Knitting the Blues

WHAT!? I Still Have Another Day!?Day THIRTY!

Oh, man! It is the last day and I am exhausted and while I have a post in my head, I haven't the energy to make it the post I want it to be. Maybe tomorrow. Or Friday. Or.......

How about a random list?

• The NaBloPoMo prompt for today was something predicable like "what did you learn doing NaBloPoMo?"
• Yikes, I'm afraid what I learned wasn't anything earth shattering or inspirational.
• I hoped it would spark in me the same enthusiasm I have had for blogging in the past.
• Did it?
• Weeelllll.......
• Probably not.
• But I don't think I want to give up the blog just yet.
• I mean, it is paid up for a few more months.
• It is a habit thing.
• I've gotten in the habit of at least thinking of the thing at the end of the day.
• I've not gotten in the habit of remembering to take photos and remember anything that I can turn into blog fodder each day.
• I'm working on that.
• I was looking back and realized that I didn't finish NaBloPoMo last year.
• I'd forgotten that.
• I didn't finish NaKniSweMo this year.
• I didn't start until the 11th and went entire days in a row without knitting on my sweater at all.
• I have 1 1/2 sleeves left and the button band/shawl collar.
• I think I can finish by the 11th which would still be a sweater in a month.
• Just not a calendar month.
• Whatever.
• I'll be happy to have a new sweater. 
• I have spent the last few months eating too much and moving too little.
• Someone told me yesterday that I could afford it.
• Actually.....
• I can only afford it if I can afford a new wardrobe.
• Or want to give up my hand knit sweaters.
• Which I can't and I don't.
• Why does 10 lbs seem like so.much.weight!
• I can do it.
• I've just finished my second day of clean and lighter eating.
• Yesterday's NaBloPoMo prompt was "What is the last thing you do before going to bed?"
• Heh. I sit on the sofa trying to talk myself into going up and getting ready for bed.
• For hours.
• Two at least.
• I've probably said this before, but if I get ready for bed early then I will go to bed at a normal time.
• If I wait to get ready for bed I get too tired to get ready for bed and I sit up, totally exhausted, wishing I was ready for bed so I could just go to bed.
• It's a bad habit.
• And it is after 10 and I am not ready for bed and I am exhausted.
• Last Thursday's prompt was "Do you like being alone? Or do you prefer to be around other people?"
• I can't believe I missed that one!
• That will be a post for sure.
• I'm also happy that my daughter, who has been trying to get a blog going for a while, managed to blog right along with me, a post every day.
• YAY! GILLIAN!
• I made it through this month without sharing all of my finished projects that are still waiting to be shared.
• I thought for sure I would be using them for back up.
• There are probably some days I should have.
• I'll be doing that soon.
• I can't mark them finished on ravelry until I do, dontcha know!
• To finish a random post I'll add a random photo of one of those knitted goodies.

• I want to send a huge THANK YOU! to everybody who is reading here, who commented and/or supported me over the last 30 days.
• On the one hand I think this is fun, I love sharing my stuff and life here.
• On the other hand I am astounded that anyone would take the time to come back and read every day.
• On the other hand, why wouldn't you? I'm AWESOME!!
• (You say that last bit in a singy-songy voice.)

2011. Fifty-one. $2.87. And there it is. NaBloPoMo 2011. Maybe my fatigue is coming through, but I really do plan on blogging after today. Maybe not tomorrow, but after today..... 

It's the Next to the Last Day.Day Twenty-ninew00t!

What to blog about on the next to the last day of NaBloPoMo. Hmmmmmm.....

I've barely an idea, BUT! I have a great and fun idea for anyone in the Boston area on Saturday. Join Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart in an attempt to break the world record for most people caroling together in one place. WE CAN DO THIS, PEOPLE!!!!! Spread the word! Bring the kids! Invite your friends! Tell them to invite their other friends!

So, that's one thing to blog about. I'll see you there, right? RIGHT!?

Carole has a Ten on Tuesday list going, and I don't usually Ten on Tuesday because to tell the truth, it is pressure for me to narrow things down to ten or think of ten original things or more than two things........

See? I'm breaking into a sweat already.

This week is Ten Favorite Musicals. My problem here is in the narrowing down, but here we go in no particular order.

1. Thoroughly Modern Millie. I saw this on Broadway with Sutton Foster twice. I'd see it a hundred times more, it was so much fun.
2. Anything Goes. I've seen this a lot of times, but last spring I saw it with Sutton Foster (yes, I think she is awesome) and it was the best and most fun I think I've ever had in a show that I wasn't in myself.
3. Chicago. Bebe Newirth and nobody else.
4. Sweeney Todd. Angela Lansbury is my hero, she was fabulous in this. I played the Beggar Woman in college and I loved every second of it.
5. Guys and Dolls. I have fond memories of this one from high school. We had a blast!
6. Fantastiks.
7. Anne of Green Gables. Well, the musical isn't my favorite, but it was the first lead Gillian ever had and it was so fun to watch her bond with the cast and play one of my favorite childhood characters.
8. Carousel. I was in this once, too. I love You'll Never Walk Alone.
9. Godspell. The music is so dated, but I still love it.
10. Next to Normal. This was one of the best shows I have ever seen.

So those were all shows I have seen on stage. The rest of these I have seen either on stage, film or both and rank among my favorites as well. Mary Poppins (my favorite Disney film from my childhood) and The Lion King (favorite Disney film/show-saw both-of my kids' childhoods), Grease, Annie Get Your Gun, oh jeez. Now I'm worrying that I am going to leave one out. That's all you get for today.

Christmas song of the day: I purchased this album and if you are a Zoey Deschanel fan you might like it. I am glad that I paid only $5 for the download. It isn't a bad album at all, but a little 'one horse show', if you know what I mean.

2011. Fifty. $2.93. One more day of daily posting. Gosh I hope I think of something to fill this space tomorrow.

WeekendingDay Twenty-eight

Thanksgiving weekend.

• Turkey day.
• The girls are all home.
• Prep and a run.
• Lots of family coming and going all day long. It feels chaotic, but somehow controlled.
• I didn't overeat at the meal, but my gluten-free, vegan pumpkin pie went down well and often.
• So did some other pies.
• I look forward to sitting and knitting at the end of the day and when I finally get to sit I am too tired to lift my knitting.
• No Black Friday shopping.
• They could be giving it away.......
• Friday afternoon is spent at Cyndi's with extended family and if I thought my house was chaotic, this puts it all in perspective.
• It's an awesome chaos.
• Started the holiday movie/show watching with Elf and Love Actually.
• I love both of those films.
• Saturday is spent knitting and going for a run.
• Saturday night is Sushi Night at Cyndi's again. So.Much.Fun.
• Sunday is knitting and football and I get my crafty side on and create my Advent Wreath.
• Wishing I had remembered to take one photo of anything I did.

Knitting progress. I didn't knit as much as I might have liked over the weekend. It looks like NaKniSweMo won't be happening for me. There has been progress since this photo was taken and in my mind I can totally finish this in time! A sleeve and a half plus the shawl collar and wide button band? No problem! If I don't sleep and quit my jobs.

Along with my Christmas music coming out for the season, my collection of mugs followed along. The first one I pulled out was my favorite, the other side depicts Santa's sleigh flying across the sky. Doesn't Santa look adorable?

There is also amaryllis progress. THAT is not the amaryllis that I have been showing so far this fall. I purchased that one yesterday when I got the greens for my Advent Wreath (no I didn't hike through the woods for them, and for what I needed it is crazy that I purchased them at my local garden center, but that's just how this year rolled.

The amaryllis that I have been showing is on time-out in the garage. I thought we had fruit flies and I couldn't figure out where they were coming from and then Pete noticed them on the amaryllis soil. Turns out they were fungus gnats (EEWWWWW!) and until I have time to get some insecticide and clean off the top layer of soil and cover with rocks that amaryllis lives in the garage to keep the gnats from spreading to my two other amaryllises. Thank goodness it is warmish.

Here is a better photo of my Advent Wreath. The wreath form, the greens, some floral wire and a hot glue gun was all it took. My girls even commented on how talented I am. They really did! Something along the lines of wondering if there is anything I can't do when it comes to being crafty. Awww. Again, I was totally surprised at the outcome. It isn't perfect, but it is perfectly me.

Because the cables are just so pretty. I have mixed feelings about moving onto the sleeves. On the one hand I am closer to the end, on the other I am finished knitting those cables and they were fun. This is really one of those projects that I will be happy and sad that I am finishing. The yarn and design are perfect together and I am enjoying every second of the knitting.

Now for the Christmas song of the day. This one is only here as a nod to my childhood. Pure nostalgia. Funny, it is the same song, but on my cd there is a clip-clopping (like an actual horse) with the percussion and as kids we would do that click-clock thing with our tongues. With exaggerated mouth movements. I don't hear it as well in this audio.

2011. Forty-nine. $3.00. So, you should really listen to this one as well. Still the Tijuana Brass playing Tijuana Christmas. I love it, so dated, so kitchy, so fun! I mean, my head just bobs and nods through the whole thing. I LOVE IT!!!!! Total nostalgia for me.

HOPEDay Twenty-seven

Light the Advent Candle one
Now the waiting has begun
We have started on our way
Time to think of Christmas Day.

Candle, candle burning bright
Shining through the cold winter night,
Candle, candle burning bright,
Fill our heart with Christmas light.

2011. Forty-eight. $3.07. I had a picture in my mind's eye of my Advent Wreath and exactly how I hoped it would look. That picture actually came to life with my own two hands and nobody can be more surprised than I am.

YouTube SaturdayThe Christmas in the Tropics EditionDay 26

With the weather we are having around here lately it wouldn't surprise me to find that we'll be celebrating the holiday season with palm trees around here some year soon. We'll sing Christmas Island and mean Plum Island!

I know, not really a video. If you really want to see something moving here is a light show to Jimmy Buffet crooning it out again.

2011. Forty-seven. $3.14. Listen to those steel drums! Reminds me of my favorite Christmas of all time in Maui. Wish I was going back this Christmas......

I Thought It Would Be FunDay Twenty-five

To share some of my favorite Christmas music throughout the season. Not to mention it gets me off the hook for a post today.

Listening to a Pandora Holiday station, the genre being jazz I think, I heard the Eddie Higgins Trio playing Sleigh Ride and I immediately searched for the album. It quickly became one of my most played. I was unable to find a YouTube video of the song, but I found the Christmas Waltz and it's good as well. This version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen has a few surprises in it musically and is an upbeat fun tune to listen to. I love the album art shown in that link as well, such a beautiful snowy day.

2011. Forty-six. $3.21 I tried to find some example of Sleigh Ride, but wasn't successful. Okay, I really didn't try that hard, I didn't even go to the second search page.

Happy Turkey Day!Day Twenty-four.

I hope you all had the perfect Thanksgiving.

I feel like all I did all day was wash dishes. Well, somebody had to do them, right? I'm thankful I have hot running water and hand cream!

The Vegan Pumpkin Pie with the Sweet and Salty Pecan Pie Crust is really yummy! Even with the slightly burnt crust, I love it. I have to keep reminding myself that while it falls neatly into the approved food category for me, it is still calorie and fat laden so eating the entire thing in one sit down is maybe....... Not such a great idea. Alright, I'll save some for breakfast.

Don't EVEN tell me that you aren't having pie for breakfast!

I held out! I waited to start listening to Christmas music until today. That doesn't mean that I haven't heard any, there is plenty around to be heard and so far it has been mostly good, but today I put actual Christmas music on in my actual house while I actually........washed dishes. Well, and prepared for the day and went for a run. Christmas music time is here.

Kicking off the holiday music season with the same album each year has become a tradition, so the first song I hear is this one. I love this album and having as much really good music as I do, I have to force myself to listen to other albums all season long.

2011. Forty-five. $3.29. Feeling hungry, maybe one thin slice of pie before bed......

Nearly Wordless WednesdayDay Twenty-three

Whenever I write that I think of Nearly Headless Nick.

This is a really yummy butternut squash and sweet potato soup that I got from a vegan/crock-pot cookbook. It is DE-LISH-US! I don't mean delicious for a vegan recipe, I mean for food in general, this is a yummy soup and will be most of my Thanksgiving meal. Don't panic, I'll cheat and add some turkey to it and there will be some green vegetables added to my plate. And I will be happy with that. Really happy, actually.

Then for dessert I am giving this recipe a go. It seems pretty yummy so far, if a bit sweet.  I'll make another this weekend and tweak the recipe a little. First, when I pre-bake the crust I will not have the oven on as high as instructed, I burned the crust a little before I even got started. I almost made another, but pecans are expensive and I wasn't chucking that crust.

2011. Forty-four. $3.38. Now don't you all worry, I will be cheating. I'll probably have a bite or two of a conventional dessert, but I'm saving most of my cheating for the stash of Soutern Tier Pumking that I have been hoarding. And I will put sugar and cinnamon on the rim of my beer glass.

PromptsDay Twenty-two

Blogging every day during the month of November has become a bit of a tradition for me and I'll admit that I have been more successful and more enthusiastic about it in previous years. The first year signed on I actually continued to post to my blog daily for fifteen months straight. After that I was still a regular blogger, but over the last couple of years my sense of commitment to getting anything up on this site has decreased.

There just isn't always that much to say. I bore myself and figure if I'm bored, well.....

So here I sit with twenty-nine minutes left in this day, I'm tired, I forgot to take photos and while I probably have something to say, I'd rather have a skype date with somebody than type away. It is usually right about now that the action of hitting the keys with my fingers works some magic and I off I go on a tangent I never anticipated, a post is born.

Still tired.

So, sometimes I look for topic prompts around the internet. I hardly ever find inspiration there, but I look anyway. Today I looked at the NaBloPoMo prompts. Meh. Often they sound like creative writing assignments which, to tell the truth, I normally love, but not when I am rushing to crank out a post to beat a deadline. I prefer days to mull over and put some heart and soul into writing like that. Today's is "write about a piece of music that changed your life. How do you feel when you hear it now?"

Now I have only twenty-six minutes left. Not happening.

I also have been avoiding lists. I used to do them, but lately I haven't just because, well. Mostly just because. Sometimes it is because I don't connect with the topic or I don't think I can add anything unique to it. Today, though. Today I am tired and out of options and since Carole has a Ten Things You Are Thankful For list going, I thought I'd just come up with ten things. Man, I hope I can come up with ten things.

1. The beach. I love it year round in nearly any weather. I love the sand, the salt water, the sea weed and shells and sun and clouds and greenhead flies.... Oh wait, maybe not the flies.
2. Mountains. Looking at them, photographing them, hiking, camping, skiing (well, I don't ski so much), snow shoeing, it is all so good.
3. New Hampshire where we have seasons and beaches and mountains.
4. Avocados.
5. Hair color and the hairdresser that makes it work on my hair every month. I have very little idea what color my hair actually is at this point. It is my intention to never know that.
6. Leonardo DiCaprio.
7. Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
8. Sophia Grace and Rosie. It's a two-fold thanks on that one. Thankful because they make me smile and thankful that they aren't mine. So.Exhausting!
9. The pillow that my head is about to hit.
10. The end of making this list.

2011. Forty-three. $3.46. It takes me so long to write a post because I am a pretty horrible typist. I used to be good, but something happened and now I hit wrong keys, including the space bar at the wrong times and I'm always typeing letters out of order.I spend equal time with typing and fixing and re-typing. Now I'm really tired. Let me know about typos.

WeekendingDay Twenty-one

What to say today.

• This is an unusual weekend for me.
• Usual: Homebody, maybe heading out for take-out.
• Unusual: Party on Friday and dinner with friends (OUT at a restaurant) on Saturday.
• The food and drink caught up with me.
• Home all day on Sunday.
• Some of you may know that some food sensitivities or allergies have either caught up with me or developed out of nowhere over the last three years or so.
• Stick to the foods that are okay and I feel pretty good.
• Cheating can be okay if I only cheat infrequently.
• I have a problem with that.
• One cheat leads down a road that can last several weeks and leaves me feeling lousy.
• Once I start, though, I cannot seem to stop myself.
• This weekend is the culmination of a binge and it is now time to get my act together.
• Anyway, that subject bores me.
• Other than that, the weekend was so much fun!
• And the food and drink tasted so good.
• The rest of my weekend can be summed up as, well, OBSESSIVE personality disorder.
• Not quite Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but Obsessive for sure.
• I just diagnosed myself.
• See, I'm about to make a quilt and long story short, wanted a particular fabric that I have 1/2 yard of and need more.
• Five quilt shops: no luck,
• Internet search: no luck,
• Ebay: no.luck.
• The search started on Wednesday, but I had no information, only the description of the fabric.
• YOU do a search for "batik blue green" and see how far you get.
• I would have driven the two hours up to Center Harbor yesterday to take a look there, but....see above: The food and drink caught up with me.
• So I thought I'd go today.
• It's one of those things where you've been told by everybody that you can't get that fabric anymore, but if you don't go look it will always eat at the back of your mind.
• Well, it will eat at mine anyway.
• Plus, if I am told I can't get it, I take that as a challenge, not a hint to make another plan.
• As the morning wore on (and I was knitting and thinking about leaving) I decided to try ebay again.
• Guess what!?
• I found a fat quarter bundle with the fabric in it!
• You know what that means!
• I have a fabric company name!
• I head to their website and by a fluke of link clicking I get a stock number for the exact fabric I'm looking for!
• A quick internet search with the correct information: Hoffman 885 504 Montego gets me all the results I need.
• Phew! You have no idea how focused I was on this one thing for the last five days!
• Or maybe you do.

2011. Forty-two. $3.55. This post would be so much better if it included a photo of the fabrics that are going into my quilt, wouldn't it? You'll have to settle for this:

Progress ReportDay Twenty

It seems like a good time to share any progress that might have been made on my NaKniSweMo project. I am, finally, past the swatching stage. This photo was shot on Friday and sadly the knitting has only grown by a few rows since then. This might be more NaKniSweWe. If I didn't have a job or two and a race to run and Thanksgiving at my house. Hmm....

Some amaryllis progress thrown in!

So, yeah. Did you know that I get up in the morning and the first thing I do is look for ways to complicate my life? Actually, I don't even look, it just happens naturally all on its own, a train that barrelling down the tracks with no conductor in control. More on that tomorrow, but also right now. I'm knitting with a gorgeous yarn that was hand dyed by Jen H. at Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Because the yarn is hand dyed and to avoid any obvious variances (is that even a word?) in the dye job I am alternating skeins every other row. Easy, right?

Right.

This is what I do to myself. The yarn comes in large skeins, so I have three of them to knit this sweater. I can't decide, do I knit with two skeins on the entire body of the sweater and then use the other skein for the sleeves? Do I start with skein A and B and then after say..... half of B, switch to A and C and then to B and C? Then how will I work the sleeves? The same knitting gymnastics? Or do I wind the skeins into two balls each, toss them in a bag and pull them out at random? Hey! That sounds like a pretty good idea! If I could do it.

2011. Forty-one. $3.64. My soul has not given up the challenge. While I may be able to say the words, "I won't finish a sweater in November this year," I am not yet able to believe them and give in. No, I do not need any help adding stress to my life, I do just fine on my own, thank you very much.

YouTube SaturdayA Little on the Late SideDay Nineteen

He was my first real concert. I still feel a little thrill, he was so hot.

He really has the moves.

And that sparkle in his eye, I feel a scream coming up, he is so.CUTE!

So, the story behind the concert: Like many young girls in the '70s, I was such a fan of The Partridge Family and Bobby Sherman. I loved him so.MUCH!. Imagine how thrilling it was when he was to be a guest on the Partridge Family show! I mean! Bobby and David Cassidy in the same place! At the same time! Imagine Justin Bieber and Taylor Lautner on the same show in prime time, that is what is was like! The anticipation for that Friday night was great, the advertisements for the show kept the thrill going and I couldn't wait for the end of the week. Friday came and for some reason that I cannot remember (probably not eating my grits or a report card or something) I was grounded from television. WHAT?! I was in a deep funk. Everyone else in my family was watching that show and we had a small apartment, so I could hear it. I could hear Bobby's voice and my family all gathered around watching it, but not me. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was devastated.

Whomp, whomp.

The next day dawned and I was still sad and still grounded from television and you know what that meant. No Saturday morning cartoons! At some point my mom told my sister Mary and me to get dressed, she was taking us to a doll show. I was still really ticked about missing Bobby, but she told me that I'd probably see him soon, you never know, and off we went to the doll show. Well, when we got there, seriously, the NEXT DAY! it was a Bobby Sherman concert! Seriously! My first concert was Bobby Sherman! Better than the Partridge Family appearance by far! My mom was so fun. Sometime I'll tell you how she snuck us into a Carpenter's concert. Right by the security guard and into the concert! Okay, I guess I just told that story, not much to tell after that. I loved the Carpenters as well.

2011. Forty. $3.75. Watching these videos has me grinning ear to ear. Embedding was not enabled on this video, but the man, he aged well.

 

Post.Day Eighteen

Busy Day.

Home late.

Random tomorrow.

Sleep tight.

2011. Thirty-nine. $3.85. I'm such a party animal!

Only One Week Until......Day Seventeen.

No, not until Day Seventeen. Only one week until I let myself start listening to Christmas music!

I don't want to hear a word from you grinches that hate Christmas music out there, I love it. I have so much that if left on my laptop during the year a huge amount of space is taken up and I can't fit anything else in. I have a wide range of music styles in my collection, much current and probably as much classic. I could start on Thanksgiving and go straight through to New Year's Eve and never repeat an album or get bored.

Now is the time that I start checking out new Christmas album releases and deciding which ones I will purchase (Michael Buble, yes) and which to pass on (Justin Bieber....ummm..no). I'll also start looking into free new music. iTunes usually has a free single each week of the season and for the last few years another free single has been made available on iTunes courtesy of either Discovery or some other cable channel.  Last year Target had a lot of free music, mostly original tunes that were really current and fun and in surprising genres. Most of the songs were featured in their advertising, I hope they do it again this year. Amazon gives away a free single every day during the season, and there is a lot of other free music available there if you look around a little. I'll post everything I find out as soon as I discover it so you can share in the fun!

Meanwhile, here is a sample from Michael Buble's new Christmas cd.

2011. Thirty-eight. $3.97. My wrist, which was throbbing for the last few days has mysteriously stopped hurting. Just like that. Well, I did try to do some adjusting of the joint on my own and then I slept on it kinda funny. Popped it right back into place. Funny, that.

(Almost) Wordless WednesdayDay Sixteen

Almost wordless or almost Wednesday? Ah, the quirks of the English language, but that is a post I didn't intend to write tonight, so I won't.

2011. Thirty-seven. $4.09. I am determined to finish at least one of these for this Christmas.

Little Miss Eloise GreenjeansDay Fifteen

Here I am depending on a long ago finished project for blog fodder. I probably shouldn't be typing at all, but knowing what I should or shouldn't do doesn't usually play into my actual actions or decision making.

Pattern: Little Miss Greenjeans (ravelry link) by Amy Swenson
Yarn:  Squoosh Fiberarts Ultra Worsted
Needles:  Sizes 7 and 8
Cast On:  January 8, 2011
Bound Off:  January 17, 2011

This sweater might look familiar to you, but after writing that I'm thinking that if you remember that I have knitted this before and blogged about it then you either really like me, need a life or are a weirdo stalker. (HA! I went to look for the post to link to it and I NEVER BLOGGED it. Well, that'll be a post for this month.) I have no notes for this sweater, it must have been really straight forward.

I do want to say something about the yarn. Superwash. I really hate superwash yarns and last winter I made four kid's sweaters out of three different superwash yarns. Of them, this one was my favorite. It had a nice hand, maintained some body and integrity after blocking and didn't grow as much as the others after it was wet. I'm not sure exactly what base Squoosh Fiberarts uses for this yarn, but it isn't a bad one, at least for a small sweater.

Cute Button!

2011. Thirty-six. $4.21. Well, that's the post for today, folks! Let's pretend that I'm signing off to rest my wrist with the Ganglion Cyst and not to go knit (the latest cast on of yesterday's project is looking good so far!)

 

NaKniSweMoOr Who Says Gauge Swatches Lie?Day Fourteen

I promised a NaKniSweMo update and here it is and here it is not.

I did the work, I swatched and washed and started knitting. I have a habit of lying to my gauge swatches. I knit comfortably and relaxed on the swatch and then for some reason I cast on for the actual project and hold my needles and yarn in a death grip. What you see in these photos is the beginning of a project and the end of that beginning. I'm cast on again with the same size needles, but hopefully will relax my hands and actually get the gauge I got on my swatch. Fingers crossed.

And now an amaryllis update:

Time to start another. Another sweater AND another amaryillis. It makes winter so bright to have an amaryllis blooming each week. I love it.

2011. Thirty-five. $4.35. Hmmm..... Debating the knitting. Just had a Pumking Ale with a shot of vanilla vodka (be sure to cinnamon/sugar the rim!). That will TOTALLY relax my gauge a little. Or a lot.

AAARRGGHHH!!!!!!Day Thirteen

My daughter just told me that I forgot to post last Thursday.

Me:  No I didn't.
Gillian: Yes you did, there is no post for Thursday.
Me: I know I wrote a post everyday. Let me check.
Me: (waiting for the page to come up) UGH! My computer, I hate this thing!
Me: (blog pops up):

WHAT!? I forgot a day!?

After the shock, I thought it through. I know I had WRITTEN a post every day. Some of them haven't been much of a post, but I know I WROTE a post every day. And then I remembered getting this comment from Margene:

 So, did you give up already!?

Posted by: margene | November 11, 2011 at 05:04 PM

That commented posted on Friday and you will understand why I wasn't confused at all by the comment because the following was the sum total of the post that I WROTE on Thursday:

NaKniSweMo
Day Seven

It seems like a good time to check in on my NaKniSweMo progress:

Uh-Oh!

2011. Thirty-one. $5.00. So, while I am dragging on the daily posting it appears I am at a dead stop on the sweater knitting. Bummer.

What Margene was really commenting on was the lack of a post on Thursday. A post that I WROTE on Thursday and must have forgotten to change from 'Draft' to 'Publish Now'. I didn't even blink when Margene asked if I had given up already, but she must have been confused at my answer to her comment: 

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Of course not! Not yet. I know I haven't a chance, but I'll cast on tonight or tomorrow or Monday......

;)
T

Margene, what the heck did you think I was talking about?! That's what I want to know.

More than that, Gillian, you said you were panicking for me. (That is cute, you were in a panic over it.) Why did you wait until Sunday night to tell me? No phone call, no email, nothing! Way to have my back. ;)

OH! And now I understand this comment:

The 11.11 thing went right past me. It was just another day, as far as I'm concerned. BUT, it was a banner day because you came back to blog! You know I love all that blue!

Posted by: margene | November 12, 2011 at 09:21 AM

I had no idea what that meant, coming back to blog. Hadn't I just been blogging every day? So confusing.

2011. Thirty-four. $4.50. Whew! All has been made right. AND! I turned it into blog fodder (I was struggling there for a minute. Or two). AND! I might have sweater progress to show tomorrow.

YouTube SaturdayDay Twelve

Has anybody been watching The Sing-Off? A Capella singing is so much fun! Here are only two of my favorite performances so far.

Song starts at 2:00 on this next one.

2011. Thirty-three. $4.65. Seriously, I love this show so much I could post almost every performance.

Ooops! I Almost Forgot!Day Eleven

I guess this blogging every day thing hasn't really taken hold and now it is late and I have to get up really early and I haven't a clue what to say.

• It's 11/11/11.
• Well, I guess by the time some of you read this it won't be anymore.
• It's kinda cool, but really it was just something for the newscasters to make a big deal out of.
• And new agers to add to their meditations about visualizing themselves doing or being something they really want and imagining themselves walking through three doors of opportunity.
• Ridiculous.
• Yes, I did it.
• Five times, because I did it at 11:11.
• Laugh at will, I am.
• In a few minutes it will be 11:11 on 11/11/11 again.
• I didn't cast on for my sweater yet.
• I was asked in the comments if I had given up yet.
• Ahahahaha!
• No.
• I believe I can do it and will until there is only a week or so left.
• Nevermind I am working two jobs and trying to keep up with a moderate workout schedule.
• Yes, I am running.
• Again.
• Couch to 5k.
• C25K
• I just finished week one.
• Again.
• Third time.
• Last time I got to week three and felt pretty good, so I'm hopeful
• Only eleven minutes to go.
• I don't think I'll do the visualization thing this time.
• Ridiculous really.
• After some random thoughts, a random photo:
• Some know my casual attraction to the color blue.
• Some know that I have a passing fancy for tea.
• Still others might have learned that I have a thing for those cold cups with straws to drink my iced tea or water out of.
• A couple of friends saw some things and thought of me and got me little presents.
• All that blue, all that tea, all that cup, all that knitting bag (JUST LOOK AT THAT FABRIC!).
• AAANNNDDD! I missed 11:11. BUMMER!

2011. Thirty-two. $4.82. Live Blue, people. Live Blue!



NaKniSweMoDay Ten

It seems like a good time to check in on my NaKniSweMo progress:

Uh-Oh!

2011. Thirty-one. $5.00. So, while I am dragging on the daily posting it appears I am at a dead stop on the sweater knitting. Bummer.

Hump Day

This photo (recycled from sometime before now) hardly seems appropriate for the day. Our weather has been decidedly un-fall like. Has it been wintery? Yes it has. And today was if not downright summery, it at least felt like late spring, well, for someplace that actually has a spring. I contend that we usually do not. I had my lunch outside at a park, drove with my windows down and didn't need to bundle up when I went for a run this afternoon. The only hint that we are approaching the dark days of winter was the sunset before five. I finished in the dark. Not that I'm complaining, I'll take this weather any day I can get it, this day was a gorgeous one!

2011. Thirty. $5.19. YAAAWNNNN!!!

File This Post Under The Heading:I'd Rather Be Actually KNITTING!Day Eight

So a quick post showing off some knitting from the last few months. Drive-by posting. I hope.

Pattern:  Leaves Dancing Modell 118/9 by Junghans-Wolle
Yarn:  Yarn Chef Creme Brulee Lace in Sailing the Bay
Needles:  Size 5
Cast On:  May 12, 2011
Bound Off:  May 25, 2011
Blocked:  September 2, 2011 (seriously.)

This pattern was designed in German and I made some slight modifications to it, if you are interested in them and where I got tips to help read the chart, check out my ravelry project page.

Yes, it took me months to block this.  It is really unfortunate that it did because there were many occasions during the summer when this shawl would have been the perfect addition to a sundress on an evening out, but it was unblocked in a heap and I'd leave feeling like whatever other shawl I grabbed was just not doing it for me.

Photographing this and capturing the color just right was, for this inexperienced photographer, not easy. So not easy that I really didn't do it. On my monitor the photos of the yarn and the shawl in progress posted on my ravelry project page come pretty close. Your monitor mileage may vary.

I love the color of this yarn, I think Yarn Chef does a wonderful job at dyeing up yarns that are solid-ish with just enough variation to be interesting, but not so much that the yarn overwhelms the pattern. 

Lace is just so photogenic, isn't it?

I can't stop myself.

Okay, I'm done.

2011. Twenty-nine. $5.40. So much for quick posts. Nearly 90 minutes. I was distracted by television, but seriously.

I lied.

WeekendingDay Seven

This was the first weekend that I didn't feel the constraint of social or other kinds of commitments. Technically, last weekend was that, but there was the whole weather thing that darkened any thoughts of a relaxing weekend spent knitting and watching football.  So, some of my weekend in list form:

• Prepared for the time change.
• Took a beautiful drive up to see a friend I don't get to see nearly enough.
• Listened to a fabulous audiobook, this narrator may be added to my favorite list.
• Thought about going for a run as I knitted and watched the New York City Marathon.
• Picked up a new-to-me toy that I'll share later.
• Trick-or-Treat!
• Spent some time lusting over drop spindles.(I'm a website stalker) (I might have done a little more than just lust.) (Like encourage a friend to buy something.) (I'm good like that.) (I might have done a little more than encourage a friend to buy something.) (Just sayin', I might have.)
• Sushi for supper.
• Endured the time change. I don't bounce back from this one easily.
• Saw the first sign of life from my first amaryllis:

2011. Twenty-eight. $5.63. I have the hiccups. Remedies to try: Drinking water upside down. A spoonful of sugar. Any ideas if those don't work?

Not the Week To Give Up ChocolateDay Six

Thanks to Mother Nature our Trick-Or-Treat night was postponed and is being celebrated tonight.

I guess I'll start over again on the chocolate thing tomorrow. Or right now. Every minute is a new beginning, right?

2011. Twenty-seven. $5.86. Trick-or-Treat!!! Here they come....

YouTube Saturday

How can you not get up and dance? I never let this song go by. Then again, I am rarely sitting if there is a dance floor and music.

2011. Twenty-six. $1.10. Okay, spill. What is your guilty dance pleasure? The one song that always gets you on the dance floor.

It's Friday, Friday, Friday....Day Four

Random photo, random thoughts:

• This photo was taken late summer when there were still some flowers and bees.
• I used a longer lens on my SLR, but not a super long lens.
• Yep, that is how I identify camera lenses.
• Don't even get me started on shutter speed or iso or exposure.
• Lack of knowledge has never stopped me from doing stuff.
• I occasionally take decent photos anyway, just dumb luck.
• On that day I got a bunch of them, but I'm going to spread them out a little.
• A month is a long time.
• Watching House Hunters with my husband is enough to make me crazy.
• With every home shown and price mentioned he has to repeat the cost of the home in tones of  shocked outrage.
• I mean, we all know that it is cheaper to live practically anywhere else in the world than New England.
• And he is ready to do just that.
• I, on the other hand, like it here just fine. Thank you,very much.
• I just had a random thought, but I forgot it as I was about to type it.
• Sadly, this happens about every other thought.
• There. It just happened again.
• I have a date next week with my middle daughter. Lunch and fabric shopping.
• She wants to make a quilt for her boyfriend.
• I warned her that some people (I among them) believe that knitting or sewing or any other thing for a boyfriend is to be avoided before there is a ring on the finger.
• She laughed.
• Then she thought.
• "But I already told him that I was going to surprise him with something I made!" she argued.
• Then she thought some more.
• Like over days.
• I really didn't want to discourage her from making a quilt.
• I've been about dying to have one of my kids show an interest in something, anything that I do.
• I also didn't want her to jinx her relationship with someone who might take her off my hands a guy she really likes.
• Well, thinking won out.
• She told the bf about the quilt/ring situation and is now making a quilt for herself and their future apartment, but in Ben colors.
• I have personal experience with the never knit for the boyfriend rule.
• My first real boyfriend, I decided to make him a sweater for Christmas.
• He was away at school at the time and when I mentioned it to his mother, a woman who didn't waste any of her love on me (God rest her soul), laughed at me.
• Something about sleeves being different lengths.
• GRRRR....
• Anyway, I knit the sweater, a nice Bernat pattern (ravelry link) from one of their Irish knits pattern books.
• It just ocurred to me that this post would be way better with a photo of said sweater on said boyfriend.
• It was a great fitting sweater (take THAT! mom of bf)
• But random posts written by me are pretty stream of consciousness and this one came in this direction with no prior plan.
• I have two choices:
• First, follow my nature and start digging around, looking for photos, obsess over finding that one picture I have of former bf in the jinx sweater, wasting hours of my life, driving myself crazy, knowing that in a perfect post that picture would appear right here or
• Get over it and finish this post and go to bed.
• Back to the Irish Sweater story, photoless.
• (I'm getting all itchy and anxious......)
• Anyway, it is no surprise that of course that relationship ended, I was dumped.
• Yes, I'm over it.
• I was over it in about two days.
• Must not have been true love after all.
• Then again, I'm usually over relationships in about two days.
• I'm not sure what that says about me, but I don't want to explore that right now.
• Or ever.
• BACK TO THE SWEATER:
• The break up isn't the end of the sweater break-up story.
• I got a call sometime later from the ex-boyfriend asking me how to clean the sweater, he had spilled beer on it at a frat party and it was stained.
• Seriously!?
• My best suggestion: Soak it in beer and dye it all the same color.
• Mmmm, yum.
• Anyway, this guy isn't as bad as all that, we were all very young.
• We're even facebook friends now.
• And I married the perfect guy for a selfish knitter.
• He doesn't even wear sweaters, so all that knitting time can be spent on sweaters for me.
• Loves hand-knit socks though.
• And he gets a pair every year for his birthday.
• OH, DAMN!
• That just reminded me that I never got a photo of the last pair I knit for him and wouldn't this be the perfect place to put one and maybe I should get the camera out and get him to put the socks on and take a picture, with far less than perfect lighting so I can obsess over the photo-editing all of which would easily take me a good hour.........
• Well now I think this post stinks.

2011. Twenty-five. $6.43. The perfectionist in me is chatting away in my head and making me anxious about all of those photos that would make this post so much better. I think I need a drink to shut.her.UP! Maybe two.

 

Lucy in the Midnight Sky!Day Three

Try this. It doesn't work on all browsers, but it worked on Firefox on my mac perfectly. So.Cool.

So I guess today I'll share a quick project because I am beat, it has been a busy day and the post I planned on writing isn't fully formed just yet. So, here is a weakness of mine, fingerless mittens. I love them and keep knitting them.

And don't you FORGET IT!

Pattern:  Midnight-With a Twist! by Ferol Max (ravelry link-free download)
Yarn:  Socks That Rock Heavyweight in Lucy in the Sky
Needles:  size 2. I think.
Cast On: January 25, 2011
Bound Off: January 29, 2011

I love this yarn color. I have knitted socks with it and loved it then. This yarn is leftover yarn, but not the leftovers from the socks I knitted. Nope, this was a tiny bit of leftover yarn that a raveler had in their stash for sale and I bought it. Really. That's how much I love this color. It was just enough for these fingerless mitts and I love them.

See that cable?  It was a witch with a capital B! The weight of the yarn on those small needles and working cables with lots of stitches was not an easy thing, but the mitts are dense and warm and I love them.

I usually loathe color pooling, but I LOVE the way the colors pooled in these mitts. So fun!

2011. Twenty-four. $6.75. Props to my personal photographer, Cheryl!

Edited to add: DO YOU SEE THAT! The project details are centered just the way I like them and haven't been able to do after Typepad upgrades! I figured out how to do it!! Yay!

Fighting the Drudgery of Posting Every DayFor ONE DAY IN A ROW!Day Two

Okay, when blogging every day, or often, I usually depend on certain days of the week having, what's the word......themes?  Well, I guess that isn't it really, but I join in on things, like Blue Monday or Weekending.  Well, today would have been Yarn Along, but I never got the photo taken.

Day two: fail.

So, I thought I'd post something that I had knit, but had not yet shared the finished object because, lazy. Some of them I have photos that will only make us long for summer. Oh well. But I'm kinda tired and the thought of uploading and resizing the photos and typeing in the details made my legs and arms go all noodly. (Go ahead, picture me standing there going noodly. That's it. Collapsing and noodly.)

Because posts are prettier with photos, here is a peak of what I got too noodly to post.

Then I remembered Random Wednesdays!  I used to do random thought posts. That's what I'll do!

Hmmmm.......thinking.

Watching television.

I guess I'm rather thoughtless tonight.

Then I remembered that the NaBloPoMo gives daily writing prompts!  Off I trot.....

If you knew whatever you
ate next would be your last meal,
what would you want it to be?

Seriously?

Then I got to thinking. What would I want it to be? I love food. I was very fortunate to be raised by a woman who loved, scratch that, LOVES to cook. She was raised very poor and wasn't exposed to much in her childhood so after escaping that life for the one my dad afforded her she set about to become a gourmet cook. Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking was often consulted and Mom subscribed to a Time-Life cookbook series Foods of the World. Each supplement contained a large hardcover with lots of photos of the country and the cuisine with a smaller, spiral bound book that had even more recipes. I get nostalgic about it just looking at the book in that link. My sibs and I have well developed palates thanks to much experimentation from those books.

So. What would I want my last meal to be? That got me to thinking of my favorite meals and all I could come up with were events. By that I mean, I remember times I was eating more than I remember what I was eating. One of my favorite meals of all time was probably not so much about the yummy fish and excellent iced tea, but that I was with Pete and all three girls in Maui. They had all just taken surfing lessons and were on a high from the accomplishment. We laughed and just enjoyed each other. The more I thought about it, the more I discovered that my favorite thing about my favorite meals was being with my family and making pizza together, or roasted butternut squash pasta that we love.

Then there are the fun times we had (and you know who the we are) at the Coyote Grill in Poughkeepsie, NY. Not haute cuisine, but so much fun. I was fortunate to have great meals in Utah a few years back, but I can't remember what I ate or where I ate them. I do remember the laughs.

Any food eaten on the beach, hanging out with the girls or Pete or friends, is delicious. You know it is.

I've been to some fabulous weddings, but can't remember the food. I remember the love.

I could go on and on, I have eaten many great meals and I love checking out new restaurants and food, but my random thought for this Wednesday(aided by the NaBloPoMo prompt) is this:

If I knew whatever I
ate next would be my last meal
I would want it
to be shared with all of my favorite people, family and friends, and I would want there to be a smorgasbord of foods so that everyone could eat their favorite meal while having fun and meeting new friends and telling stories of all the fun times we've had.

2011. Twenty-three. $7.11.  Oh man! I'm all sappy on day TWO!!!!???? It's going to be a long month. What would you want your last meal to be? It's okay to talk about actual food in the comments. ;)

The More The Merrier!orMisery Invites Company

I'm back! Just a quick post to introduce you to another blogger who I have lured into the crazy fun of NaBloPoMo.

It's Gillian, my eldest who is blogging at The Greener Bean. Add her to your blogroll! Support this fledgling blogger on her challenge to post for thirty days in.a.row!

2011. Twenty-two. $7.50. Well, lookie at me! Two posts in one day!

Here We Go Again!

It's that time of year again!

NaKniSweMo!!!

NaBloPoMo!!!

I've swatched.

I've posted.

2011. Twenty-one. $7.94. Join me! It'll be fun!