bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

There Is Such a Thing as Too Much Fiber

it's been over 2 weeks since i've officially moved out of the city, and i think i'm doing ok with suburban life. some of the pros of my new home include: 3 times more space (including the scary basement where J hangs out now because i won't let him smoke upstairs anymore); a driveway; neighbors that actually wave to me when i drive by or invite us to an impromptu barbecue (even though this neighbor, a very recent divorcee, probably invited us because she's got the hots for J. but that's ok because she gives him the heeby jeebies and he won't go over there without me. good J); and not being woken up in the middle of the night by new Boston College freshmen who don't know how to hold their liquor "DUDE! THAT'S SO F-ED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

then there are the cons. it's so friggin' complicated to do anything fun. well what i consider fun anyway. this weekend i met friends at the Border Cafe in Harvard Square. in the past, this involved nothing more than a hop on the T and 35 minutes later if all went well, there i was. not anymore. i had to plan ahead. what time do i leave? where do i park? do i take the train? if i have 5 margaritas, how long before i can head home again and not risk death? i do not care for this planning stuff.

another thing i miss is the shopping. i'm not a big fan of the mall, strip or otherwise. the fun stores are always in the city. after the Border i took my tequila infused-self to Berk's. i spent $500 in my head at Berks. then i went to Woolcott and Company for the first time. it was 90 degrees and crowded as hell in there, so i didn't stick around too long, but i did manage to pick up the IK crochet edition and to chat with a very nice lady about rolling around in a big pile of yarn. it's little in there but i was amazed at how much stuff they had. i'll definitely be back. but of course i'll have to make it a special trip or plan ahead or something, maybe when i go back to Berk's for shoes the next time i have the energy to drive into Boston on a weekend because i don't do it enough during the week. anyway, while i was there, i was invited to (or rather handed a flyer for) the Boston KnitOut scheduled to take place on Boston Common (just one common, it's not Commons) September 12th. the lady suggested i bring my knitting friends. ha! (psst i have no knitting friends...they "don't have the patience." bah!)

oh well.

by the way, i really like the IK crochet issue, especially the sweaters that mix knitting with crochet, and the tapestry crochet bag.

Making Do

since i'm a member of 3 knitting and crochet rings now (i'm such a "joiner") it's imperative that i show "stuff" so i'm going to improvise.

FOs (yeah FO right back at you!!!!)

this poncho is finished and all ready for the fall (or when it gets insanely cold in the office). although i do love that green color, i made it instead using amore TLC in Lake. much more flattering to my complexion.

from that same issue of FCEK i also tried the obscenely easy knitted belt using self-striping sock yarn. although that worked ok, i decided to adapt the pattern to crochet which i think worked much better. the crocheted piece had a little more heft. again, obscenely easy. i used a crochet hook recommended by the yarn manufacturer and just did a little swatch to get correct belt width. i shall post a picture some time soon. although these belts are not meant to hold up your pants, they are kind of retro preppy looking. i think my teen-aged nieces might like them. if they don't, they can tie up their pesky little brother with them.

WIPs (although i'm really almost done)

these pillows are from interweave knits fall 2004. my friend luisa and i have this long standing chicken type joke thing. i could tell you the story, but you'd only think i was smoking crack or something. anyway, her birthday is coming up and i thought she'd like these brightly colored pillows.

finally, on a totally different topic: just because i now live in the suburbs doesn't mean i don't know how to party in the city. last night 2 friends of mine and i ventured to harvard square and had dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Bartley's Burger Cottage. i had the John Kerry Burger (swiss cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato), one friend had the John Edwards (the menu referred to it as the "pretty burger") another friend had the Shrek (some sort of chicken sandwich). yes, there is a George W which the menu describes as having the beef but missing the WMD. anyway, it was all very good. for shits and giggles i dug up a review of the place. most reviews were quite good. but i think this guy has bigger issues:

"Burgers are tasty and juicy, but thats about all the good news I can offer here. If you want to be treated like cattle, this is the place for you. Droll, sarcastic and unleasant is the way to describe the help. Typical of Boston though. Onion rings were greasy and tasteless. Not crisp and puffy like the ones you get in Salisbury Beach. The prices are way out of line- but again, you would expect to pay high prices in a snobbish little town like Cambridge. If you want good food and service, walk around the corner to the chinese restaurant. there you can get a great luncheon special for under $6. I would not waste my time or money at Bartleys, not because of the food, but becasue of the Boring Bostonians who work there."

Toilet Trash Gay

i had promised myself that i wouldn't post anything until i had pictures to show. well i'm still having computer issues. 3 computers at home and not one of them is appropriately accoutremented to download and post photos. this is all very frustrating to me because i have a lot to show.

1. "before" and "after" photos of my new home
2. pictures of my many WIPs and almost FOs.
3. gratuitous sexy shots of my car
4. and of course the obligatory pictures of my cats and dog at play

soon i hope.

in the meantime, go read bethany's post. heh heh. how i'd love to be in that situation just to see their faces when they realize that the "liberal" among them does not carry a pitchfork and have horns. heh heh.

as for the title of my post -- someone did a search on those 3 words and found my site ... among others of course. i wonder what they were looking for...

My Kind of Olympics

Olympics 2004!

Suburban Life

so the move went fine yesterday. and it's official. i no longer live in the city. (although i'm still a city girl. you can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl). i woke up to the sound of f***ing chirping birds. BIRDS!

on a sad note, julie child died. when i was a kid, before there was cable television and remote controls *gasp* there wasn't much on tv on a weekend afternoon. so you'd flip through the 6 or 7 channels you got and you'd watch things like "mutual of omaha's wild kingdom" and "the french chef." i used to also watch "the galloping gourmet" with graham kerr too. when he was a drunk, drank more wine than he cooked with, and was certainly much more amusing than he is now. oh well. rest in peace, julia.

on a more positive note ... tonight is the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Olympics. and as always I'VE GOT OLYMPIC FEVER!!!!! so this weekend, for the first time in months, i'm going to sit my butt on the couch and watch TV and knit, guilt-friggin'-free. all weekend. i'll only unpack a box IF I FEEL LIKE IT. woo-hoo.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir. Three bags full.

or in my case, 1 applicator drenched in polyurethane on a long stick full.

this is the only wool i touched this weekend. but let me tell you the floors look magnificent. in fact, they are so shiny, that one could look up a girl's dress in the reflection, if one were so inclined.

i have to say that i'm pretty damn proud of J and me. this is an example of the before. i'll post the "after" as soon as i can.

Super Freak Super Freak She's Super Freaky

rick james died today. there is no song that takes me back to the fall of my freshman year in college like "super freak." unfortunately when i think of the song these days, i can't get away from the damage done to the memory by MC Hammer and his "can't touch this." TOUCH THIS %$@# MC HAMMER!!!!!! ok i'm done.

i went online window shopping at Anthropologie again. it's a good thing that i'm not at my fighting weight these days -- i'd be way too tempted. this sweater reminds me of a pair of shiny loafers i had in the late 80's. the shoes were black patent leather with the uppers covered in buttons. they were very cute. even in a size 10.

this sweater i probably actually could purchase .... hmmm maybe i need to go and see if they have it in the store ....

i like the neckline on this one and the off-kilter closure with suede flowers instead of buttons.

finally, these just remind me that i've got crocheted flowers somewhere that would make fun pins.

Is There a Jester in the Court?

a friend of mine just emailed me this. she thinks i should apply for the job. too bad i don't have a suit.

i did just win an ebay auction. more like an impulse buy than anything. oh well.

i'm not in the greatest of humor today. last night was a bit of an emotional night for me. first of all, while visiting a friend, her 8 year old son rode his bike a little to close to my car and scratched the bejesus out of the side of it. i tend to go the snarky, outraged, angry route, but not last night. i just wanted to cry. i know i know it's just a car. but it was so shiny and new and perfect until then. oh well.

then as i lay in my bed in boston last night, it occured to me that in a little over a week, this apartment won't be my home anymore. some stranger will be there. it's not the first time i've ever moved from a place but it was the first place i owned. so i guess i shouldn't be surprised that i've gotten a little verklempt.

anyway. funny that my friend sent me that jester article. i don't feel very jesterly today.

I've Been Had

right off the bat i'd like to apologize for not posting any knitting pictures. the reason for that is because i've lost access to the computer that has all of my pictures on it. you see, when J threw me out of the house last week , i thought it was so that he could finish things up. get the house ready for "the men who come and do the floors." that was his job. to make arrangements with the "men who come and do the floors."

so when i returned back at the house on friday night after an impassioned call from J, "where are you? i need your help. can you come back?" i was surprised to see that he had moved everything into the basement, including the computer. but the surprises didn't end there. i also learned that there were going to be no "men who come and do the floors." that he and i were going to be the "men who come and do the floors." so that's what i did all weekend. i learned how to use an orbital sander. i've become a woman of many talents since knowing J and i can say with conviction now that if you have floors that you need to have redone, do not do them yourselves.

today, i got another surprise. in a moment of weakness i ordered two books from amazon.com last week and i got them today!

on initial browse, i'm very excited about the crochet book. like it's knitting sister Hip to Knit it has simple, modern garments that lend themselves to experimentation, at least i think so. i just went back to read some of the amazon reviews of hip to knit and i find them a bit harsh. but then again, i tend to use these books as inspiration and not so much as "how to's."

the other book is like a stitch dictionary except for fair isle/intarsia pattern work. it would have been nice to have actual photos of some of these motifs in addition to the full color graphs, but this still looks like it could potentially be fun to try some of these patterns.

since i'm back in town for the week, i'm looking forward to looking these over more thoroughly.