No Mo' Mean Sister Blues...

I can officially retire the song I composed to comfort myself now that DMS has graciously sent me a few photos of herself in the sweater. Please forgive my lack of skill in photo editing as this is my first attempt to add a real photo. I think the yarn is more of a blue red than bright red, but either way the sweater has found its home, it appears to be much loved, and for my part that makes it all worth the struggles and tears. However, I am not sure what DM would say for her part (the sleeves and collar). DMS has the collar folded down, but it can easily stand up as well.

As you can see, she looks great in her sweater - just as I predicted. Mom did a great job on the sleeves and collar, and she assembled it too. The lace pattern on the sleeves and the collar is where all the trouble came from. At one point, I contemplated cutting the sweater into pieces and throwing it from my balcony, but DM graciously offered to see what she could do. DM has knit for 46 years, is a very accomplished knitter, and she thought the pattern wasn't written well. She had to get out her magnifyging glass to look at the detail in the pattern picture, and she even showed the pattern to her mother for confirmation that the pattern was off. I am thrilled that DMS loves the sweater! I will definitely knit DMS another sweater if she would like one, but I get to pick the pattern next time, and I won't be foolish enough to promise a deadline.

The Mean Sister Blues

As per previously posted, the evil sweater that DM rescued me from has been completed, assembled, delivered, tried on, and I understand that it fits. Not that I have a photo of course, even though I was promised that I would be e-mailed a photo on Friday evening - no such luck. DMS claims that because she had to wait for the sweater, that I should have to wait for the photo. Like that is fair! All knitters know it doesn't takes as much skill to photograph the project as it does to knit it...

I think the Devil himself designed the pattern that DMS picked out for that me to knit for her. He must also have designed her digital camera as she can't seem to get a picture of herself in that sweater e-mailed to me!

I know, I know DMS is busy with two children and her hubby, and can't be bothered with taking pictures for her poor sick sister with diabetes... Okay, enough with the guilt and whining - I am even weary of it. To brighten things up a bit, I have composed a little blues song that is sung to the same tune as the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese song. If you know it sing along...

MEAN SISTER BLUES

I got a mean sister, she’s sassy and bad - dah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
She’s got her darn sweater, so she shouldn’t be so mad...

(chorus)
I’ve got the mean, mean, mean sister blues...
She’s got me so wired and crazy that I’m gunna blow a fuse.

She won’t take a picture, and I think it’s not fair -dah, nah, nah, nah, nah.
It’s making me so cranky that I wanna pull her hair.

(chorus)
I’ve got the mean, mean, mean sister blues...
She’s got me so wired and crazy that I’m gunna blow a fuse.

My next post should have a photo of some sort on it, possibly of the socks I am working on.

p.s. Rasperries to the sister who probably looks just great in her new sweater, but not that I'll ever know...

The Joy of Socks...

It took me a long time to discover the joy of knitting socks, but I have arrived. They are easily portable, not terribly expensive, and it satisfies the immediate gratification need that I have.

In visiting FKD's blog, I understand that I am to consider myself tagged for the meme. Here goes nothing...

A-Age: 39.
B-Bed size: Queen.
C-Chore you hate: Dusting, unloading the dishwasher, and scrubbing the bathroom.
D-Dessert you love: Chocolate mousse.
E-Essential start your day item: Diet Coke!!!
F-Favorite actor(s): John Cusack, Johnny Depp.
G-Gold or Silver: Both.
H-Height: 5'1.5"
I-Instruments you play: None.
J-Job title: Medical transcriptionist.
K-Keeping track of your day: Notes on my calendar.
L-Living arrangements: Just me, the hubby, and Natty cat.
M-Mom's name: Shiny Hiney. No, really it's Joyce, or Linda on a good day...
N-Not liking right now: Diabets and the diet that comes with.
O- Overnight hospital stay other than birth: None.
P-Place you were born: Kansas City, MO.
Q-Quote you like: "Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, LOATHE..." - the Grinch!
R-Right or left handed: Right.
S-Siblings: 1 sassy younger sister.
T-Time you got up today: 3:39 a.m.
U-Unique habit: Not really any...
V-Vegetable you hate: Most of them...
W-Worst habit: Quick-tempered.
X-X-rays you've had: Teeth, chest, knee, and ankle.
Y-Yummy food you can make: Enchilada casserole
Z-Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Consider yourself tagged if you feel a meme coming on too!

As you have noticed, not much on the joy of socks, that is because there isn't much of a sock yet...

Patience is a virtue...

Many years ago, I had my first knitting machine. The only thing I saved from that adventure was the Brother ball winder that I had purchased to use with it. Many years later, I have another knitting machine, but I mostly use the ball winder for handknitting projects as I don't use the machine too much even now. However, I do NOT have a swift, and therein lies the rub, or rather the knot.

When I re-learned to knit a couple of years ago, I purchased some yarn, forgot about it, and rediscovered it this week. It is a lovely sock yarn, and I think I got it at the Studio, but not entirely sure as there is no sticker on the label. I have knit socks before, but with yarn that comes in skeins, not hanks. Hanks are twisted into a nice little twisty-ropey-looking things, and they are created by the Devil. I though, hmmm, I will use this for myself. I would like my own pair of socks, and if I make short cuffs I will have just enough yarn. Great! yarn untwisted, safety ties untied, and POW this monstrosity of yarn that is a big wiggly hula-hoop-type thing falls out of my hands, and onto the floor. I am just barely over five feet tall, the damn yarn didn't fall that far, how could it have gotten so screwed up on the way to the floor - and it no longer looks like a hula-hoop. It more closely resembles a plate of colored spaghetti now. Then part two of the disaster - Natty the cat is having her nightly cat fit, and flies through the pile of spaghetti yarn and gets all four feet tangled up, but pulls the yarn about three feet apart. The mess has just went from a moderate-sized catastrophe to a homicidal event!

Long story short, after two and a half hours, I have 420 yards of sock weight yarn, which does not unknot easily, wound onto the ball winder. The memory of where I purchased this is starting to come back to me. I did purchase this at the Studio, and the day I purchased it there were about six pain in the ass women in the knitting store with me, and they were driving me crazy. I was still very new at knitting, a little intimidated, and definitely irritated as they pushed and shoved their way through the store and people to ferret out anything and everything. When it was finally my turn at the register, the sales lady asked me, "would you like us to wind this for you?" I distinctly remember that all I wanted was out of that store, and I didn't realize I had just set myself up for disaster. I should have stayed and let them wind my yarn. It would have maybe taken ten minutes, fifteen tops to let them wind it as they have a swift, and the same ball winder that I do, but most importantly a swift. I cursed myself by saying, "No, I have a ball winder. I will be fine." I naively walked out the door, came home, put the yarn away and forgot about until I found the little cursed hank this week. The curse was still alive and well when I opened the yarn this evening. The moral of the story is ALWAYS let the store wind your yarn, it is worth the time to wait!!! It is not impossible to unwind a hank of yarn without a swift, it is just damned unpleasant!!! I have no one to blame but myself for this most recent lesson in knitting. When you make the mistake yourself, it will stay right there until you fix it, or until it has the chance to bite you in the ass . Either way, it was one big giant suckapallooza fixing that mess.

The Perfect Knitting Day...

Not that I have had one myself, but I have the same recurring fantasy of a perfect knitting day. It takes many elements to equal that kind of day (yes, a whole day), and here they are:

The house is clean from top to bottom - no guilt about knitting for hours and losing track of time.

The laundy is completely done and put away - further, no guilt about knitting the day away.

All errands must have been completed, hopefully the day before so that you can have the whole day for selfish pursuits. This includes the grocery store, what would a good selfish day would be complete without snacks (salty, chocolate, and Diet Coke no less)?

Hubby needs to be at work, stay a little late, and offering to bring home or order a pizza to ensure his continued good health on the day of knitting.

The weather needs to be stormy, rainy, blustery - just in case you thought about leaving the sancity of your knitting, it wouldn't really be good - so now you HAVE to stay in for safety's sake...

The phone is not allowed to ring much at this time, but you must have the cordless beside you on the knitting throne (the throne is a comfy seat that includes the project, Diet Coke, snacks, telephone, remote control, soft blanket). Also, the cat is not allowed to be demanding during the Perfect Knitting Day.

Knit, knit, knit. No chores, errands, or distractions to deal with, and definetly no guilt about not working on more "important" projects. The success of this day is not measured by the amount of knitting completed, but by the amount of total indulgance and lack of distraction. No interruptions by thoughtless non-knitters (like they count anyway) will be tolerated!!! Hubby should not arrive back home before 6 pm, really 7 pm is better, and no questions like, "What did you do today?"

Now that is a fantasy! Not that I live in that world, but God I would like to...

Back to reality as the house isn't spotless, the errands aren't complete, the cat is demanding, I am planning what to serve for dinner, and hubby is coming home EARLY to run an errand that involves going to the airport with me. It ain't perfect, but it's the life I got. I can always dream about the perfect knitting day...

Purple and Sparkly is my Charge

BC would like to have a purple sparkly scarf, and this aunt will not disappoint. The scarf is nearly done, and I may be able to have enough left over to make LC one as well. I will have to see. The needles that I am knitting this on are size #17. I refer to them as my Buffys (e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and they do look a little stake-like. After the possible scarf for LC, I just have one more to make for DM as she would like a scarf to match her snappy chapeau.

Four FOs for 2006, and One Teeny Flub...

Okay, the teeny flub as we all know is the sweater for DMS that nearly finished me, not the other way around, and I had to have a rescue from Mom. Not my proudest moment as a knitter, but sometimes you have to realize when the party is over, and believe me it was.

The sweater to the left is the beast in question that that Mom is "helping" me with so that it doesn't get turned into yarn confetti and pitched off my balcony.


The four FOs are the two, yes two, keyhole scarves. One charity scarf for the Red Scarf Project, and with the left over yarn, and set of hogbones (scarf) for DH. The keyholes were one for DMS, and one for myself. I have now successfully used up the Sinsation yarn from Plymouth that I bought. I am planning to have a minimum of one scarf finished in a week (not that I am on a scarf binge) as my dear niece, Braydee, asked her Aunt Terri to please knit one for her, and she further thought having it ready when she got off the plane would be nice as well. Never mind that it was almost 80 degrees here yesterday. If the kid wants a scarf, then a scarf she shall have. I would love to knit something for her new little sister too. That little girl has stolen my heart from thousands of miles away. DMS went to China to adopt her, and they are still on the journey to bring back the new niece, Lucy. I better get started knitting!!!