Tips for Meeting Bloggers.... (*updated*)

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I'm following in Maryse's footsteps and celebrating all week. Today my sweet husband picked me up at work and drove me home. All of this in BOSTON TRAFFIC. "Luv trub luv" (As only the priest in Princess Bride could say.)

I'm also glad to hear that you all seem to love the Birthday, both half and otherwise. You guys made my day and it's not even here yet!

Rob and I took lots of pictures of fun knitting. One of the things my birthday inspires me to do is give gifts to others! My server isn't letting me upload anything right now. Hopefully tomorrow.

In the meantime go check out Cara's lovely description of her time here in Boston. Be sure to read the comments to get the REAL story. I was able to spend a good part of Friday torturing her with treks through the cold-ass streets of Boston. We were in search of fiber and man did we ever find it. My stamina was like no other. That is, until the hunger coma hit. The last leg of the trip is always the hardest. Lucky for us this leg ended at the restaurant.

For those of you who have yet to meet a fellow blogger in person let's all attempt to offer some pointers and/or insights. I'll list a few here and we'll see where it goes:

1) First and foremost....you can never be too careful. Each time I've left the house to go meet these "strangers" Robby has carefully requested and written down their phone numbers. That way when I don't show up he can give them a ring and ask them where they've hidden my body parts. While we don't have much experience with this scenario we both imagine the information would be forthcoming upon the inquiry. Cara's beloved advised her not to get in the car with any bloggers she just met. Cars lead to evil things.

2) When meeting the "stranger" be sure to give a description of yourself. Pictures are not always accurate. Note: Jokes about, "Being the person weilding the long knife" are typically not very well received. I'm not sure why. I'll write it off to the lack of tone in the printed word.

3) It is best to always carry a sharpie pen in your knitting bag. Blogging knitters are like magnets, they attrack others. The pen is useful for autographs and the like. You haven't lived until a knitting blogger has signed your chest and vice/versa.

4) When a well known blogger is spotted in a yarn store it is best to surround them and bombard them from all sides. We are all a bit embarassed. It's the life we have choosen to lead....a cross we must all bear. Fame and fortune have drawbacks, I know I hate it when bloggers interupt my private time in yarn stores. All 7 of my readers are such a pain in the arse. Always lurking behind that stack of Noro, pretending to finger that Jo Sharp. They, like me, know that in the end if I get that ball band signed I've got a free ticket to Maryland Sheep and Wool from the ebay auction proceeds. (Sorry Alison and Johanna, I don't get out much)

5) Lastly, be prepared to be amazed. If you have connected with this person online, if you "get" their sense of humor, you will feel comfortable with this person and your craft will provide the common ground. I will never cease to be amazed at how well I have gotten along with each of the knit bloggers that I have met in the past few months. They're like me! Only better. (Scary guys, I know...) However, this sense of comfort is no excuse for blabbering on and on about your scary third grade teacher and the last time you saw your favorite pair of jeans, and how horrible your Valentine's Day was. Leave that for your blog...where they have the power to "click-off".

Any other advice out there?

***UPDATE*** Okay, cursingmama's comment freaked me a bit. You guys know I'm kidding, right?!

Let the Countdown Begin!

My Birthday is officially less than 1 week away. To be exact the day of my birthday is 5 days and 14 hours away. I love my Birthday. I love everyone's birthdays. It is a day that should be celebrated and glorified. Not with expensive gifts or fancy pants dinners but with friends and fun. Your birthday is the ONE* day a year that is all your own, a day to celebrate yourself and all of your accomplishments. I refuse to get upset about aging, we are humans and shit happens. So, if you're in the Boston area, free next Thursday and up for some fun (and most likely, knitting) at a local watering hole let me know!


Fun Friday distraction:


Public Radio Fan
I'm a whore for public radio. Fresh Air, This American Life, Wait! Wait!, and on and on, I love them all. This site is a fabulous resource for those long days in the office. Arm me with my RealPlayer and some Public Radio Fan and we're partying like it's 2005.


BTW - At our Village Books Knit Night last night Kris, sock knitter extraordinaire, assured me that the sock will fit. Yippy!


*Rob and I actually celebrate our Half-Birthdays

You win!

Yes, you...you over there. The one that guessed the sock. You won.

You win nothing but my adoration for leaving a lovely guess. Although, I must admit I AM a bit disappointed. There was very little smut present (Okay, there was none. Unless you can you count the word thrum as smut?!) Do I have to start bringing some undesirables over here to get a laugh?

Close up



This pattern is from Interweave Knits. The name is Retro Rib. I am using size 2 needles and they make me want to poke my eyes out. One point at a time. Ten pokes in one eye. Ten in the other. All of them the exact diameter of US size 2 knitting needles. I'm not sure if I'm enjoying the process. I find it to be a bit tedious and slow going. Yet...

I - can't - seem - to - put - it - down.

Part of the problem may be that I'm not entirely sure these puppies are going to fit. I did swatch and I didn't make gauge. Swatches have always lied in the past I figure this one is no less wily then the rest. The swatch has been banished to the bottom of my knitting bag. Left to be smooshed by the notions above it. There is so much ribbing that I'm comfortable with my decision.

When they find me with the needles poking out of my face you all can say you saw the train wreck coming.

"But she was such a nice girl."

"But she swatched for all of her projects"

"You never would have expected this from her. There was so much laughter."

News at 11.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other gripey news. The winter cold has turned into a full blown whining malaise. Not only are we missing the Banff Mountain Film Festival tonight, I am also missing the girls and chocolate mousse at Elisa's house.

Stupid ass cold. Stupid ass chocolate mousse

Go wish The Melanoma a Happy Birthday. She sure as hell deserves it, she's had quite a crappy winter.

Name that Object

My husband and I went off to Vermont for the long weekend. We've established a bit of a tradition with some friends of ours. This is our second year renting a lovely house in the middle of nowhere Vermont. No phones, no TV, no distractions. We had a fabulous time. Drinking, eating, sleeping, and playing board games. Returning home was a total bummer. I had to make the trip a day earlier than I had intended. Mr. Robby got sick and now I've got it too, just a bit of the winter cold.

On to more exciting things...

I knit quite a bit. Ms Cathi sezzz that I'm a secret knitter. Me? Secrets? Eh, hem. Cathi, have you read my Valentine’s Day entry? Oh, wait...that had nothing to do with knitting.

In the interest of full disclosure, I started this lovely project this past weekend...




Name that object.


Hint: Did anyone see that bandwagon pass by here earlier?

Good morning boogers....

It's my Monday morning (I had President's Day off) and I'm having a hard time kicking it into gear.

I figured I'd start my week off right by greeting all of you.

Good morning bloggers!

How are all of you today? It seems there is a bit of the Feb blahs going around. It seems that others are enjoying their time indoors and finishing a lot of projects. I was marveling our community and thinking about how lucky I am to have this voice and be a part of it all. You all are so creative and inspiring. Keep it up....I would be senselessly bored without all of this. ;)

Elisa tagged me for yet another silly meme. I was going to fart all over her blog again, but I forgot. She assured me she didn't feel slighted in the least. Btw - her hair looks just as great in person!


Do you knit using the English or Continental Method?
I don't remember which is which. I throw with my right hand. Which is it? Google to the rescue... I knit English Style.

How long ago did you learn to knit?
A little over a year ago. Little did I know how much it would alter my daily grind. I started blogging about five months ago.

I was REALLY bored before I started knitting. One can only read so much and people at dinner parties don't take kindly to their guests pulling a book out at the end of dinner. I have the fidget syndrome. Knitting has allowed me to focus on conversations, movies, etc without dreaming about all the things I have to do.

Who taught you how?
A woman named Irena Tatsylin. She owns a LYS and has been teaching a community adult education classes for two decades. I truly enjoyed her and she taught me a lot in a few short weeks.

What was your first FO?
A baby cardigan for baby boy Gus (who at the beginning of the project was in the tummy.)

Favorite yarn?
I haven't met a yarn that I didn't like. Okay, not my favorite - any yarn that swears when I knit it.

Favorite pattern you’ve knit so far?
I don't play favorites. I love/hate them all the same.

Favorite pattern source?
The internet?! You guys are a great source of patterns. I must say, most of what I've knit has come from you.

Favorite needles?
I recently acquired a pair of Denise Interchangeables. Love them.

Nicest thing you’ve ever knit
The Big Sack Sweater for my husband. Even though it's too small. ;(

Most hated project
Banff, the sweater that could kill. The pattern was great. I-am-a-moron.

Who will I pass this on to?
The Buck Stops Here. If you want this you got it. Take it and run with it. Run free like a bird....except birds don't run. Run free like an elephant. Just don't forget to look both ways before you cross the street. Smashed elephant isn't pretty.

Friday Lunchtime Fun

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Altered Reality

I have this problem. Not to worry, there is no nastiness to report. I often have a hard time distinguishing reality. Something someone says will spark a story or an anecdote (that is one weird ass spelling) in my head and I often have a hard time determining if it is:

A - Something I read
B - Something I saw in a movie
C - Something I dreamt
D - Something that someone else experienced
E - Something that I experienced

That coupled with the vivid real-life dreams I have makes for much confusion.

This morning is one of those mornings. I had a dream last night, well....I think it was a dream. Maybe it really happened. The Harlot has been slowly working through the parade of donations to Knitters without Borders. Did I win something? Did I win something on some other site? Please help me find the light. I either won something or I had a VERY VIVID dream in which I read the following sentence on someone's blog:

"...and these will be making their way to Wendy (who is originally from Rochester, NY)...."

The reason I believe it was the Harlot's (in real-life or in my dream, I have not been over there yet to confirm this myself) is because of the style of the sentence and the fact that I'm from Rochester. This would be interesting to her (in my opinion) because it is so close to Toronto and there is a big boat sitting in Lake Ontario that was supposed to connect our worlds. It has failed miserably.

Yes, this is the logic that my brain has been going over to determine if the dream/real life experience was so wacky that it HAD to be a dream. But no, see - there is logic there. It could be real life.

I will now go there and check. If I read this somewhere else and I'm supposed to email someone to claim my prize - will you all tell me?

Oh – I just saw that the Knitty Surprise is UP!

Hitting my stride

For the record - I wouldn't have put the embarrassment out there if I didn't fully expect each and every one of you out there to laugh WITH me. Furthermore, it all goes back to the whole "putting your pants on one leg at a time." Each and every one of you have some sort of equally embarrassing moment that you're just not willing to share. Which is just fine with me. To each his own. As I listed in that long ago 100 things entry. I have been taught by the master of embarrassing scenarios, my best friend Juli, that everything feels a lot less embarrassing after you share it. Thank you for being so supportive and laughing and sharing your funny stories. I feel a lot better.

In other news. Our big computer is broke. It won't connect to the internet. There is most likely an easy solution to this problem. But it would require a phone call to dear sweet Dad and I think he probably has better things to do than talk his moron daughter through the finer points of internet connections. In the meantime, I blog from the dinosaur that is our laptop. This means a few things:

1 - No spell check. No grammar check. The big huge ass computer company's word processing program is not loaded on this little fellow. He just doesn't have enough juice. You will forgive me and not take me off your bloglines.
2 - No pictures. See number one above, no juice. See number one above, forgiveness.

While I'm just beginning to get back into my blogging stride I have been neglecting the reading and knitting portions of my life. You all aren't really aware of my recent escapades into these areas. There hasn't been much to report.

Reading - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I'm about half through and stuck. Stuck in the muck. The current narrator bugs my britches. I will overcome. Someday. I do not have much motivation. I was reading this for my bookclub, we met and discussed it a week ago. I'm too much of a good student to abandon it half way through. It's very well written, interesting and all that jazz. I just hate the part I'm reading at this moment. Has anyone read it? Do you know the part I'm talking about?

Knitting - I am working my way through a few projects. I have five different projects on the needles. That's four too many in my opinion. I don't really know how it happened. Do you think that there are little elves who start things for you and then alter your memory to think that you started them?! I'll spend some time describing each of these in detail over the next few days. Maybe my brain will skip and I'll remember how they all had their beginnings. Sneaky little elves. Why the hell don't they clean my bathroom?

A sneak peak:
- The Clap
- A birthday scarf
- An unfinished Christmas Gift
- My first sock

How's that for a teaser?!

My valentine's day was a blast until I had to sprint for the bathroom.

Thank you very much.

Some of you may choose to file this under too much information. I'm okay with that. You have the power to click. Click off the blog.

My husband and I decided to travel to the tony part of town for some v-day worthy grub. Mind you, my idea of a night out is to hit the local pizza joint. This local joint is referred to as the place we can eat for "free". In a city filled with over-priced food a $24 dollar meal (including alcohol) is, for all intents and purposes, free. A trip to the chic street is not something we normally do and is a real treat. Unless of course it ends in layers of embarrassment. Layers that I will now add to by telling the world-o-blog.

So, this valentine's we choose to skip the "free" restaurant and head off with our gift certificate in hand. You didn't think we'd go without a bit of supplemental funding, now did you?

We had a lovely dinner eating and drinking hand-in-hand. Our eyes glowed with the reflection of an empty wine bottle. I had the scallops, he had the shrimp. I had the truffle oil baked mozzarella, he had the toasted almond salad. We laughed, we drank, we celebrated our love. We left with the dazed grin of buzzed happiness.

We wandered to the train eager to get home to sleep. Like good married people. Sleep before ten. That is the key to a happy marriage. We waited for the train, and waited and waited. This is where I began to feel a little...um, off.

"Honey, what do you think about taking a cab."

"Well, I guess we could. Why?"

"Well we may have to." This was said in slow motion with lots of feet shuffling with eagerness.

"Oh, uh! MSGs?"

I have an allergy to MSG. It's not pretty. I have learned to live with it. You would be shocked at how many food products contain this ingredient. Amounts of MSG varies from product to product. My reaction is directly proportional to these amounts and occurs almost immediately after consumption. A Chinese dinner would have me screaming for my mama stuck in the bathroom for hours. A salad with some bottled dressing might just have me a bit "uncomfortable".

Typically Italian food doesn't have too much (if any.) Sauces are typically made from scratch. Pasta is flour and water. These scallops must have found their way into a kick-ass party with some canned chicken stock. Either that, or the chef has a fondness for the powered white stuff... (Nevermind that I paid a large amount of money for a meal that used CANNED chicken stock. What kind of self respecting chef...blah...blah...blah)

Our valentine's day went from lovely to a clenched cheek sprint to the toilet.* Those of you who live in a large city with a big tourist base know how utterly futile it is to find a public bathroom and/or an establishment that will allow you to use their bathroom. Luckily my dear, sweet, husband was very familiar with our location and was able to steer me to the holy land. Just-in-freakin-time.

Our marriage almost reached a whole new level of intimacy. One that I hope and pray it will never reach. If it has to I will most certainly be 99 years old without a shred of dignity left.

The beauty of this valentine's day? I realized that no one else in my world would have ever loved me as much as he did at that moment of need.

Honey, this flush is for you.

* credit where credit is due...this phrase is from dooce's old masthead.

Waxing Phil

Lauren pointed this out this morning in the comments and I've actually hit it a few times myself. There is a new blog on Blogger that has a very similar name to mine that is so not me.

I find it a bit amusing and have to admit that the first time I made the mistake I was thinking, "Did God take over my blog?"

My second thought was, "God has a sense of humor because people trying to get me (or get the new author) are in for a BIG surprise."

I mean, he is God and all...it could happen?!

In the end I just bask in our diversity and know, however we choose to communicate or not communicate our belief systems we ALL still put our pants on one leg at a time.

(okay....maybe not the lady in that jeans commercial...she just flops on her bed all at once.)

Ultimately, I'm so happy that we live in a country where each of us can have this corner of our world unsensored by anyone but ourselves. At least for now.

Getting tagged for this caused me to fart all over Elisa's Blog

For real. Mostly because it makes me have to THINK and MAKE DECISIONS and JUDGEMENTS about music. I should explain my relationship with music.

First of all, I constantly have a sound track running through my mind.

Secondly, I grew up with music in the house in the car in the bathroom. Everywhere. My mom says that it was the only way to drown out her three VERY active children. Ummm, thanks Mom!

Thirdly, music has an ability to transport me back to a time and place. This is so powerful that sometimes it brings me to tears.

Lastly, when I give you all a song of the week...I don't even need to think about it. It just shits itself out through no effort of mine. I am a music medium if you will.

On to the answers, which I'm sure will give you zero entertainment cause I'm a pretty damn boring person.

1) Total amount of music files on your computer:
On this computer, that I'm on right now. Ummm, none. I am on an ancient laptop that serves one purpose...it allows me to check blogs from my bed. Where it is warm. And safe. And cozy. Where no one will judge me from laughing out loud at all of you silly bloggers.

2) The last CD you bought:
It's been awhile. CDs are expensive. However, the last time I bought CDs I bought three: Iris Dement, Blink-182 (their latest), and Little Red Rocket. Robby just bought the latest Guided by Voices.

3) What is the last song you listened to before reading this message?
Elliot Smith - Speed Trials off of Either/Or. My husband burned a copy of this CD for me the first summer we dated. It was a weird and complicated time for me. I fell in love that summer. This CD lived most of its life in my car in permenant rotation with either Tool or The Deftones as its flip mate.

4) Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

- I Love you so much it Hurts Me - Originally written by Floyd Tillman, sang by Patsy Cline, and my favorite version sung by John Prine. My husband used to sing this song to me as I feel asleep. He surprised me and sang it at our Wedding Ceremony. It's a fabulous song. We're going to see John Prine in April - here's to hoping we hear it!

- Swim by Plastic Bird. My husband's song to me (as in he wrote it) when we first started dating.

- Three Days by Jane's Addiction. This song instantly brings me back to the years I spent at summer camp in the Finger Lakes of New York. I was a camper, I was a counselor. I truly learned who I was through those experiences.

- Hero by Foo Fighters. I love the Foo Fighters. A song that brings me to a safe and real world of friendship that is unfailing.

- Any song by the Beastie Boys. For a time I worked in Corporate America. While it wasn't as bad as it could have been it was still stiffling. I used to blast the Beastie Boys on my way into the parking lot. I somehow felt that it brought me a level of individuallity that those around me could never grasp. I also attempted to memorize the lyrics of their songs. All of them. You can never truly appreciate the wit and humor that goes into their stuff until you try to make it come out of your mouth.

....this is by far not the end....and these are not necessarily the most important songs....I love all kinds of crazy stuff....




5) What 3 people are you going to pass the baton to and why?
God, do I have to? While I'm tempted to just stop the buck I do know a few bloggers out there who deserve some traffic (however meager traffic from my site my be) on thier sites...

Shelley, who's new to blogging, has a fabulous view from her home and claims she's "old"
Erin, who loves all things 80s.


***disclaimer**** the above mentioned laptop...no Word software. Therefore, no spell check. Sorry...I'll fix it all tomorrow.

Eyre of your ways.

Our bookclub meeting was great. I meant to bring my camera to get a pic for you all to check out. Alas, true to form, I forgot. I am lucky to be a part of the most amazing group of ladies. I, at 28 (23 days to 29) years old, am the youngest. Some of us are separated by decades but our hearts and minds are alike and we truly enjoy one anothers company. The strangest thing about it all? We were put together randomly by chance. No one knew any of the other members. Here we are 2 1/2 years later and what do we have? A blast!

So, there were many fabulous suggestions. The classics suggested varied from mainstream to not so mainstream. There were also some contemporary authors mentioned that I haven't yet dipped into and I enjoyed the suggestions. Thank you all for being such supportive readers. From book suggestions to knitting support. You guys rock!

I ended up putting each of your suggestions on a piece of paper. I asked the ladies to pick three blindly. We ended up with the following titles: Jane Eyre, House of Mirth, and The Eyre Affair.

So, miss Cara of January One...come on down.

And from the audience I'd like to ask Laura A. to come on down.

And the House of Mirth? That was one I snuck in myself. I l-o-v-e Edith Wharton. She rocks.

As a substitute for the third winner - the only woman whose job is as boring as mine was....Miss Melanie...the first commenter on that there entry.

If you have my email send me your snail mail address and I promise not to stalk you. If you don't have my email well, look! how fun, bookishcontest at hotmail dot com is the first official contest email for this site!

In the end the majority voted for the House of Mirth. I's a hippy girl.

Emergency Post

Okay - so my bookclub has its monthly meeting this evening at 7 pm EST. It's my turn to bring three selections to the table. We will vote for these selections and the majority winner will be our next read.

I'm usually fanatical about choosing these titles. It requires a lot of thought. However, I've dropped the ball and I haven't done a lick of research.

What should I bring? Three titles. I'm thinking a "classic", as we haven't read too many of those. I'm not married to this idea, so other suggestions would be great! Please help! These ladies are relatively liberal and open to all kinds of genres.

Now, I know I should bate you with something fun and prize worthy. I'm at a loss.

How about this...whoever responds with a title that gets chosen will receive a Valentine's Day card from me. A true homemade in the postal service mail valentine - Sealed with a Kiss! (lame,but I'm desperate here...don't hold it against me.)

Okay - remember...the meeting is at 7 pm EST. All submissions should be in by 6:30 EST.

Go Team Bookish!

We interupt this blog...

For some fabulous news!

Your song today will be furbished by Ms. Project.

Who will soon have to add another letter to her title.

Go give her some lovin'!

My first funny Googleism

I just have to say one thing.

I was checking my stats and it seems that someone found my site by searching google for the following phrase:

"Wore men's underwear"

Now why in the world did google point to me?

Dude...three's a charm.

Now Elisa, I haven't been lying to any single one of you, or all of you for that matter.*

The only trick I have up my sleeve is...

Another Finished Object!



This very adorable sweater was knit for a yet to be born child of an undetermined sex. I'm praying for a girl. All the little babes entering my life as of late have had little dingies.

And well, frankly, they're not as fun to knit for.

The specs (they aren't up on the sidebar yet...)

Yarn: Lion Boucle (The called for yarn. I didn't balk at this. I'm not sure if there is an equal substitute. It's affordable as all get out and is machine washable and dryable. This sweater is for a newborn these are all musts.)

Color: Taffy

Yardage: Hmmm, I think I used one more skein then they called for. This is status quo for me. If you EVER see me walking out of a yarn store with only the called for yardage STOP ME and BEAT ME over the head with a tree.

Needles: My *new* Denise Interchangeables which I love, love, love. Size? US 11. I like my needles large. hehem.

Pattern: Ahh, I can't find the book! It is titled Hip Knits!: 65 Easy Designs from Hot Designers. Not sure about the pattern name. Could that title be any more terrible? Who the hell wants to buy a book with the words hip and hot in it? Instant turnoff. In spite of this, it's a great little book.

The sweater is knit as one piece. My first experience with this type of construction, wow, it's much easier. Especially considering this yarn is a bitch to seam with, major pain in the arse.

I enjoyed the pattern and liked working with the yarn. I definitely think that I will use this in the future. It's a quick project that creates a precious little gift. However, I'm not sure I would use this variegated yarn again. See the pooling, splashing, etc?

I'm closing my eyes so I can't see it.

Noooo...there isn't a V in the back. (Hey! It's centered!)



Denial is the best gift you can give yourself.

Another note: a 9" long sweater does not need a 14" hood. If you knit a 14" hood against your better judgment only because you are a good little pattern follower you will end up ripping AT LEAST 5" of those inches. If you decide not to rip you will have an adult size hood that you can wear with a baby sweater attached. Call it a new fashion statement.

Patterns lie.

Never forget this.

Patterns and gauge - they lie in the same bed of lies.

* all of these are projects I worked on while on the trip that was my job.

Ta-dum

Not only is it two posts in as many days...but it's also two finished objects in two days!!

Yippy.

This is a birthday gift for a friend yet to be named. It will whisk it's way to her this week if I ever get my arse to the post office. Ain't it beautiful? If I did it again I'd go down about two needle sizes. Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk is tremendous but I think it would do better at a tighter gauge. The pattern is fun and easy...a Bonne Marie original.