Playing Hurt at the CECCC

I am paying the price for productivity. My index finger is swollen and it hurts to move it. Interestingly it doesn't actually hurt to knit but my finger seems to want to stay in that position even when I'm not knitting. I suppose that's a bad thing but as we're approaching the holidays I'm wondering if I should view it as a blessing in disguise. Just think of it:

me: honey you know I can't do the dishes, my finger hurts too much
the husband: but you're knitting
me: yes, because it's the only thing that doesn't hurt

I'm exaggerating the pain a bit, ok a lot, it's really just a bit sore but it is definitely swollen. I'm taking ibuprofen and it's helping. I realize I really need to take a break from knitting but damn I'm on such a roll. Rinaldo's been away at a conference in Reno for most of the week so I've had tons of time to myself. I've nearly finished the booties, I am just finishing up the trim and then I will sew them up. I realize I promised pictures but with the husband away, exhaustion sets in quickly once the children are bedded down, so no dice, sorry.

I did manage to get one picture uploaded last night:



What the hell is that you ask? That was a meeting of the CECCC (Chuck E Cheese Cabling Club) last night. Of course it was the first and probably last meeting. Avery's school had it's annual Chuck E Cheese fundraiser last night and Maribel being the fool I mean friend that she is volunteered to keep me company since I was spouseless. Now in my case being spouseless means that I have to take the bus since I can't drive. She was really doing me a favor. She told me that she had bought some Lion Brand Suede and she wanted to make a scarf but she couldn't find the right pattern for it. I told her, "what about a cabled scarf?". She implied I was insane. I told her socks are way more complex than cables (and we all know that socks aren't all that complex either when you get right down to it). I mean really, I hate charts so I don't do many cabled projects but when it's written out all it really involves is moving stitches and knitting them. It's one of the really cool knitting techniques that is pretty simple but makes a project look really complicated.

So right there in Chuck E Cheese (actually on the bus if we're being honest) I taught her to cable. Now she's off and running. She found this pattern and called me this morning to tell me that it's coming along beautifully.

She's a freakin' cable queen...

Have a great weekend everyone...

It was a fairly productive weekend, but I didn't take pictures yet so you'll have to take my word for it. I finished Rinaldo's sock with yarn to spare. I did do a shorter than usual cuff in anticipation of a yarn shortage and that seems to have been the right decision. He loves them and is in fact wearing them today.

I made a beret from a pattern that I stole from a book of Maribel's. It came out well but the cast off is too tight. Bel had the same problem, in fact her's was too tight all around and she's been ripping back and tweaking the last few rows the entire weekend, in between rounds on a pair of socks. I think I am going to pull out the cast off row (which I did do loosely by the way) and go up a few needles sizes for the bind off. We'll see how that works.

I've joined the Irish Scarf Along. I've been wanting to make one and I finally found a good recipient. It will go to Avery's teacher. He was Avery's teacher last year as well and it a really good guy. He's helped Avery a great deal so I'd like to give him something special. I'm using Paton's Classic and Avery wants it in burgundy which I happen to have in stash. I'll be casting on for that this weekend hopefully.

The project I'm working on right now is the Ugg Baby Booties. I'm using the Lion Brand Suede rather than Berroco mostly 'cause I'm cheap. It is really a great yarn though. It was on sale when I picked up the balls for the booties (hmm how many bizarre hits am I going to get off that phrase alone) so I grabbed three extra for a scarf. I'm hoping to have enough yarn to do the hat also but I'm not stressing about it. I've been wanting to make these for quite awhile now but the right baby hadn't come along. Now there is one but I won't say which since all the new moms I know read the blog. They'll just have to wait until the holidays.

Speaking of babies. It's official I am going to visit my cousin Ingileif in the Spring. Nothing like a gorgeous new baby to get me over my fear of traveling. Maribel and Avery are going with me but we decided to spare Ian the 6 hour flight. He'll stay home with Dad, and wait for the next trip. Of course my cousin knows me far too well. She sent me many different websites so I can decide what I'd like to see but the first link she sent me was for the place she lives:

http://www.alafoss.is/

jealous much?

Not much progress to report. I finished the ribbing on Rinaldo's sock but I haven't really picked it up much. On Tuesday I started a Spenser novel and when I do that I'm shot for the next 24 hours (ok more like 12-15 hours). Spenser novels are like bags of potato chips for me.

I had to go for a sonogram on Wednesday morning. A few months ago I went for a mammogram, I'm a bit young for it but since both my parents died of cancer I'm kind of paranoid about it. I had to repeat it because it wasn't clear on the sides. The repeat one was more focused on those areas. The results came back and while there is nothing suspicious they are a bit dense on the sides so for a full analysis they need to do a sonogram. This of course involved a ton of waiting time. That should work out to tons of productive knitting time but instead I spent it with my favorite detective.

I did felt the bag last night. It came out great. It's currently blocking. I'll spare you pictures of that and instead will share when it's completely done. My friend's birthday is in a few weeks so for once I am finished early. I am itching to get started on holiday presents. I have a ton of scarves to do for teachers and bus drivers but I'm aiming for small quick projects this year this way I have a shot of getting most of them done.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Maribel and a co-worker of hers to visit Seaport Yarn. They now has an online store so you non-NYC people can share the love.

I was on vacation last week but I didn't really intend it to extend to my blog. It's weird, time has been getting away from me a lot lately. My stepmother is here in NY, getting her new dog Nike,
and somehow I have yet to call her and her graduation is this weekend. How the hell did that happen?

I have however been knitting like a fiend. Check this out:



I made this last weekend. While that is in no way amazing for many knitters, that is damn fast for my lazy ass. It is still waiting for felting but I take a lot of credit nonetheless.

I decided to wind a ball of the now famous, or is that infamous Socks that Rock. I did the Tiger's Eye colorway and the minute my husband saw it he said, "forget the grey I want that for my socks". Since I aim to please (some days) I made this:



Gorgeous isn't it. Here is where the problem is, you may have seem Cara's close call. Luckily she has chick feet, which is to say they are dainty and on the smaller side (compared to male feet at the very least). My husband while not having gargantuan feet as some have been accused of having, certainly has manly feet. I am very worried about running out of yarn. I am nearly done with the ribbing on the second sock. I will keep you apprised.

I am in Middle School hell for Avery. We have tours, tours and more tours to go on over the next 3 months. I feel like I'm choosing a freakin' college here...and to add insult to injury I have to do this all again in 3 years for High School!?! I am not pleased.

On the good side, Ian had his fourth birthday last week and we threw him a small bash at school. I will not go into how excited all of us summer babies (Rinaldo, myself and Avery) were at being able to finally have a school party. It was really kind of pathetic but we had a blast, oh I mean Ian and the kids had a blast, well whatever. Ian's teacher decided to save me a parent teacher conference and told me he is doing well and talking all the time now. He has even started using full sentences in school (he's been doing that a home for a bit). Her recommendation for him will be general ed Kindergarten with support (speech in his case) whoo hoo! That means he can go to Avery's current school next September. Which is what I really wanted.

And finally since we all need to feel like we are worth something, here you go:

My blog is worth $17,500.74.
How much is your blog worth?

Cara, man, I think you need to try again yours can't be right...

Happy belated Halloween y'all...

A Plethora of FOs

Ok, a plethora may be just a bit of an exageration but I do indeed have some FOs to show off.
Coming up first, Tashie's socks:



Look there's two of them, aren't you impressed. Rinaldo looked at the second one on the train going home last night and said, "you're actually going to finish the second sock, are you feeling ok?" Ha ha ha, he's so very funny...

...and because I've owed you these for awhile here is Rinaldo's scarf:



It came out exactly like he wanted it to. It's not quite cold enough to start wearing it yet so I finished way ahead of schedule!

Here is my multidirectional scarf that used Laurel:



The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that I wore it on the Knitting Cruise but here it is in all it's glory. I wear it whenever I can, hell I'm wearing it right now. It goes great with my denim jacket and jeans.

Tisha and I are heading to The Point at lunchtime today. We have 10% off certificates burning holes in out pockets. I'll let you know what we think...

Much fun was had at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend and man there were a ton o' bloggers there. I saw Risa, Cassie, Ann, Cara, Vicki, Lauren (from afar). I ran into Amy at the Spirit Trail booth. I even ran into Nilda's husband Rob who is really friendly and fun to talk to. He is obviously an excellent knit blogger husband.

I had the husband and kids along so I couldn't play with the other bloggers as much as I would have liked. I had planned on flying solo this year but I had a business trip to Ohio late last week and I only got back late on Friday. I thought it would be cruel to abandon them for yet another day. Maybe next year, Ann!

I was a good girl and didn't go overboard with my purchases. I had mentioned earlier that socks will be the gift of choice this holiday season so in that spirit I only bought sock yarn, but oh my what sock yarn it is.

Here is what I picked up at the Spirit Trail booth:



The grey is for a pair of socks for Rinaldo.

I also picked up this at one of the booths. Sorry I can't recall which right now but I'll double check when I get home:



I just love those colors.

And last but not least, over at The Fold, where I hear Cara was making a scene, I picked up some of these:



Socks that Rock!

It was nearly impossible to choose with all the beautiful colorways they had. Go check out what Cara and Ann picked up and you'll understand what I'm talking about. I think if I had found these first I wouldn't have had money left for anything else.

I ended up avoiding Brooks Farms. I would have loved to get something but I really need a specific project to buy for with their yarns. They are too beautiful to sit in the stash.

We stopped at the mall on the way back home to get a bite to eat and let the kids run around a bit. Ian got a Happy Meal, hmm do you think the theme of the bag is a coincidence...

I finished the first of Tashie's socks but I have been slow with the second. Here's a picture of the finished one:



and up close:



Like my twisted cable? I decided to jazz them up just a bit.

I was a good girl and cast on for the second one right away but I just never pick it up. At night I am so tired that if I start to knit while watching TV I end up dozing off. Last week I was taking my laptop on the train to catch up on some of my shows (due to the whole passing out issue at night). It's a frighteningly cool thing to download a show to your laptop from your Tivo and watch it at your leisure, but it does cut into knitting time. This week I have been leaving the laptop at home so I can concentrate on the sock. I have a business trip to Oberlin on Thursday so I am really trying to finish the damn sock and send it off before I go.

The funny thing is somewhere along the way I have decided that socks are the big holiday gift item this year. I do enjoy them and I haven't really stretched my skills much this year. I've done more scarves this year than I have since the first year I started knitting. I think it's time to play with different sock patterns. Then maybe I can feel like I accomplished something.

This gave me a good chuckle, I picked it up from Martha (damn I make it sound like an STD):

Go to Google.

Type in "“(your name) needs."” (Remember to use quotes)

Here are my favorite 6:

Nancy needs help.
Nancy needs to wake up.
Nancy needs to learn the facts.
Nancy needs help choosing snake to breed.
Nancy needs to make sure that her Mom understands Nancy'’s message.
All Nancy needs is to wolf down a three-thousand calorie dessert and bring the silver spoon back to Miles.


I always tell my husband I have needs, I just seem to have been confused as to what they were...have a good one...

The Cruise



Two Sundays ago Maribel, Tisha and I headed down to Manhattan for a day of knitting and relaxing. God knows we all needed it.

Here is the boat we took:



The Cruise was hosted by The Point, which is a yarn shop down here in the Village. I have to admit I haven' t been there yet, but Maribel loved it when she visited. She spent the whole day there. The cruise was a celebration of Knitty's third anniversary and the indomitable Amy Singer was there:



(you can see this picture from the other perspective here on Amy's site)

The waters were a bit choppy for landlubbers such as ourselves but we had decided to stay on the lower deck so it wasn't too bad. The one time we did venture upstairs to check out the auction items (there was a silent auction for Gilda's Club) we could barely stand the boat was swaying so much. It did seem much more lively up there though.

We did head out to the bow of the boat to take in the scenery. Here's Bel and Tisha:




Of course a hungry knitter is never a happy knitter so there were amazing baked goods on hand to keep us occupied between rows:




Honestly it was great fun with good company. A nice respite from the everyday. Of course your really want to know about the goody bags, I know you do, don't deny it. They were slammin':

I'm glad someone got their pictures up

Amy Singer of Knitty has posted her pictures from the Knitty/The Point cruise. I'm actually in three of them, as is Maribel and Tisha was in 2 Here's me and Maribel waving up at Amy and also the three of us at our table inside. Check out the other shots as well so you can see a good time was had by all.

My cable did come in but I didn't get to the pictures last night. I think I will do a rare weekend post to share them with you as well as my finished objects. Maybe even some shots of the house.

Serenity comes out today. I will be at the theater for the 5:30 showing. I am beyond excited. The reviews have been excellent. Hell, even the NY Times loved it. Lest you think it has nothing to do with knitting, I share this with you.

Have a great weekend everyone....


Added later - Another type of Meme

Got this from Cara who got it from Norma (and they told two friends and so on and so on):

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans...
---

Re-post this if you believe in legalizing gay marriage

I have a picture and it involves knitting and an adorable baby (sorry no cruise shots yet, Rinaldo says the cable should be in any time now...). Here is my lovely cousin, Asthildur Emma enjoying the circular blanket I made for her:



I am pleased to say that both her moms love the blanket and the fact that it is so bright and colorful.

About a month ago when all hell was breaking loose I realized that many of the things I was looking forward to were all going to happen in the space of one week. I declared that week, "Nancy Week". As of Sunday, my week has begun. Here is the rundown of what's going on:

Sunday 9/25 - Knitty Cruise
Tuesday 9/27 - Breath of Snow & Ashes by Diana Gabaldon comes out (I've been waiting 4 years).
Veronica Mars soundtrack released.
Wednesday 9/28 - Veronica Mars season premiere at 9PM
Friday 9/30 - Serenity premieres in theaters.

This week was obviously put together for me personally. All the planets aligned to create this special week of nirvana to make up for the chaos that came before.

So far so good.

Here is my favorite quote of the day from a Reuters Article on Serenity:

Yes, once you get the sci-fi True Believers on your side, all things are possible, [Joss]Whedon understands.

"We have a much broader base than just sci-fi people," he says. "That's what I found in our screenings so far. They're a diverse group, fairly well-adjusted socially, and I expect that a lot of them are even having sex. I really think the line between geeks and the rest of the world is blurring."

Nah, we geeks are simply taking over (insert evil laugh here)...

Mathews' Big Move Part II

Sunday, my new best friend Stanley the plumber came over with a his colleague and spent most of the day fixing one toilet or another. By the end of the day, lo and behold we had a working toilet. At this point it was only the downstairs one, the mortar in the floor had to dry in the upstairs bathroom before he could put that toilet back.

He came back on Monday to finish the upstairs toilet, and then spent the rest of the day replacing my gas line. I told you he was my new best friend. Now I won't be so vulgar as to discuss how much this all cost me but I will say that dear Stanley gave me a "pity discount". Ok he didn't call it that but he took $700 off the bill simply because he felt bad that we had just moved in. Tuesday he called Con Ed and they came and inspected the work and turned on the gas. Whoo hoo, hot water. It was a revelation. Stanley told me that I had to get the chimney cleaned as soon as possible because we didn't know if it was obstructed. I called the chimney people and they said the earliest they would come was Thursday. I said fine. We went out on Tuesday evening to run some errands and when I came home there was a note in the mail slot from Stanley. It said, "call me". I called and poor Stanley was sitting in his house desperately worried that the chimney was obstructed and carbon monoxide would build up in the house. I assured him that I had not 1 but 2 carbon monoxide detectors. This seemed to make him feel better but he said he was going to call the chimney people and tell them they needed to come the next day. I love this dude!

On Wednesday I'm at work and my mother in law is home when the chimney people come. Now Stanley had warned me that they would say I need the chimney lined but that's what they always say and he didn't think I really needed it. Of course my mother in law called me a little while after they arrived and the gentleman on the phone said he believed I needed my chimney lined, big surprise. I hemmed and hawed and he said he would hold his judgment until they got up to the roof. When he called back he said the chimney had never been lined and there was only a bit of clay lining right at the top. Once they started cleaning pieces of the chimney started to fall down. My mother in law told me that it was quite bad, she could hear them as they fell through the kitchen wall. Ok...now I needed to decide whether or not to believe this guy. In the end I had it lined. Here's my rationalization, see if you like it, The people who lived in this house over the years (it's 80 years old) seem to have only patched things as they went along. The pipes, the gas line seemingly the chimney. The only way I could know for sure the state of things was if I got it done myself. Did the chimney need to be lined? I don't know for sure, but 10 years from now no one can tell me it does because I got it done. I feel more secure that way.

Once that was done it was over. I currently still have a hole in my kitchen wall and ceiling but the contractors who originally worked on the house have been in to look at it and will be repairing it shortly, at the seller's expense I may add. We had the landscaper come in and clean up the yard. There is still tons of cleaning to do , the deck and the front area need to be cleaned and painted and on and on and on. But it's mine and we're very happy with it. Besides I have a house now I can't afford to go out on weekends, I'll need all these projects to keep me busy.

Since this is a knitting blog, here's a quick update on my projects. Rinaldo's ribbed scarf is done and I started a pair of wool socks for Tashie. She made the crew team and needs them to keep her feet warm and dry. I was ecstatic since that was just the project I was looking for. Quick and easy socks on size 7s. Rinaldo ordered me a new cable for the camera so I hope to share cruise pictures with you shortly.

This is where I'll be today!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Post for the Following...

I picked this up from that Crazy Fiber Lady. It looked like fun.

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five some other people to do the same.


Here's my quote:

"Can't wait to start those but that is a post Christmas project."


Damn I'm boring.

No naming names here, consider yourself tagged if you're interested.

Have a great weekend...

I have yet to find the cable for my digital camera so we are photo-less for awhile. I thought I found it in my bag but it turned out to be my USB extension. Oh well, instead I will regale you with tales from my moving adventures.

I present:

The Mathews Big Move Part I

On Friday night we sent Avery and Cheyenne to my mother in law's house to spend the night. Tashie and Cheyenne were staying with us for the weekend, Tashie, to help us pack and move things, Cheyenne to keep Avery company. By 1 in the morning we were exhausted and Avery's room was still not completely packed. We decided to leave it for the movers. All Star Moving came promptly at 9 (thanks Patricia!). Those guys were great, efficient, fast and nice. They warned me about all my IKEA furniture, it's not really made to be moved, but everything came through unscathed. In the meantime I went to the house to wait for the plumber. He had to do a pressure test before the gas could be turned back on. He showed up after the movers of course. He started working on that and the movers finished up. By this point Maribel had joined us to help as well as my good friend Leslie and her family. Rinaldo said to me at some point, " can you ask the plumber to look at the upstairs toilet when he's done, it's overflowing a little". So everyone started using the basement toilet instead.

Later the plumber called me downstairs to show me all the leaks in the gas line, lots and lots of leaks. My entire gas line would have to be replaced. OK...

While I'm down there I hear Leslie and Maribel calling me. It seems there is a leak in the kitchen, so I come upstairs and in fact water is pouring out of my ceiling above my beautiful new cabinets. I ask the plumber to come up and he checks the toilet and then proceeds to destroy the top of my kitchen wall and part of my ceiling. It seems that the toilet was clogged with construction debris (he says he often sees this after a house has been under construction, the workers tend to clean their tools in the toilet) but the pipe under it is had only been patched over the years and it was leaking through.

Now I knew when I bought the house that the plumbing hadn't been re-done. The wiring was updated, and the interior was completely reconstructed but the plumbing had not been touched. I expected at some point to run into issues like this but not 2 hours after I moved in! The plumber said he would be back the next day to fix the toilet and the pipe, then on Monday he would come in and do the gas line. Basically this meant on our first night in the house we had:

A- no oven/stove
B- no hot water
C- only one toilet working in the basement

Ok, not too bad, right? Everybody left around 7 and Rinaldo went and got the kids. We watched TV for awhile (because I did of course have cable and internet, you see where my priorities lie). We put the kids to bed and started to wind down from the busy day. Rinaldo came up from the basement at some point and announced that now that toilet wasn't working either. Lovely...so now no indoor plumbing whatsoever.

The fun never ends. No one told me I was moving into the Frontier House, I guess I should be glad we have a big backyard and it's overgrown too...built in privacy....

Next on the Mathews Big Move - We move into the 20th century...

Miss Me...I'm Back!

In case you hadn't noticed I have been rather quiet of late. I have many tales to share. There is the issue of the plumbing in my house malfunctioning within hours of us moving in. The gas lines that had to be completely replaced before I could have hot water or a working oven and the destruction of a good part of my kitchen ceiling and wall. There was a car accident (nobody but the car was hurt), buses that never showed up on the first day of school and myriad other disasters.

But most importantly there was this:



My cousin had her baby. Isn't she beautiful? Seriously I want you all to stand in awe at her beauty...
When you have only 2 relatives left in the world that you know and want to speak to you, having one more is an enormously big deal. I love her already and I haven't even held her yet.

There has been a finished object in all the madness and a nearly finished one as well but that's fodder for another day.

I've not been around to talk about the horrible things that went on in New Orleans, perhaps it's better that way. My feelings on this administration are very obvious and this event shows me I was correct but never more have I wished I was wrong. Rather than focusing on that I gave what I could to a favorite charity, Habitat for Humanity as my investment in hope for this beautiful city. The always thoughtful and giving Margene is co-hosting a fundraiser over on her blog as well. For those of you who are not currently in a position to give money Oxygen is promising to donate a dollar for everyone who registers at their Katrina site to help the overflowing Children's Hospitals caring for the smallest victims of this catastrophe. It's an easy way to give when you don't have much yourself.

Contest Results

In the words of Avery, "Michelle wins!".

Thanks to everyone who left me a comment, you all gave great advice. Some of it I knew and had been doing but some was new and it was all appreciated. Special mention goes to Patricia who recommended a moving company. That's who I'll be calling!

Things are crazy here as usual. Work is busy, home is all about packing and the boys are both home for the rest of the summer. I have done a couple of sections on my scarf during my train rides so knitting is not completely abandoned. Maribel and I are going to see Motley Crue tomorrow night at Jones Beach (yes, again). That should de-stress me a bit. I think I may have to treat myself to a trip to Haven when this is all over!

Bronx Girl Moving and Clapotis no More

If you thought I've been horrible about regular posting, just wait. As Chris said in the comments last week life is really about to ramp up for me. We were supposed to close yesterday on the house, but it appears there is no survey for the house. The lawyer had to order one to be done. We won't have the results until Friday so the closing is now set for Monday or Tuesday. Now the plan was to move in on the 20th mostly because the weekend after that is "move-in weekend" when most of the students move into their dorms here at NYU. At that point it really gets insane here. Yesterday Rinaldo's boss helped us out by giving him move in weekend off, so it can now be our move in weekend! I do my own schedule and I work in an office so I can work extra hours during the week which means I don't have to come in, aah the joys of not working on the selling floor. We have been packing and throwing out a ton of stuff. I barely recognize my own closets. All the knitting stuff is mostly packed except the books and the projects I am currently (I mis-spelled that and for some reason Blogger's spell check corrected it into "carnality" wtf is that about?) working on.

I frogged Clapotis. For some reason I wasn't feeling it in the Laurel. It doesn't have the drape I would have liked and suddenly I didn't feel as much of an urge for a smaller version. Maybe I will again although I am making a regular one for a Christmas gift so maybe I won't. I decided instead I needed a huge narrow scarf. Damned if I know why but I decided to do it as a multi-directional scarf and it's coming out very nicely. It's nice and mindless too since I've made so many of them.

Tisha, Maribel and I have signed up for the Knitty Brunch Cruise. I received our confirmation today. Three hours of knitting, eating and cruising around Manhattan. It will be the perfect post-rush, post-moving, de-stresser (how many hyphens can I use in one sentance). Anybody care to join us?

In my cleaning and packing I found my extra copy of this:



Since I haven't been entertaining you well of late and even one less book to move would be a good thing I decided I should have a contest for it. So here's the deal:

Submit a comment between now and this Saturday (August 13). I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday night and announce the winner on Monday. To make it a little more fun, for me at least, if you have a good piece of moving advice share it with me. It's not required for the contest but I can use all the help I can get!

When your best friend bitches at you, in public (see the comments on the previous entry), that you need to blog, then you really need to blog.

Things are completely out of control here at Casa de Mathews. We were supposed to spend last week packing and cleaning but if we got 10 boxes done it's amazing. We threw out about 7 bags of crap though so that's something.

The car died on Monday, the first official day of vacation last week, so that put quite the crimp in things. Maribel and I went to see Fiddler on the Roof on Wednesday and I have to say it was amazing. Harvey Fierstein was wonderful and Andrea Martin was perfect opposite him. I really enjoyed it. I was commenting to a friend how wonderful I felt for Harvey during the standing ovation. In the Playbill he dedicates his performance to his late father because Fiddler was his favorite show. The fact that Harvey's career took off because of his amazing writing and acting in shows that focus on gay themes, he is as famous if not more for being gay as for his talent, yet he has come so far and society has come so far, that here he is getting so much love and appreciation from the mix of people in that theatre for playing an extremely traditional character. It's a really wonderful thing.

We rented a car since ours would be in the shop all week. We still had our annual Sesame Place outing. Avis in their infinite wisdom gave us this. Good lord I felt like a pimp. I told Rinaldo he was simply missing the hat with a feather. We had a great time though and Ian had his best time yet. Three and a half is a good age for Sesame, he did some rides, played in water and even waved to a few characters, he wouldn't get too close though. I always bring a disposable waterproof camera with us but the pictures aren't developed yet. If there are any good ones I'll scan them in for you.

We had Tashie and Cheyenne for the weekend which was great. I'll have to visit Boston often once Tashie goes to school. I'll miss her too much if I don't.

We are closing on the house on Tuesday. This Friday will be the final walk through and then we have to figure out how we are going to get everything done before rush starts here at work. It's about 3 weeks away. I am already too damn stressed...

oh yeah and I've actually completed 4 feet on Rinaldo's 6 foot ribbed scarf, aren't you impressed?

Busy, busy, busy...

A good time was had by all at Avery's party on Saturday. We had the party at Catskills Laser Tag. There were other activities as well.

Avery and his friends Dylan and Aaren had a blast with air hockey:

(Maribel and I ended our game in a 4-4 tie)

Even Ian and Zeyda had a great time. Here they are tackling the rock climbing wall:



Of course there was more grown up fun on Sunday. Can you guess who I visited:


Hanging out by the pool for Kathleen's birthday. Here are Ann and Chelsea:



and Kathleen the action heroine:



It was a great day. Good company, good food (even for the picky eater that is me), broken glass of course and a lovely dip in the pool. The only downside was that I failed to convince the wonderful and charming Poe to come home with me. I tried to explain to him that he is a sophisticated dog, more suited for city life. The suburbs were too laid back for a playa like him. Yet he didn't climb into my bag to leave with me. I was devastated and after he nibbled on my ear so sweetly. Oh well...our love is just not meant to be.

I'm a bad blogger and a bad knitter. I've been too lazy to take pictures for your amusement and really my whole life should revolve around your amusement. I've also been quite lazy about the knitting. I still haven't picked up the needles since last Friday. I'm choosing to blame the heat for my lethargy. Who the hell wants to move a muscle, even a small one in this heat.

Here's a few pictures to entertain. Avery at the Harry Potter event:


he's waiting on line to have his face painted.

This is Avery at 1:00 in the morning when we got home:


poor kid looks beat, I looked worse.

Since I have so little to give you I will finally share my deep dark secret. We're buying a house!

This house to be exact:



The picture is not that great. There is a huge tree right in front of the house which makes it difficult to take good pictures of it. We haggled over the contract for something like 3 weeks. We even walked away at one point but in the end all was solved and we are hoping to close in a couple of weeks. Whoo hoo. The house has been completely renovated so everything is new. It's small compared to a suburban house but way bigger than an apartment. The yard, for the Bronx anyway, is freakin' huge. There is a deck and a finished basement. We're all very excited. The best thing is that it is only 10 blocks from where we live now so the kids stay in their schools and the disruption will be minimal. We're still near the same 2 train lines and all the buses which makes me very happy since I still don't have a driver's license.

Next week is vacation for Rinaldo and me. Ian still has school but Avery is home. I'll be keeping Ian home for a day or two for our annual Sesame Place excursion. Mostly vacation will be spent cleaning and beginning to pack for our move or really deciding what gets packed and what gets tossed.

My weekend will be pretty packed. It's Avery's birthday tomorrow and we are having a Lazer Tag party for the big 10 year old. Then on Sunday I will be trekking out to Long Island to hang with those insane women out there and to show Chelsea a good time. I have it on good authority that there will be knitting, a pool, drinks, carrot cake and possible glasswear being shattered. Sounds like my kind of party...

Have a great weekend everyone...

I finished Harry yesterday. I didn't have a chance to read it at all on Sunday. I had sent Rinaldo and Avery to the movies since it was Rinaldo's birthday and Ian wanted my full attention. When they got back from the movies Rinaldo's mom took us all out to dinner. All of this conspired to keep me from my book. I finally made up for it yesterday, thank god I had the day off. I enjoyed it more than the last one. Harry is a much more pleasant person to be around now that he is 16. Not enough Ron and Hagrid for me though. I cried my way through the end but I am completely hyped for the next one and yes Bron I am dying to know who R. A. B. is too.

The only knitting I got done was at the Midnight Madness party at B and N on Friday. May I tip my hat to my best friend, Maribel, as she and her store had a phenomenally well organized event. Tisha and I got there at 9, got our bracelets right away and went to wait on line. The line for reserves snaked around the perimeter of the store while there was entertainment in the kids section, clowns, balloon animals, face painting you get the idea. Both Avery and Aaren (Tisha's son) had a good time. They didn't get bored until 11:30 or so but by then we were in the home stretch. I usually leave these events saying to myself, "I will never do this again" but I'd do this again in a heartbeat. Tisha too and she's way tougher than me to please in this type of thing (and yes she was getting the book for herself too). When we left the store the reserve line continued outside of the store and down the block. On the other side of the door was the huge line for the non-reserves. I figured Maribel would be there all night but she told me the next day they were done by 1:30. Really amazing efficiency. Of course I was no where near the front of the line and I walked out around 12:05.

There was a knitter sitting next to me on the line (we were all sitting on the floor for most of the evening). She was working on 2 thin stockinette strips. She said it was the ties for a baby sweater she had been making. She was a bit disappointed she hadn't brought more to work on because she finished those off pretty quickly. I worked on Rinaldo's scarf since it's nice and mindless. If I got tired I didn't want to screw up a pattern repeat on Branching Out or Clapotis.

I did take pictures but surprise, surprise I never downloaded them, maybe tomorrow.

In case you didn't know how big a geek I am...

I thought I should make it clear by telling you that although I am ostensibly going to the midnight party at Barnes and Noble for Avery it's really a lie. I want this:



just as much or more than he does, we have 2 copies reserved.

In case by some freak of nature there is a sudden shortage of Harry and someone out there desperately wants to buy it at full price, don't forget my store. We do carry more than textbooks and we will definitely have Potter. We're not a chain so we can't discount but I know many of you can appreciate how cool it is that we're still an independent bookstore.

Have a great weekend, you know what I'll be doing.

Happy Days are Here Again

The NHL lockout is over. I frankly thought the NHL itself was over but it turns out not to be the case. I wish I could make some principled statement supporting or complaining about the players or the owners but I am just too damn happy that my Rangers will be playing again.

Michele sent me a lovely card:



Thanks Michele it really perked me up a bit when I found it in my mailbox.

Last night was my knitting group at Barnes and Noble. There were 22 people there. We have never had such a turnout. It was really amazing and only a handful were regulars. I'm curious to see how many come back next month.

Clapotis is coming along. I've dropped 3 stitches so far, that's my favorite part. Branching Out is a bit stalled but I'll get back to it. I feel like I should start a Harry Potter scarf for the Midnight Party at Maribel's store that I'm taking Avery to on Friday but that's a bit over the top I think.

The winner of the poll for the wedding afghan is, drumroll please:

Cream

Just a bit disappointed myself but I think I will buy a skein of cream and a skein of cinnamon (my favorite) and swatch them both up. At least this narrowed down the field for me. Swatching will give me a much better idea of which works and I can give the swatch to the happy couple as a preview of the gift to come. Thanks for voting.

I started my second Clapotis on Thursday. It's really quite lovely:



I can't wait to start dropping stitches. I'm a little concerned about how big to make it. I only have 400 yards of the yarn. I definitely want it much smaller than the first but big enough (don't you love it when I'm definitive). I just have to pay close attention as I go. I'm on my fourth increase repeat, but it's really the length I want to cut down.

This is the wedding afghan I want to make for my friend Brian. I am thinking of using Knit Picks Andean Silk. The question is what color? Tradition would have it be the cream, but I'm not exactly a person known for sticking to tradition. It should be light enough to show off the cables but I'd like something that won't show dirt quickly in case they actually decide to use it for something (instead of putting it away).

All this leads to my first ever poll! Which color should I use?




I'll post the winner on Wednesday.

Have a great weekend everyone...

London

I know I have a handful of readers in the UK. I hope you and all of your families are safe and well. Our thoughts are with you...

Dam, No Knitting!

Ok, I have to admit someone else came up with the title for today's post. It came about because this is where we celebrated the Fourth of July:



That's my good friend Leslie discussing something very important while eating Sun Chips. Behind her is the Kensico Dam (the picture was much lighter at home, sorry but pretty cool shot of the sky, no?). They do a concert and fireworks show for the Fourth.

Here is a pretty shitty picture of said fireworks:



There is also a playground so the boys got to go nuts for awhile before the show. Once it started they were tired enough to sit through it. It scared the hell out of Ian at first, because it was so loud but in the end he really enjoyed it. I did do a bit of knitting on the ribbed scarf but when I looked at it the next day I realized I screwed up the last few rows that I did in the dark...damn.

I've been plodding along on Branching Out. I'm just about ready to start another ball but I realized that this scarf is so not me. Which means, check it out, I have a holiday gift half finished in July! Wow, can you imagine. Yeah, I know it's just circumstance, not good planning but whatever.

I got a very sweet thank you note from the recipient of the log cabin blanket. She really loved it and appreciated it. Makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it?

I found out I have a party in the Hamptons to go to in August. I'm feeling very intimidated by this fact. Me, the Bronx Girl, in the Hamptons? Uncomfortable much? It's for my very dear friend Brian and his wife Tara so not going is not an option, but I'm hoping some of my good LI friends will be willing to make the drive out if I need bail money. Brian and Tara married last year in a small ceremony in Ireland. They are doing a big ceremony this month in Ireland as well (they have been living there for a number of years) but the August party is to welcome them back to the states. Do I dare try to knit the wedding blanket I've been wanting to do for them for the past year ? There really is no time for it but if I start now maybe it can be a Christmas present. I definately need to start my second Clapotis with the Empress Wu Zhao as it will be perfect for the party. Of course I'll have to buy a dress to match it.

Isn't it funny how just about every event in a knitter's life is only as relevant as the knitting project that is required for it?

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Eat drink and be merry...

For the holiday here is a cute little Blogthing that I ran into, I've edited it a bit to keep only the things that really applied...

You Know You're From New York City When...

You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map. The subway makes sense. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple". You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard. You consider Westchester "upstate". You think Central Park is "nature." You've been to New Jersey twice and got hopelessly lost both times. You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent. You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid. Your closet is filled with black clothes. You haven't heard the sound of true absolute silence since the 80s, and when you did, it terrified you. You pay $5 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28 cents. You have 27 different menus next to your telephone. Going to Brooklyn is considered a "road trip." America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you. You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form. Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes. $50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag. You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories. You don't notice sirens anymore. Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you. You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills. You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price. Your door has more than three locks. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression. You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection. You're 35 years old and don't have a driver's license. You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available. There is no North and South. It's uptown or downtown. When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels. You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas. You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve. Your internal clock is permanently set to know when Alternate Side of the Street parking regulations are in effect. You know what a bodega is. You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats. Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet..... You cringe at hearing people pronounce Houston St. like the city in Texas Film crews on your block annoy you, not excite you. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from NYC.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here



More cool things for your blog at
Blogthings

Thank you to everyone for the numerous birthday wishes. I really appreciate them all!

I owe you some pictures from the fabulous outing I had with my fellow knit bloggers. Last Thursday I hung out with this crowd:



That's Vicki on the left, Ann hiding behind, Jen writing in Vicki's book, Cara, Cassie crouching down looking in her bag (she managed to not actually show up completely in any of my pictures, she has a gift) and Lauren. We were all standing outside of the building where School Products is located.

Here's a shot of Habu:



See all the lovely yarns on the wall. It's a completely different kind of yarn shop. I really loved the layout of it. Very peaceful.

The weekend was good. We went to Bear Mountain on Saturday with Avery's school. We were able to pick up Tashie and Cheyenne which always makes an outing more fun. It was really hot so we spent most of the time in the pool. We went back to Tashie and Cheyenne's house after and hung out there for awhile so Ian could play with their little sister Zeyda.

Sunday I spent most of the day at home, Rinaldo took the kids to his grandmother's house. I already mentioned that I was spending Monday with Avery. The movie was really good. I was a little concerned because the theatre where we saw it turned out to be running the original Japanese version with subtitles. I asked Avery if that would be ok and he said yes. When the film was finished he told me he was glad he saw it that way. He thinks it was better than the dubbed version would have been. I have obviously raised him well.

Of course it being my birthday there were presents involved:



Rinaldo got me The Little Box of Scarves and the Stitch and Bitch journal. Maribel got me No Idle Hands. All very cool and much appreciated.

I took MIT's survey this morning. It was really quick, if you're a blogger go check it out, you even get your choice of a cool button:

"You say it's your birthday...it's my birthday too yeah"

Yup, it's my birthday so no real posting today. I did get this test from Snooze this morning and honestly I answered every question as truthfully as possible. I would only get this result on my birthday...




Go have fun today, in honor of my birth, it should be a holiday you know ;)

I had a great time yesterday hanging out with fellow bloggers, Ann, Cassie, Cara, Lauren, Vicki and Jen. Vicki was in town from Wisconsin so that provided a good excuse for the rest of us to meet up with each other as well. Sadly I was far too lazy to upload my pictures but I'll get them up next week. We hit School Products which is always fun, but I managed to restrain myself. The real reason I came out, aside from good company, was to finally go to Habu. It's really different. The yarns are on the wall or in baskets and you decide what you like. Then you tell the staff how much you want and they go in the back and wind it for you. I was actually a bit overwhelmed but there are definately things I will go back for.

Wow, a yarn crawl with no yarn to show for it. I am obviously losing my touch.

I gave up trying to do Branching Out in the lace weight cashmere. I will save it for either a simpler pattern or when I'm a bit more experienced with such fine yarn. I dug through the stash and came up with a mercerized cotton in DK weight. That means that June's Stashbuster project is well underway.

I think it's coming along nicely:



It's funny because I see the pattern definition much better in the picture than I do in real life. I'm hoping that blocking will bring it out more. The color really works for it doesn't it?

Tonight is dinner with Maribel for an early birthday celebration. Monday's the actual day but I am hanging with Avery all day. His school has Field Day so I will sit in the park and knit while he plays. Then he and I are going to see Howl's Moving Castle. Should be fun.

Have a great weekend...

Last week was a little crazy because Rinaldo was away on a business trip from Thursday to Saturday. I am really not good at the single parenting thing. Overall the kids were good though. I came through with my sanity as intact as it ever was (granted that is probably less than most people's) and both children survived therefore it was fine.

I rented Black Cadillac and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love to watch while Rinaldo was away. They both feature guys on my top ten obsession list. I managed to watch Black Cadillac (which featured Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars) on Thursday night. It was much better than I expected. I thought it would be supernatural horror stuff but it was really just suspense and some interesting characters. It wasn't great mind you, but I did enjoy it much more than I thought I would. I didn't get to see Kama Sutra until last night, I passed out from exhaustion on Friday. It featured the devastatingly gorgeous Naveen Andrews from Lost. It was very good. I currently have an obsession with all things Indian so that helped a great deal. It was very beautifully filmed and the story and acting were good.

I managed to finished the pinwheel blanket this weekend. I won't show pictures here but you can visit the pinwheel along page as I sent Larissa a picture of the completed blanket. I cast on for Branching Out on Sunday. It has been ripped out 4 times already. The pattern isn't giving me trouble, it's the yarn. I'm using the lace weight cashmere I bought in Maryland. I am having problems with dropped stitches. Normally not a big issue but this yarn is so thin I can't pick them back up. It's very frustrating but I'm ploughing on.

I don't know what else to start. Branching Out is not good traveling knitting so I need a portable to take with me. I may work on Bob a bit but I'd like something a little bigger going on also. Four seems like a nice number of projects to me. I was thinking about starting one of the baby sweaters but I e-mailed Morehouse Merino about my gauge issues with my kit and I have yet to hear anything from them. I guess I'm going to have to call.

Just so I can say I showed you something here is the sweater Maribel just finished. It's this Five Hour Baby sweater:



The hat's adorable too, I can't remember where that came from, but it goes so nicely with the sweater.

Tomorrow there's a bit of a meetup of bloggers here in NYC. I'm hoping to sneak out of work to join in for a bit, but we'll have to see what happens. It's the quiet time here at work but I've been leaving early quite a bit I don't know if I can swing it tomorrow.

I have achieved!

You see before you a finished log cabin baby blanket happily blocking early this morning. Well in advance of the trip it will take tomorrow afternoon to it's intended recipient:


and a close up:


It gathers a bit in the middle, I'm pretty sure that's because I was trying to pick up the specified number of stitches in the beginning. It blocked out very nicely though.

Last night was knitting group at Barnes and Noble. It was our one year anniversary. Maribel provided cookies and cupcakes to make it festive. She even raffled off a few books and one of their summer totes. Sadly the fix was not in, so I walked away empty handed. It was a fun night. I had finished the blanket on the train, but I brought Bob as my back up, so I finished the bottoms of his feet. Now to move on to his head.

I brought the pinwheel blanket with me today, it would be great to get that done as well but I am planning on casting on for Branching Out this weekend regardless. I am so ready for something slightly more challenging but smaller than the blankets I've been carrying around.

As for my secret, it still remains, things are moving forward but there was a setback this morning and that's all I'll say. A summer mystery here in the Bronx...

Interesting happenings going on here at Casa de Mathews but nothing I want to talk about just yet. I am only here to remind everyone that Veronica Mars repeats start tonight. It's on UPN at 9 and then another episode tomorrow in it's new timeslot at 9 also. Tonight's the first episode so you can start at the beginning.

I've admitted I'm obsessed but I also hate that an excellent show is being watched by so few people. If you're not busy check it out, it's great to knit by...

The day really got away from me. I never post this late in the day.

There's not much to report. The log cabin is chugging along. I am on the second color of the last repeat. Work's been boring. Not much going on after work either. I've been catching up on some TV this week. We watched a mini Dr. Who marathon (Rinaldo downloads the new series because it would be torture for him to wait until they were aired in the states). We saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I can say was a very well written and well made picture, but I really didn't enjoy it. I did think the ending was the best part, since it was really stating that relationships are never perfect but that doesn't mean they aren't worth it. I also caught the Showtime version of the musical Reefer Madness which was hysterical but very, very odd. I thought it could have been shorter, and could have used a little less, blood, zombies and cannibalism. Yes, you read that right...

I did forget to share a purchase that I made at Costco on Sunday. I bought myself a new lamp:



It's one of those broad spectrum lamps. The light is really amazingly bright. I also notice particularly when I'm reading that my eyes don't get tired as quickly. It was a good deal, only $20, I'm happy with my purchase.


I will leave you with yesterday's Brenda Starr just 'cause I thought it was funny.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I have joined another knitalong, but once again I have cheated. I am already two thirds of the way through the project. Larissa (go visit just to see that adorable baby of hers) is hosting a Pinwheel Along. Which is in fact the blanket I am making for my cousin. Ingileif I am trusting you not to go visit this site, since there will be pictures of the blanket in progress there.



I have made great progess on the log cabin... really, I may actually pull this off. Katy saw it and sympathized with me about all the ends that will have to be woven in once I'm finished. That's going to be the issue once the knitting part is done.

Katy and I had a really nice lunch. I even got a manicure, in the middle of the afternoon, on a weekday. I felt quite decadent. I also managed to pay off the two summer camps that Avery will be attending so I was productive as well.

Ann is complaining that her stats are down and I have noticed that mine are down as well. I had put it off to a summer slow down. There actually has been a slow down on posting on my favorite sites which I attributed to the same fact. Ann has come up with some creative devices to help her numbers, they involve sex toys and excrement. I think I need to get creative too, but I can't see how I will beat her.

My cousin sent me this link, which I thought was hysterical.

A Graduation, lots of books and even a bit of knitting...

My darling Natasha is all grown up:



A high school grad, with honors no less.I am practically bursting with pride, hell I'm not even her mom. The day was lovely, the ceremony was not horrifically boring and Ms. Tashie was beautiful. I also got 2 blocks done on the log cabin blanket (the yarn arrived just before I left work on Friday) all in all a great morning.

Sadly we had to take pictures and run because Book Expo was going on without us. I managed to get there in time to get Stitch and Bitch Nation signed by the very friendly Debbie Stoller:



Although this picture isn't bad I have to say she looked much happier in person.

Later I got to meet another knitting Debbie, this one is Debbie Macomber author of Shop on Blossom Street and A Good Yarn:



She was also very sweet and friendly.

The rest of the time was spent collecting free books. I didn't get as much as I did last time but I did manage to pick up some good books for the kids. The lines for Nick Hornby and Bill Maher were too long for me to deal with so I missed out there. Tisha and Maribel both had 3 bags full of books by the time I arrived so maybe it was better that I arrived later.

Here's a link Maribel sent me with more pictures from the Expo. Scroll down about 2/3s of the way and you will find a somewhat mis-identified Stephanie with Pam Allen of Interweave Knits. Stephanie was there on Friday signing her book.

I'm taking a half day today to go hang out with Katy. Wow, a Monday I've actually been looking forward to, hard to believe...

So here I was bitching that I had nothing to talk about and then I remembered that I never mentioned the lovely lunch that I had with the crazy fiber lady, Risa. There was talk of knitting and other fiber related matters of course, but mostly mom stuff. It was really fun. I am hoping we do it again soon. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for me to sit and talk to a nearly complete stranger when they are a knitter. I am not a social person, which is undeniably odd since I work in retail and enjoy it, yet, I have never had a bad time meeting another blogger. I guess we are just a very cool group of people in general.

I actually had some bad karma due to my bitching also...very bad karma. I finished the baby booties and I went to my knitting basket to grab the log cabin so I could start working on it. The blanket was right on top with the current color I was working on (which it turned out was the wrong color but that's neither here nor there). I then pulled out the large plastic zip lock bag that the rest of the yarn was in, I keep all my projects in bags like this so I can grab them on the way out the door. Imagine my surprise (and disgust) when I found that the yarn had molded! Yes, molded.

See:



I cannot describe how I felt. It was nasty, disgusting and I was very upset because I need to get this blanket done. I have no real idea how the yarn got wet but the balls were extremely damp. There's a number of things that could have happened, there was an incident in Maryland when Rinaldo put an empty plastic soda cup in my bag and later I discovered that there was ice in it that had melted so the bottom of my bag was wet. The blanket was a bit damp but I dried it in the car and I find it hard to believe it actually got in the plastic bag full of yarn. I also worked on the blanket after the trip so I am sure I would have noticed. I know there was also an incident of spilled lemonade in that corner one day when I wasn't home but my mother in law is pretty reliable about this kind of mess I am sure she would have noticed if it spilled into the basket of yarn. And again inside the plastic bag!?! No other yarn in the basket was the slightest bit damp so I suspect it will forever remain a mystery. I did order replacement balls from Patternworks that are being shipped 2nd day and should arrive here at work any minute now, so I think it will still get done in time.

Tomorrow is Tashie's graduation from Cardinal Spellman High School. She will be attending Mt. Holyoke in the Fall. I am so proud of her and amazed at the wonderful young woman she has grown up to be.

Tomorrow I also go to Book Expo. This is basically a bookselling and publishing convention. Tons of free books and author appearances. In fact Stephanie is there today signing her book. Tomorrow I hope to catch up with Debbie Stoller and Debbie Macomber as well as a number of non knitting related authors. I can't wait. Mind you I still haven't read all the free books I got at the last BEA I attended, which was like 3 years ago...

Have a great weekend all...

Oh blogger wherefore art thou?


You know it's been a long blog break if Maribel is asking me why I haven't posted. The answer is...laziness. I'm feeling a bit of the summer lethargy coming on. Not to mention that I ain't got much to say. I am just finishing the booties I am making for a friend of Rinaldo's. Which is cool because that is my June Stashbusters project, and no the baby blanket for May is not finished, thanks for asking. I am actually on my third go round on the booties. The first one was made using the Morehouse Merino pattern. You will recall I was not getting gauge with the yarn in the kit so I decided (before I called them) to try the pattern with a different yarn. Did not work too well. I wanted to take a picture but I never did. The bottom half is really freaky. It's far too big. If you tuck it inside itself it looks fine but if you take it out it looks like it would fit a small balloon. So I used a different pattern. The next pair were far too small. Now I went up 2 needle sizes and I am nearly finished with the first one. I should finish the second tonight. I then have to go back to the log cabin because Rinaldo has to take it with him on his business trip the weekend of the 17th. Good luck to me.

Memorial Day weekend was uneventful. I took the boys to the Central Park Zoo on Saturday. Ian loved the Polar Bears and the Penguins. I then took them to a great little playground just past the zoo. There was a giant slide which they both loved but on the second time going up Avery missed the step and slammed into the decorative log. Ouch. He had a very nasty scrape and bruise on his cheek. He is however an amazing brother and did go up one more time with Ian before we went to the first aid station. He's very sweet. We got an ice pack from the zoo and he felt like quite the warrior with his scar. Sunday was spend running errands and Monday we just did a little picnic thing at Van Courtlandt Park. Very relaxing.

See I told you nothing was going on...at least nothing exciting...