Freak of Knit-ture

I'm home.  I got in at midnight, home by 1 a.m., in bed around 2.  I'm bushed people.  Yet I did work today.  I must be crazy.

The trip was great.  Now that I'm home I'm cold, because it was, like, 70 degrees every day there.  And on Tuesday, when it rained a bit, it was still warmer than it is here.  Alicia, my best friend, looks great, especially only 1 month after having a baby.  She's amazing.  4 kids.  Not easy.  The new baby is so handsome, he's my new boyfriend.  And yes, there's pictures, I've just been too tired to download them.  And Alicia took a lot too, so I'll post what she sends me when I get them.  The kids (from now on refered to as things # 1 through 4) are brilliant, all of them.  Thing #2 (her eldest son) was getting over a cold, but he's just the most amazing 3 year old I've ever met.  How many of you know a 3 year old who can actually hit a thrown baseball, and we're talking that he can connect, hit it straight, and FAR.  He can also throw a football - spiral and everything, and catch one too.  And tell you all about dinosaurs, and count, and he can do almost the whole alphabet in sign language.  Plus he's just cute.  Thing #1 is too smart for her own good.  I did start teaching her how to knit.  We got her a book/kit at Barnes and Noble on Monday night, and I showed her a few things.  By Tuesday morning before school she was casting on, on her own.  Thing #3 is jealous of her new baby brother, and tries on a fairly regular basis to "take him out."  But she's still a charmer.  And is using sign language to tell you what she wants, and she's not even 2 yet.  (They hired a lady, who I met and really like, to come in 3 days a week in the mornings to help Alicia get everyone off to school and stuff, and this lady is teaching #3 sign language.)  I mean, hell, its only possible to do so much when breast feeding and that kid eats like every 1/2 hour! 

I did get quite a bit of knitting done this trip.  I'm almost finished with a pair of Bearfoot Mountain Colors socks, I just have to put in the afterthought heels.  And I started another pair of toe-up 2 socks on 2 circulars with afterthought heels in Lorna's Laces Jungle Stripe on the plane home.  I have decided to name these socks, The Socks that Barney Shat.  You'll understand when I post pictures.

I came to the realization that I have seen more movies while travelling than I have at home.  So I've decided to start Sarah's Unplanned Travelling Movie Review.  I'll use a set of 5 double-points to rate.  Never mind what size!  Recently seen:  Cinderella Man (on the bus-twice to New York) and Walk the Line (to and from Las Vegas).  Originally I hadn't planned on seeing either of these movies.  I don't like Russel Crowe or Joaquin Phoenix.  But I give them both 5 DPs.  I haven't stopped singing Johnny Cash songs yet!  Needless to say, Walk the Line made me realize EXACTLY what I want for my birthday - the entire Johnny Cash (and Johnny Cash/June Carter) collection on CD, and an I-Pod.  I'll go into further filmular detail tomorrow, when I'm not cross-eyed with jetlag.

Must sleep again.  Now.

1)  Most importantly, that by the end of this year I will have enough hand-knit socks that I will never have to wear store bought socks again.  Now, this doesn't mean that I need to knit them all, so any sock-knitting fairies out there....get to work.

2)  I am going to make enough money this year to be able to afford a house-keeper to come in at least once a month to clean that which I don't want to.

3)  I'm going to lose some weight.  Just some.  I'm not fooling myself.

4)  I WILL get myself onto a yarn diet.  At some point.

5)  My sewing machine will come back out of hiding and actually get used.

These are the important decisions I have made.  Life-changing aren't they?

In doggie-dog news.  Sydney and I went to the canine cardiologist today (Conan stayed at Camp Auntie-Peggy).  Our Sydney guy's ticker is status quo, which is better than the other options, and he is ok for anesthesia if needed.  He's such a good boy with this cardiologist, just lies there and lets her take an EKG, while I pet his nose and talk to him.  This means that by this time next week he will have at least one less tooth in his mouth, maybe more.  I kind of wish they made doggie dentures, because the thought of his poor toothless smiley mouth just makes me want to cry.  But it should also help his cough, so I guess its for the best.  Oh yeah, and he lost some more weight!  Our Sydney-potamus now weighs 24lbs and losing!  Yay Sydney!

Ladies Whose Knitting Style Sucks (and we know who we are, don't we - hopefully I didn't leave anybody out), it was so great meeting all of you tonight, even if I did show up late.  Really, I was under a dog.  Lolly, next time you have to stay longer dammit!

Can't wait until the next one!

P.S.  See this post on Eunny's blog if you want to know what I'm talking about.

I'm so tired its not even describeable.  And I don't think that's a word.  I've spent most of the beginning of the year out of town at trade shows.  Most recently I was at Toy Fair, in New York this past Monday.  Yes, up to NY and back to Baltimore in the same day.  Why?  Because of this.

That's my front yard.  Sunday.  Wanna see the back yard?  I love my back yard.  It's like a little piece of heaven.  And here it is covered in snow.

Good thing I had finished these.  I made them from some handspun I bought from Lynnell at Yarn Rescue.  Just a quick toe up and afterthought heel from worsted weight.  I actually wrote down what I did, so I'll post a pattern.  Yeah, I promise.  I'll get to the damn ducky mittens too.

So anyway, because of the damn snow, I didn't get up to NY on Sunday.  Missed the clown parade, my favorite part of Toy Fair.  Poo.  But I did finish another pair of socks out of Vesper Sock Yarn in Aquamelon.  And I re-started a pair of Jaywalkers in Socks that Rock, Queen Rock.  I'm not sure I like them though.

Now, there's been a lot going on in the news.  I'm choosing not to comment on our esteemed Vice Accident shooting someone, or the completely odd opening ceremonies at the Olympics.  Its just too much.  But on the home front, Conan is now pneumonia free.  And Sydney has developed an abcess on one of his teeth.  And he only has like 6 left!  The worst of it is that it is in one of his eye-teeth, where the root goes into his sinus cavity, which is why he is so sneezy, and the infection can affect his heart.  So I have to go back to the doggy cardiologist with him as soon as I can.  There's $400.  Then they'll probably have to pull his poor doggy tooth, hoping we can avoid anesthesia, because of how it could affect his little oversized ticker.  God knows how much that'll be.  I'm thinking of taking up a collection.

This is what he thinks of it all.

Sweet Sydney-potomus.

Conan and Sydney have decided to celebrate the Mistake of the Union's (hey, did you see that they give his bio in Spanish too?) State of the Funyun Address by having a mutual hump fest.  Everyone watch out, when they chase each other, nothing's safe.  Fortunately, they only hump each other.  I have decided not to comment on the State of the Funion, because it will only serve to get me in a tizzy.  I will say that I spent a lot of time asking the television why he wasn't talking about here as opposed to over there, how he intends to pay for what he just said, and what world are we talking about again?  And then Conan and Sydney decided it was time to go out and take a crap.  Very apropos.

Here's a little bit of previously promised sock porn.

I did this using Queen Kahuna's Crazy Toes and Heels.  I highly recommend this book.  I'm currently working on another pair using Vesper sock yarn in Aqua-melon.  I think I'm going to try an afterthought heel this time.

On an even more exciting note....I got my 1st Secret Pal gift yesterday!!!!  Here are a few of the before shots. 

Action shots to come later.

Funny thing, I've actually been wanting one of those sheep tape measures for like, forever.  I'd talk about what I'm preparing for my SP, but I'm not sure if she reads my blog....I'll take pics before I send it out and post them after the whole Secret Pal  thing is over.

Now, let me see.....there has actually been quite a bit going on.  At the Washington Gift Show, I ran into 2 yarn stores and a yarn distributor.  The most exciting of which was Aylin, of Aylin's Woolgatherer.  I'm such a fiber groupie, I knew who she was and had a small conniption when I met her.  She invited me to a retreat in June.  I'd love to go, but I'm not certain I'll be able to afford it.  Then, this past Sunday at the New York International Gift Fair, I met Lexie Barnes!  Do I ever love her stuff!!!

In closing, Conan's pneumonia seems to be on the mend.  Here's some pictures of the boys I stole the other day.

Same bed, same day, same nap.  Some sweetness.

And what I've been up to.  But the most important thing is that I've finished the Crusoe socks!  They look great, but I haven't taken pics of them yet.  I can say though, that you must, must, must get some Fleece Artist Merino Sock Yarn!  Talk about happy feet people!  I didn't want to take the suckers off.  So I went and bought some more.  Tee hee.

Well, I didn't get to knit with Heather in Crap-lanta, but we did get to dinner.  With my father and one of our sales managers (who I forgot to warn Heather is a bit of eye-candy).  All in all, it was a good trip, but exhausting.  And now we're preparing for the Washington Gift Show.  Or as I like to call it, The Dilly in Chantilly.  No, I don't really call it that, I REALLY call it torture.  But its gotta be done.  The dogs and I spent the night at my parents last night and I went in today to help set up the show.  It starts on Sunday and goes until Wednesday, and though I will be hauling my knitting with me, I doubt that much'll get done.  And don't expect to hear from me until I don't know when, because then I have to go to New York for the day next Sunday.  That's the New York International Gift Fair.

If you think I have a glamourous life, I might snort, and snot may come out of my nose.  So don't say it.

The washing machine guy came today and its not broken.  Aaaand, Conan's crap-a-palooza seems to have stopped, though if you heard his stomach you'd be worried too.

At the same time, now my father is going to Atlanta too.  And we're sharing a room.

So that leaves me at, what knitting to bring with me.  Should I bring the Crusoe sock and maybe get its mate done too?  Or do I bring my Queen Kahuna socks that I'm trying?  Or do I start a whole new project?

At least Heather will be down there too.  Maybe we can sneak off and knit.  I hope.  Gawd, do I hope.....

I am so sorry Secret Pal!  I'm going to give you the answers to the Secret Pal 7 Questionnaire just as soon as I explain why I haven't already done them.  Oy.  First you'll probably laugh, but then you'll want to cry.

Here goes my week:

On Friday I was in a car accident.  Actually, I was hit.  It was a low impact thing, no one was hurt.  I was in the left lane, advancing to turn, and the guy in the center lane decided he needed to be in my lane, where I was, but he didn't look before he turned.  So he got my car on the passenger side, from the front all the way to the back.

I had to drive up to Ft. Washington, PA with my father to go to the Philadelphia Gift Show (which OBVIOUSLY isn't actually in Philly, but who's really paying attention) on Saturday.  We came back the same day, so its a looooong day, with just me and dad, which usually leads to some sort of unpleasant fireworks.  Fortunately there really weren't any, which is odd, considering I had a headache that had been around for days AND I got my period. 

I spent Sunday doing paperwork that I had been putting off.

Monday, I was supposed to go to some customers, but I never made it out of the house.  I was on the phone with the company I lease my car from, and the insurance people all day.  I have to go to the Geico insurance adjuster NEXT WEEK.  Sheesh.  That and I had to get plane tickets and a hotel room so I can fly to Atlanta this weekend for the Atlanta Gift Show.  Yes, I could've booked earlier, but my father didn't make his mind up until late last week that I was definitely going.  It'll be Saturday to Sunday, but now I've lost yet another weekend.  And there's basically trade shows every week from now until mid February, so I don't know when I'll see another.

Yesterday, I was everywhere, trying to make up for Monday.  Which wasn't so bad.  I just didn't get time to go to the grocery store, but hell, that'll wait.

Today.  Today's the kicker.  We went to bed late last night, I've been struggling with the Crusoe Socks.  Had to frog them once, and I had finally casted back on with 60 stitches yesterday and started again.  I'm using Fleece Artist merino for this and she originally used Koigu, so either Koigu is much stretchier than I give it credit for, or she has teeny tiny feet, because 40-44 stitches never made it past my toes when I tried to try the first go on.  Anyhoo, we went to bed around 1:30 am and I was woken up by Conan around 4:30 am.  Usually this means he just wants to get off the bed and get a drink of water.  Well, around 5:30 am I was awoken to a horrific smell and an upset Conan.  He had had an ass-splosion on the bed (he's done that only once before, both times I didn't get up when he tried to get me to, and both times he didn't mean it).  So of course I get up, take EVERYTHING off the bed, clean clean clean the floor and take the dogs out.  I start the washer and that's when I notice, WATER COMING FROM UNDER THE WASHING MACHINE.  That's not good.  So I check the hoses, I look everywhere, hoping its coming from the back, or something, because UNDER is never good.  Nope, its coming from under the washer and its a fairly good amount of water.  So I finally find someone who can come out tomorrow to look at it.  Just the "diagnosis" is going to cost me almost $100.  And on top of it all, I think to myself, oh self, maybe I should move the basket of clean laundry off of the floor and out of the way of the potential water.  So I do, but somehow manage to poke myself in the eye with my laundry.  So now my eye hurts too.  Geez.  And Conan has started coughing on top of everything, and he's a bit out of it, so I'm even more worried about him.  I'll be sleeping light tonight, huh?

On the upside, I DID get that paperwork done finally, and faxed off to the people it needed to go to.  But I didn't get to go to the post office, which I desperately need to do.  And I still haven't sent off the crappy 2006 Pattern a Day Calendar that I promised to swap with this woman on the Knitlist.  I received the handspun yarn she swapped for it today.  Crap.  So, now I have to do that tomorrow too. 

So anyway, hopefully you are only on the laughing stage.

Now I'll post the SP7 stuff.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?

Yes.  I admit it.  I've been known to use acrylic stuff, but I much prefer natural fibers.  Blends are ok, but more wool than nylon/acrylic/poly-crap please.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

Yes.  I do both, though mostly I knit.  But I have a wheel and once in a while I'll spin something.  Just not recently.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Storage?  What's that?  Actually I have a Circular Solution and a Double Point Solution, and my straights are kept everywhere and in some needle rolls. 

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've been seriously knitting for about a year now.  I'd consider myself to be of an intermediate skill level.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

You bet yer bippy I do.  Here.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Coffee.  But I love white gardenia too.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Too much so.  I'm trying to cut down.  Momma's gotta diet.  But you can't go wrong with chocolate.  Or chocolate covered coffee beans....mmm.  I also like Goldenberg's Peanut Chews.  But who doesn't?

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

Not much.  I can fix things, and once in a blue moon I'll make a card or something, but mainly its fiber stuff.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I have an MP3 player and I'll listen to just about anything.  I haven't been listening to much music right now.

10. 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 green.  But if its bright or has a sparkly thing running through it, I'm hooked.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I'm single, with 2 fur children.  Conan and Sydney.  Both boys.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Anything but ponchos.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

ALPACA ALPACA ALPACA.  Did you get that?  I'm in love with handpainted and/or handspun stuff.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Polyester.  Rayon.  Man made goo.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Socks and lace.  This week.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Anything.  I haven't found one that I don't like to knit yet.  But I haven't tried everything, so I also don't have a favorite either.

17. What are you knitting right now?

3 pairs of socks and a lace shawl.  Don't ask.  Just know that I'm going to stick to Queen Kahuna's way of doing things, or I'm using dps from now on.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

YES. I. DO.  The more useful the better, because I like to show them off.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

Circs.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Give me my addis.  Otherwise I'll use my Denise set, thank you.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Both, but I'm looking to upgrade to a wood swift and a jumbo winder.

22. How did you learn to knit?

When I was about 6.  My mother and my grandmother.  But I had no concentration then, so I was never any good.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

I guess about 6 months. Maybe longer.  Its the Bevin Tank.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

I like my dogs.  Otherwise, armadillos.

25. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween, or the 4th of July.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

Armadillos. 

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Interweave, Vogue Knitting

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?

I want Big Girls Knit when it comes out.  And I want to add Elizabeth Zimmerman to my knitting library.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I want to start doing intarsia and fair isle.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I wear a 7 1/2 to 8 shoe.  I have an almost 9" ankle, and the same with the ball of my foot.  I have better measurements someplace.....

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

March 18th.

There you go Secret Pal!  Hope that helps.  Now stop crying about my day and get back to knitting!

Now that the "HOLIDAYS" are pretty much over, and almost all of my gift knitting is done, I'm at a loss as to what to do next.  I've got yarn piled all over my living room (amongst other places....) waiting to me knit into things for ME, and I can't decide what to do first!  What a painful quandary.