eatsts

8 months, really?

2009-03-16T09:30:00.005-05:00

Alright, let's start with photos from the Oklahoma style wedding of my little brother and his lovely bride.

The bride and her maids:

The groom and his men:

The reception:

Instead of cake they had pie, and instead of champagne they had beer. Of course, there was barbeque, karaoke, and a waterslide.

My immediate family (minus the sister) for the first and probably only time in the same photo:

Awww:

They honeymooned in Jamaica. They are expecting their first child (Saedie Rene' Hallett) in about a week -- I guess they did more than snorkle in Jamaica.

***

Since the last post we've done tons of stuff. I can't think of most of it, but you can assume it was all pretty good.

We saw Alanis Morrissette.

We also saw: Phantom of the Opera, Leslie Jordan, Rocky Horror, Barack Obama, and the SantaLand Diaries. Went to zoos and museums. Ate tons of great food. Attended parties. The ususal stuff.

We got some new stuff.

Here's Tony wiring up the TV.

Tony got a new car.

And we got a new mattress set -- yeah for sleep.

Finally, the pets are still being cute (and peeing on the carpet).

As the World Turns

2008-07-13T12:32:00.009-05:00

A lot of things can happen in just a short time. I last posted in mid-May, and life here is so different now that mid-May seems like last year. So I'll start slow and talk about all the parts I have pictures of.

In gardening news, we planted a rose.

We planted a bunch of other stuff too, but I'm sticking with the things of which I have pics. This post will be long enough without listing every plant in the yard.

The bamboo looks great now that it is starting to fill in. We bought a little stone pagoda to sit with the bamboo.

The whole bamboo area is slated to become a large pond with sitting area. We got the hole pretty much excavated, then started the difficult task of leveling and shaping, etc. We also bought the skimmer, pump, waterfall, and filtration system.

But before any of that could go it, it rained for a month.

And every time we get the hole pumped out and about dry, it rains some more. The goal now is to have the pond up and running by the end of the year.

In May the garden was starting to grow. We added paths between the beds and put in a drip irrigation system.

Now the garden is heavy with fruit. We've been harvesting: beans, tomatoes, corn, okra, herbs.

The sunflowers are so neat. We planted three different kinds. I really like this red one. We have one sunflower that is 7-8 foot tall and has flowers the size of dinner plates.

The front yard garden is a bit neglected but looks good just the same.

******

In travel news: not a lot of travel, but we've done lots of things. Including a day at the zoo. I took too many pictures, and here are a few of my favs.

Look at this loafer just standing around.

The flamingos were lazier than the bear and more vain. The stood around sleeping or preening.

The sea lions put on a show. At least someone is earning their dinner. They taught us important lessons about recycling by demonstrating how to retrieve plastic bottles from the water and toss them into the can.

The land lions must be friends with the bear and the flamingos; they also just stood around.

******

We went to a concert: the True Colors Tour. It's a gay pride thing.

The venue:

It was hosted by Carson Kressley. He changed outfits like 5 times.

Here's Andy Bell of Erasure joined by Cyndi Lauper!

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Margret Cho!

This tour is Cyndi's baby. So she came out to talk about equality and voting or something. I'm sure the website says what all that's about.

The B-52's !! Tony loves the B52's. They were a lot of fun. I also tried out my camera's video function for the first time during the B52's set. If I can figure out how to add it to this page, maybe I'll post it some time.

After the B52's was Cyndi Lauper. She was amazing! But by that time, it was dark and I didn't get one good picture. They ended the show with all the performers singing True Colors. *tears*

******

So back to the life changing part. I got a job! A real job, not that private-practice-working-out-of-the-house shit. Wheee! I'm a staff attorney at the Tulsa Law Office of Legal Aid Services Of Okalhoma. A salary, health insurance, an office with a window that doesn't look out on to the street in front of my house. And we are located in a really cool building: the Gillette-Tyrell Building also called the Pythian Building. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. My office is on the second floor, fifth window from the right.

Tulsa is known for it's art deco buildings. So I'm so happy to be in one. The lobby is all tile work. Floor, walls, ceiling.

My office. Not a great picture.

Another pic from that first week. It came with furniture. This is how it looked when I moved it. Luckily, I'm allowed to paint the walls and move in/out any furniture I want. Of course, it didn't take me long to start redecorating. It has a way to go, but when it's done, I'm sure to post more.

******

July 4, 2008, was our second anniversary. We went out that morning and bought rings. We are now unlawfully wed.

******

Not much to report on the knitting front. Tony is working on a rug from Mason-Dixon. I finished a BSJ. I'm sure we'll update a little sooner next time. yeah right.

Later,

Eric

Medieval things and new pets

2008-05-13T20:14:00.008-05:00

On Friday we went to the Renaissance Festival.
Friday just happened to be student day, but Friday was the only day we could both go. On student day, they don't serve beer -- and there are so many darned kids. Needless to say, it wasn't as fun as last year. But we made the most of it.

We saw a King,

And a Queen,

Jousting,

Animals,

And the gayest pirate ever!

Too much sun and not enough beer made me a little silly by the end of the day. Here I am impersonating Tyra when she showed the girls how to use pain as inspiration when they draw a blank. Oh, I'm having cramps!

Tony got a bit silly too.

In gardening news: we've started harvesting radishes.

Tony propagated a new staghorn fern from his enormous one in the house. We mounted it to a piece of bark (with good ol' lace weight wool) and hung it in a tree. It shifted around a bit, but it'll fill in.

Lastly, we have a new pet. I was walking through the back yard today and I saw something scurry down a hole. I watched it for a bit and discovered that an Oklahoma Brown Tarantula has moved in. I gave it a bit of wood over its hole for protection and to remind us it lives there.

Boo! S/he's scary! Their venom is less poisonous than a bee sting. They are supposed to be very docile. So it can stay.

In knitting news: I'm working on a baby surprise jacket. Wheee! Hopefully I'll have more knitting content soon.

Later,

Eric

Eric and Tony knit and garden, didn't you know?

2008-04-30T10:13:00.006-05:00

Howdy, Folks!

In knitting news:

I finished the new blanket. Here she is fresh off the needles. This picture is a fairly close representation of the actual color.

Here she is blocking. Somehow the camera picked up a little more blue than is actually there. It's a bit warm now and she will probably be hanging out on the back of a chair for a few months, but I lover her all the same.

The particulars:

Pattern: Feather and Fan Shawl by Eugene Beugler published in A Gathering of Lace.

Yarn: Cascade Eco +; 2 skeins or 956 yards; in color 7009.

Needles: KnitPicks Options US 10 (6.0 mm). I worked up to a 60" cable.
Started March 16, 2008, and finished April 19, 2008.

Mods and Notes: This is the Hemlock Ring Blanket version of the pattern. I love my HRB and really wanted another. But I also wanted some variation. This pattern is similar but a little more complex.

The pattern gives you the option of doing a straight feather-fan throughout or adding an eyelet cable every third repeat. I did the latter version because 1) I’ve already done a feather-fan throughout – see the HRB – and 2) I wanted something more challenging/entertaining to knit. Well I don’t know that it is any more challenging but it did keep the rounds interesting since I got to do something different every three repeats. Plus it was great for marking the sections so if I made a mistake I had a smaller chunk of knitting to inspect.

The Crochet bind off was no big deal. It only took a few hours and my crochet skills have improved!

Otherwise, we are still slowly plugging away on previously started projects.

***
Most of our time has been spent outdoors, duh.

In Gardening news:

We put in some ornamental grasses between the back porch and the veggies.

Here is pink pompous grass. It is the center plant. We are expecting it to grow upwards of 12 feet -- maybe not this year, but eventually.

It is flanked on either side by purple fountain grass. Hopefully, it will all fill in to provide a screen.

We've trapped the bamboo. First we drove a barrier into the ground to stop its spread -- please, barrier, stop the spread! And we added a decorative border. We don't know that this will be the permanent border, but it works for now.

The bamboo is growing like crazy. You can literally watch the grass grow with this one. In good weather, we've seen some of the new shoots grow more than 6 inches during the day. And there are more than a dozen new shoots growing right now!

Tony has spent everyday this week putting in a path -- the first of several planned. As I'm writing this, he is adding the edging, and he has plans to go buy river rock today. He hopes to have the path finished by the end of the week.

When he's not digging the path, Tony spends time willing the cannas to grow.

The cannas are actually growing pretty fast right now. 10 out of 12 plants have poked one or more stems through the ground and most are 4 -6 inches tall and showing their first leaves.

In the veggie patch, we have corn up to 6" tall. Okra and radishes shot out of the ground with a bang. Baby spinach and salad greens are coming along nicely. The tomatoes, bell peppers, shallots, and marigolds are growing. Green onions, cucumbers, nasturtium, parsley, basil, and carrots have poked through the earth. Recently we panted: more corn, more carrots, brussels sprouts, leaf lettuce, thyme, dill, and cilantro. Still nothing from the eggpant yet.

Several years ago, I planted an Impatiens in a pot. I take it inside every winter and it lives! Then I put it back out in the spring. I've never repotted or added anything to the soil and it hasn't bloomed the last two summers. This year I decided to divide and repot the thing. And it has woody stems. I thought that was pretty neat.

We've stared a fern garden in a shady spot. So far we've planted cinnamon fern, Japanese painted fern, and Autumn fern. We have plans to make that whole area into a shade garden paradise. I see rhododendron and hostas in our future.

In the front garden, we are going with a purple/black, silver, and green theme. We've planted an ornamental pepper called black pearl, Persian shield, and palace purple choral bells. Plus we already have two purple barberrys. For the silver we have some lavender from last year, dusty miller, a silver dollar eucalyptus, and firewitch dianthus that has a blue/silver foliage. As for green, we mostly have foliage plants. There is some lemon balm from last year as well as a mum. We planted a mosquito plant (the gardenia kind), and a Big Twister Rush. Plus some water plants in the pond.

Below is the shrubs in front of the porch. They have been there most all my life -- seriously at least 25 years. In the back is a Nandina which we love love love for it's year round interest. In front are two shrubs that used to be more popular but we don't see enough of them around here anymore. They are abelia x grandiflora. They are semi-evergreen (they lose about half there leaves a month or so before re-leafing) so they give year round color. And by the end of May they are covered in little white/pink bell shaped flowers that are so fragrant you can smell them from the street. They attract tons of butterflies, moths, and bees. They stay in flower into July. In a good year, the ground looks like snow beneath them. This year they are bit wonky because I gave them their first ever prune-job in the fall. But they will bounce right back.

Here is another cat that has adopted us. She mostly sits there and watches. Occasionally she climbs the back door screen to torment my indoor kitty.

Lastly, the pink tulips did really well this year. They are still in flower -- one is still holding a bud. The red and yellow striped tulips didn't fare so well. But pink tulips are my favorite so I'm happy.

Later,

Eric

Bring on the Oral Surgery!

2008-04-17T11:45:00.004-05:00

I'm trying to stay positive about a root canal I get to have in two weeks. Last week I got feverish and just overall yucky feeling. Turns out I had an abscessed tooth. Fun. So I get to have my first root canal. I've never been sedated before -- that's the scary part for me.

In knitting news:

I'm almost finished with the Big Green Monster. 5 more rounds of stockinette and a crocheted bind off. My crochet skills are a bit on the weak side so it may take several tries to pull this one off. And if the crochet is too complicated then I'll do the HRB bind off.

Tony is more than half way done with his Branching Out. He got bored with it and set it aside for a few days to crank out this doily.

It's an unknown worsted weight yarn on size US8 needles. The pattern is: Liz Snella's Heirloom Doily (Ravelry). Now he's obsessed with doily patterns. I think he's turning into an old lady -- about time in my opinion.

We're both loving Herbert Niebling patterns right now. If I get my hands on the Lotus Flower or Oak patterns, watch out!

In gardening news: we got the second and third raised veggie beds built and got the second bed planted. MMMM: Okra, Roma tomato, cucumber, eggplant, radish, chives, and jalapeno.

We also planted a stick. It doesn't look like much now, but it'll be awesome when it grows. More on the mystery stick to come.

Lastly, here is one of the Daffodils. Isn't she a beauty!

Later,

Eric

What do Eric & Tony like?

2008-04-09T08:45:00.003-05:00

Knitting and gardening, of course!

I've put the Big Green Monster on hold until our knitpicks order arrives with the longer cable needles we ordered. It's currently in 40" but with more than 600 heavy worsted stitches, it's a pain to knit on at the moment. We ordered 47" and 60", and I think I may knit directly onto 60s when they arrive.

So I've started an EZ baby sweater on two needles. I think this one will be a trial run and wind up on a stuffed animal living on a shelf. I'm not crazy about the color or the gauge. The yarn is East Wind Farms Merino Sock Yarn. It's a bit too fine for US3s so I don't care for the resulting fabric. And the colors looked better skeined than wound. In real life, the yellow is a bit pea-soup vomit. Plus, I know better than to use such strong color variegation on a lace pattern.

Tony was really enjoying his first lace project but found the lace weight yarn a bit too slidey and fidgety for his first attempt at lace. So he cast it aside for now and started Branching Out in a heavier gauge: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash worsted. It's actually left over yarn from some holiday knitting.

In gardening news:

Tony and I were very impressed with ourselves for building a simple little compost heap last year. And we have dutifully disposed of most all our vegetable waste into the heap every since. And even though the compost isn't fully broken down, we happily add it to all our planting sites figuring that "it's organic material, it'll be good."

Well, we still have a thing or two to learn about composting. Last fall we had an orange and a white pumpkin along with a few miscellaneous gourds decorating our front porch. When they started to turn to mush, we threw them onto the compost heap. What we didn't do: remove all the seeds.

About a week ago we started noticing strange little plants popping up in our Canna bed. We've just been watching them, trying to figure out what type of weed they must be. Then yesterday we poked around in the surrounding soil and found pumpkin seeds. uh oh. We have half a dozen pumpkins currently sprouting up in the Canna bed. So they will be removed. We may keep one if we can find a home for it though we have no need for tons of pumpkins. Luckily, we didn't use any of the organic matter in the vegetable garden -- we bought a garden mix from a dirt dealer that contained aged manure and other good stuff.

Speaking of the vegetable garden, we have mixed salad greens poking up through the soil. Weeee!

Lastly, the Irises have been bursting with color for the last week or so. We cut a few to take in the house. These are sharing a home with the Beta.

The picture is the official Tulsa Mayfest poster for 2006.

Later Ya'll,

Eric

It's Alive!

2008-04-01T18:30:00.006-05:00

Yes we are alive. I've been so busy with work and Tony keeps me busy with gardening when I'm home. Plus I was in a bit of a knitting slump for a few weeks so I didn't have much to blog about even if I had the time.

So what are we up to? A lot of this!

Here's Tony taking a bucket full of water to the recently planted veggie patch. We have plans to build two more raised beds, but time keeps kicking us in the ass. At least we finally got the first one planted. We planted: carrots, baby spinach, mixed salad greens, rosemary, sage, basil, parsley, two tomatoes, corn and a few bell peppers. mmmm.

We've done lots of other building projects, including:

A Canna bed! It's the dirt patch left of the Crepe Myrtle and in front of the fence. That involved taking out the dirt that was there -- mostly clay (seriously, I should start making pottery) and replacing it with a good quality soil/sand/manure/organic material mixture.

I wouldn't go so far as to say putting up this bird feeder was "construction" but it was still work. We had to plan exactly where to put it. I know that it is next to a bush and we do have two cats that roam the yard. Hey, cats gotta eat too. No, that's really not been a problem. The cats are too fat to chase birds.

We built a 5'x5' stone porch for the Shed. Hopefully those plantings will take off and fill-in between all the stones. Building that thing was a real pain. We had to excavate the site, compact layers of clay, pebbles, sand and earth to create a foundation. Then place the rocks (more than 400 pounds worth transported in the trunk of Tony's Cavalier) and level them. Add more earth and plantings. Ugh. So worth it though.

Of course, there has been plenty of tending to plants new and old. Here is an old Orchid newly in bloom.

And bulbs are coming up. The Crocus are already finished, but the Grape Hyacinth is still going strong

And the Regular Hyacinth too!

There are also Tulips and Daffodils in the yard. I'll try to get some good pics of those next time.

This is the first of numerous planned hanging baskets. This one has a scented Geranium (smells like soap or citronella) and has pretty pink flowers. It's combined with petunias (both blue and white).

We have done some knitting too.

Tony is trying his first bit of lace. He started the Branching Out scarf pattern in KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud. After a few repeats, he decided he'd rather do it in a heavier weight. So he restarted it this morning.

I started a new blanket -- just in time for warm weather. Lol. I really love my Hemlock Ring Blanket and have been wanting another. Then we bought "A Gathering of Lace" and the Feather and Fan pattern really caught my eye. So I'm doing a HRB version of that pattern. The Yarn is Cascade Eco + that I originally purchased to do another HRB. Yes it is Greeeeeeen! But I love it and it's for me so there. I should be done with this pretty soon. It has been a super fast knit -- maybe because I love love love working on it.

That's all for today.

Later,

Eric

Did I say knitting content?

2008-02-20T18:19:00.007-06:00

I meant every-thing-other-than-knitting content.

It's almost the outdoors time of year. Actually, we've only had a few nice days with plenty of freezy days in between. But a few nice days was all the motivation we needed to start planning the gardens. Tony already started a bunch of seedlings for a vegetable garden. Weeee! And we began construction -- who? us? -- on our first project of the season.

Here is Tony working on the first of three raised veggie beds. Each one will be 3 foot by 12 foot by 20 inches. Three feet will separate each bed.

And here is the first finished bed.

We're going to line them then fill them with a "garden mix" from a local dirt seller and our own compost fresh from the bin we build last year.

We're planting: tomatoes (duh), corn, okra, lots of carrots, radishes, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, herbs herbs herbs, peppers, eggplant, shallots, and I'm sure there are others. Obviously we are not planting more than one or two plants of each -- except the carrots.

There are also plans for a Canna bed and we are starting a Japanese Garden by the bamboo.

In other news: Tony started a new job this week. He's still nursing-home nursing, but in a much nicer facility and with a substantial raise. YAY!

Knitting is coming along . . . slowly :( I'm sure that will turn around soon enough.

Later,

Eric

Busy Busy Busy

2008-02-06T18:09:00.000-06:00

Things are so busy here these days.

Not much knitting to report. Things are moving along -- albeit slowly.

We have an orchid in bloom.

This Orchid is a Phalaenopsis amabilis. It's a cross of "Pamela Perfection" and "Malibu Cloud." It was a lot more trained (?) last year. This year it's a bit wild but we enjoy it anyway.

A daisy too:

I'll see about some knitting content next week.

Eric

Drama for your Mama

2008-01-29T17:55:00.000-06:00

We had drama on Sunday which contributed to my not posting on Sunday. So I'm posting on Tuesday!

First up: The Noro Striped Scarf is done!

The Particulars:

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf

Yarn: 2 skeins Noro Kureyon, color 195. 2 skeins Noro Kureyon, color 92

Needles: US8s

Next: the cooler weather prompted me to knit another sweater for Sissy.

Pattern: Cowl and Howl set from Stitch n' Bitch -- minus the Cowl.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Blue Boy and Kiwi -- about 1/4 skein of each.

Needles: US10s

Mods: I didn't make the sleeves and I made a shorter neck so it's more like a turtle neck instead of a cowl. Also, this one is a little shorter and snugger than than the red and black one -- which is a little on the baggy side. Using smaller needles and casting on fewer stitches made a sweater that fits just right!

Tony finished his first of the Camo socks.

I ripped the mitten and restarted it on US1s. The sizing is better. I still have a ways to go but hope to have them done-ish before the next knit night.

Later,

Eric

New Stuff

2008-01-20T12:46:00.000-06:00

New projects abound here at Chez Gays.

Tony started another pair of socks. These are worsted weight. Elizabeth Austen Andes in a green/gold colorway. He's using a 3x2 rib throughout.

I'm working on my first bit of stranded knitting since the pirate hats. This is the Bird in Hand mittens by Kate Gilbert. I'm using Cascade 220 in red and white on US3s.

I'm still working on my kpppm socks. They were restarted on US1s with the magic loop technique. But being st st, they are a bit boring.

Tony is still working on his Tigers, and his Noro is about finished.

In pet news:

Tony set up a gold fish bowl and a beta bowl in the living room -- as if we don't have enough living in our house. We also got another bamboo shrimp for the big tank.

Lastly: It's Idol Time! I'm very excited for the new season of American Idol, but more on that later.

Knit on, yo!

Eric

Premature Posting

2008-01-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize that I would finish the lace project today. She's blocking right now.

The Details:

Pattern: Lace Poncho from IK Fall 2005 -- free pattern!

Yarn: Cascade 220 in a camel color. It's really more goldy-tan than the picture lets on. 2 skeins.

Needles: Knitpicks Options US 8

Size while blocking: 14-18" x 53-55"

Started: December 31, 2007

Completed: January 13, 2008

Modifications: I only did 8 pattern repeats instead of the required 9. I could have probably squeezed another 1/2 pattern repeat out of the yarn. Also, I am not planning on sewing it into a poncho shape.

Whee!

Half way done

2008-01-13T12:26:00.000-06:00

Need I say more?

May Your New Year be Filled with Yarn

2008-01-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

Our new year started off right with trips the the LYSee.

From Stitches, we got some Berroco Comfort in green and brown:

I think Tony plans to use them for the Argyle Scarf from Son of SnB.

We also picked up this Andes Wool for nothing in particular. It was on sale; what's a girl to do?

Then it was on to Loops where we just had to get some of the new Noro Sock yarn -- color S92.

And since Tony gave away his beloved Noro Scarf, we had to get some Kureyon to make another.

Color 92:

And color 195:Tony's planning on a Noro Striped Scarf. 400 Meters of yarn in 1x1 rib sounds like hell to me, but it should be beautiful when completed.

I've started a little lace number:

This is half the Lace Poncho from IK Fall 2005. It's a free pattern on the website. I don't plan on sewing the ends together to make a poncho but will leave it as a wrap. If the recipient -- as yet unknown -- wants a Poncho, then I'll consider sewing it. My motivation here is mindless knitting. Plus I really like the spin on the old feather/fan standard. And it's always nice to have a few FOs laying about for spur-of-the-moment gifting.

And, of course, there are socks on the needles:

I bought this KPPPM a while back and have been drooling over it every since. I started a pair of Monkeys with it several months ago, but decided Cookie's brilliant pattern was just too much when combined with this fabu yarn. So I frogged it. Then about a month ago, I retried using a simpler pattern. And again, it was too much so I frogged it. Good ol' stockinette was chosen as the best way to showcase the yarn, so I tried again. But the needles where too big and I didn't care for the resultant fabric, and I frogged it for a third time. I really like where it is going this time, but I am starting to think I will frog it and cast on fewer stitches -- it's a little too sleevey and not enough socky. ugh!

On Tony's needles: he has agian picked up the Tiger looking socks he started so long ago. He finished the first and will start the second this week. Also, he has plans to rip out the BMP's and try again at a different gauge.

On the homefront: we went to OKC for New Years eve. It had been awhile since we stayed at the Habana and it was about time we got our gay batteries recharged. We visited all the clubs there in Oklahoma's gayest district, starting with Tramps -- the strongest drinks anywhere. We chose the Copa for the hour leading up to the big countdown -- nothing like high-energy dance to ring in the new year and to burn off all those calories from the booze. We ended the night at Gushers -- mmmm breakfast buffet at 2 a.m.

Lastly, we bought this for the house:

Ooh, I finally got something from Restoration Hardware.

Hope your new year is filled with Yarn!

Later,

Eric

Holiday Knitting

2007-12-30T16:20:00.000-06:00

The gifting:

Tony made these for his mother. They are the North Star Mittens from Knit Mittens! He used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Black and Tan.

I made this Branching Out Scarf from Knitty dot com with Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool for my Dad's wife, Sheila.

I made three Watchcaps from Knitting Without Tears. All are in Rowan Big Wool. One for Dad, one for my little bro, Alan, and one for his fiance, Jessica.

I made these socks for Tony's Ma, Sue. They are in the same yarn as her mittens. It is the International sock of Doom pattern. You may remember that the ISoD pattern was the very first sock pattern I used just one year ago. My technique is much improved.

Tony made these stockinette socks for his friend, Mark. They are made from Berroco Comfort so Mark will have no problem caring for them.

Tony made the Elfin Hat and Scarf set from the Interweave Knits Fall 2007, for his sister, Racheal. The yarn is Lamb's Pride Superwash worsted.

Tony also made a garter stitch scarf in wide orange and black stripes for his Ma's husband, Jay. He is an OSU fan and requested the scarf. I didn't get any pictures though.

We had a good holiday. We went to Tony's parent's, then to my Mother's, then to Dad's.

We got: an electric throw blanket; flannel sheets; clothes; shoes; a Calphalon enamel coated, cast iron dutch oven in a lovely Cabernet color; gift certificates; a Carrie Underwood CD; Favorite Socks; a paper shredder; and a car buffer.

Tony bought us a new table for the dining room and I bought us a new ceiling fan.

Now we are making plans for the New Year celebrations.

I'm making a sweater in 2008. EZ shall be my guide.

Don't party too hard!

Eric

Happy Holidays

2007-12-23T20:26:00.001-06:00

Happy Holidays!

I'll be back next week with a rundown of all the holiday projects and merriment.

Drum Roll Please

2007-12-16T11:55:00.000-06:00

Oh wait, the drum head has broken under the weight of all the ice. hmmm. More on that later.

Randomly chosen as the first Very Merry Blogiversary Contest Happy Holidays mystery yarn winner is: Yakiduk

Congratulations!!!

Now if you will send me your particulars (address especially) to eric-hallett at cox dot net, I will send you your prize. Wheeee!

As some of you may know, Tulsa and much of Oklahoma has been under attack from the Ice Queen. We lost power, we lost trees, we lost a lot of food, we lost our minds, but mostly it was just depressing. Not knowing how long it would take to get power back was the worst part. And I can't complain because there are still 10s of thousands without power. Our power stayed on longer than most. We lost our's at 2:30 pm on Monday. A lot of people went out on Sunday night. We got power back on Thursday around 5:30 pm. 75 hours could have been much worse.

We were also fortunate to not lose our gas service. We have a gas stove and hot water heater so we were able to take hot showers and cook -- and I may have used the cook top to heat the kitchen even though that is so dangerous. Plus we have plenty of blankets and wool socks. Combine those with the power of cuddling and the nights were cozy.

And thankfully, the cats and dog and all our human friends made it out unharmed -- physically at least. We did lose a few fish and a bamboo shrimp.

Sunday night was really scary. All night long you could hear trees snapping like gun shots.

Monday morning, after the first blast, this tree in the back yard was already a total loss. And it landed on a wire.

In the front yard, this tree is also a total loss and it landed on our old work truck. The truck is fine -- I think.

In its own way, the ice was beautiful.

This is just some random tree in the neighborhood. I thought it looked kinda cool in a frozen Halloween kinda way.

Oklahoma doesn't usually have freezing rain or snow til January. In this last week we've had freezing rain, thaw, and then snow. Stupid global climate change. For more pictures of the carnage, you can check my Flickr! page.

In other news:

I did have plenty of quality knitting time. So I spent some time with Ms Zimmermann -- always time well spent -- and made a few hats. First is the Watchcap from Knitting Without Tears. I seamed and re-seamed this 4 or 5 times and will probably do it again after further anaysis with the ladies at knit night. Brioche stitch is fun! And this hat only took a few hours.

Then I set to work on a Ganomy from Knitter's Almanac. I knew I didn't want a stocking cap so I modified it to speed up the decreasing, but ended up with a fin on top. hmmm.

So I ripped back and added some additional decreasing. It was still a bit finny, but with a bit of creative folding, I found a result that I like -- for now anyway. And this hat also only took a few hours.

We did other knitting -- mostly holiday stuff. We discovered that worsted weight socks take no time. I shared my new knowledge of magic loop knitting with Tony who is turning out socks like a machine.

Speaking of holiday knitting, we're almost out of time so I'm getting back to it.

Later,

Eric

A Very Merry Unbirthday

2007-12-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

And a Very Merry Blogiversary Contest!!!

Hizzah for one year of blogging! And to Celebrate we are having a contest. It isn't hard, I promise. To enter you must leave a comment for this posting. A random commenter will be chosen as the winner. Wheeeee! The prize will be Yarn but it has yet to be chosen. Oooh mystery yarn just in time for the holidays. The winner will be chosen from all entrants on Saturday night and will be announced on next weeks post. Odds of winning are dependant on the number of entries received. You must be 18 to enter. Good Luck!

Holiday knitting continues. Some has been posted on Ravelry. All will be revealed in January.

I have learned the magic loop for making socks. With DK weight yarn, size 4 needles, and the magic loop method, I can make a pair of socks in no time. Seriously, days instead of weeks.

This week we made a few holiday greeting cards. Thanks to Emma and especially to her sister Sara for hosting our card making party.

It's amazing what you can do with card stock, paper, stamps, stickers, beads, ink, glue, and scissors. Who knew there was crafting beyond knitting?

Until next week, thanks for playing!

Eric

Pudding it together

2007-12-02T15:59:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about pudding a lot these days. American pudding. That stuff from a box that you mix with milk. mmmm. I really like pudding but Tony doesn't so I never make it. I'd eat it all within a two days if someone didn't stop me, and my ass is fat enough without that temptation. Actually, it is easy to ignore those desires because pudding is processed food from a box. And since I don't care for the plastic taste of the pudding cups, I don't get much pudding these days.

The pudding love most likely comes from my childhood. Growing up, it was just Dad, little brother, and me. Dad, though highly educated, knew little of the domestic arts. And I'll bet he never planned on being a single parent so I wont fault him for his lack of expertise in the kitchen -- there was no foodtv back then, after all. It was only natural that I, a faggy little foodie, would be interested in learning to cook at a very early age.

We didn't have any cook books -- although at 8 years old, I'm sure I had never heard of such a thing -- and I had yet to discover Julia so I began learning to cook by helping Dad. It wasn't long before I realized that I too could read and follow directions printed on the back of a box!

The first "dish" I remember ever attempting on my own, with no help from Dad and having never eaten the finished product, was a desert -- it's no surprise my current size. The recipe was found on a box of instant chocolate pudding (I tried to find that recipe on the Jello website, but that site is useless). Basically, the recipe is: make one package of instant chocolate pudding according to the package directions; whisk in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of peanut butter (a couple good spoonfuls); then fold in one can of cherry pie filling; chill and serve. mmmm.

Every so often that recipe calls to me. And by every so often, I mean: every time I go grocery shopping. But as I said, I'll eat the whole thing myself, so I don't buy the ingredients. Well, two weeks ago I did buy the ingredients and I made the pudding and I ate the whole damned thing in two days.

I've craved pudding -- of any sort -- every since then, but I've actively worked to quash those desires. And I've been successful though that success may be short lived because today I came across this pudding recipe on Amy H's blog for chocolate pudding shots! How genius is it to combine pudding with vodka and flavored liqueur and then freeze it until it becomes soft-serve? And now I'm obsessed with the smooth, creamy goodness once again.

Actually, I've hesitated about posting the pudding shot discovery lest you think me an alcoholic. I know I've posted several times in the last month about drinking, but I promise you I have no such addictions. Furthermore, you can all be assured that if ever an intervention is necessary, Emma will contact you with the details. Until then I recommend pudding.

In other news:

This house is such a mess! Tony has been moving in for the past few months and this house just isn't big enough to accommodate two houses worth of furniture and fixtures. This is exactly why we built the shed this summer. Even with the shed, we donate at least one big box of stuff per week to local organizations. And still, this house just gets more and more crowded. Cleaning is pointless -- except for that whole hygiene thing -- because there is no place to put stuff. There are only a few loads left at Tony's old place so hopefully we will have this house in order soon enough.

Here is a rare picture of Ms. Molly Ringworm. She doesn't care if the guest bed is piled with clutter.

The Paperwhites are blooming.

The Christmas Cactus too!

There is not much I can report about the knitting. Holiday knitting makes me want to knit other things.

Well, back to the piles of stuff.

Later,

Eric

Think Pink!

2007-11-25T09:59:00.000-06:00

We were very inspired by pink this week. Who knows why or how these things happen. I think it started with the Christmas cactus when it started shooting off little pink buds all over.

Then, just for fun, I whipped out this pink hat with some Rowan Big Wool I had laying around.

And Tony brought home a pink poinsettia -- as if we don't have enough plants.

I made some strawberry cookies in celebration of pinkness.

Then, somehow, the dog turned pink.

She started off Hot Pink, but she dried to . . . hot pink. hmmm.

After the rinse, the color mellowed.

A few days later, she's still pink but it's much more subtle.

In other news: we put up the holiday lights. We did the lights the same as last year: a string of red and white across the roof and red and white twinklies in the bushes. We did add -- you'll never guess -- red and white to the two maple trees.
But our decorations pale in comparison to our neighbor's who has once again outdone herself. Actually, I know she isn't done -- the big inflatables aren't out yet!

We had a great Thanksgiving. This year we went to Tony's parent's. I brought the wine -- and then I drank it all. Weeee! Yes I know I said I'd explore the drinking thing but I also said I'd take an inventory first, and it would be a short list without a little consumption.

Later,

Eric

Dear Ladies of the Brookside Library Knit Night,

2007-11-18T09:42:00.001-06:00

I sincerely apologise for missing knit night on Tuesday. I was very excited about Ann's cream-filled cupcakes, and I could have used the validation you all would have given me as I debuted the Hemlock Ring Blanket. I just wanted you to know how much your love and support means to me and I hope you wont be angry.

Because I cheated on you. I didn't want to cheat, but I was having a bad day. And while cupcakes are generally enough to satisfy even my deepest pain, this time I needed something else. I was in a desperate way, and when I heard that St. Mary's would be serving food and wine at their knit night, I just couldn't resist.

It's not your fault; I take full responsibility for my actions. I realize that the public library cannot serve alcohol. And really, it's a sad reflection of my downward spiral that I would give up friends with cupcakes for strangers with booze. Maybe I should attend one of those meetings. At the very least, I promise that I will take an inventory of my alcohol consumption and discuss it with a professional, if warranted.

In all fairness, I had every intention of leaving St. Mary's after an hour and then attending the remainder of the Brookside Library Knit Night. But several glasses of Shiraz later I couldn't think past the next glass. I hope you can forgive me.

Please note that Tony had no choice in the matter.

Sincerely, Eric

Now that that is over, Hizzah for a great time at St. Mary's Knit Night!

The lady is blue is Emma's mother-in-law, Beverly. She invited us to the knit night. Well, she invited Emma who invited us.

Here's Tony smiling at the ghost of Emma. Obviously, my camera doesn't take action shots (i.e. walking).

The above lady in Chartreuse is working on these soon-to-be-felted clogs. Look at the size of it! Emma is holding up her wine in celebration of its immensity.

This is what wine does to me.

Wow, maybe I really should seek professional help.

I finally got around to seaming up and buying buttons for the Baby Surprise Jacket.

The Particulars:

Pattern: Baby Suprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Yarn: Koigu Kersti. Two skeins of the blue and one of the red.

Needles: KnitPicks Options US 5

Modified slightly as per the suggestions in the knitwiki regarding color changes in the bottom portion of the jacket.

****

On the home front, Tony bought this poster from Hobby Lobby. It's not a perfect replica, but it's as close as we could find for $20. Now we just need to find a home for it.

Tony Says a Huge Thank You for all the Birthday Greetings!

Aside from the above print Tony bought for himself two video games (the new Simpson's Game, and some Zombie killing game for the PSP), the New Duran Duran CD, and the Amy Winehouse concert DVD.

From me, Tony got: the new Britney CD, The Color Purple DVD (I know that sounds strange but he'd been talking about it for a month), the only Singstar Game we didn't already have (that is readily available in the US), and dinner at Kilkenny's.

Well that's enough for this week. I was going to talk about pudding a bit, but maybe next time.

Later,

Eric

One year later

2007-11-11T14:43:00.000-06:00

I've been knitting for a whole year now. Seems like longer. Who'd a thought I'd crank out one of these already?

The Hemlock Ring blanket is done and blocked. I really enjoyed this project and I'll definitely do another. It went surprisingly fast considering how much yarn it took -- over 700 yards. For a little perspective: it is on a queen size bed in the photo.

The particulars:

Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket (Rav)

Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool -- approximately 1.5 skeins

Color: 9008

Needles: KnitPicks Options 40" US 10 (6mm)

Started: 10/13/2007

Finished 11/08/2007

Modifications: None. I would recommend to anyone wanting to do this pattern to first read the posts in the KAL. They have some helpful hints and mods that I will use next time.

In my first year of knitting, I've made: 4 pairs of socks, a dozen or so dishcloths, a lace shawl, a dog sweater, baby booties, EZs Baby Surprise Jacket, the HRB, a felted lunch bag, a pair of shorts, two fair isle hats, and I'm sure there are a few others. Plus there are several WIPs lying about. Oh, and I have a job and a life outside knitting.

Tony's working on this:

Speaking of Tony, his birthday is Wednesday. He'll be *censored* years old.

****

I bought this spaceship shaped container for this interesting little plant.

And we "planted" some Paperwhites in the house.

The precious puppy got her first visit with a groomer this week. Who knew she had a face? The dumbass groomer put the cutest green bows on her. The dumbass part is: the bows were held in place by tying knots in the dogs fur. So sweet.

psst: he was born in 1972, heehee!

Eric

Garden Invasion

2007-11-04T09:46:00.000-06:00

Halloween was as fun as ever. It is the Gayest Holiday which is probably why it is Tony's favorite. On Halloween night, we got dressed up and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids (we gave out the good stuff -- Reese's PB Cups). I was a prisoner (good ol' black and white stripes) and Tony was a gay pirate/vampire/Long-John Silver character (leather pants, ruffled shirt, Kato mask, boots, fangs, and a cape). But the costumes were only for the children; we changed before we went out to the yearly production of The Exorcist at Renegades.

Then on Thursday night we went out to PsychoPath. We try to go to at least one haunted attraction every year and we had never been to this one. Most haunted attractions have a hay-ride where you are crammed into a trailer with 30 other people, you sit on some uncomfortable hay bales with no back support, and you get diesel fumes blown in your face -- fun! This one was different and much better. They used six person gondolas powered by electric carts. It was silent, comfortable and intimate. Plus it was divided into a series of vignettes rather than just the random jumping-out-of-the-bushes-with-a-chainsaw that so many attractions use. Their walk-through event wasn't as good as most but we'll definitely go back to PsychoPath just for the ride.

****

In Knitting news: I got my 40" Options in the mail on Saturday. I now only have 5 rounds and the BO left on Hemlock Ring. Weeeee!

Tony has started some Fair Isle mittens I have have started a Double Knitted scarf. They are holiday gifts so they wont be appearing here til January but I'm sure they will be up on Ravelry soon.

****

In baking news:

I've been trying even more breads. MMM chili cheese bread. If you get the dough consistency right, you can throw anything into the bread machine.

****

It's that time of year where we have to think about over-wintering plants and pets. I only have a few plants that I keep over winter. Tony has a ton of plants. And in his old house, he had tons of space for them. The plants were actually one of the biggest concerns he had when we started discussing living together. Personally, I could compost a plant and not think a thing of it. I do have a Rubber plant that I've had for several years that I am fond of, but otherwise, they could go. Tony isn't that way. He even has live plants in the fish tanks. This one, in the bedroom, has six live plants in it -- and 14 fish.

And yes, I said tanks. There are two fish in the living room and one tank in the gym/cat/plant room that will house the 13 fish in the garden pond.

Ultimately we left half of his plants behind. Even still, the house is a forest this winter.

My plants include a rubber plant -- tied up to save space -- an impatiens that I've had for 4 years, a piece of rosemary and a Gerbera daisy

Tony's:A Gianormous peace lilly. Seriously Gianormous. It is stashed behind the keyboard. We had to trim it back by half because it was 7 foot in diameter.

Mother-in-law's tongue. This four footer is one of three. Two were left behind.

Of course there are ferns:

I love this little one.

This one found a home in the living room:

This Shamrock, oxalis triangularis, is my favorite of all!

We have a make-shift greenhouse were the Orchids live. Some other plants hitch a ride as well.

And not pictured . . . that's a list. There is a giant pineapple -- that will fruit one day damnit! -- a giant lucky bamboo, some stinky thing, a rare cactus, dozens of orchids, and several that I don't remember.

This week we will be planting our spring bulbs and taking up the tender bulbs. Fun! I love tulips, daffys, hyacinth, and crocus.

One more photo of that shamrock. Isn't she sweet?

Later,

Eric

7080

2007-10-28T16:35:00.001-05:00

It's Pumpkin Time!

We carved a few Jack O-Lanterns:

All the carving put me in the mood for pumpkin foods so I made Pumpkin Soup and roasted pumpkin seeds.

****

Thursday night we went to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to see American Theatre Company's production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Tony and I are both fans of Rocky Horror and we've seen a few drag-bar performances of the big numbers (I was even Dr. Scott one year, shhh!) but neither of us had ever seen the full musical production. What an amazing night! Chad Oliverson was hilarious and just perfect as always (and man candy to boot.) Who knew RH could get any gayer? I almost peed myself more than once. Too bad Chad may not play the role of Frank next year. I would love to see him do that every year!

****

Of course there has been some knitting. Look at this mess -- and there's more where that came from.

I only have 7080 stitches in 15 rounds until the bind off row on Hemlock Ring blanket number one. Of course the BO could take a week by itself. For those of you who haven't seen the pattern, the BO row goes like this:

K1, *k2tog, yo, k2tog, turn, p1, work 5 sts in next stitch (k, p, k, p, k), p1, sl 1, turn, BO 7 sts (1 st remains on rh needle). Repeat from * around.

Four stitches becomes 18 or so. That should work out to just over 2000 sts on the BO. Therefore there are about 9000 stitches left on my HRB!!!!

Better git t' knittin'

Eric

Short and to the point

2007-10-22T18:59:00.000-05:00

I've finished the count-y parts of the Hemlock Ring Blanket and now I'm in a never ending feather and fan hell. Only 35 rows left before the BO.

The BSJ just needs a bit of sewing up.

For a bit of fun, we picked this up.

I made one of the best breads ever. It was gone before I got any pictures. Imagine Calamata olives, feta cheese, olive oil and fresh rosemary -- Greek inspired heaven.

Later,

Eric

Holiday knitblogging and the usual suspects

2007-10-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

OMG it's still October, right? Then why the #%$*@ is there xmas stuff everywhere? What happened to xmas decorations and advertising after Thanksgiving? I can understand how greed has convinced merchants to start the xmas push right after Halloween -- xmas is the biggest holiday after all. But we've now seen this stuff since the first week in October. And one store was even playing carols. Ugh!

The xmas displays did prompt us to make our holiday knits lists. And we've started buying the yarn and collecting patterns for the gifting. And then today I realized: I cannot blog about most of those projects because our families read our darned blog. Ahhhh!

Therefore, there isn't much to report in knitting news. The Opinionated Knitter arrived. Immediately thereafter I bought a bunch of Koigu Kersti and CO for the BSJ. The yarn is heaven and the price . . . geez. But it is worth it. Now if I only had a baby. But only as a model. I'm not having vomit on my Koigu BSJ.

Otherwise, we bought yarn and needles. Whoopie! Too bad I can't talk about upcoming projects.

In construction news:

The shed is painted and shingled! We bought two small windows to install. The shed must have a ventilation system and we decided that shutters and flower boxes would be way cuter than stinky old vents.

Plans have begun for the spring gardens. We bought a bunch of bulbs -- tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, crocus -- that will be going in the ground soon. And we've set up the indoor greenhouse to overwinter a few plants and to store all of Tony's Orchids that we still need to move over.

In baking news:

This is Confetti Bread: shredded carrots, zucchini, green onions, red bell pepper, thyme and yeasty goodness. It's like a salad and bread all mixed together and it smells like a Mazzio's Pizza restaurant.

This is my fourth loaf this year. We made two of the pumpkin breads and one plain white loaf prior to this one.

Before anyone thinks I'm a bread genius I should disclose that all my bread recipes come from Better Homes and Gardens: The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking. Which can be found here. I think this is an excellent book and have yet to make a bad loaf.

Finally, we have two orchids in bloom. I think this one is very sweet.

This one, on the other hand, is just scary. Of course, it is Tony's favorite.

She sits on my desk and perfumes the entire room. Not in a good way. Tony loves the scent but I think shes a bit stinky. To me, she smells like old people: flowers and ointment. blech!

Later all,

Eric

Yeast and Cotton

2007-09-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year where I break out the bread machine. I'm sure a proper domestic goddess kneads her own bread and dutifully monitors the rising process but I say screw all that! I opt for the five minutes of work, four hours of waiting method to fresh, hot, bready goodness.

My first loaf is a Ginger Pumpkin Bread served warm with Orange Ginger Butter. The bread has crystallized ginger, California dates and fresh ground nutmeg. The butter is whipped with orange marmalade, crystallized ginger, and a touch of balsamic vinegar.

Both recipes call for crystallized ginger. My local Take-it-or-leave-it grocer doesn't stock crystallized ginger so I had to make a trip to the Extortion Pyramid across town. They wanted to sell me a handful of crystallized ginger for $9!!! My thoughts at the time were: either I can figure out how to make my own crystallized ginger or I can have cinnamon raisin bread instead. Luckily I found several Internet resources for making crystallized ginger at home. Total cost for ingredients less than $1.

In knitting news: My knitpicks Harmony wood needles came in. They are darker IRL than they were in the picture but they are still very handsome. The needles are hard, pointy and slick. All of which are qualities that I like. I've only knit about an inch and a half with them so I haven't formed any real opinions about them yet.

With all the Baby Surprise Jackets popping up everywhere, I could no longer resist not making one myself so I've ordered The Opinionated Knitter from Amazon. SQUEEE! While I'm waiting for my order to arrive via free-shipping-by-pack-mule, I'm working on a MDK baby bib. Ahhh! I have baby fever and no babies for whom to knit.

Tony's sister just had a birthday so all these warshrags made it into her gift bag. There's the Dolphin, a ballband, a feather and fan, and a reverse miter.

You may have noticed that we love to make the warshrags 'round here. Well, that's partly due to the instant gratification and immense usefulness of warshrags. But it's also a result of Tony's aforementioned impulsiveness. He cannot pass cotton yarn without picking up something. This tub is devoted to cotton and it contains at least 20 balls and several cones.

Later,
Eric

The Blog

2007-09-29T12:11:00.000-05:00

The blog is a WIP. The old setup was a bit dull and this one is better but definitely needs some work on the details. I'll get some better props and find someone more creative to help me get it together. Until then, this'll do.
Eric

MEMEME

2007-09-27T22:19:00.000-05:00

Not really. It's a TonyTonyTony!

Kyle tagged me for the 8 things about me meme. I already did this one and you can see my responses here! Therefore, I'm doing responses for Tony -- who couldn't possibly answer himself.

The Rules: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you,then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

My changes to "The Rules": I am not tagging anyone and I'm only doing 7.

Tony's 7 random things -- In first person (just pretend)

1. I share a birthday with:
Claud Monet 1840 -- and then it goes down-hill
Joseph McCarthy 1908
Condoleezza Rice 1954
Yanni 1954
Janine Lindemulder 1968

2. I love orchids and own more than 30. I've been playing with these exotic flowers for nine years. My first Orchid was this Sherry Baby. Whenever one blooms it will be posted on this blog!

3. I am an impulsive shopper. Especially when it comes to shoes, clothes, sheds, movies, magazines, food, yarn, dog goodies, video games, CD's, DVD's, and the list goes on and on. Just put it in a commercial or a TV show and I'll bite.

4. Did I say video games? I am a video game nerd. How many fags can say that?

5. I am manorexic. Now I don't have the actual eating disorder that causes me to feel fat. In fact, I usually feel too thin. But I can Not eat for days. I forget to eat. If Eric didn't make me eat, I would waste away.

6. I am a nurse and I work in a nursing home. I know that's not terribly interesting. But, I don't like old people and I don't like sick people. Sound strange? Well, I don't want a job that I like because I don't like working. That's why I only work two days a week. I get all forty hours in those two days and then I get five days off!

7. I love gardening. You may have seen some pictures of our flower garden this year. Well here are some new pics.

Shed Shmed and tons of pictures

2007-09-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

This week was supposed to be vacation week. We planned back in May to return to Branson from Tuesday the 18th of September through Friday the 21st. But then a few weeks ago the Court scheduled a hearing on one of my cases for Wednesday the 19th. Ugh! oh well, we'll go in October :( Besides, the shed needs shingles and paint.

But then Tuesday morning, about 2 hours after we were originally supposed to leave, the court date was cancelled. Ahhhhhhh!!!!! So I ran out back and hollered for Tony to git down off that shed and git ta packin'! We were on the road by 2:30 and in Branson by 6.

So the Shed still needs a roof and paint but we got our vacation!

We stayed in the same place we stayed last time: the Alpine Lodge. The Alpine is a bit dated and the mattress and pillows are . . . lets say firm, but the cabins are clean and quiet and you get a lake view from your balcony. Plus we can leave precious puppy there while we are out and don't have to worry about her disturbing the neighbors.

Inside: dated but roomy and clean

Outside: hills, rocks, trees and a lake

For me, though, the Alpine is perfect for a little knit time. I wake up two hours before Tony on most days -- vacations included -- and the Branson attractions don't open until 9 or 10 a.m. during this time of year so I had a nice chunk of quiet time to spend with my coffee and my UFOs.

Actually, I wanted to start a new sock. I brought all the essentials:

And this yarn was so delicious in the morning light.

But:

I have a terrible habit of dropping DPNs at the end of a row and I was NOT going to lose one of my best sock needles in this decking.

So I settled for working on the ballband which was a total mess since I hastily threw it into my knitting bag.

Tony had similar thoughts and only worked on a warshrag as well:

We knew from experience that Branson has no yarn shops and although SDC is full of craftspeople, there are no spinners or knitters or weavers or anyone doing anything with fiber. Therefore we were very surprised to find this right inside the gate:

A Yarn Totem! And a Spinner:

And she's selling handmade needles and spindles. We picked up some US8s since the precious puppy ate our favorite pair just a few days earlier.

She had tons of yarn -- handspun and handpainted -- plus handknitted items.

She also worked flax into linen.
We picked up some of her handspun/handpainted. 6.6 ounces/200 yards for $20. We couldn't leave without a picture together.

On the other side of the park, we found another booth full of yarn.

And more handmade needles.

In other parts of the park there were weavers and quilters and who knows what we missed. Normally, all this fibery goodness is not present at SDC -- except for a quilt shop. But we were there during the Festival of American Music and Crafts where they bring in tons of crafters to showcase and sell their goods.

Outside the park, we did something we'd always wanted to do: we rode the Ducks!

Also, we partied one night in Springfield. Who knew Springfield, MO, has such a huge gay nightlife? We went to Martha's Vineyard where they had a drag king show, The Edge where they had karaoke, and finally to Latin Vibe where they had go-go boys and drag queens. Squeee!

These pics and more from our vacation can be seen on my Flickr! account.

More to come soon!

Eric

Hammers don't make great knitting needles

2007-09-16T10:27:00.001-05:00

With all the building going on there wasn't much time for knitting.

I finished the Monkeys! I had some serious pooling issues with the second sock (on top) after the heel turn. I finally broke the yarn and started using the other end. HA! It started pooling with the same color in the same place after two rounds and I couldn't get to stop. Then, luckily, I hit a knot in the yarn (how often do you get to say that hitting a knot is lucky?) so I broke the yarn again and restarted. I managed to move the pool to the top of the sock which I guess is better than my previous attempt.
I really don't care if socks don't match but I was bored with the Yellow all in one spot and didn't want that throughout the entire foot.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino

Colorway: Sugar Maple

DPNs: knitpicks metal 2.75mm

Started: August 8, 2007

Finished: September 15, 2007

Mods: Eye of Partridge Heel

****

The ballband didn't see much action. I added a hot pink stripe and will add one more on the next stripe before continuing to the end in the pink/white twist.

Tony BO'd the Elfin. Now it just needs its pom-pom. Neither of us have ever made a pom-pom. I'm so excited to try it!

I finished the first miter square and started the second -- of 80ish.

I bought the yarn to make Shedir. I'm looking forward to trying the Rowan Calmer.

Lastly we ordered a few of the Harmony Wood circular needles from Knitpicks -- US3 16" and US8 16" -- I'm such a sucker for pretty colors.

That's it for this week.
Eric

Homos with Hammers 2007

2007-09-15T16:37:00.000-05:00

AHHH! We had visitors! Just look what they did to our backyard.

But while they were here, they finished the shed.

Okay, actually, we finished the shed -- or mostly finished it -- and the lawn-ring is where the pool used to sit. After the floor/foundation Snafu was fixed, the whole thing went up real quick.

Tony at work:

I thought we should leave it like this -- skylights are cool!:

Tony disagreed. Something about his stuff getting rained on blah blah blah.

The cat didn't do a damn thing except sleep.

All that is left is shingling and painting. The whole thing should be done next week.

Tune in tomorrow for knitting news.

Eric

new knits and construction

2007-09-09T13:01:00.000-05:00

What could this be?

A Ballband of course! You can't have enough of these around.

Tony, bored with the ballbands, is making a dolphin washcloth. I think (and by "think" I mean "hope") this is going to be a gift.

I started my first Miter Square. Then I finished it, decided that I should have done it in Stockinette instead of Garter, frogged it, and restarted it.

Tony's Elfin Hat looks like a mushroom at the moment.

My monkeys are nearing completion. I finished the heel and have started the foot. I'm now looking for a sock pattern to use with my koigu.

****

The pool water went from a H O T 92 degrees to a CHILLY 82 degrees in one week. So it was time to take it down.

The shed saw some progress. We built the floor frame and laid the floor panels before we built the foundation. Why did we do something so boneheaded? I still cannot figure out how a couple of homos with office jobs thought they could build anything. So we built the foundation then realized that the floor weighs about 500 pounds and there is no way that we could lift and carry it ourselves. Luckily our kind and strong neighbor offered to help with the floor/foundation problem and 10 minutes later we were building the walls. In the next week we plan to raise the walls.

More to come -- but probably not until next weekend,

Eric

One Orchid Three Locations

2007-09-03T11:19:00.000-05:00

Bootees!

2007-09-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

OMG Saartje's Bootees (Ravelry) are the coolest. Or maybe I just like knitting new things and every new project is the coolest. Either way, they are a lot of fun. Actually, there is more finishing to these than there is knitting. I've only finished one and I need to get buttons (a fun new skill: sewing buttons) but I'm sure they will be done by my next post.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these (and the 100 other pairs I'm likely to knit!). I guess I'll hold on to them for a while and gift them when appropriate.

I'm also really enjoying this Men's Fingerless Gloves (Ravelry) pattern. I finished the first finger last night. These should be done just in time for fall! I think these might be a good holiday gift for my dad and/or my brother.

I've ripped Odessa for now. She is such a simple pattern which can really mean trouble for me. I start watching TV instead of counting and then I'm screwed. At least the beads are still on the yarn so the hardest part is finished. I have more than a month to get it done so I'm sure there wont be any problems that cannot be addressed before then.

Tony has been working on Felted Boxes from Mason-Dixon Knitting. First he did this red and black one (Lamb's Pride Bulky in Red Hot Passion and Onyx).

Then a blue and green (Lamb's Pride Bulky in Blue Boy and Kiwi) box which we will probably leave un-felted.

I really love what he did with the bottom of the box.

In non-knitting news: we bought a wok this week. I made Orange Beef for dinner last night. Mmmmm.

TTFN, Eric

Knits, Orchids, Construction -- again.

2007-08-25T10:28:00.000-05:00

In knitting news:

I finished a Monkey. Or maybe I did that last week but just took the picture this week. hmm. I haven't cast on for #2 and I think it'll have to wait another week.

Tony knocked out this quick "Cat Squeaker" toy for Sissy. It's from the book Knitting for Dogs by Kristi Porter.

My secret sock pal got her socks! I was getting nervous and it's a relief knowing they got there safely. Go visit Marie at Compulsiveknitter or on Ravelry: knittingmarie.

I started Odessa; or on Ravelry: Odessa. This is the first of my fall/winter gifts -- this one is for a fall birthday.

****

In Orchid news: This beauty now has four blooms. It usually has soo many more but it got a parasite in this last year and the cure almost killed it so we are happy to see that she bloomed at all.

****

In construction news: we installed a closet organizer. Where we once had 6 linear feet of hanging space -- a drop in the bucket for a couple of fags -- we now have 7.5 feet plus six 1'x1'x1' cubby holes for storage. We're still using the guest room closet for all our winter stuff (and Tony's shoes) but it's a start.

The shed didn't get very far this week because I was pretty busy with work but I think the coming week will see good progress for that project.

Later,

Eric

Puppy Power

2007-08-18T17:27:00.000-05:00

This is the newest addition to our family. She's a one year old Shih-Poo named Sissy. Her coat is a mess right now but we plan to grow it out and expect that she will be even cuter after a few months of good grooming.

She's barely been here a day and already I've made her a new outfit.

Finished:

In progress:

The pattern is Howl from Stitch 'n Bitch made with Lamb's Pride Bulky in Red Hot Passion and Onyx. I made it a little bigger than her current size so she can grow into it. I figure she'll probably gain a pound or two before winter and she will definitely have more hair by then.

The cat is totally pissed that we have a new addition to the house, but that's life.

Later, Eric

Squeeeeeeeee!

2007-08-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

I'm the luckiest girl in the world! My Sockapalooza pal . . . I'm speechless and a little teary . . . she is soooo amazing! Not only did she make a beautiful pair of socks that fit perfectly, but she included a knitter's dream care-package with the socks.

My Pal: I was very fortunate to get Christine aka cpul17 on Ravelry and dillydallyknitter on blogspot as my SP4 Pal.

The socks:

Absolutely gorgeous Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark in Claudia Handpainted "Buckeye" colorway. So Handsome!

The rest of the story: I was so glad Tony was there to revive me because the consequences could have been dire had I opened my box alone. Included with my socks: STR lightweight in "Stormy Weather;" Super cute tape measure; a fabulous post card from San Francisco (a place I've always wanted to see) which will soon have a spot on the wall at home; and Sox Stix by Lantern Moon 2.25 mm Blondewood. What a dream.

Thank you, Christine. You are too much!

Eric

The usual suspects

2007-08-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

I found a use for the Cherry Tree Hill I've had stashed away: Monkeys! I am in love with this pattern. And I love the CTH.

We haven't gotten much done on the Shed this week. It has been dangerously hot and we are novices at construction so it's slow going right now.

Just for fun, thought I'd take a few more pics of Sherry Baby before her blooms fade for another year. I'm going to miss her perfume in the kitchen.

Later,

Eric

More knitting and construction news.

2007-08-04T09:07:00.000-05:00

In knitting news:

The swift arrived from Joann.com. We got the big one. It's even bigger than we imagined. Still, it is awesome and so purdy.

The Embossed Leaves were mailed out to my Sockapalooza 4 pal.

Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock

Color: Carol Green

Needles: Crystal Palace US2 dpn

Started: 06-03-2007

Finished: 08-01-2007

Changes: I used an Eye of Partridge heel instead of the pattern heel. Originally, I added a pattern repeat to the foot but that turned out to be a fubar -- the sock was waaay to long (12"!!!) -- so I ripped it back to 7 1/2 pattern repeats which turned out perfect. I missed the line of instructions that called for a M1 at the end of needle 4 (after the heel) on the first sock so I made the second sock to match. I added two instep stitches for a little ease on a bigger foot.

****

Misc: Tony moved his aquarium into the house. Fishes!

In construction news: We inventoried the parts to the Shed and laid them out according to the instructions.

Then we built the floor frame.

We also built a couple of saw horses and a temporary shelter (tarp and rope and a few poles) to keep the sun off us while we work.

That's all for now,

Eric

Birthdays and Construction and Orchids

2007-07-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

The Birthday brought in a pretty good haul. Tony got me this light for the kitchen,

and this ball winder, and a swift that is on order. The parents gave me a gift card to the mall -- they still think I'm 12, but $100 is still $100 even at the mall -- and took Tony and I to Outback for dinner.

The Shed arrived today in a big crate. We had to unpack it from the front yard and repack it -- sorta -- in the back yard near the construction site.

Tony cleans the tarp that will cover the shed until we get to the part where we have to figure out how to put the shed together. I've always been good with following directions, but this project is the biggest I've ever tackled so I'm a bit nervous. We might find that tarp in the back yard for a loooong time.

And Lastly, the Sherry Baby is in bloom. During the day when the sun warms this plant, it smells amazing. Like nothing else on earth. To me it smells like warm sugar, blueberries, orange zest and vanilla. Tony says it smells like chocolate. I wish I could give you some smell-avision because this plant is awesome.

Thanks for the b-day wishes. Later, Eric

It's my party

2007-07-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

And I'll cry if I want to.

Actually, it's my birthday!!! I don't know if 32 is cause to celebrate especially since I get to start the day by driving to Jay, Oklahoma, for a trial.

Emms and I went to the fiber-fest -- I forget what exactly it was called -- and I got some really cool stuff.

In fact we got such good stuff that I had to buy myself an early b-day present (hint: it's a camera) to get some cool pics.

The first two were $10 each. The next one was $12 but it is Merino. Three pairs of socks for $32!

The seller only brought 10 or so skeins of the sock yarn and Em and I bought 3 each.

I also got:

Yeah, a new hobby. To go along with the spindle I got 4 oz. of Corriedale and two dyed silk caps.

In gardening news: we bought a shed. It's being delivered in the morning. We have to put it together -- that ought to be fun.

I just literally got the camera like 15 minutes ago and took a few quick pics to test it out and to put up a quick post. Now I'm going to go play.

Later, Eric

This is the End . . .

2007-07-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

No, not for me; for good ol' Harry Potter. I'm really sad that there will be no more books.
This post does not contain spoilers.

As with the last several books released, I went to the midnight release party at Barns & Noble. I waited, and waited, and waited in line and was home with my book by midnight:15. I finished the book about 24 hours later. I had to get through it; I am totally obsessed. I'll probably re-read it in a few months so I can pick up all the parts I overlooked on my express ride through the book.

In gardening news:

We put in an above-ground pool this week.

We planted the bamboo, finally.

In knitting news:

Tony's making a few felted boxes from Mason Dixon Knitting.

I'm trying to finish my Sockapalooza socks on time. That doesn't keep me from buying yarn though. I bought the cotton for Absorba and I bought some Classic Cotton because I may start making some miter squares -- or maybe not because everyone else is doing that project.

I'll work on some pictures for my next post.

Later,

Eric

OMG two posts in one day!

2007-07-14T14:12:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd share some garden and pond pics.

You might spot a koi in the next pic.

Our protector:
This little guy showed up on our doorstep 4-6 months ago. He was so thin and covered in parasites. We've fed and medicated him every since and now he lives in our garden and helps keep vermin away.

Knitting in a trance

2007-07-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Sockapalooza sock number one is finished again! Apparently I was in a trance and could not stop knitting the pattern even though I knew --after measuring -- that I should stop. But what can you do? And besides, my super secret sock pal has big lady feet and the original pattern is for medium lady feet. What's one extra pattern repeat? A 12 inch foot isn't too big, is it?

So the ladies at knit night graciously -- and by gracious I mean: pointing and laughing -- informed me that the sock was a bit long -- even for Sasquatch. Thank you, ladies, I needed some perspective.

So I ripped it back a pattern repeat, picked up the stitches and re-knit the toe an inch and a half closer to the heel.

In Orchid news:

We have a new one in bloom. I forget what this is called but I'm sure it's a Phalaenopsis of some sort.

Later, Eric

2007-07-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

We had our first pond related casualty. The goldfish was out of the pond and didn't look better for it. We think that it jumped out. After 5 years in a ten gallon tank, you'd think it would have been a little happier living in a pond.

I finished Sockapalooza sock number 1. I tried and tried and tried to take a picture of it. But it's bizarro green and my equipment is not very good -- plus there's that thing about my poor photography skills -- so I didn't get one.

I did get some pics of Tony's WIPs though.
The BMPs:

The stockinette socks in very cool Trampoline:

Cotton coasters!:

Alien Scarf:

The water company must be pissed -- the electric company too.

2007-07-05T17:34:00.001-05:00

When have we ever had this much rain in the summer? I haven't water the garden since May and my flowers are out of control. The Gladys are five foot tall! It just rained again -- in July no less -- so I took a few pics of the wet garden.

As soon as the pond is complete, we'll put up pics. You can see a little bit of it in the last pic.

Ravel Ravel Ravelry!

2007-07-01T18:50:00.000-05:00

I'm finally on Ravelry! You can find me here. And since you need a Flickr account to make the most use of Ravelry, you can find my Flickr stuff here.

I am making good progress on my Sockapolooza 4 sock but I had to frog the Spring Things Shawl -- although I've already restarted it.

Tony is about done with his first BPM.

Oh, and we are installing a pond in the flower garden. Hopefully I'll have some pictures in the next week.

Lastly, Tony and I celebrate our first anniversary on the 4th-5th -- it's debatable which day is correct so we celebrate both.

AHHHHHH!

2007-06-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

OMG life is sooo busy that I can't believe that I found a few minutes to make this small post.

I tried to get Tony to post for me, but apparently he's busy too -- who knew?

Speaking of Tony, this is what he's working on:

It is the BMP pattern from Knitty.com.

I have finished a big chunk of my first Sockapalooza sock. It's Embossed Leaves in Carol Green (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock).

As promised, here are some Swallowtail Pics.

Tony models:

The outdoor pic:

The Stats:

Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark found in Interweave Knits Fall 2006.

Started 3-28-07 ripped and restarted 4-07-07

Yarn: Alpaca Cloud in Tidepool
Needles: Knitpicks Options US 4s 24"cable.

Bindoff: 5-20-07

Blocked: by Marianne 5-23-07

No modifications were needed, this is a perfect pattern all by itself.

I'll make another someday even though I don't know what I'm going to do with it.

My next lace project is the Spring Things Shawl.

I'll try to post a little sooner next time.

Eric

7 random meme things

2007-05-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

I got tagged twice with the 7 random facts meme. I know everyone else has already done it which just means that I don't have to tag any other person and I don't have to repost the rules -- maybe random fact one should be: if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it my way.

1. I share a birthday with the following people:
Emily Bronte 1818
Henry Ford 1863
Arnold Schwarzenegger 1947
Delta Burke 1956
Lawrence Fishburn 1961
Alton Brown 1962
Lisa Kudrow 1963
Tom Green 1971
Hilary Swank 1974
Jaime Pressly 1977

2. So I'm a big fag, right? I knit; I love color; I like to cook; I "care" about others; I'm totally into gay culture and big gay events; etc. But I'm also good with really butch things like building, fixing, waxing (the car not my legs).

3. Along those same lines: I love drag queens. DQs totally crack me up. I used to DJ for a drag show and I used to dress a DQ. I love going to pageants and shows even though I don't do it much lately -- bars are too smokey and I haven't been a non-smoker long enough to resist the cigarettes.

4. I am a foodie! I have been cooking since I was old enough to follow directions and not burn myself -- about 8 years old. Whenever I am planning a trip I think about the local food that I want to sample. Tony constantly reminds me: it all comes down to food for you, doesn't it? Yes. it. does!

5. I have a pet snake. She's a Ball Python. I got her in 1998 when she was just a baby. Now she is full grown at about 4.5 feet long.

6. I am a total nerd for Harry Potter. I am counting the days until book 7 comes out. I know that it will be both a joyous day and a day of mourning since it is the final book in the series. I identify with HP being a wizard myself. Well, maybe that last bit was just a childhood fantasy.

7. I am really into knitting lace right now. The problem with lace projects is that I have no use for lacy objects.

In lacy knitting news: Swallowtail is done! and thanks to Marianne it is blocked and ready for . . . well, whatever I decide to do with it. I'll get pictures eventually.

Further Notice

2007-05-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

And We're Back!!

We went to Branson, MO. I have been dreaming about Silver Dollar City since the last time I went when I was a teenager.

We stayed at a cabin on Table Rock Lake.

We spent three days in SDC. It rained the entire first day, but that just made the lines shorter :)
Tony actually smiles for a picture?

The downtown shopping district is really cool.

Downtown at night.
Tony taking a picture with his phone.

We also went to Ripley's Believe it or Not and Dick Clark's AB Grill.

We didn't get any pics of the knitting on vacation because we didn't have any time to take the knitting out of the bag.

We have other pics but they are in paper format. We took a pic together in Marvel Cave and we did a silly pic of me as Shrek and Tony as Fiona. -- Heehee!

I'm Exhausted! Thank goodness I have the entire weekend to recover.

2007-05-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

On vacation until further notice -- or until Friday evening.

Who needs a dishwasher?

2007-05-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

Tony just finished more washclothes.

All together they make a handmade Mother's Day Surprise!

Another Orchid in Bloom

2007-05-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

This scary flower is an Orchid. Specifically, it's a Brassia called "Galaxy"

It looks like it has giant insects growing out of it. Ahhh! The Brassia is Tony's favorite -- for now anyway.

Nupps Ha!

2007-05-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

The second attempt at the nupps on Swallowtail is working out much better than the first. My work area is chaos but I'm almost through with LotV1 so I don't care.

Thought I'd share a few more pics of the Orchids that were previously in the office of terror.

I had to pick a blossom off of the purple one today. It was wilting and it had to go before its negative energy took the rest of the blossoms with it. The one remaining bud has been threatening to open for weeks now. I hope it gets on with it before all the other blossoms fade.

And this guy has been in full bloom for at least two months now with no sign of wilting any time soon. It's so pretty that I hope it stays a long time.

UPDATE: LotV1 completed!!!

Knitting and Gardening: what else is there?

2007-05-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

As those of you who follow Emma's Blog know, this week was pretty awful. But one great thing that came out of all the chaos:

this beautiful Orchid got to come home and away from all that toxicity.

In knitting news, my Loopy Ewe sock blockers arrived. Here is one with the first of my Roza's Socks on it.

Tony and I have been having so much fun with the Ballbands this week!
Tony's:

Mine:

In Gardening news:

First, this is an Impatiens that I've had for three years. It winters really well in my east-facing kitchen window. It didn't flower much last year and I don't expect it to this year, but if it's lived this long, then I'm gonna let it keep on keepin' on.

This year's Impatiens. We have a couple of these in the garden -- as always.

This is the third summer for the Clematis and it's doing better than it ever has. I hope it will fill in a little more this year.

We love Petunias and these look like a circus tent which we find very amusing so we planted several.

And finally, Tony painted Soddy's candy-cane walking stick to make him a little more season appropriate. We put him in the middle of some monkey grass; he seems to like it there.

Oklahoma Gardening

2007-04-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

It was gardening week for Tony and me. Together we turned, chopped, hoed, raked and de-grassed approximately 100 square feet of flower bed by hand -- that was a workout! We planted: gladiolas, elephant ears, sweet potato vine, petunias, lavender, impatiens, those orangy-yellowy pompom looking flowers that smell so good, and some low-growing greeny stuff with white flowers, some with blue flowers and some with purple flowers. Obviously: Tony is the plant person, I just dig holes. There is also a hanging basket with geraniums, a potted rosemary and a potted daisy.

And along the home-improvement line of things: Tony bought me a new ceiling fan for the bedroom. The old one had a broken light and was a bit wonky and swingy. It was both a fire hazard and a falling hazard so it was time for a change.

Not a lot of knitting to report. Tony has started some new socks with Skacel's Trampoline Stretch. I'm still working on Roza's Socks and Swallowtail.

Later y'all
Eric

Tony's Jaywalkers

2007-04-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

Bad knit blogger!

2007-04-12T16:28:00.000-05:00

Yeah, Yeah, So I'm a little behind on the postings. Well let's start with a little yarn porn.

The STR has finally arrived. W00t! It's Lightweight in the Lagoon colorway.

And next we have a needlebag/notions case.

This was made by Charmdesign. She has the cutest stuff ever and so reasonably priced. If you've never been on Etsy.com, beware: you can get lost on that sight, shopping for days. This zippered pouch is 8.5" x 4.75" -- perfect for dpns! The exterior fabric is imported from Japan. Tony thinks it's a bit girly, but I'm a bit girly so there.

My Roza's socks are coming along. The Swallowtail is also coming along though a bit slower.

Later skaters,

Eric

Finally!

2007-04-03T20:55:00.000-05:00

The Jaywalkers are done. They are the larger size (84 CO) and on gianormous needles -- US 2.5s. They really are huge but they fit my big ol' man-feet just right. I used Claudia Handpainted 100% merino in Ingrid's Blues. Hizzah!

Stash Growth

2007-04-02T18:10:00.000-05:00

My sock yarn stash is growing . . .

and now includes Koigu!

I knew I needed some Koigu to make a proper stash then Emma tells me I really need some Socks that Rock to round it out. So I've ordered some STR too!

Not much happened this weekend. Tony and I knitted a bit but it was sooooo nice out that we spent Sunday doing lawn work.

Later, Eric

Slow knitting week

2007-03-28T09:31:00.000-05:00

Tony and I didn't do anything knit-tastic this weekend. We both worked on our Jaywalkers but we added knitting-in-the-park to the experience just to break up the monotony of second-sock syndrome.

When I got home Friday, I noticed that my neighbor's tulips were in bloom and since I Loves me some tulips, I just had to go to Woodward park to check out their tulips thus the knitting in the park. The park was full of people and I'm sure more than one person thought we looked like a couple of queens sitting on our pastel colored quilt, knitting socks. Luckily, I'm big and scary so no one bothered us.

Sunday we went to Honor Heights Park in Muskogee for the same purpose. FYI, Honor Heights looks terrible. That last ice storm really left that place a mess. Hopefully they can get it together before the Azalea festival.

In yarn-tastic news: I received my knitpicks order of 2 skeins of Alpaca Cloud -- Tidepool and Autum. I can't wait to start the Swallowtail. Thanks to Marianne for the tips -- I'm sure I'll need more.

Tony placed his first Knitpicks order. He's planning to do the bmp from the current issue of knitty.com.

Eric

Super Tiny Hizzah!

2007-03-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

I just received my Wee Tiny from my secret pal, Jen. You should all be so jealous. It's made from Socks that Rock in Scottish Highlands. W00t! I still haven't tried the STR but now I don't have a choice because this sock is too cute and heavenly to pet! Thanks Jen.

Sockoramma

2007-03-18T16:59:00.000-05:00

OKC was a blast. I wont bore you with all the details of regarding the b-day celebration and the adventures of two gay men at the Habana. And really, I don't remember most of that part of the trip anyway.

For our yarn adventures part of the trip we started at the Gourmet Yarn Co. where I bought some Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Sugar Maple (as far as I can tell) and Tony bought some Trampoline Stretch by Skacel. Also Tony picked up some plastic dpns -- he likes bendy stuff -- and we bought a set of neato looking straight needles to add to the collection.

And on the way home we took a detour to Gutherie so we could visit Sealed With A Kiss -- such a cool store and a cute little town -- where I bought some Jitterbug and a magazine.

Oh, and to top it all off, I finished a sock. One more to go for the pair.

Wee it's soo tiny!

2007-03-15T22:18:00.001-05:00

I finished my Wee Tiny Sock just in time for tomorrow's mailing. Originally I was going to do it in the Claudia that I've been using for the Jaywalkers but I wanted something different -- I love the Claudia but I feel like I've been knitting with it forever. And since I just bought three skeins of Panda Cotton, I thought I'd see how it knits up before I start my next pair of socks.

This particular color is Fall Herbs.

I also picked up some Lorna's Laces. I've never used it before and I can't wait to give it a go.

Another look at the itty bitty sock.

It's soo Wee Tiny!

This weekend Tony and I are going to OKC. We're going for a friend's b-day but really that's just a good excuse to check out the yarn shops in a bigger city.

OH! and as for Idol: snore. It's a battle between Melinda and Lakeisha. I'll keep watching it but I just cant be bothered to score all the losers. We'll just say everyone gets 3-/2+ except Melinda and Lakeisha and they both get 10's across the board.

Idol Time! Whoopie -- in a sarcastic way

2007-03-07T21:20:00.000-06:00

This week was just bad. Even the girls were mostly blah.

Boys
Blake the beatbox 4/4+
Sanjaya 3-/2 better but still terrible. Like the flat hair, now fix the brows.
Sundance 3/3- what happened?
Chris 4+/4+ His performance was like Justin Timberlake singing country -- I'd buy it!
Jared 3/3+ He tried to hard and he's just not a good singer
Brandon 4-/3- Good singer but no personality
Phil Stacy 2/3 He'll get that patriotic vote. He has lots of personality but that's about it.
Chris Curly haired 4/3+

Girls
Jordin 4/3+ She's purdy
Sabrina 3/3- Sounded a bit screamy this week. I think she pierced my eardrum
Antonella 3-/3- Better but still terrible
Haley 2+/3- Well maybe she'll get those country votes.
Stephanie 3+/3 I was a little disappointed in her this week. Bad song choice.
Lakeisha 4+/4+ Still in love with her. She has loads of passion and that works for her.
Gina 4-/4- Go hot rocker chick! Otherwise a little karaoke.
Melinda 5+/5+ There aren't enough great things to say about her.

Now, this is a singing competition, but America doesn't usually vote on the actual singing. Note that Chris Daughtry was voted out way too early last season and that goof ball (who's name escapes me) won the whole thing.

With that in mind, Sanjaya, Jared and Phil ought to all be out but Phil's personality will probably save him and Sanjaya's boyish looks and long hair will probably save him again. Jared is cute (and what else do you really need?) so he might make the top 12 too. Although one of them will have to go or I'll just die. Brandon is a great singer but has so little personality that he might leave us this week. Blake and the two Chrisi should be safe.

As for the girls, half of them just suck and need to go and the other half need recording contracts. Sabrina, Antonella and Haley all need to go. Unfortunately, Simon really let Antonella and Haley have it and they are bound to get sympathy votes because of it. Stephanie is amazing but Lakeisha and Melinda are soo much better that it could be the end of the line for poor Stephy. Gina and Jordin are both great but while Gina has carved a little rocker-girl niche for herself, Jordin just looks pretty and sings and so Jordin could be out too. Hopefully America will throw out the non-hackers but I wouldn't count on it.

My biggest fear is that everyone will assume Melinda is safe and she'll get Daughtried (i.e. no one will vote for her assuming she's safe). So everyone go Vote for Melinda!!!!

Weekend knits

2007-03-04T12:25:00.000-06:00

Tony has finally finished his first sock! He'd doing Jaywalkers in Regia. He's doing the smaller size on size us3. The foot is nearly 12 inches long and he still has a good 20 yards of yarn left from the first ball.

You may (or may not) remember that I bought some Claudia in Ingrid's Blues with which to make myself a pair of Jaywalkers back at the end of December. Well, I cast on for the larger size on US1s without bothering to gauge it first.

I made a sock that was too small for most children. And it took more than one skein for one sock -- that fabric was so tight it could have stopped bullets. I was so disappointed in the darn thing that I never started the second. I mean, what's the point if I (nor anyone else) could wear it?

Well, last week, I frogged the entire thing and rewound it into a nice yarn-cake (thanks Emma and your faboo ball winder). Why waste good yarn? Especially yarn that I love. I cast on again with Knitpicks "US2s" (also known as US2.5s to the rest of us) and I'm getting much better results this time.

This round is going much faster. I am almost through the heel-flap in just two days. The last one took two weeks just to make one tiny sock. Ahh, the endless lessons in gauge.

Idol Time! America hates Nina Simone

2007-03-01T20:04:00.000-06:00

Two people sang Feeling Good - one was awesome and one sucked -- and they both were booted. I'm not going to miss Leslie but Gay Jay should not have gotten the Jimmy Choo. But more importantly, what does America have against Nina Simone? Leslie did gain some points with me -- albeit a little late -- by pointing out that America apparently doesn't like Jazz (of course the TV folk cut her off right after she said it).

Nick was somewhat of a surprise for me at first. But really, Nick was the king of average. He wasn't the best at anything. Not at singing, fashion, song choice, personality, looks, height, weight, smell, nothing. Jared should have gone in his place but although Jared is a terrible singer, he's cute. He has that great skin tone, long legs, good bone structure (well, except for that big nose), and a great smile. Poor Nick was just not memorable in any respect. He wouldn't have made it to the end so I'm not all that broke up about it.

I was glad to see Alaina go, she falls apart if you don't say hello to her. How was she ever to handle the pressure of the top 12?

Here's where I get mad. Ahhhhh! Sanjaya should have went home!!! But that hair must have saved him again. Good ol' Gay Jay suffers from the same thing that Nick does. He's good but he doesn't stand out anywhere except in queeniness and America doesn't vote for queeny. So it's adios to AJ.

Leslie was on my list of possible losers so I'm not surprised or sad to see her go although I would have gladly taken her over Antonella who IS STILL HERE Ahhhh! I think Antonella got those porn sympathy votes or maybe the porn perv votes.

In other news: Domino's Garlic Bread Pizza isn't very garlicy. And it doesn't have any red sauce on it. It was just puffy bread with lots of cheese and a topping. Not that impressive.

Idol Time!

2007-03-01T08:02:00.000-06:00

The girls had a good night but I wasn't blown away. A few people stood out and the rest were just marking time until they get booted.

Gina Red Stripe 3+/3+ She's a good singer but so what. Most of them are good singers; you need to bring something special.

Alaina 2+/2 She was pitchy the whole time and the performance was terrible. She needs to go back to the Karaoke bar.

Lakiesha 4/4- I was disappointed in Lakiesha this week. Last week she worked it out. This week it was good but a little plain/boring until the very end. We see Midnight Train to Georgia every season (and every week at Karaoke) so you really have to bring it to make an impression with that song. Still, she's a great singer and I like her personality.

Melinda Doolittle 5-/4+ She was HOT. Her singing is incredible. I gave her a minus because I thought the song was a bit old for her (and it's my score so I can do as I please).

Antonella 2-/2 She should not be here. Why is she still here? What's worse is that she'll likely get tons of sympathy votes from those who think she's been wrongfully accused of producing porn -- I'm not linking to any of that crap, do a web search if you haven't heard.

Jordon Sparks 3+/4 She a great singer but she was so pitchy last night that it was hard to listen to. The ending was very sweet.

Stephanie 4+/4 She picked a really tough song to sing but she did a great job. She didn't Wow me like she did the judges but I still give her 2d place tonight.

Leslie 3/3+ Her song started out okay but once the music started, it just swallowed her. And I don't care how much she likes to sing jazz, she needs to leave Nina Simone alone.

Haley 3-/3- She ain't no Whitney. And what is with that hair? It was like she crimped it (first of all, OMG she crimped her hair) and then used a whole can of hair spray on the crimps (I loves me some Aquanet, ya'll). If Antonella gets to stay another week, Haley will likely take her place on the bus home.

Sabrina 3+/4 I really liked the beginning but in the end her song really fell apart.

So while the guys took a step forward this week, the girls did the opposite. The girls still weren't as bad as the guys week one, but they didn't do anything to impress me this week.

I expect Alaina to go and hopefully Antonella. Leslie or Haley would be good choices to leave as well.

My only vote was for Melinda.

See you after the results show!

Idol Time! The guys are back

2007-02-27T21:11:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness the guys are climbing out of their shells.

Singing/Performance -- 1- (the worst) through 5+ (the best)

Phil Stacey 3+/3 I thought he was a bit pitchy and uninspiring. He's plenty likable -- that soldiering thing is real popular with the masses -- and Simon is correct that he wont be leaving any time soon.

Jared 2+/3+ Jared is not a very good singer. The performance wasn't bad. But I've seen better singing and performing at Karaoke night. Standing up to Simon was cute.

AJ (Gay J) 4/4- I still like him -- and not just because he's a homo. He had some rough spots but overall he's a good singer. I don't like the way he dances but hopefully that will get better. You're not in the club Gay J, stop waiving your arms!

Sanjaya 2+/3- I think he Can sing but he just didn't sing tonight. On the one phrase that he put some umph behind it, it was amazing, but it was only one phrase. Otherwise it was just weird and whispery like he had a cold or something. I didn't get it. He needs to step it up because that hair will only get him so far.

Curly Chris 4+/4 I like him a whole lot better this week. His dedication was sweet and the song was appropriate. Plus he sang it well.

Pedro, Nick 4/3+ I liked his cool smokey voice. That wasn't my favorite treatment of the song but it was unique which is so important in a competition like this -- until the final four and then you need to sound like everyone else. The performance could have been better.

Beatbox Blake 4-/4+ For the most part I think he was awesome. But the look and the beatbox is what makes him standout. Otherwise, he's a good singer but nothing special.

Brandon Rogers 3+/3 I love the song and it was neat to hear his take on it. But it was nothing special. He sings a lot better than he put on tonight so he was a bit disappointing.

Chris Richardson 5-/4+ The beginning was almost sloppy for me and I was starting to get confused but when he started singing . . . WOW! Plus he's so cute.

Sundance 5-/4 He did a great job with the song but the song itself was a weird choice. Whatever it takes to get your grove back so good for him.

Jared and Sanjaya are in trouble. Brandon is right behind them. They could all go as far as I'm concerned. Phil didn't have a great night but he's got enough good qualities to keep him here for at least another week.

My fav is Chris Richardson. AJ also gets a vote because I like to support the family. I Can't Wait for the Ladies tomorrow night!

Idol Time! Clearing out the deadwood: week 1

2007-02-23T14:28:00.000-06:00

Of Course there is a review for last night's show! I had an aerobics class last night and I was so exhausted by 9 that I just wanted to go to sleep.

I love the results shows because they are sooo mean. Normally I don't go for mean but those people choose to be there and know what their in for. They line those nervous kids up and then just toy with them. heehee. And after they crush some hopeful's dreams, they make them sing the same bad song that got them voted out.

Overall, I'm not too surprised by the results show.

Firstly, I'm glad that Paul Kim didn't get enough sympathy votes to keep him in because he was just terrible. George Michael is very hard to sing and Careless Whisper is not for amateurs. Furthermore, silly gimmicks -- like not wearing shoes -- don't impress.

As for Antonella, well I guess she must have received some sympathy votes. She was as bad as Paul and maybe worse. But for what ever reason, I guess we're giving her another shot. Although, she did get the cruelest treatment last night. When they lined the first group of girls up -- just like the first line of guys -- and then went down the line ruling each girl safe until it was just Antonella and Ryan left, I just knew that she was gone. And by the look on her face, she knew it too. Maybe that will inspire her to bring her "A" game next week.

On reviewing Nicole's original performance, I think I scored her too high. Part of me was rating her potential rather than her actual performance. Big mistake. She did an awful job with that song. She's a good singer and performer, but her treatment of that song was just weird. I guess we'll never know if she could do better because she's outy.

I'm not surprised at Rudy leaving; he wasn't memorable. I can't remember anything about his performance or look. Whatever, bye Rudy.

I finished the first leg of the Sweetheart shorts and I hope to have them completely finished this weekend. Luckily Tony doesn't mind that his V-Day gift is soooo late. If I get it to him in February, that counts right?

Idol Time! Tonight: The Girls Bring It!

2007-02-21T21:05:00.000-06:00

The Girls have saved the season and I'm soooo happy!
The guys are lucky that I scored them before seeing the girls because there would be 1-'s.
Scoring is the same as last night: singing/performing

Stephanie 4+/5 a great start to the show and good crowd response
Amy 3/3- Pitchy. She should leave the Bonnie Raitt alone.
Leslie 3+/3- she did okay with the crowd but I thought she looked awkward. Her personality was wrong for that song. Pitchy.
Sabrina 4+/5 Loved her personality and voice in the verse. The low parts were a little blah.
Antonella 2/2+ Wow that was pretty bad. Very pitchy and nervous. Poor treatment of the song.
Jordin 4-/4+ Cute. Ended better than she started. Good energy. Did Ryan call her fat?
Nicole 3+/4 Key a little low for her. Way over-sang and over-performed the song.
Haley 3+/3+ Nervous with weird breathing. A little Cabaret.
Melinda 5/5 Love her huge performance/voice. Yet she's so meek when she isn't singing.
Alaina 3/2+ Snore. Sooo Boring.
Gina 4-/3+ Saved it in the end -- although she about lost the big note. I like her big voice.
Lakisha 5/5 *Tears* Love her and everything about her.

I think that Antonella was the big flop tonight. But like Paul Kim, I think she'll get sympathy votes. I think that Alaina and Amy were both very forgettable. Leslie and Haley were nearly as bad. But the other 7 were Awesome!

When Lakisha brought out the Dreamgirls, AJ's homoness was soo confirmed. He was whooten and wavin' them arms like a big ol' queen.

During Idol Time I do get a lot of knitting done. I'm mostly finished with the first leg of the Sweetheart shorts -- just a few rows of 1x1 ribbing left w00t!

Idol Time! Tonight: the boys.

2007-02-20T21:42:00.000-06:00

I loves me some Idol! Overall . . . eh ? I certainly hope the girls do better. Even though I thought the guys could have done better, there was some definite potential in there -- and some Hotties!

So, my scores. I rate singing and performance. 1 for terrible though 5 for awesome. And I use pluses and minuses. I didn't score any ones this time -- maybe a first for me on an opening episode.
Singing/Performance
Rudy 3-/4-
Brandon 3+/3+ I was a bit disappointed in him
Sundance 2+/2- another disappointment. Boring nose singer. Bring the blues.
Paul Kim 2-/2- My least favorite. Karaoke, pitchy, no passion. Put on shoes!
Chris Richardson 4+/4 one of my favs!
Nick Pedro 4-/3-
Blake "beatbox" 4/3 Cute and nice voice but a little boring.
Sanjaya 3+/2 At least I think that's my score for him -- I fell asleep.
Chris "curly" 4-/3- I really liked him during auditions but I thought he was arrogant tonight and that's just annoying
Jared 3+/3
AJ 4+/4+ love his smile. Is he a homo?
Phil Stacey 4/3 wow he's funny looking. I like his big voice.

I voted for Chris Richardson and AJ. I would like to see Paul Kim go, but for some reason, the worst singer/performer on the first show always gets enough sympathy votes to save them. Although I scored Sundance low, I think he could do better and hope he stays. I think that Rudy and Jared were both pretty forgettable and they will each be lucky to stay another week. Sanjaya was forgettable as far as his song and performance are concerned but he'll get hair votes and cute, young kid votes plus I think he'll improve so he should be safe this week.

Yarn is my heroin

2007-02-18T08:14:00.000-06:00

I have always spent my weekends indulging in my favorite sins: Sloth and Gluttony. But since now I can only see Tony on weekends -- stupid conflicting work schedules -- I've been trying to get off my ass and plan activities that we can do together in the short time we have each week. And although I hate to give up Sloth, I get some Lust in return which takes some of the sting out of the loss.

So most weekends have a bit of shopping involved and maybe a small project. This weekend was no exception. An LYS is moving and Everything must go! -- a very dangerous thing to say to someone who loves to bargain shop. This week, their stock is only 35% off so we didn't get much. But when the remaining stock goes on sale for half off, you know I'll be camped out in front of the store waiting to snatch up everything I can afford -- in a related story, I'm selling a kidney for cheap.

I loves me some Cashsoft DK! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but that's not really important. What matters is that 4 balls only cost me $24 -- not a huge bargain, I know, but I am trying to be supportive of an LYS. Of course Tony bought the Regia -- I love that he is so easily entertained by self-striping sock yarn. And the needles were just for fun. It's hard to see the needles in my crappy picture, but they are Serendipity Designs Handcrafted Knitting Needles.

And while shopping was all fine and good, the real quality time came in the form of a small project. We've been looking for a new computer desk for about a month now. The old one . . . well, it was just busted: a real eye-sore. I bought it at Wal-mart 15 years ago for $20 and it looked it. Its replacement is certainly nothing fancy, but at least I'm not concerned that it will collapse anytime soon.

We spent 4 hours assembling it -- something I find extremely entertaining -- and another hour rearranging furniture. So all in all, it made for a great way to spend an afternoon.

Love is in the air

2007-02-14T18:39:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the kind words; they really mean a lot.

Between Sherby, longer hours at work and frantically trying to finish Tony's Valentine's Day gift, I haven't had much time for blogging.

Thursday morning I decided that it would be possible to knit Tony a V-Day gift. It is quite an ambitious project for someone who works too much (and is a TV junky) to finish in just under a week. I can't tell you just yet what the project is because I still haven't finished it!!! and Tony checks this blog after he gets off work. All he knows is that his gift is late and that it is currently a red, cotton tube. But I will say that it's red and cotton blend and comes from a free pattern I recently received in an email from a popular Internet yarn/pattern/circular needle company. Is that too many clues? He wont figure it out. I hope.

Now the project is a gift for Tony but I think the project is really one of those immerse-yourself-in-too-many-big-projects-so-you-wont-have-to-think-about-your-dead-cat kind of things and when the great, red, cotton beast is finished I'm going to have an irreversible, emotional break. Ahh! Since Tony and I are having our romantic dinner for two on Saturday night, I need this project to last until Sunday.

I promise that I will catch up on everyone's bloggings as soon as I can get out of the knit-hole I've fallen into.

Eric

RIP Sherby

2007-02-07T21:49:00.000-06:00

Sherby took a turn for the worse last night and died in the car on the way to the vet. He was a good cat and will be missed.

Kitty Update

2007-02-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

The cat has Chronic Renal Failure. No cure. But we get a fun new diet -- fun because I'll never be able to keep the fat cat out of the sick cat's food -- and some less-fun drops to administer -- he's going to fight me everyday. We go back to the vet in a month to do the blood work again.

Above is a pic of the tote I bought on etsy.com. I love bright colors! The pic was taken by Maryink -- I only wish I had a dressmaker form.

Knits, books and sad stuff

2007-02-03T21:43:00.000-06:00

I'll start with the sad stuff since I don't want you to leave here feeling blue -- there's enough of that going on here. My kitty is sick. He's been losing weight for several weeks and I've had mixed feelings about what the cause may be or what to do about it. I know, I know: take him to the vet. Well the vet is a bit pricey but I guess I don't have much of a choice now. He wont leave his water bowl for more than a few minutes. He isn't eating and he walks like he's drunk. Actually, the stumble-walk would be amusing if it weren't sad. So we are going to the vet in the morning.

Knits: I received two packages in the past week. The first was from Knitpicks and contained two hanks of Wool of the Andes Bulky in Taupe and two sets of dpns (US 10.5 and 6). The 10.5s and the yarn were for my current instant gratification project: Brown Bag. The second package came from Maryink at etsy.com. I bought a tote for carrying my knit bits to work.

Books: I've noticed many blogs doing some version of the Bookworm thing, so here's mine.

Instructions:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag 5 people

This is from the book I picked up today. Can you guess what it is?

The Master calls for his coat. He's drunk and depressed over being so well celebrated. His apprentice, though, is giddy with relief. "Has it been a good evening, then, Casper?" says Iris as Caspar supports the Master and slides an arm through his.

Look here for the answer.

$30 is my favorite price point for fine furniture.

2007-01-29T18:45:00.000-06:00

Tony and I didn't get much done this weekend. Well, that's not true, we got plenty done just not a lot of knitting. I worked on the apron of doom and Tony worked on some socks.

We did buy some Yarn! Tony bought some more Regia sock yarn -- he loves that fake-isle stuff. And he bought 3 balls of cashsoft DK in black and one ball in red. He's planning on doing the WCTP motif on a pair of socks.

We did lots of shopping. And by shopping I mean browsing. I love browsing; it fits in my budget. Plus sometimes you find an incredible deal that makes your head spin at the thought of your good fortune.

I found such a deal at Matthis Brothers. For years I've wanted a big ol', square, leather, tufted coffee table/cocktail ottoman but they cost $500 + so I've always just looked. But I found one I could afford. The last one! I Love the last one!!!! Believe it or not, it was cheaper than my fabulous desk chair. With tax: less that $34!!!! Original price $540. And brand spankin' new! Nothing wrong with it! Just clearance. Ha! I'll take me some clearance!

Now I don't know that it exactly fits in my living room -- it is a bit big -- but someday it will!

Now I just need to find a nice tray to sit on it. Awesome: a great find that leads to more shopping!

Glacier Donkey Pirates!

2007-01-26T13:01:00.000-06:00

Hat number two is complete! I love the feel of the Cashsoft even if the color names are a little strange (Glacier and Donkey). The sharp contrast between the two colors magnifies the wonkiness of my stitches, but I don’t care.

This particular hat has a problem that my first hat didn’t have. On the first hat, whenever I was carrying a strand across more than five stitches, I wrapped the carried yarn on the 5th stitch. On this hat, I wrapped it in the middle of the skull each time — for no particular reason except that I thought it might change the appearance of the inside of the hat. Apparently, the combined pulling effort of each wrapped stitch causes a split in the middle of my skulls when the hat is stretched. At first I thought it might correct itself in the blocking, but that doesn’t seem to have helped. I’ve considered shrinking it a bit but it’s already a good fit for me and shrinking it might make it too small. Any thoughts on how I might fix it?

Maybe it's just a lesson learned. I've never been one to dwell on a mistake if I learned something from it -- provided no one got hurt in the process. If I can't fix the skulls, I'll just call the crack a design feature!

Super Happy Crazy Fun Day!

2007-01-22T18:39:00.000-06:00

Wow this day has almost been too much. If it gets any better I may just be sick.

For starters, I finished a lengthy Motion and Brief for Caesar, the guy who runs the place and pays me to do his bidding, that I started last week. The client for whom the Motion was written is an eccentric, rich nut-job who can't stop creating trouble everywhere he goes. I thought it would be impossible to write this motion in a way that is correct on the law and allows the client to win. But apparently no because Caesar approved!

Then I decided to get a new office chair. Emma and I share an office but the office only came with one desk chair and two fru-fru chairs (click here and scroll down to see the chairs). Of course, I get a fru-fru chair. But these chairs were only meant to be sat in for 1/2 hour at a time. I am rough on furniture. I'm twisty and turny and rocky back-and-forthy. So the fru-fru chair I've been using started coming apart and I had to bring some hexagonal wrenches to work to repair it this morning. Plus it was too low for my desk and didn't do anything for my posture.

The problem with getting a new chair is that I don't make a lot of money and I didn't want to spend a small fortune on a new chair!

So I looked at Staples and office Depot online and checked out the specials and blah blah blah. I decided that Staples had the best deal and I needed to check them out. But I couldn't find the Staples -- I've been there a hundred times but for some reason (oh yeah, I quit smoking again so my mind is all muddled) I couldn't find the damned place. So I went to the Depot.

Now I'm S L O W when it comes to making decisions and this is especially true whenever I'm having to spend a bunch of money that I can't afford. So after a half hour I settle on this mesh fabric, pretty comfy, blueish-gray chair. I tell the guy I want it and he assures me it is in stock. 20 minutes later, he tells me that the three they have in stock have disappeared. My options for that chair are to take the floor model at full price or travel across town where he assures me that they have one in stock. AHHH! So I leave.

I decide to just go back to the office and half way there I call Emma and ask her for directions to the Staples -- it figures that I had drove by it twice. I look at their offerings and am encouraged; they had better stuff in my price range than the Depot had. But one chair looks really out of place. It was much nicer than the ones I'd been looking at yet it was priced at $29.95 ? ? ? Well obviously that is a mistake; they must have left out the 1 or 2 before the $29.95. I pick out the $80 chair. It's nice, redish, leatherish, I like it. Then the sales clerk comes over to help me out. Out of curiosity, I ask about the oddly priced chair. IT'S PRICED CORRECTLY!!! WTF? Why? I ask. What's wrong with it?

Apparently the truck delivered it by mistake that morning and it was the only one. Since it wasn't supposed to be there, it was clearance priced. She said she had just put it together -- all models must have a fully assembled tester chair on display -- and had just put it on the floor. I was the first person to even sit in it. I thought it was my birthday and Christmahannakwanzika all rolled into one.

With tax and the $5 assembly fee I paid $37.01 for a chair that had a sticker price of $199! Needless to say, I thanked the Goddess/Universe/Stars/whoever-else-is-listening for such a great find that really helped me out.

Miracle number two down. What's next world?

So then I'm driving home. But first to the Grocer for dinner. A small sign next to the parking lot entrance says "Mexican Food! 33rd and SW Blvd" Now I live on the West side of Tulsa. It's a very blue-collar area devoid of restaurants or amusements of any type. And I Love Mexican Food! Score number 3!!! I turn that car around and head straight for the Mexican Food! It was alright -- not great but pretty good. I'm just happy to have a restaurant nearby that serves tacos and burritos!

Add to all this that my Glacier Donkey Pirate hat is looking even better than I'd imagined and Heroes is back on tonight! I can't handle anymore. I'm making a bourbon and coke to calm my nerves.

I don't know if it is just the positive attitude or the accumulation of good Karma points but I feel really blessed today. I hope your week is as blessed as mine has been.

Eric

A couple of shut-ins

2007-01-20T16:26:00.000-06:00

Harray! It's the weekend and I get to see Tony for a few days. The weather is bad so we get to stay shut in the house with nothing to do but . . . knit. Of course, here's Tony

Not Knitting! Nor paying any attention to me whatsoever. If you look to the right of Tony is the cursed Apron that I've had to put down so I don't go crazy. I seriously spent 3 hours on one row the other night and that is after the pattern change that I just knew would make this project quick and easy. Ha! I only wish I'd been drinking so that I would have an excuse for my inability to count to three.

New Yarn! On the left, Tony bought this for some socks. It'll be his first pair if he can put the PSP down long enough to CO. The Cashsoft on the right is what I'm using for WCTP hat number two. I love the first one so much that I need another. I've finished the lining and am about to add the main color: brown (or rather "donkey" as Rowan so elegantly called it). I think the brown and icy blue (or "Glacier") combination is a good depiction of the Oklahoma winter this year (and the skulls can represent my feelings about our winter this year).

I need to get busy on the hat but the Corned beef and cabbage that is bubbling on the stove may not let me focus just yet. Oh the joys of being a shut-in.

See you in the thaw!

Hats Hats Hats for career girls.

2007-01-17T16:22:00.000-06:00

Well, just one hat but at least it is finished and has been keeping me warm for the last two days. This is the first project I've completed that was just for me from start to finish.

And now, back to the apron. I ripped out all of the main pattern rows, (there were only 8) and decided to go with a different pattern. It's my apron and I'll do as I please! I like the Diamond pattern of the original but it was causing too many problems and my voice is hoarse from chanting so I decided to go with something a little more relaxing: a garter stitch zigzag. Surely I can K3 P3 while watching TV and not lose my mind in the process.

WCTP KAL

2007-01-13T13:11:00.000-06:00

The first KAL I've chosen to participate in is the We Call Them Pirates! Knitalong. I have loved this hat from the first time I saw Emma's. Not only is this my first KAL but it is also my first hat and my first time trying any type of stranded knitting. It is going really fast and I think I'll be done before I head back to work on Tuesday. I'm so excited to get it done.

The pattern calls for size US 3 but I got gauge on US5. I'm using Jo Sharp, 100% wool, DK weight, in Scarlet and Owl. I'm lining it in Wildflower DK cotton and acrylic blend in black.

Theraputic chanting.

2007-01-10T22:28:00.000-06:00

I got to come home early today; the sickness that's been going around has made its way to me. It's not too bad, really. I take lots of vitamins and aspirin which seems to help. Even so, work was just making me feel miserable.

So since I was home, I worked on my apron. I don't know if it's my inexperience or maybe I'm a little deedeedee thanks to the sickness, or maybe, just maybe, that instructions could be a little more specific on the Slip Stitch Diamond patern. Line 7 was a disaster. And as much as I wanted to believe that line 8 would pull it together -- every single time I knew those stitches were going in the wrong place -- line 8 was no help (except maybe to show me just how off my line 7 stitches are).

But I shall not curse at the stitches, they only did what I told them to do. Knitting is relaxing. Knitting is relaxing. Knitting is relaxing. Sometimes, it helps to make a mantra of the monster. Knitting is relaxing. Knitting is relaxing.

Tomorrow, I'll just insert a needle in line 6 and visit the frog pond.

Old knitters are sooo great!

2007-01-08T19:32:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, Tony and I were rifling through the knitting section at Barnes & Noble when a veteran knitter came to do the same. We started talking about the high price of fancy yarn and my never-ending search for masculine yarn and sockpatterns. Eventually we exchanged email addresses.

Today when I got to work, I found that she had sent me an email full of useful links and her phone number. When I called she said she wanted to give me some things and asked if she could stop by. Well Sure! I replied.

Who could have guessed she would arrive with a large gift bag overflowing with yarn, books and notions. Ahhhh! I almost cried.

If my camera wasn't so wonky, I would have pictures to post of her generous gift.

Lets just say the package included: a two pound cone of navy blue wool blend sock yarn, a one pound cone of undyed wool sock yarn, a cone of elastic, three 50 gram skeins of Nature Spun fingering weight wool in a lovely charcoal, three 50 gram skeins of Katia Andes Alpaca fingering weight in a lighter gray, a few sock shapped tip protectors, a book of sock paterns, a copy of her own pattern (Huckleberry Socks) and a Knitting Journal.

She only asked that I knit a pair of socks for Children in Common. Well Katie, it's a deal!

Her generosity has inspired me. We have finally finished the season of receiving and now I think it's time to have a season of giving. And not just giving to those who will praise our fine work and make us feel all pretty and special. But giving to those who desparately need it. Although they may not recognize the time and craftmanship involved, they will certainly feel our warmth.

Time to go, I've got socks to knit.

So much going on, so little time.

2007-01-08T11:50:00.000-06:00

Tony started his new work schedule which conflicts with my normal schedule. I work normal office hours and he now works 3-11 pm which means that I never see him. Weekends! we now have weekends. :( Needless to say, he's not getting any knitting in and since he has 3 or 4 projects going right now, I think he should start planning his holiday knitting now if he wants to be done by xmas '07.

But with Tony at work while I'm at home, I'm getting lots done. I've finished one of the Jaywalkers. I think I'm setting number two aside for a bit; I really want a new apron. I feel inspired by Grumperina's beautiful new piece. I wont be sewing anything so fancy -- or sewing anything for that matter -- plus I need it to be a little more manly. This past weekend, Tony and I picked up a few cones of 4 ply cotton. One in blues and white and the other is an fall colored mixture of red, brown, green, beige. I think I'll take the blues and knit something up similar to the party apron on knitty without the frilly border.

Lunch is over; back to the grind!

Hizzah for the start of a new year.

2006-12-31T09:23:00.000-06:00

I bought some Claudia in Ingrid's Blues. I'm making a pair of Jaywalkers for myself. I love how three stitches on each needle transform that sock from plain ol' stockinette into a fun zig-zag.

Tony is working on an OSU scarf for his step-dad. It's done all in seed sticth with alternating blocks of orange and black. In the first and last blocks he's embossing (?) the letters OSU onto a field of stockinette with a seed stitch border. I hope the OSU legal department doesn't hunt us down and demand restitution.

The knitted holiday gifts were big hits. Shiela loved the socks -- how could she not? they were merino and cashmere. And the Victor/Victoria scarf went over so well that Tony got asked to do the OSU scarf by a man with whom Tony has had very little positive interaction. Knitting: saves families. lol.

Thank Goodness that's done!

2006-12-22T21:41:00.000-06:00

The socks are done! Currently, they are at Emma's drying on her flat, wooden feet.

Since I need more practice knitting in the round and there was nobody around, I made this quick wristband with some leftovers. The pattern called for sport weight yarn on 3.75mm dpns, but all I had was some Sugar 'n Cream and US 3s so that's what I used. Now I need some more "bored-time" in which to complete the other wrist.

But the biggest news is: The Noro is done! It's finished length is 6 1/2 feet and the stiping is fabulous. The pictures don't show the pattern very well. Basically there is 1x1 ribbing down the middle and the sides are alternating blocks of stockinette and reverse stockinette. Very Manly!

'tis the season

2006-12-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

A bad pic of the holiday tree as it currently looks. Ten or so presents more and it will be complete. Yes the tree is silver.

One sock down; one sock to go! They are coming along much quicker than I could have hoped for. They will definately be ready for the family gift exchange.

Tony is making himself a scarf with his Noro. It's looking really nice -- the striping is beautiful. More about it later.

Progressing nicely

2006-12-18T16:45:00.000-06:00

Tony finished his sister's scarf. We are calling it the Victor/Victoria. It's a little wierd, but we think she will like it anyway.

My socks are coming along. Not bad for my first time. If I can get them done by Saturday I will be so happy.

Lastly, Molly sitting with Tony and his new Noro.

Success and frustrations

2006-12-17T09:08:00.000-06:00

Tony passed his LPN licensure exam!!! He took the exam on Thrusday and the results were in the mail yesterday. His employer promised to give him a 50% raise if he stays with them. So we're Happy Happy Happy!!!

I started my first pair of socks which is also my first project in the round. It can be so frustrating dealing with those dpns. I think I'm getting the hang of it now that I've ripped it out three times. The yarn is like butter: Cashsoft DK in a beautiful true red. They will make one heck of a holiday gift if I can get them done in time.

The big red/gray scarf

2006-12-13T10:38:00.000-06:00

Tony has finally completed his first project: a big ol' scarf. It took about a month to complete and now it's being wrapped for the holidays. Someone will be very lucky.

He didn't keep the the labels so I don't know the specifics. I do know that it is 45 sts wide (k3, p3), there are 14 red sections at 18 rows long each and 13 gray sections at 8 rows long each for a grand total of 16,110 sts (the first and last sections each have an extra row).

As for me, I finished one washcloth and have started her sister -- this time in creme with red.

I found that my problem with the cotton yarn was easily fixed when I started purling correctly (counter-clockwise, counter-clockwise) and I loosened up on the tension.

Where to begin?

2006-12-12T16:22:00.000-06:00

Tony and I are novice knitters. In fact, I'm brand new! My business partner, Emma, is a regular pro and I've been watching her knit for a long time. Tony didn't knit too much when we first met (about 6 months ago) but lately he knits all the time -- I hope that isn't a reflection of his affections. Well, with knitting going on all around me it's no wonder I started playing with it myself.

Of course, I started off just doing row after row of garter stitch until I started getting a feel for what I was doing. Then I completed my first project: the washcloth from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting.

I think it turned out okay. I used Lemon-Lime colored Peaches & Creme on 4.5mms.

At the same time, I've been working on this garland for our holiday tree. It's made from Walmart brand yarn in Autumn Red on 5.5mm dpns borrowed from Emma. Since it's just an I-cord, it goes really fast. Right now it is just over twelve feet long. I think I'm going to do up a bunch of various ornament, leaves, berries, etc. to tack along the way. Maybe it'll be done in time for next year's holiday season.

Since I'm feeling like a pro, Ha!, I thought I'd try the Ballband Dishcloth as a gift for my dad's wife. This time we have Sugar 'n Cream in Red and Creme.

I'm not a fan of the cotton right now. Either it is too splitty or my stitches are too tight but in any case it is a lot of work.

Lastly, here's a pic of Tony working on a ribbed scarf for his sister. He only bought one skein of the red/pink/orange colored yarn and of course it was all gone when he went back to buy more, so he's doing the second half in blue/green/purple of the same brand. I think it'll look cool when he's done.