Knit Addictions

The Knitter Force Was With Me

Thank you soooooooo much for the very encouraging and supportive comments. Who knew that a force of knitters would get me through this troublesome weekend?

In spite of the fact that the guitarist quit the night before....we proceeded with our video shoot.........
AND.....I think it will look awesome.

And you know what else?
We had a blast.
Nobody was there complaining.
We did miss our bassplayer........but he was there in his Virtual Brian way.
:-)

I DID wear a little wristband that I knit!

Now, ...warning...for those of you that know me...I look pretty evil in this shot. I am wearing Alice Cooper style makeup and well, it's pretty intense looking!
You know it's just my alter ego. ;-)

Here is one of the more evil shots from the shoot...........

And the more friendly "post shoot" picture....

I will upload more tomorrow as I'm out the door to see Fahrenheit 9/11 today.

cheers and again........
thank you to Lori, Karen, Allison and Jessica and well, ...let's just say this.........knitters are unusually caring people.

You all rock.

Murphy's Law

Well, just when I was getting over being depressed about my father's ill health and really doing my best to deal with all of those emotions.........we got a call from our guitarist......
he quit.
I won't go in to the reasons why cuz no matter what he said, I'm pissed off.
We've just spent every last fucking dime we have on this band.
To make the record.
To mix the record.
To master the record.

and TOMORROWWWWWWWWWW
we are scheduled to shoot a fucking video.
and he announces he doesn't have time to be in a band anymore.
he's got a big job to make lots of money.
well you know what?

Proactive works.

We're just talked to our bassplayer and we all agreed. We're a three piece again until we find the right person. and THIS TIME.........we will find someone who WANTS to be in the band instead of making us feel like they're doing us a favor.

As I speak, Bam is removing Luke from all traces of artwork for the album. He has already done the cover.

Feels good.
I knew it was coming anyway.

Sorta like when a guy breaks up with you that you know you were gonna break up with anyway? But you're pissed cuz he breaks up the night before you take him home to meet your parents. So now you've got to think about how to deal with the situation.

Well, that's kinda how I feel.

Anyway, this isn't knit related,.........but I had to rant.

All things happen for a reason.

Onward.
Upward.

Fix It In the Mix

In recording bands, whenever something goes a little wrong like a member makes a mistake, the old adage....we will fix it in the mix' is applied. It's an old cliche that is a cliche cuz it's true! However, if it applied to knitting I would be a lot happier!

Lately, I've been knitting all these little things. A bundle of wristbands and then last night, I went for a choker. My problem is, I'm so damn impatient, I don't really truly verify my gauge. Sooooo...you all know where this is leading. I have one wristband too big, one too small, and finally, one just right!

I now have a lovely black choker with a white heart in the middle that will not nearly go around my neck!!! Ha!

Here's me trying to stretch with my feet to make it become 12 inches instead of the 9 inches it currently is.

Plus, I realized I just don't get how to do a button hole. Do I use a yarn over? Do I bind off and then attempt some crazy cast on method midway through? That is what I did and it just looks wrong to me.

I need a magic knitting studio where my mistakes can all be magically corrected!

**SIDE NOTE:**
while I took those pics...Bam watched and was laughing...."I'm not getting involved in this!"

Virtual Brian
Bam has been working like a fiend to plan our video shoot for next to no money. We have 3 (or four?) cameras lined up. All borrowed except for one. He has created the shot list and planned a list of stuff for his el cheapo green screen. Here is a piccie of me with VB (affectionately nicknamed for Virtual Brian). This just keeps getting funnier.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the most sumptious lunch prepared by Bam. Grilled chicken on a bed of mache lettuce with sauteed peppers and lightly drizzled with organic yogurt/lemon dressing.

Ooh lala.

Moody Blues and a Free Pattern!

Before I address the annoyance of moods.........
Shout outs to Jessica~ for the awesome comments.
Kim~thank you for your comments. To answer your question, no, I do not post when I am in a miserable, "I feel so sorry for myself" state of mind. I just can't stand to read it later on!!!!!
Catheryn~Rock on sistah! Glad you got yerself a blog and I'm a-comin' over to yer neck o' the woods to check YOU out! :-)

Ya wanna know why moods suck?
Well, it's obvious, isn't it?
I mean, they paralyze, they destroy, our own minds trick us into believing that ACTION is pointless. This is bad. This is very very bad.

OY VAY!
I have two main mottos that I seriously live by as much as possible:
1. Leap from love, fall from fear.
2. Be proactive.

Well, I was falling into a black hole chockful of vicious fear last week. I've climbed out by being 'proactive.'
Baby, I'M BACK AND I'M BAAAAAAAAAAD!
Meow.

ONTO THE KNIT
To make up for my absence, I'm including a free pattern for my placemat.
It's not anymore outdoor than indoor but since our table is outside, that's what I'm gonna use it for so that's what it's called. he he.
First, the pic of the finished placemat with all of its glorious mistakes. I really don't give a toss about its imperfections as it's gonna get totally used and abused anyway. But for future ones, I would consider knitting with TWO yarns at once to speed it up. (Ms. Impatient here!)

I wish I would've used a 4 row seed stitch pattern. (I used 3 rows.)
If you're interested, the pattern SHOULD be:

OUTDOOR PLACEMAT

Materials:
2 balls of heavy worsted cotton (varies based on YOUR size of placemat)
US #7 needles

Cast on 75 (or any number of ODD) stitches of heavy worsted dishcloth cotton. (Sugar n Cream, Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton...etc)
Row 1: K1, P1 to end. should end with K1.
Row 2: Repeat Row 1. (creating seed stitch border)
Row 3: Repeat Row 1.
Row 4: Repeat Row 1.
Row 5: K1, P1, K1, P1. Knit this row UNTIL there are 4 stitches left. K1, P1, K1, P1.
Row 6: K1, P1, K1, P1. *K1, slip1*. Repeat ** UNTIL there are 4 stitches left. K1, P1, K1, P1.
Row 7: Repeat Row 5.
Row 8: K1, P1, K1, P1. K2, *slip1, K1*. Repeat ** Until there are 4 stitches left. K1, P1, K1, P1.

Carry on knitting Rows 5 - 8.

When the placemat gets to your desired length, end with Row 8 and switch to Seed stitch for last 4 rows.
Cast off in seed stitch pattern and weave in ends.

**NOTE: to slip the stitch, slip it purlwise but do NOT move the yarn to the front. In other words, put your needle through the front of it and then just slip it on over. You can slip it knitwise, too for a different effect! This will twist and make a tighter fabric.

Yearning
I am coveting this yarn from Elann. I think the Rose and the Graphite works with my general color schemes. But alas. No funds for this just yet.

I did just buy some more Cascade Pearls from Stitch Cafe. I am fascinated with this yarn.

The Rock n Roll Side of Life
Bam just called me into the driveway where I helped him spray mount a life size black and white print of Brian our bassplayer onto foam core. See....he has to leave today for 5 weeks and we really need to shoot a music video for some opportunities in England. So Bam wrote a storyboard involving a 'Virtual Brian'! It's truly hilarious. VB is currently hanging out near our guest bathroom. Too funny.

In case you're interested, the band we just finished recording is Silver Needle. Their bassplayer, Johnny 99 is a good friend who helped us out when our band first started. Over on their site, you can see a video clip that Bam did for them on their downloadable music/video page. You'll see the link for "promo clip by BAM13."

For any of you who live in LA area, Johnny 99 runs a wickedly cool rock n roll club every Tuesday night at Zen Sushi in Silverlake. It's called Kiss or Kill and if you like down n dirty rock n sweat n roll, this is your hang.

Just Fun
Want a great place to learn and expand your brain cells?
I love this place: How Stuff Works.

Back to Reality
But for now.....rent and boring old bills are yanking back to the grind. To my fellow fiber freaks of this faux terra firma, I bid you adieu.

News, news and more news!

Sorry for the long disappearance. It usually means I've been severely depressed and I hate to post when I'm like that. I'm bouncing back now..............

First....the World News
Mike Melvill manned a non-government space craft into the atmosphere. My fave part? The pilot, Mr. Melvill is 62 years old!!!! This made me smile.

Somehow this just blows me away. I would love to see Earth from afar. Imagine that.

Then.... the Bubble News
We are filming a music video this weekend. Bam is directing and has storyboarded it. With the help of fans and friends, we are getting the whole thing done for around $500. Complete with green screen. Insanity. I love it. I'm so excited about it!

The Knit News
Y'all know about the first book by Debbie Stoller, right? Stitch n Bitch. Well, she is doing a sequel titled Stitch n Bitch Nation and yours truly has a design in it! I cannot quite believe it yet but it is true. (I've emailed Debbie to verify the confirmation enough times to drive her crazy.) I can't tell you which thing it is, but suffice to say, it has boosted my knitting obsession to a new all-time high.

The Yarn News
Received shipments of Tagliatelli in Fire, and Sirdar Snowflake in Red and Purple. Purchased some more Cascade Pearls....love that stuff. Have my eye on more Tagliatelli....just can't get enough of their oversaturated colors.

Other News
David Bowie had to leave the stage early in Prague due to a shoulder injury. (made me think of Bam.) But damn. Is this not one of the finest looking punk n rock n roll wild jackets you've ever seen? I think I know who the designer is....Cosa Nostra here in LA. Love it.

Work News
Had to attend a seminar last week. Actually learned some cool stuff that applies to life and have used the techniques in my job to good use, too. I have been awfully busy recording another band, building two websites, and all the other usual day to day that fills our lives.

The Bad News
My dad is doing not so great.

The Bad Knit News
I've had zero time to knit.

That's my report for now.
Keep it fresh.
Keep it real.
Keep it DIRTY!!!!!!
ha ha ha ha!

Too Quiet!

Well, I haven't been able to post at all lately!

More coming later...............
Rock n roll, knitting....recording another band, workin the day job, building websites.

Am I tired?
Yes.
I slept for 14 hours last night.
ha ha!!!!

So once I wake up from my coma, I will take pics and post a REAL post.

xx
over and out.

Short n Sweet

Well, it was good to visit the midwest homestead but it's nice to be back in the urban jungle.

We cooked a lot of yummy food for my parents and that was nice. Quite frankly, it's hard to see the folks aging and I feel really really melancholy right now. So I'll be brief.

In the Fiber Front
I didn't get much knitting done there except for one time when my dad and I were alone in the house. I sat on the edge of the couch and worked away on my placemat while he tipped back in his chair and reminisced about his days as a CEO of a big company. He had worked his way up from plant manager and didn't have a college degree and he told me some great stories about things that happened and how he utilized his excellent people reading skills and his diplomacy to achieve the success he did and also, to build loyalty within his company and co-workers. It's nice to have a dad I can look up to and I was happy to listen and keep him busy telling me proud memories. I think the knitting helped him loosen up so he didn't feel pressure to sit and answer questions. When there was silence, there was just silence. And that was okay.

Here at Home
Bam built me a porch off of my office and it is sooooooo nice! We loaded it up with plants and it is keeping my office much cooler instead of getting over 110 every afternoon like last summer. What a guy!

Well, I will just end with a positive note to say that I found it comforting to click on everyone's blog link tonight and read up on your projects. Even though our worlds may be miles apart at times, we have a strong connecting thread through the yarn. :-)

To answer the pie question........you're right! I'm not a pie fan, but I had to try that apple pie as the crust just looked too good to pass up. I didn't eat much of it after that. Now.......had it been super crunchy chocolate chip cookies or crunchy oatmeal raisin cookies.........well, that would've been different!

I'm apple-pie-ing it!

Yep. Yessir. You betcha. In the heartland, they do things differently.

This Could Only Happen In Minnesota
There I was in a somewhat grumpy mood after my attempt at dinner for the family and quite frankly, the pasta dish I made truly and utterly sucked. I barely ate one small serving and then had to go back to work for a few hours (yes, I work from here) and by 10 pm, my stomach was growling very loudly! So I went to my fave Trader Joe's substitute: Byerly's. It's open 24 hours which is a plus and even though their prices are higher than what I'm used to, they have a proper selection of produce and organic foods. yum.

Anyway, I went all over the store picking up yummy foods and couldn't find my beloved Rice Milk. This is tragic in my life as I use it in my coffee and without my coffee I'm useless. So you can imagine the urgent state I was in by the time I finally asked some employees at the checkout, "Excuse me, where is the Rice Milk?"

A very friendly response from them put me in the right direction where I loaded up on the Imagine Vanilla Enriched Rice Dream. (this stuff heats up great for you coffee lovers who don't want dairy.)

On my way back to the check out, I stopped at the birthday card section and found a couple of cards for my dad's 78th bday tomorrow. As I was reading them, the store manager walked over to make sure I'd found the rice milk. (service, right?) Then, he wandered off and came back with an enormous apple pie in his hand and offered it to me, courtesy of Byerly's! I was happy to accept as Bam arrives tonight and apple pie is his favorite thing! Not to mention, the hoards of relatives that will be descending and that story will get told over and over and over and over. It's a Minnesota thing, ya know!

If you can see a piece missing, well, ya know, I had to try it out last night to make sure it was alright.
It is.
It's very good.
Yes, indeed.

Which WIP to Knit?
Here's what was laid out on my bed last night.

On the upper left is the tank top, then below that is the placemat, then the black thing is another BamScarf, and the Star is LULU's sweater. I keep knitting a few rows of one thing and then switching to another project! I suppose eventually they will all get done.

Blog Comments and A Question on the Etiquette
Well, I don't know the best way to answer the questions in the comments. Should I respond in there? Do the commenters ever go back to search for answers? Should I respond in their blogs comment section? Should I answer in an email?

I DON'T KNOW!

If there is a definitive answer, please let me know.

For now.......
The camera is a Nikon Coolpix 3200. I love it.
Yes, I will be taking waaaaaaaay too many ridiculous pics with it.
I love that, too.

Okay. Gotta go tend to tonight's foray into ........
(hear the voice of Lost In Space narrator dude now)
Share's New Dinner Adventure!!!
Danger, Danger!!!!! Will Robinson! Danger, Danger!

Let's hope this one is more edible than last night's!

Oh yah. Life is Goot Here!

Well, yah. Hallo Dare. Yah, it's vary Scandihoovian here, yah.

It's also raining and thunderstorming (is that a verb...probably not but it is for me) and I love it!

I got a digital camera yesterday and here's my first post with it:

Click to Enlarge

It's one of the two wristbands I knit on the plane here. I did discover that the yarn has a bit more give than I anticipated so this would be for someone with a much larger wrist than moi! ha! Ah well. I plan to knit another one or several with way less stitches so it can only go faster, right?

I did some rows on my placemat, the Lulu Baby Sweater (Rowan design and yarn) and the Shapely Tank Top. I'm a-gettin' there.

I guess I feel a bit quieter here and not too good at the blog posts.

Over and out with rain and thunder. Or as we say......oh my, honestly, I can't remember a June with this much rain. Oh no. Yah. Sure. Me neeeder, yah, you betcha.

Land o' Humid Lakes

So here I am in Minnesota, Land of a Thousand Lakes and Land of a Million Mosquitos. Ha! I think I managed a bite on my earlobe. ouch.

I did take my advice about knitting on the plane on the way here and I highly recommend to anyone who is flying and wants to knit........use your short knitting needles or circulars! Way way easy! I only poked my neighbor dude like twice during a 4 hour flight. Poor guy. I did manage to wake him up out of a dead sleep. Once when the short needle found its way over to jab him and at least twice when my yarn went flying out of my lap and I scrambled to get it off the floor. ha! Funny stuff.

The cool thing is that I managed to knit up two (yep, count 'em, 2, two, dos, or however you spell it?) wristbands. Stripy pink(duh?) cool looking wristbands. I have not seamed them up yet as if you know me, you know I abhore finishing. But I will. I showed them to my 19 year old uber fashionable niece who thought they were tres cool. So that's a good sign. I used these two yarns and am very thrilled with the result.
Cascade Pearls in the pink 3664 color and the other stripe in the Sirdar Sorrento in Party Pink.
For now, you will have to picture it in your mind but I might have a camera later!!!!!

She Wore an Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot KNITKINI
For amazing knit-kini's ....I discovered Ashley Paige last night. Look at the Spring 2004 collection. I was inspired enough to write her an email and she even wrote back to me! How cool is that?

But be forewarned, the models will make you feel fat. Very fat. ;-)

Mom and Dad
Well, life is mellow here in Minnesota. I've got lots of work to do and am having a hard time getting it done. Plans to purchase a digital camera are getting serious which you KNOW would make this here blog come to life in such a great way. Then there's the websites I am building. I've got to finish up all the day job garbagio and then, maybe, just maybe I can squeeze in some time on the cyber jobs. Egads.

My dad is still hanging in there. It's his 78th birthday on Friday, June 11th. He has a great sense of humor, very dry and still has me laughing. My mom is so wonderfully sincere and loving and PATIENT, it never ceases to amaze me. I played her some tracks from the Triplettes De Belleville cd and she loved them, of course. I want her to see the film and brought it with me. Hopefully, she will feel well enough to view it.

Missing the Man and the Gang
I must admit, I feel so happy in my life at home. I miss my Bam and I will miss my knit hang at the Stitch Cafe tonight. If any of you lot read this,.............I'm there in spirit!

Okay. This has been one of my 'reporting LIVE from Minnesota' posts!
oh sure.
okey dokey.
oh, well, I'll only have some coffee if you're having some.
I mean, if it's already made ya know. yah. sure.

I haven't been ootside yet, but I think it's pretty warm, ya know. yah.
you betcha.