Cheating....Is it really cheating?

Hello again knitting family. I had a busy weekend. My youngest son M did one of those things that drive all mothers crazy - he and his cousins made plans for them to spend the night without involing Moms.. Normally this is ok – but I wasn’t thinking when I said yeah sure M – R & S can spend the night – by the time I got home – it was four kids they added another neighbor kid for a total of four kids - (and I forgot that I had to work) - leaving the boys and Mr. KnitfChick behind. Four people under the age of 11 and him. This was hilarious – while I was working and yes I was working not knitting, he was at home entertaining them on their new Wii system. I came home and thought it would be chaos but he had it under control. While they were doing this:

I had a chance to work on my monkey socks – so far I’m at the end of the foot and almost ready to turn the heel: and completed a kitchen set for some family. I seem to have gone nuts making ballband warshrags. Yes I said warshrags. I love these things!!!! And I wasn’t cheating on my New Years Knitterloution. Is is really cheating? Ok I was cheating…I even started another scarf. You know the cool one on Brooklyn Tweed’s site. The stripes are coming out pretty good and I wish I had chosen a brighter color for the second set – but oh well – I can always make another.

So on the Knitterloution tip – I finished the green ball band warshrag I was working on. I made four more squares for the mitered blanket and added four more inches to the Noro Scarf. And for the first three of you who responded to the Pay it Forward – send me an email at missthg@yahoo.com so I can forward your handmade gifts.

Fw: Public transportation is a drag…

*disclaimer - this is the grumpy evil twin sister who had a long day posting*

You know most of the time I can stomach ride public transportation with no problems commuting to work. I don't mind when folks sit next to me as long as they can keep their body parts to themselves. I don't like for men to sit next to me because they think they need to sit with their legs wide open. Rude!!! It's not enough room in the chairs for all of that. Someone needs to put out an etiquette book about how to use public transportation. I digress…. Last night my evil twin sister came out. I got on the train with 50 of closest commuting buddies – all of us minding our business, reading, sleeping and or knitting (ok only I was knitting). The train moved down a couple of stops with no incidents – until it got to the 12^th Street stop. This is the stop where the train's capacity is tested on a regular basis. After all the folks get on the train and get settled – and no one sits next to me - I think cool it will be a quiet ride home. I do not have my bag in the seat next to me – it's in my lap. Well in walks one more commuter. She eyes my seat and is thrilled there is a seat on the train – as would be anyone who's had a long day. I see her and think – she is really not going to sit down next to me. The thought came to mindI because she is a person of substantial size - (and I am not skinny minny myself) more than I think is humanly possible for both of us to be in the seat. Well you guessed it – she sat down in the seat. While the laws of physics amazed me as she sat in the seat – she did something really stupid….she asked me if I could move over a little to make room for her in the seat. Yep you read that right. I asked her where the f*ck do you think I'm going to go? I swear it slipped out. My co-worker was sitting in front of me and he burst out laughing – as did the gentleman next to him. I did not mean to embarrass this poor woman – but how much more room did she really think I could make without getting up? How does one have the nerve to ask when you know you need the seat to yourself? After my initial reaction I started to apologize until she started talking….I didn't care about her day (it wasn't a bad one)…I didn't ask how it was and I certainly didn't want to smell the cigarette she'd just had and feel her side pressing my side for five stops. Yes I was happy to be sitting next to the window where the fresh air was being piped into the train. I think this was the one time I just wanted to be able to blink myself away I Dream of Jeanie style.

By the way – I was working on the purple entrelac scarf ….

Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward is going around the internet and it seems to have just begun within the last month. I found it here and decided that I could also pay it forward. Many people have spent time showing me how to do things and doing things for me not expecting anything in return so now it's my turn.

Pay it Forward is based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. You all know I’m already a PIF type of person. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?!Please, be a PIF

New Year Knit-a-lution!!!

Happy New Year my knitting family!!!! It’s 2008. Well family it seems that I have developed a bad case of starteris again. It’s been asked by a fellow knitting sista how many WIP’s I have going right now. Well…here they are in all their glory. Let me list them for you:

1. Warshrag - from the Mason-Dixon Knitting in Key Lime & White Cotton
2. Mitered Blanket – again – from the Mason-Dixon Knitting – Caron’s Simply Soft
3. Irish Hiking Scarf – Patons Soy Striped Yarn found here
4. Plain Garter Scarf – Patons Soy Striped Yarn - cast on 15 stitches and knit to your heart's content
5. Entrelac Scarf – Lavender Microspun found here
6. Los Monos Locos – Koigu found here
7. Noro Silk Garden Scarf Found here
8. Fiber Trends Easy Knit Baby Blanket Collection 2 -found here (I had to pay for this one) all others were free.

My knitting shame has now been displayed for all the world to see. Yeah right – I’m not really ashamed – I think I’m doing better than I was – I think at one point that I had about 12 projects going – so now that I am down to eight and I think I’m doing alright. Anyway – I do have one finished object to show you. It’s the Big Bad Baby Blanket! I started this awhile ago and I started finally finished. It was really heavy towards the end and I almost gave up because of the weight. I used six of the 14 oz Bernat Cotton balls – which it was stiff to knit with – but once I washed and dried it – it was really soft and ready for someone’s baby. I just haven’t decided who’s baby yet. Could just be decoration for the couch - cos I think the weight of this blanket may trap a child underneath it! LOL

In the spirit of the 2008 – I will finish all of these lovely project before I start anything else. Y’all stop laughing!! I really mean it. Let’s see who else can do it!!!! I challenge all of you who read this blog to complete all of your current WIP’s before starting anything else. Anyone willing to take this challenge on and report on your progress?

The Crazy Monkey Socks!

I've cast on the socks found here

Long Time No See Y'all

Where have I been? Ha! No where but the couch and the train to work. I’ve been knitting quite a bit lately and have a few WIPs. I’m still astounded by the many patterns I come across and want to knit but alas have no time or enough hands. Anyway – I’ve been working on several things – one of which I finished and passed on to the recipient yesterday – the 3rd Basket Weave Baby Blanket found here. I found some tulle and made – ok I tried to make the Tiffany Ribbon (you know the one on the little blue boxes) but I ended up just tying the knot and adding a left over pacifier to add to it. I thought it came out just ok – but the recipient was really happ and that just made my day!

I’ve also been working on two – not one but two Irish Hiking Knitting Scarves found here – it’s a great way to practice cables without knitting an afghan or a sweater. I’ll post those photos later.

I’m also working on a Noro Silk Garden Scarf found here. It’s so easy and mindless to work on while watching “24” Yes I know I’m on the late train with 24 – but you know Netflix is a beautiful thing! I don’t have to watch one show a week – I can watch the entire season at once. Jack Bauer is the man!!! Always getting folks outta trouble. I’m on Season Four and it’s starting to pick up. Anyway – if you like to watch old movies or hear about other movies you’d like to see – visit Netflix and see what they can do for you.

An last but not least – I’m working on the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch n Bitch – by Lisa Shobhana Mason. The title means exactly what this pattern is. You start off knitting and think – oh this is a nice simple pattern…and it is. But it feels like you will never ever reach the end. This sucker is huge I tell you huge!!!! Forget the baby – this is a good sized lap blanket. I’m making mine from the Sugar N Cream 14 oz balls of white cotton. I decided to triple the yarn making it extremely heavy and no doubt warm. At this point – it’s almost too heavy to knit. – But since I only have about 7 more inches to go on it – I will knit on….

Read y’all later….by the way – got any good movie recommendations? The Debaters coming out on Christmas Day looks to be pretty good.

Ravelry

Ravelry…what can I say about Ravelry. Well…..I found myself lost in there for about two hours!!!! It was probably a lot longer but I care not to admit that just yet. Ravelry has made me a neglectful blogger – but I promise to change my ways. Fiber Enthusiats come together to share projects with folks all over the world via cyberspace. You could spend hours just looking at all of the beautiful handcrafted items and wishing you could touch and knit/crochet everything you see. I’ve found quite a few projects that I’ve added to my list of things to do, thus making my love of knitting even deeper. This place will definitely affect the starteritis in us all. The real querstion is – can I keep myself from becoming completely obsessed and forget that I need to eat, sleep and bath and (other real life stuff) in order to do all of the projects I see. I certainly hope so....So for now I am limited to visting the site three times a week. Keeps the foolishness at a minimum....and if you happen to look for me there I am missthg....

Random Things

Seven Random Things about the Knitfloozy…..I’ve been tagged by UrbanKnitrix to say seven random things about myself so here goes…

1. I love to sing at the top of my lungs in my car when I’m driving alone not just the featured singer – the background parts too.

2. I love peanut butter and cheese sandwiches

3. I have a crush on LL Cool J (Todd Smith) – those dimples are just amazing!

4. I can fall asleep when DH listens to Pink Floyd in the car at top volume and not hear a thing until the album is over. (Crazy but true)

5. I have a shoe fetish (rockin my stilettos)

6. I am addicted to buttermilk bread

7. I’ve never seen Pulp Fiction all the way through – I fall asleep at the same place every single time in the same spot in the movie and wake back up at the end when they are at the diner at the end of the movie.

Tight Knitting

Hey folks! I’m still here. I haven’t been anywhere except work and home. So what have y’all been up to? I’ve been teaching myself how to read charts and how to actually follow instructions on a pattern. Some patterns you just can’t help but wing your way through and they come out just right. So in my never ending search for patterns I came across some cool socks here. KnittyCent found the coolest yarn on Esty and I just had to have that color. I got my bubble burst when I went to purchase the candy corn yarn and it had all been sold out. Needless to say I was not deterred – I have some purple striped sock yarn that I had frogged from other socks patterns I thought were boring. So in frogging the socks and thinking that I could use the toe up pattern – I managed to mangle the cutesy lace pattern beyond recognition. So guess what I did? I started over only this time from the top of the sock. Did that help? Nope! So I have put the socks down until I can figure out how the heck I can loosen my death grip on the needles and stop knitting so darn tight!!!!

In the mean time I’ve started the Big Bad Baby Blanket from the SNB Nation book. This thing is HUGE!!!! I love it though. I’m about halfway through it and I don’t think I’ll be giving this one away. ? I’ll post some photos of the progress later of the Big Bad Baby Blanket later.

This will end up being for the Knitfloozy’s lap when watching tv or reading a book. Speaking of TV has anyone seen Nip/Tuck? I love it already and it’s only the first episode! I love Christian!!!! He thinks he’s all that and it’s just not happening the way he wanted to! The upcoming episodes look hilarious!!! My favorite reality tv train wreck New York – aka Tiffany Patterson is on one of the episodes. I mean how can you watch the show and not see how twisted folks are and not just love it cos it’s not you? Y’all have a lovely knitting and or crocheting day!

Finishing aint so bad!

In the spirit of finish-it is I have finally completed my Lady Eleanor Shawl!!!! I love it. It’s nice and warm and got lots of compliments on when I went to the Knitting& Crocheting convention in Oakland on Sept. 29th. Many ooh’s and aah’s and can I touch it – I felt like a proud mother! However, I did not add the fringe – I’m not a fringe kinda chick. But for those who did - it looks wonderful on your shawl. tee hee
So again with gauge and measuring – I had no idea it would be so big after I blocked it - I say that because I knitted two extra patter repeats. Yes I feel like I’m still learning about some of the new things that I just keep ignoring about knitting. I can no longer ignore all of the instructions that come with these more complicated patterns. But you know - since it's for me and I found that others have modified patterns they used I guess it's not really a big deal.

I am loving finishing things. I feel so much better emptying out my UFO basket.

Oh the pink baby blanket – I forgot to take a photo of it when I finished it. But the little princess I made it for will be here in four weeks! I’m so excited and cant’ wait to meet her. Here I am with her and mom at her baby shower. Her mother is a fantastic friend and will be a great mommy!