Freezing at Baseball Games

Yes, that is what I have been doing, freezing my tush off at baseball games. Because it is Minnesota and May can bring any kind of weather. Of course since my son has had a baseball game every single night this week, the weather has taken a freakish turn. It has been overcast, rainy, drippy, and cold. And I have been standing at various ballparks watching him play. Yesterday was the worst it was 40 something degrees and windy. I came home and thought I would never be warm again.

All week long I've been dragging my Rick Rack Bag around with me as I am trying to finish it for Mother's Day. I'm doing the larger bag, but in the same colorway as the small one shown on Knit Picks website. I know, really creative. I'll just buy the outfit on the mannequin. I am really enjoying the bag though. The bottom "tuck" for stability is done really well and does seem to add a lot of stability to the bag even before felting. I am going to thread dark blue ribbon on the bag and add some glass beads to the end of the ribbon. This will be a gift for my mother-in-law. I'm hoping she'll like it.

I am doing the handles right now and hoping to finish it tonight. I'll have a lot better chance at finishing if the double-header scheduled for tonight is rained out. Chances are good that it will be. Here's hoping.

In other news, I'm going to Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival. I didn't find out about it in time to get into any classes that interested me, but I'm going to check out the market and get to meet Chris! We've been reading each other's blogs, e-mailing, etc. since my TCOTF contest so I'm pretty excited about finally meeting a fellow knit blogger. I am thinking that the market may be a good place to find special, home grown wool for my SP8 secret pal and my One Skein secret pal.

I've never participated in this Secret Pal stuff before, but now I've jumped in with both feet and am in two right now. Yesterday my one of my secret pals sent me an e-card. Everyone uses anonymous e-mail addresses and such, but it is really tempting to try to figure out who they are. The knitters I am Secret Pal-ing are both out east and I doubt that they have found lil' ole me out here in blogland. It would be pretty cool if my secret pals turned out to be bloggers I read on a regular basis, perhaps mine think the same. Is all this secret knitting confusing or what? I think that's what is causing me to channel my inner Nancy Drew. I will repress her though and not investigate who my SPs could be.

Speaking of Nancy Drew here is a meme for you. Probably already done, but I haven't had an original thought all week. What were 5 books you loved at ages 10-14?

1. any Nancy Drew
2. the Betsy, Tacey, and Tib books by Maud Hart Lovelace. The ones where they go to high school, not when they were little kids.
3. "Gone With The Wind"
4. any biography of women who were pioneers in their field. Elizabeth Blackwell, Madame Curie, Susan B. Anthony, bring 'em on!
5. anything by Judy Blume. But I wasn't allowed to read "Forever" because it was about sex. (I snuck it in though, don't tell my mother)(at the end of the story when she gets together with him again and is so proud to show him she could come too, I had no idea what the hell they were talking about at 14. I'm Catholic you know)

So, tag you're it, what books formed your adolescence?

Another quiet evening in the madhouse

And I don't even have any pictures to show for it. Let me first tell you that I'm not exactly sure what the hell the city stuck in the hole, but it's lumpy (I mean really lumpy) and covered in plastic. Have they found Jimmy Hoffa's body yet?

So I leave work early to get across town to my son's baseball game. Limping across the campus with my stileto heels sticking in the grass, get to the field to find out he's been benched. He's been benched because he missed practice yesterday. He missed practice yesterday because he was playing another baseball game with his other team. So I watched the game and cheered for the rest of the team. Sitting down won't do him any harm. He doesn't do it often.

After the game I went straight home while my husband took my son's best friend up to the Little League park where his parents were watching his little brother play. The boys came home and told me that there was a good game up at the park so they were changing clothes and going back to the park to watch.

A quiet evening at home alone with my knitting and Gilmore Girls! Hooray for me. Right until Maxine decided to knock over the garbage and throw it all over the house. Right up until the dogs started barking at the cops skulking across my front yard with their guns drawn. Right up until I see an episode of Cops play out across the street (a huge false alarm btw). Right up until the boys get home early and my son announces that we have to put oil all over his glove and bake it in the oven. Yes, bake it in the oven. We came up with a compromise involving the dryer. It sounds like I'm tumbling rocks in my dryer right now.

I need to go to bed. I'll knit tomorrow.

Updates

Pictures tomorrow, blogging today. I was reading over my blog and it seems that I have a lot of loose ends hanging in cyberspace. So here are some updates:

Maggie is back on her feet! It turns out it wasn't a slipped disc at all but rather a nasty infection. Antibiotics have gotten her back on her feet. She walks a little like a drunk but she walks. I'm a little afraid that the neighbors are going to see her swaying waddle around the backyard and call the ASPCA for drugging our dog. She's not high, she's just a little unsteady right now!

The poncho for Abby was completed on time (barely) and was a success. I'm now using the leftover yarn to make a smaller version for her "Froggy" a stuffed animal that she drags around with her everywhere. Tomorrow Abby, Froggy and I are have girls day out. We are going to Build a Bear and Libby Lu. At Libby Lu they will undoubtably glitter her up and send her father into complete spasms but that's the beauty of being an aunt! Shopping with Abby is like shopping with Paris Hilton sans little weird dog and booze. She is so beautiful that people stop and stare. Plus she wants to buy everything she sees and I have no ability to tell this child "no". Pictures tomorrow.

The big giant hole has been further diagnosed. Still a big giant hole, but at least we know whats up. They found an old waste water pipe that they guess is from the 1930's. It was sealed but somehow the seal broke and it has filled with water and silt. The combination of the pipe and the 5 days of rain we had last week have served to wash the road base away causing the sink hole. The City is contracting out to have the pipe filled with concrete and then will repair the hole. No timeline (what a shock) on this.

I'm almost to project freedom and can start my Sunrise Circle jacket!

In other news, I have a Secret Pal! I am a Secret Pal. Hope this turns out well. The rules say that you can send your SP one big package at the end or 3 packages monthly during the SP time frame. I'm too impatient, I have to send my pal stuff all the way through.

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire

I wish I was a techie blogger. Then I could post this to a sidebar and not have it as my main post. But I'm not and it is early in the morning and I have a hole in my street and my parents are visiting. So now is not the time to become techie blogger. Sorry. Here is my completed Secret Pal questionnaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am a wool girl but I'll knit with anything. The only thing I really dislike is novelty yarn and angora.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A drawer in my stash closet.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for 3 years. I would say I'm intermediate.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Lilac or anything clean.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes, yes, yes. The kind with sugar. I love junky candy and chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I am a complete DIY nut. I crochet, I sew, I paint, I scrapbook. No spinning here, I'm dizzy enough.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like everything except country. My favorites are Green Day, Led Zepplin, Pink, Mozart, and Yo Yo Ma

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love brown and blue together. I can't wear yellow, but I love it.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Married for 16 years and I have a 13 year old son. I have two dogs and a big fat cat.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, it's damn cold here. You wear hats, mittens, and scarves or you freeze.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Hats, bags, sweaters.

13. What are you knitting right now?
My fifth handbag of the year, a poncho for my niece, and a shawl.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Doesn't everyone?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I do just about everything on circular needles. I love addis. I love my Denise plastic set too.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes to both.

17. How did you learn to knit?
My grandmother taught me when I was 8 or 9 years old but I didn't keep up with it. I took a class at a yarn shop close to my work and was addicted.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
It is a crochet afgan that is about 6 years old.

19. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas. I go nuts decorating the house.

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Other than yarn no.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I am promising myself enough Lorna's Laces (one of my favorite yarns) to do a clapotis someday. I subscribe to Interweave, Vogue Knitting, Creative Knitting

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Fair Isle

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
No. I just can't get myself to fiddle around with size 0's. I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
October 2.

A Little Hole

Today I veer off my usual knitting path to bring you the weird ass hole in my street. In Minnesota where our streets are subject to extremes of heat and cold, it's hard to keep them in one piece. We noticed a little hole at the end of our driveway last week. My husband looked down the hole and thought it was unusually deep. Being a guy, he immediately went to the garage, retrieved a long-handled garden implement and stuck it down the hole. "Wow, its gotta be three feet deep", he tells me. End of story. Oh no, just the beginning.

Our garage is a wreck. We throw things out there all winter long until finally about March we can barely maneuver through the garage to get into the house. It's actually a great security system as no one could possibly enter our house through the garage from November to May. Every spring, just as the junk threatens to creep into the house, my husband orders a small dumpster and starts spring garage cleaning.

Yesterday was dumpster delivery day. When the dumpster guys drove over the small hole, it became a larger small hole. When my husband arrived home yesterday afternoon, he (being on hole watch, he's a guy after all) immediately noticed the change and called the City.

My husband: "Yeah there is a really deep hole at the end of my driveway"

City: "What do you expect us to do about it?"

My husband: "Not ON my driveway, at the end of the driveway in your street"

City: "Well, we are still pretty busy fixing things after the storm"
(Note: the storm they are referring to happened on September 21, 2005!)

My husband: "It really deep, like a sink hole or something and you are going to end up having a mail truck go through the street soon."

City: "We'll look at it tomorrow"

My husband stuck a long ice chopper thing down the hole and put a small orange cone on top so that it would be driven over before the City could come out and assess. This morning as I'm getting ready for work I see a City truck pull up. A guy wearing khaki's and a dress shirt looks down the hole, pokes it, goes back to his truck pulls out some big orange cones, places the cones around the hole and leaves.

This was not the solution we were thinking of. But wait! 10 minutes later a big backhoe pulls up in front of my house. The guy parks the backhoe, and LEAVES!

I leave for work. When my husband comes home they have used the backhoe to turn the small but deep hole into a really big hole. Turns out they found an old pipe that runs through the street, under our yard, and who knows where. They attempted to find out where by running a camera through the pipe to see if it's connected to anything. We don't know what they found out but we do know that they believe it may run (insert eerie music here) under my house. This cannot be good. Not good at all.

They found this urgent enough to do today. To call the utility marker guy to come out and paint the street and my yard (right up to my front door) multiple colors to mark all the different buried lines. We have flashing stuff at the end of the driveway. I expect the men in hazmat suits to arrive soon. This will be a lovely greeting for my parents when they arrive from South Dakota tomorrow.

Knitting Again (and buying yarn too)

My wrist and elbow are finally feeling better and I can knit again. I've gotta tell you, not knitting made me pretty cranky last week. Friday I took the day off work and knit this:

I used the pink, pink, pink that I dyed myself and some red Galway that I had in my stash left over from another project. It has taken the whole weekend to dry as I doubled the yarn throughout the project. No pattern, just knitting. I'll post the recipe for it when I figure out how to post a pattern.
I have some wooden handles I'm going to attach now that it is finally dry. After finishing this I realized it was a Project Spectrum March project. Since I seem to be trying new colors, I figured I might as well just join PS so as of today, I'm officially in.


Saturday I fell off the yarn diet wagon two days before my self imposed May 1 deadline. I missed Yarn Cafe so much that I paid it a visit. I bought the yarn for the Sunrise Circle KAL as well as a couple of skeins of Malabrigo. The Malabrigo is probably going to be used to make Fuzzy Feet for a couple of Little Leaguers I know who have been fascinated by my knitting. I that I had to buy some after visiting (and petting) it for so long at my LYS. It is so soft!

This week I will finish this:
It's a poncho for my niece, Abby. Her 4th birthday party is Friday night and I have to get it done. I have about 5 more inches so I should make it. It's in Katia Mexico which is fuzzy and soft and self-striping. It's also a blend that can be machine washed which is crucial to me when knitting something for kids. I picked the colors because it should look great with a pair of jeans. If her mother gives me the okay, I'll post a picture of her wearing it.

I received my first package ever from Knit Picks this weekend and I started yet another bag. This will be my fifth felted bag this year. I don't know why I'm so attracted to knitting handbags, but I can't seem to stop. As I only had vague expectations for what the colors would look like, I was pleased with the yarn. I understand that others have been disappointed by the colors they have received as they look nothing like the colors posted on their site. I guess I'm easy.

Wow, is my writing ever boring when I write about knitting. Kinda makes me wonder what I'm doing with a knitting blog.

The Claw Has Spoken, He Must Go

That title is for my brother Dave. He can memorize movie lines after hearing them once, but it took three times before calculus stuck. He's lucky, calculus never stuck with me. But my hand, elbow, and wrist are now so sore that I am the claw at this point. So I am trying to take a break from knitting for a couple of days. This leads to the question, what the hell do non-knitters do!!!!? I can't just sit and watch television with no knitting. Screw television, I have no ability to just sit still without my knitting. This must be how knitting blogs got so popular (or is this just my view from knitting land?) you can sit in one place without knitting if you are blogging.

So, here was my answer to non-knitting last night.


Could it be more pink?! HELL NO! It is extremely pink yarn that started out as white Paton's Classic Wool. Dyed with Wilton's icing dye in my kitchen and wound poorly with my new homemade niddy noddy (not knitty naughty Jeff and MFF). Winding took longer than the dying but I'll get it yet.

And for my sister (she's the middle child and always feels left out) "I want my two dollars".

Another Finished Object

Sunday afternoon, I finished this:



It's from the last issue of Knit It magazine. I'm glad it ended up in the abandoned project pile as the pattern was corrected in a major way. I started it on a business trip to L.A. (have I mentioned that I'm uncomfortable with California?) way back in December. I got to the sleeve decreases and realized something was wrong, very wrong. It wasn't a great trip. I was in class all day every day. The hotel was right near LAX. The beds were made of cinder blocks (at least I think that was the case all I know for sure is the bed was damn hard)and the temperature in the room was always too cold or too hot. Goldilocks needs it just right! The best feature of this room had to be the fact that the giant window looked out over the Budget Car Rental lot. Car rental lots at major international airports are open and LIT UP all freaking night. The curtains refused to close all the way so I had bright Budget lights glaring at me all night.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I was in no mood to try to correct someone's pattern. Oh, and did I mention when I went back to Crazyville in January to finish this training, they put me in the SAME EXACT ROOM! I mean honestly what are the odds on this?! 400 rooms in a hotel and I get the same crap ass room with an HVAC problem and Budget lights twice?! Do you understand why I hate business travel?

Calming deep breaths. Okay, back to shruggy goodness. Love the shrug. It was very quick to knit overall (4 month break not included in overall time calculation)and it was perfect on this 54 degree spring day. Not loving the Lion Brand Woolease Thick and Quick as it seems to be getting pilly already. We'll see.

I would have had someone take a picture of me actually wearing it rather than laying on the hall floor, but I'm in year 41 of the longest bad hair day ever.

Tomorrow, how I fell for this whole dying my own yarn fever that has overtaken blog land. G'nite.

Me, a Pookie Schmoo, and a (&&^%^%$ cotton sweater

Yes! It's done! The )&*(*&*))#@;&* cotton sweater! Have I mentioned I hate knitting with cotton yarn? My elbow and wrist were so sore I could hardly sleep. Of course I was sleeping on the couch so that I could hear my patient, Maggie, if she cried during the night. Do you think that could have something to do with not being able to sleep?

So if you let your hair dry really curly and don't put make-up on and have to take your picture for your blog, include a really cute pet in the picture to distract everyone from your Saturday disarray.

If you are very astute you may notice that the cotton hoodie is sans hood. I was knitting along on the hood and all of the knitting had fallen to the side after increasing. I noticed it would make a cool collar if it was only in stockinette instead of reversed. So in the home stretch of this project that has caused me (literally) so much pain, I ripped and started again to create a stockinette collor with garter border.

Good God! What the hell? Has this turned into an actual knitting blog?! Many will be disappointed. As they don't have actual evidence that I knit. Only that I buy yarn like sheep have been declared extinct.

Since the chances of me wearing a hood are nil and hoods under jackets make me look like Quasi Modo on a bad hair day, I made a collar instead. I like it.

As I have been holding off starting another project until I completed the @$%$^%*& cotton sweater, I felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders once I got this done. I can do anything now. No project is off limits! As long as it doesn't interfer with my April yarn diet, I can knit anything! No more yucky heavy rope-like cotton yarn! No more sore wrists, elbows, and shoulders! The world and my stash are my knitting oyster! So I started this. In DK cotton. On #5 needles. Pass the wine and the number of a good physical therapist.

Sick Puppy Nurse

First things first. Happy Easter from the Easter Basset. Keeping ears on her head and out of her mouth was a major challenge. Yes she looks a little sad to be wearing bunny ears, but she is a Basset Hound and always looks sad!

She is especially sad as her big sister (remember we are adopters around here so they aren't actually blood relatives) is sick. Maggie has slipped a disc in her back and can't walk. This is making Maxine crazy. She doesn't understand what is wrong or why Maggie can't roughhouse or go outside to play in the beautiful spring sunshine with her.

The vet says that playing with Maxine is how Maggie probably slipped a disc in the first place but the prognosis is good. No surgery recommended at this time. She is however on a bunch of medications that are so complicated to parcel out to her that I had to make a chart for the fridge!

Nursing a sick puppy has given me a chance to knit though. I have 10 squares for another Chris' Humane Society project and I am within 7 inches of completing the hood on my %$^%&* cotton sweater. There will be pictures of a finished cotton hoodie tomorrow. The project that has stood in my way as I promised myself no new projects until this is completed. The squares don't count as they are for charity. (I can rationalize anything. Come shopping with me, I'll prove it.)

Chris' blog (the first Chris I found, making the Chris above another Chris.) pointed me to a contest on Kat's blog. Five places you have knit. So here goes:

1. In an insurance continuing education class so boring that the sales manager sitting next to me begged for my needles to commit hara-kiri
2. The pedicure chair at the nail salon
3. On a bus ride during a company ski outing in Colorado. Prompting the guys on my sales team to rechristen me "G-ma" (they thought it sounded hipper than just calling me grandma)
4. At the local bar
5. At Little League registrations

I knit everywhere so it is pretty hard to narrow the list down to five.

Finally, a picture of my patient, Margaret Mary.

meme or 100 things about me

I see memes all over the place and don't participate because who cares? But after reading Chris' 100 things I really felt like I knew her better. So in my feeble attempt to distract you from the fact that I am still not finished with the stupid )(**&^% cotton sweater, today I present 100 things. (Again who cares?)

1. My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet as a kid. I crocheted for years but couldn't remember how to knit. 3 years ago I took a knitting class at a yarn shop near my office and was completely hooked.
2. I was born in a little town in South Dakota but my family moved to Minneapolis when I was 3.
3. I spent part of each summer and every holiday in South Dakota with my granparents from ages 3 to 19.
4. I love the city
5. I'm a dog nut.
6. I'm a cat nut.
7. I have an irrational fear of flying animals after an encounter with a pigeon at age seven.
8. NY pigeons and bats scare me the most. NY pigeons are the size of my cat and don't move when you walk towards them.
9. I could never live in the South where the bugs don't die or go away in the winter.
10. I really enjoy the hell out of kids. They crack me up.
11. Ours is the house where the kids hang out because I feed them and never talk to them as if they are kids.
12. I am a big time worrier.
13. I love goofy candy. Chocolate is great but I love gummy worms, skittles, orange slices.
14. I'll read anything I can get my hands on. I've always been this way.
15. I was a skinny kid with glasses and braces. The longest awkward stage in the history of mankind. I think I'm still in it.
16. Mean girls uses to follow me home from the bus taunting me by calling me Miss Vocabulary.
17. The mean girl lives in a trailer park with 4 illegitimate children and has visited rehab more than once. Its not right but I get a certain sense of satisfaction from this.
18. My sister is my best friend and some people seem to think this is odd.
19. I have more men friends than women friends. This only seems to bother other women.
20. I can fix a lawnmower engine.
21. I love power tools and am given them regularly as gifts. My husband hates power tools and is sure he will be married to a woman with only one hand soon.
22. I love a good sale
23. Try as I might, I cannot make myself pay more than $75 for a handbag or purse.
24. I have a lot of handbags, shoes, and watches. I don't know what this says about me, but I like them.
25. I love sports. I miss Wide World of Sports and think they should bring it back. I watched it every Saturday as a kid. Even the Caber Toss.
26. I love baseball the most of all sports because of the strategy involved.
27. I'm not a camper. Most people here in Minnesota are but not me. Camping to me is staying in a hotel without room service. I can't spend nights laying on the ground in a place where I can't plug in a blow dryer.
28. I'll fall for any skin product that tells me it's going to make me look younger. I'm a complete sucker.
29. I hate my hair. It's never right.
30. I've never had a tan that didn't come in a spray bottle in my life.
31. I am a little mad at the spray tan folks for not coming up with the idea back in the 70's when everyone had a tan and I was the whitest kid on the block.
32. People fascinate me but I'm not as empathetic as I should be.
33. I'm not all that warm and fuzzy.
34. My parents moved back to South Dakota last year and I miss them. I especially miss my dad and I playing around with power tools. Fixin things, makin things.
35. I'm really close to my whole family and it seems strange to me when others tell me they aren't close to their families at all.
36. My first job was as a motel maid in a crappy chain motel. I am always neat in hotel rooms because of this.
37. I'm an over-tipper because I know how service people get paid.
38. I am not afraid of verbal confrontations and that scares the crap out of all these Minnesotans (most of Scandanavian orgin) around me.
39. I don't seek out confrontations.
40. I've been to 34 of the 50 states but haven't left the country except for going to Canada. Which doesn't count here because it's attached.
41. Traveling for work has just about ruined me for traveling on vacation.
42. I have Graves disease but it's getting better. It will be gone someday.
43. I'm inpatient. I shake my Christmas packages, I peek, I can't wait for anything. Knitting has helped because I can knit in lines and waiting rooms.
44. I get really outraged when I see people treating others badly. For example, I hate it when others yell at gate agents about the plane being late.
45. I love to laugh and I do it everyday.
46. I really love making other people laugh.
47. My sister is the beautiful and smart one, I'm the funny, clever one. Thats what I was told and what I still believe.
48. Before Graves my eyes were my best feature. Now it's my legs.
49. I always thought I would be a professional dancer. When my knees went bad at 20, I had absolutely no back up plan.
50. I fell into the insurance business ass-backwards and have pretty much been there ever since.
51. I like the insurance business. It's not as boring as everyone thinks.
52. I am a germ-a-phobe and can't stand being around people who are sick.
53. I'd make the world's worst nurse. See numbers 52, 33, and 32.
54. I mostly studied theater and art in college before dropping out because I was going to starve to death.
55. I know a ton of completely useless stuff.
56. No one wants to play trivia games with me.
57. The useless stuff uses up brain space that could be occupied by remembering things like math.
58. Not making the bed every day makes me crazy.
59. I'm addicted to home improvement shows and think that if I see it on t.v., I can probably do it too.
60. I avoid all the cable health channels for the same reason. (Home brain surgery anyone?)
61. I'm a size 6 or 8. I don't exercise as much as I should and sometimes I eat total crap. I'm sorry if this offends others.
62. Since Graves disease hit I'm sometimes a size 4 and lose weight for no apparent reason other than Graves is basically your metabolism on overdrive constantly. This seems to outrage other women.
63. I seem to outrage other women a lot. See 61, 62, 38 and 19.
64. I love making things.
65. The best thing I've ever made is my son and I can't wait to see how he turns out. So far, so good.
66. I'll listen to any kind of music except country.
67. I hate cleaning bathrooms but don't think anyone cleans them as well as I do so I end up cleaning all 4 bathrooms in our house.
68. I live in the unfashionable part of town and like it.
69. I'm tired of seeing other peoples tummies. Especially the chubby ones hanging out of a cropped top.
70. I'm on a big stop the puberty campaign with my son. It's failing miserably.
71. I grew up being told nice girls don't call boys and I still believe it.
72. I wish girls would stop calling my son.
73. I am not a good cook. I wish I were, but I just don't enjoy it all that much.
74. I pursue things I'm interested in whole heartedly, not so much things that don't interest me.
75. Sometimes I am a procrastinator.
76. I sometimes don't finish what I start. (as if that comes as a big surprise to any of you!)
77. I love all four seasons and couldn't live someplace without them.
78. California creeps me out.
79. I'm afraid of heights and bridges.
80. I read about English history all the time. I probably know more about their history than American history. I don't know why.
81. I love old houses but I hate old plumbing and electricity. Plus the bats.
82. Minneapolis is my favorite city no matter where else I go. Chicago and Savannah are close seconds though.
83. I'm a coffee addict. Just about every morning I have a cappacino with an extra shot of espresso and 4 sugars. It's like a lethal dose of coffee.
84. I can drink coffee at night and still sleep.
85. I'm pretty sure all the caffiene is going to someday ruin my digestive system. But I'm a worrier like that.
86. In my 30's I could live on coffee, cigarettes and breath mints. Yes, I'm a sales person.
87. It makes me cringe that I came of age in the video age. All the bad hair, too much eye makeup and shoulder pads can be re-visited on MTV and I cringe. What were we thinking?
88. As a teenager in the 80's my mother always told me I "looked like a French whore" when I wore all the eye makeup. My response was always, "Mom you grew up in Huron SD, what the hell do you know about French whores".
89. There is a certain type of woman that wears "holiday sweaters". I am not that woman. I scare that woman.
90. I can't wear sequins or beads or anything sparkly either. I don't know why. I just can't.
91. I wish I had bigger breasts but I would never get implants because the thought of putting something foreign in my chest freaks me right out.
92. I have no issue with women that do get implants. I wish they wouldn't show them to everyone when they get them. And no, I don't want to "feel how real" they seem.
93. I secretly admire women who have the courage to be over the top. Get implants, show the girls, have lots of blonde hair, etc.
94. I secretly admire those earth mother athletic types who have super short nails, curly hair, tans and look like they run 10Ks before breakfast.
95. I will never be either type and I'm very okay with that.
96. I think I'm completely unique and that gives me a lot of personal satisfaction.
97. I think it's okay to drink beer from the bottle. Not so much with wine though.
98. Red wine gives me a headache and I don't care how fashionable it is, I can't drink it.
99. Vodka never gives me a headache but it sometimes results in incidents involving falling over.
100. I'm a pretty private person and although I talk to EVERYONE (cab drivers, random people in line or on elevators) I rarely give anything away about myself. So, I can't believe I just told you all this stuff!

Book Reviews or Who The Hell Do I Think I Am?

I'm saving you the trouble of saying, "who does she think she is" after reading this blog. Recently I received a bunch of books I ordered from Amazon and I've finally had a chance to read them. I thought I'd review them periodically just to give my opinion for whatever it's worth.

First up, "The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics". I really like the look of some of the sweaters in this book. Yet, I have to wonder, have the Yarn Girls ever considered the possibility of circular needles?! EVERYTHING is knit flat and seamed. Even the hat patterns. Even the raglan sweaters. Are they masochistic or are they secretly using circular needles for this stuff, writing the patterns flat and laughing at us as we try to seam their sweaters, hats, etc? If these two come up with sock patterns, be afraid, be very afraid.

The other problem, not insurmountable, is the yarn used. Of course you can substitute. But this book is touted as for beginners or advanced beginners. Beginners are terrified of yarn substitutions. I think the average cost for a sweater made from this book with the recommended yarn would be close to $100. I'm starting to think I shouldn't even bother buying books by anyone who owns a knit shop. Call me cynical, but there could be an ulterior motive behind the yarn choices.

Last problem, I promise. Sizes are not really specified. Measurements for the front of the garment are given and then you have to calculate the finished bust measurement from there. It seems like that should just be provided. I honestly couldn't recommend anyone spend money on this book when there are so many other better ones out there.

On to something more positive, you've all read it, you've all loved it too I'm quite sure. The Yarn Harlot's new book "Knitting Rules" . I loved it. She makes me laugh and sometimes cry. She comes across as someone you'd meet in your neighborhood. She comes across as regular knitter gal. She's not. She's way out of my league. She is Erma Bombeck or Will Rogers (20 somethings e-mail if you don't know who these folks are) brandishing knitting needles. She is just brilliant.

Okay, she doesn't need my endorsement, you are all reading her stuff every day. She probably got you blogging in the first place. I can honestly say that even though I found her blog first it was Crazy Aunt Purl that inspired me to blog. Read her entry today, you'll laugh so hard you'll cry. Somebody get her a book deal already because she deserves one.

I found out through Chris' blog that another Chris is looking for help with a project for the Humane Society. Since I am highly encouraged to find ways to support the Humane Society without bringing home more animals, I'm in! Is everyone out there named Chris, or Jennifer, or Kate? I've been tempted to change my blog world name to Nothatotherkate because there are so many of us out there.

Okay enough opinions back to knitting. Tomorrow the $&^%&*^ cotton sweater.

And The Winner Is. . .

Maxine Louise, assistant to the Head Dog in Charge, Hound from Hell, and Pookie Schmoo has voted too. She is willing to chew the contents of the cupboard thus clearing the way for stash storage!

I'm pretty busy right now waiting for dad to drop some Lucky Charms.

It was close, but Trek is our winner. Trek has the most useless junk in her cupboard. It is useless and the cupboard is full. Her collection of outdated appliance manuals earned her this:

The picture doesn't do the colors justice, but it is "Pebble Beach". All yummy blues and browns.

Here is the thing, and I feel a little guilty about this (who am I kidding I'm Irish Catholic, I feel guilty about EVERYTHING) this isn't a big sacrifice for me. I have tried to get excited about socks. I love the sock postings on everyone's blogs. I just don't think they are for me.

There are several reasons for this. I'm in a very conservative profession where black socks are the uniform. I don't see myself wearing bright socks. I can't convince anyone else that they want to wear socks that I have knitted for them. I hate DPNs. (with the hot passion of a thousand burning suns. No really that much!) There ARE TWO OF THEM! Yes, you finish one and you have to do another right away. I was hoping to try magic loop socks two at a time, but I can't seem to figure it out.

So, I'm glad the STR is going to make another knitter happy because I don't see myself ever using it.

Trek, e-mail me your address and the yarn will be on it's way. Thanks again for participating in my humble contest. I hope you all enjoyed it, I know I certainly did.

The End of TCOTF

Thanks so much to everyone for participating! Voting will happen today and I'll announce a winner. The best thing about this contest has been finding other knit bloggers close to home. Chris, Renee (go look at her Nantucket baskets), and Knittymama. Who knew?

Knittymama really has a lot of stuff in the cupboard. She gets to be a messy as she wants right now though since she just had a baby.

Xavierknits has a really neat empty cupboard. Doesn't this seem like possible stash space?

Imbrium has many of the same vases we all do. She just has A LOT of them!

Lynne got up on a chair and took a picture even though she is sick! I'm sure she'd like help from anyone who knows what the heck her plastic bunny thing is. It seems like it would be useful this week (being Easter and all) if it is in fact a useful object. . .

Jennifer has shortbread molds! Shortbread molds?! I don't even know what to say about this. Is there a recipe out there? I like shortbread. I never thought of actually making it myself. I see shortbread in my future. And probably an addition to my own COTF shortly after.

Dani's cupboard is actually clean enough to keep food products in the cupboard. Yes, food! Strange television character food, but food.

Tammy is having a party in her cupboard. If I can find her somewhere in Canada, I'm so there! I don't understand the sperm shooter though and will need a more detailed explanation. Tammy explains hers like we all have them. We don't Tammy, you have to help us out.

I think this is everyone. Thanks for playing along. Chris, you need to e-mail me about the voting process. You've been trackin' this thing all the way through. I want your opinion. You can let Chaos think he is voting too.

Gotta run, I'm throwing a seminar this morning and I have to pick the speaker up at his hotel. I'll be back tonight with the winner.

TCOTF and Finally A FO!

Yes, it's true I actually do knit. I don't just plan to knit and buy yarn, I actually knit things! Here is the finished Beer Goggles Bag.
It's very cute and I think I need to make a blue one for me!
Yesterday completely got away from me and if you ask me why or what I did, I couldn't possibly tell you. Today was spent immersed in Little League. Tryouts (more evaluations than anything else, everyone makes the team) and the draft which just ended. We usually hold the draft at my house because it seems to go better with beer and wine involved.

So all this stuff interfered with looking into other people's cabinets!

Sydney is ready for Halloween! I think my cat would be too afraid to chew on the jack-o-lantern.

Tam has a half empty cupboard, but she has the most to move to get into the cupboard. I think I have found a kindred spirit!

Beth has something new and different, a yogurt maker. I didn't know there was such a thing. I cannot imagine making my own yogurt. Scroll down on her blog and look at her beautiful bag. Post the pattern Beth, I want to make one too!

Did I forget anyone? I hope not. Deadline is Monday.

TCOTF Day Three

Still slogging away at my i-cord handles for the Beer Goggles Bag. Meanwhile in blogland, more cupboards!

Jen has the exact same big, giant electric fry pan as I have! I wonder if she knows what you use a big giant electric fry pan for. I think I've used mine twice in 15 years.

A note to Katie, keep the coffee maker. Soon it will be a cool vintage Mr. Coffee.

Lisa, this is not about being embarrassed by dust. We all have dust. My husband suggested we look under the bed next but there are dust bunnies under the bed that are so big they are getting calls from casting directors for the next "King Kong" movie. I also think that you should meet my sister because with your cookie cutter collection and her pie/cake keepers you could have one heck of a bake sale.

RheLynn's cupboard is huge! I'm very envious. I could sure stuff a lot of crap in a cupboard like that!

Chris and her cat Chaos thought that their cupboard was very useful and did not contain junk. Then they actually looked inside of the cupboard. Chris is now in trouble with Chaos. I am wondering what a Nut Thin is.

I have had the busiest, craziest week ever and you have all made it so much easier! And a lot more fun. Keep them coming!

TCOTF Day Two

Even my little sister is getting in the act! She is blogless, but she wanted in. Here is her cupboard.

Here is the e-mail message that accompanied the picture.

Okay, the trick was moving the junk from in front of the cabinet to open it up. I don't need anymore yarn but I thought this was too funny not to participate!
I have the same vase as you only mine is clear glass, an electric knife which I am actually grandma enough to use annually at the holidays, a food grinder (I was going to make my own ground beef to avoid mad cow or something), blender, a water bottle (I needed that last year!) and 1/2 a bottle of tequila. Usually when I need a drink I am too exhausted to move the stuff in front of the cabinet to get the tequila.

You should know that my sister is the domestic goddess of the family. The fact that she even thought of grinding her own beef is proof of this. She also has a special pie keeper so that she can bring pies to people. Pies not made by the local Baker's Square or Marie Callendar. Do you think a frozen Mrs. Smith's would transfer into the very special pie plate? Above the cupboard is a very special cake keeper. The kind that proves she can actually make a layer cake that is worthy of taking to someone else's home. Not the wonky kind I make. From a mix. Yes, we really are sisters. We look a lot alike. I wasn't a foundling. I wasn't.

I have obviously been remiss as a big sister. I have not taught her anything! First "I don't need anymore yarn. . " what the hell kind of crazy statement is that?! None of us NEED more yarn. We've all got yarn. There isn't any such thing as too much yarn. Can we also talk about the fact that she has a margarita party waiting to happen in her cupboard? Why isn't she having one and why have I not been invited? It's never too late for me to be a better big sister. I'm going to do my best.

In other cupboards we found:

Jennifer has enough travel mugs to provide a full high school band bus with coffee for the road.

Much like my sister, Renee has a party waiting to break out. Maybe I should get them together?

The most surprising and even a little disturbing was Deb's cupboard. I'm stunned. And a little in awe. Truly.

The Cupboard Over the Fridge (Day One)

In less than 12 hours, people have taken pictures of the cupboard above the fridge. If you don't have a cupboard over your fridge you surely have some inconvenient cupboard in your kitchen stuffed full of crap you never use (or forgot about)!

Here is mine

There behind the little divider is a rose pink plastic vase. I don't have a thing in my house that is pink, but I've kept this for God only knows what reason. Behind the mugs (which go with a set of dishes that have all long since been broken and replaced) is an Easter Egg cake mold. I made a cake in it once. The inside of the cake was all uncooked and gross. Plus I couldn't make it stay on the plate without rolling around. A thermal bingo mug. A lovely basket of plastic fruit. You can see it. This is definitely stash space wasted. Note the lovely dust bunnies on top of the fridge. The most interesting thing was a wedding invitation on top of the fridge! The wedding is next weekend. It is a co-worker of my husband's. I haven't RSVP'd because I didn't know anything about it!!! And can we discuss the green vase? Does everyone who has ever received flowers have this green vase?

Here are some more cupboard views:

Lyda has a fine collection in her cupboard including a hand-painted-by-child terra cotta pot that coordinates well with my own!

Trek has a fine collection of now useless appliance manuals should anyone need one!

Karen just opened the cupboard after 11 years. Now she can make popsicles again!

Keep them coming! I love it.

I've also gotten e-mails about the ubiquitous (at least in Minnesota) Lucy Bag. Here is mine.

The color doesn't show well, but it's chocolate brown with a blue stripe. I added the stripe because brown and blue is my current favorite combo. Don't worry, I'll get over it.

This is a fun, easy, knit in the round project. It doesn't show well in the picture, but the straps make a really clever closure to the bag. I use it everyday to haul my knitting back and forth to the office. If it doesn't fit in the bag, it's no longer a portable "knit at the lunch table" project.

Keep your pictures coming. I can't wait to see what else lurks in the Cupboard Over the Fridge!

Beer Goggles Bag

I was really hoping that I would have a FO or two to post by this time. When I have a weekend all to myself, I tend to make big ambitious plans about all I am going to accomplish. As usual, my ambition exceeded the actual time available over the last three days.

I have made big time progress on Kim's Beer Goggles Bag. Yes, I know this was not what the pattern makers named it but I'm still worried that Kim spoke too soon on the green color and won't actually carry this bag. Perhaps it will be like the one weird object we all got from some relative as a wedding gift. You haul it out when the relative is coming over, but otherwise it's hidden in that little high cupboard over the fridge. Maybe Kim will haul it out and dump things in it when she is having lunch with me, but otherwise it will reside on the bottom of the closet.

So here is the WIP.

I'm working on the i-cord handles. This pattern has been great. Good directions, things seem to be coming together as they should. However, the i-cord directions say to "continue for 90 rows". Don't make me count this many rows of 5 stitches! I need a measurement people! I don't have the attention span to clickety-click 90 rows while watching t.v. and knitting. Kim is a shoulder bag gal so I know that the straps need to be long enough after felting to wear on a shoulder. I think I'll just knit and knit until it looks long enough and then count rows.


Notice too my genius ball winding skills! When I divided the Cascade 220 skein into two balls I was feeling pretty good about the balls looking equal. I see a splice and rewind in my near future.

You know, I'm thinking. What is in that little weird cupboard over the fridge? Does everyone use this to stow stuff they never use? What is the life span of such objects? If you don't touch the stuff in there for a certain number of years do you throw it out or donate it? Did I pack up this junk and move it here three years ago? Could this be a potential stash storage area that is being used for useless junk?

I'll make you a deal, show me your cupboard and I'll show you mine. Drag a chair over there and take a picture. Post it to your blog and e-mail me. There is a skein of Socks That Rock in it for the person with the most useless junk in the cupboard over their fridge. Post your useless crap by April 10th. We'll have a highly scientific judging process involving wine held here in the land of Knitting Here.

Out Past My Bedtime

Okay, my bedtime is usually about 9:30. But last night I stayed out past a normal person's bedtime too.

The boys left for a three day road trip to Chicago yesterday, leaving me at home with the dogs. I spent the entire day spring cleaning. I am not even close to feeling done with spring cleaning, but after a day, I'm burnt out. Today's cleaning will be limited to getting cobwebs out of corners so that people who visit don't think the Addam's Family lives here.

So after a day of cleaning, I went out with friends to eat and listen to music. It was great. I limited myself on the wine, but I didn't get home until the bar closed. Since this is the day that an hour of my life is stolen, I immediately re-set clocks upon arriving at home at 2:30 a.m. Yes, 2:30!!! That is so incredibly late for a woman whose big accomplishment some weeks is staying awake for all of Gray's Anatomy!! Now you would think that the girls would be pretty tired this late at night, but Maxine (the Basset Hound From Hell) decided to run around the house knocking things over. I finally got her to go to bed (I think she is waiting for daddy to come home) only to have her wake me up at 7:00.

Now you might be able to tell by some of my comments on your blogs, I generally an early riser. Hence the early bed time. I like to get up about 5:00 so that I can have a little time to myself in the morning. I knit, I blog, I surf. I get up, let the girls out, feed them and then they go back downstairs and crawl in bed with their daddy until 6:30 or so. So this morning when the BHFH decided to wake me up, I thought I could crawl back in bed for an hour or so. NO, NO, NO. She decided to start tipping things over, climbing on the desk (what, she has paperwork now?), and generally making trouble. So I'm up. I haven't had enough sleep. I lost an hour anyway and will be confused all day. (How is it that I can travel all over never get jet lagged, but this one stolen hour throws me off every damn year?!)

She just stole a needle. I have to chase her down. More about actual knitting later. After a nap.