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January 31, 2006

Knit. Eat. Sleep.

Rinse. Repeat.

It was a wonderful vacation. We slept great. We ate even better. And, well, I surpassed my knitting goals. There was lots of cuddling and togetherness. A pedicure. A spin out. A suite. All in all, it couldn't have been better - even though the weather wasn't as warm as we'd have liked and the wind was a bit too strong. I wouldn't trade it for the world though.

Here's what I knit:

I finished the Short Row sleeves. YAY! All that's left is to weave in the 3,418 ends from the back and the front and seam, do the collar and seam some more. I can taste the end. Hopefully it won't take another six months to finish.

I finished my Rare Gems sock AND my first Red Hot Sizzling Sock. The RHSS is knit using Ruby Slippers STR with the picot edge modification - I started it Wednesday when I should've been packing - managed the picot edge and a couple repeats before it was time for bed. So most of the sock was knit in Florida - including the last couple of repeats and the toe while waiting on the runway for the plane to take off. The flight took about two hours longer than scheduled so I was also able to cast on and start the second Petroglyph sock. I got past the ribbing and a few repeats - but we were watching The Wedding Crashers on the plane and until I got smart and put it down, I screwed up some of the repeats. I'll rip that today and start the second RHSS as well.

The food was unbelievable. I had what can honestly be described as the best meal of my life. I was dizzy it was so good. We ate at Mark's in South Beach. For an appetizer I had Jumbo diver scallops, puree of calabaza, guava butter and plantain chip. Georgie had Tartare of yellowfin tuna, avocado, cucumber noodles, lemongrass oil. For dinner I had pistacio crusted lamb chops with brussel sprouts and cauliflower with bacon and pomegranates and potatos au gratin. G had Maine lobster tossed with saffron linguine, roma tomatoes, basil, white beans, English peas and prosciutto, served with roasted garlic crostini. Neither one of could speak the food was so good. (All of the dishes above are on the menu at the website except my lambchops.) I don't even remember dessert, but it paled compared to the meal.

The next night we ate at Azul in Miami. I started with the butternut squash soup with hazelnuts and G had fried oysters wrapped in salmon, tuna, beef and crab carpaccios. For dinner, Georgie had the halibut and I had the Salmon duo - one side of the plate had poached salmon and the other side had salmon wrapped in mushrooms in a kind of spring roll type wrapping. Yummmm! Dessert here was really a treat though - vanilla souffle with three different sauces - chocolate, rasberry and creme anglaise. So divine.

Every meal we ate was delicious - but these two meals stand out.

What else? We had our first stuck on the runway experience - you know - when they taxi out and it looks like you're going to take off then they stop the plane and tell you we'll be sitting here for the next two hours - make yourself comfortable? Yeah. Not too much panic from the anxious claustrophobic girl. The good thing was I had already taken my pre-board Xanax so I was nicely juiced when they made the announcement. I knit along happily on my RHSS and finished it - I was about to kitchener the toe when I couldn't find my cuticle scissors - I always travel with them. The round tips have been allowed by the TSA for years and years. Anyway, since the plane was a free for all I went up and asked the flight attendants if they had a scissors. Not allowed. But one of them told me she saw a woman knitting a blanket back in coach - let's go ask her. So I walked to the back of the plane with the flight attendant - but she didn't have scissors. We talked for a bit about my sock and then I made my way back to the front. Fun times on an airplane.

By the way - in case you're flying any time soon - customs has completely RELAXED the requirements for knitting needles and such. I used to have a whole system for getting my needles and such through customs - but this time they barely batted and eye and even told me I didn't have to take my scissors out (I used to put them in the cell phone bin because otherwise they'd rip apart my stuff.) I traveled with addi turbo circulars - from US 1s to US 6s exclusively and had no problems what so ever.

I'll be making the official announcement tomorrow, but I'm closing down the jaywalker knit along after the giveaway on the 14th. I decided yesterday and as hard as this decision is for me, oh my god what a weight off my shoulders. This thing has taken over my life and that's not fun. Basically I'll be shutting down sign-ups tomorrow, because, well, if you haven't had an update by then, you're not eligible to win anyway. It's been an amazing ride, but I kind of want my blog back.

I wanted to add a word cloud which I saw over at Karma's but I'm having server issues all over the place. When things get back up I'll add it.
Here it is!

Have a great day!

Posted by Cara at 10:04 AM | Comments (41)

January 30, 2006

B is for

Beach

I didn't spend much time at the beach as a child, even though I lived about an hour from The Shore. In my years with G I've grown to love it - maybe even need it in my life. Some of my darkest days have been rescued by the restorative rhythms of the waves and I hope one day we can have a home on the shore. It's a dream we both share.

These pictures aren't my best work - but that's okay. (Although I really love the last one.) This ABC-a-long is about the challenge for me. I went out Sunday morning, our last day of vacation, with G and brought the camera - just one lens - which is rare for me. I like to have options. The weather wasn't the best and the beach looked kind of crappy because the strong winds had brought in all kinds of riffraff from the ocean. I was also taken with the colors to be found on the beach - jelly fish, boats, catamarans, old chaises. Hope you enjoy.

Posted by Cara at 11:08 AM | Comments (34)

January 25, 2006

Jaywalker Admin Stuff - IMPORTANT!

Tomorrow morning, at 6AM, I will be safely seatbelted in (we can only hope) a first class seat on a flight to sunny FLORIDA. I'm taking a vacation people. A VACATION. That means NO WORK. And as much as I love you all and love my jaywalker updates and I've come to love my goofy smileys and I'm so glad you have too - I WILL NOT BE DOING UPDATES THIS WEEK.

After ten weeks I think it's okay to take a little break. Because DEADLINES are fast approaching, I thought yet another look at the draconian rules would be good:

The rules:

1. Knit a pair (or more - hey - I'm going to start my THIRDEIGHTH!) 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 SIX 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!

THE NEXT UPDATE WILL BE FEBRUARY 1ST. In order to be eligible to win yarn - you need to have updated at least ONCE by FEBRUARY 1ST and complete a pair of socks by FEBRUARY 13th. The drawing will be held on FEBRUARY 14th. So, if you haven't sent in an update - now's your chance. PLEASE, when sending updates, either leave A COMMENT RIGHT HERE or send an email to cara AT januaryone DOT com with JAYWALKER UPDATE in the subject line. At midnight on February 14th I will list all of the people eligible AS OF THAT DAY to win yarn. I will keep the list up for the day and at 11:11 PM on the 14th I will pick the winners. You will have the day to let me know if there is a mistake with the list.

I know I miss people each week. I don't even know how many people are in the KAL anymore, to be honest, but it's a freaking lot. Okay? I'm only human. If you're not sure if you are in CHECK THE LIST. If you aren't on it and think you should be, let me know by leaving a comment or sending an email. A shining star next to your name means you've got a finished pair - if you have a star or don't have a star and think it should be different, let me know. Please note - if you finished a pair since the last update, the list hasn't been changed to reflect that. I will change it on Feb 1st.

If you have any questions about anything - please leave a comment or send an email. I will tell you though I suck at math and the best answer I have to the all important question of which came first is this:

A chicken and an egg are laying in bed together. The chicken rolls over, lights a cigarette, turns to the egg and says "Well, I guess we answered that question."

Have a great weekend everyone. Knit hard. I'll see you on the flip!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 11:06 AM | Comments (67)

lemminglemminglemminglemming

Am I joining all these things because I'm bitter and want someone else to know the pain of running a KAL that has more than one participant? Of course not! I just want to have fun!

JOKING PEOPLE. IT'S A JOKE. Hahaha? Get it?

All jokes aside, I've done A LOT of joining lately. Groucho would be very, very disappointed.

Let's see. I'm in RED HOT SIZZLING SOCKS.

I've got some Ruby Slippers STR that's begging to be jaywalkers with a picot edge. I'm planning on making the Valentine's Day deadline. These will probably be started on my romantic weekend in sunny Florida.

I also joined Sockapaloooza.

Even though I was shafted twice and did some shafting of my own, I'm back for another round. I can guarantee my pal that I won't be making jaywalkers. All jaywalkers are for me and me alone. Unless of course my pal ASKS for jaywalkers, but honestly, I'm going to try to avoid it.

Um. Oh yeah. Just yesterday I joined Project Spectrum over at Lolly's.

This is an inspired idea! Each month, beginning in March, I'm going to take on a spinning project with the designated colors for that month. For me, a lot of spinning is about color! I love COLOR! And I like the idea of having a spinning project. Something separate from the knitting.

And, yes, finally, I joined the Knitting Olympics.

Actually - I signed up the first day! And no I'm not linking over there because if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about I don't know how you can call yourself a knit blogger. Hell - I don't know how you could call yourself a knitter OR a blogger. It's that big people.

There's been lots of interesting discussion about these here olympics. Lots of pro - some con - some wtf? I'm not sure if you've noticed or not but I really like to challenge myself. I love to master new things - I love to learn new skills. I even like to get frustrated and curse and throw things around - and maybe - not often - stomp. Because when you finally do master that new skill, whatever it is, it feels so freaking satisfying! Really. You should try it sometimes.

That's one of the reasons I truly love knitting. It's a great way to challenge myself and honestly, usually, no one gets hurt. There are no great disasters if it doesn't work out - like say - trying to get pregnant and having a kid. Now there's a challenge I'd rather not be challenged by. But knitting? BRING IT ON! So when I saw Stephanie's post about the Knitting Olympics I knew right away what my project would be: FAIR ISLE!

I've never done color knitting. Sure I took that class last year, but got sick on the second day when they taught fair isle. But it's something that I REALLY want to learn. So here's the perfect opportunity! And while I appreciate Stephanie's call to lose our sanity during the fortnight, I'm not knitting a Dale of Norway Olympic sweater. I'm crazy but I'm not NUTS! My first fair isle project will be the Pirate Mittens over at Hello Yarn. I'm planning on knitting them in Dalegarn Falk in black and neon pink. Or navy and neon pink. Something and neon pink. Neon green and neon pink? Something bright and flashy and CRAZY! I think I can get the mittens done in 16 days. It's the perfect challenge. I'm ready for it.

Posted by Cara at 07:20 AM | Comments (30)

January 24, 2006

Thadnbk Ybliuwo!

What? Can't understand me? Probably because I had a homemade (yes? no? weigh in BP!) caramel in my mouth!

My BETTER PAL strikes again. This time with a bag of caramels AND a backup emergency supply in the form of JUNIOR CARAMEL baby boxes! YAY! As much as I love me some caramel, the yarn s/he sent it good enough to EAT! Gorgeous, scintillating, fantastic Malabrigo in Valentine's RED! I love it BP. Love, love, love IT! Thank you thank you thank you!

I do, though, have a bone to pick with you BP. My box came with a lovely return address label from Norma. Now I know for a fact that Norma isn't my BP. (Don't ask me how I know this, I just do.) So, WHA? Haven't we already done this make a fool of the knitblogger thing before? Is this Karmic retribution or something? I called up my favorite super sleuth, Ann (whose birthday is today - but I'm absolutely positive this fact has NOTHING to do with Jan 24 being the most depressing day of the year) and she was, well, bascially, no help at all. Which shouldn't be a surprise, but like I've said before, Ann gives excellent phone. Anyway, I happen to be a pretty freaking good detective myself and I know that my package was mailed from this post office. Again - don't ask me how I know, but I do and I'm on to you BP. Hell yeah.

My weekend was lots of fun. How about yours?

Seems like there's always a birthday around here, doesn't it? This weekend was my nephew's party. It was great fun - it was at this place where you can do your own cooking. We did the pajamas and pancakes party where all the kids come in their pjs and make muffins and pancakes. They all had a blast and it was very easy on my sister since the place does everything - my sister just had to show up and pay the bill.









I sort of "worked" the party so I didn't get to taste the pancakes or muffins - but supposedly the kids did a great job and it was all pretty yummy. That was the only time I had the camera out - and I didn't get pictures of the baby! I'm so sad because he is super duper cute! Curls like his sister (well, almost - they're coming though) and huge dimples and he's just all smiles sitting up and starting to crawl. He needs his own photo shoot very, very soon! I've really slacked off on pictures of him.

We had a great day yesterday too - Orchestra in the morning featuring the bassoon (I LOVE me some bassoon) and a karate show in the afternoon! Super Nephew actually broke a board in half! Look what you can do when you turn FIVE!

There was some knitting - work on a jaywalker and work on sleeves. We're going away this week - Thursday morning at a ridiculously early hour we're going back here. So there will be plenty of knitting next weekend. Plenty.

Posted by Cara at 01:25 PM | Comments (19)

January 21, 2006

Promises Promises

If I promised you that I'd send you something - contest winnings, orange chibis, etc. - there's an excellent chance it's going out in the mail today! Have a great weekend. I'll be back on Tuesday, so chances are no post on Monday. DON'T WORRY. You know who you are.

L, C

Posted by Cara at 01:11 PM | Comments (8)

January 20, 2006

Jaywalker Ten!

Before I get on with the updates, I'd ask you all to bow your heads for a moment of silence. This is the first week, since October 19, 2005, that I did NOT complete a jaywalker sock. I've gone back to some other projects and my latest jaywalker has suffered for it and you know what? I miss the damn sock. Much more than I thought I would. Sniff. Sniff. I'm going to Philly tomorrow for the weekend and I'll be knitting that sock on the train, goshdarnit!

That said, the Albuquerque STITCH AND BITCH (am I allowed to say that?) got together this week and apparently SEVEN knitters cast on for SEVEN pairs of Jaywalkers ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Was it like a feat of sychronized knitting or were you too busy flipping off the camera in your best Johnny Cash to bother with timing? Carole and Scout have pictures to prove it - as if we wouldn't believe something so ridiculous! JAYWALK ON GIRLS!

Updates? You want updates? You got it. With new and improved smileys. Don't forget to read the LEGEND, Ann. I've also added superfantastic blinky stars to the participant list. If that doesn't spur you on to finish a pair, I don't know what will. Oh and if you're missing from the updates, it's because I didn't see anything on your blog. I'm sorry if I missed you. If you're worried that you aren't in the KAL, please check the participant list before emailing me. Thank you!

Legend:

= Everything's going A OK! Making progress!

= ^&$#$%@ this ^&$^$#%$#%@ SOCK!

= We're JAYWALKING BAYBEE! FINISHED!!

= Special Smiley For Ann

Aija
Amy
AmyP
Ana
Anita
Anmiryam
Ann
Anna
Annie
Becca
Bethe
Bliss
Bridget
Carla
Carla

Carmelle
Caro
Carol
Carole
Carry
Cece
Chris
Chrissy
Chrissy
CJ
Claudia
Cori
Corrina
Deb
Deirdre
Dene
Elaina
Elaine
Emily
Emmy
Foogrrl
Gail
Gail



Helen
Helen
Jen
Jessica
Jessica
Johanna
Julia
Kae
Karen
Kate
Kathy
KathyB
Kelly
Kelly
Kenny
Kerry
Kris
Lara
Laura
Laura
Lcord
Leah
Linda
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Liz
Lori
Lu
Lynda
Lynne
Maggi
Margene
Maria
Marie
Marie
Maritza
Megan
Melissa
Michelle
Nancy
Nancy



Noelle
Patti
Paula
PurlPower
Ramona
Rhonda
Rosemary
Sandra
Sarah
Scout
Shannon
Shelley
Stephannie
Stinkerbell
Sylvia
Tania
Tanja
Thorn
Trek
Wannietta
Wendi
Wendy

Posted by Cara at 02:18 PM | Comments (28)

Thank you.

Right off the bat I want to say THANK YOU for all of your comments on my last post. They really helped me. I'm feeling much more positive about any surgery G may have in the near future and a lot of it has to do with your anecdotes. I really appreciate you all coming out to support us - it means so much.

I'm glad that I feel comfortable sharing these aspects of my life with you. I've read some posts lately about what makes a good blog and one of the things that struck me (I'm sorry - I don't remember where) was the idea that people share a bit more of their life than just the knitting. I'm one of those people that puts it all out there - not just on the blog but in my life in general. I have a hard time being anything but honest, so it's not unusual for me to tell you I'm having an anxiety attack five mintues after meeting you (and please - if I do meet you and tell you this - do NOT take it personally.) I am the way I am and every day I learn to love myself a little bit more - warts and all. I like to share my life with G - at least a little bit - because he is such a huge part of who I am. We've grown up together and he is my best friend in every sense of the word. We work extremely hard on our relationship and I am so proud of what we've built together - why not shout it from the rooftops? Thanks for indulging me.

I feel it's important for me to share the not so great parts of my (our) life too. The infertility, the anxiety - all those warts I've grown to love. Or at least tolerate. Love might be too strong a word here. Every time I've put that part of myself out there I've gotten wonderful comments and emails thanking me. Supporting me. If I can help one other person say to themselves - I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS - then I feel like I've accomplished something and maybe, just maybe, the pain I've had in my life wasn't just for my own torture. We all have our own pain. It's NOTHING to be ashamed of - it is what it is and maybe putting it out there smooths the way for acceptance, and hopefully, ultimately, relief. Peace of mind. That's the end goal always. Peace. Of. Mind.

Which brings me to the point: One of the other things I've been seeing in blogland lately is stuff about blog etiquette. Do you reply to every comment you receive? Do you return the comment on a commenters blog? It's been weighing on me lately because I fear I've been really lax with my reciprocity. Back when the blog was young(er) I tried to respond to every email. And comment back to those bloggers who came to visit. I'd like to think it's how I cultivated my best blog relationships. You see, I take relationships VERY SERIOUSLY. I try to be polite to all people I meet because that's how I would want them to treat me. (Oh and the guy I flipped off the other day in the car - DOUCHE!) If you are my friend I will give you the shirt off my back with no questions asked. So it's become a little bit overwhelming to me IN THE BEST, MOST WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE way to see just how many of you have started reading this blog and coming out to be my friend and give me support. I'm afraid I don't have enough shirts.

I haven't had time lately to answer every email and visit every blog and I feel bad about that. Please know (and I'm incapable of lying so you have to know it's true) I APPRECIATE every visit and comment I get. And I THANK YOU for your friendship and support and well, just plain reading this blog day in and day out.

Between the JKAL and a big project I've been working on, I've been a little bit nuts. Add to that the fact that I'm crying half the day away, and well, let's just say it's a good thing email is paperless. Otherwise you'd all be getting waterlogged drippy letters and how much fun is that? I'm trying my hardest to keep these connections, new and old, alive. I may not be perfect, but I'm trying.

One last note - the Jaywalker KAL. I fear my last post - the big update post about how the JKAL has taken on a life of its own - may have left room for interpretation. I am not turing people away. I don't want to turn people away. I'm keeping it under my control until the prizes are given away on the 14th. Then, I'll revisit what the best course of events is for the KAL. I enjoy it. I'm glad people are still getting involved. I just never imagined it would or could get so big. The rest of that post was a philosophical examination on trends and why people decide to get involved or not. Nothing more. Nothing less. That said, the updates will be late today. I'm waiting for the cable guy and have to move crap around in the house so he can get to the TV.

Thank you again for reading the blog. It's such a warm and fuzzy kind of validation. You know?
L, C

Posted by Cara at 09:22 AM | Comments (41)

January 18, 2006

Birthday Redux

[Warning - this turned into a really long post. It was cathartic - but don't feel like you need to read the whole thing.]

I get so emotional baby, every time I think of you-u-u! It's emotional hangover time here at the blog, yet again. Slap me if I sound like a broken record. Emotions, emotions, emotions! The psycohological equivalent of Jan Brady, if you will. Feelings, whoa-o-oh feelings! Will someone PLEASE turn it off?! Please?

It's a monsoon outside today, but inside it's nice and quiet and warm because the love of my life sealed up all the windows this weekend. We live in something of a wind tunnel and the windows seem to have these huge gaps in them. They also line the entire west side of the apartment. That's a decent amount of windows. There's one room, when you walk by, your hair starts blowing around and you feel this arctic blast. We keep the door of that room closed until we do the seal; it always reminds me of the kids' room in Poltergeist - you know, when JoBeth Williams opens the door and all the toys are flying around? That's our den, possessed, but not anymore! Georgie! My hero!

Speaking of Georgie, he's partly the reason for so much emotion these days. I've now known G for almost 19 years! And in all of the time I've known him he's been living with some kind of pain. Since he was around fourteen he's been having tons of trouble with his knees - but being the man he is - he played through it by being on the basketball and tennis teams in high school and college and spending his adulthood playing one or the other sport at least a few times a week. Poor Georgie has the body of a scholar and the mind of an athlete. You know how we love to knit and spin and craft? How about if someone told us we'd never be able to knit again? It would cause us to shrivel up into a little ball in the back of the closet and never want to see the light of day. That's how my darling husband feels about his tennis. Basketball's been out of the question for quite some time.

Things were looking up for awhile there. After his fifth knee surgery in seven years it looked like things were taken care of - his knees actually felt good! And then the hip pain started. At first he thought it was a groin pull but gradually it got worse and worse and finally he had the hip scoped down in Nashville. That was in '03 and the doctor came out to talk to me while G was in recovery. His exact words were "he's got the hips of an 80-year-old man." My gorgeous husband is 43. It's some kind of a degenerative tissue thing that's basically left him without cartiledge. Back in '03 we were told that eventually hip replacement would be the only option, but that we should try to hold out as long as possible because, well, he's only 43 and hip replacements, as wonderful as they are now, don't last that long. In 20 yrs it's VERY conceivable he will need another new hip. Well, my friends, it looks like the eventuality has come. My sweetheart can barely walk. He is in so much pain and I can't even begin to tell you the sadness I feel about this. I can't do anything to help him. And trust me, if there was a way I could give him my hips I would. He's in the process now of going to the doctors and getting diagnoses and I guess we're looking to try and schedule this for early spring. Please, if you feel compelled to share stories of people you know having had hip replacements - DO NOT TELL ME ABOUT ANYONE THAT'S DIED. We see enough of it on the news about young(ish) people dying and I don't want to hear it. G has had A LOT of surgery in his life - five knees, his hip, a hernia - and he's come through with flying colors every time but I'm scared to death.

Add to that all the grief I've been letting myself feel lately about the infertility crap and you've got a sure fire prescription for MISERY! HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's all I can do - try to laugh in the face of it! I'm reminded of that line Dolly Parton says in Steel Magnolias - laughter through tears is my favorite emotion? (I think they're at Julia Robert's funeral and Olympia Dukakis and Shirley Maclaine have just gotten into the bitch slap thing - Steel Magnolia's is one of those movies I can't NOT watch - not matter how icky it makes me feel.) Or some such nonesense as that? I'm not sure if that's true, but if I can't laugh, I've got nothing.

My peeps out in blogland have been doing their damndest to cheer me up and I finally got around to some pictures!

So you all know how Ann skims right? Seriously - she's the ULTIMATE skimmer. I'll be chatting with her on the phone (Ann gives great phone, btw - you know how some people are just not that good on the phone? Not Ann. She rocks. And Margene too. I get on the phone with them and guaranteed it's like an hour before I get off. In a good way.) and I'll say something to her and she'll be like what? And I'll just stop. Silence. "Ann. Did you read the blog? It's all on the freaking BLOG!" And she'll just start laughing because people SHE DOESN'T READ THE BLOGS! She just looks at the pictures or maybe not even that. Ever notice how her comments don't really seem to have anything to do with what you wrote about that day? No. Well look. She's a skimmer. Anyway, I'm READING her blog the other day, because I read your blogs, and leave a comment about the availability of Curious George cell phone charms. I had to have one. For obvious reasons.

Welp not ten minutes later the phone rings. It's Ann. In a panic. She didn't READ WHAT SHE POSTED! She only skimmed (so really how offended can we be when she skims HER OWN BLOG) and was all upset that I had run off and purchased a Curious George phone charm, because, she confessed, she had already bought me one.

George and my phone have been inseparable ever since. Not sure what the bunny means, but he came along with George and they seem to get along just fine at the bottom of my bag. I love them. If you refer back to the picture above, Ann also sent me a cutie pie frog prince - a talisman - she explained - against frogging our knitting projects. So far so good. There's a CG bento box and frankly, a kind of scary snowman basket. THANK YOU ANN! Everytime I use the phone I think of you. You make me laugh out loud every time I talk to you and I so love you for that.

A few days after that my very favorite Bookish Girl checked in for the birthday.

Wendy told me that pretty much everything she sent had been purchased at The Bazaar Bizarre - one of those craft extravaganza flea market type thingies - we've got beautiful stitch markers, lovely handspun hand-dyed yarn from Woolarina, super cool patches, a denim zip purse, an orange chibi and a SUNFLOWER! To brighten my day. Thank you Wendy! I don't think I've mentioned lately how much I love Wendy. She was one of my first blog friends that I had met in real life - she took me around Boston - a perfect stranger - and we had an instant connection. She's as real as they come and she makes me laugh and I know if I called her up crying my eyes out she would listen, not judge, and help me. Thank you Wendy. I love you girl!

This is turning into a pretty long post, but it's making me feel better, so I'm going to keep going.

I'm also pretty good at making myself feel better. I've been feeling guilty about all the talk about stashalongs and such and it's time to admit, that on my birthday, I did what every self-respecting knitter does on their 36th birthday. I ordered a shit load of Alice Starmore's Virtual Yarn.

Eleven skanks of 3ply Hebridean. For Crossed In Translation swatches. Right now the front runner is Clover, top row, second from the left. I think it will be perfect for this sweater. Perfect. But I can't start swatching until I finish this:



TREK WINS! She guessed it - these are the sleeves for Short Rows. Back in the day, before it looked like I'd never knit anything other than Jaywalkers, I'd dare say Short Rows was my signature knit. I finished the back (twice!) and the front and left it. All that was needed was the boring navy blue stockinette sleeves and the seaming and a collar. But the sleeves. I couldn't do it. But I promised myself I would finish this sweater. I've worked too hard on it not to finish and I really love it and I hope to see if it fits someday. So I'm not starting the CIT sweater until this is done. I've done about ten increases - I'm doing both at the same time, so it's kind of slow going. My goal is at least one increase a night. There are 16 before you start to decrease for the raglan. Wish me luck.

Thanks everyone for your comments on my yarn yesterday! I'm very excited about my spinning and I'm so glad to share my enthusiasm.

All right. Enough's enough. I've got work to do and I've wasted enough of your day. ;-) Thanks for stopping by.
L, C

PS - Please go and see what made me the happiest of happy today! Margene finished her jaywalkers! I swear it was killing me that she wasn't enjoying these socks - but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. POP ROCKS!

Posted by Cara at 11:12 AM | Comments (82)

January 17, 2006

The Skankiest Skanks of All Skanks

Hizzle is my frizzle homizzle biffle, fo shizzle!

Yo, yo, yo! I'm a spinner now, so I will be referring to my Blue Faced Leicester by it's street name, Biffle. Yo Mama.

Okay, here's the 411. The green skank is the Spring Green Biffle from Lisa Souza first seen here. Friday night was my first attempt at plying and man did I suck! I'm getting that this whole spinning thing means completely and totally fucking things up on your first few go arounds. Now that I understand, I'm down with that. The yarn (if you could call it that in places) came apart a few times (Knots. They are your friend.) I couldn't get the two singles to freaking stay on the leader yarn. Eventually I got it all going and man was it fun! To see the little barberpoles wrapping around each other - I was so, so pumped! Once I was done I did the whole niddy noddy thing and ta da! A SKANK! A beautiful, fantastic, oh my god I made this SKANK! I wore it around my neck while I called everyone I knew to tell them that I HAD MADE THIS!!!!! (I even called Lisa Souza out in California, ostensibly to ask her advice on setting the twist, but really just to tell her I MADE YARN!!!!) Of course, when G got home from work and saw it hanging in the bathroom, because, well basically I dragged him in there to see it, he was, as usual, completely and utterly impressed. Thank you my love! Let's look a few more pictures, shall we?

Oh my god - look how AWFUL! Half of it isn't even plied and it's all knotty and loose and thick and thin and isn't it GORGEOUS?! I will never knit with this, I will wear it around my neck like a most precious jewel.

Clearly I was taken with the yarn. Ya think? So on Saturday I dove into my fiber stash and came up with some gorgeous Biffle from Amy Boogie of Spunky Eclectic in the Popsicle colorway. I'm not sure, but I think I improved A LOT.

Okay so this one is so unbelievably beautiful it made me cry. THIS YARN is exactly why I bought a wheel. I spun the singles and plied it all on Saturday - 4 oz. It's still thick and thin but I did much better with the plying. MUCH better. And the biffle is incredibly soft. I wear this one wrapped around my neck twice like a fantabulous scarf. With all the yarn wrapped around my neck I look like some kind of ancient queen. I am royalty and I am the yarn I spin.

I was pretty funny carrying the skank still hanging on a hanger and a touch wet along with my wheel to go out for my first spin-in with Jen on Sunday. The Essex County Handspinners, eh, Club, for lack of a better word (I don't think you can really call it a guild at all) was having a spinning demonstration at Modern Yarn in Montclair and I kidnapped Jen to give her a break. It was really nice sitting around and spinning with a bunch of like-minded ladies. Elisa, the woman who heads up the Palisades Handspinners Guild was giving the demonstration and she brought a long a bunch of samples of her own yarns. She also gave me lesson on the Charkha. Very cool. I had brought some Corriedale to spin - some of my practice fibers and I happily spun along - just like I belonged there. No one pointed at me and laughed. No one looked at my spinning and said Oh It looks WONDERFUL in that tone of voice that tells you god help you woman get a real job. And they all liked my socks. ;-) Jaywalkers. Rock Star. The Originals.

Of course it's always wonderful to spend time with my great friend Jen. We've been through a lot, Jen and I, in the years (has it been two already Jen - or 18 months?) that we've known each other. Seriously some heavy shit. And on Sunday we had yet another bonding experience. In a scene STRAIGHT out of Hitchcock, we were attacked by killer pigeons. I SHIT YOU NOT. I parked my car on Church Street in Montclair and Jen and I got out and I went into the back seat to get out my wheel. As we were walking away I noticed all these birds flying around my car. I hate birds. They scare the shit out of me. I've been attacked by birds before - don't ask, but I have. Anyway, so these birds are LANDING on my car. Yeah. With their scratchy pointy talons they're landing on my car. I think to myself G is going to shit. So I go back to the car and lightly hit the hood and they all scatter. We start to walk away again and I'm all like what the fuck with the birds and then I see them landing on someone else's car so I'm like okay whatever. Jen and I cross the street and we're walking up Church to get to the yarn store when I turn back to look at my car and THE BIRDS ARE FOLLOWING US!!!! The whole freaking flock of birds is like chasing us up the street. By this time Jen and I are both picking up our steps and are like what are the birds DOING? Make them STOP! They were EVERYWHERE!!!! We were practically running and crying and saying STOP STOP STOP. Make the birds STOP! It was VERY traumatic. VERY. We finally got into the store all out of breath and completely freaked out. I don't know what the hell the birds were thinking. I mean it's not like I have peanut butter mixed with bird seed caked all over my body. Jen can totally back me up on this. It was really freaky scary. I hate birds. Well, not all birds I guess, just the ones that fly around outside all unrestrained and menacing like. Rats with wings I tell you.

But, hell, I'm a spinner. It's all good.

PS - Happy Birthday sweet boy. Your Aunt Cara loves you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!

Posted by Cara at 01:17 AM | Comments (44)

January 16, 2006

Sonnylicious

Okay - who out there watches General Hospital? I mean, I LOVE Sonny. He's so freaking hot and I love when he's getting it on with the ladies because generally he's smiling then and my god the dimples, but EMILY? EWWWWW! I'm so torn here. She's so annoying and he's so hot and he's getting it on so he's happy and dimply but EMILY? Crap.

Oh and did anyone catch Jack Bauer on Charlie Rose? G's home from work today and we caught the afternoon repeat and Charlie Rose actually asked Keifer how many episodes they shoot in a season. Best Charlie Rose moment EVER!

Guess I'm in a posting mood today. I can't guarantee I won't be back.

Posted by Cara at 03:23 PM | Comments (12)

Classically Classic

Found via Bookslut via Bookninja:

"My best neologism is still "douché" -- what you say when conceding defeat to an asshole."

I cannot stop laughing. The most perfect word ever.

Posted by Cara at 12:42 PM | Comments (4)

WHOA NELLY!

Did you see 24 last night?!?! HOLY CRAP! G and I are still talking about LAST season, which we thought was right up there with the first season. And maybe the second. The third was a little weak, but OHMYFUCK! This one is shaping up just fine, and we're only two hours in! As long as I still got my soul patch, I'm good. G, of course, has the man crush on Jack, but I'm all over Tony A. I'm thinking of getting G one of these t-shirts. What do you think?

As goofy as it all is, it's kind of nice for both of us to be so excited about something, you know, together. I've decided the reason 24 is so satisfying is because it has just enough soap opera for me, and just enough inane unnecessary violence for G. And there's just enough oh my god that would so never happen in a million years but isn't it fun to fantasize to keep everyone happy. Thanks Jack! We really need you right now.

In other news, are you a sky watcher? I am!

Facing West, taken around 8:30 this morning off my balcony. Sandy, my love, my hair was extra wild today and the jammies were on and it was FREEZING!

Thanks for all the offers of help with the Jaywalker KAL. I didn't mean to sound as if I was complaining about the updates, I'm really not, I was just saying that with the amount of people involved, it's not really feasible to do the funny epic updates I was doing. I really like going through all the blogs - I've made some new friends that way, really, and it's great seeing what everyone is up to. I honestly thought about doing a separate blog for jaywalkers - I've already got one set up for CIT, and I've been involved in KALs like that before, but I wanted to keep track of this one myself for the giveaway. There are rules I've asked participants to comply to in order to be entered in the drawing and I want to be able to keep on top of that. Maybe after Feb 14th I'll set up another blog, but for now, I'm good. Thanks again though for all the suggestions.

I've had a pretty productive weekend, including a nice outing with Jen yesterday, replete with KILLER BIRDS, but that's for tomorrow's post. (Jen, thank god you were there - I don't think ANYONE would believe me if you hadn't been there. It really happened right?) In the meantime, I can't stop giving stuff away.

Be the FIRST to identify, in the comments, what I've been knitting this weekend (pictured above) EXACTLY, and I will send you a skank of Prove It All Night Socks That Rock and an orange chibi. Leave your guesses in the comments. And if I TOLD (or emailed you) about it, you are NOT ELIGIBLE. Oh yeah and here's a clue. It's NOT a jaywalker.

Posted by Cara at 09:43 AM | Comments (56)

January 13, 2006

Jaywalker Nine!

Honeys, we've reached the Tipping Point.

It's 5:13 PM EST on Thursday and we've got over 250 people signed up for this KAL. The way things are going, I would wager that by the time I hit publish on this post tomorrow morning ten more people will have signed up. I think I can safely say that this knitalong has reached the proportions of Clapotis, Rogue, Birch - whatever came before that I don't know. It's INSANE. I never, ever, in my wildest dreams thought it would come to this. NEVER. I have to say, honestly, it's making me a little bit uncomfortable. I was reading over at Stephannie's today and she had a very compelling post. I'm quoting it with her permission:

"There's an interesting tension in the knitting world.... It's about whether to join a trend on the blogs.

Do you knit the Jaywalker socks or not? If you really like them and have sock needles free and the right yarn, are you a mindless trend follower or are you just knitting what you like, recognizing that lots of other knitters like it too? How does something become a big knitting trend anyway--the next Birch or Clapotis or Jaywalker or Rogue?

In the end it shouldn't really matter to anyone else what you knit or what you do with your knits. We all come to this craft with differing sets of motivations and desires and that's what makes it fun. Yesterday at Lettuce Knit (yes, I finally attended a Stitch'n'Bitch and had a great time) there was a woman knitting a beautiful Jade Starmore steeked stole, two of us making jaywalker socks, some blankets, a baby sweater and a nifty-box in progress. Some swore they would never make Jaywalker socks now that they are the thing, others were thinking about it despite the teasing of their friends.

Really in the big world out there, we are not a trendsetting sub-culture that will be on the cover of People magazine, we won't get to the front of the line at the "right" bars because we knit. And we like it that way. We're used to be on the outside of what the media deems as popular culture. So who cares if a bunch of us knits the same thing?"

Steph's post came a very interesting time for me - what with my inbox filling up every five seconds with people wanting to get in on the KAL. I, myself, follow along the lines of I knit what I knit when I want to knit it and am not one to follow trends - in knitting or in my life in general. In fact, I'm often one of those people that WON'T go along with the crowd - sort of following Groucho's maxim: I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have me as a member. Along those lines, this is my reply to Stephannie:

This is such a tough question for me! I'm generally one who really likes to go along with my own thing - only knitting things I really want to knit.

I have knit Clapotis - and I enjoyed it. It was the perfect gift for a friend and I got to use glorious silk yarn and over all I was very pleased with it. That said, I haven't knit any of the other knits you listed. Except of course The Jaywalker.

Ah the jaywalker. As I said before, I knit what I want to knit. How did I find the sock? Well, I had come home from Rhinebeck with a lot of STR, lol, and was looking for the perfect pattern. I really don't like the whole feather and fan sock thing - at all - and I'm not a real chevron fan either - although an argument could be made that the Jaywalker is a chevron. There was something about the clean lines and stripey goodness and I cast on. I never swatched. I never deliberated about size. I just cast on and started to knit and I LOVED the way the yarn looked. And of course, I love the STR. I mean how could you not love that yarn? But anyway, back to jaywalkers. I was EXTREMELY lucky in that the pattern fit right off the bat, if not a tad tight over the heel, and I managed to make a pair without running out of yarn and it really was one of those fated yarn things where the pattern and the yarn and the wearer all kind of had a kismet relationship.

So I tried to see if I could duplicate that lightning strike again. And I did. And I did. And believe it or not I cast on for sock #14 last night. I've got six pairs of finished jaywalkers with no end in sight.

Did I mean to start some kind of crazy knitblog fad? ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact it's starting to drive me a bit crazy all those jaywalkers out there. Believe it or not, I feel COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY responsible when someone has fit trouble or runs out of STR or basically hates the sock.

The only reason I keep knitting them is because I love how they look and I love how they feel on my feet. I love the yarn. In fact I have all this other non-STR sock yarn that would be perfect for jaywalkers and I can't do it. It's like they have to be STR, for ME, or nothing else. And I've seen some great jaywalkers out there with other yarns, yarns I have in stash, but I guess my goal is to work my way through the small(er) skeins of STR in the stash - stuff I know how to make a pair of fantastic socks with.

Each pair I cast on is my new favorite pair. I completely understand the idea of I'll never make them because everyone else is making them and honestly, I've done that in my life. Not wanted to do something because everyone else is doing it. At this point I'm like THANK YOU! That's one less update I have to worry about. ;-) Although it also makes me a little bit sad because, you know, I do think it's a great pattern.

In the end, what's so AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL about knitting is that there's stuff like this out there! You can knit what everyone else is knitting, or you can't or you can make up something on your own or be inspired by something else or knit dishclothes all day long and be EXTRAORDINARILY HAPPY! How LUCKY are we to have found such an amazingly diverse outlet for our creativity!

Thanks for your post and I'm sorry to take up so much space - I probably should've saved this for my own blog. But it's something I've been thinking a lot about - feeling guilty I guess - and wanted to get my feelings off my chest.

So, that's how I feel. I appreciate all those people out there that say Clapotis, Schmapotis. Rogue, Schmogue. Birch, Schmirch. And of course, Jaywalker, Schmaywalker. If I had come along right now, with all those Jaywalkers out there and jaywalker jaywalker jaywalker I would think twice about it too. I honestly would. Which is kind of a shame because I know what a great pattern it is FOR ME and how nice MY YARN looks knit up with it and how comfortable it feels on MY FEET. And I have no problem knitting it over and over again. BUT I understand that there are people that knit something once and have to move on. There are no WRONGS in knitting. NONE WHATSOVER. We need to knit what we need to knit when we need to knit it. And for those who don't want to jaywalk, I've made you your own button:

Dudes! I'm all inclusive! No one should be left out! Which brings me to my next problem. I can't keep up with you people. When it was a small group of say 100 people, I could write up all my superfantastic updates and trust me when I tell you I had a lot of fun doing it! It's great fun to go and visit all your blogs week after week - especially the ones I don't normally read. But now, now I can't. It takes hours to go through all the blogs and honestly, the updates you send me end up getting lost in the shuffle with all the sign-up comments and I'm not as organized as I'd like to be, so what I'm going to do is list everyone who has an update with a link to their blog post, and if you're a non-blogger I will still post your pictures and where you're at in the progress. I'm sorry. My only other alternative is to close the KAL and I just feel like I can't do that. We've got over a month to go in the KAL - or at least until the winners are announced, and I just know the updates are going to get bigger and bigger and I need to do other things. Sometimes at least. I hope you all understand. I just hate disappointing people! HATE IT!

That said, MY OWN SOCK updates will go on forever. Yes, I've finished another pair of jaywalkers. Introducing: TWO POP ROCKS!

Remember this song, Two of Hearts? 80's Madonna like, artist is Stacey Q? I always thought it sounded like Two Pop Tarts. (Apparently I'm not alone either.) So the whole time I'm knitting these socks I've got that song playing in my head. Made for interesting knitting that's for sure. Suddenly I'd burst out with Two Pop Tarts and G would start laughing at me. Craziness. These jaywalkers are making me CRAZY!





I tried to do the whole sexy shoe thing like Anna, but I don't really have many sexy shoes. I'm a Merrell girl. But I did find the shoes I wore for my wedding, which happened to be dyed in almost the exact pink of the POP ROCK Jaywalker. Here's the artsy fartsy shit I came up with:





Um, my calves aren't that big. I mean they're not skinny or anything they're nice and shapely and the one in the picture above just looks weird.

Oh and in case you were all wondering, I immediately cast on for another pair. Yeah. I can HEAR you all groaning.

I swear to God - this is my favorite Jaywalker YET! I SWEAR! And before you all jump all over me about the yarn, this is Socks That Rock, BUT it's a Rare Gem which means there is NO OTHER YARN LIKE IT IN THE WORLD. Rare Gems are skeins that don't quite make it to the color they're supposed to be, so they become like blank canvases for Tina and she does whatever her genius deems necessary at that moment. They are truly rare gems. Sorry y'all. This one's mine. ;-)

Which leads me to my last point before I start with YOUR updates. Kris, my better than the best better pal, said something really profound on her finished jaywalker post, she said:

"what is wrong with me? i never want to do a pattern twice. there's something strange with this pattern - just look at cara; she's up to double digits soon - it is just so brilliant in combination with self-striping or variegated yarn that you can't help yourself, you need to try it one more time to see if it's as gorgeous in another yarn."

Couldn't have said it better myself! BRING ON THE JAYWALKERS!
(Updates in the extended entry!)

Legend:

= Everything's going A OK! Making progress!

= ^&$#$%@ this ^&$^$#%$#%@ SOCK!

= We're JAYWALKING BAYBEE! FINISHED!!

Adelle
Aija
Amanda
Amy
AmyP
Anmiryam
Ann
Anne
Becky
Bridget
Brenda
Carmelle A little bit of this and a little bit of this
Caro
Chelle - she had to rip it good!
Chihiro
Chris
Christine

CJ
Claudia
Cori
Cynthia
Deb
Deirdre
Diann
Ellie (Oh and big hugs Ellie!)
Gail
Georgia
Gwyn
Helen
Holly
Janine
Jasmin
Jen
Jenn
Jennifer
Jenny
Jessica
Jessica
Jo
Julia
Julia
Julie
Julsey
Kandy
Karen
Karen
Kathy
KathyB
Katie
Kelly
Kelly
Kerry
Kris
Kristie - A little of this and now hopefully a lot of this She had to rip the first attempt and then start over, but things seem good to go now.
Laura
Leah
Leslie LOOK AT THAT CUTIE PATOOTIE!!



Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Liz
Liz
Lori
Lynda
Margaux
Margene
Maria
Maribel
Maritza
Maritza (again!)
Michelle
Morgan
Morgan (again)
Nancy
Nancy She's rolling right along - I'm guessing a finished pair next week!



Pam
Paula
Robyn
Rosemary
Rossana
Sandra
Sandy
Sarah
Sarah
Shannon
Stephannie
Sylvia
Tania
tgz
Tiffany
Trek
Vicki
Vicki
Whitney

All you finished sock knitters, go over and add your totals to Amie's blog - she's hoping to count up 2006 socks knit in 2006!

If I missed you in the updates, I sincerely apologize. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Posted by Cara at 09:27 AM | Comments (83)

January 11, 2006

A is for

Artichoke

This is my first entry in the ABC-A-Long. As pretty much all of you know, I'm a photographer. Over the past year, I'd say 90% of my work was client related and while I love taking pictures of kids, I miss the pictures I take for myself. So when I saw this ABC thing come up I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get back to my own photography. Hope you enjoy it. I have to say, taking these pictures today really brightened my mood.

You know how there's all different kinds of hangovers? Alcohol, of course, too much food, too little sleep, etc - well today I've got an emotional hangover. Lots of working out those pesky feelings that don't WON'T stay down no matter how much you push them. I'm very lucky though to have the amazing support of my can'tfindthewordthatreallydefineshowmuchIlovehimandhowwonderfulhereallyis husband and great family and friends but in the end you have to deal with your own shit on your own time and it sucks. But you get through it.

Posted by Cara at 12:24 PM | Comments (34)

Jaywalker Admin Stuff

I'm still taking sign-ups - I don't think I'll be closing it ever - but if you want to sign up - PLEASE - say you want to sign up. Just because you leave a comment on an update telling me you've started your socks doesn't automatically tell me you want to be on the list. Thank you!

Also, there's over 200 people signed up for this thing now - if I don't see an update by 8PM EST Thursday evening, I can't guarantee you'll be in the updates - even if you send me an email. I'm sorry, but it's just taking too long to do these suckers, and well, I'm a crazy ass perfectionist so I want to do them right. And if you have a blog - UPDATE your blog. I check each and every blog on the list - so no blog entry - no update.

One last thing - please don't join at the last minute with your finished socks. Be in it to win it - I want to see at least ONE update of the socks IN PROGRESS before February 1st in order for you to be eligible to win and those socks MUST BE FINISHED by February 13th for the drawing on February 14th. It's a Knit ALONG people, not a knit by yourself and then jump in for the prize. Oh and speaking of prizes, since there are so many knitters signed up now, I'm going to up the prize to SIX SKEINS OF SOCKS THAT ROCK to be given away. That's double the chance to win. GO KNIT!

Posted by Cara at 12:02 PM | Comments (66)

January 10, 2006

It's getting better all the time!

My spinning, that is! This is Lisa Souza's Blue Faced Leicester in Spring Green. I'm very happy with it - still not as even as Norma's singles, but more even than yesterday's Coopworth. My plan is to finish spinning half on this bobbin, and then spin the rest on the second bobbin and PLY! Hopefully by the end of the week. That's my goal.

I spent a decent amount of time preparing the fiber yesterday. It helped tremendously. And I tried to spin S L O O O W.

I was very productive throughout the day - I read in the morning, blogged, finished up two reprint jobs, sent them out, went to the grocery store, read more in the evening, spun for an hour, made dinner and finished the evening off knitting! I was quite proud of myself. Today, not so much, but I've read for the morning and I'm off to knit with a friend in need for the rest of the day.

Have a great day!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 12:37 PM | Comments (28)

January 09, 2006

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Last week I didn't spin much, but when I did I was using some of the beautiful handpainted rovings I have in my fiber stash, and basically, well, ruining it. NO MORE. So after a couple of emails with Cassie, I ordered a bunch of practice fiber: 1/2 lb. of Romney, 1/2 lb. of Corriedale, 1/2 lb. of Coopworth (from Halcyon) and 1 lb. of Blue Faced Leicester from WEBS.

Yesterday I spun up almost the entire 1/2 lb. of Coopworth - that's what's in the picture above. I had a really good time. I've narrowed down my problems to drafting and treadling. ;-) No really - the drafting was really hard on some of the handpainted stuff I was spinning but I realize now it's because I wasn't PREdrafting enough. I was ripping it apart into smaller strips but I wasn't pulling it apart at all to get it less compacted. Today I'm going to try some of the BFL I bought from Lisa Souza - I figure after all that white yesterday I'm allowed a little bit of a treat today. And it's green - which isn't my favorite color these days so I'm not TOO concerned if I screw it all up. The treadling problem? Well, I've slowed that down considerably and I think that's helped a lot. Thanks to Ann, I also found a sort of close by guild. And someone to give me lessons! I think I'm going to have one next week.

I've been thinking a lot about the spinning - in a kind of zen way - and I'm working my way up to a nice long post about it. Not yet though.

My anxiety's been kicking my ass a little bit too - I think it's kind of a there was so much going on the last two months of the year and then the birthday and new years and now there isn't so much to think about so why not go back to the bad place and make yourself crazy kind of thing. You know? I'm working on it though. I do have a big project to get out by the 20th, but I can't do it all day long or I really WILL go crazy. I'm trying to work on it in the mornings (hence later blogging) because if I leave it to the afternoon I inevitably fall asleep. (It's a lot of reading work.) So I set a goal for the morning, and then go back to it in the afternoon and if I fall asleep, well, that's okay because I've already hit the goal in the morning. How smart am I?

There's been jaywalker progress over the weekend, but honestly, I'm afraid to show you a picture. After Friday's update, I think like THIRTY NEW PEOPLE signed up for the KAL! How insane is that? Kathy and I had a little bit of a it's your fault, no it's your fault kind of thing going on - she blames me, I blame her, but really , it can't be MY fault. I mean, SHE wrote the superfantastic pattern sweeping blogland. I told her - if it wasn't such a great pattern I wouldn't be knitting it over and over and over again and neither would anyone else. Right? So it's her fault. ;-)

Posted by Cara at 01:31 PM | Comments (29)

January 07, 2006

HELP WANTED: WEB DESIGNER/DEVELOPER

G and I went out to dinner last night and I was talking about all the things I need to do with my business. I was telling him that I could probably do it myself, but it would take forever and I'd have to learn all new things and my time is better spent elsewhere - and he said why don't you hire someone to help you!

So. I thought I'd come to you all first.

This is what I need: I need someone to help me with the hard coding - we can work together on the design - I need some shopping cart functionality - some flash, maybe, but not a necessity, I need it to be relatively easy for me to upkeep myself. I can code HTML, but that's about it.

These are the websites I'd like to upgrade:
CDC Photography
PhotoArtCards

They were both built entirely by me. Pretty good, but I need better. Ideally I'd love to give this job to a knitblogger! I know you guys are out there - working away on your blogs while you're not knitting. Or may you're a web designer/developer by day and a knitter by night? I don't have a lot of money to pay you - but I have A LOT of yarn (money + yarn = good, no?)

If you're interested in maybe working together, email me at s2 AT januaryone DOT com. In the email, please give me an link to some of your work, as well as your blog. If you don't have a blog, well, tell me what you knit last. ;-)

Thank you so much.

ETA: I'm an ASS and accidentally erased the emails I've received so far. If you're still interested, would you be kind of enough to resend your information? Pretty please? Thank you so much!

Posted by Cara at 09:32 AM

January 06, 2006

Ugly is as Ugly Does!

How's this girls?

Posted by Cara at 03:19 PM | Comments (20)

Jaywalker Eight!

Hey Everybody! Hope you had a kick ass holiday season and are ready to start the year off right - JAYWALKING. Although, I have to say, you guys are KILLING ME! Don't you people knit anything else? Here we are at week eight and at last count we have 184 participants! CRAZY! I thought I'd go over the rules again.

The rules:

1. Knit a pair (or more - hey - I'm going to start my THIRD! SIXTH? SE