Visions of Rawhide Candycanes

dance in their heads.

Its raining

and that means its perfect knitting weather.

Super Top Secret Project will be revealed this weekend, so I will finally be able to share it. But I won't be able to share it for a few weeks as its debut coincides with our trip to Panama to visit my father!

I am working on Heather, and here is a picture of her progress.



In all that calm cabling I needed a quick project. Something colorful, something easy... something acrylic! Yes it is, and I just love the color. I am knitting this based on caculations I derived from The Knitter's Book of Handy Sweater Patterns. It might be a cowl neck... then again it might be a disaster! But its pretty and soft.



Am I going to be a better poster in the new year? No clue. I am taking two more photography classes, and I fear that a J-O-B might be in my very near future - yech. I can hardly hope that the next J-O-B will afford me the same computer time generosity that my last job did - so sad. But it will allow me to buy more photo paper and yarn.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,Happy New Year and Joy to all!

Woe betide...

the knitter who cannot manage to post on a weekly basis. I have been knitting, oh yes I have, although since I am engaged in "super top secret project" it is hard to post about it. It is true, I have not been knitting as ferociously as I have done in previous months as I have been a great deal busier.

Odd, I used to work 32 hours a week, worked out at least an hour a day after work, had a full day off mid week, knit, engaged in knittinng fantasy, blogged and engaged in blog reading at least two to three hours a week. And there was still time in the week to complain.

Now I take class twice a week, spend between 9 and 14 hours a week in the darkroom(at school), spend countless hours a week composing photographs (both on paper in a conceptual manner, and by actual shooting in a practical manner). I also spend time in museums and galleries looking at photos. I work on the play that I am directing. Research on the web and in libaries. And those 3am wakeful times when all my good ideas come flooding into my brain. Guess what - there are not enough hours in the day to be, do, think, and still knit, let alone complain about anything!

But I still knit. I those in between times. Knitting does allow me a time to think; think about photos that I want to take, think about blocking and characterizations, beats and lighting cues (Christy will understand).

I hope to continue to post in a timely fashion. Perhaps when these new enthsiasms sink in and become part of me I will find more time to blather about knitting. But now as we head into the holidays, and finals, and casting, and rehearsals... I may be doing more knitting and less writing about knitting. Garland might even stand a chance - after all stockinette is great for thinking.

Bad Blogger!

it has been over a week since my last post, this "retirement" sure is cutting into my blogging time. I have been knitting, top secret project that cannot be photographed until after the deed is done!

A few days ago I had the pleasure to go to visit Communknity again. That store has it all, great staff, huge stock of Rowan yarns, and best of all completely natural lighting. No worries about getting home and finding out that you bought three different dye lots! Never happened to me, nope, no way, ahem. They also carry an extensive library of Rowan books. Have I ever mentioned how much I am in love with Kim Hargreaves, Martin Storey, Sarah Dallas, Kaffe Fassett, Kim Hargreaves, did I mention Kim Hargreaves? I wish I lived on a wild and windy moor, where I could waft around with my messy hair, big lips and gorgeous hand knits!

Anyhoo I picked up Rowan's A Yorkshire Fable and Kim Hargreaves A Season's Tale. Yum. I'd say that I want to knit each and every one of the designs. Here are a few that I plan to make (at least in my head I fantasize about making them).

Kim Hargreaves' Renaissance. Need I say anything? Just lovely.



Kim Hargreaves' Dunoon reminds me of Teva Durham's Tartan Jacket from Interweave Fall 2004 (another designer whom I just love love love!). I still want to knit the Tartan Jacket. Now I'll have to make a choice.



Kim Hargreaves' Heather. Heather is the camel colored cable knit. Although I was unable to join the Cable KAL (due to bizarre blogger issues, and quite possibly my own inability to follow directions), I choose this as my project. I have cast on three times... again issues with reading the pattern before you start to knit. I know that the fourth cast on will be the charm. I am using stashed Kid Classic for this project.



On a sad note, Garland ist tot. I just don't have the patience to spend my hours knitting stockinette on teeny tiny needles. I haven't frogged her yet, but she has been relegated to the back of the project drawer in a Walgreen's bag. Sigh, what a shame.

And I am sure that everyone is dying to know how my photography class is going, given the artistic quality of the photos in this post... Well its just groovy, but it is a class in black and white manual photography, so the benefits have not manifested themselves in my digital world just yet. Not only that, these pics were taken at 8am, inside on a dark and rainy morning. But the quality of photography on this blog will improve! That is my promise.

So much to do

so little time.

How is it that when I was employed I had hours to read blogs, to work on my blog, to plot my next knitting coup, to shop knit stores on-line, and now, while unemployed (or as my husband likes to quip "she is retired!"), I have no time to do any of it! My days seem to be packed to the gills. I still get up at the same time. I spend an hour or so working on my resume, poking around on job boards, drinking coffee, reading the paper, and then the day starts to gather speed.

Twice a week I am in class, one of those days I have a lab that takes up most of the afternoon. Boy howdy, photography is magic. I tell you developing the first role of film is magic, you start out in the dark, swish around some chemicals, trust that the clear liquids that you are using are indeed the liquids that you think they are, play in water a little bit and ta-da! You have negatives.

I have been reading plays like crazy. Working on revitalizing this stalled theatre career of mine...

During my other days I have been working on a secretive little project. Today is the day to out it. I have opened a small (wee, teeny tiny) store at Etsy.com. As you all know I am for the felt. I have been felting up a storm. A storm of felting does not make for a whole lot of inventory, but it is growing. I have also put my fabric headbands up for sale. I get head aches from the plastic ones, and the fabric ones I have found in the drug store are butt ugly, only a mother could love 'em, hair holding sweat bands. So here it is GodivaBacci and a preview of the wares...





Please stop by the store, comment on the wares, I need help with the descriptions. Normally wordy as all get out, my verbosity dries up when I try to write about my own work.

I'm off to shrink some more stuff in the washer!

p.s. Garland is terribly abused. Haven't knit a stitch on her since my "retirement". Also starting some top secret pressies that will have to remain under wraps for a few months... cos too many nosy peeps read this blog, and you all know who you are!
p.p.s. Spellcheck always cracks me up, for one thing it replaces my name with Cholera, and secondly although it is embedded in a "blogging" application, it does not recognize "blog". Silly.
p.p.s. you can also get to my store by typing in godivabacci.etsy.com

Happy blogiversary Mim

As I have a ready made pic of da feets, here they are.



If you are curious (and I know you are) please refer to Rabbitch's entry of 10/10/05. Love the silliness.

"FO" is for folly

or foolish, or foolhardy... woe to me who blithely substitutes yarn. The gauge widthwise was perfect on my 4x4 swatch, it was one row longer lengthwise, which I did not worry about so much as I have a long back, and like my sweaters to reach the waistband of my pants (and with waistbands falling as they have recently this sometimes leaves me with a big patch of flesh bared that I'd rather have covered). So I knit for a 36 inch bust. Oh well, my tiny mother will have a nice new sweater to keep her warm in Colorado's winter.

Here it is, in its tiny glory



And a shot of the collar, which I love, love, love!



And the sleeve, again, love!



Details: Drop-Stitch Cardigan from Interweave, Fall 2005. Knit with Manos in colorway #109 (on a side note, you would think that Manos might be able to name their colorways - 109 is just so bleh. This colorway reminds me of wonderful berries, leaves, and twigs, perfect fall colors - "berries and chocolate with mint garnish", or "Autumn walk in the woods", even "Yum" would be better.) Knit on size 8 bamboo circs. It was a fun fast knit. Its great fun to drop and pull out stitches when you are supposed to do it. I recommend this pattern, and will knit it again, but might try it in the wool suggested. The zipper is a bit messy, but to tell the truth when I realized that it wasn't going to fit me I lost interest. In fact the front is finished with an i-cord zipper placket, which I did not do. Can I just say that making i-cord is about the least fun you can have with two sticks and string. How horrible am I to admit that I am going to give this away, and that I didn't do my best work on it. So smack me.

I am on a finishing streak. Next on the list is Garland. And I have my suspicions that I will be able house a small family in this one... looks big...

FO, toe, doh!

Ok, a soon to be FO.



What happened to my toe?



Grape stomping, I kid you not. Ok I realize that the toe does not look that damaged in the photo, but trust me it hurts!




Doh!



Didn't know that they came apart so easily...


This not working is killing me, I am so crazy busy. Need to find me a job so I can slow down a bit.

Ta-da!

Yet another FO "Ruffles"



Details: purchased as a kit from the Knittingbag.com. Yarn is Meunch Serpentine, knit on size six bamboo circs. I purchased the kit because I could not find a purse frame anywhere!!!! I seamed it on the sewing machine as I though that would help it with a little rigidity. I sewed the purse frame casings on the sewing machine as well. The seam is a little wonky, but barely visible. Plus: cute as all get out. Minus: Serpentine is fiddly and horrible to work with, it sticks to your hands and snags very easily. I'll knit this one again, but in some other yarn.

It has been an exciting first week without work. Last Thursday the mum and I went to LA to see The Boy King! I bought the tickets way back in March, so it was a much anticipated trip. There are not that many artifacts from Tut's own tomb, but some very spectacular pieces nonetheless. I especially loved the "imitation folding stool with tail", a gorgeous wooden stool inlaid with a design to resemble an animal pelt including a wee tail! If anyone gets a chance to see it, don't pass it up. We also spent a good long day at the Getty. What a spectacular facility. I love that the galleries are small, and only hold a few works, makes the act of viewing more intimate and more accessible. There was a great exhibition of one of my all time favorite photographers Weegee. Just love his gritty, noir, and yet innocent photographs of murderers, whores, and just plain old people.

Then I started school again yesterday! Me, at almost 40, taking an intro to basic photography. Me, sitting in a class room with 50 kids just out of high school. Talk about feeling OLD. I think I might even be older than the instructor. I can't wait to get started.

Today I got an e-mail from an old friend with a lead on a directing gig. Its just a reading, but its also a place to start getting my artistic life back on track...

And a parting shot just for good measure.



More FOs very soon.

Meet my leetle friend...

Flora!



from Knitty. Details: the three yarns stranded together are Lang's Venezia, Lang's Pearl and GGH's Soft-kid. The resultant variegation looks like peppermint candy to me! The pattern is delightfully easy to follow, and the flower was great fun to make. The button is from my vast array of buttons that I have collected over the years.



In the flesh the flower looks terrific and very three dimensional.



This gives a better view of the color, but the flower is still a little fuzzy. The flower has stamens! The center of the flower is made with a twisted loop; you loop about three inches of yarn, twist it until it twists back on itself and then slide the top of the loop back over the needle. What you are left with is a big boucle like nub and a new stitch! Genius!

***

A sweet side story; Husband is out of town on business, and it had put out older dog into a state. He was panting uncontrollably last night, which worried me terribly. So I did what any right minded hypochondriac would do, I went on-line! Excessive panting in a healthy dog is often an indicator of stress. So I went back to comfort my stressed dog (should add that I know he is healthy, we were just at the vet a week ago). About 11 Devil Dog and I fell asleep, but I knew Angel dog was still up and panting. I vaguely heard him go out the dog door, and when after a certain amount of time he didn't come in, I woke up and decided to hunt for him. Looked out the back door, called for him, no dog. So I looked out the front door... and there he was curled up in the drive way, looking at the gate, waiting for his master. ! Awwwwwww!

Uh-oh

Seems that I have a problem...

A seriously bad case of repetitive startitis or is it chronic non-finishitis syndrome. Lets see; starting with the lavender pile on the far left we have the endless stockinet sea of Garland- back completed, sleeves in progress, front and ruffles... ugh; next the Drop Stitch cardigan from the Fall Intereweave in the variegated Manos- back and sleeves complete, fronts just itching (literally) to be cast on; light blue is the second Eowyn that I am knitting on dpns - having issues with the ugliness factor; brown ribbon is being knit into the ruffled hand bag from Knitting On the Edge; the light royal blue is the badly, sadly flawed Iris; the pile of color in the front is my latest experiment with handmade felt.

First step is admitting you have a problem. Right? I am assuming that this can be remedied by low doses of cabernet (a Chianti will do in pinch as pictured above) and a strict yarn diet. Yes, I am not buying yarn for another project until I finish (or frog) these. Starting right now...

Right now is of course after yesterday when I finally got my grimy paws on Rebcca issue 30, and spent a delicious hour in Imagiknit* squeezing balls of yarn, choosing the yarn and the button to knit Flora from Knitty.

On a closing note, Friday September 16th is my last day at my job. A huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders. It is the right move, and yes I am a little scared... but I'm also a little excited. I mention this because my last entry was more than a little bitter, and contained a vast amount of complaining. In addition to my yarn diet, I am going on a gripe diet. Starting... tomorrow... what follows is a wee gripe, so if you are not up to it you can stop reading here.

*Just a little side note, I have always felt welcomed at Imaginknit until yesterday. I guess they were very busy, as evidenced by the woman who was at the counter when I approached with my magazine and my small (really and truly it was small) pile of yarn, she dashed away blurting out as she dashed "I have three things in my queue". Apparently I was not one of those things. The wan looking young woman who was seated next to her behind the counter resignedly wafted my direction (a staggering 2 feet, but it might as well have been a mile) and vaguely waved at my small pile, "Is ALL this yours". Yep, all three skeins, and that button, and that magazine. Lordy, sorry to disturb your finger nail polish chipping. Now there are days when I have been less than a joy to be around, but I try to strap it on in public - I have smiled through hang-overs, PMS, back spasms, cramps, the like... If I worked in Yarn Nirvana I would probably be grinning from ear to ear the long way round morning, noon and night. Wan girl I am sorry if you were having a bad day, but it wasn't very much fun.

A rant, a plea, and some knitting

RANT

Last week I was employed and unhappy. Last Friday I learn that my boss dislikes me as much as I dislike him. Although I have not been fired, I have been "kindly" asked to look for employment elsewhere. He offered to allow me to stay until I find another job, condescendly telling me that it is "easier to find a job while you have a job". As if I am totally unaware of how the job market works... Humph! I am gave him two weeks. That leaves the other employees, who I quite like, in the lurch, but fuck it - I have hated that job since the day I took it.

The boss man said to me, upon hiring me, "I am hiring you despite the fact that your resume is funny". "Peculiar" not "haha". Possibly the Master of Arts threw him. Possibly the fact that my entire career up until that moment in time had been in the arts threw him. I took this job because it paid more than any non-profit arts job could ever imagine paying, and my husband had just been laid off. We had a mortgage, two car payments, not to mention groceries, electricity, gas, water and the like to pay. And yes, I stagnated. I was great on the phone, trained actors often are. But after the forty eleventh time I had to correct a numerical mistake I had made on a spreadsheet, my charisma started to wear thin. This past Friday it split down the middle. It has been a three-year run, not bad for off off off off off Broadway.

Fact: I have not been fired. Fact: I am no longer welcome at my job. Course of action: leave and finally do what I want to do. Problem: don't know what that is. Opportunity: get to find out. I don't do numbers, detail or coffee - beyond that I am pretty much game to try anything. Ideas are most welcome! Anyone want to look at my resume?

***
PLEA

Humane Society, Red Cross, click the links above.
****

KNITTING

There has been knitting, albeit kinda weird looking knitting.




Doesn't this remind you of a cast? I think I may have been my choice of color, plaster cast white... I think I might enjoy them in the winter. Although now there is really no danger of me developing carpal tunnel, as I won't be typing poorly crafted letters any more, I wonder if I will have a use for them. (No, not bitter, not me... just a little case of "boss got there before I did" Fucker!).

Pattern: Eowyn, Rowan 38
Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo Circs size 10.5
Yarn for gauntlet: Blue Sky Alpaca Sport Weight in colors #000, and #004
Yarn for lace: 4 ply Alpaca purchased at Stitches West 2005 - brand unknown.

Another view



I am disappointed with the bulkiness of the seam. I have started another pair, this time knit in the round with double pointed needles. I'll post the specs as soon as they are done.

Rowan 38 is a home run. Bonnie and Clyde actually are knitted items - who knew! Clyde is a purse and Bonnie is a wee felted flower! Sweet.

Now need the new Rebecca. Rumor has it that a number of Bay Area knitters are in possession of it... I guess Saratoga is the knitting Bermuda Triangle.

The Red Cross and the Humane Society

Friday November 25th, 1994 I learned first hand of the generosity and incredibly organized responsiveness of the Red Cross. You see the meth lab in the apartment next door caught on fire, took out half of a San Francisco city block (the corner of Pierce and Haight for those of you who want to know). 150 people were displaced.

The Red Cross was on the scene shortly after the site was declared a disaster. They had counselors on hand, provided temporary housing in hotels, and provided help locating lost pets, provided clothing and food vouchers. They helped us take the steps to rebuild our lives. Without the Red Cross my life might not have come back together so easily.

We lost everything. But we didn’t lose our community. That I cannot imagine. My heart is breaking for New Orleans, for the communities lost, for the lives lost. The Red Cross is there, and doing for those folks what they did for me.

I’d send yarn, but I don’t think that will help. So I will send money, knowing that the Red Cross needs it and will use it in the best possible way.

The Humane Society helped me locate my cat Jack. He had been badly burned, but was alive and in good care at their facility. He lost a few lives that night, but lived another ten years. If you can, help them too.

Baby Steps

Garland's seemingly endless sleeves look much nicer photographed with my passion flower.

I am also contemplating frogging the sleeves of the Drop Stitch cardigan. I see a HUGE mistake in one of the dropped sections, namely I dropped too many stitches. See...



It might just drive me nurts. I am hardly a perfectionist, but I might not be able to hide this one.

I think I broke my dog...

This past weekend we took the dogs to visit some friends who live on a ranch in Pescadero. There is a small pond on this ranch, Corsa and Godiva did what any right minded labradors would do, they swam until they coulnd't swim any more. Corsa sprained his bum (tail doesn't work so good right now) and Godiva is still tuckered out, three days later! Below is the Chiefmessmaker with Corsa. Godiva was too busy being the underbrush-jump-in-pond-smell-coyote-scat dog to stand still for a photo op



Our friends board a sheep at this ranch. Heidi, the poor sheep, has not been shorn in 13 months or so. I have never seen such an overloaded creature in my life. As a knitter I have never seen so much potential in once place at one time. I really did feel like Elmer Fudd looking at Bugs Bunny all trussed up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, except I was seeing Heidi dressed in all the potential sweaters that she could become...(being the bright girl that I am, I did not take a picture of this amazing sight).

There has been knitting, and not just the imagined kind either, but honest actual knitting, however it is all pretty boring. Next project has got to be lace or cables, or have weird short row shaping, because this stockinette knitting is driving me crazy!


I have been alternately drooling and questioning the newest Rowan designs in Rowan 38. Aside from the unique (cough) names that some of the projects have, some of them look really fascinating, and some are interesting (in "my isn't that ... interesting" way).

River, truly a lovely piece. And who doesn't need a lacy knit shawl (at least I think its a shawl).



Eowyn, fun funky, just what I need lacy, cabled teacher gloves*. Satisfying both as fashion accessories and a fun knit.



Bonnie, now did I miss something? I don’t see the knitwear…



Clyde, just as much of a rebel as Bonnie (those two), again looks lovely, but where is the knitting?



Armi, is well, interesting in that way that things are sometimes.



Felting is mentioned. And ya'll know how I am about the felting!!!

I have to get my grimy paws on this magazine! Some of the photography is very dark, I can’t make out the details. Has anyone see it up close and personal? Any thoughts on it? My LYS can't tell me when they will get their Rowan winter shipment!

*My high school, in Chile, lacked central heating. Imagine a large rectangular building, maybe the length of a football field, there is no central hallway. All the classrooms face out, and have large metal and glass doors. Paint the whole thing orange and black and you have Nido de Aguilas circa 1983. Each classroom is a equipped with one steam radiator. It was cold in the winter, cold and damp. Santiago’s climate is much like northern California, and Santiaginos always act indignant that winter comes upon them with such damp ferocity. Inside and out we wore our fingerless gloves and ponchos, not today’s frothy concoctions, but big, heavy, woven blanket like garments, very practical, very warm. Our teachers made fingerless gloves popular, easier to write on the board, hand out papers, run the ancient mimeograph machine. They were usually made of brown, grey and white alpaca, often decorated with an intarsia llama or alpaca. I miss those ponchos and gloves, but not those cold classrooms.

The name game

I imagine that it gets old sitting around dreaming up names for your knit designs, but somebody might want to talk to Rowan's marketing department about this one...

Snork

Names not withstanding, I think I must have this magazine.

Bland Progress

Garland is resting for the moment as I concentrate on the Drop Stitch Cardigan from the Fall Interweave.

I will either love the Drop Stitch Cardigan, or hate it with a passion known to few. I love the variegated Manos wool that I am using. I love cardigans... so the risk is minimal. However (and didn't you just know there was going to be a caveat), when I gauged the sweater I had to go up a needle size to get the correct gauge width, but in doing so the lengthwise gauge was increased by a row. I am more concerned about it fitting around me properly than I am about length; besides, I have a longish back so a little extra length is welcome. The worry comes from the sleeves which are turning out to be apishly long. I do like a longer sleeve, but will I be frustrated by the drop stitches catching on everything I touch?

Here are the sleeves in all their glory. This photo does not do justice to the yarn, in fact it is much, much less pea green colored. The blanket that they are photographed against is a lush grass green (not dead lawn green as the photo would lead you to believe)

I do plan to wet block this sweater, and in that hope to compensate (read tug, pull and otherwise bend to my will) for my slap dash attitude toward following gauge. My swatching gauging issues can really land me in hot water since I tend to favor more fitted styles that are not so terribly forgiving when knit slightly off kilter... maybe I should stick to felting.

After I finish the Cardi and the endless Garland, I must find a project that is not so stockinet heavy. Maybe some pretty lacy thing, like the great shame of Spring 2005. Or maybe the fabulous Weekend Get Away Bag from the fall Interweave.

Exsqueeze me?

Today I shall discuss fashion, and share a wonderful fashion tip that I received (like a blow to the solar plexus) at the hands of sales person at a certain department store (originally based in the Pacific Northwest, with a reputation for excellence in shoes and customer service, name begins with an ‘n’… ). Ok I don’t know why I am protecting the store, it didn’t do anything to me, and it wasn’t even the sales clerk that I was dealing with that handed me the little tip that has me all aquiver. But don’t let me get ahead of my story.

Saturday my lovely spouse had to stop by the above-mentioned clothier to pick up a pair of trousers he was having altered, so I opted to go along for the ride. I had had my eye on a certain pair of boots, which I wanted to try. (For some inexplicable reason I am craving winter clothing – summer clothing is such a bummer, always seems to be cheaply made, never seems to fit right, often is made out of fabrics that don’t breathe – hello, who wants to wear synthetics when its hovering near 98 degrees? Perhaps I should start buying my summer wardrobe at the store I am not naming in this little flame rather than Old Navy!) We arrive at the mall, I am dressed in my Saturday best, consisting of a bright green tank and a fetching pair of ratty cut offs (very Daisy Duke – I am so pop culture). I stop in ladies shoes; Spouse goes off to fetch his trou. I assume he is going to come back after he gets his pants to see me in my glory with the objects of my chocolate boot lust. The sales guy, who is helping me quickly learns that I have no dignity and love a good joke, and comments, “Now that is a look” as I am waltzing around in my shorts and OBVIOUSLY wintry boots. I spy Spouse lurking in men’s shoes (Spouse is as big a shoe ho as I am), and my sales guy suggests that I go over to show him. I take the suggestion and prance over to men’s shoes. Now I am fully aware that the look I am sporting is not in the trade rags this season, in fact I think it came in and went out the same day that Barbarella was released. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT MIND YOU, and should you choose to walk around in public dressed in such a fashion more power to you. Spouse spots me, and I call out, “What do you think”? Before he can answer me, a sales woman in men’s shoes says to me “Those boots are supposed to be worn tucked into jeans.” Gobsmacked I tell you!

How many things are wrong with this, let me count them:

1. I didn’t ask you
2. The customer is always right
3. SUPPOSED! When did shoes, or any other garment for that matter, come with a manual of dos and don’ts . I was well aware that I was a walking Glamour Don’t, but then again I was only trying the boots on!
4. Unsolicited advice is rarely welcome
5. Tucked into jeans? Hello, did that in 1982, don’t need to and won’t do it again.
6. SUPPOSED!
7. Did I ask you?
8. Let she who has never committed a fashion faux pas cast the first stone Miss “I dressed in the dark” sales person
9. Hello, were either of us addressing you?
10. SUPPOSED?

Now perhaps she felt that she was saving me from a life of fashion faux pas, but rillly! And if so, there are a thousand other ways to offer the suggestion such as ; “Those boots look great tucked into jeans.” SUPPOSED? So the fashion police will prosecute me if I wear them in any other way? It is not my right as an able bodied adult to dress in any way I choose? If I choose to dress like a trashy ole ho, then I will bloody well do it! If I choose to wear Manolos and drape myself in Lion Brand “Fun Fetti” yarn and ride through town barebacked on my horse then I will do it!

Needless to say, I bought the boots.

The boots will look stunning paired with Garland, if I can ever finish knitting this vast landscape of stockinette:

And just dreamy pair with the Dropped Stitch Cardigan from the fall Interweave that I am knitting in variegated Manos:

For the love of dog!

Really? Now I would never buy Cat Fancy, but this? And for those of you who choose not to click:



Yep I am a big ole suckah when it comes to my dogs. And this magazine bills itself as "the modern dog culture magazine". Hey, I am modern and so are my dogs, and we care about culcha!.

On the way home this morning we spied this guy. He is into car culture.





(Sad lack of knitting content due to a bad case of stockinetteitis. Garland is a loverly girl, but she is entirely knit in ss, which does not make for thrilling photography or content)

Getting into hot water....

I like to felt. I like knitting big ole things and watching them shrink up into nothingness. I was always envious of kids who had Shrinky Dinks kits, I am making up for this lack by playing with my own grown up version of Shrinky Dinks, I like to call them "Smelty Felts"; nothing beats the odeur of wet sheep pervading your home! (On a side note... the Shrinky Dink website says you can make a "whole variety of useable plastic items". Huh? These are not your grandma's Shrinky Dinks kids! These are the Shrinky Dinks of the new millennium! Useful! Bright! Bizarre!)


So anyhoo, I like to felt.

Witness these cute reverse checkerboard slippers that I felted last Christmas



Cute my ass! They were never given as gifts because they are butt ugly. Only a mother could love these half assed excuses for cleverly crafted gifts. They were destined to make the short journey from gift to church rummage sale in seconds flat. But I digress. I didn't have the heart to toss them out, nor did I want them polluting my knitting basket with their hideousness. I plopped these beauties on top of my washer. They floated around for months, falling on the floor, one of the pair migrating upstairs with the clean laundry, gathering dust and dog kibble, falling in the paper recycling only to be fished out because they were not paper. Slowly they gathered a life of their own, they became the personalities of the laundry room. You could always open the door to the laundry and find one or both of them lurking, on the floor, apart, together, but constant hairy little mirror images of each other.

These little buggers really do have a life of their own. While I was doing a load dog towels {for those of you just dying to know what a dog towel is: we have a generous back stock of old towels used to dry wet dogs. Those of you who own water dogs already know.} one of these cretinous hairy monsters decided to explore the inside of the washer.

number one, the normal sized felted slipper



and number two, the super felted, felted slipper!



Snork!

The Harlot knits darling little people shoes. I just shrink 'em into oblivion! This little slipper is dense; it might knock someone out if you threw it at his or her head at just the right angle.

I love felting, it is such a random act! When I am not making a "whole variety of useable plastic (ermmm, wool) items", I am busy making useless, turdlike objet d'art! Oh Martha me!

Oh yah, in case you hadn't already figured it out, the first photo is a clever exercise in perspective, and was taken after the crazy hot water incident, with the super felted slipper in the front...

*****

In the event that anyone was worried about last week's radio silence. I was here:


Cool, colorful Colorado.

Visiting my spectacular Momkat.



We engaged in all sorts of pursuits from alpine driving in Rocky Mountain national park, to visiting yummy little yarn shops in Denver and Boulder.

Good time was had by all two of us!

Pieces

TOP

MIDDLE

BOTTOM

WHOLE (OTHER DOG)


Too. Hot. To. Knit.