Friday!

It's the Bookish Game! Stolen from Rose who stole it from Little Turtle Knits.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually next to you

The book I have next to me - please accept my apologies - is Oregon Rules of Court.

The sentence in question is:

The claim of a privilege, whether in the present proceeding or upon a prior occasion, is not a proper subject of comment by judge or counsel.

I work in a law firm, therefore, I have legal books around me.


24 Knits has a Friday Three today:

*List 3 words you hate in the English language, if you actually have some.
Bitch
Nigger
Faggot

*List 3 fashion statements you'd like to never see again.
Lycra/Spandex
Bell bottoms
Belly shirts

*List 3 traits that are an absolute requirement in a significant other.
Honesty
Attraction
Respect

The best bag ever

I am soooo excited! This weekend I found the best knitting bag ever and I just wanted to share! The lady at my LYS said that the company who makes it (who just happens to be the company who makes those Scrapbooking bags that are all over - Crop In Style), are discontinuing them and they are not going to exist. There is no zippers, no velcro. The top closes - which is good for people who live in the wet Pacific Northwest, and for people who are nervous about people getting into their bags. There is a needle bag included (which does have a zipper on the outside). The inside is lined with a white fabric so you can see what is in there. If you want one, you can contact either my LYS or http://www.cropinstyle.com/. Mine cost $55.


The best bag ever

I believe I need to clarify - as I often do in life. The bag is going to be hard to find, and it is not on their site. I would like people to flood their site with requests for this bag. The only reason my LYS has this is because one of their customers (the way I understand it) works for or with Crop In Style and has access to this bag. Crop In Style is or has discontinuing/ed this bag. I think we should all scream for it!!! This is the Best Bag Ever! Every knitter should have one (except for those who don't want one).

Jenni

????

Well, we weren't able to get our camera phones this weekend. So you will have to wait until some future date. SORRY!

I want in!

There was a mention in this post that I might see some tea if I posted a link to Adagio website, so being the cheap slut I am, I am posting away in hopes of free stuff! I have never tried their tea, and until reading afore-mentioned blog, I never heard of them, I would like to try it.

I had a hard weekend. WIP update. There were three things on my list to finish. One was my brother's sweater. Thanks to Rose, the sweater was finished in time for giving - one checked off my list. Another item was my blue cardigan. There is a huge flaw in my cardigan! The pattern is top-down. The sleeves are left live and picked up later. However, the holes are not big enough to be sleeves. I REALLY don't want to frog the whole thing and re knit it. It was really hard to finish knitting this as it is stockinette stitch all the way around. Like 200 stitches. I had to force myself to finish all that mindless stockinette. It got old, fast. I wanna wear it. I know there is such thing as steeking, but I do not know how to do it. I am not sure I want to guess on this sweater. Last but not least, Mariah. I had more than 11" done on the sleeve when I had to pull it out. I cried! Someday I will be experienced enough at cables (hopefully) that I can frog back just enough to fix a big gap in the cables, but I had to frog back all the way to where the middle knot work started. Then I took it to my stitch n bitch meeting and lost my place and had to frog again. Then Sunday evening I had to frog again. I am not mad, because I know it is new and I am learning. I am not even frustrated as much as I should be. However, I know it is time to take a break from Mariah in order to get some perspective. Right now, she is sitting on the coffee table so I do not forget her.

I have shoulder length hair. I hate it!



Jenni



I am going to get it cut. SHORT!


Me & Marcus

I had it short most of my life. About four years ago I decided to grow it out. I can't get it to do anything I like. (Except when it is in pony tail and is holding a DPN, cable needle, or yarn needle. That is quite handy.) I told myself I would cut it either when it got warmer out or when I got around to making myself a hat and scarf set. I cast on for the scarf Sunday night. It is teal and a K3P2 rib with garter stitch edging. I might get my hair cut before the weekend. I am not telling my DH - he will be happy - I wanna just walk in the house with short hair. I can't wait to see his face.

My Secret Pal hadn't sent me anything since we were assigned, and I got worried, so I sent a note to the Moderator, and it is a good thing I did, because I found out that my pal had been trying to send me messages, but kept getting error messages back, so I gave the moderator my work email address and today I had a card from my secret pal in my email box - THANKS WHOEVER YOU ARE!!!

Quick post

I have a three-day weekend coming up, so you won't hear from me until Tuesday or after.

Friday Eve....

That makes me feel better about Thursdays.

I got a couple of comments on my post from yesterday that I wanted to reply to. K asked what yarn I am using for Mariah. It is Cascade 22o I got on Ebay. As far as I can tell, it is true red. I never saw a color name on the label. I have a label at home.

Also Violet told me that people read my blog regularly. I feel so honored. I have been writing mostly for me, hoping that someone does what I do when I find a new blog - read from the beginning.

Usually on Wednesdays I take my boys to the church class they take and then go to my LYS and knit with whoever is there, but lately it has been sooo busy. So, I walked in, bought some double point 2's and 1's, looked at some yarn, found some stitch markers, paid and walked out. Then, I went to another yarn store, looked around, checked out thier new coffee shop, bought some yarn for a hat and scarf for me, some yarn for my secret pal, and walked out. Then I went to church to pick up the boys. I had enough time left over to knit a bit while I waited. I usually get more knitting done on Wednesdays. There is also a SnB group that meets near my job at lunch, but I got to talking to a co-worker and couldn't leave in time. However, I am a little more than 11 inches up the sleeve on Mariah. She is working up much faster. There are some mistakes in it, but for my first cable project, she looks GREAT! The second sleeve will look better.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Violet, so here goes:

1. How much space is left on your Tivo or Comcast Box? We don’t have either of these, but if we did, it would be a lot of space, probably, because if I tape stuff, I never get around to watching it, so I don’t tape stuff, much.

2. Have you ever bought a DVD of TV Series and if so, which one? I received MASH from my husband for my birthday. He has WAAAAYYYY to many to mention - Star Trek being at the top of the list. He LOVES DVDs of TV Series.

3. What was the last TV show that you watched before reading this message? Well, I haven’t watched tv today, yet. But last night the last show was Law & Order SVU.

4. List five shows you won't miss? I am not sure how to read this. The way I read it, it means which shows come on tv that you won’t miss when they come on. If that is the case, then the answer is: I love West Wing, Law & Order (the original, only, really), American Dreams, American Idol and Strong Medicine.
However, if the question means “what shows will you not miss, should they go off the air?” I would say all reality shows, and all shows in the spirit, including, The Simpsons.

5. Name 3 people to whom you will pass this stick. I know people don’t like these things to much, so I can’t bring myself to send this on, unless someone lets me know they want it.

I know this will wear off the same way receiving jokes via email wore off, but I really like these things and am grateful to Violet for thinking of me. It means people do think of me. Even if it is just "Oh, she will like it - she is wierd enough to like those dang things."

I got a fair distance on Mariah sleeve #1. Plus, I have a meet-up today, so, hopefully, I can make some more headway. The pic was taken on the scanner. Even though you can't see the end, that is it. I guess I need to hurry up and get a camera, I can't use the scanner for this sleeve, anymore.


Mariah beginning of sleeve

WIP Update

Well, since Jodi brought it up, I thought I would update my WIP Along. I finished Ben's sweater Friday, and I keep trying to work on my blue cardigan. I would be pretty close to done, if I didn't have to keep frogging what I just finished. I made some small progress on Mariah's #1 sleeve. I am only doing one at a time because I figure then (hopefully) the second one will look better than the first from what I figure out while doing the first. I am, however, done with the front (both sides) and the back.

WHOO HOOO!!!

Well, I finally got Ben's sweater finished!! I finished seaming it on Friday night, and blocked it on Saturday. I think it was probably still damp when he opened it, but maybe not. He opened it to lots of ooohhhs and aaahhhss and passed it around to even more oooohhhhs and aaaahhhhs. My dad was the first to ask if I made it. And then said it was good. That is the first time he has complimented my work - I beamed! I know he had been proud of me before, but this is the first time he has conveyed this. I called Ben yesterday to find out about fit, and he was very pleased. He is a bit tall, therefore, his arms are a bit long and cause him some trouble with clothing often. However, even though I didn't realize this while I was making the sweater, it fit perfectly, he said.


The sweater

My friend, Jennifer, came down from Ft. Lewis with her digital camera, which is why you get pics today - the camera phones we probably won't get until Friday or so. Therefore, here is my husband in his birthday vest.

My husband's vest

Jennifer's baby came with her...

Me and the baby

Just for good measure, here is Marcus, with his vest, the happiest baby I have ever seen, and the spoiled pooch.

Pictures

Boy was it funny to have a baby in the house! We had a dog and a 7 year old who were extremely jealous! My baby (not the dog) who is now 7 loves acting like a baby - even though it drives me crazy! People have always told him how beautiful his blue eyes are. Perfect strangers on the street comment. He has heard it so much that he says "I hate it when people say that." Malik and DeAndre' were with the baby and Malik noticed that this baby had blue eyes, too - just like his brother. So, he said "DeAndre, look, she has blue eyes like you!" DeAndre' looked and said "They don't look blue to me!"

Then the dog - whenever I would talk to the baby (I guess I should mention her name is Maya) I would say stuff like "Pretty girl" and "Baby" - of course, these are names my dog answers to. She was very annoyed. Then Marcus would have the nerve to hold the baby. She really didn't like that. Maisy would jump up on him every time.

Update on the sweater

I did get to seam up the sides on Ben’s sweater. At this point, a vest would be better - except I can’t see him in a vest. I vented in this forum and this one. If I wanna get this done and get my 4 oz of handspun, I gotta figure out a way to fix the armhole/sleeve connection. I have started the neck.

Since I can’t access anything at home, I will have to update you (all) on Monday.

PRAY FOR ME!!!!!!!

Just found a new, free online, knitting magazine -
http://www.spunmag.com/index.html

A person on the train last night was very interested in my knitting. He asked me some general questions and then asked "who is it for?" When I said "Me." I thought he was gonna fall out of his seat!

Completion issues...

So, I whined about my brother's sweater on Knitter's Review, and I got this response. So, I will get this sweater done by Friday night so it can block on Saturday.

I took Mariah to my lunch SnB yesterday and am now up to about 4" of the sleeve (see pic yesterday). Last night in bed I worked on my cardigan and got one button band done!

I seem to be making progress all around! YEAH!!!

Pray for me!!!

WIP

I have started to not love knitting. I couldn't figure out why until last night. I have never - you read right - never made anything for myself. Plus, my brother’s sweater is driving me crazy (I know, not a long trip). Last night I was working on it and realized that the stripes from the front to the back were not lining up. So, I had to take the seam out and start again. I need to get this WIP finished, along with the cardigan for me that has been waiting for nearly 3 years!! It was supposed to be like my second project. I wasn’t ready for it when I started it, and I didn’t work on it for a long time cause I didn’t know what I was doing. Then it didn’t have a deadline. I found it last night and started by ripping out the (what do you call it? Where the buttons/button holes are gonna go?). I picked up stitches there wrong last time I worked on it. After reading Jodi's blog, and seeing her vow to finish 9 WIP’s, I am going to try to be done with this cardigan by…it shouldn’t take long after I do the what-do-you-call-them-again’s (both sides need to be done) I just have the sleeves. It is a top down cardigan in my favorite blue. I will love it when it is done. Then I am going to finish Mariah. Then I will have two things for myself. And that dang blasted sweater for Ben will be finished shortly, which should all help out my knitting funk.

Wish me luck. Kick me in the pants.

I'm sorry (change of topic) - who didn't already know this? They had to commission a study for this?????

Study finds unloaded, locked-up guns safer

Gun owners who store their weapons unloaded and locked up and separately from their ammunition significantly reduce the risk that children will shoot themselves or another child, a study has found. University of Washington researchers looked at 106 shootings by children and teens younger than 20 in Washington, Oregon and Missouri, comparing gun-storage details in those cases with storage in 480 houses where no shooting took place. They found that guns involved in child shootings were 73 percent less likely to be in locked storage than in other houses, and 70 percent less likely to be stored unloaded. The guns used in shootings were also 61 percent less likely to have ammunition locked up and 55 percent less likely to be stored separately from ammunition.
"In summary, storing household guns as locked, unloaded, or separate from the ammunition is associated with significant reductions in the risk of unintentional and self-inflicted firearm injuries and deaths among adolescents and children," the authors write in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Mariah

The sleeve is like so:


Mariah

Mardi Gras

Not that I do anything for it, but I do know it is there.

Well, I will soon be joining the land of the living late next week when my DH and I get camera phones. I know the quality is not as good as cameras, but beggars can't be choosers.

Then you all can finally see pics of my FO's, WIP's and other assorted knitting stuff.

Let's see...

I haven't posted since Thursday. Let's see what there is to add. I am right now working on Mariah. I am up to row 3 on Chart C. Row 2 was the first time EVER that I have done a YO. Thanks to knitting help.com, I realized how easy it is!

Malik had a Chess competition on Saturday from 8:30 - 3:00 (that is what they told us, it actually ended at 1:30.) I brought my brother's sweater with me to weave in ends. I finished that. Yesterday I worked on seaming it up - I didn't work on it too much, though, cause I want it to be done too much - no longer inspired with it. However, it is close.

I started a sweater for myself the other day. It is out of The Purl Stitch book. The two toned top. Except I am using only one color. Sort of a burgundy.

I found a sweater for my dad for father's day or his birthday - only 11 days apart this year. It is in Vogue Knitting Special for Men magazine. I don't remember the name of it, but it is shown on page 65. I had to do some research on yarn to use, and I think I am going to get Dive/Lana Borgesesia Cotone Egitto from WEBS. The total will be $61.83. It is the best price I found.

A guy that works here finally got around to asking me what my desktop on my computer was supposed to be

My desktop

I think he had been wondering for awhile. So I said "Yarn, of course." He asked me if I sew and I said, no, cause I hate it. He said that is strange, and I said not really - a lot of knitters hate sewing. (Not all, I realize - I just didn't want to be strang(er than I am)). He said that it is too bad because if I sewed, I could actually make something useful! WTF. He has something about wearing red socks on/for Christmas. Guess what he is getting next year from me!!!

Well, I guess that is it for now.

More tomorrow (or the next day).

Almost TGIF

However, it is sure not shaping up to be a good day. Before I even got on the train this morning, my day was already shot. First of all, there are two trains I can catch, the one I like to catch but usually miss, and the one I ususally catch. The first one is simply a little earlier and I like that. I drove into the park & ride, and saw the train I wanted going by - not only does that mean I have to catch the second one, I have to wait outside in the cold for it to come. Nope, gonna stay in the car until the second one gets closer. While in the car, I remember that I forgot to wear a jacket to work. I am always cold at work, and I wore a short sleeve dress. I meant to grab a jacket, but forgot! I forgot my phone at home. I forgot my kit of knitting tools, which means if I drop a stitch, I better figure out a way without a crochet hook to get it. I listen to books on tape on the way in and again on the way out. I had my walkman, but the tape in it was already on side two and almost done. I finished it in no time, and had no replacement. Then I get in to work, and my boss asks me a question (before I have even had coffee) and doesn't tell me what he is talking about - something like "what is this?" Doesn't tell me what this is, just points to the copier, because he is copying something. I am supposed to know what he is referring to without looking at it and without the benefit of coffee. Now I just realized I am supposed to meet my step-father at Walgreens with a picture CD so he can make copies of the pictures - guess what I forgot at home.

KNITTING CONTENT

Yesterday I finished the sleeve for my brother's sweater. Now on to weaving in ends, blocking, and seaming. I got to the start of the decreases of the toe of my sock. I will finish that tonight. I got the first shipment of my Barnes & Noble order yesterday when I got home. I got "The Knit Stitch" and "The Purl Stitch."

BIRTHDAY UPDATE

Well, like I said yesterday, DeAndré got to pick whatever he wanted to eat for dinner. He picked Top Ramen. He really liked his penguin I knitted him. It was the last thing he opened. Penguins are his favorite, so first he saw a penguin and was excited. Then he realized I knit it and he looked so honored. He didn't let go of it for the rest of the night. Good times!

Purling Puppies Ring

I wanted to be a member of the Purling Puppies Ring, but I didn't know how to add buttons. Now that I do, I have to post a picture of my dog (such a hardship!) Her name is Maisy. She is 4 1/2. We have had her for two years. We got her from the pound. We are pretty sure she was abused. I have no proof of this. The facts are as follows... She is a girl. When I picked her out I thought she was a boy, cause she had one of those leather collars that had studs all around it. I picked her out on a Sunday, but I couldn't take her home until Wednesday because the pound said they had to take her to get her fixed. When I picked her up, she had awful dandruff and she needed a bath. She couldn't take a bath for a week because she had had surgery. She had a foster mom before me who informed me that she doesn't like men much. She had a foster mom because she had just given birth. So, she was in the pound with (but kept separate from) her puppies. Her name used to be Mugs. I think the people who owned her before thought she was a boy and expected her to stay outside for long periods of time. When she got "knocked up" they took her to the pound. So, she was taken to the pound in October, then moved to a foster home, then brought back to the pound, then separated from her babies, then went home with me. She was terrified of my boys - then ages 4 and 7. She jumped at anything. It took her about 3 months until she barked. Now, she lets the boys pet her. She loved my husband from the moment she laid eyes on him. The dandruff means she is really scared! Now, the reveal:



My baby girl


Purling Puppies 

BUTTONS! BUTTONS!!!

Look, quick before they go away! I have buttons!!! That was a big baby step! I never would have been able to do it without the help of my sister! She has nothing to link to, so if you would please send her good wishes, it would be very much appreciated. Or comments, as she might check the site every so often to continue to help me.

Theresa check out the comments in case there is a message for you!


Theresa and Jenni

Happy Birthday to DeAndré - My baby boy is 7!!! We will have cake and whatever dinner he wants - if I have the stuff on hand to make it.



Daddy and DeAndre' 

I'm soooo excited.....

And I just can't hide it!!!

I just found out that my boss' sister has a farm nearby where she raises sheep. I might get the hook-up to get some roving. I don't currently spin, but I am definitely interested in it!

Music Meme

I am the requested recipient of this Music Meme from Marnie. So, here goes:

1. Total number of music files on your computer?
None - I listen to LaunchCast, and the radio mostly.

2. CD you last bought.
Probably Luther Vandross' "Dance with My Father" It was a long time ago, but I don't listen to CD's much. My husband bought two copies of New Edition's One Love - one for me and one for him.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
“Close the Door” by Teddy Pendergrass

4. 5 songs you often listen to, or which mean a lot to you?
I think I will do artists, instead.

1. Luther Vandross
2. Al Green
3. Reba McEntire
4. Teddy Pendergrass
5. Eric Benet

5. Who are you going to pass this on to and why?
I think I will copy Marnie’s post and say “I'm not going to transmit my meme unless someone is willing to volunteer to be infected. It was fun enough but I don't like to put folks on the spot.”