Going to Maryland

I’m not (and never will be) a Republican, but this is great news for Maryland: former Lt. Governor Michael Steele was just named the first African-American head of the RNC. A good friend of mine worked with Lt. Gov. Steele while he was serving Maryland, so I have a good association with him, as well as being another “first” in American politics. Maybe we really have turned a corner.

While I was reading this news, I am on my first sleeve (almost done) of my Mr. Greenjeans. I don’t know how much Patons SWS I had to begin with, then I bought 3 skeins from someone on Ravelry. Then I thought I had almost run out and just bought 4 more skeins from someone on Ravelry (that hasn’t come yet), meanwhile the 1 1/2 skeins I have left might just be enough! So I’ll end up having 4 skeins of a yarn I wasn’t that excited about to begin with. I really like the yarn, it’s just not my colorway. In fact, I’m surprised I bought it and made a sweater with it, as I don’t know if I’ll wear it.

I’ve been following the pattern, but already I think the cable part is started too low in the actual sweater part, and I started the cable on the sleeve before it said to, and I think I’d rather have more cabling – like maybe a full sleeve of ribbing with cabling at the end. Maybe when I make my 2nd (yeah, right!)

Kill your television

It happened! I’m actually all tv’d out! Since everyone has been sick (including me) and home from school for 4 days now, not only have I watched everything I care to watch on my TiVo, but I’ve even taped more stuff. I don’t think I can watch more TV today, even if it involves knitting along. I really must be sick.

It’s sad, actually, that the official TV season is supposedly back from the holidays, and yet there is nothing on for me to watch! I don’t watch any of the top 20 shows, so I don’t really care if Lost or 24 or even Flight of the Conchords is back. This year I’ve seen one The Office, and one E.R. and two Friday Night Lights (it’s beginning to get good again!), among other things. So in the lack of “real” television to watch, I’ve been watching every “Comedy Central Presents” I can get my hands on and it’s been fun. If you have some time to kill, you can head to Jokes.com and watch some of the comedians. My favorites are Jim Gaffigan, Steve McGrew, Mike Birbiglia, Brian Posehn, Doug Benson, Dan Mintz and Jackie Kashian.

And BTW, I’m not near the end of my Mr. Greenjeans! I’m on the bottom rib and it is taking forever! I’ve still got a couple of inches to go …

Money for Nothing

I need a raise. Everyone is throwing up and who’s left to clean it up? Me.

And I’m so close to the bottom of my Mr. Greenjeans, I just want to knit.

Be Prepared! (or, Ding Dong…)

So, as I was watching the old guard (literally – have you ever seen more old white men and women together than today on the way to the Inauguration?) come into the stands and be introduced, I couldn’t help but notice that one of the Biden clan had her child in one hand and *her knitting* in the other! Right there for all to see, in infamy, some fake fair isle socks! I mean, I’m sure it will be long and possibly boring, but won’t you be busy paying attention to your 3 year old child all day? I know I’d have knitting, but I’d keep it hidden at least until I sat down to watch that other guy (theme song of the day, “Ding dong, the witch is dead …”) give his leaving town speech. (Hooray!)

I didn’t watch the Inauguration as I had to work (take the kids to school) but I saw the procession and I loved seeing the swearing in even in pictures. I feel like a giant weight has lifted.

Love Explosion

So I actually do have work this weekend (I’m working for my mom’s company and for my mother in law’s company! Talk about nepotism…), but what I really want to be doing is reading “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer.

Yes, that means I finished “Twilight” today. Here’s my summary of the book:

Edward: I love you.
Bella: I love you.

I like to call it porn for women. I really thought I would read this book and then donate the copy to the library since I don’t have that much storage space, but now I’m not so sure. What if I have a very bad craving for romance? I just have a need where I cannot go on without reading how much Bella wants to be wherever Edward is, and so on?

It reminds me of that really lame book series for sale almost everywhere as an “impulse” purchase: “Porn for Women” (oops, I didn’t mean to use their term!) by the Cambridge Women’s Pornography Cooperative and Susan Anderson. This book/calendar series shows photos of men vacuuming, doing the dishes, etc. It doesn’t do much for me, but I do enjoy reading the hyper-romantic Edward Cullen escapades and just may have to refer back to it from time to time

(Blast from the past – I used to have an admirer named Edward C. as well. And now that I think about it, I had one of those attraction things where you never do get together but each of you is interested with an M. Edward C. also! Talk about kismet. I guess that’s why I love Edward Cullen so much! Okay, maybe because he’s supposed to be perfect, and also romantic to a fault as well.) (How weird – my nickname is/used to be Beth as well – sounds a lot like Bella, doesn’t it? I’m scaring myself here!)

However, the fact that I read *a* book does not mean I haven’t been knitting! I have actually completed a few items this week. I’ve been into hats lately, so I started the Super Bobble hat from The Point yarn store. I took out one skein of Crystal Palace Labrador and was really worried that I wouldn’t have enough. Lo and behold, not only do I have enough, but I have more left over so I made a cowl which I still need to add buttons to. The hat fits, but just barely. If I knew anyone with a baby girl, I’d felt it down for her, but I don’t.

I also recently completed a Clapotis by Machine. It was fun to try out a “fancy” pattern on my knitting machine, but it is a pain because you move over from left to right and then ultimately have to pick up and move all the stitches over so you have more room to complete the bias knit. I had to move them all over 3 times, and it was time consuming. So my Clapotis by Machine is long enough for me, but very narrow. I still used up 2 balls of yarn on it, though!

I can’t wait until I can pick up that book! Yes, I said it, I’m reading!

Big Dumb Sex

Again, if you knew the lyrics of this Soundgarden song, you’d know why I was singing it right now.

You know that Michael’s has one million coupons, right? Every week a new 40% off coupon. So for awhile I was collecting Patons SWS, the Natural Plum colorway. I’m not sure why, because the Natural Slate colorway is more my speed, but I digress.

I thought I had a lot of it, and I figured I could always go back to Michael’s and get more. So I go this morning I go and they don’t have any SWS, and I don’t know why.

Then this afternoon I get their flyer from my MIL. *All Week* they have been having a 70% sale on, you guessed it, Patons SWS. And honestly, all the other yarn they have sucks, so I see no reason to go back to Michael’s anytime soon.

Meanwhile, where am I going to get more SWS to finish my Mr. Greenjeans? I just got to the rib and cable pattern part. This sucks!

ETA: Ravelry wins again! As we speak I have more SWS flying towards me thanks to another Raveler! Here’s how far I’ve gotten on my Mr. Greenjeans until then…

She said she was jaded.

I had been using song titles for my blog post titles, but the title this quote comes from (it’s a King Missile song) is a bit too raunchy to use. I love this quote, though. And now on to the meat of the conversation:

Finally, a waste of my money I can get behind.

San Francisco

I’ve had a very busy weekend! Much busier than usual, and at the tail end of the holidays, even!

Saturday our friends were in visiting from L.A. and we decided to go to tea at the Palace Hotel (very close to where we used to live, what a blast from the past!). I knew that Crystal was big into hats, so of course I got this crazy idea that I could knit a hat before tea, and I found out about tea the night before! And of course I didn’t even start the hat until I was on the way to tea!

I got the Crazy Aunt Purl pattern for her “hat recipe” and quickly picked some yarn to try out. I had three skeins of Tahki Santa Fe that I bought from Yarn Paper Scissors. I started the hat and of course finished it on Sunday!

Tea was nice. I don’t know that I’d go back as the food was just okay, but I really enjoy tea, and it was fun to visit our old stomping grounds.

Then on Sunday we went to visit BR’s family in Marin County. The kids love going over the Golden Gate Bridge and back. They love playing with their aunts as well, so it was win/win for everyone. *Then* I finished the hat. This is one big hat!

I didn’t quite use 3 skeins double stranded, and I’m not entirely sure it will fit, but it was fun. The yarn is interesting. It’s got some nice colors: black, green and pink, and weird little bobbles of roving off and on. The bobbles are even more evident in reverse stockinette, which I liked better than stockinette, so there are lots of bumps on this hat! I just may be making more bulky slouchy berets before the winter is over!

New Year’s Day

Man, I’m on fire this year! In the past 2 days I’ve already finished 2 scarves I’m sending on to Stephanie to pass out to San Francisco’s homeless. I was trying to clean our house and ended up finding two unfinished scarves, which I then finished! Interestingly enough, they were both crocheted, but I didn’t feel like crocheting them so I got out my size 19 needles, and knit the rest of them in garter stitch. It’s not exactly the same, but it looks pretty good! One is in Lana Grossa Mega Fiamma and one is in Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick.

Awhile ago I also completed this wrap using a huge amount of Lion Brand Thick and Quick. I then bought 5 more skeins on Thanksgiving Day (!) at Michael’s, but I did use up my Rowan DK Marl that I’ve had forever. It is pretty big – I’d say maybe 6 feet wide? and very thick. I’ve already used it outside when I take the kids to the park, and it really helps.

I basically crocheted a triangle, then added a crocheted edge in plain Thick and Quick because it wasn’t quite as wide as I would like.

And tomorrow, I’m off to tea at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco! I hope you have a nice weekend too!

Relax

So how is your holiday going? I have spent a good portion of it watching the “Little People, Big World” marathon and getting caught up with the movies on my TiVo so I’m feeling pretty relaxed, myself.  I’ve done quite a lot of knitting:

scarves

These are two of the three scarves I completed to mail off to Stephanie in the hopes she does another scarves for the homeless event with her church.  The green one I made on my knitting machine and crocheted the edges.  I didn’t mean the other one to be so frilly and girly but I did do a lot of stashbusting!

I also started another Clapotis with my 3 skeins of Recycled Silk, but I got frustrated at this point and frogged it.  I just started a feather and fan scarf with it that I’m liking much more.

clapotis

And I have been working diligently on my Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick sweater. It is now way too heavy to carry around, so I don’t get much work done on it, but I have done the back and one of the sides.

wool ease

And one last year end change, a new haircut! This is my hairdresser’s version of the Posh Spice haircut from a year or two ago, and I like it, but she does tend to go a bit crazy on the layers.

HAPPY 2009!