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February 28, 2006

The Aftermath

We're going RANDOM today - hold on for the ride....

So the Olympics are over. Huh. What now you ask? Short Rows. I am determined to finish Short Rows. DETERMINED. D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E-D. Don't ask about it though, okay? I don't need the pressure. I want that monkey off my back. Although I gained back all the weight I lost this Summer and now I'm scared it won't fit. But we'll deal with that when it's finished. AND IT WILL BE FINISHED.

I'm also going to start swatching for Crossed In Translation. Teresa came up for the party on Sunday and we had some quality time together. After making like 200 swatches for this thing, she can knit the sweater in her sleep. Which works out extremely well for me because I got a nice little tutorial on all the different stitches and now I am very confident. Although I'm also bummed because I would really like some Rowan Magpie. Theresa's swatch in that was really great. Anyone know where I can get a sweater's worth of Magpie in a pretty purply pink color? I will pay. Anyway, I will start swatching asap. Don't ask about it though, okay? I don't need the pressure. Speaking of PRESSURE, did you see that (the other) Theresa knit her Am Kamin sweater in SIXTEEN FREAKING DAYS!!!! It was her Olympic Project and my god she deserves like a PLATINUM medal. With diamonds and sapphires encrusted in it. And a tiara. Definitely a sparkly tiara. The sweater is absolutely GORGEOUS and Theresa is GORGEOUS and oh my god she's my inspiration. Please, PLEASE run don't walk to go tell her how magnificent it is - the accomplishment as well as the sweater. It's so good I'm linking to it twice.

More Olympic goodness: Have you met Maisie and her mom Rowan? They are too freaking cute for words. And I say cute in the best most grown-up sophisticated practically a teenager who probably hates to be called cute way. Maisie is I don't know, ten? Eleven? Speak up Maisie! I forgot how old you are! And she's an amazing knitter. I watched her knit WITHOUT LOOKING on her super tiny DPNs and I was in awe. She rocks. And she taught her mom to knit too. And Maisie made a sweater for her older sister for the Olympics which you can check out on the blog she and her mom write together and lots and lots of socks and she knit Phil an AWESOME sweater (because, really, she says curse SHMURSE!) And in one of my favorite closing ceremony party moments, Maisie and her mom had to leave earlier than expected due to the death of her older sister's guinea pig (and no, neither the dead animal nor Maisie and Rowan leaving were my favorite part) and Maisie exclaimed that ALL her sister's pets died and the drama in her voice was all MARSHA MARSHA MARSHA and I felt so bad for Maisie having to leave and wanted to tell her that she rocked even if her sister's pet died and Rowan showed that she's an awesome Mom and girls I'd hang with you BOTH anytime. Any time. Thanks so much for coming to the party!

These are the only pictures I have from the party:

Where are all the pictures? I know people took pictures? Where are they? Please leave me a comment or email pointing me to pictures. I want to see them!

Guess what was waiting for me when I got home?!?

My latest Better Pal gift! Yay! Jan from Be*mused was my Better Pal. In this package I got the BEST stuff! Some Rowan Wool Cotton - one of my favorite yarns. Some (more) of Lisa Souza's GORGEOUS Biffle, which happens to be what I have on my wheel at the moment. EXCELLENT coincidence, Jan. Just great. I'm so glad to have more of this fiber. I love it! Of course, some more caramels. (It's a good thing I got a clean bill at the dentist!) And a super special KIT KAT from Japan. It's CHERRY BLOSSOM flavor and it's a Special Edition. Do you believe that? Special Edition Kit Kat. Awesome. Thanks so much JAN! It was a great Better Pal exchange.

My pal was Dalai Mama Liz. She's a hoot and a half and I tried to knock her socks off with my gifts. I think I succeeded, although at the beginning I thought I gave myself away. Apparently that wasn't the case because she bought a crapload of STR a couple of weeks ago. Silly girl! I had to call Tina and change all the colors I ordered for Liz at the last minute because she bought them herself! Thanks Liz for being such a great giftee!

I don't think I ever showed you the GREAT contest win from Danielle.

It's all silk and silk blends and it's soft and GORGEOUS and G was really taken with it. No plans for it yet. I love looking at it though and I think it will have a special place in the yarn cabinet. Beautiful stuff. Danielle dyed it all herself too. She gives great contest, so check her out!

Ready for another KAL? Check out Kris, Miyon, and Scout's new endeavor. A Rockin' Sock Club KAL! Did you join the BMFA sock club? Now you can knit the patterns with other members. Check it out!

Speaking of socks, I'm almost through another Jaywalker and Jenn asked the other day about the Embossed Leaves Koigu socks I started. I hate to admit it, but I'm barely through the ribbing. They'll be getting a boost soon!

That should be random enough! Have a great day!

Posted by Cara at 02:56 PM | Comments (25)

D is for

Dial

I had a really hard time deciding what I was going to photograph for D. (This being the last day and all. Okay. So Margene pointed out to me that I've screwed this up - it's not twice a month, it's every other week. Look for an E coming soon so I can get back on track.) This weekend G and I went up to Boston and stayed at the house his mother grew up in. As soon as I went up the stairs I knew what D would be! In an alcove at the top of the stairs was the phone, with it's own bench and pad and pen and shelves for phone books. Completely and totally intact - with a rotary phone that still works! I was OVERJOYED! Mainly because this totally reminded me of my own grandmother's house (this house being G's grandmother's old house) and her phone station with a black rotary. It's just so classic. That's the only phone on the second floor of the house, which is in stark contrast to the cordless phones I have in every room of my apartment. Often I can't find one and that's because there are three in one room - always the room I'm NOT in. The phone rang only a couple times this weekend, but each time I was thrilled to lift that heavy receiver and listen to the lovely, lovely ring. I include the key pad to our newest cordless for comparison.

I have to say how much I'm enjoying this ABC challenge. This was my favorite shoot by far. Sorry for the ton of pictures but I love them all! Thank you!

(There's another D in the extended entry. Check it out if you like - it's not my official D, but it was a fun photo shoot.)

My in-laws' house is full of artifacts. Some are typical, like antique lamps and vases and valences. And some are just odd. I'm not sure what this says about my husband's family, but on one of the shelves there was a topless Barbie doll with a tutu skirt, standing in a glass bowl. A couple shelves down was a headless bird in another glass bowl. I broke the lid to the bird bowl trying to get a better look.

D is for...

Doll

I hope I haven't given anyone nightmares. L, C

Posted by Cara at 12:21 AM | Comments (29)

February 26, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day Sixteen: TEAM BOSTON ROCKS!

I wanted to thank everyone who came out for the Closing Ceremony party! It was by far the best party I've ever thrown and that's only because of ALL OF YOU! TEAM BOSTON ROCKS!!!!!

I also wanted to CONGRATULATE all of the knathletes whether you finished your project or not. It's enough that we all participated and challenged ourselves. What an amazing endeavor! I'm truly impressed. So I say GREAT JOB! YOU ROCK!

And last but not least, I've been told by the designer herself: my Olympic mittens are mutants. ;-)

Posted by Cara at 11:55 PM | Comments (21)

February 24, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day Fourteen: Stick a medal on me BAYBEE!

I'm DONE!

Alright, ALL RIGHT! I have a few ends to weave in but I plan on doing that as a symbolic closing ceremony thing. You know, for the DRAMA and all.






Lemme tell you, I actually don't need the drama. A word of advice, my fellow knitters. If you fuck up your Olympic knitting the night before a major road trip, with only two days to go in the competition, and you're pretty sure if you don't finish tonight they won't get done, and you're thinking the misstep is big enough that you may have to rip out a WHOLE FREAKING MITTEN to fix the mistake - well - DON'T CALL ANN. She won't help you. She will LAUGH at you. (Cue the creepy Carrie music. Piper Laurie in her witch costume. "Ann's gonna laugh at you. Ann's gonna laugh at you!" Yeah. I was throwing knives in my mind.) Bethe will be helpful. (Oh my! Check out Bethe's banner! TOO FUNNY!) Kathleen and Peggy, a little bit, but they were under Ann's influence. The thing to remember is that you're ON YOUR OWN when it comes to Olympic Knitting. It's just you and the yarn, baby. Just you and the yarn.

The problem was those freaking thumbs. I've never picked up stitches off of waste yarn before and the row before the waste yarn was super easy, but the yarn above the waste yarn? Where were the loops? I don't get it. To clarify - I did stick the needle into the loops before I removed the waste yarn, but there seemed to be TWO loops, whereas in the row below there was ONE clear loop to stick the needle in. At the top, where there seemed to be two, well, they weren't even loops! In the end I totally fudged the damn thing and it looks okay. Think Sasha Cohen falling twice but still getting the silver. That's how it looks. Good enough. There was a moment though that I had ripped back to redo it because I didn't like the gapping hole I was getting and I ended up losing what I thought were the stitches and I panicked and didn't think I was going to get them back and I thought I might have to RIP OUT THE MITTEN down to the waste stitch mark. But I sat back, despite seven taunting phone calls from Ann, and persevered. I summoned up my Olympic strength. I thought about all I had been working towards. I thought about my family - the pain and humiliation if I couldn't pull through. I thought about these kids and how excited they were when I cast on! I thought about my teamates: Team Philly. Team New Jersey. Team Boston. I knew what I HAD to do.

Doesn't it look like I'm flipping somebody off? That's because I am.

If I hated the yarn, Dale Falk, before, I REALLY hate it now. It's splitty. Splitty doesn't work when you're trying to pick up stitches and there's yarn behind and yarn in front and more strands than should be there and one color is so bright it gives you a headache while the other color is so dark it gives you a headache. I did like the pattern. I really, really did. I love the way the pirates turned out and I love my name and I love the year and I love that I reversed the yarns. They fit, although they're still a little snug. I have to say I think I prefer gusset mittens to straight out thumb mittens. But it's all good and I'm finished.


What is the sound of two thumbs clapping?

In order to celebrate my Olympic Achievements, G took off today and we're ROAD TRIPPING!!!!



We're throwing a PARTAY! Beantown style! WHOOHOO! I'm so excited to see all my Team Boston peeps and I'm hoping they'll be plenty of pictures to share. I'm bringing the camera, but that doesn't always work out and I'll be hosting but someone will remember the camera, right? We'll be back sometime Monday, and I don't know if I'll have Internet but whatever you're doing this Olympic weekend, I hope it's fun and you have friends around and you accomplish what you set out to do - even if that's just learning your limitations. SO IMPORTANT in this life. Everyone's got them. We need to embrace them.

Knit ON fellow knathletes. KNIT ON!
L, C

PS - Can I just second Lauren's account of the Olympic Commentators? I'd like to tell you what I think Dick Button needs, but this is a family site. WOW that man is bitter. And HELLO? Skaters? I remember when Olympic Figure Skating was fun! Surya Bonaly anyone? It was everything I could do to STAY AWAKE. No one can get through a program without falling and yet they all seem like drones out there. Doing the same thing and the same music and Y A W N.... And I will agree with Buttonhead for a second and say if I see one more chick bring her foot up to her head and glide around...well...I'm going to be honest and say I was hoping someone would trip and the blade would actually go INTO her head. Not so deep as to do damage. A little superficial wound - but with BLOOD on the ice. You know. To spice things up. ;-)

Posted by Cara at 08:08 AM | Comments (58)

February 23, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day Thirteen: What separates us from the animals

Thumbs. So right now I'm an animal, cause I ain't got no thumbs. But it's all good. I'm thinking of doing one thumb today, maybe, but I have to get things ready for a road trip G & I are taking tomorrow. More info on that later. But back to the mittens: The second mitten is a bit wonky but you know what, I don't care. I'm bored of this project. That's not to say it's a bad project and I do like to see the pattern appearing beneath the needles, but I don't like the yarn. And when I don't like the yarn, forgetaboutit! Ruins a whole project for me. (See Ribby Cardi.) But I'm persevering, if only to show Ann (there's your link for the day, honey bun!) that I will finish. I think she's got some money riding on me to fail. To FAIL people. Ann is betting AGAINST me. But I will WIN! No doubt about it. ;-)

Posted by Cara at 12:21 PM | Comments (20)

February 22, 2006

Join the CLUB!

Now you too can have the stash I have! Well sort of.... Blue Moon has unveiled their SOCK CLUB!!!

Posted by Cara at 12:13 PM

Exorcism!

NO CAVITIES! YAY! None for me, none for Georgie! Safe for another six months. Whew!

I'm writing this Tuesday night because tomorrow I'm going to meet Ann and Daughter#2 (hey Ann - will I have to call her Daughter #2? Or does she have a more conventional name?) to give them the oh my god its been 15 years since I graduated from college tour of NYU. I hope I don't forget all the good score corners at Washington Square. There will be lunch and there will be yarn shops in the mix. Even though I didn't knit when I was in college. Ann canceled on me because she's hacking up a lung and was generous enough to keep her Avian Flu away from me. And she more than made up for it with this photograph. Please, PLEASE go read her post. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Oh my god I LOVE YOU ANN!

This post, though, is about exorcism. (That should be good for the google hits!) You all know about the sideboard brouhaha, and in order to put it all past us and load up that baby with yarn, I felt like I needed to exorcise the evil karma that came along with my mistake. I've been thinking about what I could do and this morning I said to G I should burn the directions and he said that was perfect. So I did it. (G wasn't home when I actually did do it and I think if he saw the amount of FIRE produced he would've changed his mind in a hurry!)

First, I followed Ann's advice and found myself a metal bowl and put it in my sink. Then I collected the materials I wanted to burn. (You should know, that this was really about burning stuff. I never burn stuff but somehow I really wanted to burn stuff. You know?) I thought about it and I decided that besides the directions, I would put some scraps of yarn from my past jaywalkers and a bit of fiber. So STR and Corriedale went into the pot.

I put it all in the bowl and lit the stuff on FIRE.


KIDS! Do NOT try this at home!

I gotta tell you FIRE is scary. I let the sucker burn for a couple of seconds and then there were flames like everywhere and THEN I remembered to grab the camera. Duh. Anyway, so I snapped a few pictures and then turned on the faucet. Tina at BMFA told me the yarn and fiber would smell like shit when it burned and it didn't really, but honestly, I don't know if the yarn/fiber ever really caught on fire. But it was bad anyway and I put the fan on in the kitchen. Then the phone rang and I was freaked that it was the building calling me to complain about the smoke (there really wasn't any at all) but it was just Ann.



So I burned the stuff, but that didn't seem like enough. So I went back into my bedroom and built myself a little shrine of STR and then lit my favorite candle ever and really the only candles I ever burn - Lemon Verbena from L'Occitane.



I lit the candle and said the Shehecheyanu. When I was done, I turned and looked out the window and found this:



I'm loading up this baby tonight! Pictures to come are in the extended entry.

Okay. I'm back! I had a lot of fun loading up this sideboard and I can't believe how much it will hold! I bought this big ass basket to hold fiber in the living room near the wheel, but it all fits into the cabinet. Oh well. Now listen, before I show you the pictures of my yarn in the cabinet looking all cosy and warm and loved, you have to promise that you won't get mad when you see all the Socks That Rock yarn. PROMISE! You see Tina and I have become really good friends and we talk all the time and in the course of our conversations about the work I'm doing for them and all the other good collaborative projects we have planned and what's the weather like where YOU are because here it's shitty I might just order lots of yarn. Like if I see or hear about a color I don't have, I tell her to send it. And being the good businesswoman that she is - she does. G has never made a comment about the yarn all over the house - asked how much I've spent, etc, but when he saw the STR drawer, well, he stepped back a bit. He didn't say anything verbally - but man the body language said it all! LOL!

Without further ado - the sort of filled up yarn cabinet! (The closed drawers have nothing in them - top little drawers will be for needles and notions. The other drawers for yarn to be determined later.)

Before I put anything in the drawers and spaces, I sliced up some pieces of amazing smelling soap that Janet had sent me.


I figured this was a great way to get rid of the icky Ikea particleboard smell. I'm not sure what flavor this is - but it's kind of got a citrusy smell - I love me some citrus smell. (Maybe Lemongrass? Janet is that right?) I wrapped each piece of soap in tissue paper. I also added some cedar balls to each space.

In each of the side spaces, we have my fiber collection. Undyed fibers and miscellaneous fibers and handspun yarns on the left:

And on the right side we have all of my dyed Biffle and other assorted dyed fibers.



Then, in the middle, we have the special sock yarn drawer - i.e. - yarn that isn't STR, but isn't Regia either. You've got your Koigu, your Lorna's Laces, your Cherry Tree Hill, some Twinkletoes, some Artyarns Ultramerino 4, some Vesper and some other assorted stuff.



Okay. Now here it is. Remember you PROMISED not to get mad.






In the top picture is all the STR I have still in skanks (that's a double, sometimes triple layer of yarn.) The bottom picture is what I have already wound up. I counted that I have about 37 skanks unknit. There are two in the process of being knit, and 8 pairs finished. I've also given away A LOT of this yarn. At least fifteen skanks. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm expecting a package today or tomorrow. But not all of that's for me. Some of it will be given away.

ETA: My stash, in its entirety, is MUCH larger. What's in the sideboard is pretty much everything that had been residing on the floor in my living room - although there was some shifting around of stuff. The rest of the stash is safely tucked away in bins in my closet. I've got a lot - more than some, but not as much as others, I'm sure.

So there you have it! My beautiful yarn cabinet that I look on with only love. The exorcism worked!
Hope you have a demon free day!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 10:47 AM | Comments (54)

February 21, 2006

Come Play With Us

So Becky tagged me for the "The View from Your Front Door" meme. I told her that it would be really, really boring. I'm not so sure she believed me.

I live in a high rise apartment building, so looking out my front door gives me a wall. A very boring wall. I thought I'd take a picture of the hallway too. This is walking straight out my front door and turning left:



It's a crappy picture of the hallway, but it's usually pretty dark out there. They're supposed to be re-doing the hallways in the building - walls, carpeting, lighting. They're charging us a gazillion dollars but the board's fighting about it. As usual. Supposedly it was all supposed to be started and halfway completed by now and I think they painted the stairwells and maybe ripped out one floor. Fun, fun, fun! Anyway, the most interesting thing I can say about my hallway is that sometimes it scares the freaking crap out me. (Ask Jen. She'll tell you. I totally wigged her out the other day.) It's because sometimes, when I'm walking down from the elevator to my apartment, all I can think about is the twins in The Shining. You know - the ghost girls who want Danny to play and then the hallway fills with blood and I literally break into a run to my apartment. I hate scary movies and I think The Shining, with Jack Nicholson, is one of the scariest movies ever. But yet, whenever it's on, I have to watch it.

I much prefer the view from my balcony:

For this very nice meme I will tag: Jasmin (because I learn something new on her blog everyday), Kris (because she's my bp and she lives far from me), Stephanie (because she has a beautiful blog and lives in a beautiful place), and Kimberly (because she takes great pictures and here's a good excuse to take some more.) Do you want to do it? Well, then, I tag you too!

I may have exorcised the Ikea Demons yesterday when G and I test drove a car out of Sweden known for its safety and family appeal. Welp this car is the fastest car I've ever driven and I've driven some fast cars. The last time we had that much fun in a test drive we bought the car. We're still a couple of months away from any decisions, but I know what I want. Actually, I have to say that car shopping yesterday was one of the most pleasant experiences we've had in a while. Two dealerships, two different cars, two test drives. No one gave us a hard sell. Both salespeople loved the cars they were selling. Both extremely likable. I'd feel good buying a car from either one. And that says a lot. What was interesting too is that one salesperson had been in the business for over 20 years. The other was just barely OVER twenty years OLD. But that second test drive, with the young guy, MAN was that fun. You know you're in for a good time when the salesguy gets in the car and says, don't worry, I went to Skip Barber. Yipeee! G and I are still laughing over it!

I'm off to the dentist today. Blah. I hate the dentist. Well, I actually like my dentist and everyone in the office. I've been going there for 15 years and G something like 20. In fact we both have appointments today - one after the other. All together now: AWWWW! We get to see each other in the middle of the day, which is always a treat and may just help relieve the awful anxiety I get at the dentist. And it's going to be bad today - I haven't been in a while.

I leave you with my knitting from yesterday. Favorite STR EVAH! ;-)

Posted by Cara at 09:17 AM | Comments (34)

February 20, 2006

P.I.S.S.

As the indomitable Snow put it, I'm suffering from Post Ikea Stress Syndrome. P.I.S.S. How great is that?

When last you found our intrepid Heroine, I was going to take the fucker apart and show it who's BOSS! On Saturday G and I ventured out to a Lowe's to get some supplies for rip down and rebuild. I think we were successful. Things were looking up!

Cedar balls, for the finished product, and an electric screwdriver. I was OPTIMISTIC!!!

We started to take the thing apart. The first thing we had to do was get those little grabby half circle things out of the holes - you know the ones that hold the metal thingamajigs? You don't? Consider yourself lucky because once you get those things in there they don't freaking come out! So we're trying our hardest to get these fuckers out and it's amazing we're still married and we can't get them out. Then I think hey! Maybe all I have to do is unscrew these screws over here and I can get it out! No go. Those little wooden Ikea pegs things that I want to stick in some Swedish designer's eye are everywhere in this piece so even if you take the screws out you can't get the thing apart. So we're back to trying to get the top off so we can begin to TRY to take the thing apart but we can't do it. I'm crying. I want to throw the thing out. And G's totally with me. I call Ikea and ask them if I can drop the thing off and pick up a new one, since I can't take it apart. The woman tells me I can return it fine, but it has to be unassembled. In the calmest, most exacerbated voice I have I tell her that if I could get it apart, I wouldn't have to bring it back. She puts me on hold. I want to set fire to everything around me made of particle board. She comes back and tells me that they'll take it, but I'll have to pay an additional percentage, depending on its condition, over and above the 30% restocking fee. I say thank you and hang up. We consider this. Really, really consider this.

One problem. The freaking thing won't fit in our car.

So we, two intelligent creative people, think of what to do. We'll rent one of those trucks from Home Depot! Yeah! That's it! And we'll take it back to Ikea and get 50% or less than what we paid for it then buy a new one! Then return the truck! So we'll be out an extra $500 but it will be PERFECT!

I actually made a few phone calls to some people to see if I was crazy to do this (G was right there with me, god love him!) but no one was home. Which turned out to be a very, very good thing.

This is CRAZY! I thought. GO BACK AND RETHINK! I was right when I started. Go back and drill the freaking holes in the wood. Turns out that middle piece, remember? It's not particle board. It's solid wood. Maybe that's why it's the piece that holds the whole sideboard together? Anyway, we get to measuring and turning it this way and on its head and every which way and in the end WE DO IT! WE DRILL HOLES AND THE DRAWERS WORK! And it's all fixed and we can dance and sing and rejoice.

Almost.

As I'm finishing the rest of the drawers, I realize that one of the reasons you needed to put that freaking piece of wood in the right way, besides the holes, is that the stain is on the front side out. You know. To match up with the rest of it. So I've got all the drawers in and everything's together and this thing ain't never coming apart, but I've got a nice solid piece of PINE sticking out of my DARK WALNUT dresser. FUCK!

Off to Home Depot we go.

It looks good enough for me, so please don't tell me if it looks bad. Seriously. I don't want to know. This thing about killed me. I have poly for it too but I'm letting it go for now. I can always poly it later. Jacobean MinWax if anyone's interested.

You think that's the end of the story, don't you? It's NOT! So I hated the drawer pulls that came with the dresser and I walked into Restoration Hardware and found the perfect pulls IMMEDIATELY. Bought them, brought them home, tried them out. BINGO! They don't fit. Well, they fit, but the screws were too short and they didn't come with backs. What the? So on our venture to Home Depot we got some longer screws and some nuts and washers and problem number 3,719: the screws are silver and the pulls are a dark bronzy color. So the guy at Home Depot suggests we paint the screws. We buy paint and long discussions ensue on what's the best way to paint these little teeny tiny screws that will attach the draw pulls that I adore for the dresser that I now loathe.

The ones I love on the left, the Ikea icky ones on the right.

Not to fear, my lovelies. At around midnight Saturday night in a stain induced haze I figured out the problem. So genius am I.



See (well you can't really see, but take my word for it) the Ikea pull has like a tube that extends through the hole in the drawer front and you screw in the screw into the back. So what I figured out is that I could attach the Ikea drawer pull onto the INSIDE of the drawer and screw in the screws on the beautiful drawer pulls into the tubes from the front. Make sense? Look at the picture again. It makes perfect sense and better yet it WORKS!






For all intensive purposes fuck it This thing is FINISHED. I do like it. I like it a lot. But I'm still mad so I'm not filling it with yarn just yet. I want that to be a kind of spiritual event. So I need a day or two. Soon though. I'm getting there. Recovery is hard.

Knit Olympics:Day Ten: PROGRESS!

I started the second mitten. As I mentioned before, I'm doing the reverse on the second one. Pink as the Main Color, Navy as the contrast. I like it! I'm confident these mittens WILL be finished by next Sunday.

I also started a couple of socks:

On the left is the ribbing for the Embossed Leaves Socks from the Winter 2006 IK (do I really need to link to it?) in Koigu #P704 and on the right is a new Jaywalker in STR Panzanite (no it's not on their website and Toni at The Fold doesn't have it - if you like it, call and ask for it!)

We're off to look at cars today. G has a spreadsheet with him. Oh fun!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 12:00 PM | Comments (45)

February 19, 2006

DUDE!!!! I totally did it!

I took up Bonne Marie's double dog dare and GOT ON THE RADIO TO TALK TO ANN AND KAY!!! Ohmygod I was so freaking nervous. There's still time to call!

Posted by Cara at 07:59 PM | Comments (5)

February 17, 2006

New! And IMPROVED!

HOLY CRAP! You guys really know how to make a girl feel good! I'm glad you like the new stuff. I like it too - although I'm still tweaking. I think things are good for a bit. I wanted to add too that I found my inspiration for my header at Sydney's. I took out a couple of the lines, but I still like the way they break things up a bit. I think it adds to the abstract nature of many of the photographs.

Thanks again! I'm really touched by all the comments!!!!

Instead of knitting, I played with the blog a bit. Refresh the page a couple of times. ;-) Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Posted by Cara at 07:58 PM | Comments (106)

Knit Olympics: Day Seven: HOT FLASH!

First off, thank you everyone for your commiseration and suggestions with the whole Ikea thing. There really shouldn't have been any doubt in your minds that I wouldn't take apart the whole thing and rebuild it. The glue thing was just a nod to G, who came up with the idea, and honestly, a temporary lapse in judgement. I will be rebuilding it tomorrow. With finished pictures of amazing goodness on Monday. I had two favorite comments from the lot of you: Stacey said, "Like knitting, you would frog it if you discovered a huge mistake way back. Leaving it as is may be bad karma for the knitting to be held in it!" Food for thought! I'm a HUGE believer in Karma and this one is very, very true. It would be like putting a curse on my yarn! Can't have that. And the other great comment was from Carrie K., who said, "Oh, how horrible! I say burn the thing and start over." Oh my, Carrie, if I had the money, that's exactly what I'd do. My OCD perfectionist self would LOVE to throw it out the window, drive to Ikea and get a brand new one. Also, I find Carrie's comment wonderfully ironic, given that her blog is called My Middle Name is Patience. HAHAHAHAHA! Isn't that great?

A little update for you - G's hip isn't as bad as we thought. The pain isn't being caused by bone rubbing against bone, rather the theory is the pain is being caused by tendonitis, which in turn is being caused by all the crap floating around the bad bones and stuff. His hip is still really bad and EVENTUALLY he will need replacement surgery, but for now we're going to try to fix the severe tendonitis and do some hardass PT as a way to strengthen the muscles around the hip to better support the area. To wit, yesterday he had a cortisone shot in his hip. To get it precisely right they had to do a "special procedure" which meant the hospital and hospital gowns and no eating before hand etc. His shot was pretty delayed so there was plenty of waiting time to do this:

Honestly, I was going to cast on a new pair of jaywalkers but I brought a size 2 and a size 1 and at least now Ann will stop her bitchin' that I'm going to lose. It seems she has some sort of wager riding on me. Alas, I'm not completely finished.



I think I'm going to start on the second mitten before I get to the thumbs. I'll do both thumbs together. I'm going to plug along on these gloves, but, the bloom is off the needle, so to speak. If I hadn't brought the wrong needles, I would NOT have been knitting them. Is it bad to say I'm a bit bored by them? I am. But I'm an knathlete, so I persevere.

Did you see that new spanky yarn in the picture?

Oh my god can you STAND all that pinky goodness?!?! Do NOT tell me it looks like pepto bismol because I LOVE it and also because I will have the pepto dance in my head all day. (Do yourself a favor, PLEASE click on the pepto link!)

Anyway, this fibery goodness is a NEW Socks That Rock color - HOT FLASH! How great is that? I'm thinking a picot edge plain stockinette sock because the stripes are thicker and I've decided I don't like jaywalkers with thicker stripes. I think they look best when there are lots of colors. What do you think? I ripped out the other stockinette socks I was making way back when and I'm not sure I can do it anymore. But I can try!

ETA: Every color you've ever seen of Socks That Rock ON THIS BLOG is available directly through Blue Moon Fiber Arts. All you need to do is call or email with the name of the colorway you've seen and ask them if it's still available (they do retire colorways.) They have over 200 different color combinations - their website and Toni's site, and my site for that matter, only show a fraction of the colors available. They are planning to unveil more colors on the website - but these things take time - and I for one would rather they dye yarn, then worry about web stuff! ;-)

Thanks again for all your comments about G's hip and possible replacement surgery. We're feeling really optimistic that he has at least a few years before we have to worry about surgery - he even sent in his membership fees for the tennis club this summer, so he's definitely feeling better. We appreciate all your kind words and thoughts.

Today has been declared cast on day. I'm going to cast on two socks and my mitten and then I'm going to weave in Short Row ends. I don't feel real well - awful horrible headache yesterday that's come back today and I think I'm getting a cold, but not really. So I feel like crap - but not enough to say I'm SICK. You know? Hope you're well and have a great weekend. WISH ME IKEA LUCK!

Posted by Cara at 12:00 PM | Comments (37)

February 16, 2006

The Agony of Defeat

Knit Olympics? What's that? We're talking Team Ikea here. And trust me when I say this is KILLING me. There was cursing. There were tears. And yes, there was even a bit of blood. But I was cruising on this damn sideboard and I could see the home stretch. I had the room all Martha Stewarted out in my mind when it all came down on me in a crushing, soul-sucking moment of misplaced wood.

I'd like to say I'm an expert Ikea builder. At this moment, I have no less than 32 pieces of furniture in my apartment from Ikea - all built almost exclusively by me. Fourteen of those are Billy bookcases, which I can build with my eyes closed. I'm not taking into account the gazillions of pieces of furniture we've since thrown out, other pieces I've built at my sister's house, pieces I've built for friends. If you want something built from Ikea, you call me.

So yesterday, as I set out to build my gorgeous new yarn cabinet, I did what I always do. First, I spread out all the pieces.

4:07 PM EST

Then, I put together all the nuts and bolts and weird Ikea thingamajiggys that don't look like they'd hold anything together but somehow they do.


4:31 PM EST

Then I go through the directions at least once to see if there's anything I haven't already seen before, and get to work. The worst part of Ikea directions is figuring out which side things go on - there are always so many freaking holes in everything and you really have to pay attention. PAY ATTENTION. Get it? Anyway, I started building around 4:45 and I was cruising along - things were going pretty well. There was a moment or two and some chipped particle board when I tried to get the top of the thing onto the rest of the structure. I think I can safely say the top weighs almost as much as I do and it's almost as tall as me so trying to get all those wood freaking pegs into the holes while matching up the silver doohickeys almost killed me. I say almost because goddamnit, I did it. All by myself.


7:58 PM EST - Ignorance is bliss!

Once the base structure was up, I took a little break and put the new lamp on top and stood back to admire my work. It was going to be great! And I still might have time to build the nine freaking drawers before G got home. No way was I going to have time to fill it, but that's okay. He'd get the idea.

I started with a little drawer and the first part went well. I finished the first three and then went to attach the runner track that lets the drawer move in and out smoothly. This is a fairly new Ikea innovation. In the old days you just had these clip things - the drawers stuck a lot. The new way is better, but jeezus it was hard to get those little screws screwed in. I had all my tools around me and alas, I don't think I had the perfect freaking philips head - even though I had about seven philips head screwdrivers in front of me. At this point, my hands are a mess. My palms are killing me - both of them - from screwing in four thousand screws and my back is aching from sitting hunched over on the floor. At least I stopped sweating from when I was trying to get the two-ton top on the structure. Anyway, I was tired and hungry and I slipped with the screwdriver and managed to screw my thumb instead of the screw. Fucker bled a lot too. In the end, it's a pretty superficial wound, and I managed to stop the bleeding and get on with my work. Once you start an Ikea piece of furniture, you don't stop for anything. Well, almost anything.

So I'm getting the drawers down good now. I'm doing all the tops first, then attaching the drawer part and in between I'm attaching the runners, because that's the hard part with the little screw and the wrong size screwdriver and the bum thumb. Every time I finish a drawer I put it in to see how nice it's goes in and out. This is when I find out that I've attached some of the tracks on the base structure incorrectly. Upside down or the left one on the right and so forth but it's easily fixed. So I fix it.

Here's where the agony part comes in. I finish one of the two drawers in the middle and go to put it in. But it's not going in at all. I figure, okay, time to switch out the track on the body. Check it out. DISASTER. I realize that I've made a blunder of such colassal proportions I want to kill myself ON THE SPOT. I want to take one of those ill-fitting philips heads and hammer it through my heart. I want to lay on the floor and PULL OVER the four thousand pound gorilla ON TOP of my body and martyr myself to the Ikea gods.

The tracks weren't on wrong. THE FUCKING PIECE OF WOOD IS ON WRONG. This is the middle piece of wood holding the whole damn thing together. Possibly the first piece I attached. In order for me to fix this, I would have to TAKE APART THE ENTIRE PIECE OF FURNITURE. Everything connects to this piece of wood. And it's not freaking particleboard either, or maybe it is, but I tried to make a new hole so I could attach the track in the right direction and I couldn't get through the piece of wood. At this point I'm so desperately sad I make myself something to eat. And I'm not a tension eater. It's about 10:30.

Around this time, G calls. He's on his way home and he can hear that I'm upset but this whole thing was a surprise for him and I'm not going to ruin the last remaining joy in the project just so I can bitch. They'll be time enough for that when he gets home. I fuck with it a bit more, then he does get home and I proceed to burst into tears immediately. He absolutely LOVES the piece and he's so upset for me because he knows how these Ikea things are being that he can't read the directions for shit and usually willingly succumbs to my "so-called" expertise. He gets out the drill (which, admittedly, I don't know how to work) and we try to drill the hole I've made deeper. It sort of works, but it's all wonky and when you put the drawer in it's very lopsided. Doesn't work for me. I cry harder. I've now spent a solid seven hours on this thing - and I'm fucked. In order to fix it RIGHT, I will have to take apart the entire thing and start over. It's doable. It really is. BUT oh my god. G thinks that we can use glue to attach the track. Some super duper gorilla glue that works on wood and metal and it won't be that big of a deal - because it's not like we'll be opening the drawers all the time. We can be delicate. What do you think. Will that work?

Colassal Blunder!




Please tell me it will work. The thought of taking this thing apart and putting it back together makes me very, very sad.


The morning after.

And to make matters worse, I moved all the crap from one side of the bedroom to other so I could build this thing and in the process my Olympic knitting - yes - it's still here - I knit three rounds the other day - somehow got tangled up and I spent the next 45 minutes untangling a ball of navy blue yarn at 12:30 AM. And this morning my hands are swollen and killing me and my wrists hurt and my arms hurt. I'm here to tell you - there's LOTS of crying in the Olympics.

ETA: Now my picture host is off line. So you can't even see my pain and misery. Fuck it. I'm going back to bed.

Posted by Cara at 09:18 AM | Comments (66)

February 15, 2006

Taking Back My House: Part 3,851

Guess where I was all morning?

I dropped G off at the train - I didn't even have knitting or water with me - and decided I needed to go to Ikea. And since I was already out of the house, I might as well go now. I called Jen and she was up for it, so Jen, Xavi and I all headed out to Sweden for the day. My intention was baskets. The house is still a mess and it's driving me crazy, but it's really hard to clean up when you don't have anywhere to put anything. My closet has about as many bins as it can hold and I figured some pretty baskets in the living room would be good for holding fiber near the spinning wheel. But I ended up with this:

It's MY VERY OWN YARN CABINET!!! It will be perfect in the bedroom, right under the Dali print and I can put yarn in it and notions and fiber and I can finally get the crap off the floor. Georgie doesn't know, so shhhh! He's out tonight for work, so I'm hoping I can get it all built and filled with crap before he gets home. He'll be so happy I'm finally cleaning up! I also got a nice basket, and a new lamp for the cabinet. Okey dokey! I better get building!

Posted by Cara at 03:07 PM | Comments (30)

Valentine Sky

Sunset, February 14th.

Posted by Cara at 12:00 AM | Comments (16)

February 14, 2006

Jaywalker WINNERS!

This is the end. Beautiful friend. This is the end. My only friend, the end.

Before I annouce the winners, I just want to say what a FANFUCKINGTASTIC time I had doing this. Yes it got crazy. Yes I lost some sleep. But really, I met so many great people and got to share my love of yarn and this pattern and got to watch other people love the pattern, and sometimes the yarn, and that's just great. Knitblogging at its finest! I can't say I'll be hosting another KAL anytime soon, but I wouldn't trade this one for the world. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all so much for knitting along! And just so you don't feel like you're walking away emtpy handed, I made you all a button. WEAR IT PROUD!!!

Now, to annouce the winners. Let's bring out the accountants from Ernst & Young to explain the choosing:

The list of winners was dumped into an Excel spreadsheet in the order they appeared in THE LIST. The Internet Random Generator was then employed to choose six integers between 1 and 174. The numbers chosen were: 1 8 97 101 115 156.

And without further ado, the winners are:

ADA

AMY

KERRY

LARISSA

LIZ

SCOUT
(All links are to pictures of the winning socks!)

Congratulations to all the winners! Email me your address and your choice of Socks That Rock. Thanks! For those of you still knitting, KEEP ON KEEPING ON! You will not be disappointed. (And Noelle's got some buttons for you too.)

THANK YOU ALL FOR KNITTING WITH ME!!!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 11:11 PM | Comments (23)

Happy Tuesday!

A simple I love you means more than money.
--- Frank Sinatra

I had a beautiful post all written out and I freaking closed the browser. Yes. Without saving. An hour of my life I can't get back. Nothing I hate more.

So, sigh. Valentine's Day. Ol Blue Eyes had a way with words, no? G wants me to remind you all that everyday is Valentine's Day in our house. It really is true. We rarely celebrate circumscribed holidays. We're never together on Thanksgiving. Christmas is more an obligation than anything. Chanukah was fun this year for a change - and we were together. Birthdays are a REALLY big deal though - because why not celebrate a day that's special to US instead of the rest of the free world (my birthday is still MY birthday.)

Happy Valentine's Day if you celebrate. Or happy Tuesday if you don't.

Last night I called Ann to tell her that her beloved Pug won the Toy Group at Westminster and she yelled at me. Why wasn't I watching the Olympics?! Why wasn't I knitting on my mittens?! Didn't I know I was going to LOSE if I didn't knit on them every second of every day?! I promptly told her that FINISHING was winning and that I wasn't in competition with anyone but myself. It's all about pacing too. Even though I didn't knit at all yesterday on my Olympic Mittens, I fear I chose a too easy project. I'm pacing myself. I want at least SOME suspense and tension. Right? I am learning a lot though - enough that I now want to make this. Especially after seeing Sydney's GORGEOUS sweater. My god GORGEOUS! But shhhh! I need more projects like I need another rib. It's awfully crowded in there.

Also, I've been trying to cast on for the Embossed Leaves socks from IK using this lovely Koigu. I've cast on twice, with no luck. Today I will succeed. I'm going to do just a regular cast on with the twisted rib on size 2s and go down to 1s on the body. I'll also be casting on for the next jaywalker. And of course, mitten knitting.

Check back tonight for the WINNERS!

Posted by Cara at 11:04 AM | Comments (25)

Jaywalker Twelve - THE LIST!

Just so you know - I've been knitting along with you - right down to the wire! Tonight, at 10:18, I finished my EIGHTH pair of Jaywalkers.

These socks are two repeats longer than my usual. I thought I had a bigger skank so I took a chance on the first sock and added the extra repeats on the leg. I knew immediately upon finishing that I wouldn't have enough for the second sock, but I ordered more instead of ripping. The color in the second skank is pretty different than the first, but I only used it at the top of the foot, so I don't think it's really noticable. I have enough left over for another pair. ;-)

ONTO THE LIST! If your name appears here, you will be entered into the drawing at 11:11 PM. If your name does NOT appear here, and you think it should, please send me an email to cara AT januaryone DOT com and let me know. I will check it out and get back to you. Thanks everyone for an AMAZING RIDE!!!

Ada
Adelle
Adrienne
Aija
Alison
Allison
Amanda
Amy
Amy
Amy
AmyP
Angela
Anita
Anita
Anita
Anmiryam
Ann
Anna
Anne
Anne
Annie
Ariel
Becky
Beth
Bethe
BigLug
Bliss
Blueadt
Brenda
Bridget
Carla
Carla
Carmelle
Carol
Carole
Carole
Carrie
Carry
Cece
Chihiro
Chris
Chrissy
Chrissy
Chrissy
Christine
Christy
CJ
Claudia
Cynthia
Deb
Dene
Diann
Ellie
Emily
Eunny
Foogrrl
Gail
Gail
Gwyn
Helen
Helen
Hillary
Holly
Janine
Janine
Jasmin
Jeanne
Jen
Jenn
Jenny
Jenny
Jenny
Jess
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica
Jodee
Johanna
Julia
Julia
Julie
Julie
Julsey
KaisaKaisa
Kandy
Karen
Karen
Karen
Kate
Katherine
Kathy
KathyB
Katie
Kelly
Kelly
Kerry
Kim
Kris
Kris
Larissa
Laura
Laura
Lauren
Lauren
Lcord
Leah
Leslie
Libby
LibbyLu
Linda
Lisa
Lisa
Lisa
Liz
Liz
Liz
Liz
Lori
Lori
LoriG
Lynda
Manda
Margene
Maria
Maribel
Marie
Marie
Maritza
May
Michele
Michelle
Mimsie
Morgan
Nancy
Nancy
Natalia
Niteowl
Paula
Phoebe
PumpkinMama
PurlPower
Rebecca
Renata
Rhonda
Roberta
Roberta
Robin
Rock Chick
Rosemary
Sandra
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah
Scout
Shanidy
Shannon
Sharon
Stacey
Stephannie
Stinkerbell
Susan
Suzanne
Sylvia
Tania
Teresa
Thorn
Tracy
Trek
Vicki
Wannietta
Wendi
Wendy

Posted by Cara at 12:00 AM | Comments (30)

February 13, 2006

C is for

Color

One of my favorite aspects of knitting is the color! I love color in my life - whether it be knitting, spinning, and especially my photography. One of the subjects I love to photograph is botanicals - macro botanicals specifically - and I rarely take a black & white picture. For me, it's the colors of nature that are most appealing. Look here for some of my favorite flower pictures.

And in the great minds think alike category - check out Kimberly's Color Entry as well!

Posted by Cara at 01:57 PM | Comments (30)

Jaywalker Admin Stuff - Last Minute REMINDER!

I will be posting THE LIST at 12AM Tuesday, February 14th. That means TONIGHT! Send me an email with Jaywalker Update in the subject line (email cara AT januaryone DOT com) and let me know you're finished. The list goes up tomorrow for the day so you can argue with me about inclusion etc. and winners will be chosen and posted at 11:11 PM tomorrow night. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Posted by Cara at 09:20 AM

February 12, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day Three: Five! Five! Five! Judges Unanimous!

I found US 5s in the pile of knitting crap and cast on. I tried to knit as loose as I possibly could and I saw the difference immediately. The mittens are still a snug - but not in a bad way. They will be form fitting mittens. I'm a tad concerned about what happens now that I'm getting close to the thumb stitches, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. So far so good. I also took this opportunity to make some pattern modifications.



Just so there isn't any doubt - these babies are MINE!

And in a moment of athletic envy, I checked out Bethe's mittens - she's making the same ones - only she's WAY cooler than I am mixing up the Falk Neon colors in some rocking mittens. If I finish these up super quick (I realize now I could've gone more challenging - beginner's folly) I will try to copy her genius.

Oh and here are some cute pictures of my 6'1" baby playing in the snow!

I LOVE SNOW!

Posted by Cara at 08:01 PM | Comments (24)

Knit Olympics: Day Three: BLIZZARD!

Conditions at the PANJMA Olympic Village are stormy at best! We've got the weather outside:

Snow drifts on our covered balcony.


Sad TEAM USA flag blustered by the blizzard.

Under normal circumstances, we'd have perfect conditions for the PANJMA team. The weather outside might be frightful, but inside we've got candy galore, hot chocolate, snuggly pajamas and an even snugglier cheering section and three full unseen hours of 24. But, alas, as Coach G-Love says: IF THE MITTEN DOESN'T FIT, YOU MUST NOT KNIT!



I did as I was told and went back to knitting on the 4s. I finished one skull and I tried to knit as loose as I could. I swear, I'm not pulling tight at all! I think I'm knitting pretty normal for me. I mean, it FEELS normal for me. And honestly, I could not be anymore relaxed. I was practically knitting in my sleep. My desperate voice in my last post shouldn't be an indication of tension or worry - more of suprise! The idea that I'd have to go up two needle sizes is preposterous to me. But I really think I need to. I can barely get the mitten off once it's on. So I'll look for 5s in the my needle collection today, and if not - it's off to LYS tomorrow. Here are my floats - I don't think they look that tight at all!



What do you think? It's also been suggested to me that my problem is most definitely an equpiment problem. Like I should be knitting with DPNs instead of two circulars. To that I say PEESHAW!!! Look at the Clapskate! I hearby declare Two Circular Knitting to be the Clapskate of the 2006 Knit Olympics!

Oh and there's been some grumbling from the sidelines about pinch knitters. I can assure you, I'm the only one knitting these mittens. Although a certain baby did manage to get into the knitting bag and make knots in a bunch of places, but I don't think that counts. Funny story though. Thursday night my nephew and I went for a walk to Loop in Philadelphia - it's not far from my brother's new apartment - and we walked in on a Beginner Knitting lesson. I looked around - it's a beautiful store - and I was ready to leave, but Max wanted red yarn for socks. He proclaimed in his loud five yr-old voice: "I want to knit my own red socks." The women at the table for the lesson all whipped their heads around. One brave woman asked him, "You can knit?" I felt so bad for all of them! Here they are, struggling with their knits and purls (c'mon! We've ALL been there!) and this five year old, in a stroller no less, is declaring that he will be knitting his own red socks. Crestfallen faces everywhere! I told them he was just learning and quickly found him some Red Dale and headed out of the store. It was pretty funny. Max can't knit. He thinks he can, but he can't. He's not too bad, but I don't think he'll be knitting socks any time soon.

I think it will be socks all day at the village. Socks, some romping in the snow with my honey, and some spinning. Socks, snow and spinning. PERFECT!

ETA! I found two 5s! YIPPEE! I'll be casting on yet again.

PS - Check out Theresa! My fellow Team Philadelphia member is knitting the Crossed In Translation sweater for the Olympics! GO THERESA! I'm SO cheering you on!

Posted by Cara at 10:48 AM | Comments (20)

February 11, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day Two: 10 Point Deduction for GAUGE

See, bragging gets you nowhere. It was pointed out to me a when I posted my training knitting for the KO2006 that you can't measure gauge for circular knitting with a flat swatch. I, in all my bravado, replied back that I wasn't really swatching for gauge, I was trying out my fair isle skills, of which I have none. That gauge really didn't matter because they were mittens and if they were a bit big or a bit small it would be all good. Gauge is the FRENCH JUDGE OF KNITTING!! Gauge will BITE YOU IN THE ASS EVERY TIME!!! Every FREAKING time. (By the way, my sister informed me I'm not allowed to say freaking in front of my nephew anymore, because he's taken to using it himself. Of course, the only reason I was saying freaking in the first place was because I'm not allowed to say FUCKING. Thank god for the baby. He's still small enough you can say whatever you want in front of him and he just smiles and laughs!)

I cast on at 2PM yesterday, on the US size 3s the pattern calls for. I knit along happily for about an hour until the baby woke up, and then I left it. Right off the bat I had concerns. This sucker is TIGHT. Like cut off your circulation tight. I can get it over my hand, and it is ribbing (all be it not very stretchy ribbing) but still. It just didn't seem right to me. Especially since the picture in the pattern has the whole mitten sort of straight on the sides until the decreases. Like it wasn't going to all of a sudden stretch out to accomodate my hand when I started the stockinette knitting.

So today, right after G picked me up at the train, I headed to the closest LYS and picked up a pair of US size 4 Addis. G dropped me off and headed back to work (where he's been all week) and I came home and immediately ate an entire box of Junior Caramels. (Thanks M!) Fortification for them here games. I then cast on and knit away. (See picture above for Day 2 knitting.) It's going well and I relaxed myself a bit - I think I was double pulling on the stitches on the Day 1 knitting - you know - when you throw, you pull the stitch tight, then pull it again when you knit the next stitch? Really, you only need to knit the next stitch to pull it tight. Anyway, after knitting the ribbing and starting into the stockinette it's still pretty damn tight. I can't imagine how this mitten will fit over my hand - I'll have to keep my fingers extremely close together. Or maybe not. When you add the thumb it makes things wider, right? I've only made one mitten and that had a lot of increases for the thumb gusset. This mitten doesn't seem to have a gusset.

All you people cheering on from the sidelines - what do I do? Do I go to US 5s? (I'm not sure I have two pairs of 5s in my arsenal which means another trip to the LYS. And there's a freaking blizzard this weekend so the earliest I do that is Monday.) Do I keep knitting and hope for the best? Do I start over on 4s and try to knit really loose? (This is weird for me - this tight knitting thing. I generally knit in the middle - not too tight, not too loose - just right.) I mean, I've gotten pretty far in a couple of hours, I'm not too worried that if I had to start over again from the beginning I would lose too much time. I'm guessing I could knit one of these suckers in a weekend if I worked really hard. What would you do if you were me?

If that weren't bad enough, I ate a whole bag of gummy bears too. Note to Olympic Village food suppliers - are you trying to KILL me!?! Stop with the goodies! (I was just reminded of the humongous bag of mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge. Where's the Team OD ON CANDY button?)

Posted by Cara at 07:25 PM | Comments (25)

February 10, 2006

Knit Olympics: Day One: LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Posted by Cara at 09:21 PM | Comments (30)

February 08, 2006

If you like Cheesesteaks with Onions and Cheering Mummers on the First

here's the button you've longed for...let's not be-e dispersed!*

ETA: Wendy's got the Philly team blog all ready to go! Check it out here. Thanks Wendy! GO TEAM PHILLY! (Oh and I believe, in the tradition of the City of Brotherly Love, that anyone that wants to call themselves a member of Team Philly - or just wants to sport the fab button ;-) , be my guest! The more the merrier!)

I'll be heading down to Philly shortly - I'll be casting on there Friday night. I'm going to try to have daily updates for the Knit Olympics - I'll be back in NJ on Saturday - so if I don't get you an update Friday Night, look for one on Saturday.

I'll be casting on in Philly, casting off in Boston, and knitting like a fiend in New Jersey. Wouldn't want the Garden State to feel left out!

We're all about inclusion at januaryone! ;-)
Knit On Fellow Knathletes! Good luck with the Games!!

* My apologies to Rupert Holmes.

Posted by Cara at 09:52 AM | Comments (33)

February 07, 2006

Cue The Rocky Music

Dudes! We're running up the Art Museum stairs! We're chasing a chicken! Burgess Meredith is spitting at us with his half-eye! It's TRAINING TIME!

Rest assured, no photographers were harmed by the ultraviolet glow coming off the Neon Pink Falk.

I received my yarn yesterday, from a lovely shop in Wisconsin, Yarns By Design. Prompt, friendly, and the woman I spoke to you used to live in MY neighborhood. She also told me that if I had any problems with colors running, I should promptly send back the yarn. Good customer service goes a long way in my book.

So here we go! I cast on a swatch last night - late - but so far so good. The Xs on either side of the garter stitch edging are a bit wonky, but the ones in the middle are pretty good. I'm using some kind of mutant combination knitting that is so completely awkward it qualifies for a special version of the Olympics. (Insert Ann and her fake Boston accent!) I'm thinking things will be much easier when I start knitting in the round. So far I like it! I think I might do one mitten with the pink as the main color and one mitten with navy as the main color - just to make things really wild and crazy. So far so good with the yarn - the fabric is nice and thick and I think they will make nice warm mittens - even though it hasn't been cold enough to wear mittens.

I will be in Philadelphia, home of Rocky, when I cast on this Friday. I can guarantee, at least once or twice in the knitting of these mittens, I will be screaming ADRIAN! ADRIAN! at the top of my lungs. Even if I don't really need too. ;-)

PS! Is there a Team Philly Button? Do I need to make one? I think casting on in the City of Brotherly Love qualifies for team membership. C'mon on out you Broad Street Bullies! Where are you?

Posted by Cara at 10:44 AM | Comments (24)

February 06, 2006

Red Hot And...Fizzling?

I like that word. Fizzle.

My weekend was eh. G had to work a lot so I was kind of lonely. PMSy. And I learned that miscommunications, misunderstandings and hurt feelings make me headachy and tired and a bit sad. So eh.

I also learned that our virtual relationships leave a lot of room for interpretation by virtue of the fact that they are virtual. We learn so much about each other through unspoken language: body movements, facial expressions, voice inflections. Just the other day I was talking to my sister while she was picking up my niece at school. She told my niece there was someone on the phone for her. I heard my niece ask if it was Cara? But her sweet little voiced raised so high at the end of my name that I could hear her surprise (talking to Cara on the phone at the playground at school? What fun!) and delight that I was lifted even higher than her voice! All that very important non-verbal communication is missing from email and blog posts and what might be a heartfelt admission or admonition or constructive criticism or a plain old pat on the back can be received in a way that was much much different than the deliverer intended. I teach my students this all the time. When we do critique in my classroom, the student being "workshopped" (yes - it is a verb) is not allowed to speak at all. Why you ask? This seems cruel when everyone is sitting around discussing their story - the good the bad and the ugly? Well, for one thing, when you write and hopefully your story goes out into the world, you will not be able to sit by the reader and say - no no! I didn't mean that! I meant this! You're reading it all wrong!!! The writing must stand on its own. And while you can never guarantee that your readers will always get exactly what you intended - by the sheer fact that they bring along all of their stuff and you brought along all your stuff in the writing and that stuff will never match up - you can try to get your point across as best you can and hope that the broad idea of what you wanted is out there.

Most of us are not sitting in a room together, or talking on the phone - most of us have never even met each other! But good or bad our words carry weight and what we say when we blog means lots of different things to different people. While I certainly don't expect everyone to read my blog or even like my blog, I would hope it would be clear that when I blog, I try to blog the way I try to live: with respect for everyone.

Whew! I feel a bit better now.

Onto the Red and Hot and I'm not really sure about the Sizzling.

(What a difference white balance can make! The only difference in exposures on these two pictures is that top had the white balance set to Auto and the bottom had the white balance set to sunny. Neat huh?)

Here are my red hot sizzling socks. Ruby Slippers, STR, Jaywalkers with a picot edge, size #1 Addis. Can I tell you? I don't LOVE these socks. I like them very, very, very, very, very much but I don't love them. The pattern is great, true, the picot edge is the cutest, true, the yarn is fantastic as always. It's the color I don't love. And the striping. The STR colorways I like the best are the ones with lots of different colors - making little stripes everywhere. These are too blocky and the stripes are too thick. But I have to tell you I like them A LOT better on my feet than I did on the needles. They are definitely growing on me. For anyone keeping count, this is my seventh full pair of jaywalkers. ;-) (I've actually got eight pair finished, but one's mismatched so I don't count it.)

There was some spinning this weekend!

I went back to the biffle and MAN was I a lot happier! This is Lisa Souza's biffle in the Mardi Gras colorway. About 2 oz. G's out again tonight so I'm hoping to spin up the rest and try my plying head. I hope it all holds together - it seems so fragile at times. And a lot fuzzier than I remember! I'm still basically spinning to spin and get the hang of things, but it's all good. I enjoyed myself last night which is the most important and I'm happy with the way it's going.

I finished the Jo Sharp swatch, which I think I'll talk about tomorrow, and I made some really good headway with the ends on Short Rows. Thanks to a comment by Anmiryam, I've been weaving in the ends between split purl bumps in the most crowded of places and that seems to be working. I've got somewhere to wear the sweater now - I'll be in Boston at the end of February, so I need to get it done by then. Goals. They're good sometimes. (Speaking of goals - go wish Anmiryam good luck! She's pursing her dreams and we should all be encouraged in that! YAY Anmiriyam!)

Have a great day!

Posted by Cara at 02:20 PM | Comments (38)

February 03, 2006

Did someone say socks?

Oh My God. I want one!

Sock Peacock by Felt Up Designs

Did someone say socks? TAKE TWO!

Look what I won! All that gorgeous SILK! It's pretty funny really. Danielle was looking for sock patterns - JAYWALKERS need not apply. So I sent her a link to the Acorn Socks I knit last summer for SockapalTWOza. She loved them and I won! Thank you Danielle! I hope you love knitting the socks as much as I did!

PS - Thanks to Jasmin. I saw the contest link on her blog when I was trolling for Jaywalker updates! By the way, Jasmin has a gorgeous blog. You must check it out.

PPS - Danielle is holding another contest! She wants hat patterns, with lots of hand dyed angora to give away!

Posted by Cara at 03:06 PM | Comments (24)

Transference

Oh to be crazy like Bette and have a doctor like Claude!

Oh my goodness! I never noticed it before, but Bette Davis knits in the movie! And from what I can tell, she's really knitting!

Posted by Cara at 12:45 PM | Comments (11)

Cleaning House

Metaphorically speaking ONLY. I will clean the house, nay I'll organize the SHIT out of the house and it will be a heavenly palace (cleanliness being next to godliness and all) but not yet. Baby steps. Itty bitty baby steps.

By the way, to clear up a few things from yesterday: I am fully aware of the goodness a cleaning person can offer me. I grew up with a cleaning lady. She came every other week and her name was Althea and she used to smoke. IN OUR HOUSE. Which when I think about it now is extraordinary. For years the smell of clean to me was cigarette smoke mixed with Lysol. Things were very different back then. My mother would pick her up at the train in the morning and she would eat breakfast and lunch at our house. Breakfast was toast and coffee, I think, I could be making it all up, but probably not and lunch was always a TV Dinner. God I wanted those TV Dinners. It seemed like such a treat. SNORT! Little did I know I'd be subsisting on frozen meals for most of my adult life. HA!

Anyway, I come from a long line of terrible housekeepers - and we fully admit and embrace our defect - and hired my own cleaning lady. When we moved into our new apartment (god EIGHT years ago!), which had 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and an office, along with the requisite kitchen, living room, dining room I told G we needed a cleaning person. Let's just say that when we moved out of our old one bedroom/one bath the word squalor was used by our landlord. In my defence he was being prickly, but it was pretty bad. So we had a cleaning woman for five long years and then by mutual decision our time together ended. Turns out cleaning people are in short supply around here unless you want to pay through the nose or hire a "team" of people. I just want someone to come every other week and clean my house better than I would clean it myself. I'm willing to pay. Anyway - the house got so bad that we couldn't hire a cleaning person any more without totally rehauling the house. I actually have a name, but I've got the get the house in order. So there's that.

One other thing. The Oprah debacle. In my post yesterday I did not mean to imply that I was defending Frey in any way. The guy lied - and not only did he lie - he lied about stuff that was easily verifiable. In my mind he WANTED to get caught. I mean there's a big freaking difference between three MONTHS in jail and three HOURS. And dude - you know - they keep RECORDS about that stuff. Now I'm sure his three hours FELT like three months, but still. A good writer could've conceivably evoked that feeling without the actual lie. No, my defense was more for Nan Talese and MEMOIR as a form. Given the dressing down poor Ms. Talese received from Oprah - don't you check EVERY FACT in the book? Well, again, I renew my argument that MEMOIR is about memory - which is never wholly accurate. I think Oprah's call for fact-checkers in every corner (and I think fact-checkers are very important - one of my favorite jobs EVER) is unnecessary and needlessly alarmist.

Okay. Back to what I really want to talk about today. Cleaning House. My knitting house. I said yesterday I was bored and I'm still bored. I didn't spin yesterday. I didn't knit really either. But I did read some of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top Down. What a GREAT idea! How come no one told me what a GREAT IDEA knitting from the top down was? I want to make another Almost Everyday Cardigan. My Manos one pilled beyond belief so I never wear it - that and the fact that it's like a guaranteed sauna and the weather is just not cold enough. I want another sweater I can ACTUALLY wear every day and never take off and will be like the sweatshirt that I wear constantly that is now so gross I've taken to wearing G's because his is softer and nicer and rarely gets worn. Anyway, I went through the stash and took out some of my Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed that I have. Remember when this stuff was practically being given away on Elann? Yeah. I bought a shitload. So I started to swatch.

I know. About fifteen rows in I got bored. BUT I love the fabric this yarn makes. Have you ever knit with it before? It's sticky, for lack of a better word, but soft and in the end the fabric - especially a stockinette fabric - feels like a great sweatshirt. I'm so making this! Top Down Raglan Cardigan. Because I can't do pullovers. I want to cast on THIS MINUTE.

And then I remembered all the other crap I'm supposed to be making. Here's where we get to cleaning house. I should've done this back in January but better late than never. I'm going to list my projects - the ones I'm giving up on - the ones I'm in the middle of and don't want to turn back - and the ones I have every intention of making. Then I'm going to look at it and cry.

Stuff That's GOT to GO!!
(Or at least come off the sidebar.)

Nona's Gloves. Welp, the KAL is over and I hate the glove I've got so far. So rip, rip, rip.

Noro Silk Garden Wrap. I see a Lady Eleanor in my future. Not 100% sure of this though.

Ribby Cardi. All the pieces are neatly in the bag and I can honestly say I will never seam them up. This is the deal: I don't like ribbing and more importantly, I will never knit with a yarn I HATE again. Peruvian Highland Wool doomed this project for me. KILLED it. Oh I don't know. Never say never, but I'm saying maybe never.

Cuba Libre Socks. I found out that I despise purling in socks. Funny because I really love to purl otherwise, but I hate purling in the round, maybe? The Retro Rib pattern, while easy on the eyes, was INCREDIBLY tedious. The sock that's on the needles will be ripped, as soon as I can find it. (Oh and Kay - if you click on the link for this entry and scroll down you'll see the Army picture.)

Sunshine Socks. This is another case of I hate the yarn. One sock is done and one is on the needles and while I won't be ripping these, I will be putting them away somewhere so they're not sitting on the floor next to my bed taunting me. I started knitting these B.STR. (Before Socks That Rock) and you know - the yarn feels like crap compared. CRAP.

Pinwheel Baby Blanket. This will be done before Eli's Bar Mitzvah. But I don't like it. And I feel bad about it because it's a great pattern and a great yarn and I don't know why it doesn't work for me but I'm sick of seeing it in the sidebar every time I come to my blog. So it's going. But not being ripped.

Stuff I've Started and I'm DEFINITELY Going to Finish

Powell 106. Lace shawl - I've been thinking about this a lot lately - thinking it might be just the thing to get me out of my boredom. I will for sure finish this at some point.

Prairie Blanket. Hopefully this will be finished for Xavier's first birthday - but I'm not promising anything honey pie.

Wendy's Warm Hands Mittens. This is just stupid because one's done and one is half done and in a couple of hours I'd have a pair. I'm an ass.

Jaywalker Socks. I've currently got three socks finished for three different pairs. One mate is to the heel, one mate is in the cuff. I plan to have a pair of these in STR on the needles at all times. Of course I will.

Okay - now here's where things get hairy....

Stuff I TOTALLY Want to Make and Goddamnit I WILL!

Crossed In Translation Cardigan. I'm almost ready to start swatching. G's going to be gone a lot this weekend so I thought I might take the alone time to work out the charts in Excel so I can start to swatch and get a handle on the project. Also, I'm hoping SOMEONE will swatch some of the VY yarn I bought so I can know if it's worth swatching. I so totally want this yarn to be IT.

Pirate Mittens. I'm making these for the Knit Olympics. Yarn has been ordered (Neon Pink and Navy Blue Dale of Norway Falk) and should be here this weekend. Defeat is not an option.

Jo Sharp Top Down Raglan Cardigan. See above.

Dad's Sweater. I've got the yarn. Have to put the pattern together, but I will knit this for my father. Someday.

Diamond Fantasy Shawl 2.0. In black STR with beads in the center of the Diamonds. I think about this all the time!

Sockapalooza Socks. Looking for patterns as we speak.

My So Called Scarf. To match the Warm Hands Mittens. This is iffy. I'm not good at scarfs. I get bored super quick. But I want this set badly, so we'll see.

Elizabeth Bag. I've got some gorgeous RED Donegal Tweed in the stash for this. It will happen. Sometime in my life.

Okay. Not as bad as I thought. These are the projects I think about all the time. There are others I promised and am trying to ignore. As well as others I keep in the back of my mind. And of course all those unknown patterns out there dying to be knit by me, I just don't know it yet. ;-) Ahh. The life of a knitter.

Time to go procrastinate some more. Have a FANTASTIC weekend.
L, C

Posted by Cara at 10:11 AM | Comments (35)

February 02, 2006

Randomness...

it's not just for Wednesday's anymore.

Can I tell you? I'm bored. Not bored in the sense of there's nothing to do - oh my god there is TONS to do - but bored in that restless, I don't want to do anything I have to do but there are no deadlines MAKING me do stuff kind of way. Yesterday I felt like I just wandered around the house, aimlessly, looking at the crap piled in every corner - the dirt so caked it doesn't even blow around anymore when you move things out of place. God my house is dirty. I did vacuum though - but only the small area around where I spin because it turns out that while I don't care about the piles of dust and hair that have been collecting in the corner of my bathroom behind the door for MONTHS on end, I do care about the pieces of fiber that cling to the carpet. Weird huh? G's pretty funny because the other day I was in my bathroom taking a crap - because really that's the only time I see the hair and dust collected in the corner behind the door - and I noticed that the pile was considerably smaller since the last time I crapped in there. (I like to think of it like a science experiment, honestly. The hair and dirt and dust - not the crap.) Georgie had cleaned up! He had been using my bathroom because the shower in his bathroom (yes, we have three bathrooms and two showers for two people. Deal with it.) was broken or something and he couldn't stand the pile anymore! I think that is SO funny!

G is very good with household chores. He washes ALL the dishes, which is something I particularly loathe. And he does all the laundry, except I fold it, which honestly I don't think is a fair trade, but he does hang up all my delicate clothes and makes sure not to dry them too long. He's kind of obsessive (if you ask me) about taking out the garbage. All other household cleaning is left to me. Hence the pile of dust and dirt and hair in the bathroom. Oh and I wash all the sheets and make the bed and stuff. Usually he doesn't comment about the caked on toothpaste stains around the sink in the bathroom or the fiber sticking to the carpet in all areas of the house or the piles of crap and yarn and work stuff under foot everywhere - but this little corner drove him crazy! I'm still laughing.

Did you see the poem I posted? I'm not feeling particularly bad about the infertility today - not sure why since I've been crying off and on about for months. I'm FINALLY, and when I say finally, I mean finally after a year or so of absolutely TORTURING myself, coming to terms with my grief about the whole thing. I finally realized that I'm ALLOWED to be sad about all of this, no matter how or why or where I am in the process. I walk around feeling like I'm going to burst into tears sometimes and I wasn't letting myself understand why. I'd sit there and take stock - I'm not depressed. I wake up each day looking forward to friends and family and the things I need and want to do but yet I was overwhelmed by this physical need to cry - but no tears were coming. In the summer it completely freaked me out and sent me into a tailspin of anxiety and panic. This time, I understand. Jen was so good to me, in the car one day, I was telling her about it and she looked at me with this oh my god how silly can you be look and said, Cara. You're grieving. It was like she gave me permission or something and I was good to go. I still feel like crying off and on but I'm not panicking about it - just living it.

So I'm feeling kind of cheap for choosing that poem since today I don't really feel like I need your sympathy or anything. When I saw Juno's post this morning and thought hmmm, what poem would I choose, I immediately went to the anthology I put together when I taught my undergraduate creative writing class at NYU. It was the first class I ever taught and I was required to teach poetry and fiction. The poets in the program were required to do the same, so it was like equal opportunity screw up the freshman kind of a thing. I'm joking. I don't know poetry - at all. I'm a fiction person through and through - I don't read anything else, really. In the end, even though I was scared to death of the poetry, it was my favorite part of the class. Turns out undergrads are a hell of a lot better at writing rip out your heart angst poetry than they are at writing rip out your heart (literally) angst short stories. This morning, flipping through the poetry collection I put together for the class, I was struck by the poem by Ellen Bryant Voight basically because it so mimics my life now, but when I chose it for the class, I was years away from even TRYING to have a baby. Even, honestly, knowing if I wanted a baby at all. This premonition, if that's what you could call it, was very interesting to me. I'm okay right now. Thought you should know.

I'm adding stuff, because, well, it's my blog and I'm allowed.

I have two zits on my chin that rival Lincoln and Roosevelt on Rushmore. They're large and deep and painful. And nothing to squeeze, which I love to do. Ouch. PMS sucks.

Have you been reading Bookslut and all the links they've had to the Oprah/Frey debacle? I've been known to watch Oprah every now and again (ask Rock Chick) and I've also been known to drive many miles out of my way to find the last remaining copy of a book WITHOUT the Oprah seal. I haven't read Frey's book (see above about reading fiction - although maybe now I'll give it a shot), but I did see the show where Oprah ripped him and Nan Talese a new one. While it's clear this guy made up A LOT of stuff, I see a HUGE distinction between Non-Fiction and Memoir. Non-Fiction is that book about how bees build hives and make honey and by reading it you KNOW you're reading facts. Facts that you and the author and the publisher have all sort of contracted together in believing its veracity. Memoir, by definition, deals in MEMORY. The way an author REMEMBERS their life. I've never taken a psychiatry class (philosophy fucks you up longer and harder, just so you know) but I've been in therapy for years and it doesn't take another Freud to know that memories are EXTREMELY selective and by virtue of the fact that they are remembered, are bound to be WRONG, as in not the exact truth of the moment as it happened. All you have to do is look at all the science on ey-witnesses to know that no one remembers anything right. Add to that the filter of our whole lives in which every action, thought, dream, relationship must be push through like a sausage make in order to get the LINKS that are our MEMORIES, well, then Oprah is off her rocker. You can't expect the same facts that occur in the beehive book to occur in a book written by an avowed junkie. Please. Memoirists are writing the NARRATIVE of their lives. NARRATIVE=STORY. All story, to be successful, needs a clear-cut conflict, a protagonist and lots of drama on the way to resolving that conflict - for good or ill. I think Oprah's call for truth is a bit misplaced. To me, it's all, once again a case of semantics gone wrong.

I tried to spin a bit yesterday but it was a disaster so I stopped before I got really frustrated. Today I will try again. I tried to weave in some ends on short rows because after I laid out the front with the sleeves by the sides I was jazzed and I want it DONE! But there are so many ends right on top of each other and I wove some in, cut them, then realized you could see them from the front so I stopped before I got really frustrated. In the end, the only progress I made was that I'm about to turn a heel on a sock and I folded three loads of laundry.

Now that's what I call taking back the blog.
L, C

Posted by Cara at 09:40 AM | Comments (19)

A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

THE WIFE TAKES A CHILD

She has come next door to practice our piano.
Fat worms, her fingers hover over the keys,
dolce, dolce, advance to a black note.
I call out answers: she blinks a trusting eye.
From the window I can see the phlox
bank and flower, the violets' broad train
at the yard's edge, and beyond, the bee-boxes,
each one baited for summer with a queen.

Love, how long must we reproduce ourselves
in the neighbors' children, bees in false hives,
bright inviting blossoms, mine for a season.
Against the C-scale's awkward lullabye
I carry the offense of my flat belly,
the silent red loss of monthly bleeding.

ELLEN BRYANT VOIGHT

Poetry Reading by Grace's Poppies, found via Juno

Posted by Cara at 08:21 AM | Comments (8)

February 01, 2006

musicmememusicmememusicmeme

Yesterday was the last day of E Street Radio on Sirius. For months I've been sitting at my computer listening to Bruce - and only Bruce - all day. The best part of the station was that somehow the Springsteen Powers That Be decided it was okay for Sirius to play "fan-based recordings" which means bootlegs. This is remarkable in that the SPTB have always been very, very ANTI-bootleg. Guess they were more against the money being made from the bootlegs as opposed to the creative control aspect of bootlegs. Anyway, it was great listening for the last three months and I thank Bruce, Sirius and my dad for letting me tap into his account. It's small consolation, but I found this today. Rock on!

Cordelia tagged me for a music meme, even though she says I don't do memes. Not true exactly - I'm never tagged! Maybe like two or three times, which isn't a lot considering the amount of these things floating around. And given that I'm sad about E-Street Radio going off the air, I thought I'd answer it:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

While we were away I got to listen to G's mp3 player (he's very anti-IPOD - don't ask). I think his is from Creative. Anyway, I've been listening to what he's got going on and I thought I'd share a few of the songs we both enjoy. I'll leave out the Bruce - even though it's on there. Well, maybe one Bruce, but he only sings back up.

1. Lovely Day. Bill Withers. I'm reprinting the lyrics because this song has saved my life many a time.

When I wake up in the morning, love
And the sunlight hurts my eyes
And something without warning, love
Bears heavy on my mind

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day
... lovely day, lovely day, lovely day ...

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day.....

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day...

2. Cry Love. John Hiatt. I love this song. I like to play it really loud with head phones on so it fills my head and my heart.

3. Ride Wit Me. Nelly. When Max was a baby we used to dance with him all the time to this song. He loved it. This and Pacific Coast Party. We used to laugh that a time would come when he would be too old (and therefore too young) for these lyrics. Sadly, that time is now.

3. Valentine. Nils Lofgren. (with Bruce Springsteen) I love the mix of Nils's and Bruce's voices on this. It's a very nice song.

[TWO THREES? Can't count for shit.]

4. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard. Paul Simon. This song has me jumping and dancing and whistling and when I saw S&G in concert a couple of winter's ago I screamed Julio throughout the whole show. They didn't play it.

5. Come and Get Your Love. Redbone. G's also got the Real McCoy's version - I like the original better.

6. New York Groove. Ace Frehley. C L A S S I C. 'Nuff said.

7. This Woman's Work. Kate Bush. This song always makes me cry. And think of Kevin Bacon. But that's not necessarily why it makes me cry.

Fuck it. I'm going for TEN.

8. A Girl Like You. Edwyn Collins. G and I first heard this in Milan in Nov. '96. Always makes me think of that trip. We thought it was David Bowie.

9. The Secret Garden. Quincy Jones. Featuring Al B. Sure, Barry White,
El DeBarge and James Ingram, this was one of our dating songs. You know, the ones I'd listen to late into the night on the days when we DIDN'T have a date. Do I need to spell it out for you?

10. Got to Give It Up. Thin Lizzy. Live Version. R.I.P. Phil Lynott.

Hey you. YES. YOU. Over there. Consider yourself tagged.

Posted by Cara at 12:25 PM | Comments (16)

Jaywalker Eleven!

DONE. Finished. Finito. Baleep Baleep THAT'S ALL FOLKS! The Great Legendary Absolutely FREAKING INSANE Jaywalker KAL is officially CLOSED. NO MORE!

But oh my god it was a blast! Wasn't it? Sheer madness! As of 2AM last night there were 311 people involved in the KAL. I can assure you that I visited every single one of you at least a half a dozen times. Thank you for inviting me into your homes.

Here's how the last two weeks are going to work: Check THE LIST. Make sure you're on it if you think you should be on it. If you finished your pair way back when and for some reason you didn't get a star next to your name, let me know. If you're not on the list and you can show evidence as to why you should be on the list, let me know. If you finish your pair, let me know. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: TO LET ME KNOW SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH THE WORDS JAYWALKER UPDATE IN THE SUBJECT. THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS CARA at JANUARYONE dot COM. I WILL IGNORE ALL UPDATES IN THE COMMENTS.

Here's how the winning's going to work:
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.

Any questions? Email me.

I gotta say, with all the craziness, I hope I haven't come off as disliking the KAL. In fact, I'm bowled over by it. Proprietary about it. I love it but I hate it. I definitely want my blog back. I want to be able to post something and not have half the comments that day be about jaywalkers when my original post was about spaghetti. I'M NOT BLAMING ANYONE!!! I asked for this. Actually, I'm blaming myself, but that's a whole other story. The good part of all this - I still LOVE the socks, goddamnit!!! In fact, just this weekend I finished two more and cast on for another two. They will never be old to me!

Legend:

= Everything's going A OK! Making progress!

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

= We're JAYWALKING BAYBEE! FINISHED!!

Adelle
Adrienne

Aija
Allison
Amy
Amy
Amy
AmyP
Anita
Ann
Anne
Annie
Ariel
Beth
Bethe
Bethieee
Bliss
Brenda
Carla
Carla



Carmelle
Carol
Carole
Carole
Carry
Cece
Cheryl
Chihiro
Chrissy
Chrissy
Chrissy
Christine
Claudia
Cynthia
Danielle
Deb
Dene
Diann
Elaina
Elaine
Emily
Emma
Erin
Foogrrl
Gwyn
Hanne
Helen
Helen
Hillary
Holly
Jane
Jasmin
Jennifer
Jenny
Jenny
Jenny
Jessica
Jodee



Johanna
Julia
KaisaKaisa
Kandy
Karen
Karen
Karen
KathyB
Katie
Kelly
Kelly
Kenny
Kris
Lara
Larissa
Laura
Laura
Lauren



Linda
Lisa
Lisa I.
Liz
Lori
LoriG
Lynda
Manda
Maria
Maribel
Marie
Marie



Maritza
Melissa
Miriam
Morgan
Nancy
Nancy



Nicole
Noelle
Paula
Phoebe
Ramona
Rebecca



Renata
Rhonda
Roberta
Roberta
Robin
Robin



Rosemary
Rossana
Sandra
Sarah
Sarah
Sarah
Scout
Shanidy
Shannon
Shelley
Stephannie
Stinkerbell
Susan
Suzanne
Sylvia
Tania
Tara
tgz
Thorn
Tiffany
Tracy
Vicki
Vicki
Wannietta
Wendi
Wendy
Whitney

Posted by Cara at 10:41 AM | Comments (21)