Fat gifts.

Had a bit of a busy weekend. Heh. Busy weekend. Just a bit. Hehehehehahahahahahaheeeheeeheeheelmmfao

Yeah. Ok. So. Right now we're looking at roughly 272 people for the dyeorama swap when I'm all done confirming a few entries and getting some info I need from a few others. Call me a softhearted woman but yeah I'm giving people about eleven more hours to confirm or ask nicely if they can join.

Let me say that again. Two hundred seventy two people. And the server didn't go down. And it won't show up as overage on the bill either. So hooray for Dreamhost! It shows a little having that many people signing up for WordPress but the swap registration form was great. All things considered there were very few problems to fix. Especially once we got the Internet Explorer issue resolved. When there were problems (primarily people entering wrong information and a RTFM moment or two) they were incredibly easy to fix thanks to Cody's programming and Dreamhost running PHPmyadmin so I could maintain the database.

Now on to the programming a way to randomly match people and email them by May 1.

We were approached by a store for sponsorship and decided to give out some prizes in a random drawing from the list of people who completed the swap. I'm really pleased with the sponsor's yarn and I think her dyeing kits are great! We're accumulating several good gifts (I love the idea of having an incentive to be a good buddy) and trying to come up with a way to confirm when people have received their yarn. Cody has some great ideas.

It's kind of hard to get across how much work programming something like this from scratch really is, or making things run as smoothly as possible with all the possible variables. I pretty much haven't done much else this weekend but check emails, change database info, fix the website, and figure out how to fix bouncing emails. It's not sexy or exciting but I'm proud of the work. And I think it's going to be a fun swap.

The great part of this is knowing that between Cody and I we can pull off a project for almost 300 people. That's something to put on a resume. Which is very cool.

So after all the work I've been shopping online for a prize for myself. Between this work and resolving a serious problem we were having wth PNM misreading our gas gauge and overcharging us by several hundred dollars, *and* selling some yarn this weekend (to a dyeorama member no less!) I feel like I should buy myself a present.

In a state of sleep-induced delirium yesterday I wandered around online looking at my favorite places. My favorites list at Etsy, Kpixie's one of a kind yarn, the new Fiber-of-the-month club at Spunky...I couldn't decide on anything.

After running to Trader Joe's for groceries (we still can't get over the prices there) and to Smith's for the less glamorous groceries like toilet paper and kitty litter (I know TJ's has hippie pine pellet kitty litter but that isn't going to work for my cats' industrial grade asses - we need crystals), I ended up going to Borders to get the brand new "Big Girl Knits" book. They couldn't find it for me so the nice guy called Barnes and Noble (which was maybe a football field away anyway) and had them hold it at the desk for me.

It's a great book - the models are actually plus sized not the like "oh she's a little hippy but otherwise railass thin" kind of models. The advice is good, the patterns cover a wide variety of materials and shapes. I'm very pleased to hear that ribbon yarn is the novelty yarn for the big girl since that's what my big tunic project is - also pleased to find out that they recommend tunics. And I love the boobs, butt, belly category. I found the bottoms section a little - well, kind of weird. But I'm not much for knitted skirts. And there weren't any bottoms for belly people which annoys me a little. I might try the yoga pants pattern someday. Yoga pants are my favorite kind of pants. The accessories was an interesing section - mostly because of the advice to carry larger accessories. I can attest to that - there's nothing that will make you look bigger than a tiny purse. Or make your neck and chin look larger than a mini necklace. So overall, I'm pretty pleased with the book. It's a nice sized hardcover that will take a lot of abuse. I beat up on my books ya know.

So I was feeling pretty plus-sized friendly. And still looking around in my wishlists and things for something else fun to buy, maybe. And I've been going back to this one little weird thing on etsy the last few weeks. It's by the same woman who made my incredibly cool purse. And I kept going back to this weird thing and last night I'd just pointed at this little chubby guy and made too many cute boopy "poking in the belly with my cursor" sounds for Cody - he decided that Barry had to come live with us. I'm very excited about this. He's definitely a belly guy. No boobs and a flatter ass than mine which I wasn't sure was possible. Aww but I love Barry. Can't wait to have him here.

So click on the photo and give him some clicky belly boops with your cursor for luck and safe travels for Barry.

And now, photos of my ironically cabled socks (ironic of course because the cable was out when I started them) that I finished last week sometime.

a silly photo I took of myself in my rock n roll cowgirl t shirt

And a few birds have been building their nests under our porch roof again. This one had used a little strand of pink yarn. Isn't it sweet?

Is this post long enough or what?

FO Friday / Project Spectrum: Punk Glam Arm and Neckwarmer set

You're going to love this. Seriously this thing rawks. Remember when I talked about that crazy light-sensitive yarn? Well, I knit a fun set of armwarmers and had just enough yarn leftover for a neckwarmer / headband thing. So here they are in natural light.

Sure they're funky and slubby and soft with some cool pink fuzzy stripes. But wait! Can you see the little clear beads? There are a few in that photo. Hmm let me show them again!

Can you see them now? Yeah! They have color now because they change colors in the sun. The yarn is also plied with this tiny little string that's white in natural light and turns a subtle pink in the sun too. And the fuzzy stuff in the pink parts. It glows in the dark. This yarn is seriously bad ass.

Here's the neckwarmer / headband.

And a couple of pretentious art school poses.

Hey, do you know how hard it is to take a photo of your arm and head at the same time?

Remember how I have a busy street and a bunch of construction just on the other side of my backyard wall? Imagine the kind of looks I get when I do little photo sessions like this. Yes. Sometimes they honk.

I think they just particularly liked my extremely old black leather clogs / pink and blue argyle happy bunny pajama bottoms / red shelf bra tank / shizniftle punky glam armwarmer and headband ensemble today.

And yes! I will post a pattern for this! Very soon! Now go worship Reenie (and Angela too!) for making this unbelievable yarn possible. Buy some yarn! Because, amazingly, I'm still doing pretty well on this yarn diet thing but I think someone should buy it so why not you?

PS: FO Friday: kinda

Hmm well I was hoping to post some lovely photos of Cody's frankenstein fuzzyfeet all fulled and shaped. But, er, it didn't work out. I overfelted them and now neither of us can get the tighter manos heel around our ankles. So if anyone with tiny feet, like a women's size 6 or so, wants some very unique wool slippers let me know. Or I'm just going to cut them into strips and do something else with them.

The good part is I have something else to post about. And it even falls into the Project Spectrum category! It's yarn! Yay! I'm getting back into the spinning! And let me say, I'm really glad. Spinning is so calming and I'm always really proud of what I come up with. This time it was some great 50% merino 50% tencel that I'd picked up from Winderwood farms last fall. I spun it thin enough to feel comfortable plying it.

So I borrowed Beverly's giganto plying head from her lendrum wheel while she's out of town and made a pretty big batch of two ply. 294.12 yards to be exact. Although I have some more on one bobbin that I'm going to try Andean plying or maybe just wind half of it into a ball and ply it that way. So there'll probably be about 315 - 325 yards altogether. Not bad.

edited (again) -

I ended up winding the remaining single ply into a center pull ball and plied from the center and outer edge of the ball. That's a nifty little process I'd heard about from the people at sheep to shawl last year. I learned so much that day. Much more than just how to spin with a wheel.

Anyway, there was more than I estimated for that second skein - 39.56 yards! So the total yardage is 333.68.

I wound the plied yarn into a skein using my trusty Goko swift this morning.

What I love about my Goko is it's so unique. It makes just winding or unwinding a skein a pretty little sculpture. Those Japanese really know from the aethetic don't they?

The tencel really made the shades of pink and orange shine. They're like silk. But softer. And shinier. And silkworm friendly. The colors and the shine made me think of fabrics from India. So I'm calling it Bombay Dreams.

The bad news is Beverly has first dibs on this yarn. The good news is if she doesn't want it I'll be happy to sell it to you.

edit: Now if Miss Beverly doesn't want it Miss Pamela will buy it. Yay!

Send me an email or leave a comment if you're interested. I'll let you know when she decides and we can work out a bill on paypal or a special listing on etsy or something. I'll be selling it for 60 US dollars. That will include the yarn I'm going to be plying today so that will be 333.68 yards for 60 dollars - that's less than 20 cents (17 cents to be exact) per yard. It winds out at about 10 wraps per inch - worsted to heavy worsted weight.

This stuff is so pretty. And shiny. Did I say how happy I am to be spinning again?

Also, I've been knitting the little ugg baby booties for a pregnant cousin-in-law. Ramona gave me the yarn that was leftover from knitting hers. And I did go ahead and buy some more so I could be sure I had enough for the hat too. I finished one bootie last night and these things are huge. If I do it again I'm going down a needle size or two.

I'm glad Chloe won. Not only because she was "anyone but Santino" but because I really like her model. She has such a unique look I've been rooting for her all season. I think it's fun to see untraditional looking people model. Makes me think that even normal people might be able to wear those clothes too. Which is why I really like the models from the Interweave magazines. Some are pear-shaped or have big shoulders. Some even have *gasp* bellies! Models with bellies not modelling fat girl clothes! Whoda thunk it?

FO Friday Pumkin Patch Shawl

Technically it's not Friday but I'm a rebel...Here are some photos of the finished shawl. Still not blocked but I know you won't mind.

I can't properly describe how much I enjoyed knitting this. Or really how much I enjoy knitting with anything I buy from Adrian's shop. Her sense of color and great visual sense of using simple patterns to enhance the beauty of her (and Sarah's) handspun yarn is unsurpassed. I don't say that lightly either. I may be a new knitter but I've been studying color all my life. And I always find something truly desirable to knit with in her shop updates. You might notice that I had this knitting project interrupted for a few months. But you might also notice that I bought another kit in the meantime. The prices might seem a bit high if you're unfamiliar with the usual cost of handspun yarn - but it's important to consider how much wool is actually being used in the thicker yarns. Believe me, if you love unique and soft yarn it's totally worth it.

Cody said that I haven't taken enough photos of Winter with my knitting lately. So here's a gratuitous dog being tortured by knitting photo.

Don't let that hounddog face fool you. She loves the attention. And she was happily eating a greenie about three minutes after this photo was taken.

I started my besotted scarf but things got a little sloppy. So to get back into the practice of knitting cables I've been knitting a collar for Winter. Regular collars tend to rub on her short fur so I've been making one that can cover a new one. The idea is based on this necklace and I'm using some old mercerized cotton that I bought at a local store where 80s yarn went to die, or be bought for a dollar a skein by a newbie knitter.

It's knit on US size 4s and will be sewn into a tube using some fabric on the back then slipped onto a collar.

Technically since it's pink it fits into Project Spectrum right?

And isn't it sad that we've recently lost both The Old Man from A Christmas Story (as well as Kolchak The Night Stalker) and The Artful Dodger from Oliver (also in that terrifying show HR Puffinstuff)? What great guys they were.

FO Friday revisited

That's right! I'm bringing FO friday back! At least for this week. And hopefully I'll have my clappy done for next friday. Also I think I may use FO to stand for Fiber Obsession and show off some yarn sometimes too.

These are some oldie buttons I made a while back for it. Feel free to snag. I'm on a button binge so I might make some more.

So. This I finished this a few weeks ago but I'm going to show it anyway.

It's a very very very long airy scarf. Like ten plus feet long. Knit using a nice little sportweight kid mohair new wool blend from Dale of Norway. Why yellow and why this yarn? Because it's for my mother-in-law who loves yellow and it's very hard to find a non-poopy colored yellow yarn that isn't for babies.

I think she'll like it. It's long enough to wrap it around twice and have it drapey in the front. That's how she wears her scarves.

In UFOlympic Clapotis news, I dropped the eighth stitch last night, the one with the longest drop in the corner. Halfway through ball four of six. I even watched some ice skating. I haven't really been watching the Olympics because it seemed like every time I turned it on they were showing that silly curling stuff which automatically makes me sleepy. I'd wish I could catch more snowboarding (is that done?). Bill the houseboy used to go up to Taos to snowboard. Strangely, I've made my best progress while watching Dancing with the Stars. No idea why.

FO Friday: a really ugly funny birthday hat

So I finished the hat for Mr. Tong. Since it's his birthday tomorrow it definitely won't make it to San Francisco in time. I thought I'd post it here and Jocelyn could choose to show it to him tomorrow, or wait until they're visiting in a little over a week. Anyway, I took some nice photos of it today.

So about the hat. This is from some obscure short-lived Sci Fi show called Firefly (which I've never seen) and apparently there's a spin off movie or movie based on it or something that's recently come out called Serenity. Don't ask me I've never seen either. I'm not a big science fiction fan. But a lot of people in my life are, including my best friend and her boyfriend, whose birthday is tomorrow. Between being a warm-natured guy (according to his girlfriend) and my not knowing him very well I didn't have a lot of knitted present options. So when I mentioned the big thread on craftster about this hat we agreed this was what I'd make.

According to this thread and Jocelyn, there's this cranky guy on the tv show named Jayne Cobb who wears a big silly hat knit by his mom. According to some it should be irregular and very homespun-lookin'. Well, far be it for me to not take advantage of an opportunity to spin my own yarn. So I did.

I knit one hat on Sunday, pretty much following the directions on craftster. But in the end I didn't feel like I'd made it tall enough so today I frogged it and tried again while watching a great biography on Lucrezia Borgia and a history's mystery show about the man in the iron mask. I made a few alterations to suit the yarn a bit better - namely, doing a k2 p2 ribbing instead of a k1 p1. It just looked better with this yarn.

It might be a bit tall now. But the earflaps were easy and the pom pom pretty much makes the hat.

This hat is very, very funny.

It's hard to not make silly faces while wearing it. Even for the dog

Now onto the holiday knitting panic.

First up: a Fulled Lopi Tote for the mil made with Fiesta Yarns' Watermark and Kokopelli in (repectively) Amazon and Peony. This was bought during my first trip to a non-chain yarn store, their factory outlet store, and it's been sitting around waiting for me to use ever since.

FO Friday with mostly just photos

Because I'm tired.

Here's some merino I spun and set a few weeks ago. I'm already running out of creative names for yarn so Cody has dubbed it "Romantic Bruise" for me.

This stuff is gorgeous and super soft.

This is some pink, yellow, and purple alpaca that I spun last weekend. Without Cody here to name it I'ved been calling it Pepto Party.

Spinning alpaca is a very different proposition than spinning wool. It spins sooo fine though. I'd say this is almost sportweight but is mostly dk.

I also finished the ornaments for the aunts' party.

And I'm thinking about printing this photo for holiday cards

I also knit two very silly novelty yarn scarves.

This was last week's. It's a silly glittery fishnet pink fuzzy boo boo kitty kind of scarf that Dr. Frank N Furter would kill to have.

And I knit this one yesterday. It's another dropped stitch crossover scarf on bigger needles with this supersuper soft novelty two ply from the Hobby Lobby store brand called Yarn Bee.

So that's what I've been up to. Oh, and Winter has been getting cold (she's a very shorthaired dog) and they just don't make very many sweaters and things in her size. I have plans to knit one and she has a great polar fleece coat from Orvis. But she just needed a little extra, it's not quite cold enough for polar fleece yet. So she's been wearing some of our old t shirts.

I got that t shirt free when I bought a pair of docs in some weird downtown Sydney shoe store sometime in 92. It's shrunk significanty since then but it fits Winter nicely. I just have to tie the shirt at her waist a bit but she seems to like it. And she looks so cute. My little punk rock mohawk sporting dog. She calmly puts up with all kinds of silly humiliations at the hands of her mom.

Ok, naptime.

FO Friday: variations in light and color

Claude Monet was obsessed with light and its effect on color. He's probably best known for his waterlilies paintings where he painted scenes from the garden of his home in Giverny at different times of day. But I think his most revealing work is the haystacks series. It really shows his appreciation for light and color, painting the same object several times but always in different colors to reflect the changes in the light.

My finished object today isn't terribly impressive. It's just a scarf and headband set. But there are a few things about it that make it more than a plain old scarf set.

Firstly there's the yarn. This is my first time using Manos de Uruguay and you can bet your butt it won't be the last. This stuff is soft and thick and warm. The colors vary from inch to inch (and skein to skein) and make a gorgeous robust knit. The fact that it's produced by a collective of women in South America who are earning their own living makes it even more special.

Then there's the stitch pattern. This is not an easy stitch, basically you're doing a decrease but slipping an extra stitch in there every time. I cast this on maybe about two months ago and it's taken me a while to finish because the progress seemed very slow. But in the end it makes a beautiful crosshatch that's particularly nice with the variegated yarn and produces a nice, thick scarf.

And there's how much the colors change with the variations in light.

I didn't have enough yarn leftover from the scarf to make a hat but I wanted to make something with it so I made a headband / earwarmer. It's not all that wide really but is thick enough to really keep the ears warm on a cold day. I was worried that it might stretch out or be too small so I made a series of eyelets and sewed on some small wooden beads I got at the infamous estate sale to make it easy to resize. It could make a good small neckwarmer too.

Winter also makes a very patient model and photography assistant.

No modeling today though she's a bit stinky and needs a bath.

fo friday. better late than never

Yeah I had a busy day today. I spent the morning turning mittens into kittens. Kitten mittens.

Are these not the cutest things in the entire universe? Even if I say so myself.

You bet yer bippy I made that pattern up from scratch. And yes I have it all written down ready to post just for you, I'm just very very tired right now and can't muster up the strength tonight. Did I mention this will be a pattern for mittens for a one-year-old done in the round on double pointed needles? This is something the web (usually abundant in any and everything) sadly lacked.

But I'm going to also post the pattern I made up for this little bear's scarf because he's never giving his up as it's nicely secure around his neck to avoid hurting the cutie niece.

I also have some photos of the sloppy slubby scarf I made with the preppie boy yarn. This is being modeled by the sister-in-law who really enjoyed her present.

I also have photos of the baby second cousin in-law in his baby kimono and matching hat and some photos of me wearing my loop d loop ballet t as a vest which I think looks quite nice.

There are many many MANY photos of robo cutie niece being incredibly cute and sassy with her birthday cake but I'm considering starting a new flickr account just for the fam photos. That way I can share the photos without having relatives reading my blog ickiness.

FO Friday...backlogs

Finally caught up on taking photos of finished objects. I've uploaded 42 images today. All knitting related. Yarr. So to avoid killing your browser (which I'll be risking anyway) I'll try to only post the highlights. There are still a bunch though.

Click on the photos to go to the set page and see a bunch of other stuff.

Handspun Mohair Scarf

La Boheme Nouveau Poncho

Rayon Boucle Shoulder Scarf

knit mini socks and mitten xmas ornaments

a stuffed chenille pumpkin toy for the nephew

a bunch of dishcloths

Many Handspun Yarn Photos

People think I'm kidding about the magical New Mexico sun. Oh no. Everything I knit and spin looks 78% better in the sun here. It really makes colors pop.

I've been going back and forth on this for weeks now and we finally decided not to go to the Taos Wool Festival. I've spent entirely too much on fiber related stuff this year anyway (oh and um this) and we have visiting niece and nephew obligations. And I want to see my Saturday knitting group ladies. With the way Cody's work schedule has been the last few weeks I haven't been able to get to knitting groups nearly as often as I'd like. So we weighed the pros and cons and decided not to go. Maybe next year.

I'll try to get balloon fiesta photos this weekend. But I usually forget.

Speaking of fiestas, I don't quite understand the attitude of people who move here then get indignant about the Hispanic influences of a state called New Mexico. Yes, festivals will be called fiestas here. Because fiesta means festival. I don't see people complaining about the overuse of the word festival. I just don't get why people would want to complain about that. It just seems like going to Boston and complaining about having clam chowder on the menu in every restaurant. Awfully silly.

Since I haven't gotten the mt blogrolling plugin working properly since the upgrade (because I'd much rather spend my leisure time reading weblogs or knitting or spinning not futzing around with code) this is what I'm working on atm.

STILL plugging away on the Devan sweater for the niece

I'll also knit some quickie mittens connected by an i-cord since apparently she really likes mittens. Odd for a san diego girl but, hey, who am I to judge?

Knitting a simple garter stitch scarf for Will out of Fortissima colori disco sock yarn. Stripey and glittery.

I'm going to spin yarn for and knit a Jayne Cobb hat for Jocelyn's boyfriend's birthday

still working on the so-called scarf in orangey purpley manos del uruguay

going to try knitting a scarf of shawl out of the preppie boy yarn for my sister-in-law whose birthday was last week.

knitting a few more chenille flower washcloths in varying colors and sizes. oh yeah I forgot to photograph the ones I made. whoops.

Fleur de Lis Washcloth

I've been knitting washcloths for that Cloths for Katrina Yahoo Group I mentioned earlier and came up with a fun pattern especially for New Orleans.

In case you can't tell, it's a Fleur de Lis which is an image often associated with the French Quarter and also happens to be the symbol for the NO Football team, The Saints. It took a few tries to get it the right proportions but I think this version worked out pretty well. The image was kind of hard to capture since I finished this one after dark and the lighting in our house is fairly dark. I'll try to get some daylight shots in the magical NM sun in the morning before knitting group.

This is a pretty easy pattern (despite how complex it might look at first) and a really quick knit (it takes me a little under two hours per cloth) if you're in the mood to feel a quick sense of accomplishment - some days that just needs to be done.

So here's the pattern all written out:

Reversible Fleur de Lis washcloth (doc) (pdf)

Yarn: I used Lion Cotton, a worsted weight cotton from Lion Brand but any kitchen cotton type yarn like Lily's Sugar n Cream or that WalMart brand Peaches n Cream should work fine. I've found it's a lot easier to see the pattern using a solid color.

Needles: I used Crystal Palace bamboos US size 6 but use whatever you're comfortable with. I recommend a 6, 7, or 8.

Gauge: Doesn't really matter. The number of stitches for the finished object will be 30 stitches wide and 36 rows tall. The size of the finished cloth depends on the yarn, needle size, and your tension.

CO 30 stitches (the garter border is written into the pattern)

Knit every stitch first three rows (garter stitch border)
4: K3 P11 K2 P 11 K3
5: K14 P2 K14
6: K3 P10 K4 P10 K3
7: K9 P3 K1 P4 K1 P3 K9
8: K3 P5 K14 P5 K3
9: K7 P6 K1 P2 K1 P6 K7
10: K3 P4 K3 P2 K1 P1 K2 P1 K1 P2 K3 P4 K3
11: K7 P2 K4 P4 K4 P2 K7
12: K3 P9 K6 P9 K3
13: K12 P6 K12
14: K3 P2 K2 P6 K4 P6 K2 P2 K3
15: K5 P2 K6 P4 K6 P2 K5
16: K3 P1 K3 P5 K6 P5 K3 P1 K3
17: K3 P4 K4 P8 K4 P4 K3
18: K8 P2 K10 P2 K8
19: K3 P24 K3
20: K30
21: K4 P22 K4
22: K3 P2 K6 P1 K6 P1 K6 P2 K3
23: K6 P4 K2 P6 K2 P4 K6
24: K3 P8 K8 P8 K3
25: K10 P10 K10
26: K3 P7 K10 P7 K3
27: K10 P10 K10
28: K3 P8 K8 P8 K3
29: K12 P6 K12
30: K3 P10 K4 P10 K3
31: K13 P4 K13
32: K3 P11 K2 P11 K3
33: K14 P2 K14
Knit every stitch the last three rows (garter border)

Bind off!

Buy some bars of soap and send an email to the yahoo group leaders that you have a set ready to mail!

If you prefer knitting from a chart here's the charted image:

Yes it's a little taller than wide but trust me it looks better that way.

The 3 stitch/row garter border is written into the chart. Knit every stitch of the first and last three rows. Then knit the first and last three stitches of each row, otherwise work in stockinette and knit or purl the dark area depending on what side you're on. The neat part is its reversible.

See?

Let me know if you catch a mistake!

Copyright info:

Feel free to share the pattern just please include this post's address in the post or printout in case I need to update with a correction!

You are ABSOLUTELY given permission to knit and sell washcloths made from this pattern pattern as long as the money is going to benefit a charity. I'd really prefer one for Katrina survivors right now. Please let me know if you do because I might like to knit a few for it!

FO Friday 9-2 - Zig Zag Scarf

It feels pretty damned frivolous to write about my latest little knitting project considering what's been going on. I can't stop thinking about the Gulf Coast and all those people who have lost everything. And the people who are still stuck in New Orleans without food or water. Watching the people around them slowly go crazy.

I love that town. As a matter of fact, thirteen years ago this very weekend I was there, in my big thrift store wedding dress running the streets with the drag queens during Southern Decadance. When I lived in Birmingham I would try to get there every six months or so just to refuel my creativity. Not for the stupid frat boy parties on Bourbon but for the food, the people, and the atmosphere.

The little stories of the great human encounters I've had there keep running through my head. And I wonder how some of those people are doing. That jazz musician who gave me the expensive cigarettes, the homeless man I met early one morning at Jackson Square who invited me for thanksgiving dinner at the shelter, the "vacant house" man, the generous RC Cola guy on Prytannia.

It's strange to read about Highway 90 too. I always selfishly thought that highway belonged to me and my friend Kim. The roadside carnival that sprung up in the night in Biloxi after driving east over the bridges and bayous seemed like it was just for us.

In 1999 I took my new husband to New Orleans for our honeymoon. He loved it too. We always said if we made enough money that someday we'd buy a house in the Garden District.

My friend Will (who was also at Southern Decadance in 92 and in our wedding in 99) lives there. And I've been trying to call his parents house in Natchez but haven't been able to get through. I'm sure he evacuated. Pretty sure anyway.

I can't believe the lack of help that's been getting there. And the calloused comments about why they weren't better prepared or leave when they were told to. This is a three-hundred year old city with actual functioning public transport and not everyone there can afford a car. It's really hard to describe the levels of poverty in this part of the country. Government money does not go here - there are no clean rich white voters to keep happy.

The looting is, well, honestly? I don't care about the looting aside from the guns. We're all up in arms about people stealing stupid crappy stuff from stores while there are corpses right out in the open, people and babies starving, insulin-dependant diabetics without access to medicine, and no clean water to drink. Who gives a shit about commercialism at a time like this? I have no doubt they were overcharging anyway.

This is the most class-conscious disaster I've ever seen. I think a lot of things will change after this. I hope.

So. Back to knitting. I knit a ziggyzaggy scarf from some handpainted handspun yarn I bought on ebay.

It was a simple pattern:

cast on an even number of stitches
k every stitch for 2 rows
(Zigging) k2, *yo, k2tog* repeat to the last two stitches, knit 2.
purl odd rows
repeat for about 30 rows or so
(Zagging) k2, *sl1 k1 psso yo* repeat to the last two stitches, knit2
purl odd rows
repeat.
Just alternate these stitches until you have enough yarn to knit every stitch for the last two rows and bind off.

It's pretty long and nice and soft. Because it is handspun from handpainted roving and knit without a specific pattern it is very unique.

The good news is if you'd like to buy it I'm going to be donating it along with several other finished works to the craft revolution etsy store where five thousand dollars has already been raised and donated to the Red Cross.

I also plan to donate the handspun kool aid dyed neck tube, the felted pink tiki purse and belt set, and the handspun kool aid dyed sunset yarn. These have gotten the most response on craftster so I think these are the most likely to sell. I will be covering the shipping expense for them.

I've also bought some fun handcrafted items at the store. There are some great things there.

Our Saturday knitting group will be bringing some knitted items to donate to the shop as well. And Cody and I plan to cover the shipping on these items too. It's not a big deal but it's something we can do.

We're also going through our closets and getting clothes, videotapes, books, and canned foods. Now we just need to find an organization that's accepting these kinds of things.

It's something anyway. Better than me sitting around staring into nothing wondering what happened to the vacant house man.

FO Friday - fun with handspun yarn

Damn that ebay. Damn its eyes for selling such cool yarn. Like this gorgeous handspun merino plied with beaded string that I bought and made a quickie scarf with this week.

It's sort of a miniature version of the crossover scarf from knitty gritty. And sort of influenced by a summer scarf in this summer's Vogue Knits.

It's hard to see the beads. There aren't a whole lot, just a sprinkling of them.

This yarn is so soft and the variations from being handspun really add a nice varied texture. As do the little sparkly beads. But this is just the beginning of the handspun yarn thing.

I've crossed my "crazy line" where knitting is concerned. I tend to get obsessive about things: my dog, hedgehogs, knitting, germs, asparagus, to name just a few. But I try to keep myself in check by creating a "crazy line," or some sort of action or behavior I think is going too far.

In the case of my dog it's the BARF diet. Yeah, barf. It's an acronym for Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, depending on who you're talking to. I have Winter's food shipped in from Wisconsin and add all kinds of supplements to it. She usually gets yogurt and a greenie about once a day and lately she's been getting a little less food and a little more canned unsalted green beans for some diet filler lately. I've looked into the barf diet and decided that grinding chicken necks and eggs and raw bones up and serving them to my dog were beyond my crazy line. You don't even want to know what all I do to guarantee the hedgehog has a high protein low fat diet. I'll throw a few mealworms into food and serve Melon her nastyass tinned smoked kipper snack but I will brook no raw chicken necks and backs in my kitchen.

I had a knitting crazy line. Had. But I just wasn't strong enough to stay away from it. There've been just too many beautiful handspun yarns to buy on ebay and I was finally tempted. I blame winning this auction and receiving such beautiful and brightly colored yarn. And Jeannie for letting me borrow her drop spindle and showing me spinning basics. And helping me pick out such beautiful purple mohair to spin.

It sure isn't perfect but it's pretty damned cool.

Now I'm working with this beautiful orange and cream merino top. Don't ask me what my thing for purples and oranges is about these days because I honestly have no idea.

Oh and want to know my new knitting "crazy line"? Spinning my pets' fur.

fo friday 8-19 Nouveau Poncho

Another Stitch Diva pattern. I bought it because it was the first non-Fiesta pattern I'd ever seen for their Rayon Boucle and I had some leftover from the chevron scarf.

Joining 204 stitches of Fiesta's ornery Rayon Boucle to knit in the round is not easy business. This yarn is very small and bumpy and with that many stitches it was very very hard to make sure there weren't any twisted stitches, especially on much larger size 13 circulars. In the end I used some scrap acrylic yarn held together with the boucle and laid it out on a towel on the dining room table, checking to make sure there were absolutely no twists. That really is the most challenging part of the pattern. Otherwise its a very simple garter stitch with two sl2 k1 p2sso's every other row. The double decrease is pretty simple and gives an interesting shape.

I followed the pattern directions for the beaded fringe and it did look interesting but..it also would tangle into a godawful mess whenever I wasn't wearing it or holding it on a hanger. Sorry my life is too complex to worry about beads and grabby rayon boucle tassles knotting up, I ended up taking it off.

I like it even without the fringe. It's very soft and floaty and fairy princessy.

I used just under two 4 oz skeins and it took about five days.

FO Friday 8-12 Grape Kool Aid Neck Tube

I finished the Nouveau Poncho last night, even the beaded fringe. I haven't managed to get a photo of it yet. This is something for which I'm going to need the help of Mr. Man to photograph. Also, I'm cranky because its rainy and the yarn I dyed yesterday isn't drying properly. So next week I'll have pics.

The good news is I have those backup fo photos. So here's the little neck tube I made using one of my first kool aid dyed yarns.

Again, this was some thick and thin handspun from the notorious estate sale that I dyed with grape, blueberry, and lime kool aid.

There wasn't a whole lot of this yarn. About 75 yards. So I was fairly limited in what I could make. I ended up using a neck tube pattern from the Lion Brand Landscapes label. Very simple pattern, alternating four or five rows of garter stitch and the same number of stockinette stitch.

I still didn't have enough to feel comfortable seaming it up so I ended up sewing three buttons on one end. The stitches are so big I didn't bother with buttonholes. I think it's pretty neat. And not scratchy at all.

It was sort of a silly little project but I like it anyway.

In dyeing news I've been experimenting with dyeing blends of yarn. I did one a few weeks ago with kool aid that came out with an interesting stripe effect but I don't like the final colors so I'm going to be doing it again.

Here's some cotton/linen/acrylic that I bought for a dollar or something at a local yarn store with a HUGE cheap stash of old yarn from the 80s. I mostly bought a bunch of white stuff to play with dyeing experiments. These were dunked in leftover blue dye that I diluted a bit. There's a slight difference in color because one was more diluted than the other and one was originally cream and the other white. Hard to get the striping effect in the photos.

Also, I didn't like the fluorescent-ness of the yellow in last week's kitchen cotton dye experiment so I added some green to tone it down a bit.

The drying rack is a leftover plastic-coated closet shelf from when I made the hedgehog cages. Also perfect using as a rack to keep the yarn from getting caught where the dye is mixing together and turning a gross brown.

I'm debating with myself over whether or not I want to invest twenty dollars in a beginning spinning kit. DAMMIT I'm fighting as hard as I can folks but you MUST stop making such beautiful yarn spun from painted roving. I will have no choice but to experiment with this.

FO Friday 8-5 - Fun with Kitchen Cotton Yarn!

This week I have several small projects but all made with the same yarn: Kichen Cotton.

I've been wanting to make the one skein wonder shrug because I had read many great reviews of the simplicity and ingenuity of the pattern but can't think of one woman I would knit for who would look good in it. This isn't a slight against the pattern or the women in my life - just a simple recognition of a cut that is not meant for big bellied, big boobied curvy women or smaller but big-shouldered women. We have enough trouble finding clothes that fit us we really don't need to be wearing something that looks like it shrunk in the wash.

This is something that is meant for the tiny girls. Again. Anyway, the only tiny girl I would knit for would be the niece. So I decided to, yet again, adapt a popular pattern to fit her.

It took a little work because I needed to give her a lot more ease in the sleeves for her chubby baby arms but I used the standard measurements of approx 8.25 across the back and 7.5 upper arm circumference. I used these same standard sizes for the baby bucket hat and it fit her perfectly.

I used the leftover Lion Kitchen Cotton yarn for the shrug that I had used for the hat so they should match perfectly. There are a few more photos in the flickr set.

But wait! There's more!

I also made a few dishcloths and dish scrubbies to bring to Cody's Great Aunt Mae when we visit her on the farm in Socorro. They're such simple little knits, great way to practice a technique or pattern, a lot like sketches but with yarn. They're also a nice simple gift and I've heard they do a great job scrubbing pots.

And, lemme tell you, using cotton yarn like this is CHEAP this stuff is like 1.99 - 3.99 and you can get 2-4 washcloths out of one skein. The only challenge is that this cotton is slightly rough and has almost no give. But after a little practice you get used to using non-stretchy yarn.

I also found a really cool pattern for round pot scrubbies (which I'm entirely too tired to go find again right now). They take an hour to make and are swirly.

So altogether I'm bringing two circular scrubbies, a scrubbing washcloth, and three larger dishcloths. All tied up with an icord. The other cloths are on flickr.

And last but not least

A few weeks ago, after the first fun with Kool Aid weekend I bought some white Lily sugar and cream cotton. Now acid dyes like Kool Aid doesn't work on plant-based yarn like, say, cotton or bamboo. Nor does it work on the petroleum-based yarns.

But I found a great tutorial on craftster on how to dye plant yarns and used some tie dye kit dye on some skeins of the white cotton yarn yesterday. I've set up a little studio on the back porch because the one yarn dyeing experiment I tried in the kitchen just didn't work out. I was too worried I was going to make a mess to really create anything good. But I had an old stained desk leftover from the office makeover and just set it up outside.

So yesterday I did some fabric dyeing on the cotton skeins (which I had to unball and roll into skeins - good news! The goko swift is good for that too!). The colors were a little simple - I was working with a very simple palette of red, blue, and yellow (I particularly dislike the fluorescent yellow) so I vareigated it as much as I could. After rinsing it the colors were still a little simple - and some had blurred together into an unappetizing orangish brown. So this morning I sprayed Clorax Cleanup on parts and let that sit for a while before rinsing. Now that did some cool stuff. The yellow is still a bit too day-glo for my taste but what the hell I'm learning and they'll make interesting dishcloths anyway.

Finished Object Friday 7-29

For those of you just joining me: Finished Object Friday is a thing I made up where I show photos of something new that I knit or crafted in some way.

Why I chose to make this on Fridays? No idea really. I think I just liked the alliteration. And people often associate Fridays with good things.

Feel free to join! Grab one of these buttons, or not. Or make your own. (if you send them to me I'll put it up here I'll even host the image for ya!)

You can link to me or not. If you do I'll be able to find it and will be excited to see your stuff too. Or post your FO or link to your blog in the comments. I'll add your links to the posts too.

It's not about cliquiness or anything. It's just about being proud of your creations and sharing them with nice people.

That said. On to my FO of the week.

I've been sticking to the quicker, simpler projects lately for some reason. Things like last week's little booties, hat, and flower pin. I've been enjoying having a "project a day", makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. But they're little projects, so small that by the time I think about adding a project to the "Currently knitting" list on the sidebar that I've usually finished it. But I don't always remember to update my sidebar things, as you can probably tell.

Even though I have several finished projects today I'm only going to show two FOs today though. Gotta save the others for the more ambitious weeks when I don't have anything else finished by Friday.

FO one: A seriously funky hat.

How friggin cool is this thing? I feel like Huggy Bear. It makes me want to have big white girl dreds so I can shove them inside and have some dangling down. It is the perfect funk music dred sack. And it's in a wool blend so it'll be warm in the winter!

And cute ON Winter!

The brim is stiff because it's felted. And don't let the photos deceive you the crown is BIG and STRETCHY!

There are a lot of other photos in the flickr set.

The details: This was knit using two skeins of Lion Brand Landscapes in "Desert Spring". I got the pattern from Stitch Diva Studios. It's one of three great hat patterns in their Girly Couture Collection. And it only took a few hours. The most time was waiting for the brim to dry. The knitting was really easy. Sewing the brim on was a bit of a challenge but once I worked out the best shape and place to sew it on and got it safety pinned on it was fairly simple using some clear nylon thread.

The other FO: another felted bag with bamboo handles. I consider the hat and purse a set since they're from the same yarn.

I used the same JoAnn pattern I did before. Here's an interesting photo of the old finished purse with the new one before felting.

And after felting.

As you can see I knit this one a little bigger than the first one - which measures about six inches tall and eight inches wide.

A lot of people don't like the way Landscapes felts because it's 50% wool and 50% acrylic but I like the weird little slubs of color. It adds a unique texture but still has the thickness and durability of felted wool.

I used the clear nylon thread to finish this one too. And added another tacky and funny lining from Joann's fat quarter sale stacks.

Other things I finished but won't show yet: finished the fiesta shoulder scarf, a weird neck tube in my grape kool aid yarn, and I've also been knitting some dishcloths for Cody's great aunt who we're going to visit on her farm in Socorro next week.

So what do you think of today's FOs? You want my hat don't you?

FO Friday 7-22

Since I still haven't gotten the baby sweater to the cousin in-law and I had a whole ball of the sirdar baby yarn leftover I decided to knit a few extra things. I'm probably going to set the organic cotton layette stuff aside to give to another pregnant cousin. I'm surrounded by them these days so I know I'll have to wrap something for another shower present soon. This one's still getting the peepee teepees though since they're pretty sure it's a boy.

The booties and hat are from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Both patterns are easyeasyeasy and look great.

The booties were made using an interesting double knit pattern where I alternate slipped stitches and knit stitches for about two inches then put the alternating stitches on two different double pointed needles then it just opens up into an inside-out toe. Nice way to knit in the round with just two regular needles. And I think it might help me get over the hurdle that's causing my current sock knitting hate too.

The hat is a basic pattern with several options you can add on. To match the sweater I chose the garter stitch brim and since it looked a bit big for a newborn I made a small cuff. But it's not sewn in or anything just folded that way.

The flower pattern just came to me because I've been seeing crocheted flower pins all over the place and since I'm still not really getting the crochet method I wanted to find a knit pattern. And I *still* had half a ball of yarn and thought this might finally use it all up, which it pretty much did. I found this cute knit flower pattern and made one really big version of it and one about the size of the pattern. Then sewed on a smaller wooden button that matches the huge one on the kimono and attached it to a pin I'd bought at Michael's the other day. Voila! A present for the mum as well.

To be honest I have no idea whether she'll like any of it at all. This is a very tiny, very young woman (20 if she's a day) and, well, let's just say she has a decidedly different fashion philosophy from mine. So handknit nubby neutral English yarn is likely not her thing. But I can't help reminding myself that her husband's mother is the one who took the time to show me how to cast on and do a knit stitch, which started me on this knitting odyssey so this is really for that aunt.

I also took photos of the rest of the birthday presents and added them to the birthday photo set. It's mostly carefully arranged still lifes with yarn, or as I like to call it..yarn porn.

I also took an artfully arranged photo of the my kool aid yarn in pretty balls.

And a few photos of Meg teaching Jenny how to spin at the most recent Knit Night. Meg has posted some photos as well (including me in my blue sweater!) and hopefully Jeannie will post the ones she took too. We all remembered our digicams this time ;)

Sort of a busy weekend again. A few errands to run, I'm going to try dropping by another knitting group I've heard about on Saturday and there's a twice-delayed birthday dinner with the in-laws. And there's much kool aid and undyed yarn to be introduced to each other too.

The swamp cooler seems to be fixed. It needed a new fan belt. Seems to be but it's certainly not working up to it's potential with this crazy humidity in the 20s. lol I know everyone in the more humid climes are laughing their asses off now. But dammit. This is the desert, most of our coolers use waterlogged pads and a big ass fan to cool our houses. When there's humidity and almost 100 degree heat our little evap coolers just make our houses into very large steam rooms.

Finished Object Friday 7-15

Don't know if you've noticed but I've started adding the date to the "FO Friday" titles because the way I use movable type archives the individual entry links kept cancelling each other out. And I didn't have a FO last week although I meant to post pics of the 4 WIPs but never got around to it.

But boy do I have one now.

That's right. My very first adult sweater! There's nothing that compares with wearing something you've made. Carrying around a purse you made is neat and scarves are fun and all but being able to actually wear a sweater I knit...indescribable. Once I can get over my current sock knitting hate (that sl1 k1 heel crap is tedious I hate hate hate it) I'll be able to experience what I imagine is the joy of wearing a pair of socks I knit.

I wore it to lunch yesterday and carried the felted bamboo purse I'd made.

With a denim skirt from torrid and the pink birkenstocks my parents gave me for my birthday

And it perfectly matches the scarf they'd given me as well.

By the way, I've started a totally self-involved set for photos of things I got for my birthday. Hope that doesn't seem like I'm showing off I just thought ya'll might be curious.

oh and Mr. Man took the photos didn't he do a nice job?

For the curious this is the loop-d-loop ballet t-shirt. I don't have the book I just bought the pattern off the website and printed it out. But if this is any indication of what her other patterns are like I'll be buying that book pretty soon, yo.

I knit this in two days. I'm not kidding. Maybe five-six hours altogether at the absolute most. It's knit in one piece from the top-down on circular needles, just bind-off for the sleeves and do a single cast on to complete the body.

It was totally easy to resize the pattern to fit me. I was aiming for 22-24 and the pattern is for two size groups: 1-8 and 8-14. So I had to increase by two increments. Believe me, I'm math is hard barbie. Not that I can't do it I just have no patience whatsoever where math is concerned. So the fact that I did the math on the fly for each and every number in the pattern with no writing should indicate just how easy that math was to do. I also did a few extra shaping rows and rows at the bottom to accomodate the belly.

The yarn is the cuddly soft and sweet-smelling "Atlanta" cotton blend I bought from Textiles a Mano booth at the Fiber Fiesta. I knit holding two strands together because it was going to be a pretty open knit otherwise. It still is a somewhat open knit but luckily I happen to have a blue bra that blends behind it perfectly. I'm not much for showing the nipple I know that's a huge surprise.

So, my first adult sweater! Go me!!

Finished Object Friday 7-1

The good part about being too sick to go to the baby shower is I still had the baby kimono here to photograph for this fo friday.

Punkin bear is about the same size as a baby so here he is wearing it. Actually I've been meaning to make a new sweater for punkin. Maybe I'll do one with a skull and crossbones from Hello Yarn?

And here's a sleeve detail.

There are a few more photos in the flickr set

Also, my present from Mr. Man arrived early and I managed to wait until tonight to open it so I could put it together.

It's a Goko Yarn swift! Yaaay! Oddly, I don't mind balling the yarn by hand. And I don't really care if it's a center-pull ball or not. But I hate bothering Cody to hold the high-maitenance yarns so I can hand ball them. He's a sweetheart about it, of course. But I really do hate to ask him to do it anyway.

I just put it together and it really is a work of art. The wood isn't that rough splinter-causing stinky cheap pressed pine that you have to force and warp to get everything to fit right. Oh no. This is perfectly shaped and sanded. It all fits together perfectly. And the metal arms adjust to stretch the yarn to spin. I'm loving my swift but I'm going to wait until I get my Giotto tomorrow to try it out.

Cody traded with another guy at work to get tomorrow off and my parents are taking us to Ichiban! Yeah, ok, they'll eat teriyaki and we might be able to talk mom into trying tempura but Mr. Man and I get to eat sushi!

Finished Object, random ten, and Petblogging Friday and a whole lot of other stuff.

This week's FO is not very impressive. Well, actually it's impressivly strange but was not much of a challenge to knit. At all. Like I practically knit this during a two hour nap. But it's just so damn funny. I love it.

This was knit from that strange novelty yarn I bought from a local spinner lady at the fiber fiesta. It has three strands: A finely spun almost threadlike strand of variegated pinkish orangish alpaca, a weird polyester ladder novelty with random tufts of very-off-white almost orange fluffs or tufts, and a very fine strand of pink sparkly polymid so it's sparkly! I made it very thin (seven stitches) and super super long, like almost twice my five feet two and a half inches.

What really gives it the personality is the fringe. I had such fun with this fringe because I didn't worry about making the strands even and balanced. In fact, I wanted it to be as shaggy and wild as possible. We've dubbed it the "Craaaaaaaazy" Scarf. And one must flail and shake the fringe about as one says "Craaaaaaazy" in a nutty voice that goes up and down an entire musical scale. Trust me it really adds to the charm.

I totally dig this scarf. Even if it could be considered the simplest silliest piece of knitting in the entire world, ever.

I was very creative with the photos today. Mostly because it was really hot and impossible to get a full shot of such a long scarf with such incredibly short arms. So I got a little slap happy in the heat. But I got some great photos! Including some amusing self-portraits.

A really cool and strange closeup of my tattoo with my reflection below.

And a shot of both our tails.

Winter wanted me to hurry up so we could go back inside. So it must've been 115 degrees.

And Melon's doing a whole lot better! Her Monday blood tests (here was a photo taken for petblogging Monday that never got posted. I've been a bit busy this week.)

had some great results. A few are still slightly elevated but that crazy Bilirubin is back to normal. So she's not on the antibiotics anymore and thankfully I don't have to do the subcutaneous fluids because as she recovered she fought harder making getting that needle in properly very nervewracking. We're also weaning her off of the steroids. I'm still watching her food intake very, very carefully. If I don't see her eat enough during the day I make her swallow a few syringes of food to make sure she gets the minimum calories. She hates this but I'm not having another scare like I did that friday afternoon week before last. I thought I was going to lose her right there. Thankfully it's very clear she's feeling a lot better. Let's hope it holds.

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The nephew loved his presents. Especially the knit hedgehog. I've heard he sleeps with it every night now. He had a wonderful birthday on Saturday. My mil asked me to bring the real hedgehog down so all the kids could see her. So I brought her little playpen and food and stuff. There were lots of questions about her (like why she kept sticking her head in an empty toilet paper tube and what she eats) and curious little hands. Zola behaved BEAUTIFULLY, as did most of the kids. I'm very proud of my little hedgehog she was extremely well-behaved and not nearly as grumpy as I was worried she would be. I mean, hedgehogs are just plain old grumps anyway but with so many curious little nervous hands I was prepared for the hedgehog tantrum of the century.

Speaking of grumps I watched American Splendor last night and thought it was hilarious. It seems I have a special affinity for grumps and find them highly amusing and adorable. The grumpier they get the more amusing I find them. So of course I thought this movie was charming as all getout. What does this say about me?

I didn't bring the camera on Saturday so I didn't get any pictures of the kids playing with her or of the 'phew and his new hedgehog friend, (who has been named Sam but apparently so has every other stuffed toy) but I've been promised they'll get a photo for me.

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So if you looked at my FO you'd think I had a lazy week. Bah. Check out the WIP I cast on Sunday and need to finish for the baby shower this Sunday afternoon.

Yeah I decided to go ahead and make something for them. Mostly because this is the first grandchild of the aunt who taught me to knit in February and I wanted to make something nice to thank her and make her proud. She hasn't knit in years and years and had to read the stitch n bitch book to remember how to do it before showing me. She still crochets a lot though.

That's the baby kimono from Interweave Knits' Spring 2005 issue. Although I think with the length it actually is more of a Hapi Coat or a Haori. It'a appropriate I'm using the amyville sushi stitch markers isn't it?

Naturally I had to mess with the pattern so I'm doing it in a stockinette stitch with garter edges rather than doing the whole thing in a garter stitch. I'm using some amusing Sirdar Baby Yarn and thought stockinette would show the little wormies better. Yeah the little rayon baubles look remarkably like little mealworms but because I have a pet insectivore I'm probably more familiar with them than the average person. I still think it's a fun and unusual yarn to use for a baby. Yarnsnobbies may wrinkle their noses at the acrylicness but moms always thank me for the easy washability. Yeah, it's acrylic but feels pretty cottony.

It's a fairly easy knit. Probably would've been easier if I'd done the whole thing in garter but whatever. I finished the right front including the right front sleeve on Wednesday and I'm almost finished with the back and the backs of the sleeves. Then I'll only have the left front and sleeves, do a three needle bind-off for the shoulders, seam the bottom of the sleeves and make a little button flap for the front. I have a huge wooden button for closure rather than a ribbon. I think it'll make it more Japanese and a bit more gender-neutral.

They think it's a boy but I wanted to make it neutral just in case. I also picked up some organic cotton baby clothes and socks. The only gender-specific item I bought for the shower were those peepee teepees suggested by Daysleeper Chickie from the Gaiman boards. Those were BRILLIANT! I can't wait for the aunts to see those little things! Many many thanks daysleeper!

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My parents are flying into town Monday afternoon so there's been much panic-induced cleaning going on. It still looks like I haven't done a damn thing and the yard..well, the yard's a lost cause at the moment. But Cody's off this weekend so we should get some serious work done in the house anyway. I'm finding that a fully-loaded (all supplements) Keva Juice Smoothie with a mocha frappucino affigato chaser gets me good and hyped up for cleaning.

Knit. Clean. Fold Laundry. I am the woman in the dunes of unmatched socks.

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Just to make this the most convoluted post ever I thought I'd throw in a random ten.

Guster - Amsterdam
Weird Al - Gump
Velvet Underground - That's the Story of My Life
Nick Drake - Poor Boy
The Cure - The 13th
P.O.D. - Bullet the Blue Sky
ABC - How to be a Millionaire
Petula Clark - Happy Heart
Guns N Roses - It's So Easy
Wire - I 2 X U