As Pink Would Say: “I’m Not Dead, Just Floating….”

This running a swap thing is a crazy business.  Between the last 3 days, Kasia and I have spent a total of about 8 or 9 hours online together (via yahoo messenger) trying to make the matches for some 110 odd people in our Christmas swap.  How long do you think it would take for my ass to turn into complete jello?  At this rate, probably not long!  And I’ve got more work to do.  So, now that I’ve popped out for reinforcements (a grande pumpkin spice latte and pastry of course!), I’m back for a few more hours of e-mailing addresses and all that nonsense.  So, I’m afraid I’ll be on hiatus from blogging for a while.  Please don’t give up on me everyone!  I’ll try to be back soon and hopefully I’ll have some knitting to show and some adventures to share (still want to tell all of you about our Vegas trip eventually).

Until then, I’ll leave you with a funny photo from the lion habitat inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Vegas……

How I wish I that was me!

Happy Anniversary R. Darling!

Happy 3rd anniversary sweetie!  I’d marry you all over again in a second (Vegas in 2 years?).  You are the best husband a girl could ever ask for and I will love you always!  Thanks for always being there for me.  I love you baby!

A Sin Break

Image courtesy of this site

We’re going to Sin City baby!  Woot!! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and I’ll see you when I get back, as long as I don’t drink too much and end up in jail for flashing my junk!  As long as there’s no tequila involved we’re cool.  Now, where did I put that backless leather top……

A Change Would Do You Good

This getting older thing bites the weenie.  I can’t say that I’m learning to love myself and all that crap they tell you you’ll learn when you get older to make you feel better about getting wrinklier and greyer.  But if 30 is the new 20 as I keep hearing over and over, then I guess I’ve still got some living it up that needs doing (where’s that leather backless top I wore in Sturgis anyway?).  I’ve been feeling kind of down about turning thirty-fo, and not just turning it, but feeling that age all of a sudden.  So on Monday I did something any good 20-something (who’s really 30-something) would do:  I got my hair did.  And I blew a whole buttload of cash on it too.  Knittymuggins Sr. argued with Knittymuggins Jr. and was really pushing for that hot pink streak in the front, but Sr. prevailed (she’s a bit older and wiser and Jr. got flustered by all the big words and excessive hand gesturing).  20-something came out of her corner swingin’ though and went for the bangs, highlights and 80 bucks worth of Bumble & Bumble products.  Take that thirty-fo!  TKO!  And as Sheryl says, “A change would do you good……”

   

 

And just in case you were starting to think that I haven’t been knitting, well, let me assure you I’m still an addict like the rest of you!  The truth is, I’ve been knitting the Something Exciting pretty monogamously and since it’s a bit hush-hush, I can’t really blog about it.  Sooooo, that means I don’t have much knitting to talk about until it’s finished and no longer top-secret.  I hope that’s soon, because I’d really love to share!

Christmas Around The World Swap Questionnaire

Well, I suppose since I am co-hostessing this particular swap, I should play by my own rules and post this on time! The fun part is, there’s 25 questions – one for each of the 25 days of Christmas! It might seem a bit early to some to be talking Christmas, but many of the blogging knitters out there are already starting their Christmas knitting and blogging about it, so I guess I’m perhaps fashionably late to the party at this point…..

1. Are you religious?  Not particularly.  Maybe spiritual would be a better word.  I definitely believe in Karma.
2. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider yourself a Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced?  I’ve been knitting since about January 2006.  I guess I would consider myself intermediate.
3. Do you have any other hobbies besides knitting?  It would probably take less time to tell you which hobbies I’m *not* interested in!  But mainly I enjoy reading, crocheting, sewing, some beading and I’ve recently gotten interested in embroidery and crewelwork.
4. Favorite color(s)?  Pink!  I also love combinations with pink: pink & brown, pink & red, pink & green.  I could go on….. 
5. Do you collect anything?  Other than extra pounds?  Not really.  I used to have a thing for vintage buttons and blue mason jars, but I’m trying to curb that habit a bit (I’d rather spend my time and money on yarn!).  I also really love vintage sewing and knitting or crocheting patterns.  I’ve got piles!
6. Are you allergic to any fibers or animals?  Not that I know of, but I’ve been having some trouble since I moved in with our poopies.
7. Do you have any pets?  Yep.  2 pooches (poopies) – a chocolate lab and a jack russell terrier (terror).
8. Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate?  There’s certainly a time for each in my book.  Tea on winter nights before bed, coffee every morning to wake me up and hot chocolate as a special treat when I need cheering up.
9. Cookies or Sweets?  I’m more of a sweets person, but I never met a cookie I didn’t like :)  I’ve got an *insane* sweet tooth!  I love dark chocolate and anything chewy or sour.
10. Do you knit socks? Yep!  I’ve crossed over to the dark side recently.
11. If not socks then what? (tell us about your favorite knits)  Other than socks, I knit just about anything else that catches my fancy without discretion.  The more the merrier!
12. Do you put up a Christmas tree? If not then what do you do?  Yep!  I used to be fanatically against fake Christmas trees until I moved in with R. Darling who owns a *gorgeous* fake tree.  Now I love how easy it is to put up and how perfectly the branches look no matter what.  Not to mention, there’s no phantom critters or weird smells (like skunk pee) to deal with!
13. Favorite holiday treats?  Hmmmm.  Chocolate and peppermint mochas, though I guess those aren’t specifically holiday.  Oh, pumpkin pie too!
14. Favorite holiday smells?  Cookies, pine, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin, peppermint, orange, cloves.  There are so many good ones!
15. Do you celebrate Christmas in a traditional or unconventional way? Please elaborate.  We’re pretty traditional.  Go to my MIL’s on Christmas Eve usually, and then have Christmas morning alone with my husband.  My parents and some friends of our family come over later on Christmas day for dinner as well.
16. What are your favorite holiday traditions?  We don’t really have many, but I always love opening a single gift on Christmas eve.  My husband and I usually choose one for each other to open and we also exchange cards – one mushy and one funny.  This was something R. Darling did for me the first Christmas we were together and now we carry that tradition on between the two of us.  I love it!
17. Finish the sentence: “For me Christmas is all about….”  love and sharing, and peace on earth goodwill toward men.  For reals.
18. If you were a Christmas ornament you would be…….?  A glass snowflake, all sparkly and reflective and one-of-a-kind.
19. What was your favorite gift you’ve ever received? Or given?  Hmmm.  This one’s tough (who made these up anyway? LOL).  I guess the gifts that I loved the best as a kid were the teddy bears I’d get every Christmas from Santa (and then later my parents).  I *loved* teddy bears and every Christmas there’d be a new one under the tree on Christmas morning for my collection.  As a “grown-up” I’d have to say that R. Darling’s gifts to me the first Christmas we were together have been my favorite so far.  He gave me a frame with several pictures of us in it, including one from our first grade photo that he’d photoshopped to show just the two of us standing together (and he told me he wasn’t creative!).  The diamond earrings were a nice touch too!  As far as given?  I love to make gifts for people and I think the crocheted beaded snowflakes that I made for a family friend who has since passed away, are my favorite thing that I’ve given.  She loved them so much, and to know that she appreciated the love I put in to them was really special for me.
20. When do you start your Christmas?  I believe in Thanksgiving having enough time to be its own holiday, so decorations don’t go up until around the first or second weekend in December.
21. Do you send Christmas cards? Do you make them or buy them?  I send a lot of Christmas cards!  I love addressing them and choosing designs beforehand (I buy them on clearance after Christmas the year before).  I don’t do family newsletters (do people really read those?  I guess I do, but I feel I’d bore everyone to death writing my own) but I do write a personal note in each card I send.  I like it best that way.  I usually buy them, but I’d love to have the time to make my own someday.
22. What is your favorite Christmas dish?  Our family doesn’t have any traditional Christmas dishes.  But I guess I like pumpkin pie and my mom usually makes egg nog from an old family recipe that was actually served in the White House at one time (one of her distant ancestors was a former U.S. President!).  It’s yummy and makes you nice and fuzzy inside!
23. Carolers are at your door. What do you do?  This doesn’t happen around here, but I’d smile a lot and try to find some treats to pass out.
24. When do you open presents? Christmas eve or Christmas morning?  One gift on Christmas Eve and then the rest on Christmas morning.  Although, we usually end up opening presents over at my MIL’s when we go there on Christmas Eve.
25. Do you celebrate with family or friends or both?  Both!  Although some of our close family friends are really more like family.  We don’t celebrate with any of my husband’s and my friends though.  They all have their own families to visit.

Friday Fill-In: September 14, 2007

Click on the button to check it out!
Here’s my answers for today’s Fill-In: #37
(This is so appropriate because our wedding anniversary is coming up soon!)

1. I met him/her in first grade!
2. We dated for 3 years, 2 of those long distance, before we got engaged.
3. I knew he/she was the one after our first “date” (Which is in quotes because it wasn’t really a date. We re-met at our 10 year high school reunion which we didn’t even go to together! But I left after that weekend, knowing he was special in a way that was different from any other guy I’d previously met) .
4. The thing I like best about him/her is how he always makes me laugh when I’m crying and how he’s never afraid to tell me he loves me and hold my hand in public.
5. When he/she proposed I thought I knew what was coming, but when it actually happened, it all felt like a dream.  There were cherry blossoms blooming and he got down on one knee.  So romantic…….
6. The song we had at our wedding was decided the night before since we didn’t have our own song (unless you count the first song we ever danced to which was “Hysteria” by Def Leppard – yeah, not really wedding appropriate).  We were listening to music we’d burned on CD’s for our wedding and “At Last” by Etta James came on and we knew that would be the one we’d dance our first dance to.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing with R. Darling and knitting a little, tomorrow my plans include cleaning house for Dad’s birthday lunch on Sunday and Sunday, I want to knit a little more after company leaves!

It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green

Image courtesty of Wikipedia

I feel kind of green today.  Woke up all barfy and headachy.  Maybe it’s a cake hangover.  I did eat a whole crapload of cake yesterday.  Or it could be that I’m allergic to being thirty-fo (with an “o” for o-l-d; I didn’t say it, I spelled it K, so you can’t roar at me :)  Either way, I still feel a little green.  Not the best way to start the first day of your new year.  But I have a great idea.  I know just what will fix it!  More cake…..

Got Cake?

 

Today’s menu:

All Cake.  All Day.  ‘Nuff said.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

ETA:
With a side of more cake……

And some flowers too…..

Fabulous Fifi’s Finally Finished!

And I love love love this sweater!! 

The techy knitspeak for anyone who’s curious:

Begin Date:  July 18, 2007

End Date:  August 31, 2007

Pattern Source: French Girl

Size Made:  33.5″

Yarn: 4 balls (50g – 175yd – 160m each) Rowan Calmer in Chiffon (#462)  – 75% Cotton/25% Acrylic/Microfibre

Needles & Gauge: Size 7 bamboo; gauge very close to the 20 sts = 4″ called for in rib pattern

New Techniques:  Cabling without a needle

Total Cost:  Approx. $31.00 (yarn cost $6.25/ball + approx. $1.50/ball shipping)

Recipient: Me baby.  Me!

Comments: Knit for the Sexy Knitter’s Club (SKC) KAL – Summer 2007.  This sweater has turned out to be one of my absolute favorites and I can totally see myself actually wearing this!  Did I mention I love this sweater?  I did not however, really enjoy knitting it.  I found the pattern itself to be somewhat confusing, especially the portion where you are to separate the sleeves from the main body.  After reading, re-reading, pondering, and puzzling over the instructions at this point numerous times, I finally just left the sweater on the needles and started something else.  When I came back to it, the pattern still didn’t make sense, but since I’d already completed one top down sweater previously, I figured I’d just do what I thought the instructions wanted me to.  This was successful, much to my amazement (I expected to have to rip it out completely due to some silly mistake I was sure I’d make).  After that, the only difficulty I really experienced was finishing up the sleeves.  I found the instructions about beginning the actual sleeve to be a bit unclear, but I again improvised and it looks o.k.  I did quite a few more repeats of the bottom ribbing on the lower bodice section than was called for (11 in all I believe) and for the sleeves I did one round in pattern, did the decreases, 1 round of ribbing and then bound off.  Other than that, no real modifications other than to add a stitch here or there when establishing the ribbing pattern for the lower bodice portion.  I think if I made another one of these someday I would definitely attempt the short-row shaping for the bust area.  I think Fifi would fit even better that way.  But I do love how it turned out! 

Don’t you want one now?

Photo Friday – September 7, 2007

 

Sometimes, in a world that goes a mile-a-minute, it’s easy to forget that good things do come to those who wait.  There’s a satisfaction in tucking something into the soil, nurturing it, dreaming over it, and in the end, being rewarded with something beautiful to remind you of the wonder that is our world.  And perhaps, without that wait, the prize at the end wouldn’t be nearly so sweet. 

I planted these lovelies sometime in June and really never expected to see them bloom.  But throughout the summer I’ve kept an eye on my small bit of garden and pretty soon there were some unidentified grass-like green shoots coming up.  Being a terrible gardener who can never remember where or what I’ve planted, I wondered what these grassy little things could be.  As they continued to grow and little bud stalks began to appear I realized that the Tigridia (Mexican Shell Flower) bulbs I’d bought one day to cheer myself up were actually going to bloom!  Tuesday morning I stole a glance at my little garden bed as I usually do right before going to work, and I was rewarded with these glorious little faces winking back at me.  I could have died they were so beautiful!  And, as I soon discovered, it was a good thing I took these photos because by that evening they’d closed up entirely and by the next morning they had shriveled up completely.   Ah, but they were so worth the wait……

Knitting Experience Questionnaire

Robin posted this on her blog recently soze I stoled it.  Thanks Robin!  This has been a crazy, non-knitting sort of week, so I thought I could at least talk about knitting if I can’t actually knit.  Feel free to steal it and play along!

Here’s the details:

Bold = have already tried this
Italicized = Plan to try this
Unemphasized = Have no desire to try this

• Afghan
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down (I’m a little scared of these since toe-up ones seem so much easier in theory) 
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn (Not really interested, though I felt some yak yarn at the LYS the other day and it is soft!)
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting (As Robin said: not on purpose…)
• Participating in a KAL (Of course!)
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting (maybe…..)
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn (even have some in the stash…..)
• Two end knitting (um, what?)
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn (well, a wool and soy blend anyway)
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun (as if I need more hobbies!)
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting (sooo not interested)
• Continental knitting
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book (someday maybe……)
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit
• American/English knitting (don’t like it at all!)
• Knitting to make money (if writing patterns/books someday counts)
• Buttonholes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting (is this different from Fair-Isle?)
• Dyeing with plant colors (maybe)
• Knitting items for a wedding
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
• Olympic knitting (why?)
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with dpns
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living (if writing patterns/books someday counts)
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dyeing yarn (maybe sock yarn)
• Steeks (Will be doing this in the Mirepoix KAL soon – eeeek!)
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting (I think so. Do cables count?)
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac (sorta gave it a try and wasn’t very good at it!)
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys (a bear for the Motherbear Project)
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows (just on socks)
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho (totally never a poncho though!)
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (This whole idea just totally grosses me out!  Imagine if it got wet!  Eewwww!)
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public (Very rarely.  People here always look at me weird when I do.  Of course, maybe that’s not because of the knitting……)

Whew!  That was a lot of work!  Have fun with your own version!

The Happs

Casa de Knittymuggins is kinda hectic right now.  And let me tell you.  It’s damaging my calm.  Where’s Buddha for a little zen pick-me-up when you need him?  Here’s the happs that have me all abuzz…..

• Wheat Ear Cable Yoke Knitalong hosted by Kasia and me began September 1.  So far, all I’ve managed to do is swatch.  I am actually considering knitting this as the pattern is written, despite it being easily converted to circular knitting by most members of the group.  I’ve never made a seamed sweater and this seems like the perfect hybrid (the yoke is knit in the round).  There are so many lovely seamed patterns out there and I think I need to give one a try so I won’t continue to feel so intimidated by them.
• I am working steadily on Stefanie’s Petal pattern for her testlab.  I have separated the sleeves and done a portion of the body, but still have some ways to go.  This is the one I feel most stressed about right now because it’s been a week and a half or so and I’m getting close to her deadline.  I’d really like to finish it on time for her.  Still haven’t had the chance to contact her and find out how much I’m allowed to post about it.
• Sock It To Me Sock Swap – This is the second thing I’m most stressed about.  I have 1 sock of 4 finished with a due date of October.  I ended up being an angel for someone whose partner flaked out so there’s extra pressure to make another pair of socks even though my second partner knows it may take me some extra time to finish these for her.  I’d like to just get these done so that I can feel good about having them done on time. 
• Christmas Around the World Knitter’s Swap –  This is the swap that Kasia and I are hosting together.  We are still messing around with memberships and now have to get everything evened out and questionnaires checked so that we can make matches.  Once the matches are made, I hope things will require a bit less maintenance.  Right now it’s keeping me a bit busier than I’d like.
• Mirepoix Bodice Knitalong – This is a KAL co-hosted by Robin and me with a start date of October 1.  I’m a bit nervous about this one as there’s a lot of stuff I’m going to learn during this one.  It’s exciting, but a little scary.  Steeks, colorwork, all sorts of craziness.  It’s a great sweater though.  I want to knit the body in red instead of green so I’m still pondering what colors I want for the rest of the pattern.

Whew!  Maybe it doesn’t sound like much to you, but it feels like a lot to me!  And you know what’s sad?  This list is actually abridged.  I guess I’d better quit bellyaching about it and go ahead and start some knitting.  I’ll leave you with a pic of sock #1 for the swap, all knit up.