No Sleep to Brooklyn

My dear husband and I traveled the length of Ohio during our Christmas Vacation.

It was, like, our job.

We left Boston on a Friday. Drove to Rochester and stayed until a Monday and drove to Kentucky and stayed until a Thursday and drove to Cleveland and stayed until a Friday and drove to Rochester and stayed until a Saturday and drove to Boston and collapsed in a fit of insanity. All told we spent approximately 40 hours in the car.

1 week off + 40 hours in the car = in was our job.

Fortunately my dear husband agreed to drive during most daylight hours. This left me with a bit of yarn and some needles. My new Denise Interchangeables to be specific. Here we begin the parade of objects that came out of that trip. You've seen some projects already. My dad's Christmas scarf being one, and my boyfriend's mittens being another.

These...these are awesome.





We have here Kate Gilbert's Gifted Mitten Pattern. Ahhh, I screwed up these as well. Somehow I was able to screw up the same exact way during the production of the second mitten. Voila...they look the same. Miracles never cease.

These are for a person yet to be named. I know where they're going. They were made just for a single soul. I really wanted the stripes in the mittens to be uneven and seemingly random. I am far to anal for such insanity. Teen Knitting Club book inspired me with a pattern they have for a hat. (By the way, this is a pretty great book. Very well done.)

The number of rows in each color corresponds to the recipients birthday. I'll let you know where these are going when they get there. In the meantime, to use a random example say you wanted to knit a pair of these for, let's see, ME! you would find out MY! birth day and year. March 3, 1976.

The most glorious day of the year. 3-3-76.

For a three color mitten - Color one would be three rows. Color two would be three rows. Color three would be seven rows. Color one would be six rows. Color two would be three rows....get it? If you really want to go crazy you could include the full year 1976. 1 - 9 - 7 - 6. What would you end up with? A very special pair of mittens for a very special person - ME!


No sleep till - Brooklyn !
Foot on the pedal
never ever false metal

Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle

My iob ain't a job
it's a damn good time

City to city I'm running my rhymes.
On location
touring around the nation

What makes you think I need help?

By the time I get home the only thing I can really manage is to eat and cruise the internet. Knitting time has been restricted to my commute. (Which almost led me to the brink of insanity this morning. I moved to New England to escape the perils of crazy people who don't know what to do with snow.) Reading time is limited to those few minutes between my body hitting the flannel sheets and my brain shutting off.

And blog reading? Well, this is only done with strict safety procedures in place with all members in full compliance.



I introduce to you THE BROWNS HELMET. Brought to you by Rob, Browns fan extraordinaire. We scoured the streets of Cleveland for Browns paraphernalia and franklin, I think we hit the mother load with this item.

Strindberg & Helium....

Have you all seen these little videos?

My current favorite is "At Home with the kids."

Robby came across them a few months ago and we constantly laugh at their memory. He pulled one up today. Creepy and funny all at the same time.


BTW - thanks for all of the bloggy support...you guys rock the cash bar.

1/23/05 = 6 months

Six months of marriage and a few bagel bites into a celebration my husband looks at me and says, "How about a romantic evening?"

How do I reply?

"Oh honey, how about a night of cuddling and sleep."

Should I be worried?!

How do you people do this?!

As many of you know, I started a new job this week. It's fun and energizing and motivating and enthralling and just plain damn busy. For one reason or another I had a copiuous amount (or is it copious amounts? For crying out loud will someone get my grammar lessons for my damn birthday. Which by the way is March 3rd. I'm a big fan of the birthday. Full ones and half ones. I may get out a P.O. box for the occation. Kidding. Really. Kidding.) of time on my hands.

Enter blogland. The savior of my blindingly boring day. I love my blog, I love my fellow bloggers. Inspiration, good humor and kind words all in one place. And now, now I can't even find time to check bloglines with its updates screaming at me.

I'm thinking about you all...I'm almost through all of your shanananananangins and will hopefully find some way to balance the demands of a new job and the posting/reading of my lovely blogs.

I have been knitting. Maybe I'll just start posting pictures....

Earth to Bookish Girl - We Have Leg

Two observations about the new job:

A - Elisa is evil. She failed to remove the scary offending clown on January 19th in the Knitters Calender that we both have. I realize now why she wanted me to work with her - so she can scare the bejeezes out of me. That and tempt me into trips to the yarn store during lunch.

B - Do I really want to be a part of an office community that has a sign "Please flush after use" over the toilet? I realize that PhD's can be a little flightly...but, really, is this necessary?!

On the knitting front



We've got leg!

These are the no-sweat pants from Interweave Knits. A fun knit for a fun girl..

Back in the Saddle

Whew. Note to self: do not EVER quit your job. It's no fun for anyone. However, I must say that I made up a new sound yesterday after hopping off my last commuter rail trip to the southern tier of Boston.

"I don't have to work there anyyyyymoooooreeee"

Repeat, say, 1,000 times and you get the feeling that's pulsing through my blood right now.

A quiz:



Which one of these things doesn't look like the other?

The pattern is Kate Gilbert's Gifted pattern.

It's lovely to knit. My boyfriend Caleb picked the colors and I miraculously turned the yarn into a single mitten before his eyes. I made a few modifications and/or forgot to do some things in the pattern. In spite of that it all looked pretty good. The one exception was the thumb. The thumb was super long. This kid could have picked up a ride from the Polar Express with that thumb sticking out. Sorry, no picture...use your imagination!

What is a knitter pressed for time to do? Cut the thumb. Green Eyed Girl recently did this with a silly looking sock. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Totally liberating. I highly recommend it.

I left sweet boyfriend Caleb's side and went off to finish the second mitten. I got the thumb right this time. But I forgot what kind of modifications were made. Alas...two mittens made for someone who is very confused...

Seeing as he's two and likely to loose them in the first millisecond of wearing them - they're getting sent off to him mama tomorrow.

I leave you with this:



Our cat futureman...who has no shame.

Sigh

This is my last week at my job. Sigh. It means lots of things but most importantly, it means I'll be swamped with last minute loose ends. I've grounded myself from blogging - reading AND writing. It's not that I don't love you, it's that I love you too much. I'm still checking email so your comments will be well received!

In the meantime here's something to distract you:

If you're really on the up and up here at Chez Bookish you may have noticed two new buttons on the sidebar.

1 - I was thinking that I didn't quite have ENOUGH to do so I joined another bookclub:



I just started the book. Phew. It's a doosey. Phillip Roth is pretty damn great.

2 - Money, Money, Money (ha! A little Abba for your Monday). For better or worse it makes the world go round. There are millions of people around the world who need our help. Fortunately our media outlets allow us to see first hand how bad things are in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, they tend to ignore other equally as devestating and humanly cruel actions in other locations. We donated to the general fund for Doctor's without Borders. I wish we could give more. Just remember every little bit counts. And for crying out loud...at the very least click on the button and check out how much has been donated!!!!

“Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally.”

It's been a stressful day and I'm looking for ways not to loose my marbles.

The Michigan Law Abuse Watch has announced the awards for its
"Wacky Warning Labels" Contest

.

The winner?

“Do not use for personal hygiene” Label on a toilet brush! HA!HA!

The title of this post won 3rd place. It was taken from a label on a digital thermometer!

I used to have a shade screen for my car windshield that said, "Warning: Do not drive with shade screen in place."

Pauleeeeze.

Any other funny ones out there?

I'm full of it today *

Project Censored has published its "Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2003-2004"

This is so interesting!

For background this was taken from Project Censor's website....

Project Censored is a media research group out of Sonoma State University which tracks the news published in independent journals and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles an annual list of 25 news stories of social significance that have been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country’s major national news media.


link via bookslut

Anti 'No Poop Policy'

I don't know if any of you read Dooce. You should, Heather is pretty damn funny. One of yesterday's (Is there supposed to be an apostrophe s there? The post belongs to yesterday, so I'm thinking "yes.") posts cracked me up. I thought I'd share.

Warning: If you're offended by poop don't bother linking to the site....and really, how can people be offended by poop?

I Just Called to Say I Love You

No New Year's day to celebrate,
No chocolate covered candy hearts
To give away,
No first of spring,
No song to sing,
In fact, here's just another
Ordinary day.

I just called to say I love you;
I just called to say how much I care;
I just called to say I love you,
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.


Ha! Another week, another song.

To start off I just wanted to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. Awhile back I announced a new job and so many people added their congratulations and good wishes. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. ***FUZZ**** Unfortunately my blogger account doesn't give me access to your emails. If it did I would email you all individually and thank you. Thanks guys you rock.

Along with that goes a big thank you for your complements on my Christmas Knits. I hope they inspired some of you - cause you guys do that for me everyday (damn you!) and my pocket book thanks you.


I usually make soap for Christmas. This year I brought it to a new level with the packaging. I've been making it for about 4 years now. Each year they get better and better. This is what we gave out...


(bad, bad picture...I should leave the photos to Rob)

What 'da thunk? The clip art is from microsoftasssssss. Rob's figure was originally a black man. I changed the face to make it a bit more realistic. Anyone who has actually seen Rob is person will realize how funny this is. The fact that this figure's skin was black is the SMALLEST difference between Rob and that character. Anyhooo...it wasn't until my friend Chris saw it that I realized I had forgotten the areas above the eyes and the ear. Teeheee. We're a multi-racial family!

The Knitting Parade

**Finished Object Alert**Finished Object Alert**Finished Object Alert**

I was able to finish all of my "I'm going to see your face so you get a finished object" holiday gifts. There are a few that I am still working on, these fall into the "I'm not going to see your face so you have to wait" category.



Dad's Scarf was finished in the car on the way to Rochester. I love this scarf. It was B-O-R-I-N-G to knit after awhile. However, the pattern (its free) is great and I would recommend it. The cables are fun to do and they look beautiful. Reynolds Turnberry Tweed yarn was stiff as I was knitting it but it bloomed nicely after a good soaking in hand soap and then Aveda conditioner (smelled good too!) It is the perfect yarn for cables. I blocked it out and it grew quite a bit. Dad loved it and christened it with a trip out to use the slow blower.



Mom's caplet is just about done. I wanted to wait until I saw her to seam up the sides. This is a very simple pattern. I choose to do garter stitch to show off the texture of the yarn. I dropped two stitches to add a bit of interest. Mom has lots of pain in her shoulders and neck (I swear, I had nothing to do with this!); this should help keep her insulated! I really liked the yarn (Interlacements Periwinkle Petite) and will use it again in the future! Those colors...yum.



My brother's wrist warmers. I used Noro Big Kureyon for these. It was my first time knitting with Noro. Wow. How fun is the color change?! The pattern is Voodoo Wrist Warmers from Knitty. I modified it to fit my gauge with the chunky yarn. Despite the look on his face my brother seemed mildly impressed. I'm hoping he'll use it while "gaming" on the computer in the basement. I found them later under the Christmas Tree. Maybe I'll have to super glue them to his wrists?



Gma...isn't she cute? She is my soul mate. She will be 80 years young in less than 3 weeks.

I'm a bit upset with her at this moment. She is a wonderful caring human being and she really disappointed me this past week when her righteous right wing religious conservative bigot side came out. She usually can be all of these things without righteousness bigotry - but for some reason she let it all fly over the holidays.

Anyway... I knit this for her in about a weekend. I love it. The pattern is from Knitty's fall surprise. I used the called for yarn (Reynolds Blizzard) and whew! it is a bit fluffy. I kept hacking up pink fur balls. It IS super soft and knitting Gma was quite impressed with my handy work. The one pitfall of this pattern. K4tog with bulky yarn is never fun.



And last but not least...my lovely sister in Banff. I know I never continued the Banff saga. I just couldn't bring myself to it. This sweater. Argh. The pattern was not the problem...I was the problem. It is a fun easy knit. I was able to find more yarn IN THE RIGHT DYE LOT, a minor miracle that should be celebrated.

Ummmm, I guess in keeping with the story line. Reverse Flash found the yarn (Araucania Nature Wool - CHUNKY). He was able to lasso some in Michigan at ThreadBear. They had the same dye lot and the yarn was on sale. Pretty great. It took two weeks for the yarn to get to him...at which point The Bookish Girl was about to loose her marbles. Same dye lot. Hmmm, icing on the cake. Yummy pink wooly icing. Hold on to marbles.

Yarn in hand we thought for sure The Bookish Girl would finish with flying colors, ahhh hubris.

Long story shorter? She finished...she had to bind off the neck FIVE times. But she finished. Can anyone please explain to me, I mean The Bookish Girl, the proper way to bind off 2x2 ribbing on a turtleneck without strangling the intended wearer?

The sweater is finished and I don't really like it. In fact, I really really don't like it. I'm going to block it out again and hope for the best. Basically, it's the fit. Everything was done to specification. This is the second adult sweater that I've knit and I think I've learned how to get things to fit. Making the fit suit the model? That's another story. The pieces came out to size.

I love the feel.

I love the yarn.

I learned a lot with the full fashion (why do I find that phrase so funny?) decreases on this sweater.

I just don't love the way it looks.

My sister and I have small frames. I should have shaved off some of the width. I should not have blocked out the ribbing along the waist. I should have made it a few inches longer. And again, we have the back that flies up?! This happened with Robby's Big Sack Sweater. It's annoying and it makes me mad. Argh mad. So there. I may take drastic measures. We'll see.

In spite of the last bit of frustration I was happy to clothe my family in knitted gifts. I must admit, it is a bit of a let down. All that work and the unwrapping was over in minutes.

**btw - most of this was bought at my LYSs - the links are there to provide visuals..not to endorse a particular seller.**

Attack of the Killer Clown

Remember this lovely gift from the beautiful Thursday Night Knitting Girl Kris (who is always here but never comments, *hi Kris*)?

You may have this at home and you should be very very afraid of it. Be forewarned - there is a clown in this innocent stack a very scary clown, a clown worthy of terror and nightmares. The worst part, there are directions on how to create this clown?! Why in the world would anyone want to create such a terrifying object?

January 19th - stay away from it if you know what's good for you.

** Yes, yes, I skipped ahead and read all the patterns for January. I couldn't resist. I paid my price with clown filled nightmares. I threw the offending page at Rob and told him to get rid of it. Stupid scary-ass clowns **

** Fear of clowns due in large part to the Stephen King novel It. Read when I was 14 and to this day I cannot look at or be near those wiry-haired goons. **

Red, Red, Rhine

Happy New Year!

My resolution?

To make sure my toenails are painted AT ALL TIMES.

Why?

Because sometimes a little spunk in your step is all you need.




What's your resolution?

We're home! Yippy. 40 hours in the car and my ass is sore. Unfortunately I had to leave my new boyfriend, Caleb, behind. He's two and those cheeks are so cute I could eat them. I'll introduce the mitten I knit him another day.