« October 2005 | Main | December 2005 »
November 30, 2005
Wealth
Click here for the true story.
What fabulous riches gained from yarn! Yarn conceived, created, sold, purchased, gifted by interesting and engaging women. Who just so happen to be very special friends. The socks, well, they warm my feet, but more importantly, they warm my heart! Thank you!
Posted by Cara at 03:42 PM | Comments (38)
She Shoots SHE SCORES!
The Devils pulled it out with a stunning goal right out of the face off with literally 30 seconds left in regulation to break the tie. I'll have to make it up to The Beantown Girls this weekend. Sorry honeys.
Georgie and I had a really fun night. I've been to a lot of sporting events in my life and I have to say, hockey is the absolute best to watch in person. On TV, not so much - very hard to keep track of the puck. But there's nothing like the smell of the ice, the cold, the collective gasps and cheers of the crowd. G used to have a job that allowed us lots of free hockey games - especially in Philly. We had great seats - right behind the Flyer bench and man those games were fun. BEST.SPORTS.EVENT.EVER: We were there, Game 7, when the Devils beat Anaheim in 2003. Oh my god. Never have I had more fun. The screaming didn't end! There is nothing like Lord Stanley's Cup. Nothing. I always cry when they bring it out on TV - in person - it was just spectacular.
In the early Seventies, my grandmother was the book keeper for the Philadelphia Blazers. They didn't last long as a team, but when we were growing up whenever we went to my grandparents we would play office with all of the stationery and stuff from the team - what memories this logo has for me!
There was also this amazing picture of my grandmother and Hockey Legend Bernie Parent. Awesome. I found a Blazers Jersey on ebay - signed by Parent. Hmmm. My birthday's awfully close - except G says you can't wear it because you can't wash it.
The other thing I love about hockey is the ice skating - this may seem kind of obvious, but I defy you to be there, in person, watching those men, so graceful and FAST, and not want to strap on a pair of skates. For awhile I considered taking hockey skating lessons - and maybe joining a league, but I never did. It's nights like tonight that I really want to again.
Georgie let me knit during the intermissions at the game and guess what? I love my Jaywalker socks. I forgot how much I love the pattern, and especially the yarn. I'm back to the Carbon Socks and it's just wonderful. The thing that's so obsessive about these socks for me, as I was telling Jen today, is that is so easy to hit those markers - you know - look how far I've gotten, why not keep going? I cast on and do my twelve rows of ribbing and next thing I know I've got ten pattern repeats done. Well it's only another fifteen pattern repeats before it's time to start the heel. And once you start the heel, you've got to finish the gusset. And once you finish the decreases you're at about 37 repeats - and then it's only 20 more until you start decreasing the toe - and well - then you're done. You see what I'm saying? You're always hitting the next step and how can you stop then? I'm hoping to have this pair finished by the weekend. I want to wear them out with the girls.
I'm blogging tonight, it's technically Wednesday, because I'm driving G to an appoinment REALLY early tomorrow and when I get home I need to concentrate on classwork. So no blogging for me tomorrow. Besides, by the time FUCKLINES updates me it'll be around noon anyway!
Have a great day!
Posted by Cara at 12:50 AM | Comments (9)
November 29, 2005
Better Pals ROCK!
Yesterday I received my third and final present from my Better Pal. As some of you may know, the Better Pal exchange was purposefully kept small and intimate and everyone kind of knew at least a few of the people involved. I was lucky enough to NOT know my better pal gifter or my giftee (you can figure out which is which.)
My exchange had a decidedly INTERNATIONAL flavor as both gifter and giftee live outside my home country. How amazing is that?! Every time I got a gift from my pal, G would get all excited! It's like he was a little kid and wanted to collect the stamps or something.
Because of the intimate nature of the exchange, it would've been VERY easy for me to find out who my pal was. I mean, c'mon, it's not like there are a lot of bloggers from her country - in fact, every time I mentioned where my pal was from people were more than ready to tell me who she was. I was beginning to think she was THE ONLY blogger from this country. Alas, I think she's not. But it was pretty funny when I was googling around the internets one day looking for sock patterns or something and I came across this blogger and I was reading some posts and then I realized SHE WAS FROM NORWAY! FUCK! My better pal is from Norway and she's the ONLY NORWEGIAN BLOGGER OUT THERE!!!! Damn. Damn. Damn. I wanted to keep it a secret until the big reveal.
So when I got my last package it wasn't a total suprise to find out that Kris of s t r i k k e r fame was my better pal!
One of the things I loved best about getting Kris's gifts was that she always wrapped them in color coordinating paper. Oranges, or Reds/Pinks and lastly Blues. So cheery! And besides some decious Rowan Yarn in my first package, all of the items in the gifts seemed to be made in Norway! Even the yarn! YAY! That's been a real treat! Something different. Something I couldn't get for myself, you know. This last package had some chocolate, some gummy feet (you guys have the BEST gummies!), some much needed handcream (Thank you! How did you know?) and some delicious silk/alpaca eggplant yarn. YAY for better pals.
I have to say, that while the presents are fun to get and it's nice to be spoiled, the best part of this exchange is that I really feel like Kris and I made a connection. Hopefully it wasn't just on my end, but we seemed to have a lot in common and I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with her. Thank you Kris! You made all my secret pal swap exchange dreams come true! And I should know - I've been BURNED before!
On the flip side, my better pal giftee was Nicole of Craftapalooza located in The Land Down Under! Talk about intimidating! Nicole is one crafty girl. I'm not crafty. I knit. That's the extent of my craftiness. Nicole, on the other hand, is one of the founding hosts of Back Tack - that super cool exchange where you actually MAKE things for your pal. Crafty things. So not me. I have to admit, I was nervous - but it was an opportunity to think out of the box. I studied her blog. I read her questionnaire and in the end I think I did a pretty good job! Nicole seems happy at least. So job well done for all of us!
And of course there's the whole torture Ann thing. Better fun could not have been had. Sheer unadulterated delight. Now that's the kind of torture I can get behind! The fact that Margene was behind the whole thing - well - let's just say that it was definitely worth all that postage to Australia! I've signed up for the next one and a big thank you goes out to Rock Chick and Shobhana for organizing the whole shebang! Thanks girls! This is the first time I haven't been burned in an exchange. I appreciate it!
Wonderful friends and presents aside, I'm in a shitty mood. Kind of like all work and no play makes Cara a dull girl. The truth is I'm bored. I don't do bored well. But I'm in that kind of ennui type bored where nothing seems interesting and I still have a lot of work to get done so I can't really abandon everything and jump into something and my house is a mess - beyond mess - it's ready to be condemned so I don't want to even leave the office because it just reminds me what a horrible wife I am that my husband works so, so hard all day long and comes home to a shithole because I can't manage my time better. Oh and also I hate any kind of work around the house. HATE IT. I'm not satisfied with my knitting, which is my stress relief these days so it's kind of making me more stressed. Last night, prime knitting time, I just laid in bed and watched my soap operas (Another World, repeats on SoapNet) while my sock sat RIGHT NEXT TO ME and I didn't do anything. I tried to cast on for mittens but got the stitches on the needles and gave up. I want to be inspired! I want to go to sleep thinking about waking up the next morning because I can't wait to work on whatever it is I'm working on! Mary is unbelieveably inspiring these days and her enthusiasm is infectious but the idea of casting on for a swatch makes me want to cry. There are so many things I have on the needles or want to put on the needles I'm overwhelmed and nothing feels right, you know. Thank god for the Jaywalkers because I don't think I'd be getting ANY knitting done if it wasn't for them.
Enough bitching. Back to the grind. Some Bruce. Some gummy bears. I'll be fine. ;-)
Posted by Cara at 09:56 AM | Comments (17)
November 28, 2005
Crossed In Translation 2 - Questions Answered!
Hey Everybody! Yeah you - the ones from the AranKnit group on Yahoo and the people coming over from the KnittyBlog and anyone else who's interested in making this fantastic sweater.
Here are some details for you about the KAL:
The Crossed In Translation KnitAlong doesn't technically start until JANUARY 1. It's a birthday present of sorts to MOI. (Get it? The name of the blog. My birthday. Ahh. The newbies!) I will be setting up a separate blog for the KAL. It doesn't have a URL yet. (I'm busy, okay?) It's been suggested by a few people that maybe I would set up a Yahoo group - I'm not going that way. Basically, I don't like the Yahoo group thing. I find them hard to navigate and annoying and if I don't get the eight million emails a day I forget to go over there and check things and the emails are annoying so I never check. But with a blog everyone can subscribe to the RSS feed and then you can be updated the way you are with all your other blogs and everyone can post pictures and questions and it'll just be one big love fest.
So that's how it's going to work. I figure Jan 1 is safe because by that time everyone will have gotten their books and the holidays will be over and we'll be settling in for a nice boring winter with a wonderful project. YAY!
Hope that answers a lot of the questions. I will try to get the blog up as soon as possible, but I'm not promising anything until January 1. Thanks so much! I'm excited about all the interest and I know that we'll all make the most fabulous sweaters!
Posted by Cara at 05:06 PM | Comments (17)
Spinner's Beware!
Forgot to mention - I had the freakiest dream this morning. I was in some kind of office setting and I was showing this young woman all of my fiber - and all the little balls/batts/whatever were wrapped up so pretty with bows and wrapping paper and I was telling her all the things she could do with the fiber. Like make clothes or something. I don't know where I went, but when I came back she was gone and so was all my fiber! She STOLE my fiber! I was running around telling everyone she stole it and I knew she didn't know how to spin, so when I found her I confronted her and told her that I had put a call into the syndicate (you know who you are) telling them NOT TO SPIN FOR HER! If she approached them, take the fiber and send it back to me.
I swear this was my dream.
That wheel can't come fast enough!
Posted by Cara at 11:35 AM | Comments (12)
Thundercrack!
baby's back.
This time she'll tell me how she really feels.
This post will have something for everyone! Consider it Random Wednesday. Only it's Monday.
As I mentioned on Friday, Thanksgiving went really well. The food was great, company better and it all went off without incident. Except for the fact that my sister got a cold Wednesday night and felt miserable all day Thursday, it couldn't have gone better. My contribution (besides watching the kids off and on all day to keep them out of their mom's hair and vaccuuming) was a salad. I modeled it after my favorite salad of all time from Gigino's in NYC. It's the Peperina salad and I made it with mixed baby lettuces, shaved pear, shaved parmesan, pecans (I thought they used pecans, but I guess they use walnuts) and pomegranate seeds sprinkled with white balsamic vinegar. I was really pleased with how it came out and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
I've got no pictures of the kids because I didn't take my camera with me. I know. Blasphemy. But I'm sick of taking pictures and I'd just download them to the computer and they would sit there. Besides this was a break from photography work and it worked because yesterday I got A LOT of work done and I'm feeling like I'm back on track. At least a little bit. But I got a lot of cuddle time with the kids and they got their new bunk beds which was a trip in and of itself. My nephew ended up sleeping on the bottom bunk and my niece slept with me on the floor. The baby is big as can be - if I could only show you his monster thighs - but he's so much fun! He giggles nonstop and just smiles so sweet and he's such a cuddler. This is definitely one of my favorite ages. They're still babies, but they can engage you in that wide eyed wonderful way. All you have to do is smile and his whole face lights up. I miss them.
I hit the mail jackpot on Friday. Georgie was particularly impressed. I always call him to find out about the mail when I'm away and his standard reply is junk junk and more junk. This time HE called ME. There were lots of lovely thank you cards from all those boxes I sent out the other day - so sweet! An email is plenty, but a card? In the mail? For me? I was really touched. Thank YOU! Vicki's card was my favorite - check out this knitted thank you:
I tried to find the card on the artist's website, but it wasn't there. Hey Vicki! Where'd you get the card? It's SO LaPierre!
But what really impressed Georgie was the package from Hong Kong. I got my Crossed In Translation book! Yay! The book is really beautiful - think Rowan meets the House of the Rising Sun. And the freaking pattern is TWO pages. Lucky for us, knitalongers, there's barely any words to go along with the pattern. It's all charts and schematics. We should be able to figure this out no problem, right? G-Love thinks I've completely lost it. He may be right.
Oh and rest assured, seeing the sweater in it's native language has only made me love it more.
She slips, she slides, she slops, she bops, she bumps, she grinds
Now if only I could stop making socks:
Kaci - this pictures for you! Mwah!
I finished one...
and started another!
For all you Jaywalkers out there, I'm planning on doing an FAQ for this Friday's update. So if you have questions - let me know in the comments, or in an email. And don't forget you can always email me or Kathy (who, by the way, is an inspiration to me! First Jaywalker, and now Grumpecue! Kathy, you're killing me!) Basically everyone seems to have similar issues, so we'll address them this week. Namely gauge and the bar increases (yes - the holes are supposed to be there! It's a design thing! ;-) ) But if you've got other questions, let me know.
My heart's wood, she's a carpenter
She's an angel in the night, what she does is alright
As much as I love my socks, I'm sort of getting frustrated with myself. It's like I can't knit ANYTHING else. I think about all these projects I want to knit - mittens, finish my gloves, work on the Prairie Blanket. I just can't seem to concentrate. I'm trying to go with the flow like Margene says, but I'm antsy. And this doesn't just relate to my knitting either - when's the last time I read a book? Can someone tell me please? How pathetic is that?
We're not going to even discuss the fact that I just got off the phone with the embryo people - I was late on my payment to keep those totsicles frozen. When's that shrink appointment again?
Dance with me, partner, dance with me, partner
Dance with me, partner, all night
If you've got the DVD, make sure you watch the supplemental material on documentary disc. I can't stop watching Thundercrack. Over and over and over again. It's simply stunning. DO IT! WATCH IT NOW! You can thank me later.
Posted by Cara at 10:16 AM | Comments (18)
November 25, 2005
Jaywalker Two!
I hope everyone had a great Thursday or a fantastic Thanksgiving - whichever the case may be. We had one of the best Thanksgiving's we've had a while - the food was terrific - company was good - and everyone went home stuffed and happy. I'll be here until Saturday hanging with the kiddos, but that doesn't mean business stops. Here we have the FIRST Jaywalker Update! Yay! Now, most of this information I collected Wednesday, so everyone might have finished their socks by now. Let me know if you have. Also, if you don't have a blog and want to show off your socks, send me the pictures and I'll post them here. We want to see everyone's socks, so don't be shy! Oh and if I missed you, I'm really sorry! Send an email to cara at januaryone dot com with Jaywalker update in the subject line or leave a comment here if you want to be in the updates. Thanks everyone! Have fun!
~Adele's socks, in DG Confetti, are kicking her arse, but I hope she's gotten a reign on them because I LOVE the colors she's chosen.
~Adelle's got a gorgeous pair going in Lorna's Laces Gold Hill.
~Alison is making some hot pink and purple jaywalkers - even though it's summer down under.
~Anita's already got one done. She dyed the yarn herself with Kool-Aid. Cool!
~Another convert born. Bethe thinks we should rename the socks Jayrocker. If I'm not mistaken, she's using Rock Star socks that rock. Excellent choice!
~Blueadt is making some very cool Tiger Jaywalkers. She has to rip back a bit, but we know she'll roaring to go in no time! (Forgive me. These updates are hard.)
~Bridget went out and got a blog - just for our updates. Go over and say hi and tell her how great her Seal Rock STR Jaywalkers look!
~Carrie's already on her second sock, in Lorna's Laces, but more importantly she's running a half marathon today! Good Luck Carrie! You ROCK!
~Felicia has started a fantastic pair of Jaywalkers in her own handpainted yarn available at the Sweet Shop. (I can attest to the gorgeousness of Felicia's yarns. I bought some the other day and it's WONDERFUL!)
~Gail's got a modified pair started in STR Banded Agate - send pictures Gail!
~Snuck in among the handspun is the start of Jane's STR Moss Agate Jaywalker. I think this one is going to be beautiful. (Note to Tina and Kaci - hey - can you add some Moss Agate to my order? Pretty please? ;-) )
~Joelene has started two at the same time - in yarn she dyed herself! Yay Joelene!
~Julia's got a sock going for every language she speaks. Um, I think her Jaywalkers in Lorna's Laces speak French, n'est-ce pas?
~Kaci's got some kind of bet going with Tina that she will ACTUALLY FINISH a pair of socks. In STR Azure Malchite to be exact. Imagine that! She sells the sock yarn, but can't finish a pair of socks. I'm just saying.
~Karen's got a gorgeous pair started in Lorna's Laces, colorway Gray's Corner. Unfortunately she had to rip out and start over with the bigger size - but hopefully things are sailing along now.
~KathyB's all about the eights. After a little bit of a rocky start, she's cruising along in her Koigu in seaQuest colors.
~Lisa's got some nice Jaywalking going on with some Artyarn's in great fall colors. But I'm really jealous of the Pebble Beach STR sitting there in the other picture. Those are going to be some Rockin' Socks!
~May reports that she's finished her first sock in STR Pebbles and is onto her second. Go May! Send pictures!
~Mel's hoping we kick her butt into gear on the beautiful pink/purple/blue pair she's had languishing on her needles. Consider this your wake up call Mel!
~Natalia's turned the whole thing on its head, or er foot. She's going toe up with her Lorna's Laces Jaywalkers!
~Nicole's got some nice blue jaywalkers blah blah blah - forget the socks! Go CONGRATULATE HER! SHE'S HAVING A BABY!
~PumpkinMama's got the whole Boston thing going - Grumperina's pattern (Boston girl) Hello Yarn yarn (Boston girl.) Very cool. Even to this Jersey Girl.
That's all she wrote! See you next Friday for the next installment of JAYWALKER!
Posted by Cara at 09:00 AM | Comments (25)
November 23, 2005
Crossed In Translation
nitsuto ni koishite shimada toshiyuki no se ta butsuku dentou nitsuto no atarashii densetsu
Apparently that's what I ordered and it's winging it's way to me from Japan as we speak. These words appeared in the item slot. I hope it's this book, but you never know. Sometimes things get Crossed In Translation! (Oh my god that was bad. I'm very tired. Up late again turning a heel.)
Lest some people (hi Kay!) think we don't have enough KAL information going on around here, I'm switching gears to talk about this sweater. Have you seen the AMAZING work Mary is doing? She's already tested at least five yarns for this project - she's even written up a swatch chart for us all to use! Here's the collection of entries Mary's put together on swatching for this sweater. The information she's collecting for us is invaluable and I'm so glad to see she's having a great time doing it! (And I'm always so envious of her beautiful, beautiful photographs.)
In knitting news, I turned the heel on the Hard Rock sock twice. I don't want to talk about it, thanks. All is good now, I think, and given that I'm traveling today, on a train, on the most traveled route in the WORLD, I should have plenty of knitting time. I'm going down to my sister's - she's hosting T-Day this year. G and I aren't really big on the prescribed holidays. (Like I need Valentine's Day to show my love how I feel?!) In the fifteen years we've been together, maybe we've been to five Thanksgivings as a couple? I go to my family - he goes to his. It works best for us. Besides, I try to be thankful all year round for everyone and everything. At least I try to say thank you as often as I can. I think that's really important. Especially with the people you truly love and are close to - why is it so important to thank perfect strangers, but not your husband who tries so hard every day to give you a good life? So I thank George all the time. Every day. No matter how small the gesture. And he thanks me. It goes a LONG way toward feeling appreciated and valued. Thank you! It's not just for doorholders any more!
Anyway, so the holiday. I'm happy to see the kids, as always, and of course, I want to help my sister as much as I can, but I'm not one for big family stuff. Especially these days. My family has gone through some major upheavals in the last couple of years and while I LOVE hanging with my sisters and brother - all it takes is one big family thing to shine the spotlight on all that has changed. Not so fun. I'll just concentrate on the kids and my sock.
There will be a Jaywalker KAL update on Friday. Basically because I've already written it! If I don't post tomorrow, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And, since maybe I don't tell you enough - thanks for reading. There are eight million blogs out there, and I know you have a choice. I really appreciate your attention.
Don't eat too much! (But turn up the music!)
Posted by Cara at 08:44 AM | Comments (15)
November 22, 2005
Pretty In Pink
We're all about full disclosure here at January One, no matter how embarrassing. What you see in the picture above is indeed more sock yarn. You know what? It's really not nice to make fun of people and their disabilities, i.e. obsessive compulsive disorder. Lately I've been really into pink (no, really?) - I don't know. I'm not really what you'd call a girly girl but I like pink these days. I have a couple of pinks shirts heavy in the rotation and a pair of pink cords I like to wear and well everyone should have a few pink days here and there. The yarn on the left is from Felicia over at the Sweet Shop. Not only is the yarn bright and vibrant and PINK, Felicia does a wonderful job packaging everything up. There's a great tag on the yarn and the whole thing came with a lovely personalized note - nice work Felicia. I'm sure the attention to detail will become very apparent when I knit up the yarn. The stuff on the right is Vesper - Neopolitan. Good enough to eat! I'm a sucker for ice cream. When I was growing up we always had ice cream in the house (it's a Philly thing I think) and we'd often have vanillachocolatestrawberry in the freezer. I always thought it was interesting that the vanilla would be gone first. Then the chocolate and lastly the strawberry. Simple pleasures. Sock yarn and ice cream. Tell me, what's better than that?
Nice segue, no? Actually, the jury's still out on these. I'm not sure. I LOVE the reds and pinks and I like them together with the black and grays but I don't know. I'm reserving judgement until the sock is done. This is 17 repeats. I'll start on the heel today. I went to bed at around 12:30PM. Georgie and I had a good night last night - lots of reconnecting, which we desperately needed. We do our own thing so much of the time and when we get really busy it's so hard to feel that connect. We went to dinner and talked about how more than half the married people in our families have gotten divorced and it was awfully sad but at the same time, it brought us closer together - we work hard at what we have and know how fragile and precious our marriage is - no matter how strong as well.
I'm so PUMPED to see how many people have signed up for the Jaywalker KAL. I'm planning a big surprise in January. Should I tell you now? I'm thinking we'll need some big time fun after the holidays to help keep us from those S.A.D. duldrums. How about a race? We'll start sometime in January and see who can knit a pair of Jaywalkers the fastest. What do you think? We'll put lots of specific rules up there (no. of repeats, etc.) and pick a first, second and third winner. Socks That Rock as the spoils of course. Oh and it goes without saying that even though I might race along with you - I will not be one of the winners. Well. I'll be a winner because you're all WINNERS! More details as January approaches.
Posted by Cara at 09:08 AM | Comments (31)
November 21, 2005
Excuse Me, Ma'am
Yes, Officer?
Do you know how fast you were Jaywalking?
Yes, Officer, duh. They don't call them Addi TURBOS for nothing!
Have I ever told you my goofy story about my Addi Turbos? I was a fairly new knitter - eh - I don't know - maybe a year in? And I had seen these Addi Turbos at yarn stores and I was intrigued. But I was nervous. Everything I read said they were super fast. I wanted something fast - it would make me feel like a real knitter, I thought. But how fast was fast? So I'm in an LYS buying some yarn with a non-knitting friend and I say to the sales person, "So do these needles go really, really fast? How fast are they?" (I guess I was looking for some kind of miles per hour equivalent - like minutes per row? MPR?) She looked at me in all seriousness and said, "Well, they go as fast as you can knit." DUH! I love that story. Not sure my stupidity translates so well in the retelling, but trust me. I felt mighty stupid.
Anyway, it's been suggested in the comments that maybe I have a problem with a certain yarn and a certain sock pattern and a certain singer whose first name begins with B and last name begins with S. I'm just saying. Why can't the Jaywalker pattern become my stockinette sock? If I'm getting results as wonderful as the ones in the picture above, why should I get bored? Or feel the need to move on? And for some reason - I'm not sure I can articulate it - these socks go RIDICULOUSLY FAST for me. Maybe it's because I know all the numbers in my head? So I can count my progress and immediately know where I am in the sock? All I know is that it took me a month and a half to finish the cuff on my Retro Ribs socks, a pattern I will probably never pick up again, and they're only a couple inches longer and have less stitches. I know the cuff is short on these, but I don't think they're THAT short. Whatever. I'm not making excuses, I'm just casting on again:
Last time I checked, the blogpoll race between Carbon and Hard Rock was still pretty tight, so I'm sticking with my plan to do one Carbon, one Hard Rock, blah blah blah. I can't WAIT to see how the Hard Rock knits up. I've finished the ribbing and did one pattern repeat. Today I'm going to visit a friend in the hospital, so I think the progress will be good. I'm not going to kill myself on this sock - read finish it in three days by staying up until past 2AM three nights in a row. I'm freaking exhausted. I need to break the stay up late cycle. I have too much work to do and I'm tired of the holidays already. Yeah. Bah Humbug to you too.
I'm updating the Jaywalker KAL page with names, and also Natalia has started a pair toe-up with some notes, so I'll put a link on the page as well.
Posted by Cara at 09:15 AM | Comments (21)
November 20, 2005
Late Night Rockin'
No. Not that kind. ( Ann, get your mind out of the gutter! )
I was up until 2:30AM again last night. But it was okay because I watched Thundercrack from '73, oh I don't know, 20 times? It worked too. Sweet dreams last night. ;-)
Is it wrong if I never want to knit another sock pattern? Ever?
Posted by Cara at 09:30 AM | Comments (12)
November 19, 2005
Jaywalker Participants
The list is too long - so I'm moving it to its own entry. Have fun everyone!
Ada
Adele
Adelle
Adrienne
Aija
Alice
Alison
Alison
Allison
Amanda
Amy
Amy
Amy
Amy
AmyDe
AmyP
Ana
Angela
Anita
Anita
Anita
Anmiryam
Ann
Ann
Anna
Anne
Anne
Anne Marie
Anneh
Annie
Ariane
Ariel
Becca
Becky
Becky
Beth
Bethe
Bethieee
BigLug
Bliss
Blossom
Blueadt
Bridget
Brenda
Cara
Carla
Carla
Carmelle
Caro
Carol
Carole
Carole
Carrie
Carry
Cathy
Cece
Chelle
Chelsea
Cheryl
Chihiro
Chris
Chrissy
Chrissy
Chrissy
Christine
Christine
Christine
Christy
CJ
Claudia
Cori
Corrina
Cynthia
Danielle
Deb
Debi
Deirdre
Dene
Diane E.
Diann
E
Elaina
Elaine
Elizabeth
Ellie
Emily
Emma
Emmy
Erin
Estee
Eunny
Felicia
Foogrrl
Gail
Gail
Gale
Genia
Georgia
Gwyn
Hanne
Heather
Heidi
Helen
Helen
Hillary
Holly
Illanna
Jamie
Jane
Janine
Janine
Jasmin
Jeanne
Jen
Jenn
Jenn
Jennifer
Jennifer
Jenny
Jenny
Jenny
Jess
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica L.
Jo
Joanne
Joanne
Jodee
Joelene
Johanna
Julia
Julia
Julia
Julia
Julie
Julie
Julsey
Kaci
Kae
KaisaKaisa
Kandy
Karen
Karen
Karen
Karen W.
Kari O.
Kate
Kate
Kate
Kate
Kate C.
Katherine
Kathy
Kathy
KathyB
Katie
Katie
Kay
Kelly
Kelly
Kelly
Kenny
Kerry
Kim
Kim
Kim
Kris
Kris
Kristie
LaJuana
Lara
Larissa
Laura
Laura
Laura
Laura
Laura
Laura
Lauren
Lauren
Laurie
Laurie
Lcord
Leah
Leslie
Libby
LibbyLu
Linda
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa C.
Lisa D.
Lisa I.
Lisa W.
Liz
Liz
Liz
Liz
Liz C.
Lolly
Lori
Lori
LoriG
Lu
Lynda
Lynne
Maggi
Manda
Margaux
Margene
Maria
Maribel
Marie
Marie
Maritza
May
Megan
Megan
Mel
Melissa
Melissa
Melissa
Mia
Michele
Michelle
Mimsie
Miriam
Monica
Morgan
Nancy
Nancy
Naomi
Natalia
Nicole
Nicole
Nicole
Niteowl
Noelle
Norma
Pam
Patti
Patty
Paula
Phoebe
Pixie
PumpkinMama
PurlPower
Ramona
Reb
Rebecca
Renata
Renee
Rhonda
Roberta
Roberta
Robin
Robyn
Rock Chick
Rosemary
Rossana
Ruth
Sandra
Sandy
Sandy
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah
Sasha
Scout
Shanidy
Shannon
Shannon
Sharon
Sharon
Shelley
Soapy
Stacey
Stacey
Stephannie
Stinkerbell
Susan
Susan
Susanne
Suzanne
Sylvia
Tamara
Tania
Tanja
Tara
Teresa
tgz
Thorn
Tiffany
Tracy
Tracy
Trek
Vera
Vern
Vicki
Vicki
Wannietta
Wendi
Wendy
Whitney
Posted by Cara at 06:28 PM
Jaywalker!
Well, last night things were pretty tight between Hard Rock and Carbon - gotta admit I was pulling just a little bit for Hard Rock - but it looks like Carbon pulled through in a squeaker!
I actually asked G to break the tie (this was around 9:30PM) and he picked Carbon too. He said no one has yellow socks. You should make yellow socks.
I thought since this is my third pair of Jaywalkers and I can pretty much knit them in my sleep now (which I did last night - I cast on at 11PM and went to sleep around 2:30AM) I should tell you all my numbers. First off, in no way do you need to use Socks That Rock yarn. Use whatever yarn you want! I just happen to have an abundance of this yarn in my stash, as well as a deep undying love for its beyond soft colorful goodness, so that's what I'm using. These numbers will be especially helpful to those of you using STR, since the current skein yardage at 325 yds is a tad on the small size. (Tina is rectifying this! In the new year, STR will have 350yds!)
Here we go:
I'm using size #1 Addi Turbos - two circular method - which is 2.5mm for those of you in the real world. I cast on 76 stitches and do twelve rows of 2x2 ribbing. I do 25 pattern repeats and then start the heel. This gives me a cuff of about 6". I do 15 heel rows before turning and then continue on until I have 57 pattern repeats down the instep starting from the top. Then I start decreasing for the toe. TADA! My foot measures 8.5" around and 9.5" from heel to toe. In the picture above I've done the ribbing and 10 pattern repeats - well on my way! Yay!
I'm thinking that maybe once I've finished this sock I might switch and do one sock in Hard Rock, then go back to Carbon, etc. Might be fun to switch it up, don't you think? And they go so fast - by the end of today I should be ready to turn the heel.
Okay - we've got LOTS of interest and I'm so happy to see it! Here are the participants so far:
+name+ = finished
I've listed everybody in my sidebar as well. The more the merrier! I've also got some buttons. I made the obnoxious yellow one and Kathy provided the rest. If anyone else would like to contribute, send me the buttons and I'll post them here. Please, if you take one, save it to your own server. Thank you!
I also wanted to let you know that Natalia has started her Jaywalkers TOE-UP! I know a lot of you were thinking about this - she's got some details here. Thanks Natalia!
Remember, email me or leave a comment if you have an update - I'll be posting updates on Fridays. Thanks everyone! Now go out and KNIT!
Posted by Cara at 03:47 PM | Comments (45)
November 18, 2005
An Invitation to ROCK!
First, let's get some business out of the way. CONGRATULATIONS JULIA! YOU WIN! Crossed in Translation, a new KAL, will start on January 1. More details, buttons and signups to come soon. Thank you all for voting and for your suggestions!
Okay - onto the REALLY good stuff!
My knitting has been sporadic and directionless in the last couple of weeks - which with all the work I have going on makes for very UN-relaxing knitting. I NEED something. I need to knit and feel progress (since everyday I'm getting more and more bogged down in my work) and right now that can only mean one thing.
I'm casting on for a new pair of Jaywalkers! With Socks that Rock of course!
I love these socks. I wore my Fire on the Mountain socks yesterday and they made me happy all day long. My feet felt great and the pattern is SO comfortable: They stay up. They are nice and tight without being binding. The yarn is so soft and lovely. And I've got all this yarn taunting me every time I walk by my living room (because basically there's yarn all over my living room mixed with A LOT of crap. I promise I'm going to clean up in January. Just let me get to January, okay?)
There's another reason to start a new pair of Jaywalkers. I'm convinced this is the BEST pattern to use with Socks That Rock. And guess what? With all my screaming and yelling about how amazing STR is, Tina and Kaci over at Blue Moon Fiber Arts contacted me and I might have a job with them!!! How crazy is that? There aren't many details yet, so don't ask, but it looks like it'll involve some writing. The fact that these women are crazy and amazing and recognize something in me doesn't in any way change my opinion about this yarn. I LOVE it. Almost as much as I love Bruce.
So, because I love the yarn and I love the pattern I want to share it all with you! I'm starting a Jaywalker Knit A Long right here right now!
The rules:
1. Knit a pair (or more - hey - I'm going to start my THIRD!) of Jaywalker socks. I know a lot of you have already started a pair - and that counts. But if you've finished a pair already, that doesn't count. Instead, go on over to Kathy's and let her know. She'll add you to the gallery.
2. You don't have to adhere strictly to the pattern, so all you Drunken Jaywalker people (you know who you are!) come on over.
3. The socks don't have to be for you. I know everyone's crazy with holiday knitting (Suckers. I'm just saying....) so why not make a pair of Jaywalkers for that annoying relative in your life? Nothing like a pair of Jaywalker socks to send that subtle message - I wish you'd go play in traffic! You're the only one who has to know the sentiment behind the gift! ;-)
4. You don't have to knit the socks with SOCKS THAT ROCK yarn - use whatever yarn you like. BUT the prizes will be Socks That Rock.
5. There are no deadlines on when this KAL will end, BUT
6. On February 14th I will draw three names out of the proverbial Internet hat of all the FINISHED KAL socks and each of these people will WIN a skein of SOCKS THAT ROCK in their preferred colorway. That is, assuming I can get Tina to dye it for you. I won't tell you how many colors are in the recipe book - your head will spin around. To be eligible to win the socks, you will have had to give me at least ONE update before February 1st. I want you to really be in it to win it you know? No pulling in at the last minute with a finished pair of socks to get in on the lottery. ;-)
7. Updates will be on FRIDAYS. So leave me comment or email me and I'll do the updates then. K? Terrific!
Are you in? Leave a comment. And if anyone wants to make me a button - I would greatly appreciate it. I'm thinking something with a traffic sign motif. But you all can run with it. THANK YOU!
Now. I need some help. I've got all this Socks That Rock and I can't decide which color my new socks should be! Here are the choices I've got:
AZURITE
PETROGLYPHS
HARD ROCK
CARBON
Vote early. Vote often. I want to cast on for these socks five minutes ago, you know? So I'll go with what I get by Saturday night. Or maybe sooner. And I'm not guaranteeing I go with your choice, I'm just looking for opinions. Thank you very much!
C'mon PEOPLE! LET'S ROCK!
PS - I've got to give credit where credit is due. The KAL idea came from Moth Heaven Julia. She was making fun of me for starting the (not necessarily) impossible Crossed in Translation KAL and said I should've gone with a Jaywalker KAL. Hmmm. Good idea! Thanks!
Posted by Cara at 08:56 AM | Comments (82)
Born In The USA (Guitar & Bullet Mic)
Devils & Dust
Atlantic City
Long Time Comin'
Used Car
Frankie (Piano)
Meeting Across The River (Piano)
Johnny 99 (Guitar & Bullet Mic)
Ain't Got You
Brilliant Disguise (Feat. Patti Scialfa)
Maria's Bed
Cautious Man
Reno ($200 straight in, $250 up the ASS!)
Two For The Road (Electric Piano)
Drive All Night (Piano)
The Rising
Lucky Town
Jesus Was An Only Son (Piano)
Leah
The New Timer (AutoHarp)
Matamoros Banks
I Want To Marry You (Ukulele)
Thundercrack (Piano)
Born To Run (Guitar)
The Promised Land (Guitar)
Dream Baby Dream
There was no fist pumping, but a lot of hand wringing - but my hand's okay. It was a very interesting, VERY ENJOYABLE show. It's amazing the level of intimacy achieved in such a big arena. A lot had to do with the crowd. This is New Jersey. Bruce's New Jersey. And typically this means that every Born In the USA fair weather idiot who gets drunk and screams BRUUUUUUUCE and Candy's Room all night long comes out from under their favorite diner rock. Apparently they got the memo because they all stayed home. I'm sure that Bruce's rules contributed to this as well: all concessions closed 10 minutes prior to the show starting and remained closed throughout. You know what this means - no beer runs during the songs you don't know. Everyone stayed in their seats too. Barely any BRUUUUUUCING (okay - I did it once or twice, but only between songs.)
The man was VERY loose last night. He was laughing and joking and telling stories and it was like (I imagine) the old days. He experimented with every instrument known to man - including some god awful horrid bullet mic contraption that completely distorted all vocals. It was pretty funny - there was a guy a few rows in front of us who got that he was playing Born In the USA about 3/4 of the way through and started getting all excited. The best way to explain it was he sounded like Darth Vader with a horrible head cold. Georgie and I laughed every time he brought it out.
Highlights for me - well, he played Drive All Night. I told G before the show that I didn't care if he was sitting with me during the show, but if he played Drive All Night, he needed to be sitting next to me and holding my hand. He did - and we held so tightly to each other probably the most hand damage occured during that song. I won't lie to you - we both cried. I, personally, wept silently as my heart beat so fast and the tears just fell from my face. He never ceases to amaze me - it's as close to religion as I get these days. There was a red light on stage as he sat at the piano and it was aimed directly for our box, so we were bathed in a red light. This is very significant because whenever we're in traffic at night G always tells me how much he loves looking at me in a red tail light (apparently the distortion brings out my beauty ;-) ) and it was like we were in the car and Bruce was singing to us and we were bathed in a red light of love. Laugh if you want, but that's how it was. It was worth the entire night to hear that song. Actually, it was worth a lot more than that because honestly in my whole life I never thought I'd witness it live. Thank you. Thank you Bruce so much. You made us a very happy couple last night.
Other highlights - Meeting Across the River at the piano. My god he seemed so happy after the song. HUGE smile on his face because he knew he NAILED it! It was so beautiful. Born to Run - sung slow and quiet and more powerful than any stadium anthem has a right to sound. For you afficianados out there - think the Chimes of Freedom version. When Max was a baby I was listening to this version of BTR a lot and I would rock him to sleep and sing it to him.
Funny one - Bruce says he's going to play his favorite song from Tunnel of Love - and G and I get really, really excited. This was my first Bruce album ever and G used to sing it to me all the time and there are so many beautiful songs on there and we're thinking will it be this one, that one and then he plays Cautious Man and G and I start totally laughing because it's like the only song on the album we don't like and always skip over! Talk about disappointed!
He played the pornographic RENO and a song about anal, prostitutes and fellatio never sounded so incredibly beautiful. It was full of sadness and emotion and it was really good. Also good was the guy next to us who brought his young son who was FULL of questions after that one. HAHAHAHAHA! Bruce was all about the swear words last night too and after a particularly FUCK filled monologue the kid asked his dad - does that mean he's pissed off? Pissed off doesn't even begin to cover it, kid.
During The Promised Land you could literally hear a pin drop. It was that quiet. I've never heard a crowd so quiet in my life. It was beautiful. Comfortable. Intimate. I never wanted it to end.
Posted by Cara at 07:17 AM | Comments (11)
November 17, 2005
To Taste Your Tender Charms
It's all Bruce all the time here these days so if you're one of those people that thinks Born In the USA equals Joisey Fat assholes and Ronald Reagan - GET THE FUCK OUT! ;-)
Tonight Bruce and I will be in the same room. Yes. I'm well aware that the "room" I'm talking about has the capacity to hold 20,000 people, but whatever. WE WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM. Look, I know that you think I'm bit over the edge about this and you're not the only ones - my family and friends make fun of me on a daily basis (well not just about the Bruce thing, but you know. Ann? Ann is that you?)
I thought, given the anniversary and all and the fact that WE WILL BE IN THE SAME ROOM tonight I'd tell you the story of me and Bruce. It's a love story to be sure. Ah hem. Here it goes.
Me & Bruce, Milan, November, 1995.
2gether 4ever!
I've said before that my taste in music has generally been governed by the man in my life. It's not that I don't like music, it's just that it's never been a driving force - not the way books have been. I mean, you want a book to read, you come to me. Want some music, well, I don't know. So anyway, I started dating George. And guess what? He had a car! This may not seem like a big deal, but I came from a car based society (pseudo-Suburban Philly) and moved to New York City where no one drove anything. At all. G lived in NJ and had a car and he'd take me out to the malls in Jersey which was like a sort of homecoming for me. And we'd drive to Atlantic City and just anywhere. And he'd have music in the tape player. One of the tapes he had in A LOT of the time was Tunnel of Love. My first Bruce experience. (Which is kind of odd, I know, being that Bruce is HUGE in Philly - but I was into the Dead then. You know. It was a guy thing.)
Anyway, we'd drive around and he'd sing me the sad love songs on TOL and I was falling and falling and falling very, very hard. For both of them.
Georgie used to love to pull out a song (and it wasn't just Bruce - this guy likes ALL music and isn't afraid to show it) and say listen to this...and listen I did. He always knew right how to get me - with the words of course, since I'm a word girl, and the music and he'd sing and I was a goner. Gone, gone, gone! I'll never forget the night I first heard Drive All Night. We were driving home - we may have been living together already - and we were going through the toll booths on the Jersey Tpke and G said listen to this song like he always did and we were listening to The River and I heard this:
When I lost you honey sometimes I think I lost my guts too
And I wish God would send me a word
send me something I'm afraid to lose
Lying in the heat of the night like prisoners all our lives
I get shivers down my spine and all I wanna do is hold you tight
CHORUS
I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes
And to taste your tender charms
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms
Tonight there's fallen angels and they're waiting for us down in the street
Tonight there's calling strangers,
hear them crying in defeat.
Let them go, let them go, let them go,
do their dances of the dead (let'em go right ahead)
You just dry your eyes girl, and c'mon c'mon
c'mon let's go to bed, baby, baby, baby
CHORUS
There's machines and there's fire waiting on the edge of town
They're out there for hire but baby they can't hurt us now
Cause you've got, you've got, you've got,
you've got my love, you've got my love
Through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain
You've got, you've got my, my love
heart and soul
For those of you who've never heard this song, when he sings heart and soul, it's a wailing howling gut wrenching pull out your heart and see it beating bloody and battered in your hand kind of sound. Sigh. How could you not fall in love with these men?! I ask you - HOW COULD YOU NOT FALL IN LOVE?!
When I saw Bruce for the first time, it was in the Summer of '92. Georgie and I were already living together in the Swamps of Jersey and Bruce was with the "other" band and I didn't give a shit because all I wanted to hear was Because the Night and G said he'd never play it and then he did and I almost died. I shit you not, when I got home from that concert, my left hand was completely swollen and black and blue through the middle because I had it clenched in a fist all night long which I proceeded pump without stopping from the time the lights went down until the lights went back up again. I was completely hoarse from screaming. We were laughing about it the other day and G shook his head and said he had never seen anything like my hand after that concert. And this guy was at Bond's when The Clash played and the riot broke out.
Over the years, it's gotten really, really bad. I'm usually in tears through the first few songs. I have to take a Xanax. There's a short list of songs that when I hear them I cry no matter where they are in the setlist. Literally. And then there's the list of songs (really, just two) that if I ever got a chance to hear in concert I'd probably faint dead away. I think I might get that chance tonight. The first is The Fever, and while he's played it in concert more recently than not (maybe even on this tour), it's few and far between and usually reserved for Philly. The second is Drive All Night. He played it the other night in Philly for the first time in 24 years and G told me about it and I managed to get the mp3 bootleg from that night (if you want to hear it email me) and it's Bruce all alone at the piano and I cried real tears when I heard it. Bruce has played it every show since. Tonight's the last night on the tour. I may have to take two Xanax. To be standing with G when Bruce starts playing this song might be too much to bear.
Some of you asked how Georgie feels about my feelings for Bruce and while he thinks I'm a bit nuts, he does feel the same way - or at least as much as he can feel about another man, a man with whom his wife happens to be obsessed. Trust me. If Bruce plays Drive All Night tonight, G'll be a little choked up himself.
Our seats won't be so good - we're actually in a suite with Corporate types and G's warned me a milion times that these people won't care and they will talk and be obnoxious and ruin the evening for me. It doesn't matter. I'll be the same room with my one true love and the man that helped seal the deal.
I broke the comments on my other Bruce post because somehow I triggered the SPAM filter with my craziness. Hopefully that won't happen here.
Posted by Cara at 09:56 AM | Comments (12)