Lick My Sticks

The Boston Knit Out and Crochet has set Sunday, September 30, 2007 as the date for this year’s festivities. It’s from 12-4pm, on Boston Common, Rain or Shine!

Are you going? You should be! I’m offering to volunteer, we’ll see if I can be of any help.

I swear the Sizzle pics are coming. It’s been 90 some odd degrees so I’ve been hesitant to put on a sweater. They’re coming though!

I also cast on for the CPH and already fucked up, awesome. I also threw the dog sweater in the garbage because it just wouldn’t go together and I hated the sight of it. I’m sewing something much, much, much cuter which I will show off tomorrow or whenever I post the Sizzle shots.

Also- is anyone else going insane waiting for their Ravelry invite? Cause I am.

Cause I can’t go more than a week without signing up for some kind of swap.

1. Why are you punk?

I don’t know, whenever I get called that it’s followed by “ass”.
2. What are your five favorite things? (these don’t have to be knit related)

Besides knitting? Beer, books, The History Channel, sewing, and uh…beer.
3. What are your three favorite things that you have made with knitting/crochet?

My Sizzle top (aka “holy shit it fits”), my onslaught of wrist/arm warmers, and my first pair of socks (aka “holy shit I knit socks”).
4. What five things would you love to see in a swap box someday?

A million dollars aside? Yarn (obviously), maybe a book, something small and cool…buttons, shawl pin? Or a million dollars.
5. What are your three favorite yarns? What are your three least favorite yarns?

Hmmm…I love all things Knit Picks, Cascade 220 is an old reliable, and bamboo yarn is pretty awesome.

EDIT- Just noticed the 3 LEAST favorite part of the question. I hate Red Heart, it makes my hands ache. Not a fan of scratchy wool, and fun fur can kiss my ass.
6. What are your five favorite delicacies?

Beer, Grilled Cheese, Coffee, Brownies, Truffles.
7. What are your three favorite guilty pleasures?

Good “girl” TV (I love Sex and the City, The L Word, and Grey’s Anatomy for example.), make up, and sleeping all day. I don’t really feel guilty about any of these, however.
8. What would you like your pal to know that is not covered here?

I’m super easy to please. Just don’t send me fun fur, red heart, or anthrax, and I’m happy.

So much to blog!

Thanks to those who wished me a happy birthday! I had a chaotic weekend long bash and I think I’m still recovering. (Take THAT liver!)

Friday I went to my local karaoke bar and had a ball. (See pictures I took here, and pictures my brother in law took here.) Saturday, my friend Ken foolishly threw a new condo warming party and invited the wrecking crew (aka my friends). Pictures of that here. And Sunday was my birthday show at The Skybar in Boston. I got to play with my brother in law’s new camera (which I will own my own of soon!) and I got some great shots. You can see those here.

This week I went to Knit Night at Eva’s and bought myself 6 more skull buttons for the sweater, buttons for my little cousin’s hoodie I’ll be casting on for soon, and this:

That, my dear friends, is my very own ball winder. My sister in law and I got back to her house after Knit Night and excitedly wound a few balls of her yarn to test it out.

That…is a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to finish up what’s on my needles so I can cast on for my next projects and wind up more yarn!

Speaking of finishing…Sizzle is done! I still have to block it and take pictures, but in the meantime I took pics of the reason it wasn’t done last week!

I cast of and threw Sizzle on to see how it looked and the bottom hem fell just perfectly on that unsightly belly bulge I have thanks to my mass consumption of liquid grain. Crestfallen, I sulked for a while and put on a DVR’d episode of Knitty Gritty. It was the episode where they go through ways to unwind old sweaters, add edging to garments and…MAKE SWEATERS LONGER!

I figured I’d take a few shots of the process so anyone with similar issues could see how this works. First, you thread a bright or contrasting yarn through a tapestry needle and pick up ONE leg of the “v” of the stitch. Then grab your scissors…

Cut through the “v” underneath the one you picked up, giving yourself a little space to mess up. Don’t worry if you accidentally picked up a stitch below the right row, you can pick it up pretty easily.

Pick out all the little bits of yarn and viola! You have live stitches! Just thread your circ or whatever through, pull out the waste yarn and knit to desired length.

Repeat on the other side and stitch up the sides. Presto-chango, your top no longer highlights the fact that you and sit ups are not exactly friends.

Stay tuned for FO pictures of the first top I have ever knit that I will actually wear!

Right now I’m finishing up a dog sweater for the I <3 My Little Yippie Dog swap I put together on Craftster. Hopefully the recipient’s mom isn’t reading this!

She said her favorite colors were blue and orange, hopefully she won’t mind them together! I’m just using Red Heart so it’s easy to wash and no biggie if her pup decides to take a mud bath like mine enjoys.

Once that is done, I’m casting on for my Central Park Hoodie, my little cousins’ hooded cardigan, and some of those cute suade booties for her as well. I’m thinking of frogging my Baccarat top and making Coachella from the new Knitty. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get the other stuff going. I also need to re-knit Orangina. Oh! I can wind up that yarn!

I sent my reveal package to my Secret Pal, so go say hi to Shelley! I’m glad she liked all that I sent her! I can’t wait to see who MY secret pal is!!

Shelley also tagged me with The Birthday Meme, so here it is!

The Birthday Meme

The rules are to go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

Events:

• 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.

• 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.

• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

Births:

• 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress
• 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper

Holiday:

• Elder Abuse Awareness Day

I’m not going to specifically tag anyone, so if you’re reading this and want to, consider yourself tagged!

That’s it for today! I’m going to go work on that dog sweater and watch the storm roll in!

The Sexy Knitters Club is voting! Go vote!!

(Coachella is losing…boooooo)

Here’s a small FO, a baby hat for the Dulaan project. I realized the deadline was fast approaching and that I need to knit something! I may whip up a matching scarf before I mail out my Secret Pal’s final present and my Dulaan stuff.

FO: Dulaan baby hat

Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted (M-180 Ruby Red)

Pattern: Lamb’s Pride Hat

I forget if I ever posted the final photo of my circular needle holder I made using the idea in the original Stitch N Bitch book. So if I didn’t, here it is:

It’s great, I love it. I recommend making one of these to anyone sick of endlessly trying to find their size 3 24″ circs at 1am in the dark.

Sizzle is almost done. It of course is too short and too big, like everything I knit. I can swatch and gauge check until I’m blue in the face and it’s always too damn big. This is why I frogged Orangina. I knit both a size down from my size, too. I guess I’ll see how it looks when it’s all done. I can lengthen it pretty easily, and I think the problem of not snug enough will not be a big deal if it’s longer. But at least it’s not too tight on the armpits this time! I must be getting better very very very slowly.

In closing, I think I am addicted to the History/Discovery channels. I’ve watched nothing but documentaries all week since we got our DirectTV installed. I don’t know what I did before DVR, seriously.

I finally found the sweater for my skull buttons. (I need 6 more, Eva!)

This… 

It doesn’t suck at all!

The Summer issue of Knitty is up, and I totally love about 80% of it! (Usually I only dig 1 or 2 patterns.) There’s a ribbon theme in a lot of the patterns and I am into it.
Zinzin is pretty different, I really like it…I’d knit it in something super lush like bamboo. That would drape perfectly. Coachella…exactly what my never worn Baccarat top is going to become. Same idea, but halter style…halter if one of few flattering necklines for me. I’m on that like bullshit on FOXnews.

Askew is like my anal retentive adversary. This shirt…my enemy. I couldn’t even look at the picture without feeling the blood swell in my brain. But for normal, less insane people, it’s probably beautiful. But not me. I can’t even walk by pictures on my wall without fixing them erratically.

The next one that grabbed me was Wisp. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL. I will knit that from dark, delicate mohair and buy myself some new Audry Hepburn shades to match.

Prickly Girl is SO Zoe, and the Grow With Me is a good pinkify and gift to little cousin material.

And Marnie, lovely Marnie, comes bearing more ribbon-y pretty with Chapeau Marnier, a beautiful cloche-like hat with a ribbon accent. I am *all* over this one. Probably out of cotton, and right after I finish Sizzle and a swap knit.

So…well done, Knitty! If I can get out of my sock slump I may even knit Sweetpea with my Secret Pal STR yarn!

Well, I just had to rave about even MORE patterns added to my stack of “to-knit” patterns…a small FO is coming tomorrow! (Hint: Did you Dulaan?)

Had a busy weekend, so I have lots of pictures!!

Saturday was both Knit in Public Day and Boston’s Gay Pride parade/fest. Last minute changes left me getting to Boston two hours late and we missed the Pride parade. I was so sad, I was looking forward to seeing it! BUT we went over to the festival going on in Government Center. I took a bunch of pictures, but here are my favorites!

The little boy is my lifelong best friend Joanne’s son, Ian. He had a great time. It was great to be around all these people celebrating who they were, unabashedly gay, unbelievably beautiful. I picked up a “Straight but not narrow” pin and enjoyed the music.

I realized at this point that it was 3pm! Knitting in Public was over at 4pm. I was pretty sure I’d get there and no one would be there…and I was right, so no KIP pictures. I guess I’ll have to plan better next year so I get there early!

Since no knitters were to be found, we walked around the Boston Public Library which is probably the most amazing library you’ll see in the US. There’s no flash photography, but I got some pictures anyway.

From here, we decided it was time for food, we hit Fajitas and Ritas across from the Boston Common for some Mexican and booze. I like booze.

Sunday was Boston’s Dragon Boat Festival, which is a big celebration of Asian culture. We also got here late, but we caught some amazing dancing.

Chinese:

Mongolian:

Traditional sword dance:

The cutest thing I’ve ever seen:

This was a modern twist on traditional dance:

The last dancers threw these pretty ornaments out, and Zoe caught one.

Then we got Ian and Zoe’s names written in Chinese calligraphy:

Her and Ian made paper Dragon Boats:

The last performance was Japanese Taiko Drumming:

(Link to the group’s website here.)





The drumming was probably my favorite part of the festival, it was amazing. I had goosebumps the entire time, we’re planning to go to a full concert by this drumming troupe later this month.

I decided to give you a little dose of green to celebrate the approaching summer solstice.

My little growing herb garden:

Some brand new grass, for a nature-deprived city kitty:

And Sizzle, damn near finished!

For those Masshole knit bloggers…I will be attending the Boston chapter of World Wide Knit in Public day which will be going on from 12 noon to 4pm at Copley Plaza in front of the library, or in the food court if there’s rain. WWKIP day will be going on during Boston’s Pride week as well! Weee!

So I’ve got a couple meme’s to do, but first we’ll get all that blogging I promised to do out of the way!

After ignoring it for a couple of weeks post finals, I’ve been plugging away at Sizzle this week. I have completed the back and am about 5 inches into the front working on the shaping. I like this pattern because the shaping breaks up the stockinette just enough to keep me from going insane, but not enough to require much concentration, allowing me to simultaneously listen to podcasts or watch TV without much trouble. Here’s some in-progress shots featuring my zombie limb stitch markers I aquired in an Altoid Tin theme swap on Craftster last month.

Back:

Front:

Yeah, you’re jealous of those awesome stitch markers, I know. I also got braaaaiiiinnnns earrings.

Besides knitting away I’ve been busy cleaning (we shampoo’d all the carpets, and basically scouered everything in the apartment), getting those long neglected “to-do”s done, and acclimating our new house guest to her new house!

This is Jamara, she belongs to my sister-in-law Stephanie and her wife Cadence. Steph and Cat had to re-home all their cats when they moved back home with the MIL to save money for a while. But Jamara was STEPH’S baby, and she came with. My MIL doesn’t really like cats and Jamara relieved herself on a few new rugs, so she lived in the cellar. I offered to take her a while until Steph and Cat moved back out and could dole the EXCESSIVE amounts of attention and affection the little cat needs once again. So now, she lives here, mostly under my bed.

Next to my mammoth fattiebutt cat, Jamara looks like a guinea pig. I’m working on fattening her up. She is finally getting a little used to it here, and Dio is no longer hissing at her. She stays under my bed most of the time and crawls out for aggressive lovin’ once everyone else is asleep. She’s very cute, I’m glad to have her. I’d be a good kitty foster mom, however my husband would probably move out.

He’s more of a dog guy, as you can see:

Pretty cute, eh? Enjoy it, I’ll probably be killed for posting it!

You may notice my iPod in that daddy/doggie picture up there. That would be because this thing hasn’t left my side all week. I am full blown addicted to podcasts. Seriously, I think have a problem. I am currently listening to “Great Speeches in History” because I am the dorkiest dork alive. I am subscribed to about 6 knitting podcasts, 15 NPR/CNN/MSNBC type podcasts, 15 or so fucked up cartoon video podcasts (Happy Tree Friends, anyone?), 3 book review podcasts…the list goes on and on. I have about 3 days worth of podcast hours on my iPod at any given time. It’s a drug, I’m addicted.

I’ve given and gotten some knitting love lately in my other addiction (craftster craft swaps), I knit a little “book scarf” bookmark for the I *heart* the Library swap, I thought it came out pretty cute. I just used some stash cotton and went to town. I wanted to make two but ran out of time.

And in return I received (not without severe “I didn’t send enough guilt”) this beautiful reading shawl. How gorgeous is this? It was my partner’s first attempt at fancy knitting:

I feel like I should send her more presents! You should see all the bookplates she sent me! Actually you CAN:

I gotta step up my swapping!

Alright, now to the meme’s:

I was tagged by the lovely Bonnie to conjure up five completely ridiculous falsehoods about myself. So here they are:

1. I do not drink. Drinking is bad, and I don’t do it. I also don’t smoke pot, love painkillers, and NEVER, ever, combine them.

2. I love people. I am always polite. I do not empty the contents of my beverage onto cars that park in two spaces or cut you off to steal your spot. I don’t. I am NOT that person to yell “hey asshole, back of the line” to people that think there is a VIP party at the front of long lines and they are invited. I do not do these things because I love all people.

3. I can cook. Seriously, I just made a three course dinner for my husband and child and will finish off this amazing feat by making Apple Popovers from scratch without ruining a perfect beehive and manicure.

4. I will blog everyday, with photos.

5. I think G-Dubya is doing a bang-up job as leader of the free world. His tax cuts to the rich were a great idea because enabling Muffy and Dickhead Richard McRichpants to afford that new 300 foot yacht they’ve always dreamed of was EXACTLY what I wanted for my country. I also want old men to choose what I do with my body, prayer to be rammed down my child’s throat in public school, and this wonderful war in Iraq to go on for another 10 years! USA! USA! USA!

So there you go. I must now tag two people, those people being Annie and Letah (that’s what you both get for tagging me.)
NEXT I was tagged by the also lovely Annie to post 7 random things about myself, which I recently did, but will do again.

1. I can barely whistle. I prefer to scream if I need to get someone’s attention.

2. I’ve been fired from about 85% of my jobs. The other 15% I quit by telling everyone to go fuck themselves.

3. I have never had poison ivy.

4. I have never officially had a cavity. I say officially because I haven’t been to the dentist in about 5 years and probably have some now.

5. I have a stupid tattoo on my right index finger that I allowed my drug addict friend to give me on New Years Eve in 1996. It was supposed to be an upside-down cross but just looks like a pile of India-ink blue shit.

6. I can not rollerblade or ice skate. I need quad wheels or no dice.

7. I am petrified of ladders, step stools, etc. I won’t go more than 2 steps up and even then I start to hyperventilate.

Now I must tag SEVEN people…ugh…um ok:

Bonnie, Natasha, Miss Flutter, Jess, Violet, Melody, and Kat.

These people will all hate me now.

Finding people to tag has taken so long I have now missed my Avon sales meeting. Oops. Oh well. Back to knitting!