What a Relief!

Twisty Turns has finally dried and last night I tried it on. Perfect! Much better after blocking. I cannot believe what a difference it made. With that said, I have a confession to make- TT was the first item I have ever blocked. I have 3 sweaters in my closet and none of them have been blocked. I see more blocking in my future........

The modified minisweater/boobholder is coming along slowly. I worked about 5 rows on it last night. Does anyone watch home shopping stations for entertainment? I did last night while knitting and truth be told I have been doing it for years. If nothing is on TV and I need the noise, I turn on QVC. I did it in Jr high and high school while I did my homework and I still do it today. I have never bought anything but sometimes I am in awe that someone can talk about a piece of jewerly or a pair of pants for 10 minutes. My true geek-dom is revealed.

The Boz!

As if seeing Steve Guttenburg and C. Thomas Howell on TV last week wasn't enough, now Brian Bosworth has reared his head on CSI: Miami. Watching it last night, he face looked familar as soon as they showed him. I ran to IMDB.com and sure enough, it was him. Other 80's icons I would like to see on tv soon: Debbie Gibson, Bo Jackson, Mrs. Garrett and Cecil Fielder. Surreal Life producers, are you listening?

Pop Out

I think I am done knitting holiday gifts! I do have a huge urge to knit Christmas stockings though. I don't know if these will get done for this year but I have started looking for patterns. The problem is that I am drawn to the simple designs with maybe a single snowflake or stripe pattern. My husband like the Sampler/Fair Isle designs and my step-son wants a plain red one with nothing on it. Should I knit everyone one what they want or keep them similar?

There is something about me knitting after 9pm. Last night, I was knitting my minisweater/boobholder and wanted to make a pull-over vs. a cardigan shrug. I cast-on a few more stitches at the end of a row and joined. I knit a few rows and tried it on. WOW! Nothing like having the opening end right under your boobs. With a fear that the girls would pop out with everyday wear, I frogged back to before I joined and am now making a full length cardigan. Why does this always happen around 10PM?

Survived!

I have survived that past 5 days.

Thanksgiving was not too exciting. I had 4 glasses of wine by 3pm and really needed to stop. Other than that and my running apple pie, everything was fine.

I got up Friday morning to get the Arrested Development DVD for my brother at Best Buy. Since I worked the craft fair Sat and Sun, Friday was my only shopping day. I got there at 6:30am grabbed the DVD's and proceeded to the hour long line to pay. Good thing I love to people watch. After that I headed to Target which wasn't as busy as I had expected. Last week I had heard that the Lego Millenium Falcon was going on sale for half off after Thanksgiving so I picked on up last week and went to get a price adjustment Friday. No problem. Walked right up to the returns desk, handed the checker my reciept and got $53 back. She said they were sold out this morning so I was lucky I picked one up early. I felt pretty proud of myself for outsmarting the system, not to mention being one step ahead of my husband who saw the ad and thought it would be a great idea to get one. Little did he know there was already one in the trunk of my car.

Sat I spent 11 hours and Sun- 6 hours at the craft fair. I have decided that this is not worth my time. Tables were $60 and I sold $110 worth of items. Profit= $40= $2/hour. Plus we were required to buy the food they were selling at the fair. I realized that people are looking for WalMart prices and don't realized that time it takes to make items. On my table I had some felted purses ($10-$20), felted gift bags ($5), hand-colored notecards ($1), Make Your Own Playdough Mix ($3) and Reindeer Food (Oatmeal mixed with glitter and confetti for $1). The felted bags were marked at 50% of the prices of last year. I just wanted to sell them. Tons of people commented on how cute they were but I only sold one. I talked to other vendors with the same problem. Bascially, you cannot charge for labor. BS- I am done.

Knitting-wise: Started and finished a hat for my father-in-law, started a herringbone pattern scarf and mini-sweater/boobholder.

Hayden love!

Hayden is done and I love it!! I wore it in the house last night after I finshed it and as much as I hate DPNs, I am ready to knit another one.

With that finished I officially have nothing on the needles. I have a hat to knit for my father-in-law but with 16 hours of sitting at a craft fair this weekend, I need more. I have 6 skeins of Wool of the Andes in Chestnut that I need to find something for. Here and the Cables from Scarf Style? Maybe.

Twisty Turns is blocking and I am liking it more and more.

Thank You SP!!

SP
Originally uploaded by lynnknits.

A little late on my pic but thank you to my Holiday SP for the great gift. 2 skeins of Biggy Print, some Disco in a great retro brown, 2 disserent types of soap, some playing cards and post-it notes! This is my first SP round and you made it wonderful. Thanks Again!

Much Better

After giving Twisty Turns and my 2 hour tirade time to simmer down, I took another look at it last night. I realized that if i turn it inside out, I have the "decorative ridge"- something that did not come to me the night before. It has grown on me and tonight I will block it with fingers crossed.

I made major progress on Hayden last night at Purly Girls. This my be the perfect project for stash busting.

I am selling some projects and other stuff (play-dough and cards) at a Craft Fair this weekend and seem to be more concerned over what project to bring as I sit there for 10 hours on Sat and 5 on Sun. I have nothing but Hayden on the needles and that will be done by then. It has to be something fairly mindless since I may have to stop knitting at any time to sell, sell, sell. Besides finding a project, I need to make some samples of my play-dough, figure out how to display my stuff, and put price tags on everything.

Twisty Times

Drum roll please.................... Twisty Turns is finished!!!! Boy, does it have a story to tell.

Sundays have turned into football day so while my husband and I watch, I knit so there was plenty of time to work. By 8PM I had finished the knitting on TT but the worst part was yet to come- the finishing. I followed the directions and marked my points A-G on the piece. Things to note before I move on: I hate to sew seams. I told my husband "I should not be starting this after 9PM. I never works right." The fireplace had been on for 6 hours with the door closed so the room was getting warm. With all that said here is what happened...

9PM- Starting sewing first set of seams.
9:20PM- Mapped out rest of piece since it wraps on itself. Got frustated when trying it on and it was too small. Getting hot with wool sweater on and having had some vodka on ice.
9:30PM- Round 2 of mapping out piece. Getting hotter. Sweater comes off.....
9:40PM- Sewing of second set of seams while sitting on floor, wearing only bra and sweatpants watching "The Posieden Adventure", hoping that Desperate Housewives is recording upstairs.
10PM- Finished but realize that "decorative ridge" only shows on one set of seams. Rip out one set, cutting wrong piece of yarn. Getting irritated with self. Husband comes in with camera to "surprise" me by taking a picture to save the moment for posterity.
10:15PM- Round 2 of second set of seams. Finish and try on over bra. Not a good look but so ready to have it finished. Looking for mirror to see how it looks (like it would wear it over only a bra anyway) Decide to put it down for the night. Block on Tuesday night.
11PM- Tells husband to remind me that next time I want to start seaming something at 9PM to think of this instance.

Look out Elmer Fudd

hat
Originally uploaded by lynnknits.

My husband requested a new hat with earflaps. I found a pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts and cast on. Here is the progress so far. Ear flaps are not my thing but I think it will look good on him.

I am making my first completely from scratch pie next week for Thanksgiving. I am a little nervous but I think I got off easy. I think I might buy some pickeled herring this weekend and bring that too. My grandpa used to bring some every year.

Tag- I'm it!

Melissa has tagged me! My first time, so be gentle...

20 Things about Me

1. I will be 32 on Christmas.
2. I work as a Marketing Manager for 4 casinos in Washington state.
3. I have been married for 2 1/2 years and have a 10 year old step-son that lives with us.
4. My favorite places are Florence, Italy, New York and Taos, NM.
5. I have a BA in Fine Art (painting), minors in French and Art History and an AA in Graphic Design.
6. My favorite movies include: Gone with the Wind, The Godfather and Waiting for Guffman.
7. I constantly have Broadway soundtracks in my CD players.
8. I have 2 brothers- One is a college baseball coach and a Jr. High detention facilitator and the other is a chef at Etta's Seafood.
9. I hate to fly but do it anyway.
10. The Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz still scares me.
11. I am a mix of Irish, Italian and Lebanese.
12. I "read" my husband's Playboy every month.
13. I love the Brady Bunch and met Christopher Knight aka Peter Brady about 10 years ago.
14. I have a weird knack for seeing obscure actors in movies and naming other movies they are in.
15. I have been to Wrestlemania.
16. I have lived in the Seattle area my whole life.
17. I haven't eaten dairy products since 2001.
18. I can play the flute and the piano.
19. I love the rain and miss it in the summer.
20. I am a quiet person and don't normally give this much info out about myself but I liked it!

I move this on and tag-
1. Laura at Poor Miss Finch
2. Mara at The Capricious Guide

Tie-One-On!

tie
Originally uploaded by lynnknits.

After 3 restarts with Suri Dream on various paterns, I finally finished Tie-One-One from Knitty.com. I am not sure if i would use this yarn again but I do like the wrap.

Some progress was made on Twisty Turns last night. Only 200 more rows!

In yarn diet news, what I lost last week, I gained this week- up 2lbs. What the fuck! This has been my story the past 6 months. I lose some and then gain it back then next week, then lose it again and gain it right back. I don't think the thought of no new yarn has hit me yet.

By the wayside...

Once again, Twisty Turns get put by the wayside. Last night I brought my husband's hat to step-son's swim lessons. Twisty was alittle too long to lug around. Once home, I only knit 2 rows. I hope to get this done in time to wear on Christmas.

Last night, we saw an ad for The Poseidon Adventure. I knew they were making a remake but not a TV version. What a cast! Steve Guttenburg, C. Thomas Howell. Where is Ally Sheedy?
This reminds me of the TV movie version of Titanic with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Marilu Henner and Peter Gallagher that came out about a year before the big screen version. I may just get sucked in.

Manic Monday

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had an MRI scheduled for the bursitis in my hips. It has been bothering me since the beginning of the year and physical therapy hasn't helped much. The docs thought it might be a good idea to get one. Since I am claustrophobic, I got some valium. I am the type of person who doesn't even take asprin or Advil so I felt like I should have been in "Valley of the Dolls" taking valium, stumbling in my high heels with a drink in my hand. It did help me though. I should hear this week from the docs.

I took the day off so I did get some knitting time. I finished my last washcloth and Tie-One-On in Suri Dream. No pics yet. I also worked on Twisty Turns but broke my vow to start a new project and started a hat for my husband. Rules were meant to be broken I guess.

Did anyone watch the stupid Catagory 7 movie on Sunday night. We caught the last hour after Desperate Housewives and the most disturbing thing happened. Randy Quaid and Shannon Dougherty flirted and kissed. Groans were heard throughout the house. Is that really necessary?

More than 50%!!!!

I have reached what I thought was the half way point in Twisty Turns last night. I have been going back and forth between making the medium or large size. Medium in 546 rows, large is 609 rows. Lately I have been making things too big so I have decided to go with the meduim which turns out is good because I only bought enough yarn to make a medium anyway. So at 300 rows, I am now 55% done! It is amazing how the little things make me happy.

Like the musical theatre geek that I am, I bought tickets to Les Miz yesterday- 7 months before it comes to town. This will be the 4th time I have seen it but this time we are taking my step-son too. We are already going to Mamma Mia in Dec and are going to be buying tickets for the Sound of Music too. I keep wanting to go back to New York but I think we would need to budget $$$ to see a show every night. Yes, I am a nerd!

Back to Basics

First of all, thanks to my Holiday SP for the card. I got it yesterday and it was the highlight of my day! I am so excited about participating in this.

I decided to get back to basics and K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid!). Why have I started and finshed 500 other projects while Twisty Turns is being ignored? What happen to my rule of only 2 projects at a time? I have 3 going now. Twisty Turns is now my priority. Sure, it is over 600 rows but I have 262 done. When I was at Purly Girls on Monday, I got 30 rows done in about half an hour. This really shouldn't take long to finish. I worked on it last night and this morning. Sure, I have made this pledge before but no more new projects until I finish what is on the needles already.

In Yarn Diet news, I lost 1.2lbs this week. only 6.8 left to go and I can buy more yarn!

Knitting widow?

I have heard of football widows but a knitting widow? That is what my husband called himself last night. He was joking but it got me to thinking that I do knit just about every night. Not that I totally ignore him. It is usually done while we are watching tv together and I do carry on conversations and not just sit there enthralled in my knitting. So no guilt here as evidence in my projects last night.

I had the Cocktail Monkey Bag knit but could not get the motivation to line it and sew on the trim. Well, last night we got a phone call that the girl I am giving it to is having be B-day party on Friday.. motivation!!! I finally got it all finshed.

Suri Dream has become my new foe. I cannot for the life of me find anything to knit with it. It just sits there looking at me like it kicked my ass. So yesterday I found Tie-One-On. I started it last night. I hope I have enough to finish it. I have already started and frogged 3 times with this yarn. Is there bad mojo woven in there?

Finished Projects and a Frog

Finally, I get a hold of the camera. I think one will be on my Christmas list. Anyway, here is the finished circular shrug. This is the 2nd time I have put it on and I have to say it has grown on me. At first I was a little peeved that it didn't close all t he way but now I think I might just wear it open. It was done in Caron Simply Soft in grape. The yarn was nice for $2.50 a skein. I have half a skein left over. Any suggestions?


I have finished 2 flower washclothes and yes, started a 3rd last night in yellow. I kind of feel like an old lady knitting these up but they are cute, cheap and a great gift for Christmas. The pink is in Rowan handknit cotton and the multi-colored one is Sugar n' Cream.

Yes, I have a frogging to report. The Spiderweb Caplet is no longer. I was making way too many mistakes and after thinking about it, I don't really think I would wear it. The yarn is nice though. I might try Glampyre's mini-sweater from it.

Where's the camera?

In my husband's truck. Hence- no pics. I finished another washcloth and seemed to be addicted as I am started yet another one tonight. I think they will make cute stocking stuffers with a bar of soap wrapped in the middle.

Twisty Turns is not really holding my interest. I am bringing it tonight to Purly Girls in hopes of making some progress. In the meantime, I started the Spiderweb Caplet from SnB Nation in Suri Dream from KnitPicks. I think the yarn will hide many sins as my lace experience is limited. Keeping my finger crossed.

Sunday was spent wine and beer tasting. (drunk by 3pm). We bought a few bottles here and there and found a great gift idea. Next weekend one of the wineries is doing a Bottle/Label Your Own Wine event. We can personalize the label. Perfect!!

3 down, 1 to go!

Today is the final day of setting up displays at work. I am averaging 4 hours at each location. We will see what today brings.

I finished the first flower washcloth! I also hit the 200 row mark in Twisty Turns. Tomorrow is picture mayhem day so I will post pics then.

This weekend is looking like a rainy one. We thought about leaving town but I think we are headed to a couple wineries locally on Sunday. After a very long week, I might treat myself to a manicure. I haven't had one since my wedding day over 2 years ago. I think I am due for another.

Shop away!

Not much knitting to report.

I finally got everything but a couple of items bought for the promotion. 2 trips by 2 SUVs to Best Buy and another trip to Fry's. That part is done. Today is distribution day. The 2 closest places get their's today. Tomorrow and Friday the farther ones.

I have starting buying for my Holiday SP. I hope she likes the stuff!

Ho-Hum Halloween

So for the past couple of years, we have had only 2 or 3 trick-or-treaters come to our house. This year we decided to buy Rolos at Costco and use the left overs to make mock-Turtles at xmas time. Well this year we set a record. 0-yes, 0 trick-or-treaters. I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm watching Dawn of the Dead. It was a real rip roarin' time at our house.

Before I called it a night, I did get started on the flower washclothes, 3 petals done and started skein #3 on Twisty Turns.

I have been so exhausted lately. I am in charge of buying $40,000 worth of gifts for a promotion at work. You would think that would be fun but dealing with inept store managers and the logistics of getting these items to 4 different locations 60 miles apart is taking a toll. I tried to plan this out and started a month ago but it comes down to things beyond my control that are slowing it down. Everything is supposed to be bought and displayed by Friday. 4 days to go. Today is get shit done day!