Monday, October 30, 2006

Creepy Tree or Rotting Mushroom?


Either way this unblocked piece is downright fugly. But hey, the nightmarish thing is off the needles! Working with LionsBrand "Ruffles" was an experience I'm only willing to repeat one more time because I'm determined to see this project come to an end, along with my remaining sanity. The stuff is difficult for a new knitter and nowhere in the directions did they mention how impossibly tight the stuff gets and how impossible it is to bind off without resorting to teensy dpn's.
Lionsbrand says this about Ruffles:

Ruffles is a wonderful new yarn with endless creative possibilities. Slip knitting needles or crochet hook through the fabric and watch it transform like magic into pretty rows of ruffles.

Working with Ruffles requires a special, yet simple, technique. The loops are formed by inserting the needle or hook into the yarn.


I says this about Ruffles:
Ruffles, my bloody fingers and I despise you. Your marketing director may find you "wonderful" but I can't get the nightmarish vision out of my head of accidentally slipping you off the dpn and then losing you and all of your nasty little threadlits in the process ON THE FREAKIN' BIND OFF. My poor pets ran in terror and my neighbors probably think me a shrieking maniac.


"Mom, you scare me more than the big beasties"










"Scream? What scream? I smell food and I'm not budging 'til I get some!"

Friday, October 27, 2006

Bookcrossing: I Am Not Loony, Really, I'm Not

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Who would've ever thought that getting rid of your clutter could be so rewarding? I know there are people who will forever consider me a nut, a loon and a weirdo for dropping my books wherever the fancy strikes but I'm betting they haven't seen my armoire which is so stuffed with books that I can no longer fit clothes inside. Okay, in all honesty, I've been hitting the to be read stacks with a vengeance because I'm needing a new spot to hide my yarn! Who needs clothes, anyway?

It's catches like these that make it all worth the trouble. Keeping two four year old twins occupied while their dog is in surgery? How can this not be a good thing?

"Keep the grub coming Mom and we promise we'll never call you loony."
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Why Art Thou So Inept?

I didn't want to start something that would be way over my head again (like the sorry attempt at socks I tried a few weeks ago) and figured this "Knits for Kids" Ruffled Wristwarmer project would be a snap. Apparently, my ineptness knows no bounds because I've managed to screw this up not once but twice. It's a simple pattern done up with Lion's Brand Wool-Ease in knit one, purl one ribbing, with knit thru the front, knit thru the back increases every 6 rows but as I was, oh lets just say nearly freaking finished, my needle snagged my knitting bag which I stupidly left beside me and all 50 stitches were violently ripped off the metal needle. I did my best to salvage the thing but now my perfect ribbing (ok, so it's not so perfect but it's my fantasy) is marred by ugly twists. I'm at the point where I just want to be done with it or rip it to shreds . . . Needless to say, I am not going to have these ready for Halloween. Unless I call in sick to work. For the next three days/weeks/months?! This picture hides the many imperfections that are driving me mad:

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Candy Corn Dishtowel FO

I finished my dishtowel but Mia, the camera hog, doesn't think it important enough to merit a photo. Since it's my first completed follow-the-pattern project, I'm almost afraid to use it to scrub grimy dishes. It seems so disrespectful, you know?


From this angle you can see the "illusion" a bit better. This was fun to knit up and done on #7 needles with 100% cotton yarn I bought at Joann's.



It was way too cold to practice yoga outside today in bare feet but the trees looked so gorgeous I gave it a try anyway. After 10 minutes, I bid nature goodbye for the warmth of my fur filled house. I ended up doing one of Elsie's Yoga Podcast routines instead. A decent workout that was so relaxing I fell fast asleep on the floor. I'm loving this podcast thing because I can take my practice anywhere I can fit a mat.

Friday, October 20, 2006

FROG it all

Cute, eh? And oh so easy to knit up, they say. "They" apparently don't suffer from insomnia.

Sadly, this project which was 3/4's of the way finished has been frogged. Somewhere in an insomnia induced haze I knit where I supposed to purl, purled where I was supposed to knit and made an ugly mess that I couldn't fix. In my frustration, I ripped and ripped some more until there was nothing left but a pile of crinkly yarn. It felt pretty good until I'd realized what I'd done. Oh the horror!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Dish Towel KAL Day 2 & Day 3

It's book meeting night and instead of making an attempt to read a few pages of this months selection (well, first I'd have to find the book) I've been doing this instead.

Can you guess what this is? I know, but I'm not telling!







Graham sniffs things out and is mighty impressed.








It's Day 3 and I've done something wrong. I knitted in the tails of the yellow and orange yarn to save myself from weaving in the ends when I finish (read this tip somewhere online) but they're showing on the right side of the work. Does this tip only work on solid work or did I screw it up?

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I Won, I Won . . . a ruined palette

I entered a contest at one of the
makeup blogs
I like to visit to view the pretty new things that I can't afford and my prize arrived today! Isn't it the cutest? It's Benefit's Weathergirl Palette and is filled with beautiful colors for every day wear.











Unfortunately I had to run out, left it on the bathroom counter and came back to find this. Block your eyes, Benefit fans, because it gets ugly.

*sniff* Seems as if curious little fingers were busy while I was away. Note the missing applicator which was completely immersed in the lovely champagne gloss and had to be tossed in the trash. Fortunately for the boy-child involved, I learned something from my yoga practice and took several deep breaths and walked away instead of reverting to screeching maniac mode . . . It's only a thing, a once beautiful, prestine thing that was all mine for all of two minutes.






In knitting news, I've cast on for two projects and am learning how to knit with two colors which is easier than expected thanks to all of the help I discovered online. Here's the beginning of the Mid-October Knitalong which is supposed to be a surprise. Because I've been blog-hopping I'm pretty sure I know what it is. Ah well, serves me right for being so damned nosey.







This is the beginning of Ruffled Wristlets which are going to be part of my Halloween costume if I don't screw them up too badly.







And here's Sam today doing his best impression of "THE DOG"

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

My Feline Menagerie

This is Ms. Mia who we think is two. We adopted her from the Humane Society this past August and she's made herself right at home. She loves nothing more than to attack that big ball of boucle that I'll never use up in this lifetime.





This is Mr. Kirby whom we adopted as a wee cute little kitten a year ago. (Note to self: Cute doesn't always = sweet!) He's rather wild and more than a little evil but he keeps the big dogs in line and we love him anyway. This here pic is quite deceiving. Kirbs has no interest in me unless I'm serving up breakfast.

This is Buddy who's almost two and can sleep through anything.

And finally there's Sammy who's 11 and, after many years of humiliating photos, more than likely secretly loathes me.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Slippery DPN's and CAY

Bored of my knit, purl for eternity blanket, I attempted to learn knitting "in the round" with metal double pointed needles and cheap-ass yarn purchased at Joann's. Mistake #1 was thinking I could master this technique in a weekend (ha, ha), then I went and purchased slick metal dpn's and the CAY which was filled with breaks and 4 ply that mysteriously shrunk to 1 ply and then back again to 4 ply. I ended up frogging 4 failed sock attempts before giving up. Tell me again, folks, all the stress reducing benefits of knitting?!

On the plus side I did successfully learn the long tail cast-on and managed to knit one little pinky ring/warmer in the round. I also discovered some helpful videos at Knittinghelp.com so the weekend wasn't a total wash out.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Messy Hearts

Are you impressed yet? Desperate to finish something quickly, I decided to work up a pair of simpleton wristbands with the rainbow boucle on a #5 needle. When will I learn? This boucle, though lovely and soft, is hell to work up. It splits and tangles and is driving me a little more insane each time I pick it up. I'm going to use it along with a sturdier yarn next time around and see if I can find a little love for the stuff.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Why I Love Internet Shopping

I thought I’d visit a local yarn shop to purchase my materials for the Romancing the Yarn sock hop. I knew I’d probably pay a few bucks more for a specialty yarn that I’d probably end up torturing into a lumpy mass of tangled stitches, but what the hell, they always tell you to support your local business people, right?

So I drag my kids into the store. Having no idea what sock yarn looked like, I wandered around the smallish store for several minutes while the store employee/manager/owner sat in a chair chatting and knitting with another woman. After a few moments she hollers to me, like I’m a pesky kid instead of a potential customer, “Do you need something?” I sheepishly ask her where the sock yarn might be located. She grunts something resembling “over there”. I look “over there” and see a whole lot of skeins that could be sock yarn or could be stuffed bunnies for all I know. She grunts “over there” much louder this time and points vaguely to an area near my son where a wall of yarn resides. God forbid she remove her behind from the chair to help a paying customer. Getting extremely frustrated by my idiocy she yells, “IT’S RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOUR SON!” Sheesh, I haven’t been shrieked at like that since I worked at Burger King as a kid in the 80’s.

I listened to my son who told me not to buy any of that old crab’s stuff and we walked out of there. Way to score new customers lady. I wonder how she plans to stay in business with that attitude?