Cider Moon is my new drug of choice

So some serious knitting funtimes were had this weekend at the Cider Moon Trunk Show at Soft ‘n Sassy. I went w/ my mom (who claims she has “enough” yarn) and my non knitting friend who was in from out of town. She had no idea….

I met fellow Cleveland Knitbloggers Affiknitty and Preeti there:

(I actually stole this pic from the Cider Moon site)

Preeti has some great pics of the event on her blog – I was a little drunk on yarn and completely forgot I had my camera with me.

Then a whole big group of us went out to lunch at the French Quarter Café (great little place at State Road and Wallings owned by people displaced by hurricane Katrina - their Muffuletta sandwich is AMAZING). It was so very nice to meet and hang out with everyone!

Me, Deanna, Laura, Joyce, Preeti, Ludmilla, my mom (Carole), Debbi

Luckily I had a non-knitter with me to take our picture! They do come in handy sometimes – they are actually also very helpful when you can’t decide which colorway of yarn to get.

I was somewhat restrained when it came to yarn purchases – I had a Soft ‘n Sassy giftcard from my Grandma Bobbie from Christmas so I limited myself to that. I only came away with 2 skeins of sock yarn.

One skein of their “Icicle” style in the color Wildwood:

Such a luscious blend of purples and greens…




I can’t wait to see how it knits up!

And one skein of their “Flurry” style in June Carter:

I love this one. The name is great, the colors are amazing…



Wow. Just wow.


As a side note I have a camera with a fantastic macro (up close) feature b/c back in the day I thought I was going to use it to take pictures of architectural models. I actually wondered if I would ever use that feature once I graduated. Heh.

So yeah… beautiful, local yarn, great times with fun kniiters... You can’t get any better than that!

Oh and the Cavs just finalized their Sweep! GO CAVS!

It’s outdated but it’s Knitting related!

(dude did I just rhyme? Awesome.)

So since we were both starting to twitch a little from internet withdrawal my husband dusted off his “diesel” (he nicknamed his computer that during college b/c of the noise it makes) and hooked it up. It’s slow - like used to be windows 98 slow. But we’re connected! And I can even post pictures! And internet!!!

Anyway I have a huge backlog of knitting things and pictures and stuff to post … but I’ll start with this post that I wrote about 5 min before my hard drive died but never had a chance to upload photos for:

Knitters Fantasy Part Deux

The first class I took was a beginner spinning class:


Spinning is so fun!!!! Seriously fun. I just have to pre-draft everything and then I’m much better at it… That and remember pinch, slide, pull… pinch, slide, pull…The instructor even let me spin some Alpaca. Mmmm alpaca…And by the end of the 2 hour class I had almost a full bobbin of yarn! It’s not amazing yarn but it’s getting better.

Here are some pictures of my finished skein after my grandma showed me how to ply it:




It almost looks like legitimate yarn in some places!

The other class that I took was for a Slipped Stitch Hat.

It turned out ok, I think… not really my style but not horrible like I though it might about half way through… The hat was knit from the top down and used the Elizabeth Zimmerman method of increasing to get a nice round hat…which I also learned in this class. The fun part, though, was that between each section of increases we could try out a different slipped stitch pattern.

Slipped stitch patterns Rule. It’s a way for someone who sucks at colorwork (ahem) to make interesting patterns w/o having to knit with 2 colors at once.

I used a simple garter slip pattern at the top and then a Garter Chain pattern:

Some houndstooth:

And a 3 color to finish it off:

I may not ever knit a hat like this again… but I know I will use the slipped stitch patterns!

Lots more knitting posts to come….probably momentarily. The Cavs game is on and this is good to do while watching that... GO CAVS!

october road.

Disclaimer: This is the Laziest Post Ever.

So since I have no way to download photos and very very crappy home internet access but I hate to have only had 1 post in the past 2 weeks I thought I’d share this with you….

This is copied directly from an email from my bestest friend:

OK, last night I turned on Grey's Anatomy, and they pre-empted the show for "full coverage" of the tornado watch in Hocking County. Right after Grey's, f-ing "october road." came on. And they showed this preview of the lead character running toward someone - "who's he going to choose?" bull-sht. And I lost the remote.

I'll spoil it for you. He chose the blonde, the one he loved in high school, and the one who's son he think he fathered. BIG SURPRISE. Especially after they spliced shots of him running toward the girl, with images of his maybe girlfriend (Aubrey) packing to leave town. Like we were supposed to think just because he was running, and she was packing that we (the really stupid viewer); would think that he was running to catch her before she left. But then, OMG they change it up on us, and the blonde comes to the door, not the brunette. SHOCKER. And don't get me started on the names. These people in this town have the dumbest names (did I tell you about when I found out there is a set of twins on the show called Jasper and Casper!)

Oh, and there's a character that is agoraphobic. Apparently, he hasn't been outside for "6 Septembers". Really? Is this how we are refering to 9/11 now. Are we really splicing this into crappy evening soaps? Greeeeaaat. Well, this really pale, unattractive character finally stepped outside because he fell in love with the Pizza delivery girl, and he wanted to stand in the sun with her. Awesome. (like a hot dog).

Then, let's see what other crappy plot development and advancement happened... um, the cute guy that was the football player in high school, finally admitted he like the quirky fun-loving "over weight" girl that works at the bar. Ah, love. It can triumph over the greatest obstacles.

Some dude found out his wife was cheating on him with his good buddy, that totally looks like his kind never fully evolved from cromagum man.

The lead character got pushed through a window by the football hero because the lead character has better hair the the football player or could pull off the five o'clock shadow look and he couldn't, or something just as girl-lie.

Oh, and when the lead character finally professed his love to the blonde - who showed up in the doorway from un-doubtedly the foyer right behind the door waiting for his cue (which was of course right before the blonde and the dude kiss.)but the real baby-daddy. Gavin Goddard, or some alliteral crapy name like that. "Dude, it's not what you think." she says as dude is walking away, all hurt and sulky (I think that the only look this guy has, like Zoolander, only not funny). Then Baby-Daddy and son played catch in the yard, while the dad was wearing a suit, as if he just came back from work (I mean wardrobe and the pool of extras ABC keeps on guard in case they need a random guest star to stir sh*t up). Really? Who plays catch in the yard anymore? And wearing a suit? I mean, don't you know what happened 6 septembers ago? If you don't play catch in jeans and a t-shirt, listening to country (or rock and roll), with an American flag in the background, then the terrorists have won.

This show is terrible. period.

And my response:

the same unfortunate thing happened to me!!!! Did you notice that their little "band" has actual microphone stands - like the ones you put real microphones in -with... wait for it.... HAIRBRUSHES in them?! That bothers me so very much. They took the time to buy microphone stands but not microphones. AAAAAAH. So. Very. Contrived.

And the second I saw that window I knew someone was going to crash through it before the episode ended. I was actually kindof taking bets on who.

And the whole I love rollercoasters speech made me seriously question the intelligence of the writing staff. Rollercoasters? Really? That's the best they could do as an example of the "outside stuff"?

Why can't I change the channel when this show is on? Why?

And my friend Jason’s response:

And that punctuation just kills me. october road. It’s so pretentiously ee cummings. october road. So frought with wonder and meaning that it is an entire sentence, an entire story, unto itself. october road. The very essence of the universe is contained in those two words.

I am waiting for the show “crystal pepsi.”

I think we are all waiting for the show crystal pepsi.

Have a fantabulous weekend!

And if you are going to the Cider Moon trunk show at Soft ‘n Sassy tomorrow perhaps I’ll see you there!

Good and Bad.

The Good News:

“Buddy” has a home! A nice young guy adopted him thanks to the ad my brother put up on Petfinder. Apparently “Buddy” put on quite the show nuzzling and licking the guy when he came to meet him. The guy went home to think about it and then the next day picked up his new dog! My parents sent him on his way with his bed, toy, food, etc to make the transition easier. Yeah for all good people who rescue unwanted animals!!!

The Bad News (and the reason I’ve had no current pictures lately/haven’t returned comments or read other blogs have been totally out of the blogging world):

My home computer is bricked (meaning turned into one). More accurately my hard drive is bricked – the rest of the computer is fine. So rather than admit defeat and pay the teenagers in the geek squad an exorbitant amount of money to replace it; this weekend I’m going to teach myself how to install and format a new hard drive. It can’t be that hard, right?

Random spring day in Cleveland

Some random pics of Edgewater Park:

I took the little dog on a walk there last night just because it was so nice out…cold is fine as long as it’s sunny!

In other news Wed. night our rowing coach from last year took our team out for a little pre-season warm up… we rowed 5.2 miles. It was awesome. I can hardly move my legs today. I’m so looking forward to summer!

Oh and did everyone see 30 Rock last night? The whole episode centered around how great Cleveland is! Check out their guide to Cleveland... I wonder who at our tourism board had to do what to get that episode aired.

Overall they did a pretty good job of showing how great our city is…Although there were several comments on "club hopping in the flats" that are um... outdated to say the least. Right now they are ripping down the “clubbing” part of the flats to make way for a whole new retail/entertainment complex.
Here's some pics my dad took of the flats back in early March:
Wed. night we rowed past there and pretty much all of the buildings in those photos were gone.

And can I just say how sick I am of national stations needing to use stock footage (sometimes really outdated stock footage that doesn’t have the Courthouse Building in it) of our skyline because for about 2 years now the Terminal Tower has looked like this:

(not my photo… I got it here)

I've heard many, many rumors about what's going on with the scaffolding but the bottom line is that they aren’t going to be finished "restoring" it any time soon. Boo.

(Also not my photo - I got it here)

Seriously, Forest City – please fix our icon!

So anyways… have a good weekend… we’re hitting up Tremont tonight to celebrate my birthday and it’s warm enough to drink outside!

Knitters Fantasy

So the Knitters Fantasy was awesome...

I started the day by leaving a note on my husbands wallet reading “I stole your cash for yarn.” He was amused by it but claims that I’m not a true addict because I ‘fessed up to my thieving ways....heh.

I donated a few baby hats to their caps for kids program:


And my mom donated a pile of kids’ hats: Everything was really, really well run… I even won a door prize!! Check it out:


That’s 1 skein of Lorna’s Laces Swirl DK and a pattern for a pair of armwarmers to go with it. I think I might make it into a modification of fetching, though… or perhaps just a scarf…ooooh maybe a branching out?

I took two classes but I’ll post about each on it’s own….

And then market… oh the market… I’d never been to a fiber market before… Holy sensory overload Batman! Each booth had something cooler and shinier than the next. So at serious risk of spending my grocery money on yarn I stuck to these rules:

1. I only would buy yarn that I couldn’t get anywhere else (it would be silly to buy lamb’s pride when there was local spun/dyed/raised yarn to be had)


2. I would only use cash and therefore stick to a budget


3. I wanted to buy some fabulous sock yarn because after I finish the socks I’m working on I will be out of sock yarn (except for 2 skeins of gray wildfoote that totally don’t count b/c sockyarn should be more fun than just gray)
   

So based on that I came away with only 2 skeins. This beautiful 100% superwash merino sock yarn:

Which is from Autumn House Farm and reminds me of fall.

And this amazingly soft 100% alpaca from Moonlight Alpacas:


Which is fiber from this guy (pic from their website):

Isn't he cute! The yarn was hand painted by his owner who was very nice and happy to tell me all about her yarn. It also came with a pattern for a simple, dropped stitch scarf which should be a perfect way to show off the colors…

My mom was much less restrained, though. She bought a kit for a 100% cashmere scarf. Total luxury but totally worth it.

All in all it was a wonderful day!

Blogging like it’s my birthday

Yeah the knitter’s fantasy post is going to have to wait until tomorrow… ‘cause today is my b-day and I’m going out to lunch! Mmmmm Leololai… totally going to celebrate entrance into my late 20’s with a tasty Cuban sandwich and flan… mmm… flan.

Oh and thanks for the suggestions on “Buddy”!

EDITED TO ADD: pic of the tasty birthday flan:

We had to get two 'cause honestly, I couldn't decide between almond or chocolate. Both were delicious.

“Buddy”

So check out how cute this dog is:
The black furry guy is my parents’ dog, Max, and the brown one is “Buddy” - it’s not his name we’ve just been calling him that b/c once you name it you own it. Max is a good dog so when my pushy little dog or my bro’s ADD ACD lays on his bed he just gives up and goes somewhere else. But “Buddy” is such a sweetheart that Max is cool with sharing.

In fact he’s so non-aggressive that when my little dog (a terrier with a napoleon complex and serious jealousy issues involving me petting other dogs. He thinks attacking dogs10 times his size is totally a good plan when it comes to defending my honor) bit at him “Buddy” ran the other way…

Problem is that “Buddy” is probably a pit bull. Most shelters have a policy against taking pit bulls – and if they do take him there’s a good chance they would just put him down b/c of his breed. Which is so sad because he is just the sweetest dog. There’s no killer here. Just a puppy without a happy home….
We’ve listed him on craigslist and are in contact with the Pit Bull Rescue Center who have said that it will probably take months to find him a home and even then there are no guarantees…

Anyone have any other ideas?

PC Load Letter.. what does that mean?!

Lots to blog about and not much time to do it in.... I think I’ll just make a loooong list:

1.) My computer is (sorry, grandma but there’s no other way to say this) Superfucked. I have one last thing to try and then I’m taking it somewhere in the hopes that they can at least recover my files before I end it the way they ended the printer in Office Space.

My only comfort is that I know there is a special circle of hell reserved for the soulless bastards responsible for spyware, adware, viruses, and worms.

2.) The Work Crazy is back. Which means that the few lunches that I haven’t been on site playing with the contractors have been spent bleeding all over shop drawings (meaning redlining). The fun part is that Matt has some work crazy of his own going on right now. See when it’s just one of us the other one picks up the slack as far as housework and being responsible adults is concerned. But when we’re both busy the rest of our life completely falls apart… and the laundry starts to take over…

3.) We did our taxes last night. With 5 days to spare! Totally responsible citizens. Despite the laundry situation.

4.) I got my hair cut. A lot. It’s short but I like it – pics soon (see #1).

5.) We had a nice Easter. I even made one of these again:


Heh. Something about watching those little guy melt down is disturbingly hilarious.

And Tasty! But not as disturbing as the fact that their eyes don’t melt.

Freaky.

6.) Anyone want a dog? My dad found this guy tied up behind his shop yesterday – he was soaked though in the freezing rain, had clearly been there for a long time, was obviously neglected and starved, and was tied so tight to the post that he couldn’t even move his head. Who would do that to such a cute dog?

He’s very playful and friendly and loving and is fine with other dogs… so if you know anyone who wants him… he’s at my parents’ house for the time being until we can find him a happy home.

7.) So a long time ago Matt and I decided that we were for the most part no longer going to eat at national chain restaurants. There’s just so many reasons for it – better food, supporting the local economy, the scariness that is corporate food, etc. etc. etc. But then recently we came to the realization that bills for Aladdins, the pizza shop on the corner that I don’t even know the name of, and Pnom Phen were showing up on our bank statements with the same regularity as say - our phone bill. Right. So not the point there… we wanted to expand our horizons not send the pizza guy’s kids to college. And we don’t even eat out all that much - we’re just creatures of habit.

Aaaanyways, the point is that last night in a quest to break out of our box we discovered a fantastic local Indian restaurant… Indian Garden on Detroit in Lakewood. I highly, highly recommend the Chicken/Coconut dish. I forget the name of it… but It. Was. Amazing. Yeah for discovering a new place!

8.) I have something big planned… but my computer ate my post about it (see #1). Sorry to be vague but I want to post with current pictures so yeah… soon.

9.) Tomorrow I’m going to the knitter’s fantasy… I’ve been totally out of the blog loop this week (see #1&2) so I have no idea who is going to be there. If you’re there and you see me say hi!

Whew. Have a great weekend!

A Wicked End to Winter

(did you hear that winter? END.)

So it’s been snowing for 4 days now…. But that’s ok b/c I have a nice, new, alpaca sweater to keep me warm:

Pattern: Wicked from Zephyr Style
Needles: size 7 Knitpicks options and Denise Interchangeable needles
Yarn: 4.75 skeins of Berrocco Ultra Alpaca – 215 yards per skein of 50% alpaca, 50% wool.

Modifications: I knit a size larger than I needed but at a smaller gauge b/c my gauge swatch lied to me… also I added 11 short rows for bust shaping. In retrospect that was about 5 rows too many – I used that number when I made the green gable but that was at an even smaller gauge… bigger gauge = less short rows. Silly me. But now I know. I was able to block out the weird pouching it made, though and now the sweater fits me really well. Oh I also left off the pocket, added in waist shaping, and used the same cabled band from the top on the bottom. I also added in decreases on the sleeves (k2tog once every 4 rows).

Timeline: March 1stish – April 7. So just over 1 month. Not bad to knit an entire sweater!

And it’s nice to have sleeves that actually fit me without having to fold them over (although I really don't know why I'm all hunched over in all of these pictures... I was probably just cold):

The yarn is wonderful… slightly itchy but if I wear a camisole underneath it’s not a problem. After our little photo shoot outside I wasn’t wet at all thanks to the wonderfulness that is alpaca.

It even held up to the snowballs thrown at me because I wasn’t “frolicking” enough. I don’t frolick.

Now that this sweater is done I’m really ready for spring. Luckily it’s supposed to keep snowing through tomorrow… boo to that.