Where to begin....

Well I don’t blog for a few days and them I’m completely overwhelmed with all I want to blog about! We had a very busy weekend… happy hour Friday turned into a night out in Tremont which is always fun. Especially when there is a Cavs game on… Oh and I totally got to trash talk…. After the game most of the group was leaving Southside… so me, Matt, my bro, and Jill (who I’m not linking to anymore because she never updates her blog anyways), decide that we need Edison’s pizza immediately. So we get there and we’re standing on the street eating our pizza and there’s this bartender chick playing with a hula-hoop trying to get people into the bar. … and I start trash talking a little. She wasn’t doing it right! And I knew I could totally kick her butt. I have few talents and hula is one of them…. So we threw down 2 hoops, 2 competitors, first one to drop loses. She didn’t stand a chance. But in the end (despite the vodka-fuled trashtalking, despite repeatedly kicking all of their arses) we made friends and having bartender friends is always a good thing. As is becoming Edison’s hula-hoop champ.

the pics are of us outside of Treehouse waiting for our sober driver. I think Andy was acting like Michael Jackson... not totally sure....

So then despite being a little rough on Saturday, Matt and I did some serious yard work… but I think that will be a post unto itself…. Sat. night my mom and I went shopping while the guys went fishing on the Peerless II… here’s some shots of their fun thanks to my dad (the old guy in the middle)
So I was mainly shopping for a dress for these upcoming weddings… I had exactly the same criteria as KDK:

1. Had to be in my price range
2. Had to match my shawl – I was thinking of something in a simple solid color – like brown or khaki… but unfortuantely right now everything solid is white. And call me old fashioned but I would be uncomfortable wearing an all-white dress to anyone's wedding but my own.
3. Had to fit.

Ok now the last one really pist me off. *warning rant ahead* I am a petite. That does not mean I’m a tiny size 000… that does not mean I’m shaped like a board….it means that I’m short…. That ALL of me is proportionally short. Not that I need to hem a dress but that a dress cut for a "normal" person is not going to fit me because the hips of the dress will fall below my hips and the waist of the dress is going to hit me where my hips are leading to unfortunate fabric puckering. So if I want a dress to fit I need to buy a petite size… now I’m nearly 5’3. I’m not that short… really. I know lots of people who are my height or shorter and are my age. So why the f*ck are all of the petite dresses designed for 80-year old women???? Not even 80-year old women because I know my 80-year old grandma wouldn’t be caught dead in most of the fugly out there. Seriously WTF. I’m not a freak. I’m a size 10 (petite) – and that’s pretty darn average so why couldn’t I find anything that fit that didn’t remind me of a nursing home?! I don’t get it. Finally after going to 4 different stores and trying on many dresses that had the same it-doesn’t-fit-at-the-waist-and-hips-because-it’s-not-a-petite issue I finally found 3 or 4 decent petite dresses at Kauffmans. But of course nothing met criteria #1. Apparantly if you’re a petite and not an old woman they can charge you more. I ended up buying something that was a lot more expensive than I wanted simply because it was cute and actually fit. Now if I was 3 inches taller I would have had no problem finding something cute in my price range. GRRRRRRR. Luckily I got an additional 20% off for opening a store charge… so I guess it wasn’t thaaaaat expensive… but the whole experience just really, really annoyed me.

So yeah. That was the random of this weekend. The next post will be all about my backyard re-do and I promise it will be rant-free.

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire

Hi secret pal! Here’s my updated Secret Pal 8 questionnaire! Alot of the questions are the same/copied from the Secret Pal Seven Questionnaire....

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Um… I dunno… I’m very sensitive to wool (the horror!) but I’ll knit with it anyways – I just can’t wear it close to the skin… but basically I love knitting with anything soft and I absolutely do not like anything even remotely scratchy.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

A drawer and the storage that comes with the Denise Kit.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I learned to knit years ago but didn’t pick it up in force until college when I made a bunch of semi-hideous acrylic scarves for my roommates. But I really have only been knitting seriously for about a year and a half – so I’m probably an intermediate. I’ve made a sweater and learned cabling and I just recently tried some lace… but I have yet to knit any real complicated color work and socks still completely freak me out.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Nope.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I’m pretty picky about scents as I get migraines and strong, perfumy smells are something that can give me an instant headache… so anything mild. Vanilla is usually good.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Yes. Love me some chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

Create things out of beads, paint and decorate my house, garden (starting to get into that), sew (I'm just starting to learn), and I’ll pretty much try anything once. I do not spin as of yet.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Honestly I’m not that into music. I guess I just don’t know where to start as far as what to listen to. I borrow a lot of cd’s and MP3’s from people at work and I pretty much like anything…. And am willing to be educated!

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I tend to like reds and pinks a lot. I always seem to be really attracted to those colors… I’m not really a blue person so much because I don’t look that good in blue… Actually I think it’s more that I like warm colors more than cool colors. I’m doing the whole Project Spectrum thing and that has really opened my eyes to new colors, which has been fun.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I live with my husband and the cutest dog ever.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes, yes, yes, no.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Um… I dunno. I’m kindof all over the place. Generally I like quick knits… I like having something simple going at the same time as something more complicated so that I have something to knit on the bus and something to knit while at home.

13. What are you knitting right now?

The Adamas shawl from knitpicks – I’ve been working on it for what seems like forever. Hopefully by the time that SP8 really gets going I’ll be done with it! I also have currently been making an obscene amount of felted bags but I’m kindof overdosing on it.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Always!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I use the Denise Kit for everything although I love the bamboo double points that I have…actually I really like the feel of bamboo in general… and I just bought my very first pair of addi-turbos for the shawl I’m working on. They are amazing!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No but my mom and grandma both do!

17. How did you learn to knit?

My great-grandmother taught me how to knit, my grandmother taught me how to purl, and my mom refreshed my memory later on.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

About a year and a half…. It’s a wool-ease scarf that will probably never be finished (If I'm going to spend my time knitting a scarf on size 8 needles it's going to be out of something nicer than wool-ease!).

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween and New Years although I always seem to have the most fun on the Fourth of July because we always throw a huge, weekend-long party.

20. Is there anything that you collect?

Beads. And I’m starting to amass a pretty serious yarn collection too!

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Um… I dunno, really. I’m starting to get into lace so there’s that… but I don’t know about any specific books or patterns. And I’m always up for trying new things as far as yarn goes…
I don’t have any knitting magazine subscriptions.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I’d like to learn how to knit a raglan sweater in the round (the one I’ve made has set-in sleeves and was all knit straight… seaming it sucked hard) .And I maybe could perhaps be convinced to try socks….

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Not a sock knitter… how do I measure my feet? Around, length? Need some help…

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
April 17

Fun with Dye (and wine)!

So last night a few of us got together for dinner, wine, and dying. fun! I didn’t take any good pictures of us actually dying anything (I was busy making dinner. And I forgot) but here’s our finished yarn.


I think we each made very "us" yarn.

Jessica’s Grape and Lime:


Jill’s Grape and Lime:


Jennifer’s 1994 yarn (she’ll probably blog about it so I don’t want to step on any blogging toes but it was inspired by tie-die):


And my project spectrum May yarn:


I used lime mixed with lemon, lime mixed with cherry, and plain old lime to dye this… and I wound it into 3 different skeins within the same skein… so hopefully that will work out into big stripes.

Funtimes!

Random Friday Fun

Did you know that Cleveland is getting a space in the new Monopoly edition? And that you can vote here on what our space will be? How fun! Although I definitely agree with Craving Cleveland’s thought’s on what our options are. It would be an awesome recognition of the strength of our arts and culture if we had a Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Museum of Art, or a Playhouse Square space. But unfortunately there is no write in slot. It’s a fun website anyways, though!

Oh and by the way if you translate my blog with the gizoogle translater the sentance "I bought tha Addi Turbos so i can get mah pimp on." comes up. So true. So true.

And I joined the Lace Shawl Knit Along....

But my new favorite website is Tom Cruise is nuts. It’s hysterical. And apparantly if you google Tom Cruise it comes up third. It would be so amazing if it came up first… so let me help in that quest by linking to it a few more times. Tom Cruise is nuts. Tom Cruise has lost his mind. Tom Cruise is batshit crazy.

Happy Friday!!!

More good needles

So last week I noticed that one of the Brittany double pointed needles I had floating around in the bottom of my knitting bag had split…. I had heard that they have a 5 year guarantee… so I emailed the company on Friday during lunch not expecting much since it was a Fri afternoon and all..... They wrote back immediately and said they’d be happy to send me a new needle! The email said it would be here in 10 business days. Nice. Even nicer? It came in the mail last night.


Now that’s some excellent customer service!

what did you just call me?

An actual conversation that happened this weekend:

Me on my cellphone all proud and gloating "so guess what. I just walked out of a yarn store and I only bought the needles that I went in there to get."
Matt: "uh huh"
Me: "I ONLY bought the needles! No impulse buys! No yarn! No nothing! I have self-control!"
Matt: "how much were the needles?"
Me: "um…$17….. "
Matt: "….."
Me: "but they’re really good needles."
Matt: "You are such a yarn whore."

My husband called me a yarn whore. Not sure what to do with that…. But yeah. I have jumped. I have given in. I have listened to KDK and given up trying to knit a ginormous shawl with size 5 Denise needles. I bought the Addi Turbos. HOLY CRAP! They are AMAZING. Three cheers for German engineering! The Adamas will be done in no time. Here’s a pic:

I’m through 10 and a half repeats. Which is sortof kindof nearly in the range of being almost done! Of course now the shawl is so big it takes me literally a half-hour per row… but whatever… addi-turbos are fun!