Unhappy Hipsters Knit

If you haven't seen Unhappy Hipsters you need to head over there right now for a good chuckle. Plus there's knitting!

Compulsive Knitting

A very interesting photo gallery and an interview with artist, Daniela Edburg, titled Compulsive Knitting.

Darn You, Twitter

Twitter has been stealing my blog fodder. I don't mean that anyone is taking stuff from my blog. I mean that when strange, funny, or oddly entertaining things happen in my life, and I can express them in 140 characters or less, I tweet about them instead of blogging. Which pretty much just leaves knitting content for the blog and I can only knit so fast.
Some things you've been missing.

• Older son didn't come home from school on Friday. He forgot his phone and never showed up. I had no way of reaching him. I was freaking out when we sauntered in an hour later. There was a lot of yelling and crying.


• Older son was home sick on Monday. In the middle of his cello practice he paused and yelled, "MOOOOOMMM, what's hydrocephalus?" I cannot explain why he asked or what he did with the information.


• We have started hosting a Glee potluck every Sunday night. A group of friends come over for a potluck dinner then we watch Glee and then play a little Rock Band.


• We have Beatles Rockband. And it's awesome.


• Younger son doesn't think the Beatles are all that great and really wants a Weezer Rockband. This past Sunday he wrote a letter to MTV Games and EA, the makers of Rockband, to ask if they would make a Weezer Rockband.


• We have continued on the cleaning and organizing streak. There is still much to do.


• Wes and I have a lot of silly exchanges on Twitter.

Okay, I think you're kind of caught up. Except for missing lots of tweets saying that I'm tired, need coffee, have a headache, should be working, etc.

The Featherweight Cardigan is moving along. I separated the arms last night and knit an inch on the body. I'm watching the yarn carefully. I think this might end up being another short-sleeved sweater.

Random Sheep News Wednesday

Ram on the phone lines
This poor guy...


Lincoln wedding dress
This could have gone really wrong but I think it's charming.

Little Silly Thing

I walked into a Starbucks today and saw the cups I'd been hoping for. It's a reusable, double walled, insulated travel cup with straw for cold drinks. Once the weather warmed up I switched from drinking hot coffee to iced americanos. I do make myself coffee at home but most days I swing by Starbucks on the way to work for a coffee. I have been feeling guilty about all the plastic cups I was throwing away. My travel mug I use for hot coffee is too small for cold drinks (I like a BIG cold coffee drink). Plus no straw. Apparently these cups, in the old grande size, are selling for big bucks now. But I was very happy to spend $15 and not have to hold a sweaty cup in my hand while I enjoy my iced coffee.

It's a silly thing but it cheered me up.

Promiscuity Will Get You Nowhere

I've been dabbling all week. Flitting from one project to the next and back again. I've done lots of knitting though. (My camera battery just died while I was out taking photos so you'll have to use your imagination for this post.)

Evening Stocking for a Young Lady: I have turned the heel on the second sock. Just need a few hours to finish this one off.

Hexagon Blanket: I have squared up two sides. This took a lot of time and trial and error to understand what spaces needed to be filled in to make a rectangle. I believe I know what I need to do to complete this project. This makes me feel like it should already be done since I've already completed it in my mind. Instead I think I still have about a third left to knit.

Merino Baby Dress: I reknit the body and cast off last week. It's been sitting waiting for me to finish up the edging on the the armholes and neck opening.

Sock Yarn Blanket: I pulled this guy out of the trunk last night when I went to the movies. It's getting really big but I still think it won't be done for a few more years.

Red Red Raglan: On Friday my younger son told me that he wanted a sweater. A red sweater. I pulled some REALLY RED yarn that I got for him a few years ago and cast on for a seamless raglan. I started it on Saturday afternoon. The body is done and I have just started the sleeves. The yarn, Merino Mix 100 by Madil, is discontinued. It's a real shame. It's a wonderfully squishy, drapey yarn that knits up beautifully and is machine-washable. I'm glad I stashed this one. I'm a little worried that I won't have enough to complete the sweater so I brought my son by the shop yesterday to pick out a color of Bingo to use for stripes in the yoke. He picked a very bright blue to go with the intensely vivid red. It's a color palette that proudly declares, "I was selected by an 8 year old boy!"

So which project should I work on tonight at Purlygirls? I can't decide so I'm bringing them all.

My World is Green (Except for the Scarf)

My first scarf is off the loom. It's got some issues. I do love the colors though. I need to get started ASAP on my next and final class project.



100% angora handspun from a hand-dyed roving purchased at The Artful Ewe. It was a pleasure to spin. I'm happy with my plying. Now I need to wash it and beat it up a bit to full it and fluff it up.



Evening Stockings for a Young Lady. The first one kind of dragged on. The second one is knitting up really quickly. I will have loads of yarn left and am thinking up something fun to do with it.



My younger son has been begging me to make a Cthulhu doll for him for months. Finally got started this afternoon.

Would you say I'm in a green phase?

Now THAT is Creepy

Going into the grocery store last night I passed the pumpkins for sale in these bins.



Creepy, right?

Then I saw this one.





"I'll be back...for a pumpkin."

Turn That Frown Upside Down

After finding out some horrific news tonight I needed some cheering up. Enter Upside Down Dogs! If that doesn't put a smile on your face nothing will.

What You Don't Want to Hear When You Go for a Blood Draw

"Oooo, they want a LOT from you today!"

Catching Up

I've had so much to blog this week that there has been no time to blog.

On Tuesday I finished my Pi shawl and blocked it. I just spread it out and smoothed it with my hands.



I think I'm still a little scared of pins after the whole Hemlock Ring disaster. It's dry now but too dark and cloudy for photos.

I also soaked the Hemlock Ring three times to try to get out the vinegar and the rust. I managed to get the vinegar scent out but the edges are still rusty and it snapped back to it's shrunken size and I'm not willing to wrestle with it anymore or to put any pins in it. What a nightmare.

I have two new completed quilt tops that I haven't been able to take pictures of because of the already mentioned gray darkness.

I saw Lucy Neatby at the Knitters Guild on Wednesday. She is always so funny and charming.

I had my second weaving class today. A few people asked about where to rent a loom. This rental is part of the class. Last week we warped. This week we started weaving.



Please ignore the extreme wonkiness. This is perle cotton in a variety of patterns. There are more to finish before my next class.

I've been working on my Auburn Camp Shirt since getting the Pi off the needles. I'm past the armhole on the first front. I'm still sick of it and am trying to decide what to work on next.

I have spinning tonight at the shop and an all-day spin-in at Weaving Works tomorrow. I spent Tuesday night at home and got a lot of spinning done instead of knitting. I just don't think to pull out my wheel when I'm at home. Knitting is just so much easier to drag around the house.

Tonight I'll be posting the next Doubleknit podcast.

Got to run!

What I Learned Yesterday

Michael Phelps uses more muscles in his arms to cheer than I have used in my entire body over the course of my lifetime.

Pass the Duct Tape

Because my head is going to explode!

I was in the Schaefer booth today. The woman I was talking to said, "I know you from somewhere."
"I met you in Long Beach."
"No, further back, like summer camp or something."
We compared summer camp notes and no match.
"Where'd you grow up?"
"New York," I told her.
"Where in New York?"
"Westchester."
"Where in Westchester?"
"Larchmont."
"Me too."

We went to elementary school together!! How in the world did she recognize me?

In Honor of Shakespeare's Birthday

What if the bard wrote Pulp Fiction?

Marginal Starlet Confusion

Why is it every time someone mentions Eliza Dushku I think they mean Elisa Cuthbert?

Random Rambling

I have lots of photos to share but no time to deal with it all tonight (and most likely not tomorrow) but some time soon. So for now I'll give you that classic blog crutch, a list of random stuff.

1) I got to watch Friday Night Lights online last night. Yay.
2) I could not watch 30 Rock (kept freezing). Boo.
3) I finished my miniature Icelandic shawl from my Friday class. Yay.
4) The class itself was disappointing, too long and boring. Boo.
5) I finished my Broken Cable Rib socks on Friday. Yay.
6) I got to meet an internet friend at the conference and have dinner with her tonight. Yay.
7) I got to show Myrna Stahman the completed shawl that I started in her class last June. Yay.
8) I took Susanna Hansson's Roveniemi (Roveniemi webcam. How awesome is the internet?) Mitten class today. It was very interesting and while the technique is slow and cumbersome the results are very intriguing.
9) I took Annemor Sundbo's class yesterday and got to play around with Norwegian designs (many pictures on this one tomorrow).
10) She'll be speaking at the Knitters Guild this Wednesday night. Meetings are free and open to the public so do come!
11) I drank more regular coffee in the last three days than in the last three years. Those Nordic ladies really take their coffee seriously.
12) I now feel a deep need to visit the Faroe Islands (have you checked out their coat of arms?), Iceland and Lapland.
13) My older son keeps referring to Lapland as "Yakland." We cannot seem to straighten him out.