On my loss of Knitting Mojo

I haven't been knitting. At all. It's been well over a month since I've picked up the needles. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I've been analyzing it to death and this is what I've come up with. I do, however, need to preface with a little history.

Back in the day I was a HUGE X-Files fan. The movie came out, I went to the theater to see it and never watched the television series again. I didn't hate the movie but I also didn't think it was done as well as the series. Not too long ago, I was a HUGE fan of The White Stripes, so much so I contemplated some black, red, and white body art. O and I saw them in concert at the Auditorium Theatre a couple years back (where I must add, Takoda performed at about a month ago). The concert was incredible. But, you guessed it, I have not listened (intentionally) to them since. I can't explain it.

So, onto the lack of knitting. I'm still teaching classes, I just haven't knit any of my items. Do I equate it to the poor weather and the Harlot not coming the first time? A big disappointment, although we all had so much fun. Or is it subconsciously due to the fact that I thought I may never knit again because my favorite yarn underwent a huge set back and I thought for sure it was over for them? I continue to scour Ravelry for inspiration to no avail. My knitting kin keep urging me to go forth and knit. I've lost my mojo. And, I'm rather indifferent about it. I've done the whole "Well, what is knitting REALLY about anyway?" I thought for sure when the Harlot did come, I'd get my groove back. Nope. I even thought this picture of Franklin and myself would do it. Nope.

(side note: Franklin came to the Shop on Harlot day sans camera so he used my phone for the pic ~ please note how he totally looks perfect and I'm all blurry LOL. Side note to Franklin, it took me until this very day to figure out how to get the pic off my silly phone which is why I never emailed it to you sigh)

If the knitting bug doesn't come and bite me in the rear really quick, I just may have to pass all my Malabrigo onto Kris, as she has far too many compromising pictures of me. ;)

Please, I am welcoming any and all suggestions during this difficult time.

In other news, the kids and I are headed to the East Coast next Tuesday for 3 full weeks!! Woo Hoo! I miss my family terribly and we are all very excited to go for our annual trip.

I'm an Arse

Yes, it's true. The Harlot was due in Chicago last night. When we were first informed of the wonderful news that we "got" her, I was so excited! I immediately came up with the zany idea of wearing everything I've ever knitted, yes, everything. I was even going to knit myself some bloomers for the occassion. My dear mother was appalled at the idea and I nixed it. Exactly one day prior to the anticipated event, I got the thumbs up AND a partner in crime. Beth had agreed to go as a goof with me! Yippie!!! Early Friday I did a fashion show for our local SNB gals and the wonderful Theresa has already posted the evidence. Of course, this is not everything I've ever knit, but these are the items that I knit for myself and 2 of The Husbands discarded items.

We were expecting 450 wonderful knitters at the Oak Lawn Hilton in anticipation of her arrival. Mother Nature was not kind, and darling Stephanie spent hours upon hours in the airport and on the tarmac in Toronto, Canada. By the time I arrived at the Hilton I was terribly sad and most of the knitters had either headed home or were yuckin' it up in the bar ~ lucky dogs!!! I was telling a few women whom I've become rather fond of, all about my devious plan. They gave me the nudge I needed and Auntie Kay escorted me down the center isle of the maybe 50 women left in the ballroom fully clad in pounds of 100% wool. Just a little cheer is all it took and I was up on stage. More cheers, some laughter, and it was all over. With no music, I performed an impromtu burlesque show. Sigh. And, honestly, all that was going through my mind was "Oh God! Why oh why can't I love to knit with cotton?!!" I can't begin to tell you how hot I was in all that sheep! And, of course, "Where oh where is Beth?!?!?" She, actually looked beautiful in all her extremely talented knits, not goofy like me. Except of course, her hats. She had approximately 6 hats atop her tiny head. Hee hee

Thank you to all who attended. It was a wonderful time despite the unexpected outcome. The good news?? Stephanie is rescheduling!!! :D . . . and I have time to knit COTTON bloomers ;)

You know you're a knitter when. . .

Last Monday, I finished my legwarmers. Legwarmers? No, I don't dance. I used to, but once I hit my infamous teen years "formal" extracurricular activities were tossed aside. I'm not attempting to relive the Flashdance style of the eighties. It is all about the yarn. Seriously. Of course it was Malabrigo and of course it screamed to me every single time I walked past it in the shelf of the shop. It was Malabrigo worsted in the colorway "Mariposa", which means "butterfly". Beautifully stunning greens, greys, purples, yellows STUNNING! The problem? It looked like poop held up to my face. Poop, I tell you. I was CRUSHED. The solution? A hand knit garment in my favorite yarn that would be nowhere near my face and definitely NOT a bag!! What else but legwarmers? Quick as a bunny I snatched up 2 skeins and cast on ~ one skein per leg heh heh, talk about COZY!!! Lickety split they were done and perfect! But, what oh what to wear with with them? So, last Tuesday, I went shopping. I own a fairly cute denim skirt so all I really needed was a shirt. I poked and poked and poked around Macy's for what seemed like an eternity until it literally jumped off of the rack and slapped me across the face. I am the epitome of casual, really, I am. So, the shirt I picked is a long sleeved heather grey tee shirt with embroidered details. A perfect match. I had to wait until Saturday to wear the whole ensemble to the shop, but I tried it all on for my dear dear Eiley. "Oh mommy, you look beautiful." (my poor kids NEVER see me in a skirt LOL) "Thank you, Eiley, but what do you think of the legwarmers?" She looked down and back up at me and said "Mom!! Those are filthy! How 'bout you buy some new ones? In purple!" Seriously, my family does not understand my love for color.

Saturday morning I was off to work. Cute new shirt, great denim skirt, some funky striped tights that were hidden by me kick butt legwarmers, and my beloved Earth boots. Yes, I said boots. Yes, it was snowing AND it was icy out. Can you tell where I'm headed? Yes, I fell. Big bulky knitting bag, purse, and a little butt wiggle to my walk = slipping & sliding on ice and falling. I felt it coming. I saved myself twice, but the third time threw me way off balance and I fell on my right knee. Hard. It could've been much worse and I suppose it hurt a lot. But, I was concerned with one thing and one thing only. My right legwarmer. A couple cars watched me go down so I had my pride and I couldn't stop and make sure it wasn't *gasp* TORN! I made it to the Shop without any tears or limping. I immediately threw my stuff down and examined my gorgeous leg warmer. Oh yeah, they are soooo long they go up to my lower thighs with some slouchy room by the ankle. It was fine. A little snow covered, but fine. Phew!!! The outfit was a hit, at least I think it was. I received compliments all day and I'm not sure if people were just being nice or if they were sincere. It doesn't matter, I took them all to heart and held my head high all day. Sadly, I totally forgot to ask someone to take an action shot.

The next day I was so achy I couldn't figure it out until my mother pointed out the fact that I took a digger. Yep, it's in the books. I'm old. I'm so old in fact that a little fall damages me for days. I honestly never thought I'd see the day. I suppose I'd be bed ridden if I fell as much as Lilla. Lucky Little Limber Lady!

Soooo, you know you're a knitter when you knit an object and THEN go out and purchase clothing to match. I know I'm not the only one. Fess up.





If you haven't seen Harold & Maude, please do! It will change your life. My mother kept telling me to watch it, and about 4 years ago I finally did. Last Friday Tammi came over and she watched it for the very first time. It is NOT child friendly in any way shape or form, but this first clip is ;) It is the song from one of my favorite scenes in the movie, this clip just makes me smile. The second clip is NOT child friendly.

Walmart?

Yes, I'm a slacker. It's been a long time since I posted, and I apologize. Lots to talk about today, however.

I've been a knitting fool and I've got pictures. First, though, lets discuss how well the Ganomey hat went over, shall we??? He was really surprised that I actually knit him something. He said he liked the hat, he said he loved the color. All the while I was snickering. I don't think I mentioned the fact that I made the ganomey in hopes that he would be guilt ridden into wearing it and look ever so slightly ridiculous wearing it. Wear it he did. For about a week. For the last three days, he tucked the top tip into the hat so as not to look so "ganomey". Then, he said I knit it at too loose of a gauge and it just wasn't warm enough so he had to go back to his Target hats for a while. Ummm hmmm. Since then he hasn't asked me to knit him a single thing, although, he has hinted that he wanted socks ~ whatever. . .

Now, onto my current projects. Remember Auntie Kay got my house in some serious order? Well, she's back in town and I knit her a pair of socks and mittens out of Spunky Eclectic Beefy Sock in the Firecracker colorway. Super quick on a size 3 needle and oodles of fun!








Then I kinda got obsessed with neckwarmers. I made one for my friend Cherity (her birthday is today) and one for me. Cherity's is pink because pink is girly and Cherity is oh so girly. Made from Malabrigo worsted in Cactus Flower and double stranded. I also made one out of seagreen chunky Malabrigo for me. And, I made a Calorimetry out of the same pink and it's stupid. Just stupid. Wayyyy too big. . .



And now onto what I'm currently working on. I decided I wanted to make a poncho. I've never ever liked ponchos and I've never owned one, but for whatever reason, they work on me. The spectacular Kristen made a capelet out of Wrap Style and before seeing her completed project, I totally copied. She used Rowan Kid Classic and it came out amazing!!! I, on the other hand, am using Malabrigo (huge surprise there, right??). I am also striping mine. I'm not using traditional colors because, well, I need some funk in my life. I chose a stunning purple and yellow.



I asked Obra for his honest opinion on the colors last night. Believe me, this will be the last time I do THAT!!!

The very first words out of his mouth were, "Whose school colors are those?" side note, it turns out they are actually previously mentioned Kristen's school colors *sigh*



I shot him a look and he continued. "The colors themselves are beautiful, but they don't work together. They are dull and from afar will look brown. They are wimpy."

At this point I'm staring at him with a gaping mouth in shock. Wimpy??? I consider myself a pretty tough girl and to call my knitting wimpy is pretty bold. On the same token, I am a girl and wimpy is okay in regards to my knitting, right? So I say, "Alright. You don't like it. I don't need anymore opinions. I really dig the colors and Lord knows YOU won't be wearing it."



He continued on with his artsy fartsy color analysis (I must say, he really is a very talented artist so I should be taking his opinion a little more seriously) but at this point I was blocking him out. Until I heard one word. Walmart. Yes, ladies and gentlemen my own husband compared my hand knitting to WALMART. Sadly, I was so stunned I can't remember his exact phrasing, something along the lines of "One word, Walmart." much more witty and piercing I'm sure. I was frozen, literally. In the kitchen in front of the counter with my back to him, I honestly could not move.



Now, do any of you really think this man will ever get anything else knit out of love? Hrmph

The Hat Story

One of my very first projects was a hat for O. I used Noro Kureyon, made it up as I went along, and used straights *gasp*. For a first-timer, it was a great hat and it's been used by all 3 boys in the house. Once I became comfortable with circular and double pointed needles, I made hats like a mad woman!! I made DH yet another hat, this time out of Cascade 220, I honestly can't remember the color or whether it had a stripe. It was a good hat. This hat was lost on the train. For several days O checked the lost and found to no avail. He was sad, I was sad, there were tears. I finally caved and said I'd make him yet another hat. He was thrilled. However, this time, he had specs. Yes, he had SPECS for this new hat. He requested that the sides come down over his ears and wanted a skull and crossbones on it. I was shocked for a few moments that he actually asked for special construction and design after losing the first hat but, of course, being the wonderful wife I am, I complied. So, I "designed" this hat that would make my darling husband happy. I new I was going to use 220 in black. I thought I'd use short rows to make it longer around the ears and the neck, but mom informed me I was doing it wrong and fixed it right up. I found a skull and crossbones chart online and used Malabrigo in burgundy to duplicate stitch it on after the hat was complete. I hate intarsia and I hate duplicate stitch. After all was said and done, it looked pretty kick butt. It fit like a glove. I believe I finished this hat around February of 2007. Fast forward to November 2007. I wanted to post a picture of it on the skeleknits group on Ravelry. I asked him for it. He replied with a shocked expression "You don't have it?" Ummmmm, no. He searched for it, again, to no avail. He claims someone stole it out of his front pocket of his backpack on the train. Whaaa?!?!?! Of course, I'm livid and swear up and down that I will never, NEVER, knit him another hat for as long as he shall live. And, for that matter, I will never, NEVER, knit him ANYTHING. Of course, as all this was playing out, what did I have on my needles? Oh, yeah, the Cobblestone. A sweater of all things. A sweater. I told him I would finish the sweater and that's IT.

So, he went to Target with his tail between his legs and bought not one, but two hideously ugly, plain double knit hats. Has he lost those cheap ugly hats? Of course not.

Fast forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow, my dear O will turn 37 (hee hee, he's exactly 3 years and 3 days older than me *giggle*). He said all he wanted was a really cool T-shirt. I tried to find him an awesome Henry Rollins shirt, but couldn't. So, he's getting a "Baby" T-shirt from House of 1000 Corpses fame (he's such a feminist he'll probably never wear it, though) and the movie The Underworld. And, are you ready? Yes, I'm knitting him a hat. The Ganomy Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann, out of Malabrigo in Buscando Azul. I am so in love with this color and the pattern is fun and soooo easy. So, yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. I don't know if he'll even wear it, or manage to keep it in his possession, but we shall see tomorrow.

Welcome!! ....Spring?

Wasn't it just the other day I was talking about snow?? Would you like to know today's weather here in the Chicago area? Ummmm 63 degrees!! What is that about???? I have the windows open and the temp is perfect, for SPRING. I think Mother Nature needs a refresher course. It's January for Pete's Sake!

On the knitting front, I desperately want to make the fingerless mitts that Johnny Depp wore in Sweeney Todd. Over the holiday "break" I saw a ton of movies ~ Sweeney Todd, Gone Baby Gone, I Am Legend, and Juno. All were AWESOME!!! But I need to own 2 on DVD TODAY!!! Sweeney Todd (I live for Tim Burton!) and Juno. I have to figure what stitch is used on Johnny's mitts ;) Some say seed stitch and I think it's garter knit flat. And as for Juno, well, I just need to quote the movie for the rest of my life! So, go see a movie and bring your knitting ;) Just don't get popcorn residue on your yarn.

Zero Knitting Content.

I just wanted to share a very limited few of my faves ;) Enjoy!

One of my very very favorite Sesame Street clips. I loved Sesame Street more than life itself back in the day ;)




This is one of the coolest videos I've seen in quite some time. I initially saw it on someone's blog but I can't remember who, sorry.



One of the coolest scenes from one of my most favorite movies with my most favorite actor. Bill Murray. Not child friendly.



Excellent song by one of my favorite musical artists and it just happens to be playing during an excellent scene in another favorite movie (which, coincidentally enough is directed by the same great man and stars the wonderful Bill Murray, again as above mention movie) The Royal Tenenbaums



Classic toys starring in a classic movie ;)