"The Bag"

Here are the bags that I made for Kristie over at Chickbags. The felted clutch on the bottom was a simple knit and full. I love the way these bags turn out. I've made a quite a few and love how every one turns out, but I'm really fond of this blue/green color combo. The knitted bag, quite a different story. For being such a "simple pattern" this bag gave me a quite a few challenges. As you can see the bag is a combination of knit, purl, cables, and seed stitch, easy enough. HA!
Although the pattern is simple, getting ALL that purling to look even was not! After I finished the knitting there was the sag factor. With suggestion from my knitting group girls, we decided that I needed a liner. GREAT IDEA! Oops, wait I don't know how to sew.
So the lovely Taryn brought her sewing machine and the ever so helpful Laurie brought her sewing skills. Put these two together and what do you get? A liner for the bag!
Laurie gave both Taryn and myself a basic lesson about the machine since neither of us had a clue, though we both own brand new sewing machines that we've had for over a year!
Taryn machine sewed the liner together, and then I hand-sewed the liner in to the knitted bag. The funniest part of the process: the manager at Panera's looking at our knitting circle, wondering why there was a sewing machine on his table, as well as a swift and a ball winder.
The best part: the wonderfully friendly, helpful, and craftastic girls I've met at my Wednesday nite knitting group! You guys R-O-C-K!!!

All Grown Up?...

I'm not sure how this happened, but my baby is entering the 1st grade. I think I was more anxious than she was. She popped out of bed, ate her breakfast, got herself dressed. She even brushed her teeth and did her hair without me asking, and in our house that's a big deal (or usually an ordeal.) Today it was her Dad and I who were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Where's the backpack? Is her info packet filled out? Is she having hot lunch or should we make her something? I'm sure it had something to do with the ridiculously early time they have to start school that threw us, 7:45 a.m. what the ----!
Anyway she made it on time, she got to see all the friends she missed over summer, and she got right back in to the groove without missing a beat. The smile in this photo is forced because she only wanted me to take a picture of her backpack, but after a little begging and pleading, she decided to turn around.
As for me, I'm sure I'll need a little more time to adjust to the time difference. But when I do I'll actually gain an hour before I have to drive in to work. Perhaps some extra time to enjoy my coffee and get some knitting on.

Today's post brought to you by the letter...

FIBER= Handspun by Yarn Ball Boogie, the most mellow combination of avocado and sky blue, thick and thin
FELTED= Clutch I made for a crafty girl over at Chickbags
FRIEND= A fawn necklace for a best friend from Imogen

FRANK= What can I say, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic

F= Letter from a FedEx sign we drove by after dessert tonight

Busy B

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I have actually been working on lots of different projects! Photos to come the next couple of days. Hope everyone is having a great week. Now I'll go back into my cave and try to get some of these projects done!

Get it while it's Hot!

Get it while you can! Pre-order the Premiere Issue of Mixtape on Etsy. Justine of 62 Cherry and pal Nikkishell, are putting together what looks to be quite a zine. Mixtape is a collision of craft, eco-cool and pop culture kitsch und drang Issue 1 features:
Craft 101, trashy movies, best of Etsy, 5 ways to go green, puzzles, and more. But hurry, looks like the girls only planned on making 100, and it seems as if there are almost double that already ordered. Props to Auntycookie for the cover design, isn't it cute? I just love the sewing machine in the tree, and the bunny in the corner, and the little girl knitting, and okay I'll stop...

The Question Is...

what do I make with this wonderful fiber??
I am having so much fun staring at it, touching it, photographing it. I know,I know - it's starting to get a little creepy, but I love this yarn sooo much and I want to make sure I do it justice by finding the right pattern. I love how bright the pink is, and I love how when wound into a cake it comes out with this argyle-type look. Now I'd love to find a pattern. Any suggestions?

Dead Milkmen

Thanks to the wonderful Lotus Knits for making my month by sending me this fabulous yarn. I squealed when I got it in the mail, and it procured a similar response when I showed it to my best friend Naomi. It's name: Punk Rock Girl just like the Dead Milkmen's song from the late 80's, so I thought I'd photograph it with my Docs from that same time period. Yikes! I can't believe I've had these boots over 20 years. I love the contrast of the pink and black and I can't wait to find a sock pattern that will be worthy of this yarn. Now maybe I can persuade her to make a colorway that consist of red, white, and black for one of my favorite bands, The White Stripes. Perhaps she could name it "Icky thump", or "Jack and Meg". Just maybe...

Sweater swatch

Here it is almost 100 degrees in sunny California and what do I find? A pattern for my Cherry Tree Hill Yarn that I purchased sometime last Fall. These aren't my "normal" everyday colors, but there is something about fall that makes me want to wear browns, plums, deep reds, and dusty grays.
The pattern is Emerald from Knitty, and it looks to be the perfect match for the casual, comfy sweater I've been searching for. It should be a pretty quick knit, but I'm not speeding through it since I won't be able to wear it for a few months. Besides, there is only so much bulky wool one can handle when it's so toasty outside.

Bean's Room

The paint is dry and now it's time to start decorating Bean's room- with guidance and input from the princess of course. The goal is to have her room fully functional for friends and summer sleepovers by her birthday, which is a week and a half away. Her prints arrived from the Black Apple and are ready to frame and hang. I plan on building her nightstand tomorrow, and hopefully daddy will have her hardwood floors done by the end of this week. Bean has been such a trooper through this whole flooded house thing, that I want to make sure she sets up her room her way. She picked the paint color, the prints, and once all the furniture is done, she can set it up how she wants.

Sunday...

These little ingredients, pictured above, ended up making some great pancakes this morning. So much so that I made a second batch after breakfast, and put them in the freezer for whoever gets a craving. G and S liked them and S liked them even more when I cut hers into stars. Now they are "superstar pancakes". Taryn posted the recipe last week and made it sound so simple, which it is, that I had to try it. They're great! Light, fluffy, and flavorful. They don't have that sometimes gritty, chalky, floury taste like my regular stand-by pancake mix, and they were a cinch to make. Thanks Taryn!

I'd also like to give T a big shout out because she gave us quite the spread for International Knitting Day yesterday. We nibbled on fresh fruit, veggies, scrumptious shortbread cookies, warm focaccia and dipping oil. While we indulged in those goodies her boyfriend was preparing linguisa and "nuggets of happiness", which consist of a small chunk of chicken and a slice of jalapeno wrapped in bacon and cooked on the BBQ. They were hot, but so good that even though we couldn't feel our tongue or lips, we were compelled to keep eating them. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon of knitting and knoshing.
I started a lavender skirt for S from Barefoot Knits, the yarn is from a tank knit last summer that no longer fits her, so I figured I'd re-use it.
The finished object is my grandmothers lace poncho. I will be mailing it to her this week since it was a present for her 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago. I love the way it drapes and feels and I can't wait to see it on her!
Last but most definitely not least, I'd like to thank Justine from 62 Cherry for this wonderful package.
She sent me polka dots(see cute bags above), leopard(a bag and some extra material for my own devisings) some dice, and then the coolest club, heart, diamond, and spade buttons! She also made 2 of the most ace Cd's I have ever owned and sent it all with a charming card and chocolate. What more could a girl ask for? Nothing. Thank you Justine!

Rock n' Roll, Ravelry, and Project Restlessness

Share Ross came to visit Knitique last week, (pictured above with Danielle the shop owner), and we all had a great time learning to drop stitches (on purpose!), making new friends, and getting to see the items from the book up close and personal. We had our very own model, Alicia, a daughter of one of the Knitique employees, put on the items and give us a mini-fashion show. Everything looked like it was custom made for her, and she was so sweet to try everything on.
I got my invitation from Ravelry this past Sunday! I'm crazy about this site. The information, organization, and community it plans on providing is amazing! It is in the beta stage now, but you can still send them an email to join. Join, join, join, you know you want to! It just seems that there may be a bit of a waiting list.
My photo taking has been lacking as of late, and it's not that I don't have a lot to show you, I do. Let's see, I received a most rockin' package from 62 Cherry that I want to share. I have a lace shawl that's ready to be photographed as well as some "other" projects I've been working on. As soon as I get a spare moment and good lighting I promise to shoot away. Anyway I'll leave you with a project from Punk Knits that knits up in a about a night and a half. It is the Madlad hat which can be knit up as beret like mine, or you can add a crochet brim for more of a newsboy look.

Aaaah-Chooo!

Allergies suck! I'm home sick day today because yesterday I spent all day helping customers with a tissue in my nose. I really got sick of hearing "are you sick or do you have allergies?" I didn't want to have another day like that because I'm afraid I might say something like "Yes, I am sick and I have a highly contagious incurable disease and now I'm going to hand you back some money that I've made sure is covered with my germs!" Oh wow after reading that last part, I guess I'm PMS-ing as well. When I went to my weekly knitting group, I couldn't enjoy it as much as I normally do because I had to keep checking to make sure snot wasn't spilling out of my nose. I called the doctor and they won't see me unless I having trouble breathing. They just told me to go out and get a cool moisture humidifier and take sudafed every 4 hours so I don't get a sinus infection. Lovely.

On a brighter note I will be attending my daughters Open House tonight, she is so proud to show me all of the work she has done in Kindergarten this year. I can't wait!

Rock n' Roll Knitting

This Friday the 18th, Share Ross of Punk Knits will be here. I hooked her up with an in-store at one of my favorite knit shops Knitique. I can't wait to see her trunk show. I'm trying to finish a hat so that I can wear it that night. I know it's kind of geeky of me, but whatever. Share's current band is Bubble in which she plays with her husband Bam. The Bam from Stitch n Bitch's Bam 13 sweater. She also used to play in Vixen back in the 80's. There's a flashback for ya. I can't wait! Knitting, Purling, ROCK AND ROLL!!!

Sparkles

This wonderful lady came in to my work today. Helping her was the highlight of not just my day but the whole week! She is 90 years old, sparkly, spunky, and sweet! She is the DIY Queen. Her bag is covered in sequins, her cane in rhinestones, her wallet has a great big antique sparkling flower on it, and the glasses in her hand are covered in stones. Her grand-daughter helped her with the rockin' hairstyle, but she said the rest was all her. "Why buy when you can DIY?" I think today was her first time at the store, so hopefully I'll get to see more of her. She was so nice and sweet and I just wanted to pick her up and bring her home. When asked what her name was she said "just call me Sparkles".

This and That

Here's a little update from the Vicious camp.
I've been working on some goodies for a package that I'm sending to 62 Cherry. I've snapped some photos, but will not post them until she has the package. The only hints I can give are "green" and "polka dots".
Next, I got these great pair of skull needles from Share Ross of the new Punk Knits book by setting her up with an in-store at a local yarn shop. I can't wait to see her trunk show. She'll be here at the end of May- Hooray! Notice the wonderful basket the needles are in? This was one of my birthday presents from my man. He's the grooviest. Now when I ride around town, I can take or pick-up just about anything.
Check out the cute t-shirt with yarn and horns. While perusing Cafe Press I found this t-shirt that made me think of Knit Devil. Note to Knit Devil: you must buy this shirt! It's so devilish! Malabrigo Chunky from Stitches is almost a cabled handbag. I just have to sew up the seams and add the handles. I love the color and texture of this yarn, but am glad I'm almost finished as temperatures are headed for the 90's.
Last but not least, I bid farewell to my bionic leg. I went to the podiatrist today and I'm going to try my regular leg out for a while.
Dear Clunky,
We've spent the last month together day and night, night and day, and I'll miss you- but not too much!

My photographic musical meme

Way back in the beginning of March, the 1st to be exact, Knitdevil tagged me for a musical meme. The meme ask that I list songs that are guaranteed to make me "speed in my car, dance in my seat, and sing out loud!".

For the last 15 years, these bands have consistently been in my life, some maybe even 20. Ewww, I'm old! I didn't list individual songs because it would be to hard to decide. Pretty much any song from any one of these artist would rock my socks off!

1. Iggy Pop (with and without the Stooges)
2.The Ramones- I heart Joey
3. X -I heart John Doe
4. X- Exene Rocks!
5. The Fuzztones- Rudi Protrudi
6. The Reverend Horton Heat- Let's go to church!

These are my fave of all time.
I also went through a crazy British Mod phase scooter and all, a gloomy gothic phase Sisters of Mercy, The Mission U.K. , and a crazy hair-band phase you know Cinderella, Ratt, Faster Pussycat, anyway... I'll quit while I'm ahead.
Stay tuned knitting progress coming soon...
Who are your faves?

Happy Friday!

April Fools

I'm sure our friends thought we were playing an April Fools joke when we woke them with a phone call at 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning asking if we could borrow their wet/dry vac because our house was flooded. "No really, the whole house, please hurry!" my husband asking his friend.

This is how April started. Instead of planned bike rides to the local coffee shop and a day at the park, we spent the whole day pulling up sopping wet carpet and carpet pad while trying to move all of our furniture into the ONE dry room in the house. So now we are living on chalky concrete floors with soggy echoing walls and we have to decide what type of flooring we want and where. We've wanted new floors for awhile but didn't want this to be the way to get them.

Next on Monday Bean has random swelled up bites all over her, we take her to the Dr. and she tells us she's having a severe allergic reaction to bug bites so keep her covered in bug spray and keep lots of Benadryl and Claritin around. Just what a mom wants to hear at the beginning of mosquito season!

Then on Tuesday I go for a scheduled appointment with the podiatrist and tell him my woes and he has the nerve to send me home with stomach churning anti-inflammatories and a huge right leg contraption that I have to wear for the next 3 weeks. Eeek! I'm almost afraid to leave the house anymore.

P.S. a quick apology for not responding as fast as I'd like to those of you who left comments this week, but our computer was unplugged and yanked out of the office before it started floating with everything else! I hope this weekend is better and April turns out to be less foolish. Sheeesh my birthday is this Friday! FRIDAY THE 13th, that should be interesting.