Pre Olympic Butterflies

I actually did my version of a guage swatch. I got the idea so I don't think I need to do a 4" square. I am down to size #1 US #%@$%@^^^$@$% needles!!!!! I vow right now that I am not going to knit this tam on stick pins!!! News flash...I will not knit, no matter who, or what, the challenge is, knit... on anything less than 0 not 00 or 000. I have seen stick pins that were larger. I don't care if my mother has to wear an afro wig, in order to fit into this hat, but I draw the line at 0. If it's to big to wear, I will have just knit the most beautiful tea cozy!!! At this size needle I could knit Barbie clothes!!! Shock is the word...but I am determined to do this. I am not a quitter, I am on a mission. I am actually excited to get this started...Ok maybe I lied a tad.....

Got Gauge?

I got my delivery today for knitting the Fair Isle hat. I love getting packages in the mail, it is so much like Christmas. I ordered the yarn from Knit Piks. I also have the white but it is just ....white? Now I have to do the dreaded Gauge...I'll have you know this is probably going to be knit on US 2 or 3 needles....me. I don't knit on anything less than 7's. But seeing as though I am being challenged and this is an Olympic Game, I will do it!!! For rules and times check out Wisconsin knits on the right. I think there are only 10 days left so get that guage figured out. I am also planning on having a night of knitting and game watching here. It will be a pre ceremony party and then I will have a Medals ceremony at the end.

Panic attack

I had a panic attack, but I'm back now....I have had a rouse with Satelite and Cable both...I am on their black list, both of them. I have had Dish for years, but due to poor service I changed to Cable, but again due to a lie and poor service, but mostly a lie, I switched back. All this by the way to get the best deal and save money. Now, I have cable internet, or had until the dish guy disconnected the cable and screwed up the whole works. So I was to be without internet for 5 days. This did not set well with me, being that I have to have and do things "Now". After a good nights sleep and a full belly of Red Lobster Crab legs, I tackled the tangled mess of coaxle cables. The side of my house looks like swiss cheese, I guess the easy way to hook things up is to drill a new hole!!! Through trial and error and a marathon of running up and down the stairs from the basement to the upstairs and again working up an appetite and drinking a gallon of coffee. I now have dish and internet!!! I knew I could'nt make it to next week. Panic was setting in and I was going into the shakes, Jonesing for my lap top!!!! I missed the two of you that read this?

So Many Buttons to choose?

Knitters needed to join our athletic nimble finger team of Olympic champions. For rules click on Yarn Harlot to the right. Be prepared to laugh, she is one funny woman. Then also check out Wisconsin Knits to the right to sign up for the Team Wisconsin.
I stole the button above because it truly suited me and my caffeine addiction. I am watching the premiere of "Bubble" I'll let you know how it is.

Who came early?

Those of us, that are regulars at Fiber Fanatiks, we know who we are, all know about who gets there and when. Lawdy, Lawdy, look who is walking through the door at 5:15ish, it was Michelle, Eugenie and Maryanne!!! Oh yeah, I am not kidding, early!!
It was good to see them and I took a photo for proof, the room is mostly empty!!! On a good note, Hazel Carter who suffered an aneurism, has come out of surgery and is doing well. We are all knitting a 7" square to make a blanket for her. Hazel is a very talented lady and a real character.
All you Wisconsin Knitters, and Olympian contenders, I have a blog up to post photos of your projects and to sign up and commit!!! Come on it will be fun!!!

Long Long Long...Moebius

From the photo, you will see that the moebius magical ring is a tad bit too long....6 times the ruler length. So rumor has it that Goliath needed a new scarf...or Paul Bunyon...what other giants are there oh yeah Jack and the Beanstalk guy!!! So I figure I still can wear this if I wrap it around my neck 20 times?
Ok now Wisconsin Knitters I am going to challenge you to the Knitting Olympics ala Yarn Harlot. I am putting together a new blog for us winter wonders of knitting. I am working on it, so start thinking about what you are going to do and check out the other Olympic bloggers. We will follow the same rules but this is where we can put photos and get "on board".

Neverending Bind off...

I am almost finished with the worlds longest Magical Moebius. It will probably hang down to my knees. I am binding off and off and off and off....and off. Rule #1-never cast on 4,387 stitches. This is most certainly an Infinite Ring an unending ring. What the heck was I thinking....did I loose count? Was I watching a good movie, or did the moebius cast on, become so fun and exciting and I just couldn't stop!!! Whatever it is, I am binding off...still. The Harlot gave away the most beautiful mittens to Stacy, her name was picked out of almost 1,000 names. Check them out on Yarn Harlots blog.

Gallery Night

Tonight was Gallery night downtown Milwaukee. It was a wonderful night and it snowed and snowed and is still snowing!! Heavy beautiful flakes. We had planned on doing the trolley to get around, but I don't think they were running, at least we didn't see it. I am guessing we already have 5" and it's still coming. If I stretch my feet out from my place on the couch right now, I can touch no less than three knitting projects and 4 knitting books. Needless to say, my feet are touching them not my hands. I started out this year with the intent of finishing projects, not starting a zillion new ones. I did finish one Magical Moebius, I have one I am working on now. This new collar hat thingy and a multi directional scarf and a triangle multi directional scarf and on the end table is a sock I am working on. In an age where no one has any accountability, I am not accountable for my disfunctionaly short attention span. I am blaming the Yarn Harlot, it's all her fault. She keeps knitting new things and 'Help I'm knitting but I can't keep up!!!' Now on top of all of this I have to think of the Olympics. I can barely sleep, contemplating which sport I am going to participate in. Shall I ski in a Fair Isle hat or Skate in a Magical Lace Moebius? Hey I got my new coffee cup press to go...can you tell ?

Self Explanitory

Quit lurking and just drop a comment will you!!! It really is pretty easy...and the reason for the goofy lettering is to prevent computers from putting unwanted comments on the blog. I am exercising in preparation for the Olympics...I lift my needles and twist my wrists and stretch...the pressure is getting to me. I know I will be under the scrutiny of a few, but I am doing some chocolatoids to increase my knitting stamina. I still am not sure which project I will be doing but I am leaning towards the lace. One reason is I already have the yarn, second the suggested needle size on that stupid hat is 3...I don't do 3....soooooo. I am thinking the lace with cashmere/merino dyed purple or bluesy...now I have to pick a color and get it dyed too before February.

Whatever happened to Sorry, wrong number?

Does anyone teach manners anymore? Do all nine year olds have cell phones? Bring me up to speed please.... For the last few days I keep getting a call from this number....eeewwww I am so tempted to put it on the web. I don't answer it because of course I don't recognize it and I barely answer calls I recognize. So at 11:30pm Saturday evening, while I was just nuzzling into my pillow, the phone rings and in a sleepy coma, I look at the number and it's looks vaguely like the number during the day. Now I do have a message that clearly states who I am and I do say my first name, so if I were to call my friend Alice and I get a machine that answers "Hi, this is Martha?" and I didn't recognize the voice because it was a kid...I am smart enough to know I have called the wrong number. So in the morning I remember the 11:30 call and decide I need to find out who is calling me constantly. A kid answers the phone and I proceed to state that they have been calling the wrong number and I would appreciate if they would check the number they were trying to call, because they woke me up...."Is this Queen?" silence.....No and don't call this number again..Thank you. I hang up the phone turn to walk away somewhat pleased with myself for not screaming at the stupid kid for not getting the fact that I am not 9 years old and my name is Jan not Queen. Ringgggggg!!!! I look and I'll be damned if it isn't that number...Hello? I barely take a breath when a mom is screaming at me that I shouldn't holler at her nine year old daughter and I have no right to tell her not to call and it was just a wrong number...no big deal. I calmly said she called at 11:30 at night and that is a bit disturbing... her---she called a wrong number get over it!!! Calm is on a slippery slope and going fast...Lady you just pissed off the wrong Queen!!! and I hung up!! Oh I have toyed with the idea of what to do for revenge...what can I do...Shall I post the number on a shady website? Shall I make *67 calls at inappropriate times of the day and evening....the nerve of some people...So as I think of what I could do I know what I am going to do....nothing...but it sure made me feel good playing out every evil scene in my mind.
I finished one Moebius ring, it is the sample for a class...I really am addicted.

I Accept!!

Once again she lurks on her Blog, challenging me and others to an Olympic Knit off. I like the Olympics but only the winter ones...lucky for her!!! If you accept her challenge "Her" being the Harlot of course, you begin casting on during the opening ceremonies and have 16 days to knit what ever you choose to knit. The (Overachiever) Harlot is doing this phenomenal sweater that is from Dale of Norway...hhhmmm will she or won't she finish it. I have faith that she will, she is one helluva knitter. Me, I chose either this Magical Moebius ring made with hand spun cashmere/merino?








Or this Fair Isle hat for my mum!! So lace or fair isle...fair isle or lace? I have some time to think about it. I wonder if I have vacation during the Olympics? hhhhmmmm



Follow the link on the right for Yarn Harlot to wax up your needles and wind your yarn and do your swatch and ready, set, go!!

Adoptive parents

Having the ability to choose your children or to select them is a special event...how special is the adoptee, to be picked by parents that have made a concious choice to add you into thier lives? Today we made a special 3 hour trip, there was no time to knit blankets or sweaters. No time to think of names or fix up rooms. It was sudden, but I'm sure you will agree not once, but twice...once you have a little sweetheart in your life ...it's hard to have an empty home. I think you will agree, agree that there are two, two very happy people here in this photo, photo. No you are not seeing double and I am not making typos. My brother and his wife have adopted two little baby Schipperkes. They are four months old and were dolls on our three hour drive home, no one got piddled on and there was no crying. Maybe that will come later and I have a feeling it won't be the puppies!!! They don't have names set in stone yet, but the girl may be Maggie and the boy Riley. Welcome home to my new niece and nephew. Welcome

Go into the light Carrie Anne!!!

Hey, I do not live in Seattle, but we have been without sunshine for I think a few weeks. Guess what sneaked out today??? I think it was the sun? People everywhere stopped biting off their neighbors heads and faced the south, squinted their eyes and smiled!!!! It's true, I layed back in my truck seat (too cold for the hammock) and let the sun beat in my eyes, a physical recharging of my internal batteries. I am working on the Magical ring, I think I got overzealous and cast on a zillion stitches. Hey I did get a spurt of energy and vacuumed ...thank you sunshine!!!!

Warning...Blogs are habit forming

Not much to say this evening..."Lost" night and then" Invasion". This means a special treat...like Nachos or cheese and crackers..something special because everyone knows we all need to be special. So I am pressing my coffee and having a little chocolate, which by the way is pronounced Chalk-ohhhhh-liiittt. It is three syllables because anything that tastes as good deserves to be drawn out. Check out the new handmade glass needles. I found a new chocolate to die for...Lindt with a creamy filling...ooooohhhhhh..Ok back to the truth behind the title here. I am addicted to Blogs...following the trails and visiting bloggers in their homes up close and personal. I am traveling to Belgium, England...I have been spending time in England and learning about Quince and totally enjoying my discoveries, from beautiful dishes to the most wonderful flowers and on and on. Not to mention the knitting...ahhh it makes me tired and my hands hurt just trying to keep up. Bloggers willing to let me peer into their lives and fulfill a need to live vicariously in the shoes of others. I am a World traveler and I haven't left my couch. I only have to log on and I'm off. Thanks to all of those that share their talents and thoughts with the rest of us....
Hey the Magic is working...I had a comment from the Harlot herself!!!! Ahhhh touched by a Harlot..she is a great inspiration and I admit I can't keep up!! Off to nuke my nachos....!!! and get "Lost"

Entering the Magical Kingdom

Once upon a time there was a crazy woman, she had a weird way of knotting yarns together with two sticks. Working off of one stick that she held between her thighs, she could tension the yarns and quickly wiggle the sticks and create a knitted fabric? In a far away Country another woman was doing the same but she was using sticks tied together, she knew how to make fabric into a circle with a Magical twist in it. This woman knit flat and round and lacy and she was named Harlot. She didn't know Crazy woman but she inspired her...she really pushed her to attempt things beyond her ideas. She has images of beautiful creations and stepping stones to others that do the same. So the Crazy woman not to be outdone took to using the sticks with a string and entered the Magical knitting of Cat Bordhi's Moebus Rings via the Yarn Harlot. Now thanks to the Harlot, Crazy woman is obsessed with these rings and has all her family and friends making paper rings and cutting them in two and writing on them...it's no wonder they call her Crazy woman!!! And damn proud of it!!!! I got this yarn from a second hand shop and the price was on a huge bag for $2.99..it is from my stash..I might add!!! Like Magic

Artwork

Art come in many shapes forms and colors. Art can hang on walls, sit on tables, be worn on hands. Point is I think this piece of art is going to end up staying on the loom....it is my "for" project. "For" my next vacation...."For" a rainy day..."For" nothing to do..."For" a while..."Forever!!!"
I am planning on finishing it, I actually have a bare spot on my wall for it. I anticipate seeing it hanging there. I know why the Navajo sit crossed legs and finish these rugs in a few weeks...it's because they can't move...my legs cramp and with the attention span of a flea, I can't sit still that long unless it involves a movie and food. So my conclusion to this is...find a stool, order food, and chocolate and force myself to sit and weave one inch a day. In 15 days I could be done. It could be hanging elegantly on the wall, collecting compliments from visiting friends, neighbors, family...peeping toms!!! Crowds would gather outside my window and the Tribal Nations would come to Honor it., the Smithsonian would commission it....OK I'm back now. Maybe I'll start working on it tomorrow, after I walk 5 miles.

Up in Smoke

For those of you that were at the Fiber Fanatiks Christmas Party, you will not have worry about getting the fruitcake, next year. The wicks were lit and the fruitcake is burning. That is about all fruitcake is good for, other than a doorstop. I got this as a gift...and I was having a fit when I was unwrapping it! Who would give me a crappy fruitcake that looked 30 years old and weighed a ton, wrapped in crisp cellophane, that crinkled and giggled as I was cursing and trying to figure out how to rid myself of this horrible cake of nut and fruit filled concrete. Well turns out it was a candle on closer evaluation...sorry!!! So what better way to get rid of an ugly fruitcake candle...wrap it up and give it as a joke in a game of "you get stuck with it if you unwrap it!!!" No more it is on it's way to fruitcake candle heaven..up in smoke!!! It didn't want to die easily though...Beth lit it and it hisses...how nice is that a Cobra Fruitcake candle to boot? Hissssssssssssssss

Recycle for Soldiers

Today I am going to take some old phones to recycle them for 100 minute phone cards for soldiers. I know if I look harder I have another one floating around here somewhere? Some kids in Massachusetts found out that some Soldiers in their area were in Iraq and couldn't afford to phone home. They started collecting money and recycling items to fund phone cards to send the Soldiers. Liberty Tax service heard about this and jumped on the bandwagon. So if you take any old cell phones, doesn't matter if they work or not, to any Liberty tax service, they will donate a 100 minute phone card to the Soldiers. They actually recycle the phones so they will go to better uses! I have been dizzy off and on for a week....new miracle drug!!! Gatorade!!! Here I thought it was sinus all along and it may well be, but Gatorade seems to help with the dizzy stuff? I don't need any comments about being dizzy...

High hopes?

I know you are reading this...I know you are going..na na na na naaa..I know I had great hopes...but I fell short..well not really but my yarn is going to. I know you said it was going to happen but for some reason, and with these rose colored glasses that I own (and use mostly for picking husbands) I thought I may have enough. The label said so? Ok so I forgot to tell you I was making a purse for my cell phone?? A scarf for the top of my TV? Than again I'm not done yet, I still have a tennis size ball of yarn. Maybe this is the unending ball of yarn...kind of like the "Crippler" jacket now vest..unending. Well getting on with the knitting. Seems like I am running out of the one skein of Cherry Tree HIll, that I have no idea where I got it from. I dug it out of my stash when I got this pattern from Beth at Kro-Sha. I will attempt to post it some time in the future or sooner? If I can figure out how to do it? It's a free pattern but I must include the copyright...it says so. Or you can stop by Kro-Sha and I'm sure Beth can whip you off a copy...bring your needles or not? You can sit on a couch with the cat...Jessie and pick some yarn and start your own Multi-Directional scarf. Make sure you get enough yarn...!!!
I stepped on those glasses and broke the lens to smitherings...!!!

Little Black Dog

Today is a sad day in the Massie households. My little black niece had to be put to sleep. She was 11 yrs. old and has been sick for a while...not that she didn't put her best paw forward. Monday we had dinner by my SIL and Brother and Abby wasn't eating too well...until I pretended to be eating her dog food and fed her from the table..she ate just fine. Her Grampa and Grandmas and cousin Joey got to see her behaving pretty good. But for the last two days she was disoriented and confused..and it was time. For a pet owner, it is the hardest thing about parenting anyone can imagine. We will miss her..she was the good girl, I own the brat. She had exquisite manners and listened so well....I have the misbehaving naughty girl. She made everyone love her...! She wasn't always so good, there was a time she had the nickname the "home improvement dog". She ripped up the linoleum, the wallpaper, she ate through her gate..and the final act of defiance was the front of the stereo speakers. She has come a long way from those days..There are so many cute things she did. She chased chippes (chipmunks), she went fishing, in the boat and ice fishing, camping, and visiting. She even had a boyfriend, a man she loved and flirted with. My brothers friend and fishing buddy. She was like a silly little schoolgirl with him. She was a spoiled child and knew how to get her way. She was like everyones dog. Just recently they were out icefishing and she went over by two old guys sitting on pails, and one of the guys put his hand down and was petting her like she was his....she had a way about her. She has brought so much joy. She has left us all with so many memories. She died with her dignity...she has left a void. She was the cutest little black dog...Abby.

What can be said?

Coming from a family that is all too familiar with the hazards of mining, my heart goes out to the families of the deceased in West Virginia. My parents come from the UP and copper mines were the main stay of jobs there. I know both my Grandfathers worked the mine and so did my Dad for a short time. It was how they earned a living. Everyday going deep into the earth on a car that you had to sit back to back with your knees angled off, so not to hit the walls on the descent. I know my Grandpa wore shoes that had nail in the soles and my mom wasn't sure why, if it was for traction or what, but she knew they were really heavy Sundays he had to go check the integrity of the timbers and shoring inside the mine..by himself, so that others would be safe. Mom had a teacher that lost her husband in a cave in and told her students that each morning when you say goodbye to your fathers you may never see them again...they may never come out of that hole. As morbid as that seems it was a reality. These people live with that fear each day. I pray for their courage and strength, I also sympathize with their being misled and false hope. They have been through a lot. I can't imagine the stamina it will take for their friends and families to go to work again for another day. My sympathy with them all.
I finished my skein and it is washed and ready to knit....I will have to let it sit awhile before I decide what to do with it. I am fighting a sinus infection, that is totally dragging me down. Join the crowd!!!

Where's the Sunshine

If we could only send Oklahoma our rainy days and no sunshine. I wish we could..so does California, unfortunately we can't. My laptop was down along with alot of peoples moods. Only down because of a technical difficulty..the airport was not accepting my pleas to land? Huh...if only I had used the right user name...simple things like that, can make all the difference in the world. So day one of eating better....I have done OK till now and I really need to get to my Hot Chocolate...Ok so we don't want to lose too much weight the first day. Withering away to a mere shell of myself, sunken cheek bones, baggy pants....see I am already losing my mental acuteness. Ok, I'm back now....
I have a big task ahead of me...my mom gave me all of our old photos. Partly because I wanted to be able to share them with my other siblings and then give them back to her. Second, my mom is not nostalgic at all...maybe more now than ever. Anyway I didn't want them to be lost. I downloaded this program so I can title them and put them into a slide show...major undertaking, but well worth the outcome..I hope. I finished spinning the cashmere/alpaca and it is hanging to dry as we type. The photo is my wonderful cat...Tinker trying to attack a bird his size on TV? It was more fun watching him.

Happy New Year

Here we are in 2006. First off my New Years started with a dizzy spell that made a rum drunk feel good. Naturally I have to get a full blown sinus infection to ring in the New Year. Speaking of ringing, my ears are doing their own concert. I got up and sat down four times and figured I'll feel my way to the kitchen sink and hang on there??? my logic? I let the dog out and up to bed I went. I thought it's either 911 or sleep, I opted for sleep. Oh yeah...I can not remember the last time my bed spun like that...now I love to spin....but not in my head. I did fall asleep and eventually figured after waking up with morning sickness that it's my sinus's.... Happy New Year!!! Or maybe it's Karma for eating a ton of garbage over the week, and enough chocolate to make Willy Wonka jealous. Is this the revenge of the cocao bean? It doesn't matter part of my resolutions if you want to call it that is " Eat better food" not a diet because that would be the kiss of death. Diet is a four letter word in my vocabulary...the word that will increase my appetite to the point of tasting wall paper. Happy New Year