers eat amazing food made by a blogger, there's me, Kathleen, Maribel (who cooked), Tisha (sadly blogless) and Ann:
...after they are well fed, bloggers knit and help each other try new techniques and decipher patterns:
...sometimes they pull out ball winders and help each other wind up a skein or two as Chante and Risa did:
...and Hiro decided to give them a (not so) helping paw:
...children played (that's a new slide in the backyard by the way):
...the husband watched children play and eat:
...and the hostess racked up on the gifts:

There's a reason I invited other knitters to come over and celebrate my birthday;) Thank you ladies for making this one of my best birthday celebrations ever and not just because of the gifts, mostly it was the excellent company...