Phoenix Knitter

End of a Blog

2005-07-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

I don't want to stop blogging, but I fear the knitting blog has run it's course. As my mother said to me yesterday, I have a very strong way of expressing my convictions. For some reason this doesn't seem to translate well to a knitting blog.

I started blogging only because I wanted to join a group that required a blog – of course it was a knitting group. I never imagined how much I would enjoy it. Well, and also how annoying it would be.

I have talked to a few people about the latest blog issue I've been having, and even after listening very carefully I still do not understand why otherwise sane people would get so incredibly angry with me. About a book for children no less.

So I'm moving my blog. I'm not stopping, I'm not cutting people off, but I am moving. Mainly because I think "Phoenix Knitter" is a limiting title. You are all welcome to follow me over there as long as you are an adult (sorry Mary) and don't mind reading strong opinions that you may possibly disagree with every now and again. If you are easily offended or you just don't want to know what I really think, perhaps it's not the place for you.

So my new blog is going to be all about living in Phoenix. I am native Arizonan and have lived in New York and Northern California. Now I'm back and my little city-that-could is actually trying to become something, hopefully something great. Since I am never allowed to leave again (I think Jack's grandmothers would set up road blocks if we tried to move him out of the state), I am going to provide commentary on the changes impacting my permanent residence.

So thank you all for visiting Phoenix Knitter. I hope to see you at Phoenista sometime soon.

NAW is back!

2005-07-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Not to detract from all the fun we're having beating to death the relative merit of a children's story, but news is news. Mr. Now A Warning is back, maybe only temporarily, but at least he's posted so you can all know he's alive and stop asking me.

I've decided I need to find a job where I can get paid to make people angry, hurt and upset all the time since I do it so well here. Maybe I should go to law school.

Jeez Louize

2005-07-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Kim called me today to fill me in on why everyone is so wildly angry about my Harry Potter post. She says people are reading into it that I'm saying "If you like Harry Potter you are stupid." I am NOT saying that at all. I watch reality TV and read Stephen King – I don't think people are dumb for liking bad stuff.

When it comes to Harry Potter, I feel the reading public treats these books like something wonderful and great instead of what they are - plot-driven children’s books. It just makes me sad that caring about good writing makes me a snob. (or an elitist, depending upon which comment you agree with more.) I care that published authors and their editors don’t take the time to improve upon the writing at least enough so you don't cringe as you're reading. But the truth is they don't have to - the books will sell even if the writing is mediocre, even if there are glaring errors in syntax, even if the sentences don’t exactly flow.

Yes I am glad children are reading. But what are they going to read in between these extravaganzas put on by the publisher to sell more books? Perhaps some Sweet Valley High?

I don't have a lot of favorites when it comes to Children's Literature, but since Mrs. R asked I would highly recommend CS Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle. And I don't know if it's still the case, but I remember the Newberry Medal at least would single out one book a year that was usually good. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor are two that stood out for me as a child. Oh, and of course Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan – all by EB White.

Paula had a good point about writers being too in love with their prose to get to the story. This is often a problem in serious contemporary "literature" these days (I blame over-workshopping in the MFA programs that have appeared at practically every university in the country). It's all about balance, and I think Rowling misses the balance by a long shot, albeit on the other end of the spectrum.

Like any art, writing is up for interpretation. If I wrote here "I think the Mona Lisa is rubbish, it doesn't deserve the wall space" would you all still freak out on me? I don't think so. So everyone simmer back down and stop being so angry. I still hate the books and probably won't read them until I have to read them to Jack. Then we'll see if I change my tune.

(And Jen, I was actually shocked at the response I got to this. I did expect some controversy regarding my divorce with kids post considering the divorce rate in our country and I was looking forward to hearing different perspectives. Oh well, I guess I didn't quite understand the Harry Potter zeal had reached such a fevered pitch.)

Potter Schmotter

2005-07-18T19:00:00.002-07:00

I am proud to say I have never read a Harry Potter book or seen a Harry Potter movie. Why am I proud? Because I think the writing is rubbish. I don't think Rowling cares about word selection or sentence structure one iota, and I can't bear a writer who takes her craft so lightly. (My mom had the first book, I read the first chapter, that is the extent of my knowledge of the topic.) Yes, it is supposed to be for children, and yes, everyone in America loves it so it must be good. I am just disappointed that people have such low thresholds for literature these days. It's all about the plot – nothing else matters as long as you can keep people on the edge of their seats, right? Plot plot plot. And will it make a good movie? Can I sell the screenplay? Will Americans salivate and line up to buy the sequel?

I feel the same way about the book "Wicked". When did we become so lackadaisical about books? We just devour all the junk in the world without a care. I hate to sound like a snob, but I just wish that people would take a step back and think while they are reading.

On the knitting front, I have to rip out my second blue sock. For some reason I have a disease that makes me forget what type of cast-on method I used for the first sock and apply it to the second. So I will be ripping out and restarting. But for now I'm doing a little more work on Ribby Shell. The pattern measurements seem a little long – for the size I'm knitting you are supposed to knit 14 inches from the cast-on edge. I don't think I want it to be that long so I'm probably one going to knit 12 ½. I know I am short so this might be part of the problem. I even measure some shirts I like to see how long they are from armhole to waist and they all came out at 12 inches.

I don't usually cross post my pictures from my baby blog, but this shot is worth sharing. It is my six year old nephew who lives in Colorado.

another finished sock

2005-07-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am obsessed with those stupid footie socks. I stayed up past 11 Friday night working on the next one. I think about them when I sleep. I want to knit the world a pair of socks. It’s insane.

I was talking to a friend this week about her relationship. Now, those of you who know me are probably used to hearing me say “Dump him, he’s a loser, he’s not that into you, etc, etc, etc.” However that all changes once a child is born. If you have a child with someone you are bound to them for life. Period. Even if you’re bored or tired or angry. Really in my opinion the only exception is abuse. (Oddly, women who are abused are more likely to stick around and let their kids get beat up on, but that’s another story).

I know marriage is hard, I know it’s not always the sunshine and roses we expected when we walked down the aisle. But what I told my friend and what I tell you all now is this. It isn’t about you. Look in the mirror and say it with me. “It’s not about me.” The only thing that matters is the health and happiness of your child.

But I never let people off easily (including myself if it makes any difference.) You can’t just “stay together for the children” either. You have to work. You have to look across the kitchen table and find something you love about that man every single day of your life. You obviously loved him at some point or the child would not be around, right?

He’s a loser? Whip him into shape. He’s not interesting? Maybe you’re the one who’s not really interesting. He’s not the man you married? Honey, let me tell you, you’re nowhere near the woman he married.

Children are better off with happy parents in a strong and healthy relationship. You decide to have that strong and healthy relationship, no one else can decide it for you. But please, for the love of all that is good in this world, take a step back out of your selfishness and try to make things work.

Lecture is officially over.

Now on to the discussion of the weather. You know how all of you in Canada were complaining a few months back about snow and ice and storms and misery? We were laughing at you, basking in our sunshiney winter, growing vegetables and lying by the pool. We are paying dearly for it now.

Phoenix has odd weather, really. It’s not too bad until right before the monsoon, and then it’s as if Mother Nature has decided she doesn’t like cookie dough ice cream anymore, she likes burnt cookies and she likes them all day long. (we, the residents of Phoenix, are the blobs of cookie dough in this scenario, in case that wasn’t clear.)

After a few days of temperatures above 110, we are all miserable, cranky and mad about the weather. We don’t want to leave the house. It’s even too hot to go swimming. And then the storms start.

Of course they don’t start with rain – that would be too nice a break. They start with wind that seems as if a giant hairdryer was pointed on your house at high speed. This is what happened in our yard, shortly before the electricity went out:

Yes, that is our tree. Broken. But still no rain, nothing to cool off this miserable city.

Luckily Jeff came to dinner tonight. We had to eat in the living room because the dining room is about 20 degrees warmer. I set up a card table with all the cute stuff we bought from his garage sale and Joe made baked ziti. Except the power went out, so we ordered pizza. Then the power came back on so we had both! Here we all are, enjoying Arizona as much as we possibly can:

Jeff remarked as he was leaving that this was the first time he hung out with me without the baby. (Don’t worry, the baby was here, he was just asleep.) I do exist outside of that kid, I swear it. It’s nice to have a friend who doesn’t have kids so we can discuss various topics that don’t revolve around diapers and breastfeeding. I mean, it’s nice to have friends with kids as well, because they are invaluable when strange things happen and you need a shoulder to cry on. But a little bit of balance is slowly returning to my world and I am happy about that.

I’m tired now, I may not even knit tonight (!).

Yarn Day!

2005-07-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

I was emailing with Jeff last night and asked if he wanted to come hang out with us today. To my great surprise he agreed. On the agenda? Nursing home, yarn shop, and lunch with Julie and Mac. Hardly the type of day I would expect him to enjoy – but we all had a great time.

Fiber Factory is empty this time of year – it was wonderful. The staff was not nearly as harassed as they are during the winter. It was quiet and enjoyable. And I bought some yarn. I am obsessed with these footie socks. I had to make myself a pair. As you can see, I’ve already started them:

Yes, that is Baby Cashmerino. I am hoping that by bringing it in the house it will release the curse on the Cashmerino Chunky that just can’t seem to make itself into a sweater. Since my house is now 75 degrees thanks to the kind men at Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, I thought I might need a pair of cashmere socks to keep my tootsies warm. This yarn is so soft it will make you cry. I will update my progress so you can all drool.

Never fear, my sweet mother. I finished your socks this afternoon:

Super cute. Perfect. I couldn’t be happier. I will never get enough of this pattern.

I can now see why people get stuck on only making socks. Especially these socks. So quick. So refreshing. So Summery. I am one happy knitter. I hope everyone wants footie socks for Christmas this year.

Finished Socks?

2005-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

I finished the socks last night and, well, see for yourself.

They don’t match at all. Now, I did use a different cast on method for the second sock. This was inadvertent – when I made the first sock I forgot my crochet hook in the car, so I had to use a normal cable cast on. With the second sock I used the crocheted cast on where you use the hook to make loops on the needle. I thought they were similar but apparently not. The second sock (the one on top) has a lacy/frilly edge. The other problem is the striping is off and the top sock looks way more red than the bottom sock.

So, I am going to cast on and knit another sock. I want them to resemble one another more closely, and if I start the yarn in the big red stripe I think it will help. The yarn is called Clown by Marks and Kattens. It’s 45% cotton, 40% superwash wool and 15% nylon. Oh, and it is not colorfast. So mom, don’t get your feet wet or they will turn pink.

If you need a good reference for the kitchner stitch, go here. It has great explanations and pictures.

I will be at Fiber Factory on Thursday at 10 a.m. if anyone wants to come knit with me. My student Judy will be there as well. I may try to find some yarn for myself for these socks. I also just read a pattern in Interweave Knits where you double the yarn on the foot so there is extra padding. Considering how often I run around with only my socks on this sounds like a good idea.

Sock Pattern

2005-07-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the link for the sock pattern. Sorry, I meant to put it up yesterday and didn't get around to it.

She (Alison of the Blue Blog) also has a cute t-shirt pattern here. It's called "Nothing But a T-shirt" and it's made out of Rowan Calmer. I can't even imagine how soft and comfortable that would be, but at $11 a ball I don't think I'll be making this shirt any time soon. (The pattern takes 6 balls, so $66 without tax, shipping and needles. Because of course I don't have the required needles, why would I?)

I tried the sock on my mom today and it fit, so I'm going to give the pair to her when they are done. I'm a little confused about the short-row technique again because I picked up the copy of Interweave Knits that has the baby bootie pattern she refers to, and the directions are a bit different. Only slightly, but enough to make me think I'm doing it wrong.

I hope to finish the sock tonight so I should have pictures of it tomorrow. Everything else is on hold until this crazy sock is completed.

One Day, One Sock

2005-07-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

A 24 hour sock is really something, especially for me. I spent yesterday sleeping in (yay!), going out for breakfast, picking up the baby from his Grandma Gloria's house, and then monitoring that baby all day while he tried his darndest to get into every possible thing in the house that was either unsafe of off limits.

But still, here is the sock:

Now, I used yarn I had that I don't particularly love – my mom picked it out last year. Of course as soon as I stitched the last part of the toe I realized I should have just made it in her size. Oh well, live and learn. I think I'm going to crochet an edge with some Microspun I have lying around that will match perfectly.

Let me tell you how much I love this pattern. I have never done short row heels and toes and they are far superior to any other sock I have knit in the past. There is no picking up of stitches along the heel flap, and the toe is round like a normal sock instead of all squared and weird. A big thank you to Alison of the Blue Blog for sharing her pattern so generously.

I answered my own question yesterday, but if any of you happen to make this sock and wonder what I did, you knit to the stitch right before the yarn over and then turn your work.

I went to Michael's today and got some thread for my beads. I've decided to stitch them on after the purse is finished – I think trying to strand them and knit them in will be too complicated for me right now. Plus I want to get that purse done and write up the patterns.

As many of you may have read, Kim is moving to China and I will be taking over the scheduling of our Stitch and Bitch group. One of my biggest challenges with this is that I will need to get to a good portion of the meetings, and my little tax deduction goes to bed at 6:30. If anyone knows a trustworthy babysitter who can sit in my house and make sure it doesn't burn down before Joe gets home I would probably hire them on the spot. It's not the fun kind of babysitting that the grandparents enjoy – you know, where they actually interact with the child. And it doesn't make sense for them to drive all the way over here for one hour of sitting anyway. I really just need someone to watch over him like a lion and call me if he starts bleeding or vomiting or something.

I am going to miss Kim. She was one of my first new friends when I moved back to Phoenix and we got pregnant at the same time last year, which is almost like going into the army with someone. It is such a great opportunity for her and her family and I know they will have a wonderful trip. I'm just getting tired of people leaving.

I haven't had any sleep. Last night about 1 a.m. a drunk driver was pulled over directly in front of my house. The nice police office decided it was necessary to keep his lights flashing for the entire hour it took to perform the field sobriety tests. In the end the young gentleman was not arrested, but it looked like he was asked to go sit in his car for a while. He pulled over on the curb and sat there while the nice policeman left. Of course I was wide awake through it all and peering at them through the curtains. I wanted to go yell at the officer for disturbing my sleep, but my pjs didn't match.

Scatterbrain

2005-07-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I'm becoming a somewhat scattered knitter. Or really I just am a scattered knitter and sometimes I'm more focused than others. Right now I'm about as focused as Ben and Jennifer's wedding photos. The SWTC purse is halted because of beads. I have gotten pretty far on the Ribby Tank, as you can see here:

It's a good project for knitting with a baby because I don't have to pay too much attention. Although it's a good thing I've learned how to drop a stitch down and change it from a knit to a purl because I have messed up a few times.

The pink sweater is completely on hold because I fear it is possessed by demons. I bought a skein of chenielle to make the washcloth from Weekend Knitting but it's still sitting in my car.

And then today I found these adorable footy socks – remember the ones with the pom poms on the back? Alison at the Blue Blog designed them and I just think they are adorable. So I started a pair of those with some yarn in my stash. I’m having trouble understanding her method of short rowing but I'm hoping to figure it out. Even with pictures it is just not making sense to me. If anyone has done this pattern and can answer one question for me that would be great. (My question is this, do I knit the stitch BEFORE the yarn over or do I turn there?)

As many of you noticed PJS took down his blog without warning. I don't know if he'll be back, I don't know why he did it that way other than he said it was starting to feel like work. He was very tied to the number of comments he got in a day and apparently he didn't feel like people were commenting enough. I'm guessing he will resurface on some of your blogs and explain himself, but probably not until Tuesday or after. (He has company in town right now.) Anyhow, he was fine as of yesterday afternoon, I can only assume he's fine today. He has a cute habit of not returning emails or phone calls, so hopefully everything is okay.

I'm not going to comment about London other than to say it makes me sad and scared. I don't feel like ranting or arguing or anything, I just wish it didn't happen.

All the Needles in the World

2005-07-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

A group met up at Changing Hands Thursday night and I was able to make it thanks to my darling husband Joe. He came home early so I could jet down to Tempe and sit for a bit. It was fun to see people, and to finally meet Maura from my comments section. Here is a picture, she’s the blond smiley one.

And here’s the other side of the room:

I worked a little on my red bag – I added a crocheted edge around the top that I may take off. It just doesn’t look right. I’m stuck on the white bag because I want to add beads but I can’t figure out how to thread the beads onto the yarn. I bought a beading needle but the eye is verrrrry tinnnnny, and I don’t have little threader. So I’m stuck. What do I do when I’m stuck? Start the next project of course. Here you can see my new Knitpicks Shine yarn being knit up into Ribby Shell:

I love this yarn – it is soft and great to knit. At only $2.29 a ball you just can’t beat the price. You could make a huge sweater for less than $30. I want to make this wonderful cabled sweater for Jack that is totally impractical but so cute I want to die when I see it. At least if I use cheaper yarn it won’t be such a waste, right? (I know, I’m rationalizing, but I LOVE this sweater so much. I can’t find an individual picture, but if you go here and scroll down to Cable and Rib Sweater w/Hood you will see what I mean.) And please don’t bother reminding me that I don’t think you should put hoods on baby sweaters. I know this, but I can’t stop myself.

I had to go buy two sets of needles yesterday in order to cast on for Ribby Shell. Joe was, once again, shocked and amazed that I could possibly need another needle. He asked “So, how many needles are there? Is it possible to have all the needles?”

I responded “Well, there are different types, circular, straight, double pointed….”

He interrupted “No, I asked, is it possible to have all the needles?” (Can you tell he’s been doing depositions a lot lately?)

“Well, I suppose so.”

“How many would that be?”

“I honestly cannot tell you.”

And since he wouldn’t let me tell him why this is such a difficult question to answer (by now he was frustrated and grumbling in the other room), I will share with you my copious knowledge of the knitting needle world. But first, just so you can see where he’s coming from, here is a look at my needle case:

Outside of this case I probably have another ten or so sets of needles. Maybe more. I know, it’s a lot, but there’s a lot to keep in mind when buying needles.

First, they are made of different materials. Some are plastic, some are wood, some are bamboo, some are metal, some are made from the shin bones of llamas that live on the coast of Peru. There is much debate about what the best materials is for creating the perfect needle, but I am here to tell you there is no one best needle. Sure, I like Addi Turbos just as much as the next knitter, but if you’re knitting lace weight yarn you will be sorely disappointed with the slippery mess you create. (For the uninitiated, these needles are about 3 times more expensive than others, so the needle snobs are out in force trying to convince the world they are the ONLY needles to buy.)

Secondly they come in three different types: straight (the common needle, the ones you see on Six Feet Under where all they knit are scarves), circular (for knitting heavy projects or hats), and double pointed needles (socks, tops of hats, and I-cords).

Then you have to deal with size and length. This is where I ran into trouble yesterday. I needed size 6 circulars with a 29 inch cord. And they couldn’t be bamboo because I’m knitting cotton. (Bamboo is great for lace weight yarn or, oddly, for bamboo yarn.) And to be honest, my favorite metal needle is Susan Bates Quicksilvers – only $5.50 a pair instead of $16 for addis. Plus they aren’t as slippery and I like the sound they make when they hit one another. The closest yarn store to me didn’t have 29 inch cords, only 24. Could I get away with it? Hard to tell without buying the needles and casting on the project, but I decided to go out on a limb and get them.

So there is my small dissertation on needles. I am learning more with every project. Like the fact that lace is best knit on straight needles because circulars pull on the little yarn-overs. And socks are best on metal needles because the little wood ones snap like toothpicks. So my education as a knitter continues, and I’m sure someday I will have all the needles.

And now on to sad news. I’m afraid my pink Cashmerino Chunky Sweater project has been jinxed somehow. Or maybe the yarn is occupied by demons. I don’t know what is wrong with this project but I just can’t make it work. First the cabled fiasco. Then the wrong gauge on size 17 needles. Then I bought the size 19(!) needles and cast on, only to realize I didn’t have large enough stitch markers. I finally got started, cast on, was knitting happily away, and then this:

If you look at the stitches on the green part of the needle you will see a gap. This is also known as a short row. It means that on the last row I knit up to this point, turned the work and knit back to the end. So that little edge piece has one less row than the rest of the sweater. I can’t believe I made this stupid weird mistake. It must be the fault of the yarn, because I certainly wouldn’t do this on my own.

So there you have it. Joe is home all weekend, we hardly have a single plan save for some family parties and celebrations, so I plan to knit and relax as much as I can.

Light My Fire

2005-06-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today is hot. But I find myself not minding so much now that we have air conditioning. Imagine that. It’s 110 outside but only 76 inside, so I am comfortable. I only wish we had done this ages ago. Now if I could just convince Joe we need a pool….

Arizona is typically a nice place to live – no natural disasters, lots to do, pretty scenery. Unfortunately we had a large amount of ran this winter, and now all the dead grass is igniting and wreaking havoc. (no thanks to the smokers of the area who still think it’s okay to throw lit butts out their windows, but I digress.) I was driving up to my mom’s house the other afternoon and saw this:

I thought, hmmmm, it’s a little early for monsoons and it’s not supposed to get cloudy today. Then I realized that was SMOKE. The fires up in Carefree are so big you can see the smoke from all around the valley. A second fire to the west of us started yesterday and the smoke was so thick it blocked out the sun near my house. Incredible.

Where does the time go? I am so used to blogging every day and now that I have this little person to entertain I don’t get around to it. I can tell you I met Becky for some knitting on Tuesday. She was in the area and so I dropped by the Coffee Plantation for a visit. She looks great – rested and relaxed and much much happier. Here she is showing off a sweater she made for her nephew:

I dropped by SWTC yesterday on my way home from Julie’s and talked to Jonelle about my purses. She gave me some beads for the white one and I’m going to start putting beads on it this weekend. I think she liked the designs, now I just have to write up the patterns.

She was also working on the cutest little amulet bags made out of some type of crazy, soft and silky yarn with cool beads and buttons hanging off. I think she’s going to put pictures up on her blog later this week so go check it out.

Tonight is knitting at Changing Hands. Joe is coming home early so I can run down and knit for a spell. I probably won’t get there until 7:30 or so, but I’m sure there will still be people around. I can’t wait!

Designing Women

2005-06-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Some people have tons of creative energy to spread around. They create all day long and then sit down at night and create some more. I am a little different. When faced with a large creative challenge I pretty much stop everything else. If I am writing, I have to knit something plain with no decision making requirements. If I am knitting something difficult, I don't write. That is what happened to me last week.

I finished Mariposa and dropped it off at the SWTC warehouse on Thursday. I had Jack with me and he was in a foul mood, so I had to jet out of there. On the way home I got to thinking. Doesn’t Mariposa need a purse? It’s an extravagant shawl, meant for special occasions like weddings or fancy dances. Wouldn’t it be great to have a cute bag to match your shawl?

I emailed Jonelle and she thought it was a good idea. She offered to give me some yarn to complete my ideas.

On Friday the air conditioning guys were here from Chas Roberts all day. Seriously, they came at 8 and left at 6:30. I kept leaving and coming back because it was hot in the house without a/c and I couldn't just sit around and sweat all day. On my trip to get my yarn I started thinking about these purses I wanted to make and how I would construct them. Then I came home and started knitting.

I have never designed anything in my life. I can read a pattern. I can follow directions. But create something without knowing what will happen? It was scary and exciting and I loved every minute of it. I can't stop thinking about these purses, and even as I type I want to go back to my room and pick up my needles.

I knit on the red purse all weekend and today my mom helped me line it. The finished product is here:

I wasn't sure if it was okay to post this picture since I'm still designing, but I consulted my personal intellectual property attorney and he assures me it is fine.

I love Southwest Trading Company. Not just because they have interesting yarn, but the people who work there are wonderful. They were unpacking a shipment of Karaoke on Friday and everyone there was in a jovial mood even though they had billions of boxes surrounding them and tons of work in their immediate future.

If you don't know what Karaoke is, allow me to show you my personal cone of it:

Here it is along with some black and white Bamboo and Shimmer that I am using to make more purses. Of course, digital photography does not do the yarn justice. It is beautiful. It is not like anything you've ever touched before. It is lofty yet thick. It is soft and weighty. The colors are blendy and smooth. I love this yarn. Alas, it will have to sit in my stash for a little longer while I work out the issues with my purses.

I have to take a moment to thank Jeff for watching our dogs and Gloria and Tom for watching our baby this weekend. Joe and I stayed at a lovely place called Sanctuary on Camelback Saturday night. What a wonderful time we had. It was relaxing and quiet and just beautiful. I forgot the camera, so you will have to believe me when I tell you it did not even resemble Phoenix. It was green and lush and wonderful.

Ok, back to the needles.

Sun Blocking

2005-06-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

I realized I had missed one vital step in Mariposa – crochet the edge. Yikes. There are 308 stitches and the pattern called for 3 rows of single crochet. I’ve been furiously hooking away since Monday, and now Mariposa is officially done and blocking in the sun:

And here’s a close up of the edge so you can see my fancy crochet work:

I emailed Jonelle to ask about blocking and she said just to dunk it water and lie it out in the sun. Luckily it’s about 700 million degrees here today so it should be dry in no time flat. I’d like to drop it off on my way to pick up Jack this afternoon.

Gloria was nice enough to take him today while I meet with various air conditioning specialists and figure out how to make our house cooler. Unfortunately the answer is to buy a new air conditioner. Of course they are very busy with the weather such that it is (yes, it really was 116 here yesterday, Heather is not lying), but we played the baby card and are hoping to get it installed quickly. Keep your fingers crossed. (I’m sure Jeff is especially, given that he agreed to watch our dogs this weekend.)

I bought size 19 needles to test out on the Debbie Bliss yarn – we’ll see how my gauge is with them and hopefully get this new sweater started. Although sitting with a pile of yarn on my lap is not in the cards until the house cools off.

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

2005-06-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our dog sitter moved to New York, and Guido the Beagle has not been the same since. Here he is, pining away for PJS on the back of the couch:

We are going away this Saturday night and still have not secured a sitter for our wild beasts. The great thing about PJS is that he loved staying with the dogs as much as they loved having him. That is a tough act to follow.

Our dogs are overly coddled, I know this. They don’t go to kennels, they don’t stay home alone and have someone drop by to feed them, they really don’t like being left at all. If they have to be left, they’d better really really like the person or we will be punished upon our return.

So the search is on for a new dog sitter.

I can’t get too upset though, because I am going away! Going away! A night with no baby, no dogs, no laundry, no dishes! I can hardly contain my excitement. I am afraid, however, that Joe and I will sit across the dinner table from one another and have nothing to say other than “What do you think the little guy is up to?”

On the knitting front I finally finished Mariposa. It isn’t blocked – I sent Jonelle an email asking how I ought to block Bamboo. Full immersion? Spray bottle? Steam iron? The options are endless, and I really don’t know with this fiber what the best solution would be.

Here are some pictures. Yes, I’m in my pajamas, yes I look horrid. Deal with it and just look at the shawl please.

I learned a lot from this project. Namely, I am not a shawl person. I thought I would have trouble relinquishing this item back to SWTC because of the time and effort put into the piece, but I find myself relieved that it will be put to good use outside of my home. If I kept it I would feel obligated to wear it, and it’s just not my thing.

Secondly, I love to knit lace. I love the charts, I love the yarn-overs that make little holes, I love the repeats in the pattern that slowly unveil their beauty. I am going to have to find more lace projects in my future. Just not of the shawl variety.

The minute I finished weaving in all those little ends, I picked up my Debbie Bliss yarn and cast on my new project. I got this far:

and measured my gauge. I am two stitches off per 4 inches. I can’t believe it. There are supposed to be 8 stitches and I have 10. And I’m using size 17 needles for crying out loud. So I guess the next size is 19s? I’m afraid the yarn would be too holey at that level. What to do, what to do?

The next thing I'm sick of? My mom being gone in Hawaii. She doesn't even call me when she's gone, can you believe that? She must be too busy carrying on with those surfers, but don't tell my dad about that.

Cast On, Cast Off

2005-06-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

First, I am almost done with Mariposa. Why am I not done? you may ask. I took a long pause yesterday when I realized something was wrong with my right side. Can you tell from the picture?

Since most of the people who comment on my blog don’t actually knit, I’m guessing you can’t tell what is wrong.

The sample on the right was cast on using a cable cast on. Why would I do that? It’s possibly going to ruin my ability to attach this piece to the entire shawl. I may have to start completely over.

But I am an optimist. I kept knitting. I stopped here, can you tell why?

Notice the inordinate number of strings hanging off such a small piece of knitting? If you look closely in the lower right you will see why. It’s a KNOT. And this is not the first knot in this ball of yarn, nor is it the second. Now, call me crazy, but three knots in a ball is a little excessive, no?

The question is, should I tell Jonelle? (For those of you who don’t know, she’s the owner of the company that sells this yarn. I’m doing this project as a sample for her.) I mean, I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining or anything, but if I had purchased this yarn and found three knots right at the beginning I would be hopping mad.

I’m still hopping mad because I despise the process of weaving in ends and starting new yarn. So I stopped. But I have to continue because I can’t start my pink sweater until this is finished. Sigh.

As far as things I’m sick of, I will show you my list if you show my yours. We’re all sick of something aren’t we?

So you already know I’m sick of people making over-generalizations about the legal profession, here’s one more.

I’m sick of being fat. My belly looks like bread dough and my butt is the size of Texas.

That’s all for now dear readers.

what a mood....

2005-06-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t blog yesterday. I don’t know how you all do it, but I keep a word document open at all times where I write different things down before actually publishing. Once I have pictures ready I usually have enough words to get a decent size post.

I wasn’t in the best of moods yesterday – Joe being gone, a certain unnamed friend refusing to return my phone calls (he has since been forgiven, so all is well), a headache, and this unbearable heat were all getting to me. Today is better – a good nights sleep will do wonders for a girl. I pulled up my document to start my blog for the day and found a list of things that make me mad. It’s called the I’M SICK OF IT list.

Whew. That was one nasty mood.

Fortunately, today I am all sunshine and happiness. Well, not completely. I do have to say I AM SICK TO DEATH of people and their strange attitudes about lawyers. If you took your jokes or your rants and diatribes about lawyers and replaced the word with an ethnic group, or women, or a religious group you would have people screaming to the rafters that you were making overgeneralizations, you were a bigot, you were racist, sexist. Get a grip people. There are millions of lawyers in the world. Not all of them are perpetuating some perceived cycle of evil.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Feel free to comment – the blog hasn’t had controversy in a while now so we’re about due for another spirited discussion.

Ok, moving on to more important matters. I finished the left side of Mariposa. Here it is posing with my pink yarn on the coffee table:

That green yarn on the right is a washcloth I attempted to make without a pattern. I have since learned there are a few errors so it needs to be pulled out and redone. My coffee table seems to have become my knitting showcase table for the time being.

I got the needles for my new pattern, but I am forcing myself to finish Mariposa first. Jonelle will be back from that needle arts extravaganza soon and I want to take this shawl to her finally. (yikes. i just looked on her blog to do her link and she's back already. darn. i'd better get moving.)

Joe is gone, Jack is asleep so it’s just me and my knitting needles for the rest of the night. Oh, and a small bottle of red wine……

Grass in the Desert

2005-06-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

As Squareslant mentioned in the comments, Phoenix often looks less-than-green. So here are two pictures showing a bit of greenery. This is our front yard:

Not overly green, but not bad either. And here is a shot down the street:

Palm trees do very well here, but there are also lots of other trees that stay green all summer. We’re lucky to live in a very mature neighborhood – our house was built in 1935 so there are big trees to provide shade. But as I said, a lot of money is spent to keep these lawns and trees alive.

On the knitting front I am slowly progressing with the Mariposa front. More importantly I made a difficult and painful decision regarding this sweater:

Remember this? It’s made from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky. I cast it on in December and I realized a few things this past week.

1. I am not longer a “small” when it comes to sweaters, thanks to Jack. I don’t know if my smallness will ever return, but I would hate to have a beautiful sweater I could never wear.

2. Rebecca patterns are horrible. I hated every minute of trying to decipher this pattern and it made the knitting less enjoyable.

3. I made a mistake in the increases.

4. After so long, it was virtually impossible to figure out where I was in the pattern.

Because of these reasons, I made the decision to rip it out. Here is the final result:

I love this yarn so much, and I needed to find a suitable pattern that will carry me through my varied chest size. A cardigan or jacket seemed the best solution, but pattern shopping is not my forte. It’s hard for me to match gauge if I already have the yarn. Luckily for me though, my mom was wanting to see the babe yesterday and Jessica’s is right around the corner. While he napped I headed over to see what I could see.

Part of my problem is that I don’t like Debbie Bliss adult patterns for the most part. I looked at a Rowan book that had some cute stuff in the same gauge, but I would have to buy two more balls of yarn at least. She still had my dye lot, but that’s another $32 out the window. I pressed on, chatting with Emily and the new girl (sorry, I can’t remember her name). Jessica actually took the day off, which I think is great, but I was sorry to have missed her. Anyhow, I finally came up with this:

It’s a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern so I know it will be easy and I can modify it if I so choose. The bad news is about needles. I didn’t check the pattern and left without buying size 17s. Darn it. I might try to get to Michaels today and see if they have what I need so I can get it started. Not that I need another project on needles, but still.

We did go to Postino Friday but no one showed up. I had lunch with my mom and Potusol, and then we waited around for about 20 minutes. Since no one came I went home and took a nap. It was lovely.

Spontaneous Tomato

2005-06-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Northern California and I grew a wonderful vegetable garden. I loved it – things just grew when you put them in the ground. My tomatoes were huge and happy. Here is what the garden looked like two years ago:

The growing season in Arizona is quite different. We have two short growing seasons on either side of summer, so we can’t grow things that take a long time to ‘hatch’. So imagine my surprise today when I saw this growing in our yard with no prompting from me:

No, it is not marijuana. It is one small tomato. Who knows what kind, but it’s there. I soaked it with the hose and when it gets hotter I will put up a shade. I am amazed. I know not what to say.

I’ve reached another standstill with Mariposa. I am supposed to pick up and knit along the front edge to create the wrap part of the shawl. I am horrible at picking up and knitting – the numbers never work out for me. I have tried 6 times to no avail. I picked up another lace project while I thought about it, because just staring into space wasn’t working. I had a small knitting epiphany. I am going to knit the front separate and sew it on when I’m done. I am monumentally more skilled at seaming, so this is the only solution. Wish me luck.

Thanks to Parley and Jeff for sharing their thoughts about being picked on as a kid. I know I cannot shield Jack from every evil in the universe, but it’s interesting to hear some ideas about how kids develop. It seems that even the best intentions can mess with a kid’s head.

Tomorrow is knitting at Postino’s at 2. This is a lovely little wine bar in Arcadia and they have $5 glasses of wine before 3. Plus the bruchetta is amazing. I may go early to eat if anyone is interested.

Fitting In

2005-06-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine and I were talking the other day about how badly we want our kids to fit in when they go to school. We are both in a constant state of worry that our children will be made fun of, picked on, teased. I worry because Jack's ears will stick out, he will be too smart and mouthy for his own good, and (this is the worst of my fears) he's so cute now I'm worried his looks have already peaked and he'll get uglier as he gets older. (I can't believe I just admitted that in public.)

That being said, I also don't want him to be so popular that he's not forced to develop a personality. Or that he's mean to other kids. I was mean to Brian Starfield in grade school – I was so mad that I ALWAYS had to sit next to him because our last names were the same, and he was always growing warts and showing them to me.

I know some of my faithful readers out there look back upon their childhoods with dread. The constant harassment, the rock throwing, the taunts from evil kids. So I wonder. Could your parents have even done anything to make you less of a target? If so, what?

How much of your personality is just there and how much is influenced by your parents? This thought perplexes me daily. If you're shy, for example, are you just shy? Or did your parents make you that way by parenting you in a specific way?

Enough of my obsessing. I went knitting last night with some lovely ladies down at Changing Hands. Here are a few pictures:

In that last one Kim is trying to figure out the cord for another Knitkit bag. I swear that pattern is written in code. I've made it once and helped my mom with it once and I still don't get it. There has to be an easier way to make handles.

I was looking around for good summer knits and I found this Ribby Shell, brought to you by the same person who designed Ribby Cardi. I'm going to make it out of Knitpicks Shine, so the entire thing will cost $16. I can't wait!

Mariposa Back Finished!

2005-06-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

I know everyone is wondering what I bought at Jeff’s garage sale. Rather than keep you in suspense, here is a picture:

Those dishes are enamel, and will be used on my new patio if it ever gets completed. and the table will go by my bed along with another exactly like it.

And Richard is not lying, he is a big softy for babies. Don’t be fooled ladies and gentlemen. Any man who loves babies that much has to be a nice person.

In knitting news I have finished the back of Mariposa. All this napping for Jack is giving me tons more knitting time. Here it is:

and a shot of the ribbing at the top, because I did a new fancy cast off that is supposed to match the ribbing. With this yarn I don’t think it mattered so much but it was interesting. It reminded me of the kitchner stitch used for sock toes.

Now I just have to figure out the front and I will finally be done. I would have done this last night, but the first episode of the final season of Six Feet Under was on. I was riveted. I could knit, not even on my seed stitch swatch. I just stared at the screen with my mouth slightly open and did not knit a stitch.

Luckily, I will be going to knitting tonight! Joe is coming home a bit early so I can head over to Changing Hands and visit with all my knitterly friends. AND I don’t have to bring the baby. It will be like a vacation. Hope to see you all there.

Garage sale day

2005-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

We bought a new sleeping book this week, so our new schedule is a bit wacky. This morning to help with the time between naps we took Jack over to visit Jeff's "Farewell to PJS" Sale. He made a pretty penny, some of it from us if you can believe it. The items we purchased are still in the car, along with the tv PJS gave me. Hopefully sometime this week I can assimilate them into the homestead.

The most surprising event of the morning was when we saw Richard. Joe got Jack out of the car and Richard had his arms out to hold him (Jack, not Joe) before they even crossed the street. He was so excited and thinks Jack is very cute. They entertained one another while we argued with Jeff over price gouging.

Here they are sunning themselves in the front yard:

and later sitting on the steps admiring the flowers:

As you can see, the apartment next to Jeff is for rent. I highly recommend it if you're looking for somewhere to live alone.

My knitting class went well yesterday, but there was only one student. She was very nice and actually already knew how to knit, so we got her started on a project. Next week I'm going to teach her a bunch of different stitches, like ribbing, seed stitch and how to make a dropped stitch scarf. It was fun.

I also finally found the perfect yarn for my master knitter swatches. I know it's 100% acrylic, but it is much more forgiving than the other yarns I've tried. It's Carron Super Soft and is quite true to its name. Very nice to knit up and only $1.99 with my discount. Not bad. I completed the first two swatches:

In the picture you can see the cute new coaster's Kim gave me as a birthday gift along with a yummy bottle of wine. And Jen bought me lunch – so my birthday is now extending into June! We had a nice time knitting and sipping wine. Sometimes it's good to be away from my little bundle of joy for a bit.

Knitting and Wine tomorrow

2005-06-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Jen and I are meeting at My Wine Celler tomorrow around noon for lunch, wine and knitting. If you don't knit (that means you, Jeff) you're welcome to just come and hang out with us.

Template finished

2005-06-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think I'm done monkeying around with the template for the time being. Paula and Heather, I added you. If there is anyone else I forgot please let me know. I fixed the comments so they don't automatically show up, and I've adjusted the overall look a bit.

I finally got a pedicure yesterday. For those of you who live elsewhere this may seem like a strange indulgence, but trust me it is necessary in the dry desert. My feet looked awful. The girl who painted them suggested a French manicure – I've never had one so I thought I'd give it a try. Here they are:

Fun huh?

On Monday I met some great knitters at Duck and Decanter. I brought along Mariposa because I hit a big road block and I find it's easier to tackle knitting crises with friends and wine around. Luckily it was not as bad as I'd imagined and Jen happily set me straight. We had a new knitter Diane (I don’t think she has a blog). I was going all prepared to teach her to knit and she was way ahead of me – probably 30 rows into her first garter stitch scarf. And she was using Manos which is even better.

So the Mariposa is growing – I'm almost done with the shawl part. Here is a shot of the entire thing:

(and please notice that the coffee table is STILL clean)

A close-up of the lace pattern:

Tomorrow I start teaching my new class of knitters! Gloria is taking Jack for the entire day so I'm going to be like a regular girl for a few hours. Wish me luck.

It's not perfect

2005-06-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new template. It's still a work in progress ( I can't believe how much time this takes!), but I like the colors and the layout.

I've made a few changes to my sidebar. If your link is removed it's either because a)I messed up, b)I don't really read your blog and you don't read mine, c) You never post on your blog. I made 2 exceptions to c - Natala and Jen. Neither one of them EVER posts, but I still link to them in hopes they will come around. (I just realized a few I forgot, so after I post this I will run off and fix that error.)

Pictures and more later. I'm off to have a pedicure....

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye......

2005-05-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

So PJS has flown the coop once again. As I was singing Jack to sleep tonight I cried at the part of Puff the Magic Dragon where Puff sadly slips into his cave. I am gloomy and cheerless on this hot summer day.

Tomorrow I will meet some knitters at the Duck and Decanter at 11 a.m. – you are all welcome to join us for wine and sandwiches. Oh yeah, and some knitting and crocheting as well. I will be teaching a new knitter who found me by Googling Phoenix Knitting and sent me an email. Her name is Diane and I'm quite looking forward to initiating her into the Cult of the Bamboo Needle.

Last week Joe caught an early flight home from his trip to Chicago, and wonder of all wonders I cooked him dinner. I stopped by AJs and picked up these enormous prawns. Here is what they look like before I hacked them up:

I marinated them in a paste of garlic, cayenne, chili powder, olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt and then grilled them. I bought a spicy slaw to serve alongside and made wonderful caprese salads with some heirloom tomatoes I found. Just lovely. And to top it off we drank my mother's day wine – it's a red blend called Rubiyat done by the fabulous people at Cakebread. (Thanks Mom!)

This weekend has been busy. Jack's baptism yesterday as well as Joe's cousin's graduation from Notre Dame – he had a big fancy party down in Gilbert. It's tough to take the little guy out in the evening, he's really more of a daytime baby.

The baptism was wonderful – I invited a large group because I feel like these events are really important to share with friends and family. I know many of my friends are not religious so it means a lot to me that they show up. PJS and Potusol were the hit of the day in matching getups – it appears there is a uniform for happy Republican boys in Arizona. I was in the back talking to Kim and she whispered "Hey, is that Potusol?" Of course he turned around and of course it was a little weird. Then the godfather who lives in Ohio came up to me and said "I feel like I'm at some celebrity event, I know all these people from the blog." Julie, Dave and Mac were there, Pam and Melanie were dressed to the nines, and Kirsten brought her lovely husband Ned and of course wonderful little Jake. It was quite a day.

Perhaps it is time for a new template, and perhaps a new name. Perhaps.

While the Cat's Away

2005-05-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

When Joe is out of town I know he worries that I won’t eat or take care of myself. But for some reason I decided to cook a chicken yesterday. Yes, it’s a weird idea given that it’s 110 degrees outside and I have recently contracted the Bubonic Plague. But I found our beer can chicken cooker and thought it would be fun to cook a beer can chicken. So here is my fire:

And here is the chicken all cooked and ready (this is also a shot of the last corner of my dining room now that it is clean.)

And lastly, a shot of me eating my dinner alone just so Joe will see how sad it is to be me. Maybe he’ll bring me sympathy presents home from Chicago.

Another ode to my mother

2005-05-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Who else would take a sick and teething baby overnight so I can get some sleep?

Who else would learn to bake with Equal so I can eat two of my favorite muffins instead of one?

Who else would watch my screaming child while I go shop on my birthday and never call me to tell me to come home?

Who else would design, sew and bead my wedding dress? And not complain that it was the second wedding dress she's made for me?

Who else would do mountains of baby laundry – even fold it and put it away – only to come back the next week and do it all again?

Who else would adopt my friend's kids so we can have a multiage playdate, complete with cookie decorating and playdough?

This list could go on endlessly, as she is constantly doing things to make my life easier. She took our crying, fussing little man overnight Saturday night while we attended a party at the Arizona Biltmore. Of course his tooth finally broke through when he was with her, he had a cold, and he was downright miserable because drinking from a bottle just does not cut it in his book.

She is a brave soul, and is hopefully home taking a nap now. Thank you mom!

As for my list of ten things I've never done, here we go:

I have never and would never jump out of a plane, off a cliff, bridge or other apparatus for any reason.
I have never been to Hawaii.
I have never been in jail.
I have never mowed a lawn
I have never been on a reality tv show. (This is a secret desire of mine. If they had reality dating shows when I was single I would have been the first in line to sign up. I also would have been the girl everyone hated.)
I have never been scuba diving.
I have never milked a cow.
I have never spun wool into yarn.
I have never been published.
I have never eaten a bug.

Blog on...

2005-05-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Blogging is such a fascinating genre to me. The reasons people do it are varied, from plain old self-expression all the way up to political or financial gain. I have been introduced to a few blogs that I read on a regular basis – PJS because he’s funny (and sometimes that’s the only way I know he’s alive), Squareslant because she’s got great pictures and seems like a really cool girl, Raven because I find myself monumentally worried about her son, Pam because there is not a more amusing crocheter in the universe, Postusol because he’s new to me and it’s a good way to get to know someone without all that tedious talking, and of course Kim and Julie because I like to see pictures of their babies.

This week we were introduced to Citricritic because he created such an uproar that everyone was talking about it. Ok, maybe not everyone, but a few people. He had a blog that was supposedly fictional, but he would go around to other people’s blogs and make comments, engage in conversations, and establish relationships with fellow bloggers.

Then he went a tad crazy and claimed to be escaping America because the Republicans were on to him and found out his real name. People were confused, worried, sad, angry. His argument is that his blog has always been a work of fiction and people should have known that. I don’t think he counted on all the friends he had made and the concern they felt for his well being.

It’s similar to internet dating. You never really know what is true until you meet the person. (I am a veteran internet dater, it’s how Joe and I met in fact. Long Live Match.com) With blogs, you may never meet the person, so you will never be sure what is true.

Regardless, I love it and am totally addicted. I started the knitting blog so I could belong to the ROAK ring, never expecting it to become so much fun. The Jack blog is of course all about Jack all the time and is more to have pictures up of the babe so his father doesn’t forget what he looks like.

So there’s my dissertation on blogging. It’s certainly not a perfect method of communication, it’s gotten me into trouble more than once (most recently for calling someone’s friends bitchy, which I don’t think is a bad word, but some people are really sensitive), but darn it if it isn’t a great way to entertain someone who is stuck at home with a little bald baby all day.

My Mother, the Overachiever

2005-05-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

So we met on Monday afternoon to start the Master Knitter program. It was a bit challenging with Jack – we had to keep passing him around the table so one person could not knit at any given time. But it was fun, we worked out how to do the first three swatches, started our notebooks and we’re on our way.

My mom already has two swatches done. Show off.

I switched yarn because I didn’t like the Encore. I am now using a Knitpicks Andean Silk yarn that I love, but I’m afraid it’s too dark. They are very specific about needing a light yarn. Here is my first swatch so far, you tell me what you think of the color:

You can also see one of my birthday gifts from Joe sitting on the coffee table waiting to be read. I love Jon Stewart and I can’t wait to read this book.

To answer Squareslant’s question, the knife on the mantle was made for Jack by my father. He thinks every young man needs a Bowie Knife, and I tend to agree. His cousin Vince has one as well, but Jack’s is cooler. Here is a better shot of the knife when Jack was much smaller:

More pictures of the house are forthcoming. I took a break from the neatening project to celebrate my birthday, but we’re back in full swing today. I should have a dining room and kitchen shot soon.

My birthday was great. It started at my parent’s house – Jack and I spent the night there to get him ready for this weekend. He’s going to stay at Grandma’s Saturday night while we go to Joe’s firm retreat at the Arizona Biltmore, and I wanted him to sleep there at least once ahead of time. It worked out well because Joe was in San Diego, so I got to have a birthday breakfast with my mom.

Then I took off shopping. Nordstrom Rack is one of those hit-or-miss kind of stores. Yesterday I really hit it though – everything I tried on looked good and fit, and everything was such a great deal. The dress I wore last night was $13. I’ve bought yarn more expensive than that!

For dinner we left the babe with Grandma Gloria and had dinner at Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn. If you ever have some cash to throw around I highly recommend this place. When we arrived our menus said “Happy Birthday Brooke” at the top. We sat outside and the weather was just perfect. They also had one of my favorite wines on the list, and unlike most restaurants it was not marked up 300%. (The wine is Robert Sinskey Pinot Noir, and I love love love it.)

Joe continues to hate to have his picture taken, so he photographed me with my parents by the fountain. unfortunately it’s too dark to see the fountain, but here we are with me turning 33.

In other exciting news, I’ve just signed up my first student for my knitting class. It is going to start June 3^rd at 10 a.m. and I’m very excited. Apparently 2 other people are interested as well, so hopefully we’ll get a decent sized group. I dropped off my samples at the shop last week and I’m getting my materials ready.

I missed Mama Java’s last night – I hope everyone had a good time. And thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Master Knitting

2005-05-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today I met Becky and my mom for some Master Knitting. We are all working on Level 1 and realized it would be easier to work out the problems together. Of course we ran into many road blocks right at the start and none of us have a single swatch to show for our 2 hours at the Coffee Plantation.

What we did accomplish is realizing we have the wrong yarn. I never buy cheap yarn (and by cheap I mean poorly made, not necessarily inexpensive, because I love KnitPicks yarn and it is quite inexpensive.) I am not used to the yuckiness of Plymouth Yarn Encore 75% acrylic 25% wool. My stitches were uneven and holey, and the swatch just did not look right.

I wonder if there are people out there who never get into knitting simply because they are using this horrible horrible yarn?

I am still working furiously on Mariposa. I am constantly fueled by reading Jonelle’s blog about all their new yarns – I need to get this finished so I can see what they have in their warehouse. I keep making mistakes however, and having to unknit – not fun at all.

The neatening project continues. Now you can see a full view of the front room and by tomorrow the dining room will be complete.

After that I am on to the nursery, where we still store the shredder and a bunch of boxes. I realized that one reason I can never get things straightened up is that I get distracted. I take something from one room and put it away in another room, and start cleaning that room. By doing one room at a time and not paying attention to the mess and clutter every where else I seem to be making some progress.

Joe is gone until Wednesday. I miss having him here – not just because he helps with Jack, but because it’s nice to just have someone to hang out with and tell me what is going on in the world. We are having a big fancy escape together this weekend and I can’t wait. No dogs, no baby – just the two of us. Well, us and all the lawyers in his firm. But who cares about them? I get a good nights sleep in a fancy hotel.

Happy Birthday?

2005-05-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

My birthday is next week. Wednesday I think. And for the first time in my life I don't really feel like it matters. I can't think of a single thing I want, I can't think of anything I want to do. I am hoping this is a temporary situation brought on by living with a tiny person who takes every ounce of energy I have, but I must admit I am worried.

I love birthdays. They are the only holiday left for me that isn't somewhat ruined by obligation, over-commercialization, too much church, and of course, the worst of it all, growing up and realizing there isn't a Santa Claus. (Not only that, but now I’M Santa Claus for this little person who moved in with us.)

This too shall pass, right? Next year I'll be back to normal, celebrating my birthday along with the rest of America. I can only hope.

The neatening project is moving along with great success. Squareslant requested to see the inside of my house (ok, she didn’t ask for my house specifically, but “the insides of people’s houses” sounded funny.) Bit by bit I will show you, but only as I get it cleaned up. Here is the first shot of a clean living room:

Actually that’s only part of the living room. I am doing the rest today. For those of you who have actually seen this living room you may be surprised to see the top of the coffee table is copper – it’s usually covered with an array of mail, baby toys, and various other items. I’ve made a deal with Joe that he won’t put anything on the clean surfaces once I get done, and that is going to be a challenge for both of us. As I was removing the tags from my new outfit this morning I almost put them on the coffee table, but realizing that would mar the surface I refrained. We will see how long this lasts.

I am going to finish the third lace repeat on Mariposa today because my next installment of the first season of 24 just got here from Netflix. After the gym I will plop myself down and start knitting.

Welcome to the Desert

2005-05-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

In my travels, people often ask me if Arizona is full of cowboys and rattlesnakes. I used to say no, of course not, it's a hip metropolitan city, the sixth largest in fact. My father is setting out to prove me wrong however. Here is the latest snake he has killed in his yard – the fifth snake to be exact.

I have run across snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and coyotes living here in the desert. This is by far the biggest, scariest snake I've seen. I am glad I wasn't there when he found and killed it.

I realized today that as a stay at home mom my house should be in much better order than it is. I am not and have never been a good cleaner – if there is one thing Joe and I agree upon it is the fact that we must have someone come and clean our house once a week. But it should be NEATER. I should be able to take a picture in the house and not worry about what is behind the kid – like the coffee table or the kitchen counter – that will make me look bad.

So I am going to try and neaten up our house. I suppose it is part of my job since I do stay home with the little guy all day. Not a very fun part of my job, mind you, but part of my job nonetheless.

As Julie and Parley know from living with me, this idea is laughable at best. Brooke? Living in a neat house? I know, I know, laugh all you want.

The problem is this neatening project takes away from knitting. And knitting may be the single thing that is keeping me sane. Therefore, I may just lose my mind. (And hush those of you who want to make smart comments about how I already have.)

Speaking of comments, why can't I get my comment counter to work? I hate haloscan now, but I can't figure out how to go back.

Save This Animal

2005-05-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

My husband and I grew up together, although we didn’t meet until we were 25. (Ok, Parley just pointed out my error. Actually, he left me a voice mail calling me a filthy liar. We met when we were 27. Sue me.) We went to the same grocery store as children – Smitty’s Big Town on McClintock and Baseline – and ate Parfaits at the ice cream counter in the front. We both watched Wallace and Ladmo, played outside in 110 degree weather (which required we learn to swim at a very young age), and most importantly, went to the Phoenix Zoo.

Back then, when you first walked into the zoo there was an exhibit of Capybaras. Many of you may not know, but the Capybara is the world’s largest rodent. They lived happily for many years there at the zoo entrance, enchanting young children and lazing in the mud.

In another corner of the zoo was perhaps the scariest exhibit ever – the alligators. To get to the actual viewing platform you had to cross over a creaky bridge surrounded by reeds and tall grasses. If you looked between the planks as you walked, sometimes you could catch a glimpse of an alligator swimming below. It always gave me goosebumps to walk out there, knowing any minute I could fall in the water and be eaten in one chomp. (I was a small child with a wild imagination.)

The zoo has made many changes over the years. Some are great – the monkeys and the wallabies are both in open exhibits where the people can mingle with the animals. Some, well, see for yourself:

This is a lone capybara. He is living in what used to be the alligator exhibit, stuck up on a hill surrounded by a murky lake. The reeds and grasses have been cut back. Two storks wander aimlessly by. Storks? What do they have to do with capybaras? And where are all his friends?

Joe is tired of hearing about the plight of the capybaras. He is working with the zoo board this year on some family initiative, and one woman asked if she could call me to get my opinion as a stay at home mom. He won’t let me talk to her because he’s afraid I’ll embarrass him about the capybaras. He’s probably right.

For those of you who come here to read about knitting, here is my progress on Mariposa:

I’m to the third set of repeats on the lace.

And I finished a sample for the class I’m teaching at Craftmart. Here it is displayed on my favorite baby:

I always forget how much ribbing pulls in the fabric. I did a 2x2 rib at the beginning and here you can see how much smaller it got:

I left it in though because I think it will be a good example to show people how different stitches act.

My next task is to find some yarn to do my master knitter swatches. It’s supposed to be light colored and worsted weight. I have some yellow from knitpicks, but I’m afraid it might be too dark. I have white Patons wool, but I don’t love it. If anyone has suggestions let me know.

Look Out!

2005-05-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

I am officially a knitting instructor! I met with Pam at Craftmart today and we’re going to set up my first class. Since the May calendar is already published, she is going to put up a sign to have people call me if they are interested. Then in June we will have a set time. The class is beginning knitting and will cover casting on, the knit stitch, the purl stitch, casting off, simple pattern instructions and choosing yarn. I started a sample to hang by the sign, and I’m making it up as I go along. I should have used lighter color yarn, but this was in my stash so I figured I’d use it up.

I’m just going to make a sampler scarf with some ribbed sections, a seed stitch section, stockinette, and maybe a dropped stitch section. In between each I have a bit of garter stitch to set off each type of stitch. Hopefully it will work okay.

I also got permission from Knitty.com to teach Clapotis. I think this is a great project to learn increases, decreases, and dropping stitches on purpose. Now I just have to finish mine, which involved borrowing Judy's ball winder, winding the yarn I got from Jimmy Bean's Wool, and knitting up the remaining few inches of the darned thing. After that I'm going to put together a Kids Knitting class for the summer and see if people are interested in that.

I’ve just received the information for Master Knitter Level One from The Knitters Guild. It is pretty labor intensive, and I’m going to have to do a little research about casting on before I get started. It seems like and interesting process and I’m excited to learn more about the fundamentals of knitting. Has anyone else out there completed Master Knitter? I bet it's going to take me the rest of the year to get it all together.

Back to Reality

2005-05-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

I returned from spa-land relaxed and rejuvenated. Julie and I had a wonderful time in Sedona – I had a massage and a clay wrap, and a bonus feature is that I had a healing and my chakras realigned. For those of you who aren’t aware, Sedona is a very new-agey type of place, and the Enchantment Resort is no exception.

The woman who performed the healing on me explained that she would act as a straw for the universe and draw away all my negative energy, replacing it with positive light. The chakra alignment came about because apparently my sacral chakra was out of whack due to childbirth.

I don’t know if any of this is true, but I can tell you one thing – I returned to Phoenix a new woman. That can also be attributed to 10 hours of sleep – the most sleep I’ve had in over five months. And truth be told, I normally get that amount in two nights.

Joe was a trooper with the little guy. Jack was not a happy camper about receiving a bottle at midnight and subsequently kept Joe up for the next two hours screaming his cute little head off. I know how it feels, and I do have a small amount of guilt for leaving him in such a situation.

All is well that ends well, however, and the family appears to be back to normal. I wrote my worries on a paper and put them in a bowl, and now I have nothing left to worry over.

My knitting is moving along nicely, although I may have to finally admit that the pain in my right ring finger could possibly be from the Mariposa Shawl and may not in fact be knuckle cancer. Speaking of Mariposa, check out this detail:

I just finished the second repeat of the frost flowers pattern and am set to do my next decreases. This time I have to decrease 72 stitches evenly across – luckily there are 7 ½ pattern repeats in this section so the math isn’t quite so challenging. I enjoy this project so much – I doubt I will put it down until I’m finished.

Here is a full view, just to give you an idea of the size of the thing:

I’m guessing it will look much better blocked, but I’m not positive how bamboo does with blocking. I’m just going to immerse the entire thing in water and pin it back, but who knows if that will work? I can’t wait to see it completed.

I did not make it to Changing Hands tonight - Jack was not in the mood for any traveling. I have a neighbor who has offered to watch him when she's in town, and I may take her up on that for future knitting events. She could watch him just until Joe gets home, and now that Joe is getting better at putting the little guy to sleep I might have a chance.

Alien Invasion

2005-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

There is a strange sound in my house right now. Could be aliens invading, or maybe someone with a large ray gun pointed at me (I’d like to think it’s that little Martian from the Bugs Bunny cartoons). I suppose it could also be something as normal as a car alarm, but I opened the front door and can’t hear it outside. It’s quite unnerving.

We met at Lux today for knitting – I like day meetings so much. Jack is always in a better mood and I never feel rushed to get home for anything. Lots of people came, but of course by the time I got my camera out we had dwindled. It may look like Letoya was knitting alone, but trust me, she wasn’t:

She’s making a felted bag out of Cascade – very pretty colors.

Melanie and Kiki were there as well:

Kiki’s working on a lacy shawl and I think that’s Melanie’s baby blanket.

We also had a new person named Emily who was doing something called Shephard’s knitting (is that right?) It was with a small hook but it was certainly not crocheting. I had never heard of it. She brought her adorable daughter who is 2 ½ and she is pregnant with her second baby due in July. Kim was there as well, without her children, lucky girl. My mom came and helped with Jack, but she really needs to get working on that knitted kangaroo she’s making for Vincent so I made her knit a little.

I wish I had gotten a picture of Becky’s adorable little knitted baby pants. They are cute as can be, although I can’t remember who they are for. She had to run off to work so she wasn’t still there when the camera came out.

It was a fun day – the weather turned chilly again which is quite unheard of for Arizona in April. I don’t expect it will last long, but we’ll take what we can get. It may actually rain tonight – what a treat.

Lace Question

2005-04-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, normally in a pattern when you increase by using a "Make One" (you know, where you pick up the little bar in between the stitches and knit it?) you have to knit into the back of the stitch so it doesn't leave a little hole. But when you're making lace do you want the little hole? I am on the Pebble stitch part of the Mariposa shawl and after an entire row of knit two togethers, there is a row of Make One, Knit One. I am leaving the little holes because they are cute, but I'm wondering if that is correct.

Here is a picture so it makes more sense what I'm talking about:

See those little holes in the top two rows? I think they are supposed to be there, but who knows? I could be wrong.

Thanks for all your comments about pregnant and smoking girl. As Kim mentioned, it's her sister Jenny. When she read my blog she said "I don't care what other people think of me." I suppose there is no way to get through to people who are harming their babies. Kim is at her wits end by now. Of course she won't let Jenny smoke in her house or near her kids, but beyond that there isn't much she can do. It's sad really and I hope she quits before the little babe arrives.

Smoking and Pregnant

2005-04-25T19:27:00.001-07:00

As many of you are aware, I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to pregnancy and rules. I ate feta cheese a few times, had some salmon, even a glass of wine. But smoking? Seriously? I don't think there is a doctor or a study in the world that condones smoking while pregnant. The list of known side effects is long and horrifying, the worst of which are various kinds of death. Stillbirth, in my opinion, being one of the most terrifying. So the baby can die inside you and you will have to deliver an unborn child. Can you think of anything more awful? Oh yeah, I can. SIDS. Directly linked to smoking. So you wake up in the night to check your baby, and, oops! She's not breathing. And oops! it's entirely your fault.

This diatribe is brought to you today because my good friend has a sister who is four months pregnant and smoking. She claims it's very hard to quit because she's been smoking for six years. It makes me wonder if this is possibly an unwanted pregnancy and perhaps she is trying to hurt the baby? Who knows, but I just can't imagine how she is living with herself right now.
And it's not like she's going to quit once the baby is here either. So double whammy – second hand smoke for her infant. Nice work.

Some people just shouldn't be allowed to become mothers.

On a different note, I came this close to ending my career as a blogger. It has come to my attention that I am not an effective communicator when it comes to the written word. I have unintentionally caused three complete knock-down arguments here and one in the comments section of another blog. I feel like I say one thing and it is interpreted in a completely different way. Obviously I am the one at fault since it has happened so many times.

I am going to continue for now, and try to stay out of trouble. (Unless you're a pregnant smoker, then I don't care if you're mad at me.)

I'm off to go knit on Mariposa. The boy is sleeping so I have a bit of free time before I collapse into a big heap.

What is up with blogger, by the way? This posted about 8 times, and my previous post was there twice and now is gone. Just gone.

The Results Are In

2005-04-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm glad to see the rest of you don't think my blog is unsuitable – thank you all for your comments both here and in person. So as it stands the score is:

Me and my blog: 13
Crazy relative who makes Mary Poppins look dicey: 0

Yay for me! And it makes me even happier that many of the people weighing in on my side of the issue have raised children into adulthood successfully. So to my challenger I will say again: Take some deep breaths. It's all going to be okay. You need a small amount of Zen in your life.

Now on to the great part about the blog – the Knitting! First of all, I am interviewing at Craftmart next week to talk about teaching classes there. Since the job at Jessica's fell through I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do with myself. I'm so excited about this and I hope everything goes well. I'm going to take the materials I prepared for my fifth graders as well as some of my knitting, so hopefully they will think I am worthy.

Jack has been sleeping a lot during the day – I think because his teeth are about to break through on the bottom. This has given me plenty of knitting time, and I finished the first pattern repeat on the Mariposa Shawl. Here is the shawl:

and an up-close shot of the lace:

I've just put in a lifeline after row 22 so in case I mess up the decreases in the next section I can at least save this bottom part. Looking at the yarn though I don't think there is any chance I will have enough. We'll see. Has anyone else made this project? And did you have enough yarn?

I'm almost done reading the Yarn Harlot's book. I've kept it by my rocking chair and am reading while I feed the little guy. It's wonderful and funny – she has great insight into the lives of knitters. If you don't yet have it I strongly recommend going to buy it.

Knitting this week at Lux – I think Thursday morning at 10. I love that place. It makes Jack calm and I always get to knit. He is increasingly more difficult to take out at night – his bedtime is running around 7 and so we really have to be home by 6:30 to get him in bed. When I keep him up later he gets unhappy, and an unhappy Jack is not a pretty sight.

Rated XXX

2005-04-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday someone accused me of having an unwholesome blog that was inappropriate for my young audience. Normally comments like this don't bother me – if you think my site is bad you really should not be on the internet at all. But for some reason I am really upset by this allegation. I don't discuss politics, or religion, or any type of inappropriate topic. I don't use naughty language. And unless you're one particular person, I don't offend anyone. Ok, now two people.

The entry in question is the picture Squareslant made for me. Apparently someone thinks this cartoon is bordering on pornographic. Of course I think it's funny and not-at-all offensive, but apparently I am just wrong.

So I ask you, my faithful readers. Is the picture unfit for a young audience?

In knitting news, I am working away on Mariposa and cannot believe how much I love it. 308 stitches, nine repeats of the pattern. It's blissful. It will be very hard to give up when I finally finish, but I am learning a lot about lace.

Today I'm having lunch with Parley, Potusol, and my mom. We had to cajole my mother – she wasn't going to come because she doesn't like to interfere with my friends. I told her Parley likes her more than me anyway. (He agreed. She often makes him low-carb desserts and dotes on him as if he were her son.)

The other night at dinner Kim asked me if I was a mama's girl or a daddy's girl growing up. I suppose I have been a daddy's girl my whole life, especially when I was a teenager and my mom didn't like me so much. But isn't having a favorite parent sort of like having a favorite kid? My mom used to favor my brother until I got pregnant, now I think we're tied. And baby Jack beats us all by a mile.

Unless one of your parents is grossly negligent, I think it's hard to say you favor one over the other. Mine have both been so wonderful it's hard to say.

I never finish a project in time.

2005-04-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

I don't think I'm alone in this predicament. I always seem to think I have more time than I do and a project will take less time than I think it will. I was so close to finishing the baby sweater and I literally did nothing else leading up to the shower yesterday. I was six rows short by the time we arrived at the country club (it was a very fancy shower), and blazing mad. Of course I blamed the child for not taking a longer nap, but really the problem goes back much farther. Like to my childhood maybe.

So instead of leaving the gift in the car, or even giving it unfinished, I plopped myself down at the table and started to knit. Maybe this is not appropriate, but I just couldn't help myself. Six measly rows. Well, and I had to sew up the sleeve seams, but still. Like I didn't have a spare hour in the past week to get this done?

But here it is, finished:

I didn't put the hood on. A hood on a baby sweater is sort of silly, actually. If it's cold out, you have to put a hat on the kid anyway. And the hood just gets all jammed up behind them in the car seat.

We met at Mama Java's last night, but after Jack's day of partying at the club he was too tired and we had to leave. He was just way too fussy for me to enjoy myself.

I did meet a fellow knitter at the shower named Charlie. She saw me knitting and came right over to chat about the sweater. That's one thing I love about knitting – you always make friends if you bring out your latest project, even if it is a bit inappropriate. Anyhow, we talked yarn shops (she likes Fiber Factory and won't go anywhere else. I told her about my experiences at the evil yellow house and she concurred that they are not nice.) and I got her email to add her to our group. Yay! A new person to knit with!

I picked up my SWTC Mariposa again last night. I am only on row 10, but now that I have the pattern down it's going much more quickly. I had to stop last night because the allergy medicine started to take over and making a mistake in lace is just not a good idea.

I may get some more knitting in today while Jack is napping. I rejoined Netflix and am already obsessing about it. My first three rentals were Closer, I Heart Huckabees, and the first disc of the first season of 24. On Tuesday night while I was frantically trying to finish the baby sweater I watched the disc of 24 and I do like this show quite a bit. I should have the second disc tomorrow so I'll watch the next four episodes while I wait for Joe to return from his trip. Great knitting show – you don't have to look at the screen all the time to know what is going on. I Heart Huckabees was not as good for knitting, I kept having to rewind because I wasn't paying close enough attention.

The Harlot in Phoenix?

2005-04-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

First off, I emailed Stephanie Pearl-McPhee to find out if she's planning to come to Phoenix this summer. She emailed me back and said she forwarded my request to her publicist, so we'll see if it happens. How fun would that be to meet the Yarn Harlot in the flesh? I got her book this weekend and am not surprised at how wonderful it is.

Do any of you read Squareslant's blog? She's a regular commenter here and on a few other blogs I read, and she always has the funniest pictures where she puts her face on a different body. Well, when she found this picture she thought of me, and put MY face on the body:

Too funny. Thank you Squareslant for that amusing look at myself.

Since the shower is this Wednesday I had to give up on the clapotis baby blanket and go for the SWTC baby jacket instead. I've already made this pattern once so it is going quickly and I hope to have it done by then. It will all depend on how much Jack behaves. Here is how far I am right now:

Amy over at Needles and Hooks has created a Clapotis Cap. Go check it out – I'm pretty impressed. The first one she made looks like it would match my shawl perfectly. I like it inside out myself, but both ways look pretty cute.

In other important knitting news, Knitpicks now has cotton yarn. For those of us who live in a climate similar to a large pizza oven, wool yarn is not an option in the summer. It's just impossible to convince yourself to put a sweater on your lap and knit, especially if that sweater is made of a fiber meant to heat you up even further. I am going to make myself a cool summer tank top.

I just received an email from the Daily Knitter. I've never heard of this site before but it looks pretty cool. Yarn shop links, patterns, groups, and articles galore. I'm going to add a link on my sidebar and I've asked them to add our Stitch and Bitch group to their list.

Knitting this week at Mama Javas, yay! I love when we meet down here so I don't have to drive as far. And I'm trying to make Jack's bedtime just a tad bit later so hopefully I can stay a little longer this week. Joe will be in New York, so we have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

Baby Blanket Bingo, and Kim's Questions

2005-04-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

The bad part about baby blankets is they are so big. I know they are not as big as an afghan or a bedspread, but 35 inches of knitting is still a bunch. The shower is 6 days away and I have only dropped one stitch on the PROTOTYPE blanket. Here it is:

and the entire blanket:

I am seriously considering making her the baby jacket I made for SWTC using the Microspun yarn – I could have that done in time and there is just no way I will have this blanket done. hmmm.

Pam went to Martini Ranch with Melanie to see a concert last night. Reading this made me feel old and, well, motherly. I used to hang out at Martini Ranch and watch the Peacemakers. I used to go hear live music. I was cool, darn it. Last night I was up at 3:30 in the morning realizing that used to be prime time to hang out at Denny’s after dancing all night. Sigh.

To commemorate the occasion of Pam’s trip to my old hang out, I am drinking a Rolling Rock Green Light. Beer just tastes like old times to me. Of course I won’t even be able to finish it because my head will start to droop and I will lie down on the couch until Joe gets home, but no matter. I can sit here and reminisce about a time when I could sleep until noon and sometimes didn’t leave the house until after ten at night.

I keep forgetting to interview Kim! Here are your questions Kim, the answers should appear on her blog.

Kim’s questions:

1. As the leader of the knitting group, what has been your biggest challenge? Is the group what you imagined it would be?

2. What do you miss most about Jonny when he’s gone for a month? (Besides the obvious answer, please.) Is there anything that has surprised you so far about being on your own?

3. How has being adopted positively impacted you as a person? What is your view about all these kids being adopted from orphanages in other countries?

4. What does “being popular” mean to you? Is it having a lot of friends? Is it making sure everyone likes you? Does this desire color the way you see others?

5. If you could change one thing you have done so far in being a mother, what would it be? What do you think is your greatest success as a mother?

Live and Learn

2005-04-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

I've learned a lot about blogging in the past few months. Namely, people are going to read into your posts what they want to hear, not necessarily what you intended to say. I suppose written communication is not the most effective. I know this is true in the media as well – someone reading Ann Coulter, for example, reads through a particular lens, expecting certain things from her. Same with William F. Buckley. These people have so thoroughly entrenched themselves in the conservative point of view that they have lost the ability to be taken seriously.

I just wonder what it is about me in particular that makes people read certain things in a negative way. The cop is the third time this has happened. I said "I wonder if our laws are making us safer." It seems he thought I said "We should be allowed to drink and drive all we want."

I suppose I will just keep blogging away, and hope my audience will begin to understand me a little better. I don't know Aimee and Jay (at least I don't think I do), so I just have to assume they stumbled over here without reading much and made some pretty big assumptions about the type of person I am.

It's all pretty fascinating really.

Now on to the knitting. We met at Changing Hands last night – what a great time it was! Unfortunately I had to leave because Jack was hanging on by a thread. We've been trying to have a "bedtime" and see if that helps with his sleeping, so he gets tired around 7 and is looking for his pjs. But I did get to see a few people and Becky brought her new baby. He's five weeks old and cute as a little button. He has so much hair!

Here are some pictures (not of the new baby though, he got there just as we were leaving.)

It was a smaller group than normal, I think because another group was meeting at Cupz in Gilbert. I like the smaller size meetings – it's easier to talk and hear people and see what everyone is making. Lots of talented knitters, let me tell you. I haven't seen an update on the Cupz meeting yet but it does seem pretty popular. Just too far for me on a week night.

But are we SAFER?

2005-04-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your comments regarding my DUI post. (I know it says I have no comments, but there are 7. I don’t understand Haloscan and I can’t figure out how to make that work correctly.)

I love getting lectured by a cop. It makes me giddy. I half expected him to call me young lady.

Just to clarify a few things. I don’t condone driving while impaired and I don’t think it’s okay. I hired the car because I wanted to drink and not drive, and I am usually the designated driver in the family. This means I will have a glass of wine with dinner and I do not drive when I am impaired in any way. The time I was pulled over (six years ago) I was given a hand-held breathalyzer and the cop even told me they weren’t very accurate. (Um, then why give it to me? I wondered quietly.)

So there are two issues. BAC – how much alcohol is saturated in your blood, and Impairment. As Jen pointed out, there are a lot of old people driving around who have no business operating a motor vehicle. I have been to a funeral of a young man (22) who was killed by a 93 year old who could barely walk down the street, much less pilot a vehicle. I also recently read that “sleep deprivation” means waking someone up during their normal sleep cycle in one 24 hour period.

I’ve been woken up every night for almost five months, sometimes more than three times. Should I not drive?

It all boils down to my original question. Are we safer? I don’t think we are. I don’t think alcohol related auto deaths have gone down. I don’t think the laws are working. Someone suggested a lifetime suspension of your drivers license for DUI, but would that really stop people from driving? My friend is in jail right now with people who have four and five offenses. Clearly the laws are not motivating them to stop drinking and driving.

The sad thing about Arizona is that we don’t have a viable public transportation option. The light rail will provide some relief to this issue, but it’s about 30 years too late. The valley is so spread out and difficult to navigate that there is not a good way to build a system now.

Anyhow, I’m still interested to see what people think. As I said before, I don’t know how I feel about the laws because I don’t think they are working. If you have evidence to refute that I would love to hear it.

Whew.

Now on to knitting. I just dropped the first stitch in my prototype baby blanket. I am doing two repeats of the straight rows of Clapotis and then starting to decrease. I also am going to change yarn at the halfway point and see what happens.

We went to knitting and rugby Saturday and were almost blown away – it was so windy my allergies turned nasty and we had to leave after a few hours. Here you can see the cute boys, as well as the flag that shows just how windy it actually was:

Pam and Jack hung out for a bit. Unfortunately I forgot Jack’s hat, but his sunglasses made it. Here they are looking hip together:

Here is Melanie working on her baby blanket and holding her adorable little dog:

And Gemma bringing Mariah back to the camp:

It was a fun day out – I wish I would have felt better and I wish it wouldn’t have been so darned windy.

Tomorrow night is knitting at Changing Hands. We’re meeting at 5:30 for dinner at Wildflower if anyone wants to join us. According to the evite it will be a smaller group than normal – only 19 people have rsvp’d yes, so the room shouldn’t be so crowded. And I’m hoping Becky brings her baby – it will be funny to see a brand new one next to my roly-poly guy.

Knitting and......Rugby?

2005-04-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a wine tasting to attend, and due to the recent experiences of our good friend with the Arizona DUI system, we thought it best to find alternate transportation. We hired Execucar to pick us up and drive us there and back. I’ve come to realize that it is impossible to know what your blood alcohol content is, and at very low levels you can still be sent straight to jail without passing Go. Our friend was recently sentenced to 30 days in tent city (yes, that’s a real thing. It’s jail but in a tent.) It was very nice to not have to drive so neither one of us had to worry about tasting the wines.

I’m not sure how I feel about the DUI laws here. The limit is .08, which basically means if you kiss someone who has been drinking, you may be violating the law. The one time I have been given a breathalyzer I blew .07 and I seriously think I had 2 sips of beer before driving. Is cracking down on the barely-impaired group of drivers going to help deter the really dangerous people? Are DUI related accidents down since Sheriff Joe started his campaign to rid the streets of drunk drivers?

In my experiences with the government, they often make things worse when they have the best intentions. I’m afraid our current state of affairs with these laws may be doing just that. The time I was pulled over it was because I didn’t stop 100% at the stop sign, and when I did stop I was a little too far in front of it. While the nice young officer was performing his battery of field sobriety tests on little old harmless me, I wonder who was driving down Scottsdale Road in a real state of inebriation on his or her way to kill someone’s child. (edited for clarification): After he was done testing me, the officer sent me on my merry little way. He said I "wasn't impaired at all" and he pulled me over because they were practicing for New Years Eve. And this was a few years ago so the limit was actually .10 at that time.

I know this has nothing to do with knitting, but it was on my mind this morning. I’d love to hear what people think – I know most of you have an opinion on this subject, but most of you probably live in states where the consequences of breathing vodka fumes are not so severe.

Today, shortly after Joe abandons his small family to go to LA with his friends, Jack and I will head to Mesa for Knitting and Rugby. What is Knitting and Rugby? you may ask. It is an event put together by our wonderful leader Kim, whereby a gaggle of knitters descends upon the Rugby field of her husband’s team and watches often-shirtless men run around with a little ball. I don’t know the rules of the game and I really don’t care. I’m just going to enjoy the wonderful weather and hopefully get some knitting done.

Speaking of Kim, she’s asked to be interviewed. I will have her questions up tomorrow. Along with some Rugby pictures I hope.

It says I don't have comments, but there are some about the whole DUI thing - I encourage you to read them and throw your 2 cents in the ring. I am very curious to hear what people have to say about this.

Interview rules

2005-04-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

Someone who shall remain forever nameless on my blog was confused about the interviews, so here are the rules again:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

See? Now does it make sense?

Interview Four

2005-04-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Whew. On to my last interview. This is for Squareslant. We don't know where she came from, but we're sure glad she's here.

1. How did you end up in Florida? Are you happy to be there? If you could live anywhere else where would it be?

2. I’ve found that I make friends differently now that I’ve passed 30. I no longer make friends just to have them. Do you find this to be true for you? I know you’ve mentioned it’s hard to not have friends where you live, so if you could design a group of friends for yourself what would the be like?

3. You were still wearing braces when you got married (!), what perspective does this give you that is different than the typical bride these days? Do you think your marriage is stronger because you were married so young? What was the hardest thing about it?

4. Name one person in the last year who has changed you in some way. And it can’t be a family member.

5. So your wish is granted and you find out you are going to die 3 days after your 48th birthday. How does this change what you do on a daily basis now? Would you tell anyone? Are you sad?

Interview Three

2005-04-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here are questions for Paula.

1. How did you get involved with rowing and what exactly is it? (I’m picturing rowboats like Kermit the Frog used to woo Ms. Piggy, and I know it has to be more high-tech than that.)

2. If you had to select one of your many interests and pursue it exclusively until you became and expert, which would you choose and why?

3. How do you decide if you like a book? Is character development more important than plot? Do you like detailed descriptions or do you prefer writers who get down to the point? Do you always finish books or do you put them down if they annoy you?

4. With an unlimited amount of money, what are the first five things you would purchase for yourself? Who are the first five people you would buy gifts for and what would they be? Would you quit your job?

5. What is one thing new people knew about you before they met you? Do you think it’s easier to meet someone you’ve “known” online?

Three down, one to go!

Interview Two

2005-04-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

This is for Lisa, also known as Slip Knot Pixie

1. What has been the hardest thing about being a mother so far?

2. OHHHHH, the rogue sweater. I have this on my list of things to make. What drew you to this sweater? How do you decide what is worthy of your knitting time?

3. My brother lives in Colorado. What's so great about it? He refuses to move here and be near his family, so it must be a really wonderful place to live.

4. When you lived in Puerto Rico did you feel like an outsider? What was the best part about being there? What was the worst?

5. If you had magical powers and could give each of your children one thing, what would it be and why?

Interview Number One

2005-04-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

This interview is for Stephanie, a bead artist in Pennsylvania.

1. How does living in a small town make you different than the average American?

2. If you could be a character in an Anne Rice book, which book would you choose and why? Would you be a vampire if you could?

3. I had a garden in California that was so amazing I often stood in wonder at the process of it all. Do gardens have a spiritual aspect to them? What gives them their life?

4. What is your favorite thing about art festivals? What is the strangest thing you have ever seen sold at one?

5. What is the difference between crafty and artistic?

Post the answers on your blog Stephanie - I'm looking forward to it.

Interviews coming soon

2005-04-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

I have three people to interview! I will get those posted by tomorrow. And yes, I spelled ex-Patriot incorrectly. Sorry. Of course I meant expatriate.

I have a lot to talk about and very little of it has to do with knitting. But I will show you my niece Mary who is a master 11-year-old knitter.

First of all, I have to admit two things. I really like Justin Timberlake and I really like Kelly Clarkson. This is hard for me to admit, because I probably would have made fun of people for liking them in the past. But “Rock Your Body” and “Since U Been Gone” are both really good songs. Okay, I feel better now that I got that off my chest.

And in less fun news, the pope has died. I know, it was two days ago, I’m a little behind. I am very sad by this news, and not because I necessarily agreed with a lot of what he did. But he was my pope, and I met him, and I do think he did a lot of amazing things for the church. And so I am sad.

He has been sick for so long. Joe and I went to Rome in 1999 and went to the big audience with the pope at the Vatican on Wednesday morning. I seriously thought at that time, “My goodness, this guy is on his last legs!”. We went again in 2001 on our honeymoon and since we were newlyweds we were blessed by him (along with about 75 other newly married Catholics). It was an amazing experience. I don’t have a scanned picture so I had to take a picture of the one that hangs on our wall:

And now he is gone. I am so curious to see what will happen next. I can’t imagine trying to follow in his footsteps, but I’m sure the new pope will be pretty conservative. I know the church will change, but I also know it does not change quickly.

Lastly I have to say a few words about my lunch yesterday. I sent the little character to Chandler to visit his grandparents (I didn’t even have to drive him! Joe drove him for me!), and I met two friends for lunch at Duck and Decanter. For those of you not lucky enough to live in Phoenix, this is a lovely place with wine and food and a wonderful patio. We sat outside, drank a bottle of wine, had some sandwiches, and talked about things not related to babies. I enjoyed myself so much I didn’t even mind when I had to get up a billion times last night to deal with the babe.

The funny thing to me is I was thinking on the way home “I’m glad I have some new friends here.” New is a relative term I suppose, because I think I have now known these women for a year at least. To me that is very new. And I am grateful to have them. I know I am not the easiest person to get along with, so I do appreciate it when I meet people who I can sit and hang out with and not worry about it.

I will be dropping stitches on my baby blanket soon, and I will photograph the evidence. I just got the invite for the baby shower and I can’t go! Great news, because there is no way I was going to have the blanket done in time.

Less and less time to knit these days, as well as do anything else. I spend most of the day trying to entertain my small bald boss. He can’t yet sit up or crawl, and this makes him very angry. He wants to move, he has things to do and see! Therefore I must keep him happy, or I will certainly hear about it.

I can’t wait until he’s big enough to play soccer and baseball – think of all the knitting I will get done then!

I've Been Interviewed!

2005-03-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Cari at Dogs Steal Yarn (yes, she’s the famous author of the Clapotis poem), has posted interview questions for me to answer on my blog. If you are interested in being interviewed by me, here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

And here are the five questions Cari asked me:

1. What trait of yours do you hope your son Jack inherits from you? What trait do you hope he doesn’t?

I hope he inherits my sense of adventure – I hope he sees as much of the world as he can, I hope he travels and explores and learns about everything that is interesting and important.
I hope he doesn’t inherit my complete inability to manage money.

2. What fictional character, from books, movies, or tv, would you be and why?

Brett from Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. I know Hemingway often wrote women in an unflatteringly light, but Brett strikes me as someone who lives a life I would enjoy. She is running around Paris, marrying some Count from England, fishing in Spain. She goes to a bar with one man and leaves with another, and explanations are never offered. I’ve always longed to be an Ex-Patriot in the cafes of Europe, writing my novel on cocktail napkins and drinking too much gin.

3. You’ve been given the opportunity to create a reality tv show involving knitters and knitting. What’s the conceit? Any of those nasty surprise twists to catch the participants off guard?

Combining reality tv and knitting? It’s like a dream come true! Of course the best nasty twist would be to go and unravel someone’s knitting, huh? I think I would set up a team of judges – Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot), Debbie Stoller, Amy Singer, and a few of my non-famous knitting friends. Every week the knitters would get a new challenge – lace, intarsia, sweater design, cables, fun fur (I hate fun fur. I think it’s harder to work with than Red Heart Acrylic for 89 cents a pound). Every Monday they would present their item to the panel. Instead of a rose ceremony or a tribal council or a boardroom, the person with the worst work would wake up the next morning with her project unraveled next to her bed, signifying she was off the show.

The winner would get to move in with Brad Pitt. Ok wait, that’s an entirely different show. The winner would get a prime time knitting show on Fox. One hour a week for knitters, by knitters. It would be like Knitty Gritty but long enough to actually cover the material, and more in tune with what knitters want instead of what yarn companies are trying to sell us.

4. I truly believe Italian Greyhounds are part alien. Offer evidence based on your life with Lucca to prove or disprove this theory.

Lucca has the preternatural ability to sense the mailman from miles away. She can be under two quilts in the back bedroom with music on and she will still know he is coming. And he comes a different time every day, so it’s not just a time thing. (She hates him so much I wonder if he is also part alien from a rival solar system. Hmmm.) She also can also leap unnaturally far – even if she’s leaping backwards. This often happens when the baby is trying to grab for her.
Lastly, she is known to have healing powers. If you are sick, she will glom onto you until you are better. And I am certain my recoveries are speedier due to her presence.

5. When has your (self-proclaimed) absentmindedness gotten you into real trouble?

Thank the heavens above I have not left the child anywhere yet, although I can see how this might happen. (Maybe not though, my every moment is consumed by the little character. And even though I’m sleep deprived I can’t fathom a time when I could actually forget about him.)

Other than banging my brand new car into a wall at a parking garage, I would have to say I haven’t done anything too terrible. I just lose my keys on an hourly basis, can’t remember a single thing unless it’s written down, and wander around in a semi-fugue state all the time.

It’s a good thing I have this interview, because knitting information is non-existent right now. My life is filled with little Jack. He’s suddenly become very inquisitive and interested in the world, thus taking up my time entertaining him. At least he laughs at my jokes.

Duh.

2005-03-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

You know how I said I only needed one additional set of increases to get to 35 inches on the Baby-clapotis? I must have been drunk or something, because each set is only 2.5 inches, and the original shawl is 22 inches wide. So that’s 13 inches short, divided by 2.5 is 5.2! So I need quite a few more increase rows than I anticipated. I continue to increase and wait for dropping of the stitches. Regrettably, not much got done this weekend.

It’s Easter Sunday – the single most defining moment in Christianity, and people across the world are celebrating by eating too much chocolate and hunting for eggs. Even the non-Christians do it, which I think is pretty funny. I don’t go around fasting for Ramadan, so why do you celebrate Easter? (Yes, I am joking here a bit, so don’t all go running to the comments to get personally offended and call me names.)

But it is somewhat of an interesting question. I have two friends who constantly mock me for being religious (ok, constantly is a bit exaggerated. But I have had to defend myself more than once for believing in god, for going to church, and for raising my son Catholic). BOTH of these people celebrate Christmas and Easter. Why? I wonder to myself, aloud and on my blog.

We celebrated by going to church with my parents. They are Presbyterian and Joe had never been to a protestant service before. Of course he made the obligatory jokes about Benny Hin and Faith Healing, and of course the service was underwhelming compared to Trinity Broadcasting Network’s version of Christianity. The Presbyterians are pretty calm people – no shouting from the audience or anything. I think he was disappointed.

This evening we stopped by Joe’s Grandmother’s house for dinner. We didn’t stay long, the baby was fussing and tired. I’m hoping he’s down for the night so I can relax.

I updated my sidebar today – just a little rearranging and some additions to the blogs I read. And I added my email address because Potusol pointed out it wasn’t listed. If I ever get free time I may play with my template a little, the pea soup is a little dull.

Do you know what I should be doing right now?

2005-03-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

Folding laundry. See all the laundry in the background? Oh, and you can also see how far I’ve gotten on my Baby-clapotis blanket prototype. Joe says it looks like a giant tube top. Instead of folding boring old laundry, here is what I am doing:

I’m sitting at the computer while the little boy sleeps in his crib. It’s very relaxing. The yarn in that picture will be used for the eventual Baby-clapotis blanket once I finish the prototype.

In other Clapotis news I finally got my yarn to finish the original, gargantuan, wooly and warm shawl I started two and a half millennium ago.

I am very impressed with Jimmy Beans Wool, but not because I got my yarn very quickly – I did order it over two weeks ago. When I didn’t receive it in a week and a half I sent them an email asking for the tracking number so I could find out where it went. Within an hour I had three emails from them apologizing and promising to send me a new package. AND, within a day I had my yarn. All told, I will certainly give them more business. I love their website and they have a great selection.

A friend of mine went to jail today. I never thought I would be the type to hang out with people who make jail time a habit, but it seems to be the case. The DUI laws in Arizona are pretty strict and for the second offence the minimum sentence is 30 days in tent city. So my friend will be living in a tent all weekend and at night, and going to work during the day as if nothing were amiss. How bizarre.

And lastly, dreaded Nick resurfaced last night for an extremely brief IM session with my good friend Parley. I hate when my friends get their hearts broken, and I really hate it when the person causing the breaking is so evil about it. I want to poke out his eyes with a stick. The worst thing is that he REFUSES to explain himself. He just pops up after a month and disappears again within the space of five minutes. I like to believe that all people are inherently good, but this guy is testing me.

Joey Tribiani

2005-03-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

So now that Friends is no longer on the air and I have watched every rerun at least 16 times, I am forced to watch “Joey” on Thursday nights. It’s not a bad show I suppose, but it certainly isn’t as good as Friends was. And I find it unrealistic that he NEVER mentions his friends in New York. I mean, they were together for over ten years, wouldn’t they call? Wouldn’t it come up? Can’t we hear how the babies are? Or if Phoebe ever got pregnant? I mean seriously people, these were his BEST friends, and he never talks about them at all.

This was bothering me a great deal when I fell asleep, so of course I dreamt about Rachel and her baby. I think in some way I use tv characters in place of real friends. It’s easier, because tv characters don’t move to China and New York (unless of course it is some clever plot line, and then I get to watch.)

On the knitting front, I continue to increase for baby-Clapotis. I think I will need one extra set of increase rows to get the desired width, which should happen today. Then I will start decreasing and dropping stitches like the mad woman I am.

Yesterday two of my knitting friends came to my mom’s house to decorate cookies and eggs. Here is my mom with Gemma (Kim’s daughter) and Jake (Kirsten’s son). She is patiently explaining to Gemma how to move the dough without breaking the cookies:

We didn’t get any knitting done because the three moms were too busy eating cookies ourselves. (I gained back every single one of the three pounds I lost last week, and I know it is due to yesterday alone.) Kirsten borrowed my Denise cords so she can cast on for Mariposa. This is such a fun shawl, I know she will like it. I haven’t worked on it this week because I need to get moving on the baby blanket, but hopefully this weekend I can pick it up again.

We also planned the SnB calendar for the next few months. Knitting for Babies and Toddlers is going to be at the train park this time! How much fun will that be? I know not much knitting will happen, but the weather should be great and I know the kids will have a good time. We’ve also got our usual Changing Hands, Coffee Rush, Lux and now Essenza meetings.

I’ll post some progress pictures tomorrow – with hopefully some dropped stitches!

Essenza Coffee House

2005-03-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I drove down to Mesa to knit at Essenza. Jen guilted me into it since I haven’t seen her in forever and she was going early. Jack behaved at first, hanging out on the couch. I think I got three rows done on my baby blanket prototype before he started to fuss. Here he is flailing his arms about:

Unfortunately it all went south after that. I tried everything in my powers to get him to go to sleep so I could enjoy the evening. No dice. As I’ve said before, I’m going to have to start finding a sitter for my knitting outings or at least bring my mom. He’s just way too high maintenance to have around unless he’s in a good mood.

A few people did make it. Becky was there, Eva and Jude. I had never met Jude because she usually goes to the Gilbert group on Tuesdays, and I was disappointed I didn’t get to talk to her. Her email address suggests she’s a doula, and I think Kim said she home-schooled her kids. I am fascinated by people who do this – I feel like I would send Jack to school now if I could get away with it!

Here is a shot of the knitter before I had to scram:

Anyhow, the baby blanket is coming along. I really need to get moving because the shower could be as early as April 20th. I’ve gotten to the point where I would normally start the straight rows, but I’m going to continue to increase until I get to 35 inches or so, and then immediately start the decreases. I hope it turns out okay.

No progress on Mariposa – I smartly decided not to try and knit on it while I talked to Jen and dealt with the baby. I know I would have screwed something up!

Leaving on a jet plane...

2005-03-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

Many years ago (9 to be exact), one of my closest friends moved across the country leaving me bereft and forlorn. A mutual friend - in his failed attempt to improve my sullen mood over martinis - told me “People Leave”. I found his comment cold and cruel at the time, and promptly threw my Kettel One in his face. (This was before I discovered gin.)

Now I appreciate his infinite wisdom and realize this type of insight can only come with age. Here I am, almost 33, facing the EXACT same situation with the EXACT same person for the third time (yes, my dear friend moves a lot, and so do I), and I have to agree. People DO leave. Not only is this specific friend moving away, he is my single remaining foothold in the real world. He is someone I can spend time with and not mention the baby one single time. He talks about issues other than diapers and preschool and when to start solid foods.

To top it off, another friend of mine who will remain nameless may be moving to China.

China. Not like, oh, I may move to New Mexico, you should come visit. China.

I’m just going to lock myself inside all summer and knit. To heck with friends.

On that note, I continue Mariposa and I’ve found myself falling in love with the pattern. It is repetitious enough to set down and pick up throughout the day (very important since I am often interrupted by a small scream from a little bald baby), but not even remotely boring. I can even knit in the car (provided someone else is driving.)

Here I’m on row 7 of the 22 row pattern. Remember, there are 308 stitches per row, so completing one single row is a feat in and of itself:

And here’s a close-up of the lovely holes made by the fun yarn-overs. I love yarn-overs and I do not know why.

Hopefully there will be some knitting this week. I just heard there is knitting in Mesa tonight at a new coffee place. Hmmm. I wonder if we should go? Jack is rarely cooperative enough for me to knit however, so maybe not.

I’ve also just learned that our SnB group has a blog of all things. It’s being updated by Becky and can be found here. There is also a link on my sidebar if you’re interested.

And I’d like to welcome our newest reader, Stephanie Distler, a beader from Pennsylvania. Stop by her blog and say hello.

Ah, Knitting

2005-03-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Knitting at Coffee Rush today was mostly fun, although Jack didn’t really cooperate and there was some mild tension in the room. Knitting is supposedly more relaxing than yoga, but you’d never know it these days. I left feeling like my stomach was in knots.

Angus was having a good time, however. He fell asleep with his thumb falling slowly out of his mouth. I caught him mid air:

It was a pretty small group. Ede and Val were there, Bobbie Gray, Alison, Peggy, Pam (not crochetmeister Pam, Kim’s friend Pam), and of course my mom and me. I started the Mariposa Shawl from SWTC. Man is that a hard project. I’ve already ripped it out once, and I’m afraid I may be doing so again. Here’s a shot of how far I am just to give you some perspective:

308 stitches with a 34 stitch pattern that repeats 9 times. It’s pretty involved and probably not the best knit for talking and drinking tea.

This afternoon I went to visit my friend Donna and her daughter Brett in the hospital. They are moving Brett out of the ICU tonight and starting physical therapy Monday. Donna is in a very scary place and I give her all the credit in the world for keeping her spirits up. She is about halfway through her scarf project I brought her, so next week I will teach her how to purl and find a quick and easy sweater pattern she can make. She is a very good student, and even learned how to rip back rows on her own.

My other student, Julie, is going to start Ribby Cardi soon. She decided she wanted something to wear, so I recommended this project for her. She’s going to get some KnitPicks yarn and we’ll get her started. I am very pleased with her progress – she’s accomplished quite a bit in the midst of having a baby.

I just ordered a pizza for dinner and the girl on the phone said “Oh, you have 2 free pizzas coming to you!” Apparently we have ordered from Z Pizza so often that we are being rewarded with a few free pies. That’s pretty sad. This is my big treat for the week because I don’t have to weigh in again until next Friday and I lost 3 pounds this week! Yay for me. Only 8 more to go to be at pre-pregnancy weight. I have to say, carrying around a 17 pound baby does help the weight-loss happen more quickly. My goal is to be back in my real clothes by my birthday in May and I’m certainly on the way there.

I’m hoping to get some knitting in tomorrow while the boy goes to visit his grandparents in Chandler. Then on Sunday I’m going to head up to Scottsdale to hang out with my mom and possibly the ever-elusive Parley.

Knitting on the Town

2005-03-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Knitting at Mama Java’s last night was great, although a bit cramped. Apparently they double booked themselves and had some type of Irish reading going on in the main area, so we were crammed in the back room. The owner felt so bad she gave us free cookies, and I promptly ate them and destroyed my diet for the week. I’m really sad because some people came and didn’t find us. Judi Binderman – the one who makes those cool glass bead stitch markers and has the big felted bag – just posted on the yahoo group that she came and didn’t see us. What a shame! We should have put up a sign or something.

I took a few pictures before it got too crazy:

height="375" alt="mama java" / />
Becky, Eva and June

Pam, Melanie, and Martha

And as usual I did not knit a stitch. Jack was wide awake and wanted to walk around and see what everyone was making. We met a new girl named Lauren who is making a scarf out of a yarn called squiggle. It is her first project and looks really hard to knit with, but she seemed to be enjoying it. And Eva’s friend Karen is making Clapotis out of pink cotton twist. And I also met Michelle’s friend with red seatbelt purse. Her name is escaping my muddled head right now, but I’m sure Michelle will pop by and tell me what it is.

All in all we had a great time and as always I am glad I went. Jack is getting too old to take with me though, so I’m going to have to work out a deal with Joe to watch him while I go knitting. Elaine was nice enough to watch him while we had a quick committee meeting, but of course he didn’t last sitting in the stroller. He just doesn’t lie around and sleep like he did when he was a newborn!

This morning Joe came in and asked when I made his coffee. Why? I wondered. Is it not still hot? (we have one of those insulated carafes, so I could really make the coffee at midnight and it would still be good in the morning). I made it at six when I got up with the baby. Um, you forgot to put coffee in, was his reply, and I was wondering if you made it in the middle of the night is all. I had successfully brewed my darling husband a pot of hot water. Filtered hot water, however, because I HAD remembered the filter, just no coffee.

I think it’s times like these that Joe realizes I’m really not all here. And it probably worries him that I’m carting his baby all over Tarnation during the day. So far I haven’t left him anywhere though, so we’re doing just fine thank you very much.

Wine Fight!

2005-03-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

I’m loving this Micro-spun Clapotis prototype blanket I’ve started. I’m going to do a few extra increase rows to get it to about 35” and then immediately start decreasing – that will make a squarish blanket, right? I guess we’ll see. The biggest problem with the blanket is here:

That is a small wine stain from knitting at Postino’s on Monday. Michelle threw wine all over me when I said something to make her mad. Luckily it did not get on my pink sweater, just this little bit on the blanket. Here it is from afar, you can see the stain in the lower right corner.

I will have to be more careful when knitting Elissa’s blanket and stay away from Michelle and her red wine! Especially because I bought the yarn yesterday and it's off-white. (I made her pick the color and told her I was making a blanket because I was leaning towards colors I knew she might not like. I’m glad I did because she picked off-white. I would have made lime green and I think she would have thought it was bizarre. Plus, I really hate surprises, especially when it comes to something that is going to take a ton of time. )

Yesterday was probably the last of the cold days here in Phoenix – a small wind came through and cooled things off. I needed a picture of Jack in his sweater my mom made him before it’s too small to fit over his head:

This made me realize why I don’t like to knit baby sweaters. Seriously, the little guy is almost 4 months old and he doesn’t really fit in baby stuff any more. If those 4 months fell in the warm season here, he never would have worn this sweater at all. Baby clothes on the whole are somewhat frustrating. I was at Nordstrom the other day and a woman was trying to sell me $35 rompers for Jack. Um, I’m sorry. $35? At best he will wear it for a few months. And Carters makes a similar romper for $8, although it is lacking the small polo horse stitched over the pocket. I’m not against expensive clothes at all, but for a baby who is growing like a weed it just seems a little excessive.

Knitting tonight at Mama Java’s! I love knitting there and it looks like the group will be smallish, so hopefully we’ll get some good chatting time in as well. Plus my mom is coming, so someone else can hold my wiggly child for a while. Jen, I hope you make it – we all miss you!

Baby Blanket Clapotis

2005-03-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Once I got it in my head that I was going to modify Clapotis to make a baby blanket for Elissa, I couldn’t stop myself from casting on and seeing how it would go. I considered many different yarns, but came up with Lion Brand Micro-spun. I know this isn’t the fanciest yarn in the world, but it’s washable, soft, and she won’t have to worry about ruining it. So I cast on for a prototype of the blanket just to see what I thought of the yarn in this pattern. Here is how far I got:

Now comes the color choice difficulties. She is not finding out what type of baby it is, so I have to stay away from blue and pink. I was actually considering off-white but I’m going to run by Michaels today and see what I think of the colors in person. I really like the lime green as well, but I’m not sure if that’s her thing.

Yesterday at Pita Jungle was fun. There were 10 of us I think and we had a grand old time. Here are some pictures from my side of the table – I was too lazy to get up and walk around. I know Pam is disappointed because she loves seeing herself on my blog. Next time Pam.

Nancy

Val and Ede

Today I’m meeting Michelle at Postino’s for some afternoon knitting and wine. I hope Jack decides to behave (i.e., sleep) and I can work on my prototype blanket. I haven’t received the needles for Mariposa so I can’t cast on for that yet. I ordered from Knit Picks and they shipped a week ago and still aren’t here! That is very disappointing.

If anyone wants to join us at Postino’s send me an email or just come – we’ll be there around 1:30.

still no clapotis

2005-03-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sadly Jessica did not have the yarn, and she said it would take a few months to get her order from Lorna’s Laces. Drat it all, I wanted to finish that crazy shawl. I did find the yarn online, however, at this great site called Jimmy Beans Wool. I found them through Elizabeth who commented on one of my posts and they are located in Reno, Nevada. They have an incredible online selection – I was very impressed. Shipping is a flat $4 so I’ll let you know how the whole experience is once the yarn arrives.

Joe was funny yesterday – I told him I was going up to Jessica’s because I ran out of yarn. He said “Impossible. I know you didn’t run out of yarn. I’ve seen how much you have.” Well, Joe, yarn is not interchangeable.

I am considering making a baby blanket using the Clapotis pattern. A friend of mine is having a baby in July and two things occurred to me. 1. This pattern would not be boring to knit, as most blankets are. 2. It would be good for Arizona because it’s so warm here and the blanket would be light and airy. (Provided I make it out of something other than wool.) I measured one of our blankets and it’s 35” square, so I would have to make additional increase rows and not as many straight rows. I think it could work.

My friend’s daughter is not doing so well, so I will not be going to teach her to knit today. I am very worried, when she called this morning I could tell she was crying, and she said Brett (that’s the daughter) was not as responsive today as yesterday. I hope everything works out okay, I know this is very stressful for Donna. And I can’t go visit because of the baby – no children are allowed at all and my mom is out of town. So I’m going to try and swing by tomorrow at least to say hello and see if they need anything.

Ok, see everyone at Pita Jungle on Sunday. I think I will be working on the pink sweater again because I finally broke down and bought another pattern (this time I made a copy so I won’t lose it yet again.) I just have to figure out where in the heck I am on the pattern and we’ll be good to go. In case you all forgot what it looks like, here it is so far:

Or, I may cast on for the Mariposa shawl if I get the needles I ordered in time. 47 inch circulars sound awfully big, but I guess to cast on 308 stitches you really need it to be that long.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Knitting to the Rescue

2005-03-10T09:27:00.001-07:00

I just got a bad phone call – my friend Donna’s daughter is in the hospital and probably will be for some time. She went with a headache and it turned out she broke a blood vessel in her head. What can I do? Teach her to knit, of course. I am going to pick her up a project tonight at Jessica’s and teach her tomorrow, because sitting in a hospital room is just no fun and knitting will at least take her mind off things for a while.

I am also going to Jessica’s because I ran out of Clapotis yarn. I am ALMOST done, seriously, here is a picture to prove it:

(My dog cannot stay away from my knitting as you can see.)

It makes me crazy that I came up short. Hopefully Jessica still has that yarn and I can finish it tonight.

Last night Michelle and I met at Mama Java’s for a little knitting. Jack behaved for the most part, so I was able to chat and knit to the end of my yarn. She lost her Clapotis yarn when we were at Changing Hands last week, so if anyone picked up a bag of Cotton Twist (I think it was brown and black and white), please post something on the yahoo group or email me. It’s awful to lose that much yarn!

Tonight I think there is a knit-in at Jessica’s. Joe will be working late again so I think I’ll head up there with the baby.

Two Items

2005-03-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

1. Thank you thank you thank you Lynn of Mindful Moderation. I received a package with a sling, rings and a book I wasn't expecting! Knitters are so generous and wonderful!

2. Knitting tonight at Mama Javas? Anyone interested? I didn't make it last night as Jack decided to fall asleep, so hopefully tonight we can get together. I think Michelle is in, so anyone else let me know

I may or may not run out of Clapotis yarn. I'm on the decrease so I still may make it. More tomorrow

More Clapotis

2005-03-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Clapotis is almost done. I have one more dropped stitch before I begin the decreases. Look how big it's gotten:

I am afraid I am going to run out of yarn. Ugh. I hate running out of yarn. I will know today if I am, and I'll just give Jessica a call and see if she has more.

I switched projects with Kim for my SWTC test knit. She had a shawl and I had another baby sweater. For some reason the baby sweater just wasn’t exciting to me, and although the lace pattern looks complicated I think it will be pretty challenging and fun. I had to order size six 47" circulars online so I can't get started until they come. I think I will put off the flower basket shawl until I finish Mariposa.

Is anyone interested in meeting tonight or tomorrow night to knit? I know there is a group going to Cupz, but that is just too darned far for me to travel on a weeknight. Traffic makes me insane.

The Verdict is in

2005-03-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Joe finished his first trial yesterday and he won! The case had something to do with mules living in the town of Cave Creek (serious mules, not just stubborn people), and Joe's client gets to keep his mules and their houses (the mule's houses, not the people). I am very proud of him – he worked really hard on this case and I know when anything goes to jury it's always a toss up.

I did not lose any weight this week, which is no surprise given the cookie extravaganza at my mom's house two days ago. I'm just pleased I didn't gain any back! (You should have tasted these mint cookies she and Gemma made. I had to leave them in the car when I got home because I knew I would finish them off if they were in front of me.) So it's back to serious dieting for me. And back to the gym – I haven't been able to go all week because Joe is so busy, so my goal is to get there at least 3 times this week.

Jack was pretty tired yesterday after being gone all day Wednesday, so we basically just sat around the house in our pajamas. This is the danger of being a stay-at-home-mom. My disposition leans towards pajama day, which is certainly not overly healthy. My mom came over and brought me lunch because I didn't feel like going anywhere, and Jack slept a ton. I finally got to sit and knit!

Clapotis is moving right along - I dropped two more stitches last night. I’m a little worried that it is going to be too warm for Phoenix. I think I'll make another one in a lighter weight yarn, maybe some type of cotton or silk. Jen is trying it in lace weight I think, so I'll have to see how that turns out. I was thinking maybe sport weight or DK weight would be better.

Here it is spread out on the couch – it's getting really big

and of course, a close up of the dropped stitches because they are so darned fun.

Martha Stewart was finally released from prison early this morning. Her entire trial and incarceration were an absolute embarrassment. Seriously, aren't there better things these federal agents have to do than chase around someone for a very minor stock-tip infraction? I know she will bounce back and will be stronger than ever, and I hope all the companies who pulled ads from her magazine are sorry. I hope she tries to ruin them, in fact.

So Welcome Home Martha! I'm glad to have you back in the land of the free.

The Kindness of Strangers

2005-03-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Lynn of Mindful Moderation. She commented that I should get a sling and I mentioned to her that I have one but it's too hot, so I'm having my mom make me a Maya Sling. Lynn is sending me her left over rings to make the sling, as well as a spare pouch sling. I don't even know what it is, but I am overwhelmed that she would go to the trouble of sending it to me. So thank you Lynn. (You should go to her site, she has a very cute sun salutation decoration on her blog.)

You may have noticed I am lacking in knitting content lately. I have gotten in a rut with my knitting, and I wasn't very excited about anything I was doing. I think the key for me is to have enough projects going on at one time so I can bounce back and forth and not get bored. Many of my projects are stalled. Clapotis had a problem because part of it fell off my needles and some of the stitch markers fell off. Pink Sweater – I'm missing the pattern. Red sweater is coming along. Purple baby SWTC test sweater needs the hood attached, and I can't seem to figure out how to do it. New SWTC test knit is sitting on the red chair (Kim, I would be willing to trade you if you want.)

So tonight I went to our SnB meeting at Changing Hands. Jack wasn't cooperating at first and it took me quite a while to get him settled. But finally he quieted down and I got Clapotis back on track. Tomorrow I am going to find the pattern for Pink Sweater, or I am going to call Jessica and have her send me another one.

Earlier today I went to Jessica's with Julie and Kim. We showed up with all three babies and took over the couch area – I think the other customers were a little alarmed, but it wasn't too busy so I don't think we specifically ran anyone off. Here are the pictures from our visit:

Kim working on her cool sock

Julie finishing her cousin's scarf

Mac sitting in the bouncy seat watching his mom

Angus slept the entire time we were there.

And Jack, sitting on my lap. He is a little needy these days, so I did not knit a stitch. (Nor did I spend any money.)

I didn't take my camera in to the SnB meeting tonight, but it was really fun. Not too crowded like some of the meetings have been in the past. I got to see Paula (a regular commenter on the blog) and Heather and Eva. I got to see some really cool stuff – Sherry finished this incredible crocheted vest, Alison brought her baby blanket, Pam had this cool scarf that she is submitting to the new SnB book, and Jen had some new yarn from her birthday celebration.

So I should have more progress on my knitting soon. Gloria is taking the baby on Saturday and I may lie in bed in my pajamas and knit all day long. Joe's trial is over tomorrow as well, so my evenings will be a bit easier.

It was good to see you all tonight! Hopefully we'll get to have some spring break daytime knitting in the next few weeks. I know Michelle is up for some Postino knitting, and I think Duck and Decanter has been suggested. Ymmmmm.

One panel down....

2005-03-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

The back of Steph’s baby’s sweater is done! (His name is Quincy, have I mentioned that? Love the name.) This is the worst part of the pattern – stockinette stitch for 35 centimeters. Now on to the fun parts. Next I make the 2 pocket linings, which go very quickly, and then I’ll start on the fronts. I have to decide upon a contrast color – I may use the same navy I used for Angus, or I may try something completely different.

And no, that is not my bourbon in the picture, it’s Joe’s. Even though I drink while breastfeeding, I do stick to wine. (and Michelle, see your magazine in the picture? I have it out so I won't forget to bring it. You're coming to Changing Hands, yes?)

Paula asked if I will be going to Wildflower ahead of the meeting yesterday and I think I will. Usually Jen or Pam show up too, and maybe Kim if Jonny gets home in time. I will plan on being there around 5:30 if anyone wants to join us.

Jack and I are going back to court this afternoon. Joe has his first trial going on, and he will be examining a witness. We tried to go this morning and they were behind because the other side was taking a long time cross-examining the first witness. I am very excited – it was like Ally McBeal in there, only live. I just wish I had a place to take the little guy, because it stresses me out that he’s going to cry.

Tomorrow I am going to take a small trip to Jessica’s. Now, I know I said I don’t need any more yarn. And I know I said it was best to stay out of yarn shops. BUT. Kim and Julie and I are going up to my mom’s and Gemma is going to make cookies with her. I so rarely get the opportunity to get up there I figured I needed to stop by. Just to say hello to Jessica. Maybe I will look for a border for the baby sweater. Maybe I will buy one ball of yarn. But that’s it. Then I’m done I swear.

I just read there is another big storm hitting the East Coast. I’m so sorry for you all – it is supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny here this weekend. I love the winters in Arizona – really the weather could not be more perfect. It just sucks we have to put up with 3 solid months of hellishly hot temperatures on the other side of the coin. I suppose nowhere is perfect, huh?

Take Me to Your Leader

2005-02-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Kim, the woman behind it all, finally broke down under the pressure and started a blog. She made me keep it a secret for a while (although she told a few other people), but now I have been given permission to add her to my site. You will find her link on my sidebar for future reference. Now if we could just convince Michelle to write a blog everyone would be happy.

So do you think I got the back done on the red sweater? Not a chance. Tonight may be the night though, with the Oscars on and a baby who has a bedtime very soon.

My parents came over today and helped me grocery shop. I know, that doesn't sound like a real thing to do, but grocery shopping with a baby is not easy. He is so heavy, but he can't sit up, so you have to take him in the car seat or the stroller. The three of us managed just fine, but I certainly could not have done it alone. Even more shocking, I have to cook dinner this week. Joe is in trial and is unsure when he will be home each night, so I will be the chef of the house. Stay tuned, we'll see if I survive.

I hope everyone had fun at Jessica's today.

The Joys of Motherhood

2005-02-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Jack and I were going to meet Pam, Melanie, and Michelle at Lux today at 2. Jack went down for a nap at 1 and got up a little late – around 2:10 – but we still would have made it. Except for the fact that Jack decided he was NOT going knitting today, and on top of that, he was going to scream and scream and scream for the next hour. He cried so much that he got those crying hiccups. It was really awful. I guess he tired himself out, because at the end of it all, around 4 p.m. or so, he looked like this:

I'm sorry for ditching you guys. Believe me, I would have rather been knitting.

So this evening I picked up the red baby sweater for my cousin. Sometimes boring knitting is good in times like these. I'm going to watch St. Elmo's Fire and wait for Joe to get home. If I sit here quietly and behave myself, I will finish the back tonight. (I love this movie. I forgot how much. It's back when Demi Moore was Aston Kutcher's age I think.)

Tomorrow people are meeting at Jessica's at 3. I don't think I will make it, judging from the way things went today. I am going to try and make Changing Hands this week though. I know it's a pain and I know it's crowded, but it is where it all began and I want to support that. (Plus I love the potato soup at Wildflower, so if anyone wants to meet for dinner let me know.)

It seems the controversy has all passed on the blog these days. Whew. So much stomach acid over something so silly. I had a dream last night that Jen and I were caught in a Tsunami in Boston. She was getting married there and we were on a beach when the wave started coming in. It looked EXACTLY like the wave in those new pictures released by the Canadian couple who died. Jen was buried in the sand and I saved her. I'm not sure if this is related to the whole thing, but it made me realize we are all making hay out of sunshine.

Parley and I have a question. Apparently someone in Denver is reading his blog, and then hopping over and reading my blog. I know it isn't my brother, and I don't know another single soul in Denver and neither does Parley. Reveal yourself, oh internet reader. We are both quite curious as to who you might be.

Weight Watchers Rocks!

2005-02-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day! It was supposed to be all rainy and cold again today, but instead the sun was shining and it really felt like a brand new world. First things first, I got on my scale this morning for my weekly weigh in, and I lost four pounds if you can believe it. According to Parley, the new diet is managing my glycemic index, which is what is causing the dramatic change. I don't really care at this point, I was just giddy with the news.

So I packed up the guy and we did a little shopping. I just bought a pair of Capri jeans at Old Navy, but they were 2 sizes smaller than the ones I bought at the beginning of January. Yay! I also stopped by Cost Plus and got a small gift for Jen, who is turning 30 tomorrow. You might want to stop by her blog and wish her a happy day.

To celebrate Jen's graduation to adulthood, I met her and Kim at Postino's for a little wine, lunch and knitting. We started at a table to eat some yummmmmy bruschetta and salads. Then we scooted over to the couches where we could spread out – two babies take up an awful lot of room. Here you can see how much fun we were having:

And a close-up of Jen and Angus – isn't he getting big?

It was a great time – we even talked politics (although I won't elaborate here.)

I barely got any knitting done. I only seamed up the back on the hood for the baby sweater. I still have to attach it to the jacket, which is not fun at all. Here is the hood on Jack just for fun:

I got email from Michelle and we're thinking of meeting to knit at 2 on Saturday. If anyone is interested, email me or leave a comment. We haven't picked a place just yet, but maybe a bar, as long as there isn't any smoke….

Let Them Eat Yams

2005-02-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Jumbo yams, originally uploaded by tienmao.

I did not cast on for flower basket - I read the pattern and it's so complicated my poor addled brain started to wobble. Maybe I will have to find a different lacy pattern for my yarn after all. Any suggestions would be welcome. And Michelle, I'll give you back your Interweave Knits next time I see you. I'm just not up for the challenge I suppose.

It may seem I'm obsessing about the fall-out in our knitting group. And I suppose I am. Of course, as a good American woman, my first reaction was to crave brownies, cookies, ice cream, anything bad and sweet. (And my mother will tell you, I don't really like sweets so much. So I know this is psychological.) But I started a diet last week and have been pretty good about eating well and staying on the plan. (Well, except for the fact that I didn't realize DRIED fruit was different than REGULAR fruit. I was putting dried cherries in my oatmeal - something happens when you dry a cherry to make it bad for you. Who knew?)

So to feed my craving yesterday evening, I pulled out a bag of cut-up yams I bought at Trader Joe's. I baked them with some olive oil. Now I know they are not remotely like a brownie, but they did the trick and I stopped feeling so awful, at least temporarily. And I didn't have to take any points. So the pounds will just be dropping off any minute now.

We'll see what the scale has to say tomorrow. I'm skeptical.

I'm not sure how I feel today about what has erupted in the comments of my blog. On one hand, this is a public forum, and if you decide to go on the attack you'd better be ready for the fall out. On the other, I think Illanna is a great girl and this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

Without a doubt, this further proves my theory that women's organizations cannot go too long without some type of scandal. What is wrong with us, as women, that makes this so? If this were a group of guys, the whole thing would be over by now, no one would be threatening to leave the group, there would be decidedly less drama.

I'm way too old for this, either way. So pick up your yarn and needles, and let's all knit our way to happiness once again. And in the future, if anyone thinks I'm trying to offend them, please just email me privately and question my intentions that way. Then we can avoid drawing lines in the sand and making everyone crazy.

(And no Parley, I am not removing her comments. I don't censor my blog like SOME people I know.)

(And everyone else, the SOME people in the above sentence is Parley. I'm not trying to make inferences that other people are not allowed to censor their blogs. Just Parley, who removed a comment I made on his blog yesterday because I inferred he was not popular.)

Elf Hat Pictures

2005-02-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Back when I first got pregnant I made a hat for Jack. Knowing nothing about babies, I made a huge size and a little tiny size, figuring one may fit him one day. I recently found the huge one and thought I'd try it on – of course it's still a little big, but maybe it will fit him this Christmas?

He wasn't feeling very photogenic, but here are some shots:

This is the best I can come up with for knitting photos. I haven't done anything knitting related today and probably won't until tomorrow. I have to sew the hood on the baby sweater and I just can't bring myself to do it for some reason. The red sweater isn't exciting enough to knit alone, and I can't find the pattern for the pink sweater. So very little to report on the knitting front. I'm actually considering casting on the flower basket shawl if you can believe it. The last thing I need is another project on needles, but that lovely knitpicks yarn calls to me.

I've contemplated the Illanna issue all day – that's part of the problem of staying home with a baby, you have a ton of time to obsess and wonder and surmise and think. I have received many emails and other feedback (my husband, Kim's husband, my relatives….) and a few comments were helpful, so I thought I'd share them with you all.

1. Consider the source. A 22 year old sorority girl? Open hostility and the propensity to become offended are requirements for survival.

2. Usually when women get mad about something, they are really mad about something else. I probably pissed her off long ago and she's just now lashing out at me. (Not a heartening thought, I can't imagine what I did.)

3. Women rarely attack alone. Most likely there was some discussion somewhere about me and my lack of tolerance for chain store shopping, and Illanna stepped up to voice the opinion of the group. (Not that this makes me feel better, now I'm wondering who else out there thinks I'm the devil.)

4. Getting mad at me for not liking Barnes and Noble is like getting mad at Parley for wearing blue. (Thanks Parley and Jen for adding a great deal of perspective to my day.)

5. Read her blog – something's up with her in general. She got mad at someone driving by who thought she was making a scarf and not socks. Hmmmm. Maybe she's misdirecting her anger a bit?

I don't care that people disagree with me; in fact I quite like it. Ask Joe. But the weird thing about this situation is I never saw it coming. One day Illanna and I are chatting about her degree program (hospitality) and the next she's removing my link from her blog because I said something as vile as (gasp!) I believe in supporting small business.

I tend to shy away from women's groups on the whole. (The exception is the Jr. League of Palo Alto – I loved those women and miss that organization a great deal.) Up to this point I have been so happy with knitting because it provided the opportunity to hang out with other women, knit, enjoy one another's company, and avoid the typical cattiness and drama that often goes hand in hand with gaggles of women. (Or are we flocks, I'm never quite certain.) Alas, those days are over, just one short year after the group began.

I hope this situation can resolve itself and we can all go back to talking about yarn and needles, as Jen would say. (Although if you're a knitter and feel like getting mad, go visit Richard's blog. A drag queen makes fun of men for knitting?)

In other more interesting news, we have another walker for the 3 day! Heather joined us online and we will all begin training soon. There's still time Jen. (And Julie, weren't you going to sign up? Mom? Shannon?)

The rain is coming back! Joy to the World!

Have a wonderful evening all. Drink some gin for me.

Controversy on the Blog

2005-02-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that a knitting blog would cause such an uproar? Apparently I am able to offend people without even trying.

First off, let me tell you a little about my day. Jack slept about 2 minutes last night, so I am as tired as a June Cow. I still went to the gym because I am sick to death of feeling like a slug. Then we met Julie and Mac for lunch and yarn shopping in Mesa. At lunch Julie mentioned that Mac sleeps 10 hours a night (He's 3 weeks older than Jack), and has for quite a while. Upon hearing this news I did what anyone would in my situation. I cried.

For some perspective, Julie has known me for 27 years (yes, we are indeed that old) and has probably send me teary eyed a total of ten times. Weddings, funerals, and the occasional sad movie. I know this open display of tears alarmed her, and for that I am sorry.

After yarn shopping, where Julie bought some fabulous eyelashy red yarn to make a scarf for her cousin Joy, I hopped in the car, fed the little guy, and attempted to drive him to my mom. Apparently he was not done eating, however, because he screamed to high heaven for about 15 minutes. I pulled over, fed him some more in a random office parking lot, and continued on my way. (Fortunately no one came out of the building because I didn't bother to cover myself while feeding the guy. If anyone had a problem with my public display of breastfeeding, I probably would have flipped them off. I can feed one-handed, I'm very talented.)

I dropped him off and sped home to finish a business plan for my dad and get it sent off to the printers. I was overwhelmed with stress, but luckily got it out the door just as my mom was returning with the screaming child.

And then I got Illana's comment via email. What a great way to end my day, knowing I have inadvertently pissed off a fellow knitter. Bonus.

I am now sitting on the couch with a much needed glass of wine and no knitting pictures to share.

If I offended anyone by saying I don't go to the Barnes and Noble knitting meetings, I sincerely apologize. I really think it's important to support local independent shops as much as possible. I like the smaller groups afforded by the coffee shop gatherings. I think it's fine for people to meet other places, and calling the other groups "factions" was really just a joke.

Sigh.

If Joe ever gets home I'm going to slip into the tub and try to forget about today.

p.s.

2005-02-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Parley asked if I was bored with blogging. I'm assuming he was making a snarky comment about the fact that I didn't post a lot over the rainy, cold, lazy weekend.

No, Parley, I'm not bored with blogging. But thanks for asking.

(The rest of you, please see below for my actual Monday post.)

The Secret is Out

2005-02-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

I’ve often wondered why Stay-At-Home-Moms always seem so fit. I would have assumed (rightfully so) that being a mom was tiring, time consuming, and left little time to work out. What I didn’t anticipate is how enjoyable the gym would become once I became a Stay-At-Home-Mom myself.

I used to be the kind of person who would grudgingly go to work out because I knew I had to maintain some semblance of fitness. I would get on the machine, whatever it was, and watch the minutes tick away, just waiting to flee the scene.

Today was a completely different story. I woke up to feed the small person and jetted off to the gym. I got on my machine and blissfully ellipticaled away my half hour. (Ok, yes, 3 minutes into it I thought I would die for a brief moment. And yes, once I went so slowly that the machine paused on me, but still.)

This is the big secret. The gym is the one single place you can go as a mom and not feel a single shred of guilt about being away from your little bundle of joy and happiness. I did worry for a brief moment about the fact that I left said bundle sleeping in his room under the watchful eye of his father. Joe tends to sleep pretty soundly, and I imagined coming home to a still sleeping husband and screeching baby. I quickly pushed the thought from my mind and focused on other, more pressing issues. Like which project should I work on at knitting today?

To answer that question, and finally arrive at the knitting content you all crave, I decided to work on the back of my cousin’s baby sweater. Her baby Quincy will be here any second so I needed to get busy. And the back is the most boring part – just back and forth, no shaping, no nothing, for 15 inches. I’m getting pretty close:

The SnB meeting today was fun. Julie came with Mac for a bit and I got to hold him while she finished off her first Charm bag made of Lorna’s Laces Superwash. Mac is getting very tall, and has the smoothest skin in the world. Of course he’s talking up a storm (if you can call what these guys do talking, it’s more like yodeling. Or singing heavy metal lyrics.)

I love Coffee Rush – it’s a great little place down in Chandler and we usually get a good turn out. We’re going to try and have more day meetings when people are on spring break. I really like day meetings.

We also found out there is a faction of people meeting with a meet up group on Sundays at a Barnes and Noble. I am going to stick with what I believe, and stay knitting and small, locally owned business with good tea and snacks. So we may be starting our own Sunday faction…stay tuned.

Kim asked today where the pink sweater was – I haven’t knit on it in a while even though I love the yarn and think the pattern is cute. To show her where it is, and to humor Becky who likes it when I show people how cluttered my house is, here is a picture of the poor sweater lounging on the coffee table:

That box cutter is alarmingly close to my Debbie Bliss yarn. I’d better relocate the sweater before something bad happens.

Speaking of unfinished projects, we have a knitting cruise group together for September 17th in Seattle. 3 days of nothing but knitting, with a small break for high tea at the Empress in Victoria. I cannot wait. Think of how much I will get done. So far it’s my mom and Aunt Pat, Kim, Jen, Sherry and me. Michelle is thinking it over as well, and I think Peggy is going but I can’t be certain.

Tomorrow I am going to Fiber Factory to help Julie select some fancy yarn to make a scarf for her cousin Joy. Just watch me go in a yarn shop and not buy any yarn. It will be a good test of my inner strength.

If you weren’t at Coffee Rush today we missed you! We were noticing that Alison and Illana haven't been in a while, I wonder if Kids Town has swallowed them whole? And I know Becky is sick, and Melanie had to work, and many others had to work too I assume. Maybe more people will come to Jessica's on Sunday. I don't know if I will be there, it remains to be seen.

Hope everyone had a wonderful President's Day!

The Truth About Love Songs

2005-02-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here in my office listening to my Rhapsody play list while the house cleaners work their magic, and I realized something. I love all these sappy songs, like "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer and "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS and "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down. But if a guy ever said these things to me I would think he was icky. This is probably the reason I never dated poets or musicians – I just found it un-masculine to talk about your feelings all the time.

I wonder what that says about me? I wonder how that will affect Jack?

I'm furiously knitting this crazy hood so I can get it done – it's quick, I just haven't had the time to sit still and work on it. But the babe is quietly sleeping, the laundry is almost done, and I have no plans other than to pick up the dry cleaning after 5. (I found a new dry cleaner where I can just drive up and they bring me the clothes. This is very important when there is a baby involved.)

So the plan is to finish the hood today and sew it on. I will take it back to Jonelle on Monday. Over the weekend I will work on the sweater for my cousin, once I decide what to do about the gauge problem. And I also need to pick up Clapotis and fix it – somehow the needle slipped out, dropping about 3 stitch markers. I should be able to figure out where they go, it's just a pain.

I don't have any pictures to share today as I haven't made a bit of progress on anything. Once the hood is done, however, there will be plenty of the finished sweater.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. It's supposed to be rainy and cold here which makes me very happy. This is the wettest winter I ever remember in Arizona and I love it. I think the out-of-town visitors would disagree, I'm sure they came here hoping for sunshine and 70 degrees. Too bad for you, we like the rain.

The Best Laid Plans

2005-02-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

My cousin Stephanie is having a baby shower this weekend in DC. I don't get to be there, but I was planning on sending a gift with my mom. Another baby jacket like I made Angus was the plan. Ha. I don't know who I was kidding. I did start it, but that's about it.

What makes me crazy is the gauge swatch I did. (psst. Hey Kim. And Jen. This is what a swatch looks like)

If you were to count those stitches, there are 9 in 2 inches. Therefore, my gauge is 4.5 stitches per inch, which is what the pattern calls for. But then look at this:

If you felt like counting them, you would see 10 stitches in 2 inches, for a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. Significantly different.

So why the change? Did I not knit a big enough swatch? Did my tension change that much? Should I rip it out?

While I decide, the sweater will sit here and wait for me.

I have to finish the hood for the baby jacket anyhow, and I cast on for it last night at Mama Javas during our SnB meeting. Jack wasn't super cooperative, however, and I only knit 3 rows. But it was great to see everyone. Jen, Pam, Melanie, and Kim showed up early, so we all got great seats. It wasn't a huge crowd which was nice. Some of our meetings have been getting so big lately it's hard to talk to anyone.

Here are some pictures from the evening:

Sherry got her hair done lighter – doesn’t it look great? And on the far right is Kathy who is visiting from out of town and found us online.

Look how smiley Pam is! And Kiki is in the background – she's been very ill and we were happy to see her.

Michelle lent me her Fall 2004 copy of Interweave Knits to check out the flower basket shawl. One skein of the KnitPicks glimmer yarn will make it, and I do like it quite a bit. I'm just afraid it may be too hard for me. Something else to contemplate.

Did anyone catch Jon Stewart last night? The entire first half was about bloggers and how they are changing the media. He was talking specifically about political bloggers, which of course I am not one. But it was interesting to see how this new fad is making the "real" media sit up and pay attention. (I've never been a fan of the media. I get my news from Yahoo headlines, Jon Stewart, the New York Times Magazine, and Joe. If it's not in one of those places I probably don't need to know about it.)

If you want proof that I allow people to hold my baby, head over to Jack's blog to see Kathy in action.

Car, Wr9ecked

2005-02-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

v
No one was hu9rt. I 9ran into a wall. Sma9rt, huh?

Thus, no post toda6y.

Oh, and the 9random 9s and 6s? That's because I spilled tea into the ke6yboa9rd. Hopefully6 it will d9ry6 b6y tomo9r9row.

Happy Valentine's Day to Me

2005-02-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was driving around running errands with the little guy – grocery store and Southwest Trading Company to be exact. One radio station was asking callers what they really wanted for Valentine's Day if they could have anything, and how likely they would be to get it. Of course people wanted to go to Hawaii, they wanted roses and chocolates, they wanted their boyfriends to surprise them with some extravagant gift. (Not surprisingly, all the callers were women. I think men hate this holiday.)

I got to thinking about it – what did I want for Valentines? We celebrated Saturday night by seeing a movie and going to Eddie's, so we didn't have any real plans. And we weren't doing gifts because it's such a made up gift giving occasion.

All I really wanted was a quiet evening at home. No screaming baby, no barking dogs. Just me and Joe hanging out and having dinner together, and maybe a small cocktail. And a good nights sleep. The more I thought about it the more I realized I could have all this, it would just take some work. Inspired by Squareslant (her Feb 9th posting, to be exact), I realized no one was going to make the night happen like I wanted it to but me. I guess I could tell Joe "Come home, clean up the house, put the kid to sleep and let's have a romantic dinner." But how much better it would be to surprise him with a cleaner house, sleeping baby and romantic dinner.

The menu was already set (Joe plans our meals so I knew we were having hamburgers. Fine by me. Who cares if hamburgers are casual food?) so I just had to get the house, kid and dogs ready.

In honor of the occasion I went and bought a dress – sort of a 1950's housewife costume if you will. Here Jack is contemplating my gin:

(I know I look a little crazed. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I haven't had gin in almost a year.)

We pulled it off! I got the baby to bed around 8:15 after Joe got home, I drugged the dogs (I just gave them Valerian, but if I had something stronger on hand I probably would have used that), I set the table and I put on a dress.

It was the best Valentine's Day ever. And I did get a good night's sleep (sort-of).

Now, on the knitting front. I took the baby jacket by SWTC to show them I didn't have enough yarn. Sure enough, Jonelle's mother was there and she needed 3 balls of yarn for her sweater made out of Phoenix. So they gave me some more and sent me on my way. Not without giving me a new project though. It's a little girl sweater made out of bamboo and it's super cute. Here is a picture of all the new yarn:

The purple is for the new girly sweater, and the red is my free yarn! Free! Like I needed new yarn, but still. The little white skein is some handspun wool she just gave me for the heck of it – it's too small to do anything substantial but it's really really soft. I may just leave it in the skein and fondle it for a while.

Test Knitting Completed

2005-02-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

At quarter to three yesterday, when I was supposed to be leaving for La Madeline, Joe came in and said “Aren’t you going to knitting?” At least I think that’s what he said. I couldn’t hear over the screaming child I was holding. No cooperation from the little guy. Poor thing is not feeling well and boy does he let me know it.

So I did not get to go knit. But I finally finished my baby jacket from SWTC. It’s supposed to fit a one year old. Here it is on Jack.

Don’t I look lovely? Sweat pants and no makeup do wonders for a girl, huh?

I am going to take it down today and drop it off sans hood. I almost didn’t have enough yarn to bind off! I wonder if they want comments on the pattern, or if they are just looking for samples. I had some issues with the pattern but I don’t want to be presumptuous and tell them what to fix.

I may try and make it down to Coffee Rush tonight to knit, but who knows? Joe and I already celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday and he’ll probably be at work pretty late. But I may just stay in and rest with the little man. I am so sleep deprived I’m bordering on psychotic. Maybe I should commit some crime and then blame it on the baby. Hmmm. What crime should I commit?

Yarn coming out of my ears...

2005-02-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Perhaps my post the other day was not so smart after all. Joe came home and said “What are you doing with all that yarn? I had no idea you had that much.” I had to tell him in all honesty that I didn’t photograph all of it. There is more. (He is threatening yarn suspension again. Instead of that I have agreed to finish some of my projects before I consider more yarn or even set foot in another yarn store. I have no will power, so I can't even look at yarn online right now.)

These bags have sock yarn and poncho yarn that I am not currently working on.

This drawer has yarn for a hat my niece decided she didn’t want, a cabled blanket I love out of Rowan Cork that I have to finish, and some white Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere.

Last but not least, a stocking I started when I was pregnant (it was allegedly going to be a gift for the knitting Christmas party, but I never got it done) and some Debbie Bliss Denim Cotton Aran that will be a hat for Jack.

That’s all of it. I know it’s a lot and it’s very unorganized. One day I'll get around to organizing it all, but even I'm alarmed at how much there is.

On another note, I put Jack's hat on – the one he wore in the hospital and it fit him perfectly back then. Now it looks like he's trying to be jaunty.

It's hard to believe how much he's grown.

I got a haircut from my knitting friend Becky yesterday. It had been growing like a week since June and needed the ends cleaned up in the worst way. I was very pleased – her new salon is just lovely and she did a great job. My hair is not hard, but most stylists see it and want to hack it all off and do something crazy. I like long hair. I don't care if I'm fashionable or hip – I've never really been either one. I just want my long hair and I want to be left alone about it. So thank you Becky for doing such a great job. (You should go over to her blog and ask her what she is planning on naming her second daughter. And then you should try and talk her out of it. I usually stay out of people's business when they are naming kids, but in this case I think intervention is necessary.)

We're meeting at La Madeline's at 3 today I think – I haven't heard back yet as to whether anyone will be there. Let me know if you're interested in going!

Update: Susan emailed me that they will be there at 3. As long as Jack cooperates I will be too!

Joe is the Cable Guy

2005-02-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

If you call Joe at work and ask him when he is coming home, you will get one of three answers.

“A Decent Hour” – sometime before 7
“Normal Time” – between 7 and 9
“Late” – after 9

It reminds me of when you need your cable fixed and they tell you the technician will be there sometime between noon and 5.

The worst part is, he won’t even provide this general estimate until late afternoon at the earliest.

Maddening.

How am I supposed to plan dinner when he won’t tell me when he’s coming home? (Ok, that’s a total lie. I never cook dinner. But I EAT dinner, and I never know if I should have a snack or not. This is important stuff.)

I still haven’t finished the little baby jacket for SW Trading Company. And I am convinced I will run out of yarn before the hood is complete.

So I was sitting here thinking “I don’t have any blog pictures today.” I looked to my right, and saw this:

The socks for my mom that need to be ripped back and made smaller.

Then I looked further to my right and saw this:

My fancy pink cabled sweater on the coffee table.

Then to my left:

The baby jacket almost done, sitting on top of my laptop on the dining room table.

Just to the side of there we have:

Two bags with pink yarn (for the sweater), Clapotis yarn, and Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino sent to me long ago by Nancy.

And last but not least, my WIP bag:

You can see Clapotis, some Knit Picks Yarn, and some Lush I bought a while back as well. Jack is eyeing the yarn suspiciously, trying to come up with new ways to keep me from knitting. He knows with our current schedule there is not a chance on gods green earth I will get this all done.

Knitting on Sunday maybe? I heard from Nick (no Parley, not your Nick, knitting Nick) and he wants to get together with some knitters. Someone on the board was talking about it as well. If anyone is interested let me know – the rain is supposed to be over by then so we could conceivable knit outside.

Close Encounters

2005-02-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Do you ever go out in public with yesterday’s makeup on, hoping people won’t really notice that you resemble those celebrity mug shots on the smoking gun? You know, like Yasmine Bleeth:

I went to meet Joe for lunch last minute yesterday so he could hang out with the little guy, but since we had declared it pajama day earlier on, we both looked a little ragged. He was wearing his footed pjs that say “Baby Boy” and have a blue bear on them. Hardly the outfit for going out about the town. I at least put on a sweater and some jeans.

Of course this story leads to running into a former colleague. Carl Grupp, who I worked with many moons ago at Doubletree, and who was and still is one of the most attractive men I’ve ever known in my life, was walking across the courtyard as Jack and I were leaving.

I have learned my lesson and will not leave the house again without at least taking a perfunctory look in the mirror. Or maybe the answer is to never go out of the house again?

So I did get a small amount of knitting done yesterday. You can see the progress here:

I know, not much. But I only have 2 more pattern repeats and I bind off. Then it’s on to the hood. I hope I have enough yarn. I’m going to the eye doctor today, and hopefully to get my hair cut by Becky. I have to call and see if they have any appointments available, but first I have to dig around and figure out where she works again. (If anyone out there has the number and address, can you email it to me? I will be eternally grateful.)

Everything is such an ordeal for me these days.

I know I'm supposed to be doing some music quiz that Jen and Nancy want me to do, but I don't think it's going to happen. Suffice it to say that I have about a billion songs on my computer, but I usually listen to Rhapsody, which is streaming music from the internet. Is that good enough?

Knitting on Mill

2005-02-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last night Jen and Michelle and I met at Coffee Plantation on Mill for a little bit of knitting. I did end up taking Jack – the beagle wasn't up for babysitting – and he was a perfect angel through the entire thing. Jen even got to hold him. Of course I forgot my camera so there is no proof, but you can go over to her blog and ask her. She'll tell you. I do let people hold my baby. (You can ask Pam too. She held him at Lux.)

We forgot it was Mardi Gras (or Marti Gras if you're Channel 12 News) and Coffee Plantation is right next door to Fat Tuesday. As I was walking by with my stroller and knitting bag I realized how different my life has become. We left at 8 after about 2 hours of knitting and the bar was just getting started – I remember the days where we wouldn't go out until after 9. Those days are long behind me.

I made a lot of progress on the baby jacket yesterday. The sleeves are seemed (and match perfectly I might add) and now I just have about 30 more rows to complete the front. Then I have to construct a hood. I'm not sure about the instructions, but we'll see how it works out. Here is how it looks as of this morning:

I really had fun last night – I love smaller knitting groups. It's funny how talking to people makes you realize things about yourself. I realized I am deathly afraid of getting pregnant again. Deathly. If it happened I think I would lose my mind. I was never really sure about the whole thing in the first place, but now that I know what it entails and I've already got one of these little creatures I am horrified at the thought of getting a second one. What people must do if they have twins!

Our Stitch-n-Bitch group seems to have exploded. The message board is teeming with new meetings all over the place. I think it's great, but I'm wondering if people are still able to get to know one another very well. The meetings are so large I imagine a new person feels very out of place. (I would anyway, but I'm always like that in large groups.) I don't think there is anything to be done about it, it's just an observation.

I have some work to do today so I may not get much knitting done. I have to finish this baby jacket so I can get back to Clapotis. And my pink sweater is just sitting on needles. Of course I can't quite locate the pattern right now so it's just as well I have other things to keep me busy.

Knitting News....

2005-02-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

So much to talk about today. Yesterday was knitting at Kim's, where I taught Sara how to use double pointed needles and I worked on my SWTC baby jacket a little. I actually got more knitting done when I got home, but it was really fun to hang out with a bunch of other moms and knit. Here is the progress on the jacket so far (Pam asked Jonelle about posting pictures and she's fine with it)

I was almost through with the first sleeve before I figured out I was knitting this sweater from the top down. I kept looking at it and thinking "Why all these increases? No baby is shaped that way." Of course now it makes sense, but I was confused for quite some time.

I got home yesterday and guess what was waiting for me? You got it, my Knit Picks yarn:

$32 total – you get free shipping for orders over $30. Does that look like $30 worth of yarn to you? I was amazed. The blue is called Shimmer I think, and it's an alpaca/silk blend lace weight yarn. The yellow is the worsted weight Alpaca/Silk/Wook and it's really soft. The red is the plain wool, worsted weight, and it reminds me a lot of Brown Sheep. I think it would felt really well too. I am using it to make a sweater for my cousin's baby though, so I'll save the felting for later.

Also in the mail I got this cool newsletter from Elann:

I guess if you register on their website you get this in the mail. They send samples of the yarn that will soon go on sale, as well as the sale date. Brilliant. There is a great cotton inside that I may order for a sweater for Jack.

Tonight I'm meeting Jen at Coffee Plantation on Mill– I don't know if anyone else is coming, but it should be a good time. I used to go there in High School when it first opened and eat cheesecake brownies and drink iced tea. It was good clean fun. See mom, we weren't always getting into trouble.

Meeting Tomorrow (Tuesday) Night

2005-02-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Jen and I are meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 5:30 at the Coffee Plantation on Mill Avenue in Tempe. Unless I can convince the beagle to babysit, Jack will be there too. Please join us - fun will be had by all!

Learning Curve

2005-02-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Knitting has taught me a few things about myself.

One. I can't do math. As in, I can't necessarily tell you if a number is divisible by 8. And if I have to figure out how many rows I need where there are 8 increases across the row it will make my brain hurt.

Two. I make stupid mistakes because I don't pay close enough attention to what I'm doing. In this particular baby jacket I'm making for the Southwest Trading Company as a sample, there is a 7 stitch border. That means you have to knit the first and last 7 stitches, even on the purl side of the work. Of course on one row I forgot. And of course I couldn't just leave it because they would notice. If it were my jacket, for my baby, I would have left the mistake and moved on. But it wasn't, it had to be right, and I had to rip out.

Three. I hate ripping back work. It is depressing. You are making progress, but it's backwards progress.

Four. I love free yarn. I'm knitting this particular baby jacket with Oasis Soy Silk, a yarn I have never purchased because I was afraid I wouldn't like it. Well, let me tell you something, this yarn is cool. And I'm not just saying that. It will be light and soft when knit up, and it's a pleasure to work with – even ripping it out wasn't as bad as with some yarns. And it never splits.

I was going to post a picture of my progress, but Illanna mentioned that our samples may be a secret. I'm going to ask Jonelle next time I'm there, but just in case I'll give you this picture instead:

My beagle Guido cuddled up to the project while I was away tending to Mr. Wonderful in the next room. (He missed us because we took the baby and escaped to the mountains for the weekend. I think this was his way of protesting.) The trip was fun - I got in some great knitting and we all got to relax just a little bit. Here is what it looked like out the front door:

Yes, that is snow. And yes, it's only 1 ½ hours away from Phoenix if you can believe it.

Today is knitting with babies and toddlers at Kim's house. I'm looking forward to it – I think it will be much easier to tend to the little guy at someone's house instead of at a coffee shop. Not that I mind the coffee shops, I just dread having to change his diaper because they never have those little fold out changing tables so I end up on the floor.

If anyone wants to go knitting tomorrow night let me know. I was thinking somewhere in Downtown Tempe maybe – kind of halfway between me and the East Valley. I know there is a bookstore on Mill, but if there is somewhere else better to go I'm all for it.

Life is Not a Competition

2005-02-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

I met Kim and her friend Elaine (I think that’s her name, correct me if I’m wrong Kim) at Fiber Factory yesterday. Elaine just learned to knit and was picking out yarn for her first project. She is making Constant Companion to hold her knitting stuff. You’ve got to love a new knitter making a knitting bag! It’s going to look great and she had fun at the shop – although I think she was a little surprised at the cost of things.

Anyhow, we had lunch at the Picnic Company afterwards and chatted about various issues and items. Okay, really, we gossiped about people we know. But not in a bad way. I think the over-arching theme was dealing with women friends who are overly competitive. As in “I’m a better mother than you because….” type of people. Of course they are never that overt about it, these ARE women we’re talking about.

It just occurred to me as I was driving home that this is not a competition – none of it. At the end of your life they don’t hand you a prize. Best Knitter! Best Runner! Fastest Pie Crust in the West!

I wonder why we as women tend to compete with one another. Any comments on this topic would be welcome.

I’m off this morning to visit our friends at Southwest Trading Company. They need test knitters and I am going to be one! They supply the pattern and yarn, as well as enough yarn for me to make a project to keep! I’m very excited, they have some super cool stuff. And what better way to get free yarn. Free! Do you hear that? Free!

I’m also anxiously awaiting a package from Knit Picks. They said it shipped Tuesday so I should have it today, don’t you think?

After all this yarn overload, we’re heading out to Flagstaff this afternoon. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for snow, but it’s looking unlikely. At least I will have some good solid knitting time in the car and hopefully during the weekend as well. We’re taking our Godfather movies to watch and maybe a few other DVDs.

Jen has some valid concerns about the 3 day walk and I figured it best to address them here. She is worried about raising $2100, and thinks it unfair that if you don’t raise it all you can’t walk. For the first problem, I think we will all be able to raise the money – as a team we can spend the next 8 months coming up with brilliant ways to get funds in the door.

For the second problem, I can see your point. My only argument is that this event is very expensive to run, and they want to be certain to cover all costs and make a significant donation to breast cancer research. I find it refreshing in a way. I’ve attended so many black tie $100 a plate fundraising events where you know most of your ticket money went to pay for the event, so not much money went to the charity in question. At least here we know a significant amount of our donations will go to fund research.

I hope you decide to join us Jen. Remember, the shirts are REALLY cute. I will make it my mission to be sure you raise all your funds.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Finished Object!

2005-02-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

I finished the sweater for Angus last night. I’m meeting Kim at Fiber Factory at 11 and I wanted to have it done to take to her. Here is a picture:

If any of you want to join us please feel free. I won’t be buying any yarn, considering I need to finish Clapotis, the pink sweater, a pair of socks, and Julie’s birthday gift (her birthday was in November. But to my defense, she has had the yarn since then.) AND, I’m expecting my Knit Picks yarn any day now and want to make a sweater for my cousin’s baby shower at the end of the month. Dang, that's a lot of knitting.

The Chicken Hat seems to be getting a lot of attention. Click Here for the pattern. It's sized for a baby (who would put a baby in this hat? That just seems mean.)

I'm off to deliver Jack to Grandma!

Sock Needles are sharp!

2005-02-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Although Clapotis beckons me like a Siren, I opened my knitting bag and returned to a pair of socks I started for my mother before the baby was born. The reason these socks had been abandoned is due to the inherent slipperiness of the needles. All three needles fell out of the sock, and I had to rework them into the stitches. Not an easy feat. Plus I kept poking myself with the needles and they hurt.

But it’s done, the sock is on it’s way to completion. I am horribly afraid I will run out of yarn on the second sock. The evil people at Arizona Knitting told me how much to buy, and I don’t trust them any more than I trust my dog.

Here are the socks, from Fiber Trends Walking Away Socks pattern:

I did not go to Changing Hands last night, although I really wanted to I thought it was best for the little man and me to stay in. I did some knitting, we had some pasta and watched American Idol.

This weekend Joe and I lucked into a house in Flagstaff so we’ll be leaving Friday afternoon to head up to the snow! I’m excited to get away – I think it will be good for all of us – and I will have plenty of knitting time. This may be the last time I see Joe until Memorial Day, so I’d better make the best of it. He has a case that may go to trial, which makes his schedule a little wacky.

Hope you all had fun last night – it sounds like it was pretty crowded. I know over 50 people RSVP’d, so I’m sure it was a good group!

Chicken Hat

2005-02-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Parley’s friend sent him a link to this hat. It reminds me of that friends episode when Joey got a turkey stuck on his head. I think he (the friend, not Parley) wants one:

Unfortunately it’s a baby hat, so there would be a lot of monkeying around trying to get an adult size. I emailed the pattern writer and she gave me some hints for making it bigger, but her biggest problem is with the drumsticks (horns?)

We’re knitting today at Lux at noon, and the regular group is meeting at Changing Hands at 6:30. I don’t think I’ll be going tonight – it’s just too much at that time of day for me right now. Have fun knitting without me and I’ll certainly be at Mama Javas.

We have a third walker – Eva signed up and for some reason it didn’t notify me. Thanks Eva! We’re excited to have you. Please let me know if you are thinking of signing up, I’d like to have get-together for all potential walkers and talk about fundraising opportunities.

Zipper Madness

2005-01-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

And here you see the zipper, finally installed in the sweater:

And here is the sweater blocking:

Now I just need to sew it up and I’m done! Yay. Although sewing up is my least favorite part, I must say. And I'm afraid I may run out of yarn. Turns out I didn't do the math right when I was buying the yarn in the first place (I know this is a shock to all of you because I usually have such fine-tuned math skills).

I dropped another stitch on Clapotis last night. It’s addictive, I feel like every time I sit down I have to do 12 rows so I can get to the next dropped stitch. I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s done – I’m guessing it will take a fair amount of blocking to keep the edges from curling.

I talked to KnitPicks again. They had my credit card number wrong, even though I had called and verified it already. Ugh. Now I won’t have my yarn until the end of this week, giving me two weeks to finish the sweater. Luckily I think we’re going to Flagstaff for the weekend to relax, so I’ll have some drive time to work on it.

Some people are wondering why I was so interested in the frogs yesterday. Doesn't it seem strange to sell frogs for people to cook? I mean, exactly how are you supposed to kill and clean the frogs? Do you only eat the legs? It's just such a bizarre thing to see in a grocery store, in my opinion.

Tomorrow is a mini-SnB at Lux. So far people have confirmed for noon - if anyone wants to go earlier let me know. I am right down the street so I can be there in a jiffy. I love that place - for some reason it puts Jack into a weird baby trance and I can knit all I want.

So far we have 2 walkers signed up – me and Nancy. I think Jen was talking about it, and I know Shannon will be signing up in the future. Who else is in? I’m setting up a blog for the group so if people want to walk together or share stories they can. I’ll put the site up as soon as it’s ready.

Leaping Lizards!

2005-01-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Joe went grocery shopping yesterday at the 99 Ranch Market in the Chinese Cultural Center. We go there from time to time to get vegetables and look around – it’s a really cool place. Now I wish I had gone, because he told me they were selling live frogs out of a laundry basket in the fish section. I may go by today to see if they still have the frogs so I can take a picture, but imagine! Live frogs for sale in Phoenix Arizona. Joe was pretty certain they were not local frogs.

I dropped another stitch on Clapotis yesterday. I’m not sure how exciting these pictures are, but they make me happy anyway.

dropped stitches3, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

dropped stitches4, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

The zipper will be installed today. My mom leaves tomorrow so we have to get it done today, no question. She is coming over at noon with the zipper and I won’t let her leave until it’s safely sewn into the sweater.

Poor Harlot.

2005-01-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Yarn Harlot made two right mittens. Not like my little girl plain wool mittens mind you, she knit Latvian braid mittens that are so intricate I think they would make my eyes pop out of my head. And she made two right ones. When I saw the picture yesterday my stomach dropped – I can't imagine how horrified she was when she realized the problem.

Not surprisingly, my mom and I did not get the zipper done yesterday. She is going to come tomorrow and do it, and this time we have to get it done because she's leaving for a week to Jamaica. I will deliver the sweater to Kim this week, I swear it!

The Knit Picks people are having trouble processing my order. Ugh. I want that yarn to get here.

It's rainy and cold today, a perfect day for knitting. I don't know how much I will get done, but I want to get to the next drop in my Clapotis at least.

Dropped stitches

2005-01-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

I finally got to the point where you start dropping stitches on Clapotis. I don't know why this is so gratifying – it seems I'm not the only one excited about dropping stitches. It is going to look really cool I think. Here are the first two dropped stitches up close:

dropped stitches, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

And here is the entire thing:

dropped stitches 2, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

Today Jack and I had lunch with the Dallas family – Kim, Jonny, Gemma, and Angus. We went to Panne Bianco and Lux Coffeebar. Something about that place makes Jack go right to sleep – he just hung out and napped most of the time while Kim and I knit. Jonny and Gemma played Tic Tac Toe (or Knots and Crosses as Jonny called it) and visited the local pawn shop. A good time was had by all.

The thing I hate about ordering yarn online is waiting for it to get here. I want to start my cousin's shower gift, but the yarn won't be here until next week. It has to be done by the 17th when my mom leaves to go back for the shower.

Clapotis along

2005-01-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest picture of my Clapotis – I’ve officially finished the increasing rows and am moving on to the straight rows. Soon I will get to start dropping stitches! (That's Guido my beagle in the picture. He desperately wants under the covers.)

straight rows, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

Shannon cast on for her Clapotis last night – now there are four people in our group working on one. Shannon’s is in silk garden, which I think will be beautiful. At the next meeting I’ll try to get a picture of all four together.

We’re meeting at Lux next Tuesday during the day if anyone is interested. Kim is going to try and make it and I think Becky and Pam may be there as well. It’s on Central just North of Indian School on the West side of the street.

And Jen, where were you last night? I was certain you said you were coming. I know it was raining, but it had stopped by six or so…. You were missed!

Stitching and Bitching.....

2005-01-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

We had a mini SnB meeting tonight and it was so fun to see everyone. Pam, Illana, Becky, Latoya, Kirsten, Shannon, Alison, Michelle, a new member named Karen, and other Becky (the pregnant one). We met at Mama Java's for a couple of hours and got caught up with one another. Shannon has lost a ton of weight (I think 67 pounds) since her surgery! Stop by her blog and give her a big high five – that's incredible I think.

Here we all are (well, except for me, as I was the photographer)

mama javas, originally uploaded by Brooke Streech.

I broke down and bought the cheap KnitPicks yarn. I am going to make my cousin a sweater similar to the one I made for Angus, but she lives in Maryland so I thought wool might be a better choice. So I got 7 balls of the wool and it was $12! And then since shipping is free for orders over $30, I ordered a few other yarns. A total of 12 balls of yarn for $32. You can't beat that with a stick.

My mother has finished knitting a kangaroo for my nephew. All the pieces are done, now she just has to sew it up. This is just further proof that if you can dream it up, my mother can make it for you.

I got to work on Clapotis tonight – I'm finally almost done with the increases and will get to start dropping stitches. We all compared our progress – Kirsten is making it with the intended yarn (man is that stuff soft), and Michelle is making it out of Cotton Twist. We're having our own little knit along without knowing it.

Tomorrow the zipper will go in. At least I think so. Then blocking, sewing, and the sweater will be done. I hope to see Kim next week and deliver the sweater then!