Knitaholics R Us

Tribute

Confidante.  Friend.  Pusher.  Enabler.  Counselor.  Guide.  Survivor.  Lover.  Wife.  Mother (in-law).

Today my sweet, dear mother-in-law, was laid to rest.  She passed away in the safety and comfort of her own home with her husband, Mr Wonderful and me by her side as she gracefully took her last few breaths.

And while I am feeling lost without her wicked sense of humor, mad challah making skills, and genuine love for me, I am forever grateful for the amazing son she helped to create and mold into the extra wonderful man he is today. 

In addition, I'd like to thank her for the following:

• I really was knitting the wrong way (dammit)
• Bearnaise and/or Hollandaise sauce really is good on everydamnedthing (even probably shit),
• adding more butter always makes it better
• if you are really depressed and thinking about dying or cancer, you should buy yarn, preferably, lots of the same yarn just in different colors (and Elann is a good place to buy it from too)
• if someone is ever doing something slightly more decadent that what I am currently doing, they are a slut, especially if I would really like to be doing what they are doing right then and there (apparently, even daughter in laws and best friendscan fall into this category)
• even if one is raised by wolves or in an orphanage, they can still turn their life around and become a strong, loving, independent, value and family-oriented woman

Iris, rest in graceful peace.  We love you, always.

Holy Shit, there's Knitting!

This post has, admittedly, been a long time coming.  The beginning of 2007 started off with a roll of knitting projects: one completed Jaywalker sock in Julia's Knit and Tonic Vesper sock yarn, the start of and completion of Camellia, which has taken me an embarrassingly long amount of time to post the craptastic picture (see below) but posted during the appropriate Project Specturm timeframe (yay me) and a cute little cabled handbag.  I was even off and rolling on Flair, which finally gave me the opportunity to put that beautiful Blue Sky Cotton in Tomato to good use. 

Pattern: Camellia by Stephanie Japel

Yarn: Knit Picks Sierra in Leaf

Notes: I love the lace patterns and found them very clever.  I also love the way this is supposed to look.  But mine just does not fit me the way I'd hoped.  It's a little wide-ish across the chest and shoulders and I feel that I am constantly having to adjust myself.  I swatched, got gauge and all.  Oh well, the perfect fit just wasn't in the cards for me on this one.  I will still wear it for now, though.

Pattern: Cabled Handbag from my LYS, LisCat

Yarn: Gawd, for the life of me, I cannot remember right now, but I will edit when I do remember

Notes: Cute, cute, cute!  I love this little purse.  See the nail polish for scale?  It didn't come out very big at all.  It makes a good little handbag for evenings out or the weekend.  I bought the purse handles at Joann's Crafts on sales and just whipstitched them on.  Easy as pie.  This will get lots of use!

Just as things were rolling along, my knitting time started to get interrupted with frequent trips to visit the in-laws and the bout of depression that has seemed to follow lately.  See, in the last couple of months, my beloved MIL, hasn't been well at all.  It wasn't a huge suprise, as she's battled cancer for as long as I've known her (10 years, my gosh), but since January, her health has taken a major turn for the worse.  At the present time, it seems as though we may be spending our last few days/weeks/months with her.  Watching someone die is absolutely shit and it puts your perspective on things in a new order and sometimes, this new order is incredibly hard to knit through.

On the brighter side of things, the needles have been calling to me a bit more and perhaps I just need a change of knitting scenery.  I am looking at starting a smaller scale project, just for a little jump start.  I will keep you posted on things.

Thank you in advance for your love, energy and prayers!

Nothin' But Knit

I realize that you wouldn't know this by my blog, but I am alive and didn't die of some rare and unusual form of a cold.  I am well, physically at least.  There are some (**cough, cough** Mr Wonderful) that may agree that while my physical health is no longer a concern, my mental health is up for debate.  I am, dear readers, sorry for the absence.  I've been in a fog of jumbled thoughts lately, none of which have been quite able to make the jump from brain to blog.  And while I am still in a bit of an overwhelming haze, I can share a couple of things to tie you over, if you will.

• I am pretty much over HotelChain.  And actually, I have been for quite some time.  And old co-worker just told me that once your fire is gone, it's time to move on.  Quite right.  So with that being said, I am on the job prowl.  I have something in the works, but I can't share any more just yet.  Don't wanna jinx it, you know?
• I am totally knitting.  No pictures for proof, but trust me.  I knat up the Tweed Beret from the latest IK for my cousin, but it came out way too small.  Like, it might be too small for my six year old niece.  So bummed...Haven't frogged it yet, but I will and start anew.  In the meantime, I was able to whip up some Fetching mitts for a holiday gift.  I squeezed one whole pair out of one ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.  Which leaves me a whole other ball to play with.  Yay for me!

Otherwise, I am busy for the holidays.  I've been a homemade-goodie-researching fool.  I mean, these are def on the list.  How cute!  And my Lord, I really have to make these, although they may get eaten before they make it into the gift baskets.  In the words of Rachael Ray, YUM-O!

Pics and more updates soon.  Just lemme get through this week, k? 

BTW, I am totally keeping current with all of your blogs, even if I haven't been commenting!  Lots of exciting stuff going on...

In Sickness...

Hi all...

I am sick.  Head cold.  Ick.

This is all I have to show for it...

click the link for more notes

Mr Wonderful and I are heading to Palm Springs for the weekend for his annual softball tourney so I will post FO notes then.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Catch Up

Hi all!  I realize that quite a bit of time has skipped by without a new post from me, but lots has been going on, fun and not-so-fun.  But today, in the hopes that spreading good energy will help me receive good energy, I am only going to share fun stuff (mostly knitty, if you can believe that)!  Here goes:

A Big Huge Thank You to Valerie (send me your blog addy so I can link it), my ISE pal.  She sent me the greatest package!  She made me the cutest linking flowers scarf and a matching hat.  And her creativity didn't stop there!  She even made me a cute knitting bag to tote smaller projects around.  The craftmanship on this bag is AMAZING!  My pathetic sewing skills are in awe of you, Valerie.  There were also a couple edible treats, which have since been consumed.  Thanks again, Valerie (and sorry for the delay in posting)!

The main reason for the delay in posting is that Mr Wonderful and I took a VERY short notice escape away.  We hopped on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Mexican Riviera for a week getaway.  We stopped in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.  In Cabo, we nearly got sucked into a timeshare purchase, in Mazatlan, we took a city tour via trolley chock full of gay men (majorly fun times, I must add) and in Puerto Vallarta, we slid across ziplines over the Mexican jungle canopy. We had an amazing time and needed the time away.  Here are a few pictures...

While on vacay, I was able to eek out the slightest bit of Socktoberfest participation.  See?

I had some Vesper self-striping sock yarn leftover from long ago's Strawberry Shortcake socks and thought I would try my hand at knitting socks on two circulars (mostly to see if this would help create a little more interest in sock knitting).  Boy oh boy, two circ knitting is SO MUCH EASIER for me.  I couldn't put this little sock down.  And I used those new Knit Picks classic circular needles as well.  Those my friends, are some good ass needles.  Love them.  Sorry Skacel, but until you get pointy-er, I will stick to Knitpicks!  I am cranking away at sock #2, so I should have an FO soon!

Finally, a big hug and thank you to Sandra for the cute Garden Party Scarf!

This was her first crochet project, y'all!  Very impressive and super generous!  Love it!  Thanks again, Sandra!

P.S. If you don't already listen to these chicks, you simply must start.  Their podcast is hilarious and taps right into my obsessive soul.  Be warned, they are NOT Brenda Dayne, nor do they try to be.  Just two yarn obsessed girls having MAJORLY good times and willing to share it with us!

Nice Things

Sooo... I am still knitting away on the entrelac sucks balls in two colors Danica scarf and a progress shot will be completely boring (just imagine it longer).  I've decided to take after Star in a version of "If You Can't Say Something Nice About Your Job..."  So, here are ten nice things I can say about my job.

1. The caf has free cereal.  Fruit Loops, my friends.  All.Day.Long.  Jealous, right?

2. My office mate, Panda, is seriously the best office mate ever.  I mean, how many of your co-workers would be get up at 5am to meet you at the gym for an indoor cycling class only for it to be cancelled without prior notice...twice.  Oh, and believe me when I say that our "water cooler" conversation could make even a proctologist blush.

3. Getting paid to drink liquor.  Sometimes.  Like at training.  Or at client events. Or at my desk at 11 am with the door closed.  Ok, I am lying about the last one, but I have thought about it on a number of occasions.

4. Sometimes, if I am really good that quarter and book over a million dollars in revenue for my HotelChain, I get a gross bonus of about $1000, but really nets to only about $550.  Yea me!

5. I get discounts at hotels associated with said HotelChain.  Except that I work in a hotel, and I hate hotel rooms and don't ever stay in a hotel. But, at least I get to play travel agent for my family who gets to use my discount too.

**this isn't easy people...nice things are hard to think of**

6. I have a good boss.  He's funny.  VERY funny.  And random.  He can't remember where his 2 pm meeting is, but he can quote lines from such quality media, such as Anchorman, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, and The Family Guy.  Oh, and his favorite saying as of late?  "F- You, You F-ing F-." He!  In addition, he is not a micro-manager and I am able to look at a hell of a lot of knitting content on the Internets without getting caught.  Oh, and he always jangles his keys in his pocket when he walks by, so that gives me plenty of time to switch screens on my computer.

7. Sometimes, when he's bored, Mr Wonderful calls me at work and tries to disguise his voice while he proceeds to ask me if we rent rooms by the hour.  And if we do, he's like to rent a few.  I always know it's him and it always makes me smile.

8. HotelChain has allowed me to meet some really special peeps that I am super close with.  Hi Ericka, Panda, Sunny, Tisa, Kristen, Meredith, Robert, Nell, Sonya and Jennifer.  Love you guys!

9. Working at HotelChain allows one to pick up some quite handy travel-sized Bath and Body Works items, when needed. Of course, it's bad to steal but they can part with a couple of hand creams when I've booked over $100,000 in business in one program.  But don't tell them I said that, k?

10.  Having lunch paid for by HotelChain.  Like when you take a client out.  Except that during said lunch, you and client (who is more like your friend than a client) spend 1.5 hours chit chatting and gossiping and approximately 30 seconds discussing business (any upcoming meetings? no. ok thanks.  where were we?).  Thanks HotelChain!

HotelChain and I aren't doing so well.  I feel that the time has just about come for us to part ways.  It's quite sad, as they are the only place I've worked since college and I've grown up a lot with HotelChain.  But HotelChain is turning into an abusive lover lately, and I just can't take it anymore.  Wanna know what scares me most?  I want a new job that's not in sales or in the hotel industry.  Unfortch, my experience doesn't translate over that well into the business world.  Scary.

Well, I must get onto working on that resume.  Wish me luck!

Market

Have you ever been to a Farmers' Market?  Folks, for me, Farmers' Markets are the new Target.  I definitely think this great lady would nod her head in agreement.  For me, Farmers' Markets are as close to utopia as I can imagine. Beautiful colors, amazing shapes, lovely smells, and great sounds.  All I want to do is taste and touch all of the gorgeous fruits and veggies.  I am so in love with the idea of Farmers' Markets, that my favorite segment in Evan Kleiman's Good Food podcast is the "Market Report" with Laura Avery.  But aside from the aesthetic pleasure gained from perusing the aisles, there is a sense of social and environmental consciousness that comes over me.   Like, it's the right thing to do. 

Living in a townhome in an extremely urban community, I just can't be the Farmer Jane that I'd like to be in my dreams.  But for some reason, buying fresh foods right from the farm allows me to feel that I am supporting more than just some supermegamarket's CEO's bonus.  Many times, there are teenagers or young adults assisting their parents/grandparents in the weighing and cash handling in the stalls.  In some way, I hope that my $3 for 2 lbs of vine-ripend tomatoes is helping them get closer to college dreams, buying a car, paying for medical insurance, etc.  To me, it's the least I can do.

And what about the "healthy-ness" of a Farmers' Market?  Many of the vendors at my Farmers' Market are Certified Organic.  And according to July 25, 2006 Bon Appetit podcast some of the other vendors may still be using organic methods of growing even if they aren't certified.  Certification takes lots of bucks, and some of these smaller farms just don't have the funds to pay for the certification, even though their processes are the same as those who are certified.

And what about the quality of the foods?  Tasting a perfect tomato that is really and truly good is like heaven on earth.  While you won't always get a perfect tomato at the ol' FM, your chances are much better there than at your local supermegamarket.  FMs bring tasty food, while the supermegamarket provides pretty food.  How many times have you brought the most beautiful white nectarine or white peach home from the supermegamarket only for it to taste like shit on a stick?  Y'all, this has happened to me so many times I'd like to hang my head in shame.  When I buy stone fruits (fruits with pits, like plums, nectarines, peaches) from the FM, I've got a "specialist" helping locate the tastiest targets, and they aren't always the most flawless, perfect-looking specimins.  Huh...sort of like people, don't ya think?

Pattern: Saturday Market Bag by Jodie Danenberg from June's edition of MagKnits

Yarn: Less than one skein of  Lion Brand Lion Cotton in Rose...from the stash, no less.

Modifications/Notes: Only modification was that I knit the strap shorter than the version in the pattern.  I didn't want a bag that would hang down to my knees when chock full of goodies.

I originally started this bag about a week before Mr Wonderful and I went on vacay.  I thought it would be a perfect bag to tote shit back and forth from our room to the pool while on vacation and it would be great and environmentally sound for lugging fruit and veggies back from the FM.  But I just couldn't finish it on time.  Cotton yarn + bamboo needles = sucky times for this knitaholic.  So, after knitting the main part of the bag, I threw it aside while I packed for Mexico. 

But after finishing my Newsboy Cap so quickly, my hands ached (literally, since it was also knit on bamboo needles and figuratively) to finish another project up.  So I dug into my knitting basket and retrieved the rectangles of mesh and commited to finishing them up.

My feelings on the bag?  Love it.  While it didn't make it to Riviera Maya, it's perfect for my Sunday jaunts to the FM.

BTW, Frisco the Hairless requested a quick photo shoot, since you haven't seen him in awhile.

Hats

With the lack of gauge swatching success with Ms. Marigold, I immediately turned towards something that could bring me a bit of joy and instant gratification without the need for **cough** unnecessary gauge swatching preparation.  So what did I turn to?

*Pattern: Headline News Newsboy Cap from Stitch n' Bitch Nation

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Tan (1 skein, plus a few yards)

Modifications: Not much, except that my first try with the brim was waaaay too short.  So I tried my best to lengthen it without adding width to the sides.  I sort of had to fudge the sewing to make it lay down right.  But that's all.

Can I say that I think I look quite cute in this little hat?  Especially since I am again posting a picture of myself post-workout.  I am not a vain person, in any way, but I do think that this little hat is flattering and will get some wear when the temp dips a bit. And guess what?  It qualifies for my one and only participatory moment in Project Spectrum.  August is neutrals month and tan is definitely a neutral! Yay for me!

As for the status of Ms. Marigold...she will meet her maker sometime this week.  After much consideration and deliberation, I do not think there is much hope for her loose ways.  She's just way too big across the back and I don't believe any form of fudging will be enough.  So, off to the gallows she goes...

...and speaking of gallows, I have decided to rip back a couple other items.  Remember this?

The lovely Miss Cable 8 is going to be frogged this week too.  I think I could find a better use for the yarn.  As cute as this pattern is on the model in the IK mag it came out of, it's just too bulky for me.  I think I have worn her about twice.  And right now, if it ain't getting worn, it's getting frogged.  I figure it's a more cost-conscious and responsible thing to do instead of buying more yarn.

In weekend news...

Mr Wonderful and I attended Taste in San Pedro, where we sampled some delish foods and perhaps some alkyholik beverages. 

Yes, my shirt does say "Everybody Loves a Mixed Girl."  Gotta have some mixed girl pride when I am with the folks, right?  I swear, I have the cutest Mommie and Daddy.

And just because I thought this was like the funniest thing all day...

...this man was emptying garbage with a Mickey Mouse hat on!  Classic So Cal...

* I have decided to be a little bit more responsible with my knitting on this ol' blog and give a few more dets besides the pattern.

On and on and on and on...

**I swear I had a really great, meaty post written for you today, but the HOTELCHAIN Gods must have been spying on me and jinxed the post before I could save it.  Damn those HOTELCHAIN Gods!**

On Death: I am back from Texas for my BIL's funeral.  My sister's somewhat estranged husband passed away on 7/3, alone, in his apartment.  I traveled to TX to be with her and the kiddos.  I don't want to go into too many details, but I will say this.  Mourning is a complex thing.  Especially when you find yourself mourning for the way that person used to be, say about 4 years ago, not really for the person they were in their final days.  And what about the joyful relief knowing that person will no longer cause harm to themselves or anyone else (mentally and emotionally), and won't have to suffer any longer.  Dealing with death is no joke.

On Knitting: Jakey's sweater is finally done!  With the cutest Beatrix Potter "Peter Rabbit" buttons!

Isn't it so cute?  It's making its way to Chicago tomorrow!  Can't wait to see it on him!

I've also been working on some Jaywalkers in some hand-dyed yarn from Brooklyn Handspun in colorway Chocolate Covered Cherries.  They are coming out fantastically!  And I decided to take my mom's advice and start them both at the same time, to avoid the dreaded SSS (second sock syndrome) that will surely strike otherwise.

Aren't those colors great?  And I am even getting a little striping action too!  Marie's yarn is great, if you are wondering.

On Inspiration:  Have you seen LollyGirl's Weigh Down blog entries?  If not, get over there right away and congratulate this gal on her weight loss!  She's a great inspiration!  Bike riding, swimming, eating right, etc! 

On Life: I had this great post about being at a crossroad in my life, but I am not feeling quite like re-typing it.  I will save it for another (soon) entry.  But it's all good and I am very excited to share it with you.

On My Readers:  I know I've lost some readers here lately, since, quite frankly, my posts have been crap for awhile now.  But I am back on track.  I have been, except that death thing threw a huge curve ball into my life.  But I am excited to be back to blogging more regularly.  Please stay with me.  I am a bit of a "comments whore," too!  Just keeping it real, y'all!

Stay cool and hydrated!

Lackluster

Hi.

I owe you progress pictures, don't I?

Sorry folks, but they will have to wait.

I've got bad news...Death in the family so I am taking a trip to Houston to be with my sis in her time of need. 

However...there is a bright side.  I should have a FO to show you from all that travel time I will be dealing with.

I'll be back so hang in there.  And oh my gosh, you'll just die when you see the FO.  So cute!  ('course, baby stuff usually is to die for cute)