bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

One Step Forward ...

and two steps back.

that's how i would describe my knitting progress these past few days.

i have this old black cotton knit hoodie sweater that i love and wear all of the time.  i bought it a few years ago in a little "boutique" and i remember paying a lot for it and also thinking "you know i could so easily make this."  anyway, this old hoodie is looking a little ragged and besides i've wanted a wool version for a while.

so i desided to make one.  sure i could have "designed" my own.  but why do that when there are plenty of lovely patterns out there already.

so i began my venture by selecting the bpt.    a cute pattern, very similar to my big old cotton hoodie except with cables.   and then began a most frustrating journey.  it took me 3 tries to get past the yoke.   three.  yes, i knit and frogged the yoke twice.  then -- success!  i had the 435,090 (give or take) stitches required  to continue onto the body.  and continue on i did.  i added a couple of inches to the length because well my belly should not be showing as it does on the lovely model.  i even completed the attached i-cord.  i was all set to move on to the sleeves. 

and then i tried the thing on.  and it looked like ass.  it was HUGE!!!  (and yes i did even do a gauge swatch so there :P).  i thought about finishing it up anyway and then felting the thing a bit ... but it in the end ....

this is where it ended up.  i don't know what bpt stands for but for me it stands for butt phucking tedious.  on a positive note, i did learn how to do an attached i-cord.  so, no sweater, but i did learn a new technique.  woo-hoo me.  (yeah whatever)  i have since started mariah and i'm halfway done with the sleeves.  no frogging yet.  keeping my fingers crossed. 

now for the one step forward.

chicken pillows -- DONE

and here's another view ....

this pattern, called Funky Chicken Pillows, by Mags Kandis, is from IK Fall 2004 which is pretty much when i started them.  THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TAKING 15 MONTHS TO FINISH TWO LITTLE PILLOWS!!!

 

Loot!

ok, this is going to be a totally lame post.  i honestly have nothing profound to say and i just want to use this opportunity to 1.  close the door on christmas so that i can move on; and 2.  show you all what i got.  heh heh.

so here we go.

santa was very good to me.  first of all he brought me some very pretty ornaments (instead of chocolate -- such a good and understanding santa about the plan and all); and he got me a cute workout outfit (via the mother-in-law) and a box of yarn ordered sometime in november.

(that's just the first layer)

but the piece de resistance (hunh hunh hunh) is this little lovely ...

the apple powerbook 15in G4.  so pretty...so perfect.  j's been bugging me to plug her in and to rev her up but i've been unable to.  i know, pathetic.  he's practically worn out his toy (a flight simulator and radio command thingy that he's been playing with non-stop since sunday) but i haven't yet gotten the courage to turn her on.  i'm a freak.  clearly.

anyway, i hope everyone else had a lovely christmas.  here's to a wonderful 2006.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

when i was a little girl, we lived in southern california.  we lived across the street from the V family.  the V family consisted of mr. and mrs. V and their 4 older children (older than my brother and i were anyway):  an older daughter who had already left for college (and whose name i can't remember); kathy, a very talented artist, who encouraged me to draw and color and spent more time with a 7 year old than most highschool aged kids probably would; tim, the only son; and tori, the beautiful dancer.  every chance i got, i ran over there.  there were dogs, happy (the 13 year old basset hound whose only goal in life was to fly out the front door to freedom) and penelope, a cute black mutt, and tortoises in the yard and the closest i ever got to having older sisters.  any holiday was special in the V house.  mrs. V liked to decorate.  my mom, not so much.  at christmas, we always had a tree, a real one, fragrant with the scent of pine.  and that was ok.  but it was nothing like the V's tree.  now that tree was magical.  it was silver.  and faker than the day is long.  it was tall with a beautiful angel at the top, and it stood in a stand that rotated and played christmas carols.  and it was covered almost to the point of overload with the most beautiful ornaments i had ever seen. AND TINSEL.  we didn't have tinsel at my house, because it made a mess.  but mrs. V loved tinsel.   every christmas, i would spend hours laying on their living room sofa just watching the tree go around and around and around.

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rocky would like to wish you all a merry christmas .....

yes he would....

he really wants to....

see?

and so would i ....

be safe! 

Birthday Week Wrap Up

i'm a great proponent of the "birthday week" as opposed to a birthDAY.  and my birthday week began with the boy friend and i meeting up last friday.  i was tired and intimated that i might not drag my sorry ass all of the way to quincy, but there was a promise of presents.  and well, i love presents. 

well they weren't lying. 

2 skeins of artyarns supermerino from melanie (who looks fabulous for a pregnant lady with 2 buns).  she was generous enough to gift us all with our own special colorway.  i got this color, that we called mexicali because well i'm hot and spicy.  cha cha cha.  and then the girls all pitched in and gifted me with a very generous gift certificate to a good yarn in honor of the birth day.  THANK YOU LADIES!  YOU ROCK AS MY BOYFRIEND!!!

next in the birthday celebration was cake with the inlaws on sunday.  i share a birthday week with a niece who turned the tender age of 17 and was ready to fight me to the death for all over control of the month of december.  considering that i've had 43 years of december being all about me (and the baby jesus) i figured in the name of world peace that i would let her think that it was all about her.  so young.  so trusting. 

then there was the actual birthday.  j forgot.  and didn't remember until he heard me humming the birthday song while making coffee.  "i swear i remembered last night!"  yeah whatever.  tell that to someone who cares.  since i'm getting a big ass christmas/birthday present, i didn't expect a gift.  but he surprised me with a table top tripod.  yes, i wanted one.  and a mushy birthday card.  he loves the mushy birthday cards.  no birthday dinner though as i was too tired.  yes, i'm officially old.  spent my birthday evening with my ass on the couch, knitting.

finally last night, a friend of mine took me out to dinner and then we shopped at home goods.  sometimes i leave that place empty handed, but not last night.  along with other things, i picked up this lovely.

.

my friend asked what i was planning on doing with that ... she doesn't know about the blog ... and i had to lie.  um... for decoration.  not  .... for hanging scarves on and stuff for taking pictures for my double secret blog ...

all in all, this birthday week was a great one.  and all of you who stopped by to wish me a happy birthday are a big reason for that.  thank you so much for your good wishes.

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saturday before last, elisa had a few of us area knitters over for some knitting and drinking and eating.  and yankee swapping.

i think i totally scored.

because in exchanged for a nose (poor keiko) ...

i got me some yarn.

yes, 2 skeins of claudia (not that claudia)  hand painted merino wool sock yarn and some dpns from the sock yarn hoarder, elisa.  i'm going to have to learn how to knit socks.

Christmas minus 3 Days Meltdown Free

so the last time i wrote other than proclaim to anyone who happened by chance to land here that it was my birthday, i was having a meltdown.  well i'm not having a meltdown anymore.  i haven't accomplished much either, however.  i have decided to live and let live.  how very zen of me.  so with 3 days until x-mas here is what i've accomplished:

1.  decorating -- not done.  no tree up yet.  if at all.  everything is out.  but the tree must be put together (we never got around to getting our own griswold family x-mas tree).  instead of a real tree though, i did make this.

inspired by the craftymodster and lolly, i too jumped the funfur x-mas tree/hat bandwagon. 

before stuffing. 

my hat/tree is 11.5 inches in diameter and 18 inches tall. i knit mine from the top down in the round with a strand of lionbrand homespun (1 skein) and funfur (2 skeins) until i ran out of funfur, leaving me just enough of the homespun to crochet a base in the round. 

now i need to decorate it.  hmmm.  or not... (not going to worry about it not going to worry about it not going to worry about it). 

2.  gift knits -- all done.  and not very interesting but i think the recipients will like them.  i hope anyway.

this is for j's aunt claire.  she's 80something and lives in an assisted living home type thing (it's like a college dorm for the elderly -- it's actually kind of cool.)  she's one of those people who is always appreciative of a handmade item, so i think she'll like it.  and it will keep her warm during her weekly trips shopping.

boa scarves out of bernat boa for three little girls.  little girls are all about the boa.

3. other christmas shopping also done.  the meat has been ordered.  the gift cards purchased.  i have a box to a niece and nephew in VA to go but i won't send it until tomorrow.  i'll write a little note saying that santa made a mistake and delivered the stuff to our house instead.   because that's the truth.

j went out a bought what he wanted and i'm going to wrap it.  i know not very fun, but at least he got what he wanted.  (although i did get him some "surprises.")  as for me, i have a box of knitpicks yarn that i ordered for myself last month, still unopened.  joe's going to wrap that for me.  x-mas cards still not written though but by having cards with the vague happy holidays greeting, i can conceivably send these out sometime in january and still be well within the window .... it's all about being within the window.

so other than some stocking stuffers, i'm done if i want to be.  yay.

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*no animals were harmed*

this is what j likes to do -- torture animals ....

dude, get that fucking cat off of me......

 

 

My French Name?

this quiz makes me giggle

Your French Name is:

Anastasie Barbier

What's Your French Name?

as if my real name weren't frenchie enough

sheesh...

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grumperina wants to know who knows about my knitting and my knitting blog (well not MY knitting etc. specifically, but you know what i mean) and what are my reasons for revealing or not.  the first part of her question i've already answered here. basically, no one from my real non-blog world knows about the blog other than j and my coworker, e -- who has a knit blog herself.  and j certainly doesn't read it (e does i think, she comments occasionally).   my reasons for keeping it secret are many but still it's because it's my little private piece of my life.  when you get married for the first time at the ripe old age of 40 there are many boundaries that get crossed that you aren't used to having crossed.  so this blogging thing is maybe an expression of the old pre-married me.  eh.. who knows.  as for the knitting.  everybody knows about the knitting.  i knit in public often.  on the commuter train certainly.  i take knitting to my inlaws for family events -- it keeps me from picking at the massive amounts of snacks that are always available within reach.  coworkers know i knit and crochet.  and my family knows i knit.  well my mom and dad know.  so there you go.  blog -- big secret.  knitting -- not so much.

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEE

i originally planned to write an introspective post.  describing certain birthdays in the past.  plans for the future.  regrets.  this morning when i got up i started to think about stuff and how i'm close i'm getting to 50 (what the fuck!)  and yet i have nothing to show for my time on this planet yadda yadda yadda.  and then i thought "fuck it."  today i'm celebrating!

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's you birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you

Yes we're going to a party, party
Yes we're going to a party, party
Yes we're going to a party, party

I would like you to dance (birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (birthday)
I would like you to dance (birthday)
Ooo, dance, yeah

I would like you to dance (birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (birthday)
I would like you to dance (birthday)
Ooo, dance

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's you birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you

I'm chair dancing right now!

11 More Days

i had big plans for christmas this year.  lots of holiday knitting from handknit holidays.  "perfect" gift ideas for family and friends.  decorating the house weeks in advance.  i really was going to do it up this year.  with my birthday also 6 days away, december is my month!  it's the month i wait for every year in anticipation!

well this year i've got nothing.

house, not decorated.  no tree yet.  i have a fake tree in the basement, but j wants a real tree this year.  however, we still can't coordinate ourselves to get a tree together.  he blames the date with my boyfriend saturday when i didn't get home until after midnight.  (good times by the way, i have to show you what i got in the yankee swap).

fun knitting, not happening.  i told myself i wasn't going to do any christmas knitting for other people this year.  and yet, here i am knitting scarves again.  not caring about the scarves.  just trying to push through.  getting home from work and too tired to knit at all.  last night i was in bed before 9pm.    all of this is even more tragic considering how excited i am about the latest issues of both knitty and crochetme.  (one thing not so excited about, the premiere issue of vogue's KnitSimple.  it was delivered to my door.  wouldn't have it otherwise because it would never have made it into my shopping cart.  maybe i signed up for a copy.  no idea. can't remember.  i can't remember a lot of things these days.)

baking.  not done yet.  earlier this month i was all excited about baking cookies and making fudge for gifts at work and in the neighborhood.  now, don't feel like doing it.  i spent 45 minutes at the craft store the other night contemplating the various containers available for packaging.  ended up leaving the store empty handed because i couldn't bear to stand in line at the register.  this morning, i have to mail a package to my niece (a college finals care package) and i know i'm going to want to poke my eye out when i see the line at the post office.  a lot of wanting to poke my eye out going on these days.

finally, i still have tons of christmas shopping to do and i couldn't care less.  j told me that he didn't want an ipod.  SO NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO GET HIM!!!????  inlaws are getting meat.  nieces and nephews -- gift cards.  i usually work so hard at trying to put together the perfect gift and this year,  i can't handle the pressure.  maybe those weirdos who are done with their christmas shopping in july have something there.    if you're one of those weirdos, i mean no disrespect, but you are a weirdo.  i'm not taking that back.  weirdo.

ok, i've got to go to work. 

i leave you with the picture that i used for our christmas cards this year (still not sent by the way).  the cards came out great.  better than i anticipated.   i love it when that happens.

isn't that a cool picture?  brrrr.

Help!

thanks to some encouragement from kim, who you can find here and here, and j's generous offer to help me finance for my birthday/christmas this year, i'm seriously contemplating the purchase of this little item (the 15 inch).

my desktop computer at home is a pc (8  years old and still kicking) and i work on a pc at my job.  anyone have this same sort of situation melding the two computer types?

thanks ahead of time.

For Claudia

(sorry, i don't have an fancy editing or illustrating software so this is the best i could do)

Home Is Where the Knitting Gets Done

first of all, i want to thank all of you who sent me encouragement and who offered to be my own personal cheering section.  it really kind of made me a little verklempt.  and i'm very touched. 

since i've gone down this road before, i know that i'll get very obsessed about the whole weight loss thing but i promise i won't bore you with specifics here.  that's what the other blog is for.  end of discussion.

in other news -- meg tagged me for the "where do you do your knitting" meme.  thanks meg! 

so the question actually should be, where do i NOT do my knitting.  it's funny, i don't do it in the kitchen.  no comfy chair.  not in the bathroom.  too much humidity might felt the wool, and i don't do it in our bedroom.  there's a comfy chair in there but somehow, since i pretty much have taken over the rest of the entire house, i kind of feel that the bedroom is j's room too.  and honestly, if i start dragging my knitting in there, before you know it, he'll have a drill press and circular saw set up.  I'M NOT JOKING!!

so here we go.  please ignore the mess.  i'm not the best housekeeper but i do hate clutter, and just looking at these pictures is causing me a bit of anxiety. 

this is our guest room/exercise room (ha!) and the room where i do much of my weekend knitting.  it's here that i catch up on the gilmore girls, and cute george from grey's anatomy (so cute, george is).  now i've got project runway to add to my weekend viewing.  yay.  (and yes, yarn snobs out there, that is a blue skein of red heart.  mock me.  go ahead.  i dare you.)

here's the office where i do the blogging and where i keep my books and stash.  i don't do any knitting in here though.  no tv.

and here's where i do my evening knitting .. sitting on the loveseat there, next to the ball winder facing the tv. i'm working on piecing together a baby blanket that i never finished.  see that tv tray with the coffee cup?  that's where j sits or rather lays after dinner.   AND IF I'VE TOLD HIM ONCE, I'VE TOLD HIM 100 TIMES, TO PLEASE PUT HIS CUPS IN THE KITCHEN BEFORE HE GOES TO BED.  he never listens.

so there you have it.  hope that was enlightening.  (i apologize for the darkness of the photos.  i live in a very dark house even when the sun is shining like it is today.  and yes, i don't have any curtains.  this is only temporary.  i'm working on them.  I ONLY HAVE SO MUCH TIME IN A DAY!!)

random picture of the day:

how awesome is this tree that we have on our front lawn?  i love this tree.

ok, i've got to go.  i've got a big date with my boyfriend. 

Ms Pink

yesterday was cathi's birthday ... i think she's 25 or something close to that.  certainly ridiculously young.

but i won't hold that against her, and neither should you.

go wish her a happy birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. PINK-O-RAMA!!!!

 

WW

so while my boston girls were on their way down to nyc to buy all of the yarn and eat warm chocolate cake and look at the rockefellar center  big ass CHRISTMAS tree (and i wasn't) i decided to do something proactive this morning.

writing up the lists in my last post got me thinking about STUFF.  you know, the stuff that clogs the brain and makes you feel sorry for yourself, the stuff that hurts.  plus with my birthday coming up --- 17 MORE SHOPPING DAYS PEOPLE!!!!  COUNT 'EM!  -- it was/is clear that although there are many things that i have no control over, there are some that i do.  being fat.  i can do something about that.

i wrote about that issue probably around this time last year -- set up a blog to track my progress and everything -- and failed miserably.  failed so badly that i'm 5 pounds higher than i was at my highest!  so now this is my highest!  i also took down my blog.

so it's time to re-activate the blog -- and admit that i can't do it alone.

so this morning i joined weight watchers -- not just the web version -- but the real live go every week and get weighed and sit through the meetings version.  i'm committing to 7:30am every saturday meetings.  they're convenient to my home, i get them over with, i'm up anyway, and i even met a few members who seemed friendly. 

anwyay -- wish me luck.