Why oh why....

Is Ravelry so addictive, seriously! I just can't help myself even when I'm slightly tipsy from cider and actually have to work on a Saturday. I should be in bed but am totally committed to browsing other people's projects until the wee hours of the morn. Must....knit.....this....scarf.....drool.... You get the idea, and yet it happens over and over again. Weee!!! If only I had about four more hands that could knit without conscious direction. Wow. That's a thought.

Wednesday's are for Sharing

I almost forgot it was Wednesday - ya know with the Anniversary, the first day of class (8 am Algebra!), and my change of schedule it's all been kind of crazy. But I do have this rocktastic yarn from Lime & Violet of the podcast fame. Yummy. The color is pooka but it reminds me of some kind of blackberry cobbler that I want to eat up, you know, or knit socks with. So pretty. My fingers keep twitching toward the card and I have to distract myself with finishing the things that are actually on my needles. (Back to School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits) That pretty much encompasses my sharing news because knitting podcasts are my new obsession. I listen to them all day long at work. It helps me get my knitting fix without actually being able to knit. Lime & Violet is my new favorite - could that have anything to do with them earning the 'explicit' tag? Seriously.

Happy Anniversary!

cutekiss
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

Today is our one year wedding anniversary - five years together. Time flies. Happy Anniversary to the Man! We're off to downtown Seattle to gad about town and eat some yummy food. Plus no work tomorrow! Hooray!

Wednesday's are for Sharing

My newest obsession. No, not Bob the Dog, Stash and Burn!! I spent pretty much all weekend catching up on past podcasts while knitting away. These two ladies are so funny and I love the questions they ask each other about their knitting lives and projects. They have wonderful rapport and a great sense of humor. Even if you're a new knitter (like me!) you'll enjoy the content - they talk a lot about color, pattern, fit, and STASH! So good. Stash and Burn is available through their website or by subscribing to their free podcast in the iTunes store. Just listening to them makes me want to move to San Francisco so I can be their knitting compadre. Viva la Stash and Burn!
Next up is Fetching from the Summer 06 Knitty. I love this pattern. I had a ball of yarn left over from my Kittyville hat and decided to knit up a pair of Fetching to go with it. This would be Christmas knitting (never too early to start!) for my little sister. So, about a day later I had the cutest softest fingerless mitts ready to go into the gift box. I think this would be a perfect pattern for learning how to cable, plus incredibly inexpensive as it takes one ball of 98 yd/50 gram yarn. Whoohoo!

Fair Enough

Oh sheep, you may be dumb but you sure know how to grow wool. Beautiful, gorgeous, sheepy smelling wool. All the sheep were so cute and they were all getting haircuts which reminded me of wool which reminded me that there must be handspun at the fair. I saw lots of 4-H moms spinning along in their camp chairs posted outside the barns. Yes! A sure sign of impending hand-made yarn. But after 3 hours of fruitless searching I began to despair. Where were the quilts? The pies and preserves? The floral designs? The giant pumpkins and heirloom tomatoes? The needlepoint entries? My feet started to drag and throb, my head grew heavy and I grew cranky enough to think that strawberry shortcake would be a fine substitution for yarn. (What?!!!) Although delicious, it couldn't really substitute. And there - across the hall- I glimpsed it!! Yarn! Real handmade, handspun, hand whatever, yarn! So I made my way in, wandered around touching and smelling everything and came away with some super-pretty hand-dyed angora/polyamide yarn. Ahhh...success. I'm rather surprised at my scanty purchasing which must have been brought about by a combination of 'fair people' , deep fried food, hours of walking, and a sudden sugar rush. I was intrigued by the giant skeins (546 yds) of sock yarn but just couldn't make up my mind. The Man was getting even crankier than me and so I grabbed the one thing calling my name gave it a good whiff and headed to the register. It shall be a clapotis for me. Mmmm...angora clapotis.

Fair Enough

Which is I've had enough today - all day today. My feet are sore, I'm tired of people, my ears are straining for silence and I can't wait to put my feet up, have a glass of beaujolais, and knock a few rows of Clapotis out. This was my first time at the Puyallup Fair (pew-al-up for you non-Northwesterners) and I'm glad I went. I ate fair food (pretty much everything deep fried, although not on a stick) and was searching somewhat-in-vain for the craftiness I remember from fairs as a kid. But I did find this guy (see pic) who just ate, blows raspberries at the camera, and is about the size of a lap dog. Yay!! He's a baby pygmy and soooo cute! I was actually swayed enough by his pint-sizedness to tell the Man yeah, sure, we can have goats! How about that one? You mean they need friends? Okay, three or four would be fine too. Too cute. I decided I pretty much love dwarf-size things. Dwarf bunnies, baby chickens, pygmy goats, shetland ponies. The list goes on. I've got some craft rant for later but for now, I'll leave you with this picture. The man sure does love goats. He loves them enough to gaze longingly into this one's creepy goaty eyes and whisper to it... I want to take you home but my wife says no. Sure, thanks, blame it all on me. It's not my fault I only love dwarf animals.

Friday at last!

I'm so excited to be home and for it to be the weekend and for the possibility of finishing the Clapotis in the next couple of days. The man wants to go the fair - I'm unsure as I don't like crowds, I don't really want to pay for parking, and I'm not sure I'm up for 'fair people.' I'd much prefer to hunker down with my knitting and the BBC miniseries of Middlemarch. Is it possible to be a spinster when you're married? I'm becoming crazy cat lady without the benefit of singleness or many cats (we've just got the one) or liking the idea of a brandy alexander. I also don't wear much costume jewelry although I'm not actually opposed to the idea of it. Shiny, sparkley things attract my attention like pets with a laser pointer. I guess I'll actually get to the point of this post - the Fall Knitty is finally here! Yay! As completely underwhelmed as I was by the summer issue I'm glad to see several patterns I actually want to knit. (See pic!) I've only browsed through so far so I'm sure I'll have more to blog about post-article reading. Happy Knitty to you too!

Wednesdays are for Sharing..

I'm pretty excited about this post, so much so that the first thing I'm going to share is already on my 'Darling Husband, this is what I would like for Christmas list'. He's okay with that - it never hurts to steer him in the right direction. Easy these days with all the knitting action going on. Anywho, Knitpicks just released Harmony - interchangeable needles and cables that are wood. Oh my, are they ever wood! So cool and kind of gaudy old-ladyish at the same time. I heart them. So you can buy these kids singly or in a set that comes with size 4 - 11 needle tips and 4 cables. For now I'll just have to sustain myself by visiting their website and drooling a little.

As Fall weather is fast-approaching, rather already here in the Northwest, my thoughts turn to layering. Sweaters, scarves, coats, and my new favorite thing - fingerless gloves. I found these

cool ones through Ravelry
but you can get the free pattern here. They're oh so pretty and I can't wait to knit them up in some pretty fall colors. I love the pattern and the length of the cuff. Long enough to go under a coat but not so long you're wrists look like sausages. It seems that painter's palette is a popular yarn choice for these so you can head on over to Knitpicks and get yourself some 1.99 yarn and some harmony needles then download this pattern and knit happy thinking - Wow! That girl Erin, she sure does all the work for you. Well, all of it but the knitting.

Good Question

I might have been remiss in my posting of last night that everyone knows about Ravelry. Ravelry is an online community of knitters and crocheters where you can create your own profile complete with stash, needles, projects in progress and a queue to add patterns you want to make. All this as well as social networking and lots and lots of information about yarns and patterns and help. Right now it's in beta testing so you have to be on a waiting list to be invited in but I think it's soon to be made public. In short, it's a great resource for knitters and fiber arts people of all abilities and backgrounds. Go to their website (linked above) to get more info and add yourself to the waiting list. Thanks for the question!
In other knitterly news, as of 10 minutes ago I finished my socks. I'll be sticking those suckers in the cedar chest to await the shipping of Christmas gifts. As of right now I'm incredibly ahead of the game in that department.

Friday is Clam Chowder Night

This reminds me of going to Denny's with the grandparents. Friday is always clam chowder night. With the little packets of saltines and the thick white bowls with handles. You know the kind. But I digress - I am now officially a Ravelry member. I'm sorry if you're not and have been waiting forever, but there it is. It's definitely worth the wait and I've already learned a lot from cruising around. Well, that makes it sound kind of dirty but I do love a good lurk. To make things even better, despite my incredibly crappy 4 day work week (how the hell does that happen?), I arrived home with a tally of Strongbow, some movie watching action, and two new knitting books on my doorstep. Apparently UPS knows how to treat a girl right. ;) Scarf Style and Folk Style. I'm putting off putting my grubby hands on them until I've got part of that Strongbow in me, a movie in the mac, and some food in my belly. Ahhhh....bliss. (Pictured is a little update of the Clapotis - the first stitches, they are dropped!)

Wednesdays are for Sharing

I've semi-recovered from yesterday's slump. Only two more days until Friday and that, my friends, is helping my outlook immeasurably. There are two things on the agenda for today, the first of which I've heard people talking about and think I've even picked up a skein or so to fondle at the lys. This would be Tilli Tomas yarns. I'm not quite so enamored of her patterns but the yarn, oh the yarn. Just looking at it makes me want to pick it up and stroke it and whisper sweet nothings into it's not-there ear. I see wraps and scarves and fancy little shrugs for that one time a year I go to the ballet in my future. Well, sometime in my future.

And I've totally got a thing for this burnt orange color this Fall, terra cotta? Burnt Sienna? Pumpkin? I'm totally there. (Let's forget this Fall's fashion dearth of truly jewel-like colors.) I don't need no stinkin' hot pink sweater! Give me plums, garnets, teals, coffees, and charcoals! I live for Fall and it's gorgeous array of deep rich colors. Alright, enough of the rant.

If you like the Instructables website you're going to love Craftster. I can, and sometimes do, spend hours browsing and ogling peoples crafts on this site. They've got every kind of craft and how-to known to crafter-kind. I love the tutorials and to see people recreate, modify, and morph existing crafts (and other household objects) into cool creations. You'll be astounded by the scope of creativity and want to craft to you're own heart's content. Viva la craft-planet!

3 Day Weekend, 4th Day Morose

I'm feeling drained and tired today. Lots of heavy cleaning this weekend and not enough sleep makes me want to cry, throw tantrums, and be miserable to everyone. I hate early morning cheerfulness - I just want to wallow in my sleep deprived ill-will for a while and not talk to anyone. I have knitting to speak of but will wait until tomorrow when I'm on better terms with the world. Let the iPod induced solitude commence.