In which I remind people that we are no longer in high school

Read the title of this post. Absorb the fact that high school was more then a decade ago for me and live with it. (I apologize if you are currently in high school but you should probably know that typical high school behavior doesn't end with high school *le sigh.*)

I'm not really understanding the twitter phenomenon and even more so not understanding the need to broadcast the minute details of your life to people. I mean come on that's what we have facebook for. I'm just getting the hang of facebook why take it away and make it as obsolete as myspace? Twitter is just a no go in my book.

My birthday was Tuesday. I must be getting old because this was the first year that I didn't feel super-de-dooper special on my b-day. Usually I wake up and run around town like the queen of the world demanding things and adoration because it's my birthday. This year I woke up, went to work, went to dance class and ordered in takeout with the boy I'm seeing. We ordered ribs, mac and cheese and corn (I guess I celebrated by eating food that I know probably took a year off my life expectancy!)

I'm trying to adjust to a new schedule (work, school, dance, friends, lovers *tee-hee*) and trying to find me time in all of it. I started this new schedule by going home last night and doing laundry (which is AMAZING!) I will drive 3 hours to Connecticut with a trunk full of dirty clothes. I know if I get all the way up there and bat my eyes at my daddy he will clean my clothes, fold my clothes and give me 20 dollars for being his "favorite" *read most functional* daughter. But last night I did it all by myself. In fact I was so inspired that I dug out my Kauni Cardi (abandoned winter 08) and started finishing the sleeve I'd been working on for over a year.

I realize that I'm stuck in this knitting/crafting rut because I have all these projects that are almost 3/4 of the way done but not close to finished enough to be at that finishing line stage. The finishing line stage is when you are so close to finished that you can't put your project down until you cast off and throw that sucker in the bath for a good blocking. All my projects are close enough to not unravel but far enough to be time consuming before the finishing line phase.

I'm still working on photos I promise!

I Wore a Tube of Bulky Yarn to Work

Okay so I finished the Shopping Tunic in record time. Cast on last Monday finished last Saturday afternoon, I didn't knit on it at all Thursday and Friday. I blocked it and wore in to work on Monday with black slacks and a black long sleeved tee-shirt. Half way through the day I went to use the little ladies room (I hate the term little girls room, I'm not a girl I'm an lady and don't you forget it!) and saw my reflection in the wall length mirrors they have in the sitting room. OH MY GOD WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!??? I looked like a rust colored inch worm, it was freaking gross, the purl side was bulky looking and the garter stitch edging on the bottom was curling in giving me even more of a pooch area then I already have! I quickly jumped into a stall and turned that sucker inside out, now the knit stitches were facing out and I went and looked in mirror again...so much better. Yes, it's a bulky sweater and bulky sweaters add bulk (duh!) but the knit stitches create a vertical line, where the purl stitches create horizontal ones. If we go back to fashion 101 we remember that vertical lines create length and the illusion of slim lines, where vertical lines make you look stumpy and fat. So lesson learned, and I can still wear my sweater.

Oh and I went with the gray costume on Sunday to rave reviews!!

Weekend Warrior

Okay so I have planned my weekend out! It's so rare that I ever plan anything, I'm such a "fly by the seat of my pants" type person, but it's nice to have a plan and try to stick to it.

Tonight Molliemoo and her puppy Ruby June are going to come out to Jersey City for a sleepover. First we will go to the Super Pet Expo in Edison. I went to this last year and really if you have a pet and some spare time go check it out. Nothing like people who dress their dogs like children all smooshed together in a convention center. While you're there make sure you check out Elwood the "worlds ugliest dog." I think he's a bit of a cutie but I'm strange.

I would also really really recommend that you check out Nature Valley's frozen raw food diet. I switched Dessie Pup a few years ago and her health has been so awesome since. No more bumps in her skin, and crud in her eyes, another bonus is her *ehm* waste is smaller, harder and less stinky, it makes walking her that much better.

Saturday I'm going to check out a friend's show at this great little Mediterranean place in Astoria Queens called Mezzo Mezzo. Live music, dancing, good food, no cover, how could I possibly say no? I will also be working on a costume for Ariel (a dancer friend from DC.) She has been asked to play Mata Hari in a show at the end of March and in addition to all the knitting I've neglected I'm neglecting a costume for her too. As soon as I find the camera you all will be totally overloaded with photos!

If I have some time (and I really should make it) I will have to fix a costume of my own, I have a performance on Sunday night and I'm really not sure what I should wear. These are my options (you can vote in the comments section)

Red Costume

Purple Costume

Brand new costume that I don't even have pics of me in yet, (this one will need the most work)
Ideas, and input are much appreciated. If you wanna see me dance 8PM at the Grisly Pear. Live music, three dancers and cheap drinks

On the crafting side I'm 1/2 way through the Shopping Tunic I started Monday night, but I don't know if I have enough yarn. I've already forgone the pockets, bulky pockets in poochy places just didn't sound good to me, but I don't know how else to cut the yarn needed, maybe I'll shorten the cowl neck. I am also not sure if this sweater will even look good on me. It really isn't taking so much time to knit so a trip to the frog pond won't be such a let down, but I dunno. I know I'm tiny but I'm curvy tiny. Like Sir Mixalot says " 36-24-36...only if she's 5'3" well I'm not those measurement exactly but close enough to fear looking like a sausage in a bulky tight tube...I guess I'll have to wait and see!

New Year

Okay like a month late but here I am.

Things have been quite insane on my side of the fence. I will not go into detail but...
Break up

Make up

Watching a friend loose his life to an illness he didn't know he had till it was too late, he's still fighting but its a rigged match at this point :(

The stock market

The bond market

Started school again (slowly but surely I will have my MBA!!)

Weather
Cold weather

Snow weather

Ice weather

Do you need me to go on??

I'm back on the needles and still spinning cashmere. I finished an entire sock (not a pair just the one) and a few other projects. I need to schedule a photo shoot but life has been life and sometimes life has no time to be captured on film.

Oh and the bastards who inspected and tuned up my car stole my f*cking GPS unit. It wasn't even a month old. I sent my dad over there to "talk some sense into them" (that's Italian for threaten) and he did so hopefully I will have a GPS by tomorrow.

I'm going to try to make the SnB in Jersey City at the Starbucks tonight. I haven't gone in like over a year almost and I need some nice knitting time. I also should probably try to do laundry tonight, unless I plan on knitting some clean underwear like tonight. It wouldn't be such a bad idea but knitted underwear just sounds like itchy cooter and unhappy bum.

I miss you all and hopefully I'm back for good!!

OH OH OH and look a photo! Its me this summer in front of the Partridge Family bus. It's the real bus and I don't know how I found it. I was just driving to Howe Caverns to have a stupid, tourist, fun time and saw it by the side of the road.

I climbed on it and tried to break in but the people I was with really didn't want to go to jail for trespassing and grand theft auto (how bad ass would it be if some rough a tumble lady asked what I was in for and I said "stealing the Partridge Family bus!!)

And then I ran out of Excuses

I have been knitting, spinning, and crafting. I've also been sweating my ability to remain employed in this terrible economy. Working in the financial industry seemed like such a good idea five years ago, but now not so much. My blackberry stopped working the other day and I swore I was fired. I panicked and called into the office but no one I worked for was around. Instead of thinking that it was a blackberry glitch I freaked out all weekend only to find out I was still gainfully employed Monday morning.

On the knitting front I have finished several UFO's that have been lying around waiting for me to knit again. I completed the sweater vest (I love it and it totally got me into a cable kick) and I also finished my lace shawl. I started another hat and picked up the Juno I started knitting for my mom last year around this time. I still hate the yarn, hate hate hate the yarn, but I will finish this before her birthday on December 9th.

Still no pictures. I'm a terrible blogger, and I feel I've neglected so many of you. But fret not the weather is turning crappy lately and when there is nothing else to do I will start documenting my life down to the minute details.

My Brain is Full but My Camera Battery Empty

I was all set to post up some pics today, but le sigh, it's been so long since I broke out the camera that the battery was all gone. Instead I'll update you on life.

I'm still spinning that yummy cashmere, and I dread the day I'm done because then I'll have to go back to spinning regular old wool again :(
I was all set to go to rhinebeck for the weekend but sadly I have a conflicting event that weekend (for which I've already booked a hotel room) and now I'm all kinds of depressed. I'm thinking I may go to the other event and leave super early on Sunday, stop in the city to scoop up molliemoo and drive up to rhinebeck to do a little shopping. If I miss rhinebeck it won't be the worst thing in the world. Since I've been so busy the stash monster has tripled in size and I still have tons of wool and roving and batts and fleece laying around, maybe not going will spare my (much hurting) bank account and save me closet space.

I'm almost finished with the sweater vest I'm working on, it's the first wool project (for me the baby sweater didn't count) since the summer and it feels so good to be working with wool again. The pattern is from Aurora Yarns but I can't find it on ravelry or the internet. I picked it up as a print out at a yarn store up in Connecticut the last time I was up there. It's not the best pattern but its a quick cabled knit and I converted most of it to the round.

Besides all that I've been going back to school. I started my MBA program back in the beginning of September and damn I forgot how hard school/homework can be. Add to that the stress of working full time and all my extra-curricular activites and damn Stickyfingers has no time. Seriously no time at all. My DVR is full of shows I want to watch but can't and I went so far as to cancel my premium cable (no more HBO, Showtime or Starz) and then True Blood came out and I wished I hadn't done that. I just can't win. Pictures next time, I promise!

I Have a Valid Excuse

Okay, see here's the thing, I work in finance and well its not a good time to be working on Wall street. But I'm still employed (for the time being) and busy like you wouldn't believe.

I have been knitting and spinning and since the weather is getting cold again I'm going to break out the loom and get cracking on some scarfs. Also does anyone out there get Craft Zine? There's this amazing vest pattern that can be made out of cloth woven with knitting yarn. It's super cute and on my list of things to do.

Jen from Hanks in the Hood (seriously go check her stuff out it's insanely yummy) asked me to help her with a spinning project. I can never say no to spinning and I'm pleased to say that she has me spinning 3 lbs of pure cashmere. PURE CASHMERE, THREE POUNDS OF IT!!!!! I don't know how I'm ever going to go back to spinning just wool after all this.

I have some FO's (I do I really really do) but I need to photograph them. And since the weather has taken a dip over the past days I'm rolling in wool yarn again and happy to do so. Don't get me wrong I love bamboo and cotton and tencel but wool just feels right.

I'll try to get pics this weekend, if the market doesn't fall another million points before the end of the week. :P

Hi I'm Still Alive

And very busy. Let's play catch up.
Ravelympics - well I failed didn't even cross the finish line. I was in the teeny bikini breast stroke for the Knit Girls and wow umm, yeah deadlines aren't really my strong point. I'm sure it didn't help that I had perfume spill in my purse and saturate the yarn so strongly that in order to work on the bikini I had to be outside on my terrace so the apartment wouldn't take on the smell of a french whore.

Spinning - It's the summer and its nice out and there are a million things to do while its nice out...enough excuses lets face facts, I am being a very bad fiber artist as of late. I have like 4 bobbins of halfway completed yarns that I just need to sit down and finish but I have no time, no time at all.

Life - Umm yeah this is what has been keeping me from doing anything else, so to put it all in one post would be insane. No pics today no details either. Lets sum it up like this a life in flux is never boring.

Till the next time I have five minutes to spare...

Fiber Friday for a Needy Newborn

Oh yes, Friday that day of the week that signifies your droney work week is almost through. I work in finance and wow, this is not the time to work in finance people. Seriously put your money in a mattress and pray that your home doesn't catch on fire. (I can dole out this information as long as I don't call it "financial advice")

Any who, I've been a project ho (surprise surprise) casting on and abandoning projects like the unfaithful knitter I always knew I'd be. As of right now I have a sweater from the spring IK, two pairs of socks (okay okay 4 pairs but I don't count two of them cause I haven't picked them up in over 2 months), a shrug, a hipscarf, and a baby sweater on the needles. All this isn't even counting my winter projects abandoned cause I can't deal with hot wool in the summer. Oy, I need to stop casting on and browsing ravelry cause I think I may have a problem. Is there like a 12 step program out there for flaky knitters?

On to fiber. The baby sweater I mentioned in my overwhelming list above is for a friends newborn, named Veronica Rose. Veronica was born to term but was very underweight and had to spend the first two weeks of her life in a hospital. This is no way for a baby to enter the world so I figured I’d knit her something to keep her warm until her baby fat had a chance to develop. I dug through my fiber stash and found Rosebud corriedale roving from the Spunky Eclectic FOTM club. I thought the names were kismet so I spun a nice woolen 2ply bulky single to knit the trim on a sweater for the new baby.

But first I ran the roving through my carder with some Angelina fiber in white gold so that the new baby could sparkle.



I liked the blended look of the fiber so much better.
And here’s the yarn I came up with. (Pics are wonky due to a crappy camera)



I thought I would have enough yarn but sadly nope. I am pairing this with some lambs pride bulky in a light gray and using the handspun to knit the trim. The sweater is almost done and I'll be sure to post pics when it is.

Hey Everybody Do You Know What Time it Is???

It's PICTURE POST TIME!!!! Yay!!!!

Yes, it's a picture post, the posts I do when I'm too busy to type but have a huge back log of photos to share. This picture post is a mish mash of all different things so hopefully there's something for everyone.

I love the long dog days of summer (well I don't love the stink of the city but the lazy afternoons and devil may care attitudes really get me happy.) One of my favorite saturday morning things to do is get Dessie-pup all geared up for the dog park and then stop at the mini-farmers market that sets up every Saturday at Van Vorst Park (a cute little oasis by my house.) She gets tired and dirty and I get produce, cheese, pickles, olives and hummus for the week.
Here's a lunch I made last weekend with Jersey farm tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella. The basil is from my terrace garden.

Yum

Speaking of my garden here's the first thing it gave me to eat this year (yes my gardening skills suck but I'm still holding out for at least one freaking tomato)

Spicy and hot, just like peppers should be. This sucker was so hot I scraped the seeds out and let them sit in olive oil to make a lovely fused spicy olive oil perfect for cooking or a daring salad.

This is my weed "Sandy"

I would normally pick the weeds but this little gal is so persistant growing out of the cracked cement of my terrace floor that I have to let her live as long as she can survive without me helping her out. I'm not watering her or anything and shes' the healthiest plant on my terrace :(

Here are some belly shot from my good friend Erik D. He takes lovely pictures and doesn't mind when I call him an asshole or make stupid faces at the camera (I hate having my picture taken)

And look glow poi pics

Very ravery

A Neglected FO

Okay, so I finished these arm warmers a million years ago, but I've been too damn busy (lazy) to post the FO with the details. Neglected and un-loved, they sat on my dresser top until my bestie Mollie came over last week. She saw the neglected FO and snatched them up proclaiming her love for them. I gladly gave them to her (I'm just not the kind of person to wear arm warmers) and she graciously let me take pics with her modeling them.

(Without Flash)
Pattern: Spirogyra from Knitty Spring 2008 (Found in the Knittyspin section
Yarn: Handspun 50/50 merino tencel from an unknown vendor purchased at rhinebeck. I spindle spun then yarn and andean plied it using my Louet S10 it was about fingering weight and 300 yards from 2oz
Needles: US2 & US3
Notes: No real modifications to the pattern, however my gauge must have gotten tighter (or my yarn thinner) because the left arm is smaller then the right. I also neglected to do the color thing that Knittyspin used this pattern for, instead I let the yarn do what it wanted and it made these cool thin stripes.

Pic with flash and look at Mollies cool nail polish (I can't wear cool nail polish cause of office dress code)

Shes so happy to have them, and oops I totally forgot to weave the ends in oh well.

A Video in which I Spaz out to Music in Costume

From my performance at the Showcase Sunday. I was a little buzzed which is totally obvious in my "oh my" faces.

A New Obsession

Okay, I'm spread pretty thin with all my hobbies and pursuits but I found something new to take up some more time I don't have. Bento boxes and not the ones that can be found in every Japanese/Asian/fusion restaurant in NY. Real bento boxes packed at home and brought to work to curtail my excessive spending and widening waist line.

Now of course to start any good hobby you must spend a little money first. Well look at this website! Cheap cheapy cheap cheap. I couldn't believe the prices, you should look at it even if you can't stand bentos. It's like a dollar store online that sells cute and use full Japanese items. They also sell really amazing USB hubs for cheap that make me smile and hate my job just a little less.

Now I tried to make a bento but it came out bad, like super bad (no Seth Rogan wasn't in a cop uniform) and well whatever, I'll just keep trying. The thing about Bento Boxes is that they are small so you have to maximize your space and you realize what portion control really is. Also you need color and variety to make it look nice and fill you up. I live by a few Asian supermarkets but I've never set foot inside one. I'm going to take a field trip this week and I will report what I find.

On the crafting front, I cast on another pair of socks (yes I have yet to finish the last pair.) I also started a baby sweater from handspun for a friend of mine who just had a little girl. I like baby knitting cause it goes so fast, instant gratification I say. I'll get some pics for the next post. Until then stay cool in this 90 plus weather.

FO for the Weekend

Okay I made it exactly 48 hours on the master cleanse and I'm never ever doing it again (okay I may try one more time when there are less food distractions to tempt me.)

Onto the FO

Mmmm Sleepy Face
Pattern: Lotus Blossom Tank from IK
Yarn: Cool Crochet by Bernat
Needles: US4 & US5
Notes: Well first of all I'm going to rant for a second. I printed the PDF for this pattern of of the IK website for free. I was about 3/4 of the way through the knit when the PDF, myself and the UFO were all soaked in a freak rainstorm. After letting it dry out I realized my printed copy was no longer legible and went to the IK website to print another copy. Well la-de-freaking-da, IK had pulled the free pattern to put it in their "Best of IK" book (which I do not intend to buy since I have most of the patterns in magazines) I was not going to spend 20 something dollars for a book for a single pattern that on it's own merit isn't very good. Go ahead look at the FO's on Ravelry the good looking tanks have all been modified and tweaked to make this unflattering knit pretty. Well after much struggle, bitching, whining and public airing of my grievances I found a copy of the magazine the pattern was in and was able to finish my tank.
Now for the modifications, buckle your seat belt there are a lot. First my gauge was almost a 1/2 inch smaller then what the pattern called for but this was a good thing because the knit is now fitted. Second I did 6 repeats of the lace pattern instead of 4 to make a baby-doll style top. I added a full inch to the bodice so that it wouldn't cut across my boobs and instead created a more A-line top. I shortened the armholes by an inch to avoid gaping and buckling and to compensate I picked up 10 less stitches for each arm hole. When switching from the lace to the bodice I decreased 10 stitches and then increased 10 stitches in alternated paired increases to create a more flattering line.

This is not the most flattering pic :P

Boobalicious

I should remember to stand up straight.

All in all this was a nice knit, I've worn it to the office and gotten many a compliment on it. The yarn was cheapo stuff that can be picked up at any mass-market store like wal-mart and has a lovely shine to it, slightly sparkly but not overwhelming, it tended to get a bit splitty but the entire tank cost me 14 dollars to make and has a lovely drape and touch to it.
I would recommend knitting this if you, like me, like to tool around with your patterns.

This post is approved by mermaid stickyfingers

I think I'm stupid

Okay, let me explain. I went to MA for the weekend to see my family and hang out by the beach. All was well except the weather didn't behave and instead of hanging on the beach I ate and drank and ate and ate and drank....So you get the point. I drank at Karaoke (then I did a kick ass rendition of "Because I got High" by Afroman and scared all the working class middle agers who practice all week for Karaoke) and I drank with dinner, I drank in the afternoon and I drank at night. It was pretty gross, I'm not even a big drinker so suffice to say I did my body a major disservice.

To remedy the bad treatment I had indulged in I decided the best thing to do would be to detox. And some googling took me to the "Master Cleanser" or "Lemonade Diet" this is a fast in which I eat NOTHING, that's right NOT A DAMN THING. Instead I drink this "lemonade" which consists of lemon juice, filtered water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. I'm also allowed to drink herbal tea and water but not a solid thing is to cross my lips. You're supposed to torture yourself for 10 days, but that ain't happening. I'm on day 2 and I think I may shoot for 72 hours and consider it a success. I'm craving food like Shepard's pie and pizza, it kills me to walk down the street because the smokey smell of charring meat from the Halal carts may drive me to homicide. The upside is when I woke up this morning I felt great. I woke up half an hour earlier and had no desire to beat the crap out of the snooze button for and extra ten minutes (or thirty.) My skin is clearing up and the dark circles are going away. I don't know what I should do plug away and try to do this as long as possible or simply give in and eat something tomorrow.

Just had to rant, this post has nothing to do with crafting, my apologies for anyone who was looking for knitting or spinning.

A side note, I will be performing at the Lafayette Lounge in NYC Sunday at 6PM as part of a showcase. If you like middle eastern dance check it out. I think you need to make reservations because the last one sold out real quick.

Dragging my Ass

Well, the title of the post should say it all. It's been a crazy time at Casa de Stickyfingers and I could really use a few days of R&R. Sadly all my time off has been taken while I was sick and undergoing treatments (yes I was stupid and didn't apply for sick leave.) So no vacations for me this year.

I find my life is in a very different place then it was a year ago. Breaking up with Rob may have been very difficult, but I find myself enjoying who I am and what I'm doing more so as a single girl then as someone in a long term relationship. I forgot how nice a quiet house can be and no one fights me for the remote or argues about what we are doing for the weekend. When I was a "couple" Rob and I would take almost every weekend away from the city, driving up to his house in PA (god I miss that cabin on the lake) or my parents weekend place in CT. It was fun to get out of the city, but I forgot how many insane things happen in the city in the summer. I accidentally stumbled into the LGBT parade (or the pride parade as most people know it) as it worked it's way downtown. Even in the pouring rain it was so nice to see people out enjoying life and being proud of who they were. Though I'm not part of the community myself I felt a strong connection to these people just because I feel like loving yourself and loving what you do makes you a more complete individual.

This was an extended weekend for me, not that I had any extra days off, but I went out Thursday night with some girl friends and then Friday night and then Saturday night. I need a week away from booze and bars to restore my chi or at least escape the beer bloat. In all this insanity I realized how much fun it can be to just be young and not worry or stress or plan. It's like social soul searching and I'm learning so much about who I am.

Anyway onto crafting. I'm almost done with the lotus blossom tank. I'm nervous about how it going to come out because I see such wildly different looks when I browse the pattern on ravelry and the anticipation has been so much of the project that I haven't even tried on the tank as I knit it. Everyone cross your fingers and hope for a good FO!

Damn!!!

Okay so here's the deal. My apartment is SUPPOSED to have central AC, notice I capitalized "supposed" because honestly that shit has not been working since the temps climbed above 80 degrees. I don't consider myself a picky person but damn if I don't need some cool air every once and awhile. I don't mind sleeping without AC, in fact when I do sleep with AC, I wake up groggy with an itchy throat, but my poor, poor puppy has to sit in an un-airconditioned apartment sweating under her fur coat, and that's just wrong. I've been leaving water for her in different locations, and I open the terrace door so she can go outside when she wants but I feel awful for her.

I contacted management several times and was told it was a building issue, not a unit issue, well I ran into the building manager yesterday and asked when the AC would be back on. He looked at me like I grew an extra head and said it should be working. Well it SHOULD be but it's not, so what am I supposed to do. I had to contact my landlord last night and ask him to replace the unit. He asked me why I took so long to contact him about it and I told him I was told by management that it was a building wide problem. He laughed at me, yes he LAUGHED at me, and told me moving forward to contact him immediately. I don't know if that's gonna do me any good because the closets that are off track (which were like that when I moved in back in October) are still off track even though I told him about it back in October. Ahhhh, I think I need to just buy a farm somewhere and escape this urban nonsense.

Well since it's been so friggin hot, I haven't been spinning all that much. I currently have some hemp on the bobbins for that Brighton Bag from Knittyspin Spring 2008, (yes I know the pattern calls for flax but hemp is a bit easier to spin.) The problem with spinning hemp is that you need to wet spin it, which I do by dipping my finger tips in a bowl of water, which causes pruney finger tips and softened skin which then starts to flake if you spin too long. So I've been spinning the hemp for almost a month now because I like my finger tips with skin on them, thank you very much!

But The Knit Girls are running a fundraiser, and though I don't like a lot of the infighting that group engages in, I think they're mostly a cool bunch of chicks, so I broke out the wheel and some fiber and spun up a super funky crazy "bad girl" skein which I call "Sid & Nancy"

I'm thinking of spinning an entire line of "doomed lovers" because I have such a high opinion of love right now :P

It's a 90/10 wool mohair blend, spun into two singles of mixed pink batt and black and white roving, then I plied the two together adding bits of crazy funky novelty yarn where I saw fit.

There are a few coils in there too but I didn't get any pics.
If you donate to the knit girl fundraiser you too can be in the running to win this awesome yarn.

Oh Saturday was the Mermaid Parade, which is "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" day out on Coney Island. It was crazy and fun and super hot, I got a tan to end all tans, and had my pic taken by a bunch of strangers (no touching though, people kept asking to touch and I would give them the death stare.)
I had a friend with me who's a photographer so I'm waiting on his pics but here's a preview of the insanity.

The Votes are In

And it's a three way tie.. AAAAAAHHHHH now I have to be decisive and figure out what to cast on by myself. What I should do is finish my Lotus Blossom Tank (ravelry link) but all those tiny stockinette stitches in the round make my head all hurty. I'll try to finish by Monday so I can cast on something new.

Ahh the allure of the new project, it's almost too much to bear. The funny thing is I get all excited, I get my yarn and find my needles (sometimes I'll even swatch) and then I cast on, and I swear about halfway through the cast on project I get bored and wonder why I cast on in the first place. I have such crafting ADD it's not even funny. I have these illusions of casting on and holding a perfect FO an hour later, like some sort of super knitter, and when I realize it may take days or even *gasp* weeks to get my FO I feel dejected and frustrated.

Enough of my neurosis I have an FO to share.

Pattern: Ribbed Lace Bolero
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Aurora (don't look for this yarn in stores I found it in the dollar bin at Big Lots and I don't think they make it anymore)
Notes: This was a nice knit, simple and easily modified. The pattern isn't really a pattern but a guideline for you to follow based on your own personal measurements. I may make another using a different lace stitch but this came out well. I would encourage you to make a size just a wee bit smaller then instructed because a lot of FO's on ravelry seem to be comming out huge. I think I knitted this 2 inches smaller then the pattern instructed and I'm quite happy with the finished product. I also think this shrug makes my boobs look big, which was reinforced by the guy staring at my chest the entire train ride to work this morning. The yarn was garbage, it's a weird thick flat yarn, think linguini not spaghetti, and it's a 50/50 blend of cotton and acrylic. the result is a little scratchy and rough, but the entire shrug cost $3.50 and I was able to reduce the stash monster (even just a little bit counts) so who am I to complain.

My hair looks big today

Oh look at my sleepy face. See boobies gallore!

As days go by

Oh my word, I love those few weeks before the official start of summer don't you. The sun shines well into the night and the green on the plants is vibrant and alive. The heat isn't unbearable (well it was a few weeks ago but still) and the city has yet to develop it's eau de summer stench that haunts my nostrils when I think about it.

I've been slowly getting back into crafting. I'm almost finished with my mermaid costume for the mermaid parade on Saturday. If you're in NYC you really should come out, it's supposed to be like Mardi Gras in Brooklyn :) I'll post tons of pics if you can't make it so you can pretend you were there.

I also posted a new roving to the etsy shop I call it Lagoon in June (it's a little Dr Seuss sounding but I like it) and it's superwash wool


I also cleaned out my refrigerator (not that there was much to clean since, Rob moved out I don't really do much food shopping) and found all this almost rotted fruit. It wasn't bad fruit, just ugly. So I took the blueberries and peaches and a cup of sugar and a lemon rind

and simmered them for hours with a touch of amaretto and wow I made an awesome compote/fruit preserve.
Here it is on some sugar free pudding

Yummy!

I've been working on the bolero, I cast off this morning and will sew it up tonight a totally gratifying knit if you ask me. Now I'm pondering my next summer cast on. I have one project waiting for me but its miles of stockinette and god that bores me so much. I'm trying to decide between a few projects: (all ravelry links below)
Mirabella Cardigan
Gigi
Rosalind
Two Toned Ribbed Shrug

more at twiigs.com...

Aha

I had a moment this week that put my knitting into perspective. I knit things mindlessly sometimes, not knowing if I'll wear/use them but knitting them for the sake of knitting or because I think they will look pretty. I'm of the mindset that if I don't like an FO I can give it away or gift it to someone who will look better in it then I will.

There are certain items I have knit and kept but really had no idea when or where I would use them. This week I experienced such a smack to the forehead moment that my knitting life is changed for the better. It was stupid hot in the city this week. Gross hot, yucky hot, draw a cold bath and eat and ice pop at the same time hot, and my office has a "no bare shoulders" policy. What's a sweaty girl to do? I could, like some of my co-workers, buck the policy and wear something that made me more comfortable in the heat; or I could suffer and sweat it out for the sake of corporate responsibility. Well I did neither, instead of the listed options I dug out a sun dress with spaghetti straps and then (oh I'm so smart) I found a shrug I knitted over the winter. This FO to be exact. Now cashmere certainly ain't a warm weather fiber, but my office seems to not be affected by external temperatures and I figured I'd be okay.

Now you may be saying to yourself what's my big discovery? Shrugs serve a purpose!!!! I know brilliant right, have I blown your mind yet? I never thought of shrugs as anything else then a nice knitted accessory, if you will, something cute to layer, but not something integral to getting dressed in the morning. Now I know, shrugs help you cheat your way around the company dress code and are usually small enough to stuff in your purse (if you carry a large purse like I do) when you don't need them. Now I'm on a shrug knitting frenzy.

Just thought I'd share, and yes I do realize this entire post makes me sound like an idiot but I'll embrace my idiocy.