bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

New Friends

i think most of us can all agree that blogging, reading and writing, is a massive time suck.  i'm sure that were i not to blog, i would have worked my way up to VP-in-charge-of-everything or would have found a cure for something or other.  but as i've mentioned before, i'd be a very lonely knitter.

look who came to visit?!!!!  (caro's husband, elisa and kellee were also there.)

CARO!!!!

caro is every bit as charming, funny and nice as she is on her blog.  and that's not the tequila talking.

really.

Is It The Weekend Yet?

ugh ... fridays are tough for me because in my head, i'm already in weekend mode.  a four day work week would be perfection (remember that episode of friends when chandler was locked in a ATM booth with some model and when she offered him gum he said that would be perfection?  or something like that. ).  ok maybe not perfection, but certainly better than a 5 day work week.

so with the socks done, i'm down to 2 ongoing projects.  the chevron scarf and the ripple blanket (YES I'M STILL WORKING ON IT!!)   so i need a third.  a couple of you asked me about this big ball from my previous post.

well almost exactly a year ago, i made a giant t-shirt yarn ball.  now it's time for me to knit it up into a little bathroom rug.  i have size 19 denises (yes they do come that big) so i think those will do.  others asked me about the roving.   it's 4oz of corriedale from amy's fiber club in strawberry fields.  it's so preppy that it reminds me of carole, circa 1986. 

ok, i have to get back to work.   someone, kill me and put me out of my misery.

Eye Candy Friday

i have kind of dropped the ball with the whole project spectrum thing this year.  i really had the best of intentions.  it's not as if my surroundings haven't been inspiration enough.

Red Sox Season

thanks for the compliments on the socks.  a few of you asked if the pattern was Nancy Bush's gentleman sock pattern and i'm proud (small p-proud mind you, i didn't find the cure for cancer or anything) to say that they are not nancy bush's gentleman socks (as lovely as they might be). they are my socks.  that i made up from my head.  all by myself.  like a big girl. 

it's a basic top down heel flap sock.  i cast on 60 stitches because the stitch  (a twisted rib) i used is a 4 stitch repeat.  the flap was knitted on 28 stitches.  the pattern was continued on 32.  for my gusset i picked up 16 stitches and decreased to a total of 60. 

then when i got to the toe i decreased the toe by 4 stitches so that i was left with a total of 56 stitches.  14 for each dpn, 28 on each side if done with two circs or magic loop.  then i just decreased my toe and then kitchenered. 

these were knit with plymouth sockotta in a solid red on size 2 40 inch addi turbos.  (i have big feet.  i need to make myself big socks.) 

i think these will be great for watching the red sox go to the world series!

 

Open Letter to an ASSHAT!

dear asshat,

i'm talking to you.  mr. asshat, with your gray "iowa flip"* (aka comb-over) who is trying to prove that he's still some sort of stud, by driving a sporty silver audi convertible, and not some aging "has been" whose prostate is flaring up.  (by the way, is it wise to be driving a convertible when you are so follicularly challenged?  perhaps you should just get a proper haircut? you aren't fooling anyone).

   
please wait your turn.  it's not ok, just because your car is small and you have a penis,  to slip by 3 other cars, on the right, who are patiently waiting for the light to change so you can be the first at the starting gate when it changes to green.  it isn't.  the lane is designed for only one car , not for two small cars side by side.  just one.  single file.  one after another.   even if you're late for your hairclub for men appointment .... I DON'T CARE .... IT'S NOT OK.  LEAVE THE HOUSE EARLIER LIKE THE REST OF US. 

please wait your turn .... once you've gone through the light before everyone else (when everyone else was in front of you initially) it's not ok then to go into the  left lane, because it's considerably shorter than the right lane (that you should be in , because i'm watching you .... how can i not be with the reflection of the sun off of your half covered skull acting like a beacon, and i can anticipate your every move.    it's not ok, to choose the shorter left hand lane, and then cut someone off who waited patiently in the right hand lane, so you can make a right turn.  it's not ok.  want to know why the traffic is so heinous this morning?  BECAUSE OF ASSHATS LIKE YOU!!!!

god i love the word "asshat."

*i mean no disrespect to the beautiful state of iowa.  i have visited ... well iowa city anyway ... a couple of times, and i found it to be charming and the people are very nice and they don't honk ...AND I'M SURE THEY DON'T CUT PEOPLE OFF IN TRAFFIC!!!! i even considered moving there except that i'm not nice enough.

ok, i 'm done.  here are some socks i just finished.   details later.

HOLY CRAP!!!

now i know how crazy aunt purl must feel with all of the comments!   oh my.... thanks to all of you for your kind words.  it's been a difficult few days, but today was the first day that i thought about him without crying.  and thank you CAP for sending over so many of your friends. 

a few of you asked if i was going to adopt another feline friend, because really, what is a knitting blog without a resident cat.  well, there's no need.  because although napoleon was the star of the show (he was the little emperor after all), there were two ladies waiting in the wings.  

this is sparky and droopy *cough*.  until about 9 years ago, there was a josephine (yes, go ahead and mock) but she got sick and had to be put to sleep.  napoleon was despondent and lonely and so after a year of it just being the two of us, i adopted sparky and droopy, two 3 year old sisters whose owner needed to move and couldn't take them with her.   her children had named them sparky and droopy and i renamed them sophie and madeleine, but the names never stuck.  what we call them now is "little black kitty" and "big black kitty."    and those are pretty much the names they respond to.

napoleon was the coverboy because he was the easiest to photograph.  his markings were distinctive and his fur didn't cause all sorts of issues with exposure.  since he followed me around the house, he was always ready for a photoshoot.  and he didn't move all over the place.  "little black kitty" is a spaz and can't sit still for a minute.  "big black kitty" is so entirely black (her only white markings are on the underside of her paws and a tiny patch on her chest), that it's almost impossible to focus on her.  and when i do get a picture, she just looks like a great big black blob.  i don't know how chris does it.

once again, thank you for your stupendous outpouring of love for my beautiful napoleon.  (ok i'm going to stop now because i'm getting weepy again).

my next post will include knitting, i promise.

 

Napoleon 1990-2007

my napoleon died last night. and i'm so sorry that i wasn't with him when it happened. the poor guy wasn't himself yesterday and i was going to take him to the vet this morning to have him checked out. but it appears that he didn't want to go. i will miss him terribly. he was my boy. and we had been together for a long time.

Time Flies ...

hey, guess what today is?  patriots day? boston marathon being run in a nor'easter day? the day after i finished our taxes day?  well yes ... but it's also my 3rd Blog Anniversary.  can you believe it?  3 years!

3 years ... that's 556 posts, 6063 comments, and almost 162,000 hits.  hey, that's a lot of hits.  and i have rachael to thank for sucking me in.  i don't remember exactly why i started blogging, but i can guess that it had to do with wanting to be a part of a larger community.  at the time, i was alone in my craftiness, and i think i was probably looking for kindred spirits, which i found in spades.

what have i learned? 

1.  well, that my best blog posts are written in my head in the shower, or in the car.  you know, when i don't have my computer or even a piece of paper and pen handy.  i'm very eloquent in my head by the way.  pulitzer prize winning even.  no really.

2.  i live for comments.  i'm simple that way.  i blog for myself primarily, but if i didn't get positive reinforcement through comments i would have given up a long time ago.  my earlier posts were more about what's going on in my life, but since my life is hardly exciting, i've adjusted.  less minutiae about my boring life, no airing of my dirty laundry unless it's funny laundry (like clown pants), more pictures of my projects.   since i've met some of you in real life, i've also become a lot more careful about what i write about (believe it or not).  the anonymity of blogging before my worlds collided allowed me to be freer and to some extent, snarkier.   now i realize that if i write something negative about someone or something, or provocative, it could end up biting me in the ass on a more personal level.  i've witnessed the mob mentality in the knitblog world, and it ain't pretty.

3.  if i hadn't started blogging, both reading and writing, i'd still be knitting in red heart.  seriously (ok maybe not, but close).   so thank you for expanding my yarn world.  and for emptying my pockets (but honestly, if i weren't buying yarn, i'd be buying something else).

4.  i wouldn't have ever learned how to knit socks.  call me crazy, but i was afraid of them.  i'm not exactly sure why.

5.  i definitely would never have learned how to spin.  i didn't even know people still spun before the blog.  (and again, i'd be hoarding something else, if i weren't hoarding fiber).

6.  and most of all, i wouldn't have made such great friends.  thank you for making me feel special and a little bit like a rockstar even if that rockstar is playing on a stage made of popsicle sticks in a shoe-box diorama.

thank you all.  it's been a fun 3 years.

as always, napoleon doesn't give a shit, but the post seemed naked without a picture.

Death and Taxes

want to know what i did on a saturday night?   taxes.  yes i do live the life.  want to know how i feel after having done the taxes?  violated.  i've always been rather philosophical about taxes.  it's the price we pay for being part of a civilized society.  to pay for things that we all need, even if  we don't feel as if we, personally get our m oney's worth.  but this time around, i'm thinking not so good thoughts.    HEY ADMINISTRATION THAT I DIDN'T VOTE FOR, WHO HAS BEEN FUCKING AROUND SINCE 2000, WHO IS USING MY HARD EARNED MONEY TO PAY FOR A WAR THAT WAS STARTED BASED ON LIES, WHO GOT INTO OFFICE BY PROMISING TAX BREAKS .....WHERE THE FUCK IS MY TAX BREAK???? 

ok.  i'm done.  wanna see a scarf?

Never Two Without Three

i have a hard time focusing.  even when i'm gung ho about something, i find myself flitting  from one thought to another, constantly trying to force myself to PAY ATTENTION.  i sometimes sit in meetings with just my boss, sitting right across from him, with him looking at me in the eye, and having to remind myself that i NEED TO PAY ATTENTION!!!  i mean, it could be worse.  i guess i could fall asleep.  (we had a grad student working with us for a short time who would fall asleep in meetings.  i don't know about you, but if i were in a meeting with a couple of academic bigwigs in my field, falling asleep repeatedly would not be something i would do.  but that's just me). 

this isn't a new phenomenon.  i've always been a little like this.  but i think it's gotten worse lately.  as a result, i get nothing done.  or i don't get nearly as much done as i'd like.  or the quality of what i do kind of sucks because i can't focus long enough to get it done right.  when i was a kid, there was no such thing as ADD or ADHD or other such acronym.  i was just the easily bored kid who seemed to underachieve when not challenged.  anyway, i digress.  (see what i mean about a lack of focus?  and watch, i'll leave the end of these thoughts just hanging there, unfinished.  see what i'm talking about?)  *sigh*

so, yeah, the blanket, still not done.  i've run into some minor problems.  according to my calculations i was hoping to be able to get 3 2-row repeats out of the merino style and 2 2-row repeats out of the andean treasure.  well, as i've mentioned before, knitpicks lies about weight (and i'm assuming yardage as well) and i was only able to get 2 2-row repeats out of the merino style.  and i found out that the label on the andean treasure lies as well.  only 1 2-row repeat.  so on the positive side, this blanket is going to be done sooner than i originally planned, but on the negative side, will be noticeably shorter.  oh well.  (i'm not buying more yarn. this was a stash-busting project).

and my pisa socks aren't done yet either.  although almost.  i'm hoping they'll be done this weekend.  (by the way, i try to avoid saying things like "hopefully, they'll be done this weekend."  my freshman year in college i had a biology professor who explained to us the kind of trouble you can run into when throwing "hopefully" nilly willy in a sentence.  think about it next time you say, "hopefully, i'll finish this stupid sock this weekend").

and now i've gone and started another project.  i saw one first here.   then here.  and i knew that i needed to make one.  so i went into the stash.  ("cover me!  i'm going in!")

and came out with this.  in the background, i've got 2 skeins of koigu in a deep pinkish red with olive and neutral tones.  in front there, i've got leftovers (about 93 grams) from my charlotte's web.  by the way, koigu doesn't lie.  well it does lie but in my favor.  that's 102 grams of deep pinkish red koigu.

hopefully *oops* i mean, i hope to post a progress picture of the scarf soon.

Eye Candy Friday

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!

"Bless my polyester, pink paisley clad, tight little butt cheeks, but i do declare that our ever so talented Stitchy McYarnpants has been nominated for a Webby Award."

"That's so exciting!!!  Quick, we must vote!!" 

SO GO VOTE.  You can follow Stitchy McYarnpants links, or go directly to the Webby Awards page here. You'll need to register to vote, but it'll so be worth it.  And you'll show the world that knitters, even if they're knitting belted man pantsuits, can make a difference.

Better Late than Never

look who i finally got to meet this weekend! 

the very handsome mr. blu and the very adorable miss scarlet.

the cuteness was more than i could bear.  if you want to see more go here.

Brown Eggs Are Local Eggs

today i'm home.  i got up bright and early to dye eggs.  yep.  no sleeping in for me, even when i can.

when i was a kid, my mom and i would dye eggs every easter.  but she would buy the pure white variety. 

but since the majority of the eggs sold in my neck of the woods are of the brown kind, i thought it might be interesting to experiment.

while hardboiling a dozen eggs,  i prepared several bowls of intense color.  no pastels for me.  and since i was starting out with a variations of brown as a background, i figured the deeper, the better.

using martha's directions as a guide, i also experimented with a little marbelizing. 

not a bad way to spend a friday morning.

One Tower of Pisa Sock Done

2007 started with a bang project-wise.  by mid march i had made 2 scarves, 1 hat, 1 pair of socks, 2 baby sweaters, baby mitts, and i'd spun close to a pound of fiber  ... and then i got sucked into the ripple and started working on some socks.

my tower of pisa socks.

or more accurately ... sock.  i call it the tower of pisa because the stitch, "mailles croisees" (crossed stitches) from a marie claire idees stitch dictionary that i bought this summer in france, makes the leg of the sock look like the leaning tower. 

my struggles have been great.  in the time it's taken me to knit pairs of socks, i barely managed to knit one.  so when i actually got through the toe while at work today, i was eager to finish.

but i didn't have a sewing needle on me to kitchener the opening closed.  so i mac gyvered one.

on to my second sock!

Busy Busy Busy!

knitting progress can't be shown right now.  the ripple blanket doesn't look much different than it did a few days ago.  and i don't really have the time to write a proper post.  not that you're be missing much since it was once implied that i wasn't a very good writer anyway.

flickr allows me to be a lazy blogger.  have i ever mentioned how much i love flickr?

February and March Project Spectrum Review

the first two months of project spectrum 2.0 are over.  i haven't posted nearly as much about this year's incarnation as i did about last year's, but it's not as if  i've been idle.