The Bookish Girl

Pass the non-alcoholic beer!

2006-09-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

Duuuudeee.

Are you still hanging out over here?

The Party has moved...

www.thebookishgirl.com

Come join the fun!

My world is a changin'

2006-08-27T19:18:00.000-05:00

I have moved to an exclusive URL with WordPress as my platform.

Come see me in my new home... This blogger site will stay up but will not be updated.

New website:
www.thebookishgirl.com
ETA - please copy and paste this address into your browser. Blogger is f-ing with this site and will not allow me to hotlink. (Thanks Deb!)

New RSS feed:
http://thebookishgirl.com/?feed=rss2

Baby news awaits (how's that for a bait and switch?!)

The Baby ate my blog

2006-08-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Apparently the damn comments have been fixed by damn blogger.

All the love out there must of killed them. Thank you all, I totally know how you feel - because I have felt the same for all the other knitter baby birthers out there. It's so exciting. And fun. And exciting.

Weeeeee.

More to follow...

Top Secret Project Revealed

2006-08-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

The time has come to reveal the answer to the question. "Where oh, where has our Bookish Girl Gone?"

Answer: She has been
a - sleeping
b - peeing
c - staring at a wall
d - all of the above.

Why:

Baby Daryl (not the name, just something to call it.)
12 weeks 4 days
Due: Feb 22, 2007

You're not the only one who was surprised by this news. It took me 7 weeks to clue in and even at that point I wasn't convinced.

Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap. Bar of soap.

2006-07-26T15:25:00.000-05:00

I cracked Mason Dixon Knitting last week. I read this often because it's like having a little bit of Ann and Kay in your hands and really, what could be better than that? (Man, do I ever sound like a freaky stalker lady.) However, I hadn't yet knit something anything from the book.

I was thinking that I should make something for Rob's sister, as a thank you for letting us crash her house for a bit. We are travelling to visit her and the rest of the family in a few weeks. It's a family reunion, Kentucky style. Rumor has it that there will be some mullets in the house. Being the token Northern Person they think I'M THE WEIRD ONE. All I know is that I'm going straight for the Banana Pudding* screw Southern Hospitality, get out of my way.

Back to Rob's sister. Cathy loves lavender so we often take some yummy smelly something. I thought that I would bring some soap this time around. What better to go with a bar of soap.

A Warshrag.

Genius. Pure Genius.

* The best Banana Pudding I've ever had? Holiday Inn, Athens Georgia. Crazy. I never would have known it was there. All unassuming in its creepy hotel restaurant buffet. I discovered this jewel while on jury duty. They took us out to lunch every day and, fortunately, Athens has a plethora of fabulous soul food locales. I never would have taken the Holiday Inn for one of them. Apparently some old lady who lived in town got up to make it every morning. Pure bliss. I dream about that Banana Pudding. I also sing this song about day old banana pudding (I think it's by Southern Culture on the Skids?) every time I think about eating Banana Pudding. Clearly I have too much time on my hands.

Hell hath frozen over

2006-07-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you LauraA for the keen editing eye. Yes, it is the Andy Griffith Show and NOT Andy Griffin. My "lack of proof-reading" error. However, Maryse, you are a big turd for making fun of me when you're Ms. "I'm french and drop letters at the ends of words just to confuse people who try to speak my language." Bo-ho-ho.

Jenn has pinky double dog dare promised that she did not cheat. So, she will be the recipient of the pooping sheep. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised. I figured you would all see the prize and claim that you had cheated until the cows came home just to get out of receiving it. I am beyond thrilled that you, my readers, have my wasted sense of humor. I will likely end up at the craft store sometime soon and will try to seek out the pooper for KarenK who will be disappointed at Jenn's stand up non-cheating self.

On to the real news of the day.

You feel that?

That cold breeze?

Ohh, is it, perhaps, freezing?

I. am. knitting. lace.

Crazy.

I picked this yarn up at last year's New York Sheep and Wool Festival. I needed something to occupy my mind and hands. I figured, eh? What the hell. If ANYTHING is going to keep my mind busy it's going to be lace. It sure ain't reading, or staring, or tv watching, or showering, or sleeping, or... well, you get the drift.

The pattern is the Flower Basket Shawl from Interweave Knits. So far so good. Armed with my trusty dental floss (for use as a lifeline) I have completed two repeats only 8 million more.

Watch out for flying pigs.

Back to the contest

2006-07-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

I've been busy with a top-secret project over here. It's kept me from blogging and other activities. I'll share the details soon.

In the meantime.

Remember this?

Allll-righty.

There were a bunch of correct answers in the lot. Those that used Google, while I applaud your go-gettum attitude are disqualified. EvaLux, my darling, you didn't have a fighting chance with this one.

Guys? Eva is European. And no, that is not a joke that you tell when you're a kid (Yer a peeing) it is a land far from here that is, tragically, missing many American Pop Culture Icons. While I would argue in most cases this is a benefit of this far away land in this case, it is tragic.

Eva is currently living in Luxumbourg. And while I cannot remember if she is Luxumborgish, she lives there and for that she will always be in my, 'too cool for words' category. Why you ask? Because I used to live in Luxumbourg! File that one away in your, "huh, that Wendy is full of mysteries". I lived there for ~5 months in 1996(?) for a semester abroad. It. was. awesome. One of those seminal times in your life when the world feels right, you know you're doing the right thing, leading the right life, etc. etc. There have been few times reserved for those feelings.

Back to the topic. Loaded Goat, the absolute coolest, radest, magically delicious music project in the whole damn universe is named after an Andy Griffin Episode. My husband is a huge Andy Griffin fan and I have learned to love it as well.

Now, the first person to with the correct answer in the comments is Eva. Unfortunately, she's disqualified for Googling. Jenn is the next person. However, I'm a bit suspicious that she was Google informed as well. Jenn, if you can pinky swear with sugar and a cherry on top that you did not Google to come up with the answer, then you are the proud winner. If not the cheesy funny prize will head off to KarenK, who clearly knew the whole story about the episode. Please email me (bookishwendy at gmail dot com) with your mailing address.

The prize (in case you want to back out!) is a little something I picked up at a local craft store...

It's a sheep that poops jelly beans! hehehehe.

Thanks for playing.

Reader Wrap-Up

2006-07-07T07:18:00.000-05:00

I've been reading quite a bit these last few months. I do this every once in awhile - have these insatiable urges to read whole days away. When I am rich and famous I will do just that. Until then I will read on my way to work, read while waiting for the elevators, read in lines, read at home, read in bed. I've finished the following books recently with the currently finished first.

Heat by Bill Buford
Verdict: This book has had a lot of money poured into it's promotion. However, I think that it is deserving. The author, Bill Buford, is a great writer and does a beautiful job describing his evolution from home kitchen cook to expert butcher, prepper, griller, etc. One of my favorite parts of the book is his description of Big and Small food and the taste memory of those from the Old Country. If you like food - I think you would enjoy this book.

The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver
Verdict: Love. Love. Love. This is the first fiction of Kingsolver's that I've read. I know, I know. I own most of her books, just have not gotten around to reading them until now. This is a great story. Another book that illustrates that the number of pages you use to tell a story does not positively correlate with is magnitude.

Eventide by Kent Haruf
Verdict: I loved this book. I think that many of my feelings about books are somehow, in part, due to the books I've read immediately before (immediately below). Ken Haruf kicks ass with this book. It's short and sweet. The prose flows so beautifully. The characters are rich and the story is amazing. Many of the reviews on this book state, in one way or another, that the story "elevates" the reader. This is so true

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
verdict: This book was too damn long. I'm not against reading a long book, but it requires a tip in the cost benefit scale. This was chosen for my bookclub and, had it not been for that, I would have put it down. I get really angry when authors repeat the same scenes over and over with know real literary purpose. The characters were interesting, the story jarring. The fact that the author could have accomplished the same in a novel half the size will keep me from looking back fondly on this book and will leave me cursing it.

The Eight by Katherine Neville
Verdict: As you know, Elisa gifted me this book for my birthday. I thought it was interesting and was a fun read. I learned a little about chess and really enjoyed the setting of the book - Alergia. Now there would be a fun place to visit.

If you follow any of the links above they will take you to my LibraryThing catalog. This is a tool I found via a commenter (I don't remember who!) that I am totally addicted to. I have not yet gotten all of my books into it. Pretty much all of the knitting books are missing. It is so fun to see everything all organized and looking snazzy! *cough* *cough* total. nerd. *cough*

I'm a weiner!

2006-07-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

I am totally into the drive-by posting lately. This closely mirrors my attention span. I am like a kid that just ingested 25 pixie sticks before bed.

Today's topic:

I'm a winner!!!

Actually, my sister was a winner and because she was one of my "Friends" I won too!!

Get this - an Ipod Nano?! Crazy huh? I decided the take the alternative prize - a $150 gift card. Rob and I need to do some travelling for a family reunion and this will take the sting out of the cost of the flights.

How fun?

If you'd like to be my friend and win with me click the link below

I have not forgotten that we have a winner on the Loaded Goat Post. I can't help but be disappointed that some people guessed with Google! Eva - you have a free pass because you're not American. Some of you clearly knew without the intranets...others, I'm not so sure...

Finding the Humor

2006-06-29T11:55:00.000-05:00

Graphic: NYtimes.com, 6/29/06

I habitually check a few major news outlets throughout the day. The NY Times is one of those. Rather than fall prey to the varying emotions that occur as a result of these peeks into our "Present Day World that is Sometimes Heartbreaking" I try to focus on one thing - the absurd.

I just took a break to check out nytimes.com. Just to make sure no buildings had been blown up recently. The graphic above was listed next to a headline for this article regarding the US Sumpreme Courts decision on the military tribunals at Guantanamo.

A little known fact about me? I love graphics, tables, etc. The conveyance of information in graphic form is one of my "things". (Hence, the love of maps.) I admire the intention behind this graphic. Giving a face to the law. Allowing people to take a glance and see, visually, where the votes fell. However, the absurd factor is cranked up to eleven in this one. I'm not sure they could have done it differently to eliminate the absurd factor. I tend to think it's there on purpose.

When I see this graphic all I think is,

"The floating heads of justice."

And the photo's they used?! Kennedy's eyes are closed. Are they closed to justice? Alito looks like he's sitting for a mug shot. Has he committed a crime against justice?....

This one is going to keep me entertained for days.

Who you calling Loaded?

2006-06-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

Inspired by all of the giving in these here parts I hobbled over to Cara's registry and got Rob 3/10 of a Goat for his birthday.

Because really? What would we do with a whole goat?

It is way more fun to say that you have 3/10ths of a goat.

People look at you funny.

I wonder which part they'll send us? I hope it's not the ass.

What?

They don't SEND you the Goat?

It goes to a family in need?

Damn.

Well, to tell you the truth, I was a bit concerned about what 3/10ths of a Goat would look like and how it would smell in a few months.

A free fun silly prize to the first person who get's the pop culture referenced in the picture above. Rob has a band named Loaded Goat, where did he get this from?

ps - If you know us in real life and know the answer to this question you cannot answer because you will ruin it for everyone and I will cry and stamp my feet and throw my hands up in the air.

pps - Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I think Rob had the best birthday evah, which was partly due to you all. Thank you.

NOT Dirty 30!

2006-06-15T12:14:00.000-05:00

Today is Robby's birthday. How old is he now? Older than I can count. Older than the Magna Carta. Older than the mountains. Older than the oceans..

Okay - he is not that old.

A brain stormed list of reasons I am glad Rob was born..

1. Um, obvious one first - If he hadn't been I would be without a husband.

2. He is kind to animals of all sizes, shapes, and kinds. Even bees. He rescues bees from swimming pools. Seriously.

3. He is funny. I mean fall over, hold your hand over your crotch to avoid peeing your pants funny.

4. He is supportive. I could tell him that I wanted to move to Siberia to make snowmen and he would be up for it. He may complain like it's going out of style. But, he would go.

5. He told me on our 4th date that he wanted to have kids with me. Yes, this freaked my shit. However, his honesty, tenacity, and utter devotion in the face of rejection allowed me to somehow filter through my cold, dark heart and fall in love.

6. If I say, "Honey, do you want some ice cream." He'll get up from the couch, walk into the kitchen and return with a bowl of ice cream, complete with Rainbow sprinkles FOR ME. Seriously, no training necessary, he just came this way.

7. He is a lover of words. We like different words, but he loves them just the same.

8. He is passionate about things he cares about. Don't even get him started on JFK and the current administration and all other things that reek of hidden agendas and dishonesty.

9. He thinks Jesus was a cool dude and an incredible role model. He also believes he was a pacifist and a benevolent person. As people go - Jesus is a pretty good guy to model yourself after...regardless of where you stand on the whole "son of God" thing.

10. He believes in family and devotion and love.

11. He is a good friend to those around them. He knows how to listen and truly enjoys hearing what people have to say.

12. He can, if you can get him out of his rocking chair and kick off his old man suit, be really spontaneous and adventurous.

13. He is incredibly complicated and filled with contradictions. Always keeps you guessing, that one.

14. There is something about him that just fits. I don't know what it is or how to define it. It is just there and I love it and I love him.

Happy Birthday Bo-bo.

Smarty McSmart Pants

2006-06-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

I hosted a Duct Tape Dummy making party for some of our local gals this weekend. So. Much. Fun. The food, the company, the sangria! All of it melded into perfect time for me, I can only hope my guests had as much fun.

Claudia was my wrapper, thank you darling! To create the dummy (or smarty in my case because, let's face it, a duct tape dress form filled with poly-fill is probably sharmter than me sometimes) you dress yourself in a plain white t-shirt and get wrapped up in duct tape.

Good times.

Here are a few photos of the process:

Cross your heart baby.

As you can see Claudia became quite intimate with by boobs. And my chubs. - Yes I am making a funny face here.

Here I am all wrapped up. I have Ben to my right and Martha to my left. I cut them out until I get permission to post them all wrapped up.

It's looks uncomfortable. Strangely it was actually somewhat comfortable. Your spine is aligned, you have to stand up straight and all your chubbies have been put away. I wouldn't want to hang out like this for too long. But it certainly wasn't as horrible as I anticipated it being.

Just in case there was any confusion Maryse labelled my Boobies and Chubs. I love that she put a heart next to my chubs. I lub them.

After getting cut out of the dummy you have to tape it back together and stuff it with poly-fil. You also have to measure to make sure your measurement's are realistic. I found that the smarty's chest was a bit too small. Time for a boob job.

I found, at this point, that it was easier to use one of my bras to help me get the right size and shape. It made my job quite a bit easier.

Some things I learned:

My belly button is off center - by about an inch!

The back half of my waist is about 4" shorter than the front part of my waist.

Woman have incredibly beautiful bodies. We are all different but truly amazing. I was the wrapper for Julia and Chreryl - both different body builds and equally as stunning.

I adore my knitting community. Absolutely and totally adore them.

Stitchy's book - amazing. Truly.

Thank you to all the girls that could make it over. You've warmed my home and my house.

Johanna makes a mean cupcake. (and she has news! big news!)

Mwah!

(I think I hit you all - but if I forgot someone please tell me!)

And to smarty - my new bestest friend...

It's strange to feel your self up.

I'm hot blooded, check it and see I got a fever of a hundred and three...

2006-06-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

... Come on baby, do you do more than dance?

Let's lighten the load over here.

Another finished knit.

Finished back in February, right before I started the Olympics. The pattern is a free pattern from Blue Alverez Designs, it is called - Hot Lava. Which, every time I think of the name, I think of the Foreigner song quoted in the title and at the start of the post. So funny.

I used Classic Elite Montera. Another score from our Christmas trip to the Warehouse. It was fun yarn. Definitely a WOOL wool.

Not sure what sized needles I used, I can't remember.

I love this sweater. It was an easy knit. It fits great. I actually prefer to wear it upside down from the intended orientation. I like the way fabric lies. It's sassy while still being functional.

And, most importantly. It deals with the rack well.

sweeetttt.

I just found another pattern from Blue Alverez that I think I'll put on my list...Licorice Whip.

Earth to Wendy, tune in Wendy

2006-06-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for the trip suggestions. We have chosen a place from one of the comments and are actually going to be able to spend two nights! I'm super excited. I will let you know where we went after the fact just in case anyone reading this block is a murderereererere.

I also want to thank you for the compliments on the sweater and my legs. It is truly amazing what a camera angle can do - my legs are not that long. For realsies. I'm 5'3" with a long torso. My inseam is about 28". I would like to confirm this but I can't find one of the million tape measures that I have...

The sweater did shrink with blocking. As I suspected, it did not come up quite enough. I thought I would just rip out the extra length and then I decided that the sweater is going to be ripped to the armpits.

As I was explaining to Lauren today, the yoke of the sweater is knit from the top down starting as one piece. You then separate the front and back and knit them flat, rejoining again after the armholes are shaped. Teva has you adding quite a few stitches under the arms as you join the front and back. I dubiously followed her instructions to the letter, with the appropriate gauge adjustments. Too bulky. As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted a tighter sweater out of the Lace Leaf Pullover. So, I ripped back and added less....about halfway through I got nervous and, against my instinct, didn't leave off as many stitches as I intended.

The sweater is totally wearable. I would probably be happy with the finished product. However, I'm approaching this whole thing as an exercise. Make a garment that I'm 100% satisfied with. At 3.25 sts/in this is a great project to approach with that attitude. I may go ahead and knit a sleeve to see how it looks with the sleeve set in. I will definitely sleep on this decision.

Which brings me back to the thing about the instincts. I truly believe that if we listen to ourselves, really listen and hear, that we can make no "mistakes" in knitting or in life. We may get it wrong and have to try again but I view that as something different than a mistake. Getting it wrong is not knowing any better. A mistake is knowing better and doing it anyway.

I look at many of the mistakes that I have made, the knitting ones are the easiest to see and/or admit, and realize that - deep down - I probably knew better. Why don't we listen to ourselves? Especially woman - I think our sense in this area is a little better honed. This is not a diss on our male friends and/or lovers, it's genetic. We also, in most cases, need it the most often. Growing up I always had to be aware of myself, where I was, and whether or not I was safe. Learning to trust my instincts to remove me from a potentially dangerous or unsafe situation. I had to do this not because I lived in an unsafe place (I grew up in Middle Class America) but because I was a girl.

I have had many discussions with male friends who marvel at the idea of such an existence and few have had little frame of reference. Whereas my girl friends totally know what I'm talking about. In fact, too many of them, myself included, have had experiences that reinforce the need for this kind of behavior. They know what it means to feel an instinct, a gut feeling, a inkling that something is right, or not right, or "off" just a bit. The problem, I think, is that most of us do not know how to or will decide not to act on that instinct. Do we fear the repercussions? The risk? The thought of getting it wrong? Of going against the grain?

I wonder about our little girls in society. How do we teach them to listen to themselves, pay attention to their instincts, and to follow through with what they know is right, even in the face of those that will tell them they are wrong? I wonder about the woman in our society how to we teach them? How do we teach ourselves?

How to you listen to and HEAR yourself in a way that moves you to act?

Whoa. Reading through this I realized that this went a different way than I thought this post would go. But, hey, I'm crazy like this. I am putting it out there. Feel free to comment or not.

Dude, you so forgot your pants

2006-06-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

Something drew me to Rowan Cork. Not so sure what. I tried it way back at the Taste of Yarn I hosted (which I just realized was OVER a year ago, so strange how quickly time flies.) Didn't hate it, didn't love it. However, something drew me to the bag of sale yarn. I walked out of the store without it. Rob is the one that insisted that we go back and purchase enough for me to make the sweater I had spotted in the Rowan Cork book (Bless if you're curious.)

As I began to swatch I really began to love the yarn and wanted to make a simple top down pullover with ribbing at the neck, sleeves, and waist. I wanted subtle shaping and a sweater with little ease (to make up for the bulk of the yarn, Cork knits up at ~3.5 sts/in) I was not up for writing a pattern. I shuffled through my knitting books and found a sweater that I have been coveting for awhile. Which, ultimately, made me think that when I find something I like and would like to knit that I should record it somewhere. Thereby allowing me to buy yarn with a purpose when the need comes. Does anyone have any ideas where I could write these things? What? Where? In a knitting blog? Huh. Great suggestion. I'll have to look into that.

The sweater - The Lace Leaf pullover by Teva Durham. It totally satisfied my requirements, minus the waist shaping but I could easily add that. The construction, as many of you probably know, is a bit original. It's knit top down and bottom up with a bunch of grafting in the middle. I wasn't up for that so I eliminated the bottom leaf. My swatch told me that I needed to make some changes due to a difference in gauge. I pulled out the calculator. A quick look at the pattern made me realize that I'd have to size the pattern down as I wanted a tighter fit with less ease than the designer intended. I pulled out some paper. I realized I wanted it a bit longer. I pulled out the pencil.

Next thing you know I'm rewriting the pattern. Good bones by Teva, I modified based off of her ideas.

I started knitting top down in the round (I prefer sweaters with seams...but we were going for easy here). And I knit and I knit. My swatch told me that I would loose about 12% of my length so I knit it 12% longer than I would like it to ultimately end up. I finished all of that damn twisted stitch and, last night 10pm, I tried it on with my new shoes.

Ever had those dreams where you go to work and realize, after you arrive, that you've forgotten your pants?

This is the sweater for you. Long enough to cover it all up, erase your mistake, pretend it was all on purpose.

At least that's my story.

This is pre-block and a little bit stretched to hide my bizzness.

My fingers are crossed that the 12% length skrinkage really shakes out.

Oh, and this photo-shoot is dedicated to Kay. "This Fresca is for you!"

The Internet that Ate my Brain

2006-06-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

So. Tired.

The internet ate me last night. I was up until 1 a.m. with all of these cool language sites. Seriously, I have a problem.

Tonight I'm focused on twisted rib for my Cork project. I hate this part. Twisted rib, 100+ stitches in the round with size 11 needles. Not. fun. It's taken me all night to get through five rows. No joke.

Rob and I are thinking of taking an overnight somewhere nearby for his birthday. We hope to head out next weekend, with the dogs. We are poor and would like a fun adventurous 24+ hours within a 150 mile radius of Boston. I've been trying to find a cheap cabin to rent for the night but the internet truly doesn't lend itself to these type of things. We would be up for camping but we can only go for one night and that seems like a lot of prep work for one evening.
Any suggestions? The only real requirement is that the dogs must be welcomed.

Chi·ra·gra - A knitters worst fear

2006-06-04T22:28:00.000-05:00

I am a creature of habit. The laws of physics practice their ways on me. I blog blog blog and then I stop stop stop. No reason. Busy as always. Just out of the habit.

As a way of reentering my world. Here's what's up:

Readin':
Just finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I read it for my bookclub and really enjoyed the novel. Something I learned: Slut's Wool. My original thought on the definition wasn't too far off from the actual. However, I believe mine (which you can guess by firmly placing your head in the gutter) is more amusing. As an alternative definition, I can't help but think this is what all those little crap pieces of yarn strewn about the house should be called.
I'm now settling into The Eight by Katerine Neville, a gift from Elisa. I had started Wuthering Heights by "one of those damn Bronte sisters", as Rob says (purchased at the thrift store for 50 cents thankyouverymuch). While I enjoyed the first chapter I found I was not in the mood to concentrate so hard. Neville's book is perfect for my current attention span.

Watchin':
Many of you may remember that I love old movies. I'm slowly trying to get through the decades past. Times of women in skirts and men in pants with waists at their nipples. Hitchcock is a favorite. The man made a lot of movies. These are the movies that I got through this weekend. All, believe it or not, first time viewings.
1 - Young and Innocent. Verdict: Not my favorite Hitchcock but very entertaining. He was a younger film maker and it shows. However, some of his trademarks are striking in this film.
2 - Lost Angel. Verdict: Cute feel good film. Shirley Temple-esque. Which reminded me to add her to my DVR WishList.
3 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Verdict: Great movie. Moving and a fine film. Rings too true for our times.
On the non-movie front.
1 - I am about two-thirds of the way through The Age of AIDS, a Frontline program. Verdict: This level of darkness and tragedy is difficult for me to process. However, I feel a sense of devotion and responsibility to those that have been more deeply affected by this disease. It's an interesting look through our history as a nation and how the character of those in the Executive Office so strongly influenced the course of the disease.
2 - National Spelling Bee. Verdict: I am without words. For a fun site that takes a look at the final words through the eyes of baseball check out this MLB article.

Listenin'
My ipod supplies me with music and books on tape. Maryse insists that listening to the books does not count as "reading" them. So, here we go - they're in a different category.
I am EXTREMELY picky about my readers. If you're going to invade my ears for more than 8 hours - you need not annoy the crap out of me. I also can only listen to certain types of books on tape. Books that are driven by plot rather than by characters are a bit easier for me to pay attention to. I just finished, A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Loved the narrator, loved the story. Two thumbs up. Christopher Moore does a great job with turning phrases. Lends it self well to the auditory experience. The nice thing about audible (where I download my stories from) is the feature where you can see what other books they narrator has recorded. Must keep this in mind for future selections. I presently have Heat by Bill Buford in the queue. How could I pass up a book that has "pasta-maker" in the title? (ps - I just found out this is the abridged version. Pissed. I do not do abridged books.)

Doin':
Workin', Knittin', Readin', Watchin', Thinkin' and just a gettin' it. Oh, I suppose there may have been some farting with my pants off in there too. ;)

Knittin':
We had to travel to Milton, MA last weekend. This meant a stop in at Stupid Snow Goose. A LYS there with which I have a love hate relationship. Most of the hate is really just a matter of personal preference, as the people there have never been anything but friendly and accommodating as I plop my credit card down on their counter. The store is an OCDers nightmare. Yarn everywhere. In piles. In corners. No logical organization. The sale box? Clearly visible. I picked up a bag of Rowan Cork and the pattern book. Seriously, nothing like discontinuing a yarn to get you to purchase it. I came home swatched, abandoned all other projects, and haven't looked back. I am loving the yarn and really loving the project that I'm working on. I'll spare the details for my next post. All the watchin' I have been doing? Totally the fault of this damn yarn and pattern.

Eatin':
Fresh Strawberries. Yummmm.

Lovin':
Aside from the usual swell that I have in my heart for the man who sleeps next to me as I sleep without EVER snoring, I am lovin' my new knitting bag. Unfortunately I cannot find it online. It's a black diaper bag from Targ*t.

Thinkin':
If humans are intelligent enough to manipulate cells to create medicines, vaccines, and treatments for major disease than why oh why have they not created a crystal ball? My family's life is at a cross road. We are searching and seeking the right direction. I have faith we will find it but man, it would be a hell of a lot easier with a damn kick ass crystal ball.

Oh, and tell me how stupid I felt when I realized that, at the age of thirty, the phrase, "for all intensive purposes" is a malapropism. It is actually, "for all intents and purposes". While it is, apparently, a common error I am still shocked. Seriously, how can I count the ways my English teachers have failed me and/or how dense my brain must be?*** PS- I love how the linked to website says the mistake is made by people who do not read much...right, sure....this falls into the same category that people who read are really good spellers.
By the way, this would be a great opportunity to use one of the words (psittacism) that I learned as a result of the Spelling Bee. However, it's 11:21 pm and by brain cannot stretch that far. So, I will be satisfied by just telling you about it.

Hmmm, this is kind of fun. Maybe I'll make this a regular feature. Except in the future we'll have to add a "Spinnin'" category. Yip!

*** My husband just informed me that he has corrected me on this phrase multiple times. In fact, he insists that a few years ago we made a bet and I looked it up and, of course, lost. I guess I cannot realling blame the teachers huh? My thick head is the larger problem.

Mini, Come on Down!

2006-05-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

The poop yarn?

I threw it out. There was no way that was going into my tub to get washed. Blech.

In the interest of full disclosure - that is not the first time I have been a bird's target. In fact, it was the 4th. Go figure. According to many of you - I must be really really lucky.

The second time was actually pretty amusing.

It was 1998, I had graduated from college. With all of my earthly possessions loaded in my car I drove into Washington, D.C. to start a internship at a national park. A time of transition. Of freedom. There is nothing like fitting ALL of your life into a car and starting out in a new place. I was definitely feeling great, the sun was shining and my windows were open. I hit the beltway (the big circle highway around D.C.) and flew through traffic at about 60mph. A loud noise startled me and I felt wet. I looked to the center of my car and realized -

A bird had crapped and somehow managed to target me, inside my vehicle, through my sunroof, going 60mph. The physics there are completely mindbending. Don't even try to figure it out. Just know - at that speed bird crap splatters EVERYWHERE.

*****

And now a word from Mr. Bookish,

I SPENT TWO DAYS IN THE FREEZING RAIN AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY BROKEN ARM (or How I Survived Wet Wool Fest 2006).

Aside from that time I was lost in the woods and had to survive on grubs for 9 days… picking the winner of the WET WOOL FEST 2006 PRIZE is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Man, yall are good!

If I had read all of these BEFORE the event (like I was supposed to), I would have taken Rycrafty’s sage advice, snuck in behind the Bookish Girl and picked up a few of those fawned-over items and held them back for future birthdays, etc. But I am a dumb-ass. (Thanks for the heads-up Ry!)

I was genuinely impressed with all responses (Katie Couric, Cute knitter chicks, but you can’t go home with everything you see, sexual favors… haw!). But thank God I DIDN’T read these before the event… because with a little hindsight, it’s clear which response I HAVE to choose.

And with these words:

“He can coast for at least ONE MONTH on this....forgot to take out the trash? "but I went to NHS&W!". Don't want to sit through a "chick flick" "but I went to NHS&W!" It can be used oh so many ways…”

I crown Mini the winner and my newest bestest friend. Let’s just hope there’s at least one back rub in all of this somewhere… or at least one forgiven hang-over.

God bless you Mini… and God bless America!

(The broken arm, crazy guitar synthesizers, beers, tequila and more beers, and torrential downpour stories will have to wait another day.)

peace"

*****

The Mini referred to is Ms. Minestrone Soup. Girl, send me your address and I promise to mail this (sometime in the next decade):

Sock Yarn from Dorchester Farms. One of my favorite festival vendors. His sense of color is right up my alley. Usually a bit different from the normal hues you find.

And the broken arm that Rob "claims" to have? It's not broken, it's barely bruised. Unfortunately his arm had a run in with my hand. Poor Robby....

In other interesting news.... many of us (myself included) get endless hours of amusement from reviewing the google search terms that get people to our site. My new favorite one just appeared within the last 24 hours:

"girls who fart with there [sic] pants off"

Oh yah. That's me.

I'd like to make a deposit please

2006-05-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

"People dressed in a certain kind of clothing are never wrong. Also they never fart. What Mary Whitney used to say was, If there's farting in a room where they are, you may be sure you done it yourself. And even if you never did, you better not say so or it's all Damn your insolence, and a boot in the backside and out on the street with you."

- Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace, 1996

I read this as I was drying my hair this morning. It struck me as a genius series of thoughts and words. Truly captures some of my thinking lately. I digested a few more paragraphs and headed off to work.

There I was greeted by A DAY. We all have had them. No event in particular. Just a series of incidences that make you want to THROW OPEN YOUR WINDOW AND TEST THE AIR CURRENT'S STRENGTH.

This paragraph ran through my head and framed my thoughts. An interesting day, I was glad to wander home and take a bit of a lie down followed by Chinese take-out (sans MSG thankyouverymuch). There is little that Chinese take-out cannot fix.

Rob and I have been doing quite a bit of thrifting. I will surely find the time to explain in more detail the joy I find in this and the treasures I carry home. I have been working on recycling a particularly large wool sweater that I found. Last night I formed skeins, soaked, washed, rinsed, washed, rinsed, and hung the little bundles out to dry.

I came home tonight to check my little babies.

As a statement on the day this is what I found:

Not sure what you're looking at? Here is a hint:

Robby said that the bird wanted to buy my yarn. When I asked him how he knew that he said,

"He liked it so much he put a deposit on it."

And that, my friends, is the kind of day I had.

Trudy the Tetrahymena has Left the Building

2006-05-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Wayyyyy back when (have you noticed I say this a lot) I conceived and started to implement a genius idea.

I was going to knit a Tetrahymena for my BFF's husband Chad.

The prototype was completed before the holidays. And then this big alien ship came down and possessed my body. Unfortunately this alien didn't know how to knit, but man did it ever know how to eat! Whew. It just ate and ate and ate...

Okay - so the alien did not come down and I did find appropriate yarns (Brown Sheep and some eyelashy crappy crap) for the job and I knit and knit and knit. I finished the project right around my Birthday and felted the sucker for good measure. Unfortunately I did not take any before pictures.

Picture me this: a deflated astro-turfy covered pear shaped foot ball sized sack.

Here she is all stuff up and ready to be sent.

Robby made a name tags for her. There would be nothing more embarrassing than Chad not being able to recognize the organism on which he expends the majority of his creative and scientific energy. I was worried the astro-turfy look would throw him off (note to self: choose another color next time.)

Chad seems to think Trudy the Tetrahymena sounds like a porn name. Hmm, what kind of porn is Chad watching? Juli you should keep a better eye on yer fella. ;)

The name was actually inspired by this character:

Truly Scrumptious in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (alright. so we have a long running argument in our house. I happen to think that Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the old one) is an incredibly scary horrible scary horrible movie. Rob laughs. However, he claims that Chitty-Chitty is a terrifying movie not suited for children.** We have serious debates here. Weigh in with your opinion. Your voice will be heard!)

We had just watched Truly sweeten her way into the hearts of Dick Van Dyke when we were faced with the naming task. Trudy fell right off of our lips and onto the tetrahymena.

Chad received his gift this week. Upon receipt he sent and email off to me. Get this - there is another knitted tetrahymena out there!!!

Chad sayzzz:

"The crazy thing is that this isn’t the only knitted Tetrahymena in the world. Two weeks ago I was at this meeting and this guy had one made for him….crazy huh? He has been traveling all around the world with it, taking pictures of it on mountain, tall buildings etc. Tetrahymena people are a little crazy."

Eh, big deal. Knitter's who knit them are crazier!

**ETA: For clarification, our debate is actually about which was/is scarier to us. Rob used to have nightmares about the child-stealer in CCBB. I have always thought Charlie and the CF was wayyy scarier. Neither of us has ever considered the appropriateness.

Quiz Show

2006-05-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

Let's talk quiz.

You all did pretty well. I kept all the questions within the realm of what an average reader could know if they paid a lot of attention. Having said that, I am notoriously horrible at coming up with information at the ding of a bell and have royally screwed up some of my friend's quizzes. Some of them I purposefully messed up just cause I thought it would be funny.

A few people did really really well. The Purloined Letter was the only one to get 100. I have to admit this freaked me a bit - because I wasn't aware of this person until this quiz. However, I emailed her and she had admittedly guessed on a bunch and got lucky.

Rob did well - only missing one (about the lace.) And Emily (my roommate from college took the quiz and obviously did well too. Most of the people that scored higher know me in real life (or have met me.)

I think this is so interesting. I am fairly open on my site. I am not so into self censorship. However, there are things that never make it to the pages, or when they do are mentioned in passing. It is interesting to compare these levels of intimacy. You all don't really know many of the things that I would say act to define me in real life- like my height) or my degree. But, you obviously know other things about me - like I am the funniest, wittiest, dorkiest, reading knitter out there. ;)

I laughed my ass off at a few answers.

1 - Cara thinks I'm 5'7". I am 5'3". Do you have any idea how much time I've spent standing next to, near, or in the same proximity of this woman? C - I may not remember what side of the bed you sleep on but I would likely guess your height.

2 - Cynthia thinks Rob is younger than me. He is 13 years older. Cynthia (in a blog worthy event that I failed to blog about) stayed with Rob and I earlier in the spring. She spent the night in our guest room - harassed by one of my four animals (she did get that question right.) She spend an evening with Rob and me, graciously taking us out to dinner. Now, I explain this not to mock Cynthia - even though it is pretty funny. But to demonstrate that age is defined by your attitude about life - not your body.

Rob is 13 years older than me. However, he often gets carded and behaves like a much younger person. He is full of life and humor and has a baby face to match. When we first started dating he nervously told me his age. I shrugged it off mostly because I wasn't thinking that our relationship would get serious. My mom was super excited to hear that I was with someone older she said, "Good he's got all the piss and vinegar out of him." That's my mom. Five years later and - we're married! The age difference doesn't show it self too often. Only when we talk about culture from our youths. My first concert vs his first concert. A concert I went to when I was young and the same concert he went to when he was old. But, that's fun stuff.

3 - Maryse thinking I was born in Berkley, CA. I was born in Dallas, TX. She said that she just couldn't bring herself to believe that I was born in Texas. Hehehe.

4 - Many, many, many of you thinking that my Master's degree was in English. So sweet. But really, I think if that was the case than my degree school should be burned. I am horrible horrible horrible with grammar. This should be abundantly clear to all of you. In fact, there are typos and grammar errors in the quiz! I am a bit old fashioned in that I believe English majors should be champions of the language they carry on their degree. My degree is in Geography. I concentrated on Water Resources and Ecology. My thesis focused on a species of fish in Northern Georgia. I relied heavily on statistics and tenacity. Somehow it worked, I earned a degree. Something I honestly never thought I would do.

There were others, these are the ones that float to the top at this minute. Thank you all for taking the time to learn more about me! I got a lot of amusement from this!

Here, for the record, are the correct answers with a bit of commentary.

1) In what city was I born?
a) Dallas "I'm really a redneck", Texas.
comment: My parents are from Upstate New York. My father works for a major company based there. In the early 1970's he was transferred to Dallas. They lasted about a three years. During that time I was born. Soon after my birth they transferred back home. That is where I was raised with my brother and sister.

2) Growing up what was my favorite thing to do?
d) Read
comment: duh! When asked my hobby I always got very embarrassed. I felt like reading wasn't really a hobby and that people would make fun of me. Poor kid. When I was very young, just about to turn 5, I would sit next to my mom on the couch while she read. I always had a book with me that I read too. Except, I did not really know how to read so I watch my mom for cues. When she turned her page - I turned mine!

3) How much older than me is my husband?
b) 13 years

4) How many animals am I owned by?
a) 4 - 2 dogs, 2 cats
comment: I introduced each of these beasties early in my blog's career. We have two cats: Kumar and FutureMan, and two dogs: Gabby, and Rya.

5) What is my middle name?
c) Lynn
comment: First name after a little girl my mom used to babysit for, middle name after my mom's best friend

6) If I could live anywhere in the world, which would I pick?
a) Water, Water, Water
comment: This was another one that most got wrong. I love the water. I grew up on and in the water. My childhood home is surrounded by lakes and we always had a pool growing up. I studied rivers in school and came into my first big girl job to perform research on rivers. The ocean is my solace. I would love to live on the water. We currently live about 15 minutes from the beach and just a few miles from two major East Coast Rivers (the Charles and the Neponset.) All other places I could take or leave (I do love the mountains) but water is the place for me.

7) I have a Master's degree in what subject
a) Geography

8) How many lace projects have I completed in my knitting life?
d) Ha! Yah, right.
comment: I have assembled all of the necessary tools to conquer this one. There is only one thing I'm missing - balls.

9) How tall am I?
c) 5'3"

10) How old was I when I learned to knit?
c) 27
comment: I think this is wrong. I think I was 28. Dang! I got my own quiz wrong.

In which the Girl gets her panties wet and loads up on Tequila

2006-05-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

If you have not yet heard about the biblical rains that are slamming my fair city you must be stuck in a hole. Or not on the East Coast. Really is there a difference?! Tehehe. Kidding.

We did make it up to New Hampshire for the Sheep and Wool festival. It was wet. Saying that is just about the biggest freaking understatement of the year. Robby and I left early Saturday morning. Typically a road trip of over two hours leads to some change in weather. Not in this case. We drove and drove and it rained and rained. It was a bit cold as well.

We arrived and hit some of the barns. I showed Robby the wheels, the fleece, the yarn. He took a bunch of pictures met some of the girls that I hang out with and made nice with his fellow fair goers. Then his boyfriend Mike showed up and the two of them high-tailed it out of there and were off to greener pastures (or at least drier ones.)

I stuck it out for a few more hours. Wandered around. Laughed with some of the bloggers, ate food, drank hot cocoa (seriously, how is it that something so simple could Save. Your. Life.) I managed to get everything that I came for, with the exception of one item (part of a secret gift that will be revealed at a later date.) It was difficult to socialize through the rain, the mud, and the chattering teeth. I went solo for much of the afternoon which was an interesting experience.
My credit card is a bit hurt by the whole weekend.

Among other things I was pleased to find a Kumihimo Disk at one of the booths. 'Member when I blogged about trying this? Well this is the first one I've been able to locate in person. It seemed silly to pay as much to ship something as it was to purchase it. I was determined to wait until I found one in the real world. I did. I haven't tried it yet - I'll give you the scoop when I pull it out.

I left the fair in the late afternoon because my panties were wet from all of the damn rain. I headed over to our hotel to warm up. I was determined to finish the second sock of my pair before we headed to dinner that night. I wanted to wear it out! Total nerd. I did not finish the sock before we left. However, I did finish in the bar while we waited for a table. Fortunately Kellee was able to snap a shot with her cell phone for posterity sake. Keep in mind that I wasn't drunk - yet.

Yarn:

Yarn: Fortissima Mexiko/Fairisle
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns sock pattern. Roll top.

How cool is it that I finished the Mexiko sock in a Mexican restaurant?!

See all of those Margarita's on the table.? Um, I drank a lot. In my real life I rarely drink A LOT. I hardly ever get drunk. It's a testiment to my love for these random internet knitters who blog that I felt comfortable enough to imbibe. That and the hubber was there to take care of me. And, he would have if he wasn't too busy drinking all on his own! ;)

We woke up late the next morning, had breakfast with Elisa and Mike, rearranged cars along the lines of sex and interest and Elisa and I headed up to Patternworks. The boys headed to the guitar store and then the bar. Shocking, I know. Patternworks was a great place. I felt pretty inspired while there and managed to find some cool tools (I'm a sucker for some tools), a pattern book (or two), and a felted fish kit.

I feel very warm and fuzzy today. Happy and proud that my man spent the weekend with me and truly enjoyed getting to know the girls that I spend so much time with. Some weird cosmic thing was going on and there were a lot of husbands/sig others floating around. Our dinner included four of these characters. Watching them fit so flawlessly into the seams of our group was really neat. Just goes to show - A little knitting can bring you quite a lot.

I picked up a super cool prize for the winner of last week's contest. I just have to get Rob to pick who it is!!

This wagon is too fun to avoid

2006-05-11T11:29:00.000-05:00

Seriously - how funny is it when something travels through blog land and you see it over, and over, and over, and over again?

It drives you crazy.

The repetitiveness, the sheep mentality (hehe), the utter lack of originality.

You follow the links,
you place you answers,
you marvel at the little bits of information that you know
or don't know about people.

You are slowly pulled in...

You wonder.

How well do they know me?

Oh what pretty Links you have.

2006-05-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

So, I am working on a fun project that is taking a lot of my free time. The finished knits parade is not quite over (groan from the crowd.) It will pick up again in a bit.

Rob and I are headed up to New Hampshire this weekend for the NH Sheep and Wool festival. This will be Rob's first fiber festival and well, he is not so excited. Shocking! I know!

In fact, Elisa and I had to bribe our respective partners into attendance with promises of "boyfriend alone time" (background here: Mike and Rob have many of the same interests and sincerely enjoy eachother's company independet of Elisa and my friendship. This is great and we have all dubbed their affection for one another as you would if they were dating one another.) (Kellee is still working on hers).

Their expected reply was: "Grumble, Grumble, well, I GUESS I'll go if he's going. (Sudden smile) HEY! I bet there are MUSIC stores up there." Dear Mike has mapped out a thrilling weekend for them both. I'm hoping that Rob will spend some time at the event, just so he can get a taste of the fun sheepy goodness.

Maybe he'll even make it to the TGKWB* lunch event (details here if you're interested).

Here's your opportunity to lend him some of your best advice.

Leave a comment with one (or both) of the following:

1 - Why he should attend.
2 - Survival techniques for negotiated the hysteria that may occur when Knitters (and Spinners!) are faced with SO MUCH FIBER.

They funnier the better. I will have him pick the most compelling and we will send you a bit of something from the festival.

Deadline for responses: 6pm Friday, May 12th. We'll announce the winner that night.

On another note,

I ran into two interesting items in today's papers. Check them out, some food for thought.

Poll Gives Bush His Worst Marks Yet
Graphic of Poll Here. via NYTimes. Generally Polls drive me crazy. I have a background in statistics and the media's warping of the statistics behind the polls is, more often than not, really quite irritating. This is true no matter how I feel about the topic. However, general trends like these and the details about perceptions is quite interesting.

Scraping to fill the shelves of the Bush library Op Ed in Today's Boston Globe.

* The Gaggle of Knitters Who Blog.

Strong Arming an Armhole

2006-05-02T17:52:00.000-05:00

Hiz-aaa. How fun was my last post? I crack myself up pretty much every day. However, it's nice to know that every once in awhile I can crack you all up too. The baby that will receive the outfit is the new babe of my neighbors. Just in case you're wondering, this is what a Dominican/Parisian looks like:

The hair! The hair is almost enough to make you throw out your birth control and demand to be fertilized.

Almost.

Not quite though.

Here we have yet another finished knit. This has been here before, (the pictures do not work on this link. Picture a half finished baby knit sweater.) like other knits before it, it pissed me off and got stuck at the bottom of my bucket. Where I told it to fuck it. This sentence was served without a peep from the sweater. Which leads me to believe it was guilty of the accussed, either that or the medication is really working to lull those voices in my head.

What could a sweater this cute do to deserve an extended sentence at the bottom of my bucket? The armholes. I didn't like the armholes. By the time I got over this truly horrifying crime the babe for which the seater was intended was clearly too large to wear it. So, I ripped a bit and blocked a lot and have gifted the sweater to a co-workers new baby.

I'm telling you. We are all babies all the time here.

Ba-Ba-Ba-Baaa-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Baaaaa

2006-04-27T19:50:00.000-05:00

It seems that the Daisy Cardi got her man (or woman...I haven't the guts to check the sex of the cargo pants...)

(cue the music for Happy Together by The Turtles)

Imagine me

and you,

I do
I think about you day and night, it's only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight

So happy together

If I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you

For all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be

The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you

For all my life
When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba

Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

So happy together
How is the weather
So happy together
We're happy together
So happy together
Happy together
So happy together
So happy together (ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba)

*****

Cargo Pants:

Pattern: Cargo Pants from Knitty by Brynne Sutton

Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton

Mods to pattern: None. Although if I knit these again I would pick up stitches for the pocket rather than knit it separately. I would also make it a functioning pocket. Non-functioning pockets remind me of dickie's and well, that is NEVER a good thing.

2006-04-26T20:47:00.000-05:00

You all are giving the Husband a complex.

I came into the bathroom this morning and he said,

Robby: "Honey, is it okay if husbands comment on the blogs?"

Wendy: "I don't think there is a rule against it if that's what you mean. Why do you ask?"

R: "Because you usually get lots of comments on your posts and no one has commented since I left mine. Maybe I scared them off or something."

W: "Honey, you didn't scare them off. Sometimes people don't have anything to say. That's okay. And I love it when you comment. So, do as you please."

He's a keeper huh?

Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize to absurdity of your life and/or circumstances? Well, maybe absurdity is not an appropriate term. Maybe the strange parallel universeishness. I was talking to a friend on the phone tonight and I said that if I wasn't already married that I would marry my Tivo. Which is a true statement, I love my Tivo. However, at that moment it struck me. Hey, I'm married. Weird. Or, I'm grown up, weird.

***

I caught up with the knit parade. This item was a particularly bad one. I found it trying to seduce some knitted cargo pants to join it in an ensemble.

I'll let you know tomorrow if it was successful in its pursuit.

Check out the cute buttons. I am totally a sucker for buttons. My grandfather used to work in a button factory. Growing up we always had a box of misc buttons to play in. Something must have imprinted somewhere.

The Hammer helped me pick these out - her color advice was dead on.

Pattern: Daisy from Knitty by the Rock Star.

Yarn: Butterfly Super 10 (When I say this in my head it turns into Superfly 10, which is way more fun.) (ps- have you seen this company's sock yarn? the colors! oy!)

Color: No idea...maybe Tiger Lily

I did not modify the pattern. Except of course for the misplaced bottom button hole. But we're ignoring that. Oh yes, we are.

Missing: One Kickass Knit Parade

2006-04-25T14:56:00.000-05:00

As you can tell, I have been a busy, busy girl (ps- a $10 margarita is NEVER a bad idea). In addition, the hubbers and I also have some BIG LIFE STUFF happening in the real world (no I am not pregnant). As a result of inattention, it seems the knit parade took a detour and ended up on Spring Break in Miami. Word on the street is that the baby knits are getting down with Jack.

I have loved reading all of the handwriting on the web from the latest and greatest follow-the-leader. I am an extremely visual and tactical person (shocking, I know) and handwriting is one of the things I miss the most in our type-written age.

I was especially intrigued by Carole's adaptation to the usual lazy fox. Here is what you get when you know me in real life:

And, if you knew me in real life and were walking into my office to see me this is what you would see today:

2006-04-19T20:36:00.000-05:00

It's totally not meant for me to post another Finished Object tonight. Picture issues.

I'll post 2 tomorrow or maybe 3 Friday. I don't know - we're crazy over here at Bookish Girl, flying by the seat of our pants and all...

A few random thangs.

1 - Step Into My Thimble Heidi is running a sweatshop (and birthing babies) over on her blog. She is making the cutest itty bitty baby things. I couldn't resist ordering this bib (picture taken from Heidi's shop and saved on my server.)
I'm trying to figure out where it's going to go....I'm thinking it may just stay with me. You know, for "some day".

In addition to the bib Heidi unexpectedly sent me a book treat. An old used libary book that smelled perfect. Library, old, awesome. Anyway. After I smelled the book I tore in and started reading. I should finish it tonight. A great fast little mystery book, set in a library. Thank you Heidi! The title is Dewey Decimated by Charles A. Goodrum.

2 - I received a knitting catelog in the mail today. On one of the pages was this picture:
Ash by Rowen

Now, I am not one to make fun of others. But, seriously, are you kidding me?! This is High-larious (ps - 4/20 is tomorrow kids, a fabulous commentary on this notorious day is here) There are so many things wrong with this design. In fact, it has become my new threat to the husband. "Do what I ask or I'm going to knit you Ash."

3 - A jury duty post is in the making. It was a long 6 day trial with many interesting aspects. Teaser: Which knit blogger got to hold an automatic 9mm handgun in one hand and a bag of 14.8 grams of crack cocaine in another? Hint: she likes to read.

Get your stitchy on.

2006-04-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

We interrupt this finished knits parade to brag about the creativity and pure genius of my girl Stitchy. I tell you what - the worst thing about knowing these nuts in person is that you find out that THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN'T BLOG ABOUT. This is one of those things that has been chained to my leg. I found out about Debbie's new book some time ago and I busted at the seams with Pride and Joy. But had to keep it in. Well, no more. It's officially out....go give her some lovin'.

Alrighty then....

Entering day three of the finish the knits parade. I can see why I do not talk about this stuff too much, it bores me. Granted, I bore easily but this is ridonkulous.

A few months ago, December to be exact, I came across Cast on, Cast off Jenifer's Tote-along. I didn't join because really, what more reason NOT to knit something then because you are in a knit along. Truly the kiss of death. However, I was totally smashed in the head by this post and this post by Marina from "Have sticks, will travel." These bags (the Vertical Stripe bag from Pick Up Sticks) are so cute! And they claim to stand up and they seemed to be thick and sturdy. And the color combinations are endless. And I had never felted. And I wondered what it would be like. And. And. And.

I filed this information away and a few weeks later I found myself in Lowell, MA at the Classic Elite whorehouse...I mean wearhouse. They carry Pick - Up Sticks patterns and Brown Sheep Nature Spun Yarns. I bought both and I knit the pattern during my Christmas vacation.

My goal was to knit one panel a day. There are 8 panels. The math minded among us will tell us that I finished - 8 days later - voila! 8 days of work and I had big old bag that I needed to felt before we left the 'rents house for the holidays (we have a front-loader at home, they have a top-loader.)

Our plans were to drive back to the Bean on New Years Day. You know what that meant? As the ball dropped in NYC my bag swished and swashed in the tub of the washer. It was a family affair. Dad, the engineer, was particularly interested in the process. Mom, the quilter, made a lining of some fabric I had picked out during our trip to her local quilting store. Rob, the husband, drank a lot of beer and cheered us all on!

This Quilting store? The ladies there are crazy. They talked about how they were going to corrupt me into liking quilting, how they were super excited about an up-and-coming quilting retreat, how they were glad they had made so many good friends through quilting. Total dorks.

Pot? What? Kettle? Black? I can't hear you.... I'm too busy making fun of myself. ;)

On to the pictures...

I still have to sew in the lining. L-A-Z-Y. Of course, this little detail has kept me from actually using the damn thing.

The pattern is great, the bag is sturdy the construction is ingenious. I would definitely made it again but would probably double the length of the stripes, and therefore doubling the height of the bag.

Go forth and knit a bag now. Oh, and Cascade 220? On sale at WEBS for ass cheap (ass cheap = $4.79.)

Chunky Tut Part Deux

2006-04-17T19:21:00.000-05:00

I am so glad you all love Juli as much as I do. And for all of you who are scared to go back to projects after hating them... just do it. It takes one itty bitty step after another to reach the finish.

Anywhooo...
Here we are day 2 of the week and another finished object to show you.

Remember this hat?

Well, I decided to make one for my sister for Christmas. Problem is, I decided this about a week before Christmas.

Here I am knitting away on Christmas Eve at my parent's house. I'm wearing the hat that I knit first for myself, no pattern just made it up, and am knitting the one for Margaret. How meta.

She was sitting next to me as I knit. When I finished she said, "Oh, that's cute, who is it for?" I said "you, here ya go!"

Great sister, huh?

Same yarn, same pattern...she has the EXACT same size head as I do, which is somewhere around huge and ginormous. This realization led to a frantic measuring of all the heads in my family. Cousins, uncles, aunts. We all have freakishly big heads.

All the better to out thunk you my friend.

News Flash!

2006-04-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

News Flash - The Bookish Girl Knits. A lot.

I have truly neglected the knitting content on this here blog. In many cases projects have been started, finished and gifted without even a brief peek at the world wide web. This week I will present a finished object per day. I think I have that many. I will document each and every one until I run out out of them.

Today - the Shit-com Chic. Remember this post? I started this sweater in July 2005, put it down, picked it up, put it down, picked it up and finished it in December 2005. This sweater was knit as a gift for Juli, my best friend.

Well, I did finally finish this sucker and gifted it to Juli in her Christmas package (sent sometime in February, I'm a horrible post-office doobie.) She loves it! I think that it is a bit big. But, frankly, I'm pretty proud of the finished project. And even more proud that she wears something that I made for her!

Here is a close up of the button.

Purchased at the New York Sheep and Wool festival last fall. I knew I needed a button and this handmade glass one caught my eye. Unfortunately, having finished the project, I did not have it with me. So I eyeballed the color. I think I did a pretty great job!

The pattern is here, I knit exactly to the pattern with two exceptions. Up the sides and down the arms I used paired increases, M1L, M1R instead of the M1L alone. I also increased the length of the sleeves to full length. I would modify the design of the sleeves a bit the next time I do this pattern. If you cast on the called for stitches for the sleeve and plan to knit it full length you will have a very wide wrist and forearm. The sweater's 3/4 sleeve design starts the sleeve at the widest part of your arm. Whereas, with full length sleeves you typically increase from the wrist - the smallest part of the arm to the forearm/elbow area. Therefore, a full length sleeve should cast on few stitches and increase to the pattern's starting arm width. This is a great pattern, the sweater is cute and functional. I will definitely knit it again!
Oh, the yarn? It is Cotton-Ease (now discontinued) in Sugar Plum.

Here are some pictures Juli sent me shortly after she received the sweater...

Isn't she the cutest?!!

Ramblin' On

2006-04-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for taking the time to leave me your words of support. I have loved the distraction and the warm fuzz sent through the internet. I'm not sure that I will be able to get to thank each of you individually - but please know that I'm thankful and truly appreciative.

It has been a bit harder since our return to normal life. I live in a different city and did not often see her, however, knowing that I can not call is a strange feeling. We all have inherited her sense of humor (among other things) and have found this a great coping mechanism. Grandma was very particular with her things and was a bit of a pack rat. I was cleaning out her art supply cabinet (more on this later) and repeatedly dropped boxes of things. I was all jelly fingers. The theory floating around was that she was pissed and was trying to tell me to quit touching her stuff (most of it was being donated to the residence in which she lived.)

Rob and I purchased a lotto ticket the other night - we figure that we probably will never have as much of a chance of winning as we do this week. She would totally let us win if she had her way.

I have spent the last few days trying to catch up at work. Between Jury duty, my trip to NYC, and my trip home to ROC I haven't been in the office much. I have also been waiting for the other shoe to drop. First Ms. Melanie finding her way in out of hospitals and then Grandma...I'm waiting for the third thing to find its way to me. Bad things ALWAYS come in threes.

I did get to spend some time QT with my favorite new mom these past few days. This woman is my hero. For realises. She is so brave and graceful. Go show her some love. Her attitude has made me truly put everything back into perspective. And the hot doctors that seem to travel around her, well, they help too. ;)

To add to the rambling falling out of me today...

A huge box awaited me upon my return on Monday. It was a belated birthday gift from my BFF Juli.

A horrible picture - it was dark outside.

Ain't it awesome. Juli is an incredible potter (is that the right word?) And she made this 'specially for me. Her hubber (the soon to be recipiant of my tetrahymena creation) did the wood work. They rock.

Just because this blog needs a little pick-me up...here are some of my favorite rugrats. Neala and Noah, True love Always.

These were taken during my birthday trip to Vermont. These two baby buttons are about 3 months apart. It amazes me to see the developmental differences in the short distance between their ages. The adults were sitting around the table shooting the shit and the kids were getting antsy. So, the moms plopped them on the table and I handed them all things knitting that couldn't fit down their throats.

I'm ready to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens.

2006-04-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

I lost my grandma last Wednesday. She went peacefully and was ready to move on to her next place. In fact, she said that she, "Was ready to die she just didn't want to be there when it happened."

I was driving with Cara and Kay in NYC on my way to celebrate Kay and Ann's incredible accomplishment - a knitting book that doesn't suck one tiny bit - when my mother called to let me say good-bye to the grandma. A harder task does not exist. What do you say, "Have a nice trip?" It helps to know that grandma had a wicked sense of humor and lived her life strongly. I hope to spend some time reflecting on all that she gave me. I hope that this will make it to the blog.

For a small bit of her check out this post on her mad pasta making skillz.

Here she is as a child

My great-great grandparents, Domenica and Antonio with my grandmother Maria Guiseppa, 1925 in Poggio Pigenso, Italy (where the family is from.)
My great-grand parents were named Augustino and Angelica.
My grandmother was called Josephine (English version of Guiseppa) until she graduated from highschool and realized she had two names. She hated Josephine and went by Marie from that point on.

As a mother (there was a third child to come ~15 years later!)

My grandmother Marie Josephine (the english version of her Italian name) and grandfather Vincent (Vincenzo in Italian). My father Michael Angelo (standing) and my uncle Vincent Michael. This was taken in Batavia, NY or Oakfield, NY sometime ~1947.

As a grandmother

Marie Josephine, 2005, 80thBirthday

She rocked.

Day 6

2006-03-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm still on Jury Duty.
Tomorrow I enter Day 6.

I'm hoping that it's the last day but I am not counting on it. This has been an interesting week, to say the least. One sweater sleeve done and one sock. I was able to sneak a few stitches in during breaks etc. and my jury peers do not mind if I knit while we deliberate. Yay!

Thank you for all your fun comments to my last post. Cynthia, I did not REALLY bring the bottles with me to the Jury selection process - you goober.

In spite of the tone of my last email, I actually do not mind serving or getting called to come in...it is just that I seem to get called at super inconvenient times. But, really - when is it EVER convenient to check out of your real life for over a week without any advanced warning?

If you have emailed or left me a message - I'm sorry not to get back to you I will hopefully be back in full force towards the end of this week. And then next week I am off to travel to two very special events.

It's true.

Once again I get to see the blue denim stained fingers of my very favorite Kay, I get to meet the other Ann, see my ann, and see Cara's dust bunnies up close and personal.

In the meantime - you check out Lorette. How damn freaking cute is she? I have totally got to order one of my own shirts!

My civic duty to get drunk

2006-03-23T17:37:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I received a letter in the mail calling me to perform my civic duty as a citizen of these here United States. No, I wasn't asked to speak out about my political preferences or to knit hats for the Army. I was asked to show up for jury duty.

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts they have a one-day required duty. If you show up, sit in the room and participate in a trial you are let off the hook for 3-years. Well, I was called to appear about 1 week after the 3 year anniversary of my first jury duty in this fair Commonwealth. The first time I was called (3-years ago), I showed up...read for the morning...and left at 1pm free as the breeze. I anticipated the same for this time around. Apparently 80% of the jurors in Mass serve for one day. They are either not picked or they are put on a trial that is short. Everyone I know here has had the same experience as I did the first time.

Honestly, I do not mind this call of duty.* I participated in an incredibly interesting trial before I left Georgia. This experience was valuable as I learned a ton about the justice system and how to commit arson and get caught. It was cool, very Twelve Angry Men and all that.

This time around, being the 3rd time that I've been a part of a jury pool, I knew to head out the door prepared. I figured that I would have the morning to knit and read and generally relax. However, my throat was sore, I had about a zillion deadlines at work to meet, and a very aggressive social schedule. Which made me worried about the prospect of actually being chosen. When brainstorming possible tactics that I could employ to guarantee a free afternoon my husband suggested that I simply, when questioned, start speaking in tongues and bang my head against the wall. But that would be embarrassing. I'm no good at embarrassing. I came up with another idea. The next morning (yesterday), I packed my bag for the day.

knitting. fruit. hard liquor.

I walked out the door and said to my husband, "Here's to not getting chosen for a jury."

Can you tell where this is going yet?

Can you see the fuzzy screen and hear the foreboding music?

I was picked for a trial.

A Criminal Trial.

A Criminal Trial that is supposed to last for at least five days.

Five.

Days.

The novelty of the justice system wore off about four minutes into this trial.

Worst part? Judges frown at knitting during testimonies.

Blech.

* I cannot hear the word "duty" without giggling just a little. Especially when a southerner says it. Oh, to be a four years old again.

PS - Thank you all for the kind words about the article. However, I'm not famous. You do realize that it is the type of paper that people get just to have something to line the hamster cage with, right?

How to embarass yourself in public.

2006-03-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

Please, please don't let this be my 15 minutes of fame because I was REALLY hoping for 15 minutes with Brad Pitt. He is totally on my list.

Blog one, purl two, or how to get along on the 'Inter-knit'.

Disclaimer: I have a fear of reporters. I worked in a non-profit job as an environmental scientist/advocate. Reporters are not always your friends, they tend to find the most backassward thing you say and print it up. This one wasn't too bad, the fault is all mine. I broke an eternal rule with this one, I spoke off the cuff. I was totally flabbergasted that anyone would be interested in anything that I had to say about anything. Please forgive my gooberness.

It must have been a slow week in our neighborhood. She interviewed me months ago. I had forgotten about it until today.

Thanks for hipping me to this Kris.

PS - I just received official word...The Demons have arrived!!! Mama and Babies are doing well. Melanie will post pictures when she is up and at 'em. Which, really, might be in 18 years. Congrats Melanie!!! We love you....

Spinning like it was my Job

2006-03-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

**Edited to add this kickass watercolor painted by Maggie (posted with her permission.) I meant to include this in the post below and forgot!!! I saw this on her site a few weeks ago, I adore it and it gives me warm fuzzies.**

Me and Robot (the name of the new laptop) with Bookish Spun Yarn in the foreground. Yes, Yes, it's true. This may be old news - The Bookish Girl has succumbed to spinning fever.

I had some great teachers, a kickass dealer and fabulous cheer leaders. The atmosphere of SPA was one of support and camaraderie. Carole was kind enough to let me commander her wheel. She was also the one who helped me to finally "get it'. How you ask? It was her sage advice and her well honed teaching method that finally brought me to understanding. Let's see if I can explain.

I was having a hard time understanding how to draft (is that right?) and when to let the yarn go into the little hole to wind itself around the thimble thingy. (Please, bear with me, I'm a spinning retard.) My hands were all over the place. My left behind the right, my right not sure when to run up or down the yarn. When do I grasp harder? How do I know how fast to move the hands?

I felt like a teenage girl having my first experience with a boy. And, as it turns out, I essentially was a teenage girl. Apparently, one can liken the motion of the hands during spinning to the motion of the hands during a tryst with a boy.

eh-hem.

Do you need me to draw a picture?

Yay, I didn't think so.

Needless to say, my spinning improved about 100% after Carole used this analogy. Being the good teacher that she is she did not mince words so much (and honestly, I wouldn't either except that I fear some young Juliet may find her way here and get her socks shocked off.) It was totally hilarious.

By the end of the weekend I was able to spin sober and tipsy. Ironically, the tipsy portion of the yarn was a lot better. Go Figure. I wouldn't' say that I'm in love with spinning. I definitely wouldn't say that I was good at it. However, I can definitely see how it could be addicting!

Keep your wheels away from me you spinning pimps.

The Comish speaks

2006-03-17T15:33:00.000-05:00

Ask and ye shall receive

Bookish Girls Cafepress Store

I am earning zero profits from this. All prices were set by cafepress...I get nuttin'.

I did designate that all prints be done via direct printing. I ordered my team boston T with this option because the fabric items do not fade as they would with heat transfer. However, if you would like me to change it so that you may decide for yourself just say the word.

yo.

I'm working on modifying the image for black t-shirts/hats.

Throwing up the Bat Signal

2006-03-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

*** This is a long and rambling post. If you're a skimmer and uninterested in my ramblings, skip to the end for the good stuff.**

I am fortunate enough to live in a major metropolitan area that is overrun with knitters. Even more fortunate to know and love some of these girls/woman/crazy people. They have become my community. And I love it.

I moved to Boston about four and a half years ago. I had graduated from a M.S. program at UGA and moved to New England for a job with a small environmental non-profit. Originally from the northeast this move was not too scary for me. I was happy to be leaving the south and anxious to get back "home". Unfortunately this move was my forth in three years and the third that brought me to a place where I didn't really know anyone. For real. This sucked. I didn't have any friends for a very very long time. I knew people and I had all of my best friends from my youth a phone call away but there was not anyone here for me. The kinds of people that you can open up to and be real. It was hard. I was depressed. My boyfriend (now my ex-boyfriend and husband) was still in Georgia and I had no friends. I did love my job - so not all was lost. I also loved loved loved living in Boston, a childhood dream of mine fulfilled.

To curb my loneliness I decided to take classes at a local adult education program. The first class I took was pottery. Lots of fun but a pretty solitary experience. I decided to take kickboxing (sport of the future). Didn't quite fit in with the "pony-tail black pants I spent more on my underwear than you ever dreamt was possible" crowd in the class. This brought me to the knitting class.

By this point in time Rob had moved up to Boston and we were living in our new condo, engaged and living the good life. Rob may be my husband, the love of my life and the person that I would want to head off to a desert island with, but he is unable to fill the part of me that craves a loving welcoming community. Something that I still did not have even after living in this fair city for a year and a half.

My knitting class was great. The participants were interesting, the teacher was phenomenal and I really truly enjoyed the craft. I took a second class and after that attended my instructor's weekly meetings at her home. The group was lively but not one I clicked with on a deeper level. About this time our wedding plans got ramped up and we were on the go a lot. Attending the knitting group fell to the back seat.

This was about the time I discovered the online knitting community. Being unable to make it to my knitting group I was a new knitter without a resource to answer my knitting questions. Google brought me to a few web logs. I slowly became enchanted with the people, the community, the inspiration, and the form of communication. I choose to start my blog as a way to work on my writing, to feel more connected to a community, and to learn html. I have accomplished all of this and more.

In the end, I have met and gained an incredible in person, real deal, group of friends. I see these girls quite often, love to be with them and seek their comfort and companionship as a matter of choice and necessity. I often do not blog about our get togethers. Mostly because they are just a normal part of my everyday existence. There are a lot of things about this existence that do not find their way here. Not for any reason really, just lack of time and some sense that it is not extradoridinary. But it is extraordinary. As Rob and I contemplate our next life moves, where we are going and what our goals are, these people make it more complicated. In the best possible way.

I can now say, after four and a half years in Boston, that I have a community. A group that I love and one that I would hate to loose. Pretty freaking cool.

All of this to say -

The other day I called for a meeting with some of these girls. Just needed to see them, having not been around most of them much the last month or so I was iching for my girls. I sent out an email to see who was around and up for a get-together. As I was composing an email I thought, "Hmm, this is a lot like Commissioner Gordon putting up the bat signal for Batman."

I thought it would be fun to put together a "Knitters Signal". For crime fighting and general clean hearted fun. You can use this to call on your posse. So. Fun.

Turkey Talk

2006-03-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

It is time to talk turkey. (Every wonder about the origin of that phrase? Me too. I love etymology. Blingo gave me this site right off (Blingo has yet to give me a prize though, stupid Blingo). It explains that the phrase comes from 1824. We have a lot of interesting phrases and slang in our language. I work with people who speak English as their second language and they have gotten used to asking me what certain things mean. I never realized how often I use slang and confusing phrases.)

Back to the turkey. Or the sheep. Or the sweater.

Here is the beauty in its full glory.

"post shower, pre hair dryer" hair

As I mentioned in my other post, bathing the yarn blocked into a much denser, softer fabric. Having done the requisite swatch-dunk I knew this ahead of time. However, I knit my swatch flat and knit the sweater in the round. My gauge definitely changed between the two which meant that I could not really trust my post dunk swatch gauge.

As you all know, I adjusted my pattern (with a fancy-pants spreadsheet) to my gauge as I knit. This was a fabulous plan that worked out great. Starting with the sleeves enabled me to make sure my body was spot on.

This was my goal:
Sleeve Length = 19.5"
Body Length = 15.0"
Width at Hips/Chest = 18.25" diameter, 36.5" circumference
Width at Waist = 16.7" diameter, 33.4" circumference.

And so it goes. It was exactly that until I blocked it (except for the width around the body, this was off and is a discussion for a different day).

You see, the requisite swatch-dunk that I did pre-project --- well, I missed the pre-block measure. Which meant I couldn't determine how or where the swatch changed gauge. Pre or post or post or pre. Poo or Poo

Anyway - blah blah blah. The blocked sweater was a bit shorter in the arms and the length than I intentioned.

Final word - Love the spread sheet. Will defo use it again. 13" is too short for a sweater for me (at least until I loose some chubs). Sleeves need to be at least 17" for me to be happy. A finished bust of 38" is a just about all right for a sweater of this type...but it could have gone smaller and still would have been way okay.

Bored yet? I am. On to bigger (and better) things.

Clarification: In one of my previous posts I stated that my I used size US8 needles, which was a US9 to normal people. First of all, I misspoke. You see have a problem with remembering whether or not I need to go up or down a needle size. Much like I have a problem alphabetizing things (I always need to recite the entire alphabet to figure out if r goes before or after t). I always need to go up a needle size. My sentence should have said that I used size US8 needles, which was a US7 to normal people. To further clarify, I am a tight knitter and as a matter of practice always go up one needle size from the recommended size. Having said this, I knit a lot looser in the round so this may not totally be true in the case of this sweater.

You all weren't much help in figuring out my 3.2.1 for my 30 list. Atrophy of the brain is not an acceptable excuse. My girl Stitchy brought out the big guns...where are all of your snarky brain cells? Surely they have not disappeared?

Dirty 30

2006-03-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

A 30 year-old girl!

A very public thank you for all the Birthday Wishes. I love birthdays and this one was a biggie!! Another thank you to my Special Birthday pal. I have no idea who you are but I truly appreciate the gift (I received an anonymous gift card to Amazon!) Rest assured that the money went to fun goodies - I'll post them when they arrive.

I had a fabulous Birthday weekend in Vermont with Rob and some friends of ours. The dogs romped, the babies laughed, and the adults got drunk. Good times. I made sure to bring up some of my favorite foods for the weekend. The house we rent is in the middle of nowhere Vermont so we always head up with enough food to feed an army. This gives us the perfect excuse to sit around and stuff our faces - why the hell would we want to bring all that crap back to Boston?

Lauren wrote about Monkey Bread a few weeks ago. Man, is that stuff good. Rob and I made this for our mid-morning snack the day of my birthday. Yum. I didn't have a bundt pan, so I used a spring form pan. It worked fine except the dough was not cooked all the way through. This was no problem though - we chomped it up anyway!

The men folk headed outside during the snowfall on Saturday to build a jump for sledding. Notice the case of beer? We actually had to remind them to come back into the house before their testicles fell off. The beer gave them a wicked sense of warmth.

This is Rya, one of our dogs. We had six adults, two babies, and three dogs up there. Everyone got along swimmingly. In fact sweet Rya was so worn out from chasing all of us 80-million directions that I can to make her lie down to take a nap. She could barely stand!

This is one of my favorite things in "our" Vermont house, the tub!

Rob did a great job with this birthday. Cards, love, a banner, a cake and a perfect weekend. He also embezzled money* from our shared account to sneak a prezzie for me.

I love it.

Thank you all again!

And now for some Birthday Fun....

30 things about being 30

30. Being 15 lbs over your ideal weight is no longer "cute", "fun", "sexy". It is bad for you and bad for your soul.

29. You can eat cake for dinner every night the week after your birthday (the irony is not lost on me.)

28. The idea that you graduated from high school 12 years ago is rilly rilly scary.

27. There is joy found in knowing your best friends for longer than you have not known them.

26. Your eyes really do start to go bad - your mom was not kidding when she said you should not read without a light. Not that the light was part of your eyes going bad - it just was something that she could not imagine reading without. You are now her.

25. You really can be 30 going on 13. I have the giggle lines to prove it.

24. The fact that you married someone 13 years older than you begins to reap unforeseen benefits - the fact that your 30 is fun to him. He can barely remember his 30th birthday.

23. A box from Tiffany's really is THAT great!

22. Thirty rhythms with dirty.

21. Babies love you, dogs adore you, men crave you.

20. Knitting becomes more expected of you every day - you become a cliche...this is cool.

19. You start to feel comfortable in your skin.

18. Your dog that you adopted when you were just out of undergraduate school now is an old maid and is bored by your antics.

17. You crave the company of children so you can play "pretend" and knock blocks around.

16. Your family becomes an amorphous group of friends/enemies and others. Mostly, you don't HAVE to hang out with them anymore - in my case - you WANT to.

15. Your mother starts to speak to you about the "Red Folder" and where it's located and how important it is to find the "Red Folder" immediate after she and my father pass on to eat the big cannoli in the sky (seriously, my favorite thing about Janet Evanovich? the million different analogies she finds for biting the big one.) so that we may roll in the dough that is their insurance policy.

14. After obtaining a mortgage, completing 6 years of higher education with school loans, and falling into the dreaded credit card debt large chunks of money do not scare you any more.

13. Receiving the first promotion of your career right before you turn 30 (because you spent most of your career in jobs with low ceilings) feels really great.

12. I'm not alone. While I may still get lonely - it's a good kind of lonely.

11. Drinking a dark and stormy on a dark and stormy night for your birthday is so loaded with literary potential that you can't stop thinking of bad mysteries novels.

10. I finally realize that my mom was right - I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to.

9. It's a decade to relish your bookishness. Reading and math and science are cool and don't let the bubbly butt heads with Varsity letters tell you differently.

8. I am officially in love with coffee.

7. My baby sister is now a grown woman. My brother is now a grown man. Although - they still can be annoying sometimes with they get all up into your stuff.

6. Your parents are no longer invincible. This is the hardest part about getting older for me...my parents are getting older too.

5. Your 23 year old nephew thinks your "old". eh-hem.

4. Oh. My aching back.

3.2.1. ?? I'm at a loss. Can you all help me with this one?

* Rob and I have a shared account that I manage. We have a strict budget because we are Poor and trying to dig ourselves out of debt. Every week we each get and "allowance". Mr. Bookish was pulling a little extra out each week and hiding it in his sock drawer!! Six months of this and I never even noticed.

She's crafty - and she's just my type

2006-03-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

I'm a pretty crafty person by nature. An artist? No. Crafty, yes. I am also a bad blogger and barely manage to eek out posts about my knitting/reading/daily adventures. The crafty-ass stuff that happens here? Totally falls through the cracks.

Today, I tackled a fun and easy project. I made a magnet of the Knitting Olympics Gold Medal. Finishing a sweater in 16 days is quite an accomplishment and surely deserves some real estate on the 'fridge.

I had to play with Franklin's illustration a bit to make it the right resolution for printing. The image is not as crisp as I would have liked but still works for this project.

This is by far one of my favorite crafting tools. A Circular Cutting Thingy. I originally purchased it to help with the Wedding favors I made for our big day. It is super cool.

Cutting the medal out is a snap.

My other favorite crafting tool? My sticker maker. Love. It.

A sticker of the gold medal. This is cool in its own right - but I wanted to take it one step further.

Here is a magnet sheet. You can get these in most craft stores or here (these are self adhesive - no sticker maker necessary).

Stick the sticker onto the magnet and viola! You've got a Gold Medal magnet.

Love it!

Coming Soon - the sweater that earned me the gold...

Digression

2006-03-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting discussion going on in the comments from my last post. Please take a minute to check it out (and to find out what your silly name is - because it's just funny.) Someone left a comment pointing out a topic that has hit the Oklahoma House.

Restricting access to books with sexually explicit OR gay themes.

Read through the bill at the site linked above. I'm all for democracy, and for people deciding what to legislate and what not to legislate (at least in a perfect world I am - when it functions as it was meant to function). However, this type of action scares me. Library's are sacred places in my world. They should be free and open and available to material of any type to anyone. I can understand reshelving individual books in children's sections based on blatant explicit sexual content. However - to put them in a special area, an area that would require a renovation of an existing library building? Spending money on this, money that is better spent on buying MORE BOOKS, to restrict funding to a library if they DON'T comply?

These are just the logistical issues. When I consider the gay themed stipulation of this bill I am more deeply troubled. What kind of message do we send our children when we tell them that a story about two people of the same sex getting married should not be shelved next to a book about two people of a different sex getting married?

**I've changed the first link above to a current article. My Google-Fu was not on its mark yesterday and, as a much appreciated commenter pointed out, the original link points to an older article. Apparently this is a long running issue in OK.***

Oprah Gizzard Buns*

2006-03-10T16:29:00.000-05:00

We interrupt this unintended blog silence for the following news.

The American Library Association (ALA) has released a list of the "Ten Most Challenged" books of 2005 (thanks for the news Powells). Challenged books are books that are just that - challenged....usually by parents disturbed with what they find on the shelves of their local library.

I've lifted the following from the ALA press release. This saves you the trouble of having to link through to get the goods AND it gives me the added satisfaction of laughing my ass off every time I open up my website and see the following on my screen (Banned titles followed by the challenge):

“It's Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
“Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
“Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
“Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
“What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
“Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
“It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Let's reflect for a minute on only one of the these titles (I could go on about most of them) - The Captain Underpants series (um, yes, I did just spend about five minutes pressing the button in the lower left corner. What you going to make of it?!).

Seriously? Have you all read/seen these books. They are hilarious. There is talk of poop and all things disgusting (Booger Boy is a character, Professor Poopy Pants another.) Kids eat them up. They love them. They love to read them. They READ!!! Now we could debate the philosophical ramifications of letting your children read and enjoy books that talk about poop and being a crazy kid and causing trouble. But really, why would you? These books flew off of the shelves during my stint as a Bookseller. Call me a low brow reader but I really think, at the age that's targeted here, that the fact that the kid is reading far exceeds the negative impact of a few poop phrases and other benign topics. I happen to think there are far greater threats to the American child.

I think it would be interesting to travel to your local library and take a look at the shelves. Are these titles there? What were the most challenged books at your branch? Who's buying the books at your library?

Every library has a local flavor dependent on who is buying, etc. I have a good friend (Hi Jess!) who used to worked in a library when she was a student. She weighed in pretty heavy on the music purchases. This resulted in a primo music selection. It was good stuff.

I think it would be interesting to hear from some of the librarians and library goers in the crowd (and there are a ton, which I found out when I confessed to not returning my library book for elevinity-million years - which, btw, has now been returned).

What has been your experience with challenged books? What is the general philosophy of most library's? Do political / social leanings in an area influence the content of the library's shelves?

* My silly name according to Professor Poopy Pants

16 days, a knitter, the birth of a sweater!

2006-02-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

She bathes in the glow of the light bulb.

I finished, it's true. My sweet sweater is drying as we speak. Preliminary modelling sessions have deemed her a success, with reservations. The final ruling has been held for the post-block runway show.

Initial Parting shots:

1 - Fabulous yarn (details to follow) well suited for this project. Knit on size 8 needles with a pre-blocking gauge of 21 sts / 4 in and 25.2 rows / 4 in. I used ~1100 yards (this is a VERY rough estimate.)

The yarn is a single ply yarn from Habu Textiles in NYC. I believe it is called "a-80 wool", is listed here on Habu's website. It was ~$26 for 17 oz or approximately 1752 yards. Otherwise known as dirt cheap. I have Elisa to thank for this yarn. She and Kellee tackled the wall o' yarn at Habu during our trip to NYC. I just glazed over and marvelled at the silk cocoons. Fortunately they found this fabulous deal.

A second note on this yarn: it is listed as a fingering weight. At first glance I might agree however, the swatch in the store was not knit on anything smaller than US6 needles. I swatched on US7's and US8's (a normal person's US8 and US9)- both produced a lovely fabric with beautiful drape. Blocking created a denser fabric. Honestly, I cannot imagine knitting this on the recommended US1-3 needles.

2 - I need to continue to knit for myself AND knit items that fit. This is the first sweater that I have knit for myself. I love it. Not to mention the realization/confirmation that negative ease is the way to go. I will continue to experiment with this as I choose more sweaters to tackle.

3 - When modifying a pattern to fit my gauge and my body Excel is way more fun than the 80 million scraps of paper I normally use. The infamous spreadsheet was easy to do and created a nice diversion. Knowing how many stitches I had to go was motivating rather than crippling. I loved tweaking it and plan to polish it up a bit for future use.

4 - I need challenge and motivation - the Knitting Olympics fit the bill.

5 - I cannot blog and knit and work successfully. Unfortunately or Fortunately the blog is the first to go.

6 - Team Boston is filled with warm, friendly, and encouraging people. During our closing ceremony fashion show yesterday a knitter (Lucia) was tackling her first sweater. A baby sweater that she choose to conquer her fear of the sweater and the dreaded seaming that is inevitably a part of many sweater patterns. Upon voicing her phobia the room echoed with people encouraging her and offering lessons right then and there to help her along. Truly a fabulous team.

The sweater will be photographed after it has dried.

We're busy here gearing up for a fun weekend in Vermont as I approach the official anniversary of my birth and the close of my 3rd decade on this Earth. T-minus 3 whole days to my 30th birthday.

Someone pass the tequila.

Busy...Knitting...Keep...Yourselves....Entertained

2006-02-23T22:31:00.000-05:00

I'm knitting like a maniac. No time to blog.

The spreadsheet had to be fixed - it told me 3 days ago that I was 109% done. I was CLEARLY not 109% done.

Here are some fun links for you:

Are you there God, it's me Margaret Updated! Can you believe this?! I feel lied to. (via Bookslut)

A Pet Store in my neighborhood has been accussed of flashing pornographic chickens. So. Funny. (via Universal Hub)

Sunday - Team Boston closing ceremony Par-tay! Sunday 11:30 am - you bettah be there.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

2006-02-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

Me and My Shadow

2006-02-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

The stats at the beginning of my post yesterday include yesterday's progress. I was hoping to knit some more before bed but didn't quite make it. A Bookish Girl's gotta read, you know?!

Here is a progress pic from yesterday:

Not too bad. However, it is key to remember that before this morning I hadn't worked since I cast on for this progress. My job, on a good day, occupies much of my day. I commute via public transportation, approximately 1.5 hours per day. I work for at least 9.0 hours per day, usually without a lunch. I sleep for between 8.0 - 9.0 hours per night (this is a bare minimum for me, I require a crap load of sleep. I wish I could fix this.) Add misc tasks in there - showering, eating, taking care of Rob and the animals - approximately 2.0 hours. What do I have left:

1.5 + 9.0 + 9.0 + 2.0 = 21.5 occupied hours OR 24.0 hours - 21.5 hours = 2.5 free hours.

See, math is easy ;)

Basically if I have good, normal days at work I can get at least 2 hours of knitting in during a week day. I can knit during my commute but I never make a significant dent. Too much going on. This gives me 10 total hours of weeknight knitting during the competition.

Not a lot and I'm worried. Can you call in knitting to work?

Here is a close up of the increases on the arm (and my shadow..me and my shaaaadooow...blah, blah, blah, blah.)

This pattern uses the knit, knit through the back loop increase. kfb? Is that the abbreviation? (forgive me, I am stuck on my couch and am comfy and not getting up for trivial knitting terms.)

I have never liked this increase and had I had my wits about me I wouldn't have used it here. I'm mad at those holes. Holes, you stink. I'm hoping that the yarn will fill in a bit with blocking (which it will, as demonstrated by my swatch.)

With this pattern you are increasing at the end and beginning of the round. I would do paired increases M1R and M1L instead of the KFB(?). I'm just a bigger fan of the V the M1's create.

Rya is the pooch in my last picture. She's my sweet baby and my knitting partner. She is also spoiled rotten.

Are we bored with these posts yet? I am.

Me, after a few drinks with the shell of a knitted Tetrahymena on my head.

Love the spreadsheet

2006-02-12T19:36:00.000-05:00

The Olympics have started. I have cast on and am approximately 10,348 stitches into my project. I have 29,010 left to go. I'm knitting, on average, approximately 536 stitches per hour. This leaves approximately 54.12 hours of knitting time left on my plate. That's a lot of knitting time.

What am I knitting?

The Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. As I mentioned before, I could either go for speed or for skill. With this sweater I decided to go with both. Speed for the knitting, skill in the adjustments that I will make. I plan on knitting this sweater to fit ME - my big rack (which, btw Ben is figuring out how to say in Italian for me), small chest, short waist and long arms. Added to this is the yarn - I'm using yarn with a different row and stitch gauge.

The final challenge is to blog about it all. I knit everyday and have finished quite a few projects over the last few months. Unfortunately they have not made it to this blog (they will!). Not to mention my inability to alter a pattern and WRITE DOWN my changes.

This is the yarn. It's wool from Habu Textiles. I picked this up during our trip to NYC early in December. No idea what kind of fiber it is. I'm going to be with a butt load of spinners/knitters next weekend. Hopefully someone there can give me a hint.

I started this project by first measuring sweaters that I own that I consider to be well fitting.

Sweater A:

Sweater B:

Sweater C:

I turned the sweaters inside-out so that I could see the seams. I found it a lot easier to measure them this way.

I then got Robby to help me measure my own dimensions:I spent some time with Grumperia a few weeks ago at Claudia's get-together. I asked her to explain reverse-ease. Which, in Bookish Terms, means knitting a sweater to fit the circumference measurement taken under your armpits and not your bust. When you look at the sweaters above you see that the area under the armpits (and straight down to the waist shaping) is 19", 18", and 17". My bust is 18.5". Before I sat down to measure my favorite fitting sweaters I would have chosen a 39" size for a sweater. Which would give me a width under the armpits of 19.5, 1" greater around than my "bulkier" sweater of 19" or 5" greater than my "tight" sweater.

This is interesting to me - I'm not sure how this works or what will happen. But I have decided to go for it. My Hourglass Sweater will have a diameter of 18".

This means that I'll be casting on for the second size, chest of 37" (diameter 18.5") - a size I NEVER would have chosen if I hadn't measured my sweaters first. Here's to hoping it was a smart decision.

Gauge is the next hurdle for me. I swatched on Thursday hoping that I would get a jump on the action and be able to hit the 2pm start time running. Not so much. I swatched flat. The sweater is knit in the round. And, well, we all know that swatches lie. My swatch got gauge.

I cast on for a second "swatch", one of the sleeves.

5.2 sts/inches (we'll deal with row gauge later.)

Pattern Gauge 19sts and 24 rows = 4"

Not the same. This gauge has stayed consitent throughout the sleeve. I've been a measuring fiend. Mostly because it gives me more data to plug into my fancy pants spreadsheet that I created (you'll see it later.)

No matter, once I knit up more of the sleeves I realized that I was okay with the width.

If not worried a little bit that they were too wide. I decided that I would knit up the rest of the sleeve and alter the body pattern to meet my gauge.

This sweater is knit in three tubes, the sleeves, and the body. The yoke could easily be modified (with the help of a sophisticated spread sheet such as the one below.)

This spread sheet allows me to change one or two numbers and the entire patter will adjust. Pretty cool huh?

Yes, I fully understand the psychosis present here.

I'm just about to finish Day 3. I will post today's progress tomorrow. Until then, here is my progress as of yesterday:

Until then - this will be me:

PS - I'm SO happy that you all liked my Pasta maker post. It was a great day with my Grandmother. She is an amazing woman, not without her faults, but amazing all the same. I hope that you will all get to hear more about her soon. And yes, I would totally make pasta again. In spite of the hard work it is SO GOOD. I had eaten homemade pasta on many occasions before. It tastes a lot better when you make it yourself with Grandma looking on!

Why I could never give up carbs...

2006-02-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

Last spring we moved my Grandmother out of her home. She had raised my father and his brothers there. She had lived a good life in this house. And, for me, it was a difficult time. It was difficult for the whole family. She wanted to leave, the house was too much for her. Too big, too much to clean, and too empty. My grandfather passed away about 15 years ago (how strange that is was so long ago) he left a lot of his pack rat life behind. Over the years we had moved a lot of stuff out...into the home of people who would care for the items he lovingly collected. His tools, his records, his drafting supplies. However, there was still a lot left.

Robby and I were lucky to grab some of these memories. I still mean to create a post that outlines some of these objects of my memories which have now become objects in my home. For today, I will concentrate on one.

The pasta maker.

Anyone with a nice Kitchen Aid mixed can purchase an attachment that will allow them to make pasta. Grandma has the skills and the tools to make it the old way. We spent some time over Christmas with her going through the process that she followed when she made pasta for her family, something she learned from her mother and grandmother. She told stories of times where the tools were not necessary - her mother and grandmother discussing the thickness of the noodles, agreeing on width and using their knives to make perfectly uniform noodles. They would create gnocchi with their thumbs and ravioli with the tines of a fork. Neither would fall apart in a pot of boiling water. My mother (the daughter-in-law) has had a hard time learning these skills. Grandma always tells her - well you use this and that and don't worry about the amount - you'll just know.

This is the part of our history that we are at risk of loosing - the "you'll just know". Especially when it comes to cooking. Grandma "just knows" because she has absorbed the old ways from her mother and grandmother. My mother and I have not had the daily exposure to this atmosphere. We know what we know from her. With this, and my grandmother's declining health, in mind my mother encouraged her to sit down with us during our Christmas Holiday and share the family way for making Pasta. It was a fabulous idea and, as with many exchanges with elderly family members, turned out to be so much more than a lesson in pasta making.

I have discussed my Grandmother and all that she is to me before. I adore her and know that there is some connection between her and I that is far beyond a normal granddaughter/grandmother relationship. I am fully aware of how strange this sounds but it's just the way is.

On to the pasta...

You need flower, about 3/4 cup per person.

We had about six people eating so we used about 4.5 cups of flour. Make a little hole in your mound of white and place 3 eggs into this. Grandma says you should always crack your eggs into another bowl because if they are bad you would want to know that before you ruin the flour (Grandma was a child of the depression. It makes no difference what-so-ever that the ruined flour would cost all of $0.50. Trust me, I pointed this out and got an ear full)

Using a folk (and not a wire whisk, again with the earful) slowly mix the eggs into the flour. You will need a bit of water set aside. After the eggs are mixed in add a little ittle ttle tle le e bit of water. Just enough to barely get everything damp.

This is the part of the recipe that you just have to "know" and honestly, I never would have "known" had I not had grandma (above with her coffee) guiding me. "No too much." "Oh, Okay, a bit more." You need just enough water to get it mixed...but not too much to make it sticky.

You can see here how crumbly the dough is...not to worry, you're going to kneed the shit out of it and it'll be Perfecto (insert Italian gesture here.) My mom (in the blue shirt) was super excited to be able to use her silpat. It made everything so much easier.

See the texture above? The dough should become really smooth, no bumps and very elastic-like. Kneading is not for the knitter. It hurts your wrists. If you can, get your sister to do it. Mine, unfortunately, was the group scribe. Robby, incidentally, was the group photographer.

At this point the dough must rest. We let it rest in a cover bowl at room temperature all day. You can skip this step if you'd like. We needed to run some errands, get a super cool massage, and take a shower (notice the change of cloths below?)

If you look real closely at the picture above you can probably see my ass-crack. Kidding! You cannot!! But, you can see my chubs...hi chubbies...love you...

This is what's going on in that picture: I'm rolling small pieces of dough out and my sister is putting them through the pasta maker. We have the flattening rolls attached here. My sister rigged up a board to help mount the maker to the table. Yes, the apples do not far from the tree (more on that later.) There is a lot of flour involved in all of these next few steps. Just keep adding until you can get through it all without stickiness.

You may have to send it through the press multiple times. This was another one of those "Grandma tells you when to stop" things. She said that you could make it as thick as you wanted. She was super good at judging the thickness without looking. I swear it must be in your blood. You just know.

After the dough is pressed I used a knife to cut down the center of the strip. This prepared the stripes for the cutting attachment. The cutting attachment rocks.

Look at all of the little spaghetti monsters. They were pretty good uncooked.

Here is Grandma helping me with the little monsters. The head lamp came in handy here.

The tree on the left and the apple on the right. My dad. I always wondered where the family trait of fixing things came from. The trait of having them "just right". The certain way to do things. Well, if I hadn't realized it before, I realized it during this family event. Grandma and my dad - two peas in a pod. They are exactly the same.

It was awesome.

And the pasta - well....you boil it. That's the next step. Use lots of water. Grandma says you should not have to rinse the pasta when it is done. I think that this may be true if you pay attention to the lots of water instruction. We did not. And there was a lot of starch. I think this could be avoided with a larger pot (or rinsing, which I hate.)

Olympic Update - Still no decision on the project. I'm taking tomorrow afternoon off, so hopefully I'll have something by Doyle's. Team Boston - Doyles 7pm be there or be square.

Porco Mondo

2006-02-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

The double X Winter Olympic games begin in t minus 68 hours and you have yet to hear a peep from me and what my project is. That is because I have largely been consumed with any of the following things:

1 - Working, working, working. Large deadline was met Feb1st.
2 - Maintaining Team Boston. Now 100 members strong. Holy shit - I had no idea there were that many of us in Boston that knit to the point of distraction. No idea.
3 - Clearing my knitting plate. Yes, I do have this twisted mentality of needing closure on past projects in order to start a new one. Honestly, it's just a way to get this detritus out of my WIP pile and into the hands of the recipients, whom are mostly small children that and unable to hold me to my deadline.
4 - Being scared by phallic looking balloons with cock rings. (Can you feel the google hits that will come off of that one.)
5 - Practice being Italian.

Now, can you guess which of these is my favorite? Why yes, the practicing being Italian. I am of an Italian heritage. While I am not Italian like Ben, I do carry a lot of the stereotypical traits. I have a rack, I like to yell and hug, and I love to eat. Hey! You too can be Italian.

This year's games are held in Torino, Italy where the temperature is measured in Celsius (it was -1 today!), the wine flows freely (seriously, did you know that you can order wine and chocolate off of the official Torino Olympic website?), and where (apparently) Passion Lives. In fact, Wiki claims that Tornio is the birthplace of hard chocolate and the home of Lavazza. We so need to hop on a Fiat (manufacturing home in Torino) and go there! If it wasn't for the scary mascots - I just might.

And for the fact that Torino is across the ocean. For the mapless among us, it is located at the base of the Italian Alps east of the French Border. Have you all been to the Alps? Priceless. Breathtaking. Amazing. They make the Rockies look like baby giant poop. There are no words to describe this place. It is where Passion Lives. I would guess, based on it's location, that there is a good chance it is where sheep live too.

My final discovery was that, in 2006, Torino was named the World Book Capital by UNESCO.

Clearly there are other forces at work here. I cannot deny the responsibility. I must push aside all other responsibilities and move toward victory in these here Knitting Olympics. I will represent my Team and cheer others on. I will learn how to appropriately swear in Italian and will make pasta to honor my ancestors. I will help you with these endeavors as well.

First - the swearing. Now, you may be some kind of Beaver Cleaver who can successfully meet a knitting challenge without the utterance of fowl language. You, my friend, are a better person than I. For the ingrates among us and the children, such as myself, who heard these phrases as a child: La Perolacce

Here are some of my PGish favs:

bagascia - harlot (just in case you want to get mad at someone, I mean she is the one who started the madness)

bidone m. swindle, trick; fare un bidone a qualcuno to swindle someone.

cacasodo m./f. inv. an arrogant person, someone who thinks his/her [feces] doesn't stink; (lit.): one who defecates hard (from the verb cacare, meaning "to [defecate]" and the adjective sodo, meaning "tough" or "hard."

cavolo (vulgar) non me ne importa un cavolo! I don't give a damn about it!; (vulgar) testa di cavolo blockhead.

fesso v. (vulgar) silly, stupid, foolish, idiotic; fare il fesso to play the fool.

faccia di culo f. a butt-ugly person; used as an insult, referring to a big jerk; (lit.): face of a [buttocks].

finire in merda exp. to end miserably; (lit.): to end in [excrement].

merda f. (vulgar) excrement. (ed note: this means shit. I'm not sure why this site, which says penis licker, can't say the word shit.)

mostrare il dito medio exp. to give the finger; (lit.): to show the middle finger.

porco s.m. (vulgar) pig; porco mondo damn it all.

And only if you're ready to pull out the big guns:

vaffanculo (vulgar—contraction of the expression "Va' a fare in culo" up your [buttocks].) insult. (ed note: this could translate to mean fuck you. Which, again the irony, this website doesn't seem to be able to say. It can say the c word, but not fuck. Go figure.)

Please remember - for the sake of your family and friends. These words or phrases should only be applied to one's yarn (filo) or to your knitting (fare a maglia (I think)). We already know it is okay to speak to it as if it is a person - now you can speak to it as if it's Italian!

And finally - a hand gesture for you all (get your minds out of the gutter!)

Perfetto!

or, my favorite

Scusi, devo andare al bagno.
(Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.)

Doesn't that look like a peace sign? No wonder Mussolini was so pissed off.

Those eye-talins are so much more sophisticated than I - I wish I had such a simple gesture for when I had to go to the bathroom. All I have is a stupid ass dance.

Next post - how to make homemade Pasta with your Grandma, or, what I did on my Christmas Vacation.

Abe - alive or dead?

2006-01-30T22:40:00.000-05:00

Hello? Are you out there?

Apparently the cookies and chocolate worked. We have a working server! For now. I've been informed that the server's computer is very very old and that we should limit our expectations. Humpf. It's had a good life. I may have to actually start paying for this shit? Can you believe that?

I am blogging to you live from my couch. Do you realize how amazing, unbelievable, and extraordinary an event this is? Do you know what this means for Bookish Girl central? It means that a laptop has been purchased. It means that a laptop has found its way into my greedy needy hands. I have dreamed of a laptop to call my very own for years. A year anniversary at my work (!) brought the unexpected benefit of a computer reimbursement. Any of you small business/large business employerers out there? You can totally seduce your employees with benefits such as these.

I have downloaded my Firefox Abe Vigado status bar. Now, all I have to do is name this puppy. Bookish Baby? Hmmm, the Silver Fox?

The possibilities are endless.

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend

2006-01-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm uber-busy at work right now (deadlines.) This does not stop me from checking out the fun over at Team Boston Knits. I posted a bunch of kick butt buttons (or pins, if you rather) last night. Robby the great fixed us up. He rocks.

I'm still debating the skill/pace thing. Wondering what my entry should be.

More on that later.

For now a fun site for you. Okay, maybe not all of you - just those of you named Wendy.

World Wide Wendy

This is a site I found way back when I was searching for the all of the Knitting Wendys out there.

My favorite is the song lyric page. I did know that a lot of these existed. However, some where a complete surprise! If I was in highschool I would make a mix tape for myself. Alas, I am not and I don't even own a tape deck. Phooy.

Now, the coolest thing evah (I'm kicking the Boston accent lately) - You can customize U.S. Postal Stamps!!!! I have to do a bit more research on this. How cool would it be to have Bookish Girl Stamps?!

ps - Clearly the cookies didn't work, my server is still down. I'm pulling out the big guns - chocolate. Dad has a, secret but everyone knows about it, stash of chocolate. I may have to hold it hostage.

The brain fart heard round the world....

2006-01-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

***My server is down and therefore there are no banner or sidebar images. I have contacted the server administrator (my dad) and bribed him with cookies. In the meantime, picture me in my underwear...it's not as scary as you think***

This weekend was a blur. I spent some quality time with the Usual Suspects (the T.G.K.W.B at Claudia'son Sunday. Dang! Did you know that knitter are not only fabulous people, filled with grace, humor and kindness...but that they can cook too?! Whew, I returned home after six hours of chatting it up, laughing my arse off, discussing the finer points of sweater design and EATING. I swear it was midnight when I returned home (disguised as 6 p.m.)

Thank you Claudia for opening your home to us, 'twas fabulous time. It made me so anxious for SPA

"What's up with the title of this Post dear Bookish?"

I am so glad you asked! Stitchy and I were discussing the madness over at Harlot's place. It seems that both of us were resisting for the same reason - we didn't think we could do that to our marriages. Now, Rob is a supportive and loving knitting widower. Insanity disguised as competition? Now this might push him toward the court house.

While discussing my competitive edge with the hubbers we decided that you could go one of two ways with this - skill or pace. You could do something technically challenging or you could try to set a land speed record. Me, I think I would do better with an entry that challenges me to knit something quickly. Cause, I'm slow...and while I love finishing, I usually stall before I get there. I haven't figured out where I'm going with my entry. But, I do know that I'm entering.

Back to the Stitchster and our conversation. Somewhere, somehow a brain farted between us and an idea was born. Kellee joined into the fun and offered to host this effort to build community and spread insanity.

My friends we have - Team Boston. Live in Boston? Crazy is as crazy does - Please, read this lovely invite engraved on the finest parchment for your tactile pleasure.

As you all know, The Yarn Harlot. Not only is she challenging our knitting bravado, she is asking us to put our collective sanity on the line for her amusement (sure, she'll say it's so we can feel some sense of accomplishment, but really, she wants to see us squirm). And against every instinct I possess, I have decided to take up this challenge.

But I can't do it alone.

Obsession Kellee, Stitchy McYarnpants and I have decided to co-sponsor Team Boston in the first annual Knitting Olympics.

What does it take to join Team Boston? Got yarn? Got a wicked pissah accent? You're in. If you live within, let's say, an hour of Boston, you are hereby a Boston Knitter. We've set up a team blog so participants can upload photos and update whenever they want! Share your progress or disappointing lack thereof. Delight in the thrill of your teammates victories or relish in the agony of their defeat (and in the case of sock knitters, de feet). But mostly, improve your odds of actually finishing something using the tried and true method of mob rule.

If you’ve joined the Harlot’s Olympics and want to participate in our little support group, send an email to teambostonknitters at Yahoo dot com (you’ll have to turn that into an actual email address. Consider it your first test as a team member).

-your first name (or however you'd like to appear in the sidebar)

-blog name and address if you have one, though it's not necessary
-what you're knitting, if you've decided (if you've already posted a photo of what you're making, include that link).

We’ll reply with info that will allow you to become a Guest Poster. Since humans are actually dispensing the invitations manually, you probably won’t get an immediate response, but rest assured, we'll get to you as soon as possible.

We've also created an email address for any questions you may have for us. It's teambostonknitters at Yahoo dot com (hey! that's the same address as above, we're geniuses).

Don't wanna knit but would like to cheer? There is a place for you too...

Click the button below to go to the Team Boston Blog!

You are the light of my life...

2006-01-21T22:07:00.000-05:00

Getting back into writing after such a long break is difficult. I love this outlet. But, for some reason it takes a bit to bring me to the keyboard.

Moving on...

Many thanks for the comments recommendations and "hell yah's" in the comments from my last post. I cannot even begin to tell you how cool it is to know that there are other bookish types out there. I suppose it is no secret to you that these types were the kids in grade school that were "different" or "strange" or, according to my perception, "evolutionary higher beings who preferred reading books to flicking boogers at the teacher." (Btw, I have no pinky toenail (okay, almost no pinky toenail), no wisedom teeth and no eye teeth. Someone once told me that these were all signs that I had evolved further than the average human being. While I have nothing to substantiate this (google-fu brought me nothing but freeks) I have heard this is a legitimate sign from more than one person. Which means it must be true.)

All I have to say is, you are safe here my friends. We welcome all bookish types and those that love them.

And on to a completely unrelated topic:

Tools are the love of my life (sorry honey). I love tools and gadgets and things. Good design makes my body hum with pleasure (really sorry honey). I am a sick, sick person in need of a hobby to fully express my love of all gadgetry. Oh! Knitting! The gadgets are unbelievable. The bent darning needle? Genius! The row counter? Love of my life! Stitch markers? Hold my heart together.

Some people hoard yarn. Me? I hoard gadgets. Shall I give you a tour of my favorites? No? Bore you to tears, huh? Well, I'll spare you.

For now I'll just share my most favorite tool/gadget acquisition of 2005. A Christmas gift from my parents:

A head lamp.

I love you head lamp. You keep me happy while I knit at night and my "30 years old in 41 days" eyes love you the mostest. My dear sweet husband who likes to watch movies in the dark loves you too. Oh, and the baby sweater you helped me knit? She loves you too. The only thing I don't love? Your lack of protective oil soaking padding. I had to improvise with a tissue.
Dork. Dork. Dork.

Here is the sweater I was working on in that photo, now finished and wrapped waiting for my next foray to the post office of doom:

Picture taken with Robby's new tool/toy - a wide-angle macro lens.

Yarn: Rowen Soft Baby and man, is it soft, baby. (Yarn gifted to me by my P.O.C. Elisa)
Pattern: Child's Placket-neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson(make sure to check the errata out for this book!
Overall loved knitting this. The yarn is fabulous. Soft. Strong. This is just one of the reasons why I have had a recent love affair with Rowan (all I have to say is, THIS is why people spend my annual salary to knit a sweater out of this yarn! I. get. it.) It does stretch a whole bunch with blocking. One compliant, the pattern does not come with button holes as an option. I had to do some maths (excel spreadsheets are so damn fun) to place them and viola.... pretty little buttons for a babe to be.

If I was truly Bookish, I'd have figured out the number of pages per day!

2006-01-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Cathi and her new Pen and Pink endeavor, I am going to start posting more in depth posts about my reading. While knitting may be my buoy, reading is my anchor. I love to read, absolutely love it. I cannot take books out of the library (eh, hem...I STILL have the Knitters Guide to finishing techniques and two Plum books out. We get DAILY phone calls from the Boston Public Library. They have a scary recorded system. "This - is --- the --- Boston ---- Public --- Library. ---- Wen--day---Blah blah blah." I swear, it is almost enough to scare me in to returning them!) because I must own them. I prefer used to new. In my opinion used books have more of a soul and I almost always find a relic of the book's former life in its pages. A picture, airline stub, a grocery list. Finding these pieces of life left in a book makes the whole experience of finding and reading a used book so romantic. I love to give books as gifts and have yet to determine if it is tacky to give a used book. My gut tells me yes, only because others do not necessarily feel as I do. However, if I know you like them you will most certainly get one from me!

Reading is a very organic process for me. I used to have a section on my sidebar - "On the bookshelf" - a list of books that I was going to read next. Try as I may I cannot prescribe to this mode. My desire for a book changes with the wind. As I get into a book I become consumed and rarely stray from book monogamy (this past year has been one huge frustrating exception to this rule.) When I finish a book the taste in my mouth, the smell in the air, or the feeling in my body makes me choose a book. I cannot stick to a list. The one time this rule does not apply is to my book club books. I belong to a local book club and I love that these talented woman tell me what to read when.

What can I say? I am a picture of contradictions.

In 2005 I read quite a bit. Here is the short list, as far as I can remember it:

Shop Girl by Steve Martin

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey**

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole**

Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich

Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich

Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell

To The Nines by Janet Evanovich

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

High Five by Janet Evanovich

Four to Score by Janet Evanovich

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

The Human Stain by Phillip Roth**

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Something Rising (Light and Swift) by Haven Kimmel

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Book #6) by J.K. Rowling

Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama**

Jeeves in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse

Atonement by Ian McEwan**

House of Mirth by Edith Wharton**

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger**

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck**

** - Books read for my real-life Book Club.

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some there. There are about 32 titles there or 2.5 books a month. Wow. That is quite a bit more than I had thought. However, the Janet Evanovich Books don't count in my book (ha! puns are fun!) so, in reality, I read 20 books or about 1.5 books per month. What a good little Bookish Girl I am.

My favorite of the bunch? Hmmm, cannot pick one. They are like my babies each with their own personalities and quirks. I would say that reading Murder on the Orient Express brought me to a new place in my reading. It started me off on a quest for mystery type novels with quirky characters. The Plum novels totally brought that thirst to a very serious disease. I enjoyed reading these but the last one brought a lot of eye rolling in its general direction. Not because it was any worse than the others, or less interesting. It just finally got old, and predictable, and irritating. I will still seek out another series of book-candy but will try to steer clear of the "I have a template that I'm using for every book and you'll like it dammit" authors.

As far as book-candy goes. This is the first year in my reading career that I have sought out such a thing. It is a strange beast and I need to process it more before I can define or understand the appeal. For now, it is defined as a book I know will leave me feeling light, a sure bet, something that won't throw a punch or leave me aching (A Million Little Pieces is the opposite of book-candy. The book is blatant in its gut hitting angst, it doesn't hid from it and will leave you groggy.) As I get older I find more of a need for these sure-bets. I am not entirely sure why. It has happened with my movie watching as well.

On to the first finished book of 2006 (the bulk of this was read in 2005):

The first book that I finished in 2006 was Devil in the White City (borrowed from the lovely Elisa.) I listened to the first half of this courtesy of my ipod and aubible.com (love that site.) I like listening to books, but have discovered that only the book-candy books are really good this way (another reason why book-candy needs to find a way into my reading list, I love to listen to books during my commute.) Devil in the White City is non-fiction written like fiction. It was meticulous in its facts and scenes set during the Chicago World's Fair in the late 19th century. I found it interesting and would recommend it to someone who enjoys history or who has lived in or around Chicago. However, I did not love it and would not read it again (in the book's defense, there are only about a dozen books that I would ever read again. I'm not a big re-reader.) It was a bit dull in places and repetitive. It did present a wonderful sense of place (one of the qualities I love to see in my books) and made me wish that our world still had the wonder of discovery. Such as the wonder found in riding, or seeing, the first Ferris Wheel. It also made me thankful that although our world may be a bit heavy on the communication (phones, newspapers, Internet) at least it's easy for us to figure out if someone is "missing", "dead", or "on vacation in Europe."

The book that I'm finishing right now is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. As I mentioned above, 2005 was also the first year that I fell prey to the multiple book on the night stand syndrome. I guess that I thought if it worked with my knitting maybe it would work with my books. Not. so. much. Jonanthan Strange was a victim in this arrangement. He kept getting pushed aside. Only 75 pages left!

Power

2005-12-22T05:01:00.000-05:00

So, I can't sleep. I suspect it has something to do with nerves and the holidays and going on vacation but not really going on vacation from work just leaving the brick and mortar of my office for the case of a laptop. For the record, it is 5am; I’ve been up since 4am, went to bed at 12:30 am. This is an accident waiting to happen.

While I have mentioned my serious need for a lot of sleep before, I am not sure you can truly appreciate how ugly it gets when sleep does not happen. I am a 9 hours of sleep a night kind of girl. Always been that way. Used to be more tolerant of restless nights, it was relatively easy for me to bounce back. Getting older, for me, has meant that I really cannot do without. How ugly can it be? You know the 2-year old in a line at the grocery? Tired and pissed off and throwing a Grade A Tantrum with the harried mom at his side? I'm the 2-year old. Having kids is going to be great for me; we'll all be in strict competition for the Whiner of the Year award.

Rob and I started our official Christmas Week (a little something like Birthday Week) last night with Elisa and Mike. Yay, the Christmas giving season has finally commenced! I love giving gifts when I am able to find "the perfect gift." It is such a joy. This time of the year can be difficult, finding That gift with a deadline and a crowded American Capitalist Machine is not easy and sometimes not fun. For these kids, it was fun.

We spent the better part of the evening at one of our favorite watering holes talking and laughing and talking. And, the best part, I was a recipient of, among other things (including some handmade stitch markers and um, Lorna's Lace sock yarn (Elisa clearly doesn't have a sock yarn buying problem, I swear)), a hand knit piece of clothing. And you know what? This is the first time I have ever received a piece of hand knit clothing. A one-skein wonder. I am in love. Who knew? I woke up this morning at ass crack and HAD to put it on. Wearing a hand knit is like taking all of the power in the world and funneling it through your body. You can do anything in a hand knit. Yarn has been manipulated into a structure that now envelops your body. Anything is possible.

This is exactly the attitude that I took last week when I was faced with a computer that was beeping at me. Incessantly. It then turned all goopy and blacked out on me.

For some background here: my father is an engineer and all things nerdy. He has built all of my computers from day one. Every so often we are surprised with another version of blah, blah because we just have to have blah, blah. A home built computer is sometimes a fickle thing. It has a personality and you learn that all beeps are not the end of the world and things happen and actions must be taken and since dad is hundreds of miles away the fate of the computer rest in your "I am the daughter of an Engineer" hands. Daughters of engineers will totally get what I am saying here. It's like some sick genetic blip in the system. No matter how un-engineer like you are, you are still capable (whether you're willing to admit it to yourself or not) to at least pretend to think like one.

Faced with a dead computer and all the pieces to fix it (we knew it was dying, we were well armed) I had to step up to the plate, clear the kitchen table and perform serious computer operations that involved lots of grunts, oh shits!, and man, do I wish I was better at reading the directions that dad specifically wrote up from his MEMORY of what the inside of our computer looks like.

How did I ever get through this you ask? I went into my bedroom and put on every item in the house that I had hand knit. Socks, scarves, sweater, and hat (the gloves were a bit cumbersome and abandoned at the get go.) The no-sweat pants are still on the needles, which is really too bad. I am clearly going to be one happening girl when those are done.

I figure if I can make these things out of a string of fleece then I can surely repair a silly computer that beeps and turns black on me. And, you know what, through the power of the hand knit, and my trusty assistant (Robby) I was able to operate on my computer. The most amazing part - when we were through it worked. Not all the pieces fit back in the case (not my fault) but it does work!!!

I urge you to feel that power next time you need a bit of a boost. I think you'd be shocked on how much it gives you.

Things may be spottier than usual over here at Bookish Girl Central. We are traveling quite a bit over the holiday season. If you see me in airports, rest stops or strange southern counties say HI! Someday Robby and I will have to document one of our trips to Western Kentucky. Pure comedy.

I wish you and yours Happy Holidays! To me, this time of the year is about the Magic of it all, the time of giving, and the joy in the world. There are lights and love and warm evenings in front of fires where everyone slows down enough to feel the love around them. That is Magic. Enjoy it!

In closing...to answer the debate raised in the comments. I pick Morelli AND Ranger. Dang!

Google-fu yielded this photo slide show of a real tour of the fictional/based on real life setting of the Plum books. Hilarious. Truly.

Death threats make the baby Jesus cry. **

2005-12-20T18:35:00.000-05:00

Yay! You are all officially nerds, some are even literary nerds. I have to admit that I've read a shit load of books. However, few of them appeared in that so called, "How bookish are you" quiz.

Here's my quiz:

How much time to you spend knitting a PROTOtype for the tetrahymena (which you all spelled correctly in your comments...go team?)

A - zero hours
B - When is Christmas again? Cause I spent 4 hours
C - four days

Canya guess which one I would pick?

The Prototype which is now a dog toy:

As you can see we have a start here. I have never knit spherical object before. So, I knit it with any ridges or fur just to get the feel of the mechanics. What I learned:

1. Decreasing and increasing looks wonky.
2. Ribbing will be incredible difficult to keep consistent for the above reason.
3. Something meaning to look like an eggplant/pear will really look like a circle. Must exaggerate the shape.
4. Felting would make this a lot easier.

The last item, I think, is the kiss of mercy. Today I purchased Green Lamb's Pride and some eyelash yarn/string. These two items will get to know one another on a brief visit to my knitting basket. The visit will last as long as it takes me to finish the three baby sweaters I have going, the shawl for my mom I haven't started AND all of the wrapping paper.

** While I think that the situation behind the need for this sentence (as described here on the Harlot's blog) is deplorable, I have to admit that this phrase has kept me giggling for the past 24 hours.

ETA: You know what else makes the baby Jesus cry? Bad spelling. Bad spelling makes the baby Jesus cry. So sorry.

2005-12-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

How Bookish Are You?

While I define 'bookish' to be a bit looser than, one who know a lot about the Western canon of literature, this quiz was fun for me! Mostly because I got a 50%. Teehehe, I guess I'm operating under a false nom de plume.

Or, maybe not...

My friend Chad, the stripped glove recipient, is a scientist in the throes of his post-doctoral stint at a University out West. I decided, today, that I am going to knit him a funny science object for Christmas (note here that he will get his Christmas gift from LAST year sometime next week.) Surely, that bookish quiz must be wrong... I am clearly a big fat nerd.

I will be knitting a tetrahymena. Or an eggplant/pear with hairs on it. My neighbor, who is also a Scientist, suggested making it into a pencil case. Genius! If I get real motivated maybe I could even knit the insides. A simple little organism with only a few "important" components.

On the off chance that someone else out there is as deranged as me I did the obligatory google-fu to determine if there was already a pattern written for a knitted tetrahymena. Imagine this - there is not?! How can there not be a demand for such perverse whims of the mind?

We will start with a knitted eggplant and also try the knitted pear. Eyelash yarn may be involved, I am not sure, we are flying by the seat of our pants, going all out here at Bookish Girl, pulling out all of the stops - Watch Out!

Should I start a knit-along?

2005-12-14T12:38:00.000-05:00

I woke up at 4 am yesterday and could not fall back asleep. I got up and paid bills. Whew-eee. Same thing this morning - except it was the fat cat that woke me and I wasn't able to get up. I. do. not. do. well. without. sleep.

I had to write a mean letter to someone at work today. That made me feel even grumpier. So, today on this here blog we have a special feature. Please feel free to send me any additional items...

Things that are keeping me from blowing my top today:

The Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat. - I gots to learn me some crochet....or alter the damn pattern. (via Fussy)

A Vacation from Marriage and the sailor who knits in it!

Pandora - Internet Music the way that you want it!!!

Knit Cast and Cast-On Podcasts - I'm a total nerd and I love it!

The New Yorker on Audible.com - Never had time to read it before, now I can listen.

Gmaps Pedometer - Did you know that my walk from the bus to my buidling is 0.3 miles?

-~-

ps - Kat, can you send me your email? I would love your sock!!

Chunky Tut

2005-12-13T05:45:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the fine compliments on the scarf. Do you believe it is the first scarf that I have knit for myself? And, to answer the question, how did Rob feel about a yarny wedding gift? My man is so fine he did not even blink an eye. He did, however, forbid yarn on the honeymoon. Honestly, I did not mind a bit. Small sacrifices, you know?

High on my selfish knitting (Christmas? When? What? Who's talking? Where is that voice coming from?) and lured by the yarn stores of New York City and Rowan Chunky Print I decided to knit myself a hat. Easier said than done.

Hat for Wendy

Progress?

My head is big but the hat is bigger, rip and reknit baby.

Alas, success.

The yarn is Rowan Chunky Print (100% Wool, 109 yds, 100g colorway Shriek SH0081, purchase at Seaport Yarn (site not working at publication), $13.50) I made up the pattern using size 11 needles. I normally push up a needle size from the recommended because I knit tightly. For this hat I wanted a tighter gauge (tighter gauge = warmer hat.) The yarn is think and thin and I was afraid holes would come out. It took me two tries, the result was totally worth it. A quick knit (each version took me a night) and this yarn is yum. The colors and cute, the fabric is soft and it is holding up really well!

My favorite part? The pom-pom of course. My first pom, ahhh.. Everyone needs a little pom in their life.

The ornament in the back of that last picture? That is me - age 3. How cute am I? I loved that necklace I'm wearing. I am pretty sure I was talking to my dad on the phone, he was at work. Although, that may not be true, because he usually was the one taking pictures, not my mom. I'll have to ask. I made this ornament for my mom when I was a wee one. It is mounted on a canning jar top with felt and yarn to hold it on the tree. My mom has this wonderful tradition of giving us an ornament each year. She has done this since I was very little. Her idea was that this would give us lots of ornaments to populate our own trees with! This year is the first year that I have had them. Rob and I had so much fun going through them as we decorated. This was his favorite.

Bookish Wendy, 1979

-~-

Awhile back someone left me an anonymous comment with a question about The Big Sack sweater. If you are still looking for help please let me know. I cannot trace emails from comments, especially when they're anonymous. ;)

SSS but not lack of SEX

2005-12-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about SSS lately and the resultant Single Sock. I've also been thinking about SEX, but that is another post.*

I'm a newer sock knitter. I really enjoy the process as well as the finished project. I have finished 4 socks, of these four socks I only have one pair. Math problem? No, I'm a good little Scientist who Does not Use her formal Math Education for Anything other than Knitting and Balancing Budgets. One retro rib sock, one Dorchester Yarn sock (sidenote: the second will be finished soon), and two red sox. Hmmm, that leaves one sock that is without a partner in life and worse, a foot to wear them. A Single Sock.

Some of the less conventional among us may decide that the defintion of a pair of socks would read something like this:

Pair of socks
origin**: the word sock is derived from the Latin word succous which was then bastardized by those Old English Norman Invaders to sukkos, and finally twisted into socke by the Middle English Shakespearan crew, ed. note: the irony of the similarity between succous and what I yell when the sock pisses me off is not lost on me)
def: A pair of socks are nothing more than two sock shaped objects that fit on each of one's feet. Matching color sceme optional.

Unfortunately the sock knitter who suffers from SSS but not lack of SEX may not know someone who defines a pair of socks with such a loose definiton. Someone who throws caution to the wind and runs willy nilly through the world with two different color feet. Fortunately for me I have a sister who does.

My little sister is a soul unto herself (does this sentence even mean anything? It certaily sounds like it should.) The Sister is intent on creating her own little revolution limited to the confines of her feet. To her it represents a giant middle finger to social conventions, the 40 hour work week, and the "you must look semi normal to succeed in the world" axiom (I choose to listen to the Beastie Boys while dressed in a suit, we all have our revolutions.) The Sister has all of the semi-normal stuff working...until you get to her feet.

I love her feet and want to wrap them in socky hand knit yarn goodness. However, I cannot do it alone.

If you are a sock knitter who suffers from SSS but not lack of SEX and you are without a friend/family member/partner who exhibits reckless behavior with their foot coverings please, do not fret. The Bookish Girl has come to the rescue:

If you have a single sock without a home and, due to SSS, is unable to fulfill its true purpose in life please feel free to donate the Single Sorry Sock to the cause. Leave a comment, remembering that unless you list an email I can't find you, or email me at bookishwendy at gmail dot com (replace the at and dot with the appropriate symbols, eliminate the spaces and wham! you have my email address) and I will send you a self addressed stamp envelope to transport the sock safely and effortlessly. The Sister is not a knitter but will love any and all socks that come her way with reckless abandon (size 7.5-8 shoe) regardless of the socks wonkyness or lack of wonk. Furthermore, I will not have to brave the crowds to find a Holiday Gift which will leave me with more time to knit my heart out. For that, I will be forever grateful.

If you have someone in your life that subscribes to the alternate definition of socks or perhaps someone who just needs a little rebellion in their life I would encourage you to gift your single sock away. It will surely be well loved and you will feel so much better knowing that your SSS did not prevent a Single Sock from reaching its full potential.

* I love the warning on this definition. Those knitters are a wild bunch.

** Origin from Wikipedia please note that this article has sub-headings such as, "Criticisms" and "Socks in Popular Culture". I love Wiki)

Me. Me. Me.

2005-12-11T18:46:00.000-05:00

I recently tackled a project that has been on my to knit list for over a year. Two woman from my knit group, Kris and Barbara, gave me Exquisite Little Knits by Iris Schreier & Laurie J. Kimmelstiel and Art Yarns Super Merino Colorway 105 for a wedding gift.

First of all, I love that I get yarn for a wedding gift. This was a simple knit that I did for myself. All me. Me. Me. Me. It only took me a year and a half to get to it. At this rate, the knit list is obviously going to grow a lot faster than projects are finished.

For this yarn, I choose a pattern from the book, The Flying V scarf. I have knit up two of Iris Schreier's patterns. She has really cool designs - ingenious and fun with just enough challenge to keep you interested.

The yarn is so yum and squishy and soft. The scarf stretched quite a bit with use. I wonder if it is the yarn or the pattern? No matter...I love them both all the same.

If you get Caught between the Moon and NYC...

2005-12-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

Way, way, back in the summer (before snow storms and lightening storms happened at the same time) a woman from Elisa's and my work asked us if we would be interested in renting a Peter Pan Luxury Coach (aka: A Bus with a Video Player) to go down to NYC for the day. Leave at 6 am return at 2 am. It did not take us long to say Hella! Ya! (Hella is Elisa's wine filled version of Hell Ya!), this proves to me that we are not as old or farty as we think we are.

About 0.2 seconds later we sent an email out to the Boston Knitter Crew To Whom We Are Acquainted (BKC, a distant relative to the TGKWB) challenging them to take Manhattan (Standard Bookish Girl Disclosure: if you did not get the email, please do not take offense. We only sent it to those that we knew in person (thankfully an ever expanding circle.)) As you well know this is a hectic time of the year, fa la la, and many could not come with. The few, the proud (Elisa and Kellee), and the crazy (Me!) ventured out at ass-crack (official time of the crazy) in the morning last Saturday. We hobbled onto the bus and promptly started knitting socks.

Three hours later we were in Macy's checking out all of the Holiday place settings on the fake tables, marveling that Hush Puppies can look cool, and laughing at the Santa-Land Diaries and the Christmas Scene that so inspired David Sedaris.

Kellee and Elisa in front of Macy's

An hour later we were greeted and hugged by Cara who is, by far, the best NYC tour guide in the world. Elisa, Kellee and I had few wants for the day, we had all been to NYC before and really, the weekend after the tree lighting is not the best time to be sight-seeing. Our Luxury Coach Driver, Chris, told us that NYC will see 30,000 tour buses during the 48 hour weekend. Thank goodness the city was built to absorb people.

Elisa and Cara in Bryant Park

Here is Cara with her list. The list of Yarn.

Kellee contemplating her Chipotle

We are extraordinarily lucky to have a plethora of wonderful knitting stores here in Boston. However, NYC is lucky to have a plethora of unusual knitting stores and notion stores. Like a store that has ribbon, lots of ribbon, ribbon up and down the walls. And fur, and feathers, and more ribbon. Ah, heaven.

Kellee in Habu Textiles

We soon met up with Marne. Marne is one of my best friends. we lived together in college and she is an extraordinary knitter. She was exercising a surprising sense of self control in the yarn stores. It was fun and weird to see my virtual world and real world collide. I think they melded nicely. Marne mocked the blogging and the knitting but I am pretty sure we won her over with our wicked ways.

We ran around a lot, we laughed a lot and we had a great time. I loved traveling with these fools and truly enjoyed their company.

Our day ended with a mad dash to a restaurant that Cara had chosen. Elisa had gotten caught under a pile of Cherry Hill Tree Sock Yarn,

Cara had forgotten her purchase in the yarn store and the cab driver just wasn't NYC enough for us - so, we were late. We pretty much fell into the Restaurant, loaded down and giddy and there was Kay waiting for us at a table with a bottle of wine. Have you ever seen a more welcome sight?

Did you know Kay's fingers are blue? Why didn't I get a picture of this?

We ate. We drank. And we ate warm chocolate cake. Cara very sweetly accompanied us back to our bus pick up location. We had feared the bus would leave without us as we were late. Thankfully others were later. We had a wonderful time chatting it up on the bus ride home. Kellee and Elisa are the best kind of travel companions. Not only because our interests are the same (if you can believe, the interests go beyond fiber) but because they are honest and open and truly fun!

Once again the kindness of these knitting blogging people has me blown away. The click of personalities and the underlining feeling of warmth is really incredible. It sounds kitschy but it's true. I've already started looking at airfare for another trip down there. New York City is an incredible place and I adore the people that live there.

Go see Cara's Warm Hand Warm Heart Post and Elisa's Alcohol Keeps Lying to Me Post for their travelogue...

PS - I am trying to get better about taking pictures during my adventures. Now, I just have to get better about posting them in a timely manner....

2005-12-02T07:45:00.000-05:00

Continuing on with the discussion of how I never finish anything why don’t we discuss these mittens.

"Why they are finished!" You say.

They were a Christmas gift for Juli's husband LAST YEAR. At that point in time we had one mitten that was not sewn up. Juli and Chad came to Boston in early June (where the picture below was taken.) Juli received both of her finished mittens (that were a Christmas gift) and I gave Chad the one mitten and told him the other would come soon.

We have a loose definition of soon over here. It is kind of like "or so" time. Like, I'll see you at 4 o'clock "or so". The "or so" gives you at least a 30 minute window on either end. Which is very important when you are married to a SOUTHERNER and is apparently very important when you can't finish anything. Come to think of it, I used to be a Finisher. I would finish the pants off any body any day. Now, not so much, the only thing that changed?

The start of a relationship with a Southerner who is very slow and not always direct about getting things done.

Hmmm, coincidence?

For those of you interested in the knitting:

The pattern is Kate Gilbert's. The link to Kate's site and the yarn info is on my sidebar. The stripe pattern corresponds to Chad's birthday. Eleven strips of one color for the month, one strip for the day...etc. This is a fun way to personalize a knit, get a little variety in your strips, and (best of all) still have some logic involved.

Keep the Pooper Down

2005-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Let's talk Turkey

And then, Let's talk about how I can't finish anything.

First please discuss what kind of MORON gets drunk on Thanksgiving and wakes the next morning with dishes piled to the ceiling, cheese left out over night, and a total inability to form a lucid thought? Okay, I admit, that last part may be standard operating procedure but the combination doesn't bode well for post-Thanksgiving clean up efforts. Thank goodness Hubby had it together enough to put the chocolate cake in the microwave (aka: the cat proof storage unit) because the chocolate cake, man it was good. Actually, I'm pretty sure my hangover is from the THREE pieces I had and not the 2+ bottles of wine that I drank with Elisa last night.

Lest you think that I am not a good host-ASS the drinking did not commence until the Orphan Thanksgiving was over and all guests had left the building filled with a whole new perspective on "The Crazy American". Elisa and Mike, who are not so much guests as essential fixtures in our house, arrived later in the evening rosy cheeked and fresh from a Family Thanksgiving in New Hampshire. This is where the evil begins. It ended with me in bed wondering why the THIRD piece of chocolate cake was consumed and exactly how many seconds will it take for me to fall asleep before I puke it all up. Under all of the Cake was a warm feeling. Largely left by ending our day with two of our friends a which capped off a pretty great okay day.

And this is where the Turkey talk ended. I wrote that bit Friday fully intending to edit pictures and do a proper post. The couch won out, and then the tivo after that, and then my book, oh - and don't forget the knitting. My intentions are always good.

Which leads me to the next topic - how I have developed a habit of NOT finishing things. The unfinished Friday post above is exhibit A. Exhibit B - my photo essay about Thanksgiving. Here is where it starts and ends:

11/23 Peapod, 6:30 am. Groceries delivered to my door - Priceless

11/23 Futureman, 9:30 am. He is ready to get his ass groomed.

11/23 Wh*le F**ds Market, 10:30 am. Time to Pick up the Turkey. They had Valet Parking! It was crazy. And can I just say, this was probably the most polite place in Boston on this day. People were so nice as they rammed you with their carts.

11/23 Chez Bookish, 12:00 pm. The cat has been picked up, the food has been brought in. Can you see how long it takes to get anything done here? This is why Peapod delivers my groceries. There are few things you can do in a city quickly.

11/23 Chez Bookish, 1:00 pm. The Turkey Brines a la Ann. (Ignore the mis-direction of the picture and just turn your head to the left...)

11/24 Chez Bookish, 4:30 pm. The food has been consumed. (See the ancient map on the wall?!)

My intentions are always good. However, I think that my expectations far exceed my energy/attention span (pick one, they both weigh heavily on my psyche.) Note to self: Do NOT attempt to create a photo essay during the one day of the year where you are the grand master with no prior experience.

Details on the Feast
The Feast went off....okay. I survived. That's about all I can say. I was exhausted and a bit disappointed. Going back to that whole expectation thing. Your advice was invaluable and, to be completely honest, kept me giggling and semi-sane through out the day. Like when I pulled out the turkey innards and did not realize that ALL of the innards were not in the turkey cavity - they were stuffed under the fold of neck skin. Yah, this was found at the 13th hour. I hope that sentence sounds as gross as it actually was.

Here's another grosser than gross description - I told Ann that I couldn't make the gravy with the gizzard because I might barf (ps - that Ann is the best - she sent me her phone number! I didn't have to use it...but it was a close one.) The recipe said to "pull the meat from the neck" and well, there is no way I could do that. I realized that I'm not so in to preparing a little turkey. It is sad. Very sad. Poor little turkey - even if he had a free range to range prior to being confined to my oven. I did not enjoy cooking him. I'm not a veg but rarely prepare meat in my home (Robby is a veg.) I have a hard time with the American meat industry...it's a nasty business. However, I could never get it together to procure my own meat (Although I do greatly admire people who can - Power to the People Liz.) I would be too busy barfing and feeling horrible.

Delicate bunny I am.

My favorite advice that I received wasn't listed in the comments. It was from my friend Jeff (he was one of the Easter boiled turkey eaters.) His advice,
"Just make sure the pooper is down and you'll be fine."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I think it applies to most things in life.

Rob and my favorite recipe: Portobello Mushroom Gravy. We have been searching the house for food to put this stuff on, it was that good. The recipe is from Eating Well Magazine. Have you all seen this? It's a great magazine, lots of good interesting recipes and loads of information about nutrition and food. I have gotten the past two issues and have really enjoyed reading them.

Least favorite recipe (can't remember where this one was from): Cornbread Stuffing. Dry, bland, blech. It could be improved with some fruit for sweetness and some time in the oven to crisp it up.

Each of our guest brought something from their home country, or something from the grocery store (chocolate cake, yum.) My favorites were Japanese Croquettes, basically a croquette of potato and ground beef. So. Good. And Chinese meatballs. I can't remember what these are called.

It was interesting to talk about Thanksgiving and describe it to everyone. I take for granted how much I know about American Holidays and what it means to live and grow up here. We discussed the American Indians, Slavery, the first settlers, and the origins of different foods on the table. One of our guests compared the American Indian Settler relationship in the US to the Palestinian Israeli relationship in the Middle East (he was Israeli.) Now there is a conversation time bomb. Overall, it was an interesting conversation filled with great people. Unfortunately I was still stressed about my 24 + hours of cooking. At one point I pulled out the globe (one of MANY maps in my house..I told you, I love maps!) and everyone talked about where they were from.

The most interesting fact that I learned: Cyprus is not only its own country but it is split in two and each side basically feels as though it independent of the other (in fact, the UN recognizes this separation.) So much so that there is surprise when a person from one side (a woman from my work) meets someone from the other side (one of her colleagues) and they discover they are so much the same! So interesting for an Island of 3,571 sq mi (9,250 sq km.)

Okay, this may be the chattiest Bookish Girl post ever.

Parting thought -

Keep the pooper down and you'll be all right.

Turkey for me, Turkey for you.

2005-11-21T19:37:00.000-05:00

It's obvous that we here at The Bookish Girl are worldly (or other worldly depending on who you ask.) I mean look at the Frappr! map - the words of this here blog do not reach many people but those that it does reach are sufficiently spread across the map. Polluting minds across the globe, that's my new motto.

I'll also have you know that I had no idea there were so many deviant librarians out there. You do the Bookish Girl proud ladies, yes you do. They through caution to the wind and rack up overdue fines. I'd say Bravo but the less diviant among you might hunt me down.

In the spirit of international peace and harmony my husband and I are having Thanksgiving at our house with a bunch of orphans that we are semi-aquainted. Adult orphans without family close by and, in most cases, without any prior Thanksgiving experience. Add that and a dash of very little English spoken and you have a recipe for a very unpredictable and borderline crazy Thanksgiving.

I should preface this with the explanation that Thanksgiving is by far my most favorite holiday of the year. I love to give thanks and I love to eat. What a great combination. I have spent Thanksgiving away from my family but never away from either Rob's or my family. I have NEVER been responsible for procuring a bird, roasting its skin or cooking its carcass into a soup (carcass is one funny word) for a full party of 9 adults and 2 children. Again, most of which either do not speak English or do not speak English well...good...whatever. Therefore, my expectation of this day far exceeds my skill set. The learning curve is steep.

So I call the local friendly organicish grocery store to order the bird.

I now ask each of you to offer up your most sage advice. Your cooking disasters or your greatest Thanksgiving vicory. The international members of the group need not be dismayed...you too celebrate holidays that are filled with a lot of eating and celebration.

How in the hell do you orchastrate such a disaster waiting to happen?

Can anyone tell me how to say, I'm sorry my dog is sniffing your crotch in Japanese?

And is there really a way to explain why American's (specifically Mr. Bookish) are absolutely insane about football?

Finally, we will have 6 countries represented (I count Hong Kong and China as two different countries) and many many laughs. I am so Thankful to have an opportunity to know these people and hear their perspective and share their stories. Even if it is over a boiled bird*.

And I have many Finished Objects for you. The light does not cooperate though. Pictures will have to wait until the post-Thanksgiving coma has worn off.

* So, I made a Turkey for Easter one year in college. Somehow it ended up in the pan upside down and with lots of "juice." The bird, it was boiled. But man, it was moist!

Ku me he mo. Mo who? Ku me? He who? He mo?

2005-11-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

WEBS sent out their newsletter today. Do you guys get these things? You shouldn't. If you value your bank account and all things involving money (like eating, paying your mortgage) you should not touch this newsletter.

Except - maybe for the good deals. I mean REALLY good deals. Last year I managed to get some kind of wool for something like $1.99 a skein. I am presently knitting with this wool and as a result thank the Garage Sale daily. A sweater for $15? I'll take it.

This is what caught my eye in this issue of the newsletter:

Kumihimo Disc

Kumihimo? What the hell is that. Wiki did nothing for me. I was dependent on google.

Kumihimo is pronouced - ku-me-he-mo.

"Kumihimo is the ancient art of Japanese braiding. These braids were intricate and used for many things including the tying of an obi or the connecting of panels on a samurai's armour. Traditionally the braids were made using a marudai which is a wooden stool with a hole in the center. The threads were braided on the top (mirror) of the marudai with the finished braid going down through the hole.. "

Here are some links to explanations and pictures of the process and the finished product. Cords, Braids, oh my. Beautiful cords. Am I crazy to think that this might be fun?

Not only that a great addition to a knitted hoodie? Or purse? Or something, anything to replace the Bookish dreaded I-cord?

Anyone have any experience with this?

I think I'm going to order the disk. Just to see what it's like and all. Anything to escape the i-cord. I hate the i-cord.

And all of you librarians out there? I apologize for not returning my library book. And I almost promise I won't get any others out on Kumihimo until I return my overdue knitting book. In my defense, I forgot how many of you there were. I fear a whole gaggle of you may come find me and cut me with paper or something. I promise to return my book. Just as soon as I'm done with it. ;)

The return of TTTT

2005-11-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

I'll have you know that I have gotten nothing done since THE MAP came into my life. I have it bookmarked. I have it on my desktop. I. can't. stop. checking. it. So, for cryin in the beer - please go add your name so that I can at least have something to look at on the 80th check of the hour.

Kay, who is clearly as obsessed as I, has left some very handy directions for all of us to refer too. Wanna change your picture? No problem. See Kay. What to add your url? No problem See Kay. Kay, how in the world did you get the Frappr! map to reveal all of it's secrets? Secret Whiskey? Can you tell us, What is behind the lost vowel and the exclamation point? What is Frappr! trying to hide?

There is a script that I could use IF BLOGGER WOULD LET ME to show all of the pictures that have been posted to the map. BLOGGER DOESN'T like the script and won't allow it.

Stupid Blogger.

Did you know that The Bookish Girl has international readers?!

Does The Bookish Girl actually knit?

Why yes-

TTTT

Done.
Done.
and Done.

It's a bit big. And it is entirely the wrong season for such shenanananangins. Overall a great pattern (Tivoli when I did it Picovoli now), fab yarn (Cotton Fleece), a fun knit. First time doing the top down thing and I must say - it is a very satisfying technique that I will surely seek out in the future. I put a crochet edge on this purple number to curb the curl. Courtesy of my favorite over-due library book The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques (yes, I STILL have this out. Will you bail me out when they through me in the slammer?!)

The size? Yes, I swatched. Further proof that swatches lie. I think part of the problem is the weight of the fabric. We're not talking Macho-Man Randy Savage weight here. (As a side note, did anyone notice the name of that url? Cool dudes and hot babes?! I looked and looked but The Bookish Girl was no where to be found.) However, it's hard to escape your genes. This yarn is primarily cotton and there is some stretching from its weight. I believe that is where some of the extra fabric comes from.

Bettcha thought I abandoned this one, huh? No chance.

Map My World

2005-11-09T11:18:00.000-05:00

I'm back from my trip in presence only. I'm working through a couple of big projects at work and leaving myself little time to blog. Note to self: This must change.

A few months ago my site meter feature added a map to the stats. This allows me to see where in the world all of the people hitting my blog are. It's interesting and I love it. The only problem - I can't tell who they are. My stats are not that detailed.

Kerstin recently posted a fun map feature (Thanks Crazy!). The Geographer in me (B.S., M.S.) couldn't resist. I've set up my own map! Please, Please, Please go and leave me a note, you most definitely do not need a blog to participate. You can use html to create a link to your site in your note. You can also leave your email address (if you're comfortable.)

This is so freaking fun!

Will the real Bookish Girls please stand up!?

While you do that I have some blog housekeeping...

All you commenters out there. I have a question. If you have a Blogger blog and leave a comment on another Blogger blog how do you make it so that a click on your comment sends the person to your blog and not to your Blogger profile?

Also, as most of you know Blogger doesn't give me the emails of my commenters. This is a bummer and it drives me bonkers. I have been in the process of moving over to WordPress for about 6 months now. I just can't get it together. My url is bought. My software is loaded. My gun is shooting blanks. Annnnyway.... I have been good about tracking down many of your emails. However, if your name is Ann, Anne, or ANN - I can't tell the difference unless your name links to your site. Kathy's - same deal. Overall, I hate not being able to email back each individual comment. Please know that if I haven't it is because: a) I can't find your email, b) I'm slow as tar, c) Life has gotten the better part of me.

Sigh

2005-10-29T13:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, it feels better having said it. It feels even more better (?) to have you all "at-my-back". The Internet is a weird place.

I'm off to D.C. for a busy-ness trip. I will likely be unable to blog. I am bringing my camera in hopes that I'll be able to do another photo-album for you all.

Elisa is my roomie. I love having Elisa as a roomie. Maybe I'll run into some other bloggers? Who knows.

Thank you all again. You have made me feel incredibly calm.

The question that turned into a brain dump.

2005-10-28T17:18:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged by the Sultry Painter Woman. She's like me to state 20-random things about myself. Somehow this started a flood for me. I've been wanting to write about some things that have been happening in my family. But, it's been hard for me to get started. Apparently this free form flow thing worked for me. I will share it with you here with the understanding that comments are not necessary. I love good loving and support but I am not a chicken little type person, I do this for myself...

1. I am sometimes sad and VERY ANXIOUS
2. It took me a long time to realize that I couldn't fix the sad or the anxious all by myself
3. My family has a history of depression, mental illness, and substance abuse.
4. My brother tried to commit suicide four months ago. It was his first attempt but not his last.
5. This is hard for me to talk about in such a public place.
6. I am a very open person and feel that honesty is the best policy. As I get older I tend to hide things from myself and others more often.
7. I hate that.
8. This is a tricky forum because I don't want to hurt anyone in my family but I think it hurts me more to hide it away.
9. One of my best friends came up to me a few weeks ago and said, "I'm so sorry I haven't said anything about your brother. I haven't only because I don't know what to say. I now feel awful about that."
10. She couldn't have said it to a more understanding person. I never know what to say and so I usually remain quiet and seep in guilt.
11. That is what is happening with my brother and I right now.
12. I can't change it right now.
13. He has a history of hurtful practices. To himself and to his family members.
14. I'm not ready to forget or forgive.
15. This is incredibly sad and hard to feel.
16. I once read that the sign of an intelligent person is the ability to feel two contradictory feelings at the same time.
17. I must be REALLY intelligent.
18. I hope to write more about this. For me. But also for who ever is reading and feeling the same.
19. I feel like this whole experience with my brother is straight out of a BAD tv movie
20. My parents are amazing amazing people.

Be still my pink squishy heart.

2005-10-25T21:05:00.000-05:00

Way back in the spring I knit a cute little jacket for a baby-to-be. The babe was born in April and her beautiful sweet face graced the pages of this here blog. This baby is the baby of Gods. She is beautiful and fabulous and I want to eat her (she is that cute.) I'm in love with her. I can only imagine what her parent's must feel.

Back to the knits. I have made it a habit to knit my baby stuffs a few sizes bigger than newborn size. What size do I knit? Don't know - I don't do a gauge swatch for my baby knits. Waste. of. time. They will fit into it eventually. That's the beauty of a baby knit.

Eventually has come for the Neala bean. She is the first to fit into my baby knits. I swear, there is no better feeling than seeing a small thing wrapped in your lovingly constructed garment. I knit this especially for her while she floated around in the tum tum. Neala was conceived just before Rob's and my wedding. Her parent's found out they were pregnant just before they left the hotel to attend our wedding ceremony. Neala was there in her little simple cell structure; waiting to burst onto the scene that is now her life. There are no words to describe the wonder of that little bean there then and here now, in something that I MADE!

**Thank you, thank you for all of the comments on the sock. I am a total goober - and I'm a bit sore today from all that bending. Whew. I gots to hit to Yoga mat or something! The real picture (pre-photoshop) was a bit more pornographic than the published. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "birds eye view."**

Crazy Person (or, I Swear I Was Normal before Rhinebeck)

2005-10-24T17:38:00.000-05:00

You all were right. I just have to learn to flow with the go.

Check out these puppies

Aren't they rad? I've been walking around the house with one on one foot and a different sock on the other. The foot in the store bought sock was feeling left out so I did a switch-er-oo and viola! It’s not anymore.

I have to wait a bit to cast on for the second. My wrist is a bit sore.

Details - One sock in less than a week. Size 3 needles, 7 sts/in...spot on gauge, yarn described in previous post. Pattern from Ann Budd's Pattern Book - which is it? I did a Picot Edge at the top. This was done to keep the color change consistent throughout. Ribbing the top (for her pleasure) did nothing for me.

Here's a better picture of the colors (ribbed, pre-frog):

Be careful, this is what crazy sock yarn will do to you...

A self-portrait for you.

Here's another:

Yay socks...

We regret to inform you...

2005-10-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

....that the Bookish Girl has been consumed by her new sock project.

She was last seen pulling her hair out and screaming something along the lines of, "But it's variegation produces stripes when 26 sts are cast on, why not when 52 sts are cast on?!"

Last we checked (86 million times in the past hour) she was knitting to the gauge specified on the hand painted yarn's label. The yarn, produced by Dorchester Farms (no web site?), is Geor-gie-ous. While the Bookish Girls questions how a farm could ever exist in Dorchester, a large neighborhood of the metropolis Boston, she chooses to suspend disbelief. After all Marky Mark was bred and raised there. He even had a HORRIBLY INCONSISTENT Boston accent in the Perfect Storm. Clearly, stranger things have happened.

Undeniably The Bookish Girl was a bit unstable before this current sock event. Shit-Com Chic?! The Bookish Girl Tee?! They were all signals that she was on the verge of being eaten by her knitting. We can assure you that she has resigned herself to the wanton self-patterning craziness of this particular yarn colorway and is completely in love. We are satisfied that she has worked through her initial hysteria and moved on to obsession. She will surely be "back to normal" (obviously a relative state for this lady) when the sock is completed and the mystery of the variegation pattern has properly revealed itself. At this point in time Mr. Bookish has threatened that he, "May wear them when she is not around." in spite of their lovely Picot edge and pinky/ corrally /blacky colors. The man needs a sock of his own to love.

Until our faithful super hero friend returns please take a gander at this site:

Terra Pass - where you can give money to an environmental organization that works to offset the CO2 emission and subsequent environmental degradation of your HUGE AMERICAN CAR.

Ignoring the request to even take a moment to consider the impact we each have on the environment will surely lead the Bookish Girl to rant Phil. about the state of our earth.

We wouldn't want that.

Trust us.

TGKWB

2005-10-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

Last night I travelled from my fair city to the 'burbs of Acton, MA. I've loved living in Boston but being out in the open makes me want to breath in the "country" air and leave the city, forever. The trip only takes about 45 minutes. Add in a few harrowing moments on the expressway while I try to stuff my face with Shredded Wheat (dinner) AND talk on the cell phone (catching up) and you've got a seat gripping experience. I'm not so smart sometimes.

I was motivated by the destination. Stephanie, the Yarn Harlot, would be there. Kathy and I had been discussing this event for a few weeks. I almost showed up LAST Tuesday. Wouldn't that have been a blast?! I figured Kathy would be the only one that I knew. Then Debbie piped in that she would be there. Phew, two people that I knew.

Little did I know that The Gaggle of Knitters Who Blog (TGKWB) would be there. I walked in and spotted Kathy right away. Kathy had sent me her Lawyer Picture earlier in the day. She looked very lawyerly in the picture. In real life, well, she looks like a normal person. I lean over the bookcase to tap her on her shoulder and I see Claudia's back...a closer look and Laurie's back is there too....an even closer look and there is Kristen's back....and then I feel movement to my side. Kellee is there. And Kathy introduces me to Carole, and then Claudia introcudes Sandy. And Kellee and I spot Debbie.

And suddenly I am surrounded by friends. Again.

TGKWB may change depending on the day, the location, and the time. But one thing is for sure, no matter who is present in person - There will be laughing.

I mean, the cheese is so cheesy here you might think I'm a mouse or something.

Am I the only one that found the item to the right of Stephanie's head a happy accident? I couldn't stop giggling.

Debbie may try to tell you that we went out for Drinky Drinks. Actually, we went out for Drink. See the sign, "Steaks, Seafood, Sandwiches, and Drink." Singular.

A meter for Peter.

2005-10-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

So, I just wrote this great post with all the pictures I took and great stories and great everything. And I lost it.

Gone.

Okay, I lied a bit. I did write a great post. However, there were no pictures. This is due to one simple fact. I didn't take any. Well, I took four. Four pictures that suck.

So, I spent the better half of my lunch hour linking to my funny fiber blogging friends who travelled to NY State. I did tell funny stories. But they're gone now, eaten by the internet.

Go see the other funny fiber gals for the fun. If you shake a stick (or just do a google search) you'll hit a whole gaggle of them AND you'll see some glimpses of the Bookish Girl.

So, here's a picture. My first self-portrait Tuesday.

Me snuggling with my honey.

On another note.
(This is going to kill the Google searchers out there trying to get some porn action.)

Has anyone ever seen a measuring tape of the same genre as this, that have a little pee-wee instead of a Pinocchio nose? It is apparently referred to as a Peter Meter. However, a google search has yielded something a bit different than what I was looking for. We discussed this measuring tape this weekend and I think it is just about the funniest thing. Ann said, "Yeah but it only measures 6 inches." and then Cara said, "Even though it says 6 it actually is 4 inches."

See what I mean about the love and the LAUGHING?! There was a lot of laughing.

Johanna has seen one in person (was Dani there too?), she was the source of the original story.

I want one too!

PS - I'm going HERE tonight. Anyone else going to be there?

I hear you have a seven year wait for your wood.

2005-10-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

My body is back from Rhinebeck. But my mind? Has anyone seen it? I seem to have LOST IT!

The weekend was fabulous.

Really.

For so many reasons, most of which transcend the blog world. I met so many lovely people, many without blogs, some with blogs that I've never read, others who I have. People were so friendly. Friendly, hugging, hilarious and ENABLING knitters. That's what happened there. ENABLING.

People who loved their craft so much so that they would utter ridiculous things like, "I was told I had to touch your wood" to a certain wheel maker.

People who uttered an evil cackle with a glint in their eye when you said, "I don't think I want to spin, but I have to admit seeing the sheep and the fiber and the finished product all in one place is a bit inspiring."

People who pick you out of the crowd and tell you how much they love what you write and enjoy your blog. Wow. That is a strange and wonderful feeling.

It was hard to place names and faces and web addresses. I'm looking at bloglines today thinking - oh, that's who that was!

However, I really didn't feel like that was the point or the focus...it truly, for me, was about meeting people (not bloggers, real life people who happen to be bloggers or happen to not blog) and supporting smaller vendors who peddle their wares for the love.

Really, it was about the love.

Sigh.

Feel the cheese running down your monitor?

Boo!

2005-10-12T07:04:00.000-05:00

I've been working on the Bookish T-shirt. It seems that I have finished all of the lettering (thanks to the best husband who is the greatest inventor of all things invented - more on this tomorrow.)

I say seems, because, surprise, surprise, I'm not totally happy with it. This time around I have the right size and shape of each of the letters. My tension ~~has~~ leave something to be desired. Actually, more than something. It ~~has~~ leaves a whole lot of everything to be desired.

What an interesting phrase - something to be desired. It seems as though that would be a good thing. I'd like to be considered - something. to. be. desired. However, I would hate to be someone who is leaves something to be desired. Google has left me blank. Any insight on this?

ETA - Thanks Allison! Amazing what a difference one word will make (and a cup of coffee.)

Note to Self

2005-10-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

The Bookish Girl's Christmas list:

A- Confessions of a Knitting Heretic by Annie Modesitt. This book has been recommended to me many a time. I still haven't finished reading (whatever knitting book that I'm currently reading and can't remember the name of), I think this would be a great followup.

B- Nancie Wiseman's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman. I recently got this out of the library and have been paying over-due fines ever since. I can't let it go. It's a fab book.

C- Emergency Preparedness Starter Kit (via MightyGoods). The number and severity of natural disasters in the past few years has made me a bit more aware of how un-mobile we are at this point in our lives. Time to change that a bit.

D- The "New Yoga" Bag (or mug - when it comes out). The cartoon is by Knit Blogger Franklin who crack my shit up.

E- Cloth napkins, same as those made by MOM circa 1999 with fabric from Repot Depot.

Christmas is a HUGE deal in my family. My parents love the holiday and spoil us all endlessly. We (my siblings and husband) have tried to tell them that the degree to which they shower us with good cheer is totally unneccessary and that we'd be just as happy without. This is where my Mom got violent on us the first time. Under no circumstances were you going to tell THIS WOMAN that she CAN'T shower her children with gifts and good cheer. And DAMN us for even suggesting it.

So. The Christmas list is asked for early. And we oblige. It's soooo fun!!! ;)

I'm Alive!!!

2005-10-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

So this is what I have to show for four hours of work:

The Bookish T - part deux.

I charted the existing t design. Ripped and reknit 2 ROWS!! Only two freaking ass rows.

Friggin Freakin Friggin

You can see why spending that time READING A BOOK is wayyyy more enjoyable.

PS - I just looked out the window and saw two people hugging and hugging and hugging. It made my heart smile, one of those - I'm Alive! - moments.

Have you ever had one of those?

The first time I recognized that feeling for what is was - something noteworthy and important I was living in Georgia. I was with a friend of mine driving through the edge of town. While sitting at a stop light we noticed a man in a business suit balancing his way down the rail of the train track, slowly picking up his left foot, struggling to stay on the rail. He was Alive, Living life for that minute. You had to be blind not to see it. Since then, I've always tried to make a mental note. It's easy to see it in kids...adults...well, they hide from joy too often.

So, on second thought, maybe I'm not so pissed about my "lost" evening. If it hadn't rolled that way I would have missed the hugging.

If obsessiveness were money, Bookish Girl'd be Bill Gates

2005-10-06T09:14:00.000-05:00

I've started Book Five
(line of the day: "If breasts were money, Connie'd be Bill Gates.")

The punctuation is all Janet's.

I have a problem.

The Human Stain, Yellow Jack, The Confederacy of Dunces, Shop Girl, and Devil in the White City have all been left to languish on my night stand. It's not that I don't love you dear books, it's just that I have a SERIOUS addiction here. And the knitting? Well, we won't even discuss that.

SERIOUS

Have I mentioned my obsession with Su Doku?

The biggest news of the week - I am officially going to the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival aka. Rhinebeck. My First sheep festival. My First Road Trip with Elisa (dude, Elisa, I am so downloading the audio version of Book Seven for our trip. And yes, I will be up to that point by then (thanks for the tip Heide.) And My First time meeting all kinds of people including, these fools. I am so going to get Vicki drunk while we're there. ;)

Who else will I meet?

BRING ON THE SHARPIES!

The books that ate my brains

2005-09-26T20:13:00.000-05:00

You see, it's all John Stewart's fault. He has this "Goodness Theorem", where the content of TV is good at a constant factor of 12%, the remaining 88% sucks donkey butt. This somehow led my brain to thunk up the Attention Span Theorem - where the level of attention necessary for all things complicated remains constant no matter what the genres: books, movies, tv, yarn, conversation, sex, etc. Okay, maybe not sex.

So, my brain's capacity for attention is say, 100%. If I'm reading a really complicated book, I use 80%. Leaving 20% for other pursuits...like knitting (you see why I can't do lace?!).

I've been reading quite a few really good books lately. One is the Human Stain (see link on the sidebar.) A moving, lovely, astounding book, paragraphs so full – it takes eons for the words to fall into my brain folds. My real-life book club pick for the month of September. But-I-hadn't-finished-it-by-the-time-we-met. This phrase is now one of my hallmarks. I can't seem to finish anything.

Except these:

The Attention Span Theorem states that feeding my brain with mindless entertainment (and it is entertainment) should leave room for the accomplishment of other, more *ehem* worthy goals. (Elisa may argue that Stephanie Plum, the heroine of the above series, is certainly a worthy goal.)

It just ain't working though. I am a woman with a mission. People stare at the glow of my fluorescent book covers. I dazzle them with my ability to read pages quickly. I cannot put them down. The Attention Span Theorem is failing me.

It is with determination and guilt that I pick up this project..

Nothin' but a T - Bookish Style. This is the front. You have yet to see the front. I will be working on re-charting this, ripping, and foraging ahead. Its high time Stephanie Plum do a little more for me than just eat my brain. I'm going to take a stun gun to this baby and make it do my bidding.

-----

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. Rob took them and put together the slide show soon after we returned home from our trip. It was fun to listen to him adding the captions - he kept giggling to himself. We had it printing into a spiral bound album (via Shutterflies Store.) It's fun to have the commentary. I have to tell you - he lied a little bit. I didn't NOT read 14 books, or knit 4 sweaters, we did not have rainbow trout calzones, and he is not some freaky dude on the top of the mountain, he is just a super rad husband. Rob is a story teller.

For the curious, bewildered, or just plain clueless:
Two-Buck Chuck

LACE?!?!?!

2005-09-22T17:17:00.000-05:00

So Cara thinks that I should let my frustration with Shit-Com Chic slide and move on to LACE. Cara, did you miss the point about the eyelets, the yarn-overs that I couldn't even handle on The Shit?? LACE??? Maybe I screwed up because every time I saw YO I had to make my neighborhood gang sign with my hands. LACE!!!! That must be why I messed up. Darlin' you do beautiful work with your scratchy-only-to-you-yarn. However, to get me to try lace (*again*) you would have to come to BOS to hold my hands while I attempted something like that. And the Harlot would have to send Screech. I would have to be talked to calmly. It would not be good.

Excuse me while I go bang my head up against a wall.

LACE?!?!?!?

Now, let's move on to something equally as impossible. Climbing a Mountain.
Way back when - Rob and I spent our first anniversary in the Mountains of Colorado. This included "scrambling" up a peak outside of our cabin. Rob put together a great photo album of our whole trip, complete with captions. Check it out!

Enjoy.

Click here for very funny slideshow (the birth of The Shit (formally known as SitCom-Chic or ShitCom-Chic) is captured here.)

Joy and Pain

2005-09-21T19:25:00.000-05:00

Apparently earnest blogs on Wednesdays. After two really really long work days. Days that end before they start - because you're at your desk all day. Alas, I have been fortified with Shredded Wheat and a glass of two buck chuck. I am ready to blog.

Let's discuss frustration. And sadness. I started a sweater for BF Juli during our trip to Colorado. I proclaimed victory over the process and knit throughout the week. Chanting in my head: I would finish, I would succeed, despite my best efforts to prevent myself from doing so (which, by the way, is a really long mantra, I personally would advise against using such a long one.) I had decided on Sitcom Chic in Cotton Ease sugar plum yarn. I swatched on the plane ride there. My brain farted because of the altitude. Or maybe it was the lack of food. We forgot cash. I swear the airlines change the rules all the time. First they won't take cash, then they won't take cards. I could have sold my body for a drink. The brain fart led to temporary insanity where I forgot that I knit tightly. Or maybe I remembered, I just forgot which way my needles size should go - up or down. My swatches lied (crazy bastards.) And I decided to knit on. You've all read the blog enough to know where this story is going.

I was able to make the size I need (albeit by accident.) However, the farts kept coming. The sweater was asked to leave the house. I was banished to my bedroom with a trashy mystery novel. I had to reknit the eyelet row FOUR TIMES. I had to count stitches over and over. Yes, that's right I HAD to. Frustration had driven me to crazy land. There was an error. I might have been okay with the error. But to be okay with it I had to first figure out where it was. I knew I was off, in more than one place. Too many stitches here, not enough there. But without my finger on the point of origin I couldn't be okay with it. I finally found it. Waaaayyy down there, yes, below the join of the arms, seven inches of knitting down. I decided that I had spent 3-hours finding the error I should at least do myself the favor of fixing it. Big mistake. Never do yourself any favors that involve reknitting something - THREE TIMES!!!!

It's enough to make a woman give up knitting. Or at least leave the perfectionism to better more sane people. Or at least shove the stupid ass sweater to the bottom of the bin. Juli is used to getting presents late. Hell, I still owe her husband one mitten (I think I even sent him home with the single little fellow.) Frustration and sadness. I need a good knitter to come live at my house.