Knit Addictions

WARNING: This post should be censored for indecency!

How ironic that Superbowl has seen a boob. Hello? Football cheerleaders show everything but their ass cracks.

Boob, tit, breast, jug, knockers. IT IS JUST A BODY PART. The more afraid of our bodies we get, the more retarded we become.

This country is driving me crazy.

No smoking in public in California.
No dogs on the beach.
No dogs in restaurants.
No gay marriages.

No swearing on TV?
Fuckity, fuckity, fuckity, fuckity FUCK!
Ya see? It's just a goddamn fucking WORD!

Pretty soon there will be a tax on the air we breathe. Guarantee it.

Here is George Carlin's take on the state of affairs. I simply cannot put my rage in to words as well as he can.

Rock on, George. Even in his 60's he is a sexy icon just for being so damn cool.

America's culture? CAPITALISM. That is what drives our society to hell in a handbasket.

I say, more knitting, less commercialism. More independent creators, less advertising.
Take away the power of commercials and you would change the entire continent. If we could become more concerned with quality instead of quantity, goodness instead of consumerism....actual NEED instead of WANT... ah ...well.

hmmmmm..........Southern Italy is looking very appealing right now. Or maybe the British Virgin Islands?

Mood: feisty

Confession: I had to vent here because I'm on my way to conservative, right wing Minnesota today and will have to keep my opinions to myself for the most part.

On the Sticks!

Here's what's goin' on in my knittin' life:

1. BAM13 sweater. This is supposed to be like the punk scarf I made for Bam. But of course, the extra yarn came and it's the same colorway, different dye lot. ewwwwwwww. tres different. So I've reconciled myself to the fact that I will use the alternate dye lot to make the sleeves.
Progress report:

Colinette Tagliatelli in Zebra knit with Sirdar Snowflake black.
Them thar needles is the bigguns. Size 35 circulars.
I thought it would be easy to knit but it's actually hard to control. I find I have to concentrate to make sure I get both bits of yarn and somehow, it's just sort of slow going. Of course, the stitches add up quickly!

2. LULU sweater. I'm using a pattern for this by Kim Hargreaves. (Rowan) That's the back piece you can see all finished. The other bit is the front. I have a long way to go but I'm loving this and find it to be the most zen piece I'm working on. Something about knitting for babies/children.....

It's hard to see in the pic but it's just a stockinette/ribbed stitch. Wait til I get to the star!!!!!!

3. EMMA scarf. A simple purple/cream ribbed scarf. You'll see I leave the ends a-danglin' til I have to weave them. This is for a 13 year old English girl with gorgeous red hair. I hope she likes it!

4. Oh! This one is done but here's a pic.....This is for Charlotte. My eldest step daughter. Gorgeous brunette English babe. This was knit with two Lion Brands in Chunky (pink/black) along with white Fun Fur. My only regret...it sure woulda looked cooler if I hadn't made it so wide. argh.

In the wings...I've ordered the yarn for our mix engineer so I can make him a pair of fingerless gloves and a matching hat. He wears beanies and fishermans hats all the time.

It knits at 15 st/4 inch and is an Italian/Macedonia Cotton/Acrylic Blend.
Found it on Elann for a STEAL!

Well, I'm off for another trip to Minnesota tomorrow. BIG surprise birthday party for my mom on Sunday!

Mood: mellow.

Confession: Now I have to learn to crochet. When will this addiction end?

Movies: Haven't had time!

I Promise to Tell the Knittin, the Whole Knittin', and Nothin' But the Knittin'!

Okay. Enough music rants for a few days. Whew.

On the needles:
The Bam Punk Sweater. (see blog entry: Hey Mom, I'm Gonna Be On TV - March 5)
I've stumbled into two problems... First, I ordered more of the Tagliatelli colorway (zebra) from ebay as my store was out of it. EEEEE. It TOTALLY does not match. We're talkin' waaaaay different here. Now my loving hubby does not care and has already said he will be thrilled to wear ANY sweater I manage to make for him. But I care. So I'm thinking, maybe I can get away with using what I have left for the rest of the back and doing the front and then use that 'other' zebra for the sleeves. Since I'm using it with a black furry yarn, maybe it will look kinda cool like that.

That is dilemma numero uno.

Then, onto problem 2....I just don't want it to be 'boxy'. (I know that's for a kid but I do not want that shape. ewwww.) So I have been reading every pattern of every sweater but still have not found one where the gauge was 2 st = 1". Open to ideas there. If I'm worrying over nothing, then so be it. If I should decrease by 1 st for the armholes, cool. I'm down with that. But what about the neck? EEEEEEEEEE.

Those two questions are actually keeping me awake at night.

Lame, I know.

Well, also on the needles, my mom's scarf. Just a simple off white Boucle by Lion Brand. Very simple. It's her 75th birthday and her sister phoned me to organize a huge surprise party for her. Isn't that cool? So I'm back on a plane on Saturday and then 50 Minnesotans (yes, with that 'Fargo' accent) will be arriving with pot luck to celebrate my mom's big birthday. Talk about an adjustment from our lovely little LA rock n roll eccentric existence! Ha!

The really good news is that my mom's lung cancer has been very much in remission these days. My dad has been using an Anodyne Therapy machine which I heard about and talked them into getting. It has been helping his Peripheral Neuropathy a LOT. So that's good, too.

The mom scarf will be the project on the airplane. (one has to plan these things.)

Also on the needles........the last of the scarves to be shipped to England. This one is for my step girls' sister! She asked for rainbow but I gave up on that concept and moved into a pretty purple with little creamy stripes in good ole Lion Brand Chunky USA. Ribbed, of course and this time I remembered to do a selvedge edge which I discovered looks kinda weird with ribbing but live and learn. It's going along quickly so I'm happy because we need to ship that box soon!

And still on the needles, the baby star sweater by Rowan. The back is done and I'm past the ribbing on the front and a few rows in to stockinette. I will get some serious time on this little cute thing while I'm in Minnesota. At least, I think I will!

Meanwhile, I keep drooling over the Rowan membership and wondering if I should join. I just don't know if I could make use of it fully yet. I am struggling with finding time to do the small amount of knitting that I do and the band has to come first. Ideally, the band gets to the place where we're on tour again. Just think of all those hours one needs to kill on a tour bus! What a perfect existence. *sigh.

Anyway, just came back from the local knit group. Fun. Lotsa new people. Those socks and those wristbands...tiny yarn, tiny needles. wow. Very inspiring. Everytime I go to the meeting, I learn something new. Tonight I saw double pointeds used with Fair Isle (that carrying the yarn in BOTH hands two color) technique up close. It was not as scary as I thought it would be. Last week I finally understood what they mean by 'carry the yarn' when you have like two rows of each color. Light bulbs going off all the time here!

Mood: content.

Confession: I ate too many ginger snaps from Trader Joes today and I feel kinda sugar overloaded.

Movies: Started to watch Monty Python's, "The Meaning of Life" for the millionth time and was too tired. But it is still hilarious.

What's wrong with rock n roll today!

Here is what showed up in my email today:

17-27 YEAR OLD GORGEOUS/SEXY FEMALE that is more Joan Jett than Britney Spears wanted by supergroup currently being developed by a renowned studio/production team/Warner Brothers record label.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A STAR, but without the ego. She will not be the only star in the band - the group will have one, possibly two male stars, in addition to the girl we're looking for. The right candidate needs to have an amazing voice, incredible stage presence and the "IT" factor.

NO BRITNEY/POP SINGERS, PLEASE!
This is NOT a bubble gum group, this is the real deal; balls to the wall, melodic, sexy, in your face hard rock'n roll, with drums, bass, guitars, the whole package. The concept, is very different, however.

THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!
There is major push behind this - this is not your typical Hollywood "producer project", this is an actual deal that will get pushed and released in 2004. The backers/label are planning on making this group the next big thing and will use all their power and resources to do it.

OH! I'm so excited! Imagine a BACKSTREET BOYS meets FLEETWOOD MAC! Oh how awesome. Or, BOYZ TO MEN meets PINK! oh! Wow. I can hardly wait. More fake muzak posing as 'rock' now.

First of all.......c'mon........a manufactured Joan Jett? So is this wonder chick gonna play guitar, too? I noticed they left that out of the ad.

I love how it says, 'this is not your typical Hollywood producer project'. Really? So is it a real band? I don't think so.

Hey, record labels and record execs....STOP MANUFACTURING THIS CRAP AND START SIGNING REAL BANDS AGAIN.

THESE types of ads pop up every week! Isn't it disgusting? Is it any wonder that we, the public are subject to a load of crap?

I swear, the one thing the music industry forgets is that what makes GREAT music is PASSION. Not a pretty face. Not a 'put together' band who have their songs WRITTEN FOR THEM! Not the ego of some bigshot producer and his latest dream for 'something totally different'.

Great rock n roll comes from the soul.

Can you tell how pissed off I get at this crap?

I just had to share this one with my fellow knitters/bloggers.
Hope it makes you as blood red mad as it made me.

ON ANOTHER NOTE.....here is a link to some pics with Vickie Howell during my Knitty Gritty taping!

Mood: knitting with intensity.

I welcome your comments........actually cannot wait to read what you all say about this truly insulting music ad.

Turn it UP!

Had a rock n roll weekend. Yeah, baby.

Hung out with Cesar Martin of Spain's Popular One magazine. Awesome supporter of true rock n roll. We played him the mixes and he agreed it was our most rawkus album to date. He brought along his gal pal, Rachel Arieff and she was a riot! Check out her unique comedy stylings for a hearty laugh! Bam and I are planning to go see her show in Hollywood tonight before she packs up and moves to Spain in May.

And have I even mentioned the kind of food Bam creates? Yesterday's simple barbecue was this menu:
French bread served with freshly made Bruschette
Spanish Potato Salad (including yummy fattening organic mayonaisse)
Chicken breasts on the barbecue served with a tomato/olive tapenade/red wine sauce
Lamb served with the same sauce
Carrots/French Green Beans/Olives lightly sauteed in butter and herbs

After dinner, we served french pressed coffee with heated vanilla rice milk.

Is it any wonder I like to knit for this man?????

Funny thing........while I was busy doing the knitting show, Knitty Gritty, Bam was busy doing an interview with this guy! You'll see the mention where I break into their conversation with my call to talk about the show taping! ha ha.

Knitwise......I did not make it to the annual Stitches from the Heart sale yesterday because Cesar was coming over and there was a lot to do prep wise before hand. Ah well.........rock n roll comes before knitting you see.

But I have made progress on the Bam punk sweater and a little progress on the baby star sweater. Alas, my digital camera which was given to me has found its way to the trash can where it lies peacefully not working anymore. :-(

Knitting has taught me one thing.....stitch by stitch....you will eventually get it done.

Sort of like mixing this record.....song by song, .....it will all get done!

Whew.

Speaking again of the record....here is the new cover:

Well, I guess I've rambled enough. I'm gonna go knit now.

Mood: relaxed. It's VERY hot in LA today.

Confession: I love sundays like this.

Movies knitted to: Blood Simple. Early Coen brothers writing and the first Francis McDormand film. Excellent stuff. Very black comedy twisted.

Hey Mom, I'm gonna be on TV!

Yep. I did the new KNITTY GRITTY show with host Vickie Howell. Even wrote a little ditty for it. Too funny. Vickie is a fab host and any dudes..........she is a hottie. So look out. The crew were pros and of course, worked to make us knitsters feel comfortable. I ended up at the front table next to Vickie being her guest and watching her do her stuff on the Knitty Cam. It was great to see her knitting up close and I learned how to make an increase along with just the simple pleasure of watching a pro knit right next to me. Very cool and inspiring in that knitting addict way.

The show will be the second episode and they start airing sometime in July on the DIY Network.

A quick hello to all the comments on the last post. Thank you everyone for ranting on your own. I think that knitting indicates the presence of an independent mind. Your comments certainly confirmed that and the knitting craze would then lead me to believe that there are a LOT of frustrated folks out there who are sick of the crap the radio/mtv/record labels shove down our throats. Makes me think maybe Bubble even has a chance. ??? In any event, like any alien on a lonely planet, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Speaking of planets.......had an interesting conversation with my partner in all crime, Bam. If time was a football field, then the human race is the tiny tip of a size 0000 knitting needle on that football field.

Dinosaurs were here LONGER than the entire existence of man. Sharks have been here since long before dinosaurs.

Makes you wonder, don't it?

Well, onto knitting.......I started the front of the baby star sweater courtesy Rowan. My digi cam is totally on the blink or else it just needs batteries! So as soon as that's fixed...........photos are acomin.

Got a ton of scarves on the go. One in simple off white homespun thanks to Lion Brand for my mom's bday. One wild punky one for step girl, Charlotte's bday. And more that I can't even remember right now.

But the big knitting news........I now have in my greedy posession.......the size 35 circular needles. har! Now I can make the ultra piratey, punky sweater for Bam! Johnny Depp.......eat your heart out.

here is my photoshop version of the dream sweater.....

Mood: Mischievous.

Confession: sung to KISS "Rock n roll all night...." I wanna knit and purl all night. And party everyday."

Movies knitted to: Mostly Martha. German film about an uptight chef who has to open up her soul. I love gourmet food flicks as Bam is an amazing chef. This one is no exception. But it is hard to get past the guttural German language. I actually thought it was a french film when I rented it. Ah well. No offense to any German speaking people..but c'mon. French is just sexier. The film is still cool in that grown up - Euro sort of way.

The Age of Reason...or Lack Thereof.

My favorite cartoon character is Daffy Duck. Reason being....he is the 5 year old inside all of us. He personifies our little voice saying......it's my birthday cake, why should I have to share it? Can't I just eat all of it? And, hey, how come Bugs Bunny has a dressing room with a star on it and I have the broom closet?

Daffy is the most selfish, incorrect being in the cartoon world and I love him for it! He acts without thinking. He speaks with complete disregard for anyone's feelings. He truly is the center of his universe.

With Daffy in mind.....I must rant about the state of the music scene, radio, business, etc. Basically, the choices of music available to us today and how it is presented really pisses me off!

Because I strive to be real, have integrity and give a shit about our music, style and everything else to do with it........okay. First major bitch ....The DISTILLERS. C'mon. This chick has slept her way to the top just like any Hollywood bimbo does. First, the dude in Rancid marries her and poof, she gets a record deal on his label. Then she shags her producer, then the president of the label and latest she was sleepin' with the dude in Queens of Stone Age. Isn't it coincidental that they got that tour?

Secondly, has NOBODY noticed? She sounds like HOLE? What the F***?

Speaking of HOLE, how come everyone thinks Courtney is so brilliant when she brings in like a zillion 'big name co-songwriters' for every album? What's up with that shit? Write your own songs Courtney. There ain't nothin' special about co-writing with a ton of OUTSIDE writers to come up with hits. Duh? But beyond that, she just rides on the coattails of fame and stupid publicity. Make music. Not headlines.

Which brings us to PINK. Now there's a real rocker. Wow. She plays guitar so well too. I'm so sick of the media giving this chick kudos for bein' a 'woman in rock'. Hello? Am I missing something here or have people forgotten about Chrissie Hynde? Not to mention, the ENDLESS stream of co-writes yet again.

What happened to bands who actually wrote their own rock n roll music and then, guess what? They were qualified to actually play it, too? Damn. Apparently, I've been told by my producer friends in the business that my way of thinking makes me a dinosaur. Well, so be it. At least, I know I built my band's website, I turned every knob to engineer the fucking album, I actually played my own guitar parts and sang without being 'auto tuned' in tune and guess what else? I actually write the songs with Bam who is even a MEMBER in the same band? Wow!

Damn! I just feel like Daffy Duck and screaming about it! What's wrong with this picture? Britney Spears does NOT ROCK!

So who does rock? Jet rock. The Hives rock. I thought the Vines rocked until I looked at their credits and saw that the record was done by session musicians and they're being pawned off on us punters as a band. I'm not so sure I get that one.

Am I jealous of those phoneys and their success? Damn straight. But not cuz I want to be in their shoes. But rather I wish I could get fake tits or sleep around or snort the right drugs with the right hipsters and just do what I know would make me a success. But NOOOOOOOO. Today I feel like I am Daffy and they are all Bugs Bunny! DAMN!

Okay. I feel better now. So much for the AGE OF REASON.

Today....Daffy....I salute you.

In knitting news..........
Tomorrow I go to the valley to be filmed on Knitty Gritty making a guitar strap! Hooray! Wish me luck fellow fiber creators.

Mood: Daffable.

Confession: March is my fave month. It is my birthday month. He he. Hence the Daffy rave.

Movies knitted to: ...we have a television that is only hooked up to a DVD player. So when we discover a TV show that we like, we just rent it. Yes, I hate the media that much. I really hate commercials. Anyway, it's cheesy and silly but I love FIREFLY. Love it!

Shape of Things To Come!

My very first shoulder shaping! I did one side correctly with all of it's CO instructions. Then I got totally confused and had to turn to my fave forum for assistance! Thank you Craft Yarn Council helpers! I learned loads of things the pattern didn't tell me. Whew. Thank God I stopped knitting when I did. I have yet to actually finish the other side but I will be able to do it confidently tonight. It's like having a light bulb go off! ha ha!

For b-day scarves, I started another one yesterday. I just decided to knit with everything so I'm combining black Chunky, baby pink Chunky and white FunFur and knitting it all on size 35 needles. It looks pretty cool and tres punky chic. I almost wish it was for me. LOL! Anyway, it will be for Charlotte, one of my step-daughters in England. She is so gorgeous and I think this will suit her!

Well, my work phone is SLAMMED today so this is short.

Later rockerz.

Mood: even steven. No more cryin'.

Confession: I was the shooter on the grassy knoll.

Movies knitted to: Eyes Wide Shut. What was Stanley Kubrick thinking? A weak attempt at Caligula? I don't know...I could not get into this but kept making fun of it while I knitted away on the baby sweater.