Effect and Cause

I have so many irons in the fire that I hardly know what to do with myself. I usually have a song in my head, and they're often about whatever is going on in my life, sometimes unconsciously, and it's funny how I suddenly realize what I've been singing and how it applies and I'm often stunned that my brain spit out that little song and I've been singing it and not really getting the connection until I do. Weird.

And that my friends, is why I pay attention to whatever song is in my head when I wake up. My new favorite song is Effect and Cause by the White Stripes. Makes me giggle every time.

Anyway.

I have lots of businessy type things going on, what with setting up accounts with Louet (mmm) and a few other places. I also want to start damn near everything in my queue so that I can wear it all to work at my new job. NEW JOB! For real this time! The one I was supposed to start in July got postponed and then they went all flaky and THEN realized the money wasn't there so I politely said "no thanks dudes". But in the midst of all that I got an even better job offer that pays lots more and I'm so super excited about it! My boss is awesome, and I know my coworkers will be too. It's also on campus, in the English dept (woo!), doing a little academic advising for graduate students. I start on Wednesday, and I Can't. Wait.

But I was usurped by guilt as I waded through my stash for new project yarn. I saw this sitting in a lonely plastic bag at the bottom of one of my stash boxes.



I decided that I could start all my cool new knitting projects if I finished one that was also still cool and had been lingering on the needles for way too long.

The ill-fated Simple Knit Bodice from October of last year. I had said 'fuck it' to the lace pattern on the sleeves. I'd been forced down to a size ZERO to get lace gauge on the midsection and I just couldn't make my fingers endure it two more times. I had actually finished one (very) long plain sleeve, but upon completion and a try-on, it wasn't for me. I got frustrated and threw it in the icky plastic bag where it has waited patiently for me to return with a plan.

So I dragged it out, ripped the long sleeve and finished two short ones.

Effect:



One finished SKB! Woot! Finally. I'd have a pic of it on me, but I'm in a wife beater and boxers. Some other day.

Cause:
Once I finished that, I allowed myself to start something new. And finish it.



(ok ok I conceded to the wifebeater, but NOT the boxers. sorry.)

This is the Cashmere Neckwarmer, designed by the lovely Kim of Yarn Abuse. I'm not really on a cashmere budget, but Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky works just as well. It's super super soft and a little too warm for 90 degree evenings, so it will be perfect for my long walk to work* on those cold winter days.



The color is taupe, I believe. It will go with everything. Perfect. I used a US 10.5 needle and didn't block quite as severely as required for a slightly thicker fabric. Warm indeedy.



*The long walk to work is courtesy a car pool. Nate just accepted a job at the university too (he worked there before for 5 years and is SO glad to be going back) and he starts the week after me. So we're going to park somewhere in the middle and I get to hoof it uphill most of the way. I'll be equipping my kick ass backpack (with lunch and knitting of course) and seeking out some cool yet comfy shoes, stat.

As promised, or prophesied...

Sorry, my head is still somewhat in the land of Harry Potter.

Anyway, yay for FOs!

Turns out I only have one at the moment, though another is coming post haste. The Invisibility Shawl is long enough, but I'm going to go ahead and use up all the yarn, so you'll see that later.

Today's FO was actually finished at Knit Night last night. Blocked her this afternoon, and voila!

Pay no attention to my lack of makeup and silly faces. Nate is a goofy photographer.



Whatever is that on the ceiling?!?!



Hey baby, I got your Rusted Root riiiiiight here....

So yeah, Rusted Root. It's definitely my favorite knit ever. The Central Park Hoodie is a close second, but I could see me wearing this to work on a regular basis. I used 2.5 balls of Cotton Fleece in Candy Apple and it's the perfect color for me. I'm a 36, but I made the 28-32 bust size after casting on and realizing the 36 was actually closer to a 39. The fit is great, though I wish I had done a few more waist decreases so that it sort of looks like I have one. I knit this on size 6 Denises and did the ribbing on size 5. I was afraid if I went to the 4's as recommended the sleeves would be a little too tight for my taste. (also, these are probably the first pics of me, full face, on this blog in over a year. that was for a good reason, but i'm not as freaked out as i was, hence full frontal face! ha!)

And now for the yarn porn. Notice anything new?



Top left is St. Jimmy (yay Green Day!!) soon to go up in the Etsy shop once I get some good pics of it. I'm so in love with this colorway. It's a grass green, turquoise, gray and black mix. Y.U.M. I have a few other new things in the works, but I have some big orders to fill first! These five are going to a yarn store. Let's hope they preen and show off as necessary so maybe they can have a store front home.

Finally, this is the small project pouch I bought from Piddleloop on Etsy. Jenn and Wendy are so wonderful, they had this pouch in the Amy Butler lotus fabric and the day I was talking with them about it someone else bought the damn thing! So they went fabric shopping for me and made me a new one! See the pink lotuses on it? SWOON!



I got a notions bag too! Finally, no more zip lock bag!! Woot! It's already stuffed with my private stitch marker stash (shh). Oh and there are notions in there somewhere too.



They have some super cute stuff in their shop, and these even came with stitch markers by Robyn!

I heart Etsy. Totally.

This post brought to you by the letter T

And we're back!

I finished HP7 on Saturday night (my 9 year old niece beat me! then again, she never slept), and I'm still a little distraught. Too much so to pick it back up again for a while. But I'm not telling why! Actually the things that upset me the most probably wouldn't even phase most folks, so no worries if you think I've given something away. When I'm able to talk about it, you'll know! I just really wish it wasn't over...

Moving on (because if I don't I'll get sucked back into the Potterverse, and I really need to extract myself now), Interweave's Fall preview is up!!

I love the photography in this issue! Not that it isn't always good.

I can see a few things I will be putting in my queue (like it needs more projects!):
Tangled Yoke Cardigan...I love Eunny's patterns, and this one is no exception.

Tyrolean Stockings...These are just too cute to pass up. I can totally see these under a knee-length plaid skirt with clogs this winter. And even if I have zero fashion sense, I can get away with anything on campus. Ha!

Tilted Duster...Would be perfect for a little baby bump! Not that I have one (that I know of), I'm just sayin.


Oh, guess what! Tomorrow I'll have an FO! Maybe even two! Don't pass out from shock or anything, ya'll.

In the next few days I'll have some mad yarn porn pics for you too. Muahahahaha.

Technological Embargo

I'm off for the weekend to manage some mischief at a big ole' HP party! I can't wait!

I'm still working on the Invisibility Shawl, and it remains to be seen if I'll finish the damn thing in time.

Everyone have a safe and happy Harry weekend! I'll be holed up somewhere with my nose in a very big book and when I finish I'll start all over again, but a little slower the second time around. I'm really sad that this marks the end of a fun series. And I'm even more bummed that people would leak info when uh...the book comes out in 24 hours. So dumb. And rude. But I've learned the hard way (many times) that when folks are determined to be assholes you can't really persuade them otherwise. You just have to try and move fast enough to avoid being shit on. Ya'll know.

So, I'm hiding away to avoid accidentally running into spoilers for the next few days, at least until I finish the book.

Catch you sometime next week! And I solemnly swear that I will not spoil for you guys either (and also that I'm up to no good, but you already knew that ;))!

Success!

Several wonderful things came to fruition today. (And they've all worn me out. It's 10 p.m. and I'm exhausted!)

Thing 1: I got my business license today, so I'm legal! And I get to pay taxes, woo! Most importantly though I can order yarn wholesale, so bring on the Louet baby. That's right, Louet. Y.U.M.

Thing 2: I got my very first wholesale order, quickly followed by the second (one is online, one is a real live store)! Needless to say I have some work ahead of me in the coming weeks. I'll post pics when I have some.

Thing 3: The Harlot is coming to Atlanta!!!!!!! Finally! The trip to Lexington was worth it! The knitting goddess (aka Jayme, the wonder publicist) has delivered!

She'll be here September 19th. Let's plan a trip!


***Also, some of you might have noticed that I've been kinda sucky at leaving comments and responding to yours. Sorry! But now you know why :)***

Disappointed*

Ya'll know how much I love Harry Potter. Not to obsession or distraction, but I have a healthy respect for JK and her ability to cast a spell over millions of fans, young and old, for almost a decade. I'm going to be very sad come Friday when the last book comes out and we have to find out how it all ends.

I must say that I'm not impressed with the new movie. I did have a particular fondness for the knitwear though, especially Hermione and Ginny's.

If you haven't seen it yet, move on. These are not the droids you're looking for. Har.


SERIOUS SPOILER ALERT!
***********************************

I realize that it's impossible to condense an 800 page book into 2.5 hours. It would be better served by a 6 hour miniseries, in which one can eat popcorn and B&J while knitting into the night. A knitter can dream right?

I know JK has final say on the scripts, but couldn't they have at least been true to the book events? Did Cho really have to look like a bad guy? I have a whole list of things that I take issue with (ya'll knew I would).

Things I wish had been included:
Firenze: He was just awesome in the book.
Ron & Hermione as prefects: Grr.
RAB: omg, how could they leave this out?!!?
House cleaning at Grimauld Place and the silver locket.
Molly & the boggart.
The twins' swamp.
More teacher irritation with Umbridge.
More of Kreacher: i.e. him telling Harry about Sirius at the Dept. of Mysteries
The portrait of Sirius' mom: I sooo have an image of her as the wicked witch of the west, and I was hoping to get a different visual. The portrait was there, but she never screamed!! *sigh*
Hermione's elf hats.
Weasley is Our King: come on, Ron's FINALLY a hero of sorts!
All the cool rooms in the Dept of Mysteries: I really wanted to see the brains and the Death Eater's head grow young and old. Oh! And all the glittery shiny clocks!
Lucius going to Azkaban!


Things they could have left out or done differently:
Grawp: If they had to include him they should have used more back story and explained Hagrid's condition. He wasn't necessary to the Umbridge offing and really made the whole thing kind of anti-climatic for me.
Sirius's death: Grr.
Lucius and the prophecy: Double, even triple grr. I gotta say, that part really pissed me off.
Cho & veritaserum and the DA: Bah, I wanted to see Hermione's spell in action and it sucks that Cho went down as a bad guy.



I know some of this is me just being a picky fan, and I'm ok with that. But watching this film was like watching little clips from a few of the chapters all slammed together. If I hadn't read the book I wouldn't have any idea what's going on.

That said, I didn't *hate* it. But it's definitely my least favorite movie of the series so far. Followed by Chamber of Secrets, simply because it's forgettable.



*Just for Lee: Da word of da day is Disappoint. I'm gonna use it in a sennance: Disappoint where I just c'aint take it no mo'! Ahem. Pay no attention to our school girl antics.*

Just as I was about to give up

Yarn first, then a story. Cause I know that's why people read knitting blogs, and I'm not going to get all judgy on you on if you don't read the content. But be prepared to drool.

The lovely Cami sent me a package this week, just because she's awesome. And I'll gladly bathe in her awesomeness any day, especially when her store opens! Inside said package was this wonderful goodness:

Mmmmmm chocolate heaven. You can maybe tell that I've already dug in. Mostly cause the package is open and it's sitting in my fridge on top of last night's Thai. Now I know why the Europeans think Hershey's is a lame excuse for chocolate. Dayum.



Oh, you wanted yarn right? Fine, fine. Enter Dream in Color's Wisterious (does anyone else say that like Elmer Fudd? it's just me? ok then.). It is to. die. for. I've already been resurrected once (chocolate helps), only to almost pass on again over the smooshiness that is this yarn.



Get closer. Oh the smoosh. And did you see the purple? Oh my.



Also in the pack was some luxurious Cherry Tree Hill. It looks red here (figures, I can't make real red look red, but pink? no problem), but it's actually hawt pink. It's sooo gonna be a rockin' pair of socks for me.



Just so Nate doesn't feel left out, she included some sock yarn for him too! So thoughtful.



Also, yay for stitch markers!!



Thanks Cami! You're the best!!

Ok, and now it's story time lovies. Get yourselves a glass of warm milk and snuggle in. Or a hot toddy, whatever suits ya. Or just skip it.

About a year ago I joined the massive herd of 18-24 year olds who started myspace pages. While I'm not in the demographic anymore, it's not unheard of for me to um...not act my age. Anyway, I created a little profile, sought out a few friends and let it sit. Before long I had friend requests from Joe Loser and other various random and unknown folks with comments such as 'ur so hot, add me beotch'. Right. Cause that approach totally works. And no, thank you very much. There were bands, porn stars, networkers, promotional thingies, all trying to add me. I guess they run some sort of newbie name generator and send out mass invites. While it's nice to connect with folks, I'm looking for people I actually know. It's not about having the most 'friends'. Geez. Luckily, eventually most of that stopped.

Then came the onslaught of exboyfriends. First of all, why the *fuck* do people go looking for their exes? It's one thing to search and see what someone's up to. That's cool, whatever. You can glean a lot of information from a person's profile. But do you really need to send the 'hey what's been going on for the last 10 years' email? NO, you do not. (unless you're genuinely looking to reconnect.) However, you can easily read that I'm married. It's right there on the page. Oh wait, is that my blog link at the top? Why yes it is! You could just as quickly clickety click and read some more about me! Wow, the internets are so cool! You do *not* need to send me a message asking for a hookup. Or a three way. Or all the other things I'll not force upon my gentle readers. What you will get in return is a verbal nut kick, mkay?

So I was ready to give up on myspace and just delete my page right? Sure it's great that I've reconnected with some friends, but by now they all have my contact info, so the page isn't really necessary. And wow at the volume of wack jobs wondering around on that site. Not unlike online gaming. I'm just sayin.

And then something amazing happened. I got a message from a name I didn't recognize and I went to delete it. But I clicked 'read' instead by mistake. To my astonishment, it was from a sorority sister who had been a great friend in college and literally fell off the planet about seven years ago. I had no way to contact her and had searched for her in vain for a LONG time . And suddenly there she was (hi Robyn!). On freaking myspace of all places. I was so stunned and happy to hear from her that I cried. We swapped messages and then phone numbers and finally got up the nerve to talk on the phone. We spent about two hours laughing and talking and being thankful for the stupid myspace pages that helped us find each other. And then we had lunch and met each others husbands, and it was wonderful.

This week, the same thing happened with my old college roommate. Also a sorority sister. Lee and I lived together our sophomore year, and had a freaking blast! I've never had so much fun with one person in my life. For a long time she and I were the last two to enter our chapter hall on meeting night, so we got to be very silly while we waited for everyone else to do all the things one had to do to get in the room (you know, handshakes and code words, etc) so we got bored and made up a caboose dance (cause we were the end of the line and all), stupid names for each other, and basically made sure that we were the biggest possible distraction at all times. Especially in meetings in which voting was involved. The 'serious' sisters must have hated us. They'd be discussing a very intense and important matter and Lee and I would be in the back killing ourselves trying not to laugh out loud about the fact that I almost fell out of my chair in a very short skirt and flashed the entire executive board of our sorority.

Ah those were the days.

So I *guess* I'll give myspace another few months.

But then I'm shooting everyone my phone number and shutting that page down.

Really.

Chaos is what killed the dinosaurs, darling*

I'm not sure what's up with me this lately, but in the last week I've joined a shocking amount of knit-alongs and swaps. Shocking for me at least, since I tend not to join those sorts of things. Well ok, sometimes I join, but I don't really participate.

In the last month, I've started the Invisibility Shawl KAL with Cami and joined the Punk Rock Gift Exchange (mini), Dye Your Fibers!, Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke KAL (which was seriously the only project I liked in the Summer 07 IK ....thanks Robin!), and Knit Blue (woo! go blue!). Not to mention the MS3, which I may or may not ever cast on.

Seriously, what is wrong with me? I have major startitis and I feel the need to cast on for 15 different things Right. Now. And yet, I've no yarn budget (*sniff*), and for some reason I have no time. I don't know where it goes. I'm not sitting around watching tv. But maybe I am on Ravelry a lot....

Damn! The answer comes full circle. All the startitis? Joining KALs? This isn't just a spoke in my menstrual cycle.* It's Ravelry.

While the site is awesome, it's causing me a bit of chaos. Everyone's projects look so cool! And I want to make it all! Right! Now! Gah!

Put me out of my love-induced misery, please.


***Name that movie! Anyone? Bueller?***

Where did the weekend go?

I did a little dyeing this weekend.



And I have three of these on the drying rack, two for the contest winners (they both chose Wish You Were Here as their prize), and one for the store sample I'm sending out this week:



Little Meg says "all ur yarn are belong to me!".



She's a pushy little broad, eh?


And just so it's apparent that I still do knit on occassion, you'll see that Rusted Root is coming along. I've got about 5 or 6 more inches in length, then I can finish the neck and sleeves and wear this baby!



And a bit of progress on the Invisibility Shawl as well. Turns out I'm a slow ass lace knitter. I gotta get on it if I'm going to wear this thing in twelve (OMG!!! 12?!?!) days! ACK!



Ok, with that realization, I'm going to go watch some HP (it's on tv of course, hehe) and work my little fingers off to finish this shawl.



In the meantime, Tristan would like you to know that all kittehs should have their very own basket. And also, do not try to make a kitteh leave his basket or he will cut you. Fair warning.

Say hello to my little friends

**ETA: Here's the link for the J&M drives if you'd like to get your own!**

Everyone, Jack and Meg. Jack and Meg, everyone.



Nate and I like the White Stripes so much that we bought little Jack and Meg jump drives with the new album on it. We're nuts, but I accept that. I'm officially moving all the stuff on my current jump drive (resume, cover letter, knitting patterns, stash photos...important stuff) to Meg and she's going to get to go everywhere with me. So fun.

***Also, try to catch tomorrow's Live Earth concert! I don't know that the White Stripes are involved, but I'll watch some of it anyway. Bless that Al Gore, man, he's doing such good work.***

In addition to drawing contest winners on the 4th, Nate and I spent the day with his parents and their organic garden. We brought home this huge basket of tomatoes (for homemade spaghetti sauce and general yumminess), some peppers, gourds, zucchini and squash. YUM. There's really nothing like veggies fresh from the garden to your plate the same day.




And because I'm a little nuts I joined the Punk Rock Gift Exchange (mini version) and Mystery Stole 3. Cause I totally have time to knit a shawl-like garment. Right. But it has BEADS! Sigh.

Here's the PRGE questionnaire for my pal:

1. Why are you punk?
My punkness is more indicated by my political and spiritual belief system than is represented by what I might choose to wear on any given day, though I used to dress punk and had a few piercings way back when. I believe in individual rights, yet I'm probably a socialist deep down. The two intermingle for me because I think everyone should be given the same basic rights, freedoms and starting points so that they *can* pursue their own thing. I believe in a creator, but I dislike religions, and I married an atheist. I also dig punk music. :)

2. What are your five favorite things? (these don't have to be knit related)
Dark chocolate. Music. Yarn. Reading. Good movies.

3. What are your three favorite things that you have made with knitting/crochet?
Socks, My So Called Scarf, and Shedir

4. What five things would you love to see in a swap box someday?
I'm a geek for stitch markers and Knit Picks circular needles (I could use some 32" US2s real bad), and/or some yarn of course. Something cool from wherever my pal is from would rock!

5. What are your three favorite yarns? What are your three least favorite yarns?
I'm really enjoying working with Cotton Fleece right now. I also like Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, Cascade Sierra and Malabrigio. Least favorites...anything really scratchy, acrylic, and fun fur.

6. What are your five favorite delicacies?
Chunky Monkey (please don't send me ice cream :P), dark chocolate, tiramisu, uh...yarn and yarn?

7. What are your three favorite guilty pleasures?
Really? So not telling. They're guilty pleasures for a reason :)

(ok ok...chocolate truffles, looking at baby names (shaddup), and Hello Kitty)

8. What would you like your pal to know that is not covered here?
I'm pretty easy to please, and I like all colors except yellow and orange (for me, I like them on other people). My favorites are pinks, blues, reds and purples, but not necessarily all together.

p.s...I'm offering 10% off to all PRGE folks!

p.p.s. I've been waking up with the weirdest songs in my head all week. This morning's theme was the Imperial March from Star Wars. And it won't go away. Egads.

ppps(?) Also, is it strange that I'm exhausted by 11pm on the weekends, but I can cruise effortlessly to 3am on the weeknights? So bizarre.

Winners!

Thank you all so much for your participation in the contest! It was truly wonderful to get to read so many new blogs and meet new friends. One can never have too many knitting kindred!

I ran the list of entrants along with their extra entries (way to go ya'll!) through a randomizer and so without any further ado, our two winners are:


1.) Jenn at Random Acts of Knitting

2.) Camilla at CamillaKnits!


Congrats to you both! Email me to pick your prizes!

And now these pretties can go up in the Etsy shop!

Amber:



Independence Day:



Have a Happy 4th everyone!!

Incoming: Big Scary Post

Ok, perhaps it's not scary per se, but it is a big one. Hold onto your hats. And anything else you might need to grab. I'm not gonna peek. But you can flash me. :)

The Contest:
Tomorrow (7/3/07) is the last day to enter the contest! Get your entries in by midnight EST on July 3rd! I'll draw two names on the morning of the 4th, and I'll email the winners and post them here! Hurry!!

The Weekend:
I know ya'll are dying to know about the weekend with the ex-stepmonster. It went surprisingly well (sorry to disappoint). She behaved herself, even under the influence of alcohol (made by yours truly, and no I didn't spit in it), and we all had a great time. The will discussion ran for about 3 hours and I think dad was a little shocked. He expected us to come with a list of what we wanted and instead we came with advice for handling his assets, retirement, and insurance policies. He says he's worth WAY more than I would have thought, yet he has no savings, no retirement, minimal life insurance, and no disability or long term care policies. Instead he has a stable of vintage cars and three brand new ones. He seriously goes through money like water. And if something were to happen to him, he'd be screwed and the girl would take whatever she can grab and run. Hopefully he'll take some of our advice on increasing his life insurance, contributing to a retirement plan, and getting long and short term disability and long term care programs in place. If he does all that, maybe there will be something left over for his kids to 'inherit'. Maybe.

The Yarn:
I'm updating the Etsy shop this week. I chose not to add new items last week since I knew I was going out of town and I didn't want to leave anyone waiting for their order. I'm also going to be dyeing up some samples for a yarn store in Atlanta, and I'm sooooo excited about the possibility of being able to dye for their shop. They pretty much rock, and I think my yarn could do well there. I'm also working on some fun things for a few folks who are helping me promote my yarn. I'm not so good at the self promotion thing and it really just terrifies me. I've no idea why! And I may have a little yarny type surprise coming up, so stay tuned!

The Knitting:
I worked a bit on the Invisibility Shawl over the weekend, and maybe eeked out a row or two of Rusted Root, but mostly I started a sock. The Charade Sock to be exact. In my Ruby Soho colorway, which is almost impossible to capture on film. Not that it's shy or elusive, just hard to photograph. Man, red is so touchy about having its picture taken.




See? But I'm almost to the toe!



Also difficult to photograph is this little cutie, my niece Adreana, who is doing her dead level best to avoid the crazy woman with the camera. She is extremely shy, and looks a lot like me when I was that age except for the lighter hair. I used to suck my thumb too. Hehe.



The Meme:
Cami tagged me for a fun little Wiki birthday meme. You're supposed to wiki your birthday and post 3 events, 2 birthdays and one holiday listed in the entry. I know I'm supposed to tag 5 folks, but I don't want to discriminate or leave anyone out, so consider yourself tagged!

My birthday is October 1:

3 Events:
(there were lots...I think it helps to be born on the starting day of a new quarter)
1949 - People's Republic of China is declared by Mao Zedong.
1971 - Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, FL.
1992 - Cartoon Network debuts.


2 Birthdays:
Jimmy Carter
Julie Andrews
and to keep it interesting:
Dora Venter (a little known Hungarian porn actress, born on the exact same day as me....it made me giggle)


1 Holiday:
World Vegetarian Day (woot!)

Ok, I think that about covers it, and bless you if you've made it all the way to the end.

Go forth and have a great week! See you on Wednesday with prizes! Whee!