Knit Addictions

Doncha love chaos?

Well.....my god!  I have not posted for ages!
Here is what I have done lately in the knitting part of my life......

This Naturwool made me buy it and knit a hat for one of the promoters in Japan.  The recepient is a cool chick named Sunny who just looks soooooo fabbo in pastels and actually seems like her name.  She is very sunny!

Knit on 10's with a 3/3 pattern.  I shoulda got the circulars as it doesn't look quite as good cuz of the seam.  grrrrrrrrrrr.  ah well.  that's just me bein' cheap isn't it! 

But I can't just give something to one promoter and not the pair of them cuz there's two of them!  The guy is Billy and is an amazing front man of his band called BC Butterfly.  Together him and Sunny run Booster Dragon.
So...........I was going to make him fingerless gloves cuz he wears sooooo many silver rings...but I don't think I'll have time.  So I think I'll give him this very mad scarf ....the Fringed Artiste Scarf!

But since we're on the subject of fingerless gloves.......I have been knitting a few pairs out of various yarns.....here is the latest one from Merino Frappe (made by Crystal Palace). 

Okay!  Whew!  Now my big concern is whether or not I can knit on that 11 hour flight to Japan on Korean Airlines.  I've heard varying things and have yet to actually phone the airline.  I may have to be super organized and carry a self-addressed stamped padded envelope in case they take my stuff off of me.  grrr.  Makes me feel so criminal.  For cryin' out loud!  You could turn a PEN into a weapon.  I just wanna knit on the plane!!!!  ha! 

And to be prepared for Japan, I ordered some makeup online from Strawberrynet.com.  They ship it to look like a present!  Isn't it cute??????????

And do ya notice that shiny wood surface under the makeup????????  Well, it may be a normal thing to most folks.....but in Bam n Share's lives.........this is our first table.  Yep, we've been balancing plates on our laps for 8 years now.  No indoor dining table due to too many hobbies, crafts, arts, computers, instruments etc etc etc .  It's not like we never had the room but once you put in all of the supplies of the bazillions of junk we do.........well, it's never worked.  This time, Bam called me from Ikea and said,..."I HAVE A TABLE.........CLEAR THE DECKS!"  And here she is...............isn't she lovely?

Oh........backing up to the makeup part........
I ordered that stuff before I signed up to sell this stuff.  Hey, it comes in a pink box!  How could I refuse?  And their lip liners and eye liners........oh...and the color 101 sets rule.   Yeah, I'm in to glammy crap....ha! 

so if you need anything..........!  ha!!!!

FAMILY

My dad is waaaaaaay under weight and just still going downhill.  I have to go back there again but just can't think about it what with the band going to Japan.  My mom is holding up okay under the strain and even went and played piano on Valentine's Day to cheer everyone up. (She did that for Xmas too.) 

Bam's dad is in the hospital with pneumonia.  Yep.  The big family wedding down here wiped him out and Bam's mum too.  yikes.  I guess he is doing a little better.  We sent up some Dan Brown paperbacks and he is reading them like a maniac!  Hopefully that will take his mind off being in the stinky hospital.  (hate those places.)

LIFE

I just built this site:  Show the Love.  Check it out...........she is giving her profits to charity.  Very nice stuff!

Well...........my brain is racing at a million miles an hour right now.  Thanks for puttin up with my negligent posting!

A New Year, A New Attitude!

I'm trying to change a lot so bear with me!

THE NEW HOW TO KNIT SECTION
First, I've sorted out a surf list on the right side exclusively for HOW TO KNIT!  Hey, I learned to knit by following along online to videos so I figure, you can too.

THE NEW CYBER ME AND MAYBE YOU
Secondly, I've changed browsers and email programs and if you're on a pc, I suggest you improve your quality of cyber life and make the change.  At first it can be a pain so be ready to make the shift only if you have time!  I'm now using Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for email.  The benefits?  In layman's terms...Firefox uses 'tabbed browsing' so no more switching windows from down at the bottom.  It also remembers everything I want it to!   Other benefits...if you're a web designer, there's a little eye drop color picker you can add on and it will let you know the web color of ANYTHING!  Awesome feature.  For the Thunderbird part....hmmm....it lets me combine all my different identities into one swell program and it comes with a programmable junk mail program.  Very cool.

www.mozilla.org for downloads if you're interested.

THE DAD NEWS
My dad is doing a little better yet again. My mom fought the doctors and got them to put him back on the medication he'd been on before he got so out of it.  Good ole ma!!!!  They agreed to do it 'against their better judgement'.  But my mom stood up for herself and said, "I think I know my husband of fifty years a little better than you!"  I'm proud of her.  It's not like he's gonna be coming home or anything but at least he is a little more comfortable.  Whew.

KNIT NEWS
I'm going to TNNA this Sunday and planning to hook up with a few fiber homeys while I'm there.  Should be interesting and hopefully inspiring!  Been knitting up some new designs of my own and winning a few and losing a few.  At least with knitting, when you 'lose', you always learn something! ha!

BAND MADNESS
Got a Hollywood gig tomorrow night!  yahoo.  Should be fun and decadently wild in that smoky, hazy, sleezy Hollyweird sort of way. 

FAMILY CHAOS
This time...it's Bam's family and not mine!  His brother is getting married to our wedding photographer in 10 days so Bam's mum and dad are flying in tomorrow AND....it's his dad's 83rd birthday tomorrow as well!  So life is getting a little bit mad overall right now.

FOR THE RECORD
I think it's safe to say I'm out of the blue funk I was swimming in during the holidays.  I think...next year...Bam and I will go someplace far far away.  I just can't handle the holidays.  I know everyone has a gripe about them.  There's a thousand reasons why it all got on me and I felt overwhelmed this year...but ...whatever.  Weird how the mind can play tricks on you and turn you into a vegetable isn't it?  Or am I the only moody psycho lunatic out there??????

FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE COLD

On my 'list of crap to do' is taking pictures of loads of the stuff I need for this here blog.  Like the sun shining so brightly today I actually had to go sit in the shade cuz I was boiling!  ha!!!!

Breaking News.....

Or should I say.........Breaking Toes.........

Yes...... Bam has broken his baby toe!  And we've got a gig tomorrow night.  He says that won't stop him........he's played gigs with broken bones before and the show must go on!  But oy vay.  His toe is totally BLACK.  It is so gross.  And swollen. 

HOW TO KNIT
I've noticed a lot of folks find this blog by searching for how to knit.  Here are a couple of sites that are my new faves with videos and great easy ways to learn techniques:

http://www.dnt-inc.com/barhtmls/knittech.html

www.knittinghelp.com

Both sites have loads and loads of info. 

Holiday Ho Ho's!

I went to knit night the other night.........and laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks.  What is it about a few chicks in a room knitting that leads to the most bizarre stories I've ever heard?  Mind you......it doesn't always happen and is most definitely dependent on the company present.  We ended up on a tangent about Hannukah 'donuts' which are known as Sufganiyot.  Lisi ended up phoning Canter's deli to prove that she wasn't making it up and ....it felt like a prank call from my teenage years. 

ON SPEAKERPHONE:  "hello.  Yes, I'm calling to see if you have any left over Hannukah donuts."

"you do?  Well, how many do you have?"

"uh, huh.  Do you sell a lot of Hannukah donuts?  ......uh, huh.  Yes, you only make them for Hannukah right?  I see.  And do you sell a lot of them on Hannukah?  ....Okay.  Thank you. "

Anyway, you probably had to be there as nothing is ever as funny in the translation but my face hurt from laughing.

Just a quick note.........my band is playing tomorrow night at the Scene in Glendale. Onstage at midnight.  Should be a gas and it's our last show of 2004. 

But here's the agenda of shite, stuff, lists, madness and chaos.............

• my stepson Max is arriving tonight
• I need to redo someone's website design for their approval
• I have another website design due....like yesterday
• I finally had my extensions tightened.  (doesn't that sound funny?)
• I need to finish the scarf for my half brother and send it.
• I need to update the Bubble site.  (I really should rebuild the whole thing)
• hmmmmmmmmmmm..........I need to sleep.

Now......I KNOW a ton of folks can waaaaaaaay beat that list.  Like parents for starters?  So I'm not complaining.  Simply sharing.

Here's what I love to do.........

• Knit on the couch while watching the first season of Alias for the second time.
• Eat foods that are bad for me.
• Sleep in.
• Go for bike rides cuz it's warm and sunny right now.  (he he.)
• Knit at the Stitch Cafe.
• Go to matinee films.

I think I was born to be a lazy bastard.  No, really.  I just am so good at doing nothing.  I can surf the internet for HOURS.  Literally hours.  I'll come away with square eyes and know nothing more than when I started except for where that really cool site was that had some style that I want to rip off.  ha!  But when it comes time to design a site.........will I remember?  Heck no.

argh!

Well, this is a rambler post today.  I have piccies to add and no time.  Gotta go do that xmas shop thing before the kid arrives.

At least my hair looks like neapolitan ice cream again.  he he.  happy ho ho's and merry ding dongs.

A Blend of Chemicals

START WITH YARN STORAGE PLASTIC THINGY
As promised ....hmmmmm.......several days ago...........here is a pic of the shoe cubby hole thingy that Bam got for my yarn habit. 

It makes me feel like I have my very own tiny yarn shop! ha!

And here is the finished fan and feather scarf that went off to its recipient today.  (knit in alchemy yarn with a lace mohair.  Very nice combo and I will use that again for something else!)

ADD CONFUSION
I feel blogless. blogally challenged. I am experiencing bloggers block.  My blog needs unclogging. Is there a rotoblogger?  Argh. 

My brain is seriously slowing down right now..............

Sooooooooo...............I shall discuss the ripping sessions last night.

MIX WITH RIPPING MADNESS
REAL ripping.  As in.......I went to knit night and one of the babes asked me what I was working on.  A stripey skirt, I replied.  But I had already ripped it once.  She raised an eyebrow and looked at it and said, "nope.  It's gonna be too wide.  And why aren't you knitting it with circulars so you don't have to seam it?"

I knew she was right.

We always know the truth when we hear it.  I resisted for a little while and then gave in after the whole knitting gang was cheering me on to rip rip rip.

So I ripped.

Then.............I picked up some circs and we all figured out how many I should cast on etc etc etc. 

Then, after I completed one cast on of 139 stitches..........we all realized I should be casting on with smaller needles for the ribbing section.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  RIP it.  Rip it good.  (sung to devo)

But I felt justified later when Lisi, (stitch cafe owner) had to rip the poncho she was knitting for her mum and start it over with a different yarn combo. 

Yes.  I really am that competitive.  Lame aren't I?

I'm just kidding of course.

Well, a little.

ADD A DOSE OF DIRTY RNR AND SHAKE WELL
Anyway, ......after that ..........Bam and I went to the Pretty Pussy club at the Dragonfly and saw Joker Five Speed and Motochrist.  Both were fucking rawkus and we had a really great time.  We're gearing up for our shows next week.  3 gigs in one week.  That's more gigs than we've played all year!  ha!!!!  Hilarious.

Well, it's late......and I'm mesmerizing, hypnotizing and generally calming myself with train tracks from this site:  www.iserenity.com  I know I know.  How much more bleedin' hippie Californian can I get?  hmmmmmmmmmm............can I meditate on that and answer you in the morning when I've read my tea leaves?

PS.
thanks to everyone for your funny comments and heartfelt comments about my little doubts and weird feelings over the message board nonsense at another site.  I'm laughing over it all now.  I loved how it's spawned a "I want to be Courtney" competition! 

Reporting Live...from Motley Crue....

Well, not really live now, is it?  I was there yesterday........but here's my pics...

that last shot of vince smiling and the press making the rock sign.......was cuz the fire marshall had pulled their permit at the last minute and they had to switch from their helicopter grand entrance and make do with a hearse. 

They announced their world tour and Clear Channel also announced that their new single would be a 'hit'. 

The Clear Channel part was pretty scary.  If they decide you've got a smash single, well, you can't really lose, can you?

I also shot a tiny piece of mov footage with my digital camera:
www.planetbubble.com/motleycrue.html

Onto other stuff.........
I have been busy knitting some new designs.  Been busy building websites and ....been busy with the band. 

I recently made the mistake of reading a message board populated by Vixen fans.  Man oh man.  I forgot what it was like to be in the public eye.  People make judgments about you based on an edited one hour show on TV.  Making statements about your life as if they know you.  It's just creepy.   Of course, lots of folks said nice things but we always remember the negative don't we?  My fave negative comment..........somebody said I just wanted to be Courtney.   Hmmmm....I thought....I guess that's why I married an Englishman, learned to knit, engineer my own records, build my own website, and have a great relationship with my parents.  Yeah.  That's it.  I want to be Courtney.  Oh, and did I leave out....we all pretty much go through life wanting to be some icon? 

WHAT?  I don't know anyone who tries to be someone else.
It pissed me off for like a minute and then I had to laugh at the absurdity of all of it. 

I did get in a slump for a second though but not over that.  But because my father is doing even worse now.  sigh.

On a lighter note...........
I watched the Office Special.  Loved it.  I realize I have a strong affinity for TV series that make me squirm from the inappropriate behavior of the characters.  I love Larry David.  I love Arrested Development.  I love Office.  It's like I can't enough of it.  I sit there and scream at the TV set.  I actually HOWL with disgust over their choices.  I love it.  Maybe it's the pent up frustration of living in a so-called politically correct America but on the inside, it is sooooooo NOT politically correct.  We use sex to sell EVERYTHING and then we have church groups making everyone feel guilty about sex.  Oh, you can't say tits on TV but you can say something that means it.  What is the fucking difference people?  A tit is a tit.  Geez.  Get over it.

So, yeah.  I guess that's why I love those shows.  They do and say all the wrong things and I just love that.

Well, after that rave .....and all those pics of motley crue....I must go dream of a way of getting our band on the road.

LAST THOUGHTS ON MOTLEY AND HOW IT SHOULD'VE GONE DOWN.....

Oh?  My only regret yesterday?  I got brave and raised my hand for a 'press' question.  I announced, "Share from TotalRock.com in England.  Do you guys have anything planned for TV or film to tie in with the tour?"

BORING BORING BORING!

Hindsight is 20/20 and here is what I should've said.................

Hey guys, Share formerly of Vixen currently with Bubble and doing moonlighting to report for Total Rock in England.  Hey,.....what are the chances of a band like Bubble getting on a tour like yours?

But no, I played it safe and went with the question that would leave me with my air of mystery.  Or is that anonymity?  Dammit dammit dammit! 

Me and Motley

Alright!  I'm back in the saddle again!  I love being back home in smoggy LA.  I felt like a kid when the plane was descending and I just couldn't stop staring out the window at all those thousands of lights.  It still amazes me. 

So me and Motley Crue!  Yes.  You heard it here first.  No we don't have a tour booked to open for them.  (at least, not yet?)  But TotalRock.com is sending me on a mission.  I am their press correspondent for the Motley Crue press conference and live performance on Monday!  How crazy and whacked out is that?  This will be my first time on THAT side of the press/cameras etc. 

BAM ROCKS
Okay.  So you already know I'm mad about my Bam.  Well, he read my post about trying to figure out a way to store my yarn so I can see it and while I was away, he found a shoe-cubby hole shelving thingy at Home Depot and put it together and stocked it with a ton of my yarn stash.  Could I be any happier?  Well, we're getting another one so my happiness meter will go even higher!  ha!  (can you say.....ever growing yarn stash?)

Photo coming as soon as I can locate our digital camera in our insanely tiny house!

CONFESSION
Knitting sin #1: I bought a machine knit sweater for Bam.  Okay.  Here's my argument.  Since my knitting leans toward the rebellious punky side, I would never knit a normal looking sweater like that.  Plus I would have to use 2mm needles to make something similar and we know THAT is not gonna happen.  Nevertheless, I am praying to the yarn gods for forgiveness.

TO THE COMMENTERS.........
To Tim, thanks dude!  Your xx blog rocks too!  I haven't checked out that Rolling Stone issue but I will and let you know. 

To Jessica, thank you dahlink! You are too kind.  I did get some fondling in of the Koigu but just saw fingerless gloves from the Kersti so I've dived in.

To Wendy, Yah, youuu knowe vut I vas tinkink.  Yah.  I tink youuuu doo.  Vee Nords and Youuuu Svedes, vell, yah.  It's da same tink, yah.  I haf to go make some lefska now. yah.

To Kris, I think it says "God Jul". So it probably is just God Bless.  But I have a twisted mind and prefer to think it says something far more nasty.  Here is what my computer says is correct for my saying:

Kunn all av Deres fiser er stinky med glede.

To Crystal.....thanks doll.  to answer your question about the white scarf....there were two.  One was for my mom.  She loves it and wears it every single day!  The other one was for my step daughter in England.  And she wrote to thank me and says she loves it.  Good luck with your Christmas prezzies!

Madness and Mayhem

First off, thank you to all who have emailed/commented about the BAM13 Sweater in the new SnB Nation book!  I am sooooooo thrilled and excited and still really cannot believe it is in there.  When the first SnB came out it simply never left my side.  I read every word of every page and went to every single person's website/blog and checked them out.  I never in a million years imagined that I would have a pattern in her sequel.  Amazing.

What is even funnier, I remember reading through some of the bios and noticing the pattern was the first pattern for this person.  I distinctly recall getting very annoyed with those people.  ha! 

Well, if it wasn't for Deb's pushing me to get the Bam sweater done, maybe I never would've ventured into this designing arena.  It's crazy and I love it.  So thank you Deb for the chance and the encouragement!  wow!

AND THE WINNER IS....
Well, my niece didn't win Miss Minnesota.  She did have a very fun weekend and I think it was good for her.  Me personally?  I struggled with my feelings of hating the whole thing while I was there and wishing I was doing something else and kept reminding myself that I was there for her.  There was a very genuine moment in the midst of it all that brought it home for me...

They read a letter written from a mother to one of the daughters.  Explaining how the mom felt like an ordinary woman and wondering why she had survived ovarian cancer and why she was on the planet at all.  She went on in her letter to state that seeing her daughter up there made everything worth while and she was proud of her no matter what.  No matter if she won or didn't win. 

The two women received a standing ovation and there was nary a dry eye in the house.   (the daughter didn't win or make the finals but I think she had the biggest prize with her mother's love)

The negatives:

• The whole thing was too long.
• It puts women on some sort of weird place where we all sit and judge their bodies and smiles.  ick.  (or is that just me being negative?)
• It was tooooooooooo long.  Really too long.
• the music sucked ass.
• It wasn't appropriate (and it was too dark) to knit in public.

The positives:

• We got to sit in the front row cuz my niece's best friend's mom was a chaperone for the pageant and they didn't want empty seats at the front.
• My niece didn't bawl or sob when she wasn't picked as a finalist.
• My niece enjoyed herself and seems really happy that she did it.
• It's over.

For any of you keeping score at home, the winner in Miss Minnesota is Carrie Lee.  The Miss Teen Minnesota is Lauren Hindi. 

Interesting fact: All of the 15 semi-finalists in the Miss pageant were in the pageant at least one time before.  Many of them were 'professional' pageant chicks.  Weird, eh?

DAD STUFF
Well, I am here in Minnesota again to visit my dad in the home.  He can no longer hold his head up.  It's so hard to see him like this and I just keep trying to be cheery around him.  He loves all the knitting news and just guffaws every time I talk about knitting. 

PASSING ON THE TORCH
So last year, I taught the same niece, Kat to knit.  This year she taught her best friend, Mara to knit.  We were all sitting around after the big pageant event and  Mara asks Kat..."Can you show me how to cast off my scarf?"

Kat obliged right away and Mara was so excited.  She finished the doubled stranded scarf she'd made.  Her very first knit project!  After I showed her how to weave the ends, she put on her gorgeous new scarf and announced, "I can't believe I made this!  I don't make things!!!!"

That is what knitting is all about.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE
It's freezing here and I'm eager to get back home.  But it's been a nice visit.  I leave on Thursday.  I did manage to make my way to Needlework Unlimited today and met the owner, Karen and the webmistress, Julie.  The store is ENORMOUS and I could've spent hours in there.  If you need yarn in Minneapolis, man oh man, they have it.  And buttons.  And books.  And pretty much anything you can think of.  Very nice people.  Very nice store.

I did end up getting some Koigu Kersti Merino in a black/gray/brown variegated colorway.  (I'm thinkin....fingerless gloves maybe.)

I also had to have some Adrienne Vittadini Nadia yarn in 808 sort of a bluish heather colorway.  This one...I'm thinkin......some sort of vesty thingy to go with jeans maybe.  I'm not sure.  But I had to have it.

you know what I mean.
C'mon. 
Fellow addicts......help me out here.

SHAMELESS BAND PROMOTION
We got another gig added for December.  A FREE all ages show.  (we never get these so we're excited!)  For any of you in Hollywood:

• Dec 14th at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip. Onstage at 11 pm. FREE*ALL AGES*
• Dec 18th at the Scene in Glendale. Onstage at 11:30 pm.  ($7)

Shazza's Last Stand

Well, it's not really my last stand..........but it's my last post from my southern california bohemian love nest before getting on an airplane to freezing cold minnesota. 

GIGNESS
I forgot to mention that Lucinda Williams was at our last show.  She was very sweet although she was maybe a few sheets to the wind.  She dug us which I of course, thought was cool. 

We also are getting added to a couple of shows in Dec/Jan at the Key Club. 

GAMEZ
I always think of the holidays as a great time to play games.  But I never seem to have the time I had when I was a kid to just sit down and spend hours playing everyone at Clue.  Here's a quick fix: www.20q.net  Be warned.....you can waste an unbelievable amount of time trying to stump the computer. 

KNITTING
I've brought waaaaaaay too much yarn with me to Minnesota.  It's gotten so I pack one bag just full of yarn cuz I can never make up my mind.  I am curious though.....anyone have any great storage ideas for stashes?  I have all of mine shoved in boxes and bags in to a closet and it's no fun as I have no clue what's in there. 

Laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Happy holiday weekend, happy sailing, happy shagging, ....happy anything!

Gig Report!

The gig was fabulous.  The best Bubble has ever sounded and the best we've performed.  and.........we had a really good time on stage.  The sound was excellent and overall it was just a great vibe.  Can't wait to play more. 

I have to make this short cuz I'm swamped and apologize for that.  More later.

We filmed the show (of course) and will post another quick video of a song soon. 

Knitwise......I've been knitting quite a bit.  But will be ripping some stuff too.  learn learn learn.

Ah well.

Gotta run!