Massive Fun

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday comments. I feel so loved.

****
The weekend of Nov 5-6 was SO fun it's taken me this long to post about it. I know ... I know ... it's terrible blog etiquette, particularly when other people have posted about it.

My Mom came out for the weekend. Mom and I are all about the New England art chase. Every visit is scheduled around exhibits, craft fairs, museums, and workshops. We map out the places and jump in the car.

Nov. 5: first stop, the Paradise City Arts Festival. It was our second time attending this amazing show, and I always carry my sketch book so I can jot down ideas as I'm sparked. More accurately, I start sketching at the sound of my Mom's voice, "Oh, I love the lines of that. Can you make it for me?" How can I say No?

This year was a little different. Little Man added the most delightful ingredient to the day. I barely had time to sketch. First of all, he had zero interest in the stroller. Seriously, who would? It's so low, you can't see anything down there except adult asses. So I carried him most of the time (not conducive to sketching). In the process I discovered his love of metalwork and abstract landscapes in vibrant colors. He pointed. He identified images (water, moon, sky, cloud, leaf, moon, moon, moon...), he counted obsessively, he exclaimed loudly ("Wow! Oh! Whoah!"). One painter was unimpressed with her two year old fan, but I was the Proudest Mama ever. Mom discovered lithe Man's love of mobiles, and she was one Happy Gramma:



Little Man was most obsessed with Cincinnati artist Chris Seeman and his large metalwork pieces. After Little Man stood in front of one piece counting the moons and stars and repeatedly saying "wow!" for about 10 minutes, I asked the artist if he made little pieces so I could buy one for Little Man's bedroom. He didn't. But he disappeared behind a curtain and emerged with a gift (!!) for Little Man:



Who was the Happiest Mama ever?

While waiting for Gramma to finish looking around, Little Man and I explored the piles of leaves in the grassy islands in the parking lot. We stuck so many leaves in our hair that by the time Gramma emerged, we looked like wood nymphs.

Next stop: The Old Deerfield Craft Fair. Although Mom loved it, there wasn't much for me. Except this exciting new project:

a Needle Felted Pumpkin Kit from Decadent Fibers*


Next stop: Webs and the much-anticipated MamaCate meeting. The moment we entered Webs, Little Man found the huge basket of toys, and Mom disappeared into the store. Yep, my babysitter abandoned me at the precise moment when I planned to sink into wooly goodness. MamaCate found me, and Gramma returned in time to be led down the Enabler's Highway: "Mom, this is Cate; Cate, this is my Mom, Shannon." At that moment the Earth shifted on its axis, and I was knit-bound to my Mother for at least 6 months. By the end of the Mom-Cate Mohair Affair of 2005, I had orders to make one poncho (with explicit modifications) and one shawl for my Mom:

Mohair for the Perfect Pie Shawl from Weekend Knitting*


Mohair for the #31 Multicolor poncho in Filatura Di Crosa's Fall/Winter 2005 Collection*




Shortly after the pile became truly obscene, I squealed like a spoiled little girl, "Mom, I didn't bring you into this amazing yarn store so I could play with toddler toys! You're the babysitter, now come play with your grandson and stop shopping. It's my turn!" Although slapping me would've been justified, Mom shrugged, agreed and plopped down next to the boy. Perhaps she was simply sated and therefore, pliable.

So Cate and I embarked on the clearance hunt for Eris yarn. She introduced me to the extraordinary warehouse room, where I fondled every bolt and skein and ball in sight. [speaking of, I've been meaning to create a list of knitting expressions that would be dirty in other contexts. note to self: the list began here.] Cate found this:

amazing Valley Yarns Brora Softspun Shetland on HUGE discount*


In spite of my bitching about enabling, I am very grateful for this! I can't wait until post-holiday knitting so I can cast on for Eris.

The Webs folks indulged us for a couple minutes past closing time, and when Mom whipped out her credit card, the skies opened and the angles sang. She insisted that since I'll be knitting for her until June, at least she could pay for the supplies.

After our Webs feast, Cate joined us for a Tibetan feast at the Lhasa Cafe. Cate and I met at 4:30pm and parted as friends at 7:30pm. Knitters are the best! [In saying that, I'm actively ignoring her repeated suggestions that I take up dying, spinning and weaving. Did I mentioned that she's Queen Enabler?]

Two hours later Mom, Little Man and I arrived home, and dumped the two huge Webs bags onto the living room floor. It was only then that I fully understood the extent to which Cate is an enabler: this ball mysteriously fell from the bag and rolled across the floor:*



The Mafia: "Hey Mom, what is this?"
Mom: "Well, your friend Cate asked if I liked handknit socks. I told her I liked those colors and she said it was great sock yarn."
My eyes huge, excited and overwhelmed, all I could think to say was "Damn that Cate, I'll be knitting for you until June."

Perhaps I'll camp out at Cate's house and make her help me.


*extra special thanks to Roo for loaning her camera to me while my computer was dead.

Happy Birthday to the Mafia

Now that it's long past my bedtime, it's also officially my birthday.

I'm 31.

I'm a Scorpio. I bet you're not surprised.

I'm fine with my age, it's my ass that could use some youthful vigor.

I'm working toward my goals, but damn if that 20 year old version of myself thought I'd be a lot closer to them. Silly young girl.

I'm tackling the big issues and trying to ignore the small ones.

I'm a Mom. Holy shit, I'm a Mom (?!).

I'm no longer a 'player,' but I love watching hot girls on TV act like sluts and goddesses.

I embrace my craftiness and it's 'trollishness', and I'm glad that I finally accepted creativity as a major part of my life, in spite of what others may think/say.

I love chocolate, and my ass needs to stop complaining about youthful vigor because I'm not giving up chocolate.

I have some lovely photos of my 20 year old ass to prove that it was once youthful. I pledge to gaze at those photos as I grow older [while ingesting large quantities of chocolate].

The 20s were for recreational drugs and attempts at utopia. The 30s are for chocolate and snuggles from a Little Man. The 40s ... well, isn't that a woman's sexual peak?

Do you think about aging and how it's changed you?

Sometimes I'm a follower ...

This is just such a cool toy.



If you're lurking, give a shout out. If you've commented, I'd love to see your face [or the famous painting you've chosen as a mask].

Funny

My computer is dead and my camera is having a relaxing day off at home. I have plenty of knitting and crafting to report, but without my visual backup, I'll just stick with borrowed laughs:

Dianne's blanket

Two months prior to meeting Wifey, her Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Over the next two years, we watched her roller-coaster through treatments, hospital stays, and finally ... as she passed away in her home in Nov. 2001, one month after marrying us. She was 47. She left a husband, four daughters (aged 26, 25, 12, and 9), a career as a poet and professor, and a huge circle of friends.

Somehow four years have passed in a heartbeat, and in spite of only knowing Dianne for 2 difficult years, I still miss her terribly. She was a wonderful, sassy, kind, harsh, generous, tough, bitter, brilliant woman and ... you guessed it ... a knitter.

I picked up this little blanket that she made out of scraps of left-over yarn at some point long ago. It's unraveled, unfinished, partly felted and badly in need of some TLC, much like Dianne's grief stricken family.



Much like I have over the past 4 years, I am picking up a piece of her family, dusting it off, and trying to repair it. Gently, slowly, and with much love and respect.



In honor of Dianne. Wish me luck.

Alexis

Somehow I forgot to report on my dearest Alexis from last week's Martha Stewart's Apprentice. Here she is, in all her dykey glory.



Ms. A -- you are sososo close. Ditch those girly black slides and strap on these:




- weekend update with photos coming soon - hint: there is lots of wool involved!

Art

My Mom, Little Man and I will travel around the state tomorrow visiting arts and crafts festivals, shopping for yarn, and making a much-anticipated connection with another knitblogger. Hooray!

In other news, here's 1 of the million reasons why my Mom rules:



She sent these flowers to my office on Monday as congratulations for passing my CFRE exam. Thanks Mom!

I'm Comin' Out

Lots of changes this week.

1) For several days we thought the camera was lost. Luckily it found its' way home and brought the Halloween pictures with it.

2) Our home computer is officially dead. We're shopping for used parts, but might just buckle and buy a new machine. eek! That's not in the super duper tight 1 income budget!

3) On Monday, I posed for pics with the intention of remaining mysterious Mafia. My insane co-workers held a Halloween party on Monday afternoon. It was hilariously. Here's the crazy pack:



And here's Danielle and me. By the way, my costume was not "angel" but "the embodiment of irony."



4) But today, I'm growing weary of playing Mystery Mafia. For the sake of my son, I won't reveal my home city, or any names. But pictures ... geez, it's getting harder and harder to post pictures without faces. And I don't love my ass enough to keep posting pictures of it. I know I'm a little late for National Coming Out Day, but here's a picture of me (gasp!) and Little Man on our porch last Saturday.



And in Brookline Village on Monday. Isn't he cute?



Yes, I made the costume. Remember the pile of supplies? I used the pattern from his 2004 Lion costume and made the eyes, belly and feet look like a tree frog. I love Halloween.

Shit -- I'm a walking stereotype!

What kind of postmodernist are you!?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are a Gender Nazi. Your boundary-crossing
lifestyle inspires awe in your friends and
colleagues. Or maybe they're just scared you
will kick their asses for using gender-specific
language. Either way, the wife-beater ribbed white tank top* helps.


*Don't even get me started on what a classist elitist misogynist term "wife-beater" is. I hatehatehate it, and I'll be sharing this opinion with the folks at Quizilla.

**thanks to Pinko Feminist Hellcat for supplying this hilarious quiz.



What 20th Century Theorist are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


You are Michel Foucault! You wrote groundbreaking
histories of prisons, hospitals, asylums, and
sex. Interestingly, you thought basically the
same thing about all of them. Your historical
accuracy is a bit dodgy, but that was never
really the point. You were very obsessed with
power roles - so obsessed that you frequented
gay S&M clubs, and died of AIDS in 1984.

**thanks to Engineers Anonymous for this quiz.

Happy Halloween!

Someone sent this picture via email. I think it's funny.

The Ponchette is nearly done. I bound off. It needs a good strong blocking and one small seam, so I expect to finish mid-week. Hooray!

Over the next couple days, please expect many photos of the cutest Little Man in history. Trick or Treating in our neighborhood happened on Saturday night, so there was a mad dash on Saturday morning to complete the costume. There was a little bitching and complaining about the hood (on his part and mine), and the rain put a little damper on the event. But ultimately Little Man had a great time. He traipsed around happily smiling and greeting our new neighbors (i.e. proving that lesbian families are not inherently evil). He sat on our porch and handed out pretzel packets (yeah, we're those kinda dykes). He jumped and ribbited and otherwise acted like a 2 year old frog. It was precious.

And we'll be doing it again tonight. At 4pm, Little Man will arrive at MIT in costume. Many co-workers will rejoice. At 5pm, Little Man will be trolling the streets of Brookline Village. His Aunties and Pepere will rejoice. At 7:30pm, Little Man will collapse into a carseat slumber. Mommies will rejoice. Within a couple days, I will post pictures. The universe will rejoice.

WWMD

My thoughts on last night's Martha Stewart's Apprentice -- will someone please tell Alexis that turtlenecks don't look good on her? Just sayin'. But the legs, nice.



The BFF requested that I post the following picture. She thinks Martha is hot. I am indulgent.

Quickie

Life has been wonderful, but busy, so I'm dashing off a quickie post.

Last weekend: great time with Roo, who wasn't feeling the sewing love, but endured through two pairs of fleece PJ bottoms for each child. They're cute. The kids LOVE them. And when I say LOVE, I mean neither child has worn real pants since Saturday. Two year olds are fickle creatures, so I count this as a big success.

Great time with Alison, who helped me figure out sizing for the Ponchette, shared tales of famous knitwear designers, let me fondle one of her KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (it was much softer than I expected!) blocks for the Great American Aran Afghan (which is stunning!), and endured the monumental increase in household energy when Little Man woke from his much-needed nap and Wifey walked into the house with her two little sisters (aged 13 & 16, and easily two of my favorite people in spite of their age).

Some sewing on the frog Halloween costume. I must hurry up and finish this. There will be Trick or Treating in our neighborhood on Saturday night and more ToTing in Pepere & Auntiesneighborhood on Monday night.

And finally, the thing you've been waiting for -- a 90% finished Ponchette (next to Interweave Knits for scale)!



And a close-up:



I confess to a misguided notion that I was finished after 6 repeats, as opposed to the recommended 8 and binding off and blocking on Sunday night. But alas, I was wrong. Once again smacked down by my knitting. So I put it back on the needles and committed to another repeat. Oh yes, there was this little misunderstanding involving:
1) Mafia being entirely unclear as to what an "around the outside of the arms/shoulder" measurement is
2) two cell phones in different states
3) the intended recipient, who I will not name BFF&ExGF#2for the purpose of maintaining her dignity,
4) a tape measure
5) an around-the-shoulder measurement of 32"
6) Mafia scratching her head for two weeks about the ability of any human woman to be 32" all the way around when her own left thigh is 29" (yes, I measured)
7) several assurances from "someone" that 32" was the correct shoulder measurement, even after confirming that 32" was also her bra size
8) Mafia being simultaneously skeptical and impressed and "someone" could defy laws of physics/math
9) two more cell phones in different states
10) a removal of 1 head from 1 ass
11) a re-measurement, and
12) a logical 39" (which is still pretty small when compared to my left thigh.

Remind me to tell you about the absolutely hilarious experience I once had in the dressing room at The Gap. Let's just say that it involved trying on a pair of stretch jeans in a size 0 and discovering that my left thigh is a Gap size 0. I am clearly obsessed with my left thigh.

I could buy a lot of clogs with ...

My blog is worth $9,597.18.
How much is your blog worth?

BUT our illustrious Ms. Yarn Harlot could buy a house with ...

Yarn Harlot's blog is worth $564,540.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Thanks to Pinko Feminist Hellcat for sharing this fun game.

Tangled in the Turnstile

My fellow MIT SnBer Christine has a wonderful piece on the web that's techically a class assignment for her graduate program at the MIT Media Lab. But it's totally fascinating outside of the academic context. It gives new meaning to recycling a sweater, and to the way that fashion and fiber creates interactions between strangers and with the built world. Its humorous and anxiety provoking. I wonder if the Subway Knitter has seen it yet? Go check it out. In addition to the photos on the main page, click on the videos at the top. I especially liked videos 5 & 8. Enjoy!

Alexis be mine?

And I'll say it again -- I'm totally lusting over Alexis Stewart! Take a look at this picture and try to convince me that this woman is not a dyke. Go ahead, try...



Yes, I'm being totally stereotypical here, and yes, you may bitch about it in my comments and I won't delete anything. But seriously folks, this woman is a dyke. Did you watch Martha's Apprentice last night? At one point, Wifey and I gave each other the raised eyebrow due to AS's excellent lesbo-stylin'. I tried to find a picture online, but couldn't. Short black jacket, black pants, chunky shoes, button-down with collar over the jacket collar, dykey hair (as usual), etc. Is this correct, or I am just remembering it that way in my mind?

Even if she's not a big queer, the marketing people at NBC are working really hard to capture my little (teeny) crafty lesbo demographic. Or perhaps they're trying to start some rumors to get more viewers. If that's the case, it seems to be working. At least based on the number of hits I get from people looking for "Alexis Stewart" + "lesbian". Just sayin'.

Either way, she's wicked hot.

Geographic friends

I am blatantly copying Andrea over at Mellow Trouble in setting up a visual geographic tracker of my last 20 hits. So fun! Go see.

Sockettes and Ponchettes

Here are the finished Ms. CJSR socks (collective awww...)



The yarn is Lion Brand Magic Stripes in the "bright spring pattern" color. Girly enough to please our fairly mainstream next door neighbors (who are getting the second set of these), and gender-neutral enough to please the lovely funky hipmamas of Ms. CJSR.

Here's a WIP photo of the BFF&ExGF#2 ponchette from Poncho Loco:



That's one complete 32 row repeat, thankyaverymuch. I love the pattern. It's a great lace pattern that's easy to memorize zen knitting -- just difficult enough to keep me focused, but not so hard that I want to cry. Hooray! And I LOVE the yarn. Karabella Yarn's Aurora 8 might be my new favorite flavor. Yummy.

*thanks (again!) to Danielle lugging her digital camera around all the time, for taking numerous pictures for me, for providing an excellent backdrop-shawl and for volunteering her blocking-pin-hands to hold the ponchette.

Baby Sophie or CJSR socks

Here's a progress photo of the first of two pairs of socks for two adorable little babies I know.



One pair for the brand new girl next door, and the other overdue pair for Sassy baby of Sassy Moms (CJSR). If Ms. CJSR's feet haven't grown too much, she'll be getting them. Otherwise, Baby Sophie will get these and Ms. CJSR will get a new (slightly larger) pair.

In this project I learned how to knit two socks on one circular needle with the Magic Loop method. I love it. I also learned that pulling one end from the middle of the yarn ball and the other end from the outside will result in slightly mismatched stripes. Close, but no (proverbial) cigar.

Conan debut!

Holy shit. I just got an email from an old 'flame' (who played cello at our wedding [silly lesbians]). She sent this link to her debut TV performance on CONAN! Holy shit. For the lesbos in the group, pay special attention at the 2 minute mark and the 3:10 minute mark.

Crafty Weekend, Take 2

Ok, so it's Thursday and I'm still writing about last weekend. Flakyflakymommy.

Little Man's costume is about 1/2 finished. I completed the 'jumpsuit' and the hood, but no embellishments as of yet. I would post a picture, but how cute is a lime green hooded jumpsuit and on a 2 year old? Not so much.

As previously mentioned, I had a rockin' time with Roo, Ms. G and her HipHubby. There are photos here. So much fun! Now that the Baby-Joey gift has been given, I can officially show pictures of my secret August/September project:



Ta-da! HUGE thanks to Danielle for giving me a pile of leftover Cotton Ease.

SPECS:
YARN: Cotton Ease,
NEEDLES: size 4 Addis,
PATTERN: Hat with Ear Flaps and Simple Raglan Sweater from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits book.
THOUGHTS: I didn't like the rolling collar and sleeves, so I substituted seed stitch bands all around. I'm not sure about the ear flaps. They don't seem to be in the right place, but we'll see how the hat fits Joey when he makes his worldly debut.

Roo's BFF "Boo," writing here at Trollspotting bought Little Man and Ms. G matching T-shirts a couple months ago while spending the weekend in Provincetown. PTown is such a beautiful place, and inspires queer websites, women's websites and countless others. So it should surprise no one that our WeeOnes now have these t-shirts, courtesy of hilarious Uncle Boo.



I didn't work on Monday, and I make a teeny nod to our ancestral conquerer in thanks for the day off. I make a huge loopy nod in thanks for allowing me to finally schedule a time to meet Alison. A very impressive sweater was worn. There was much talk of politics and religion and our backgrounds and morning pastry, and current jobs and on and on. It's been a very long time since I've spent 2 hours with a virtual stranger, but it was so easy. Let's do that again soon, k?

Hanging out with Alison was also my first intentional knit-blogger meeting. I was convinced that MamaCate would be my first, but alas, our schedules aren't cooperating. Oh yeah, and she's going to that silly little event Rhinebeck this weekend. Clearly she won't have any fun, she won't meet any knitters, she'll slog through inches of mud in smelly rubber boots, and the heaps of fleece will be impossibly scratchy. I'm not jealous! Am not. I drive west, and she drives further west. Hmmmm...do I sense a pattern here? Soon, MamaCate, soon. You are taking me to Webs and we'll 'talk shop', ok? In the meantime, double up the VitC and Echinacea and feel better.

The Mafia needs...

I am so amused by this meme, thanks to Anna. You simply type "[your name] needs" into Google and pick the best hits.

The Mafia needs:
... a receptionist
... an urgent ruthless purge
... effective anti-virus and anti-spam too
... to come up with an alternative reality
... a safe home and a diaspora
... allied Chinese and South Korean officers
... a new puppet
... two goons, a good lawyer and a driveby shooter/driver
... a mascot
... a real ghetto ride
... a wisecracking malcontent
... a fairy godmother

[ and my personal favorite ]

... to wear bows in their hair

Happy -30th- Birthday Wifey!

It's the Big 3-0! tee-hee. Fortunately there are no identity crises in our house today. Wifey is very zen about moving into a new decade. So ... hats off to the yarn-bouquet-gift-givin'-lady of my house. And trust me when I say ... there's only one lady in my house. Even the cats are bitches.

Happy Anniversary!

I'm a bad bad wife. Today is the anniversary of my illegal real marriage, and here I am talking about Alexis Stewart. Well ... after four years of marriage, one child and several relocations, Wifey isn't too worried about A.S.

Tonight we ate Thai (my fav) with Little Man. He was the only little child in the restaurant and was Mr. Polite. Please, thank you, quiet voice, etc. He's the best.

Tonight I ask that my few readers raise a glass to 4 more years with Mrs. Mafia. She's the best.



Yes, I'm the one in the custom-made white satin suit with tails to the ground.

Alexis Stewart

Is it wrong that I think that Alexis Stewart is wicked hot? She's strong, opinionated, and has a cute lesbian haircut. I am shocked that she's 40 years old, and also shocked that she's about to be divorced.

Hey Alexis -- I'd happily iron your linens and roll your prosciutto.

Crafty Weekend

Clearly folks believe that I should share the wealth with Wifey. Alright. But I'm really hoping that the voters for option #3 (replace pants, buy practical clogs and share with Wifey) pull off a win in the end. I'd really like new clogs ...

Crafty crafty weekend. Hooray. First of all, I spent some serious QT with Roo this morning while the kids ran around, trashed her house, made a huge pile of fleece and jumped from the bottom step onto the pile. They laughed hysterically for about an hour and we happily knit on the couch. Meanwhile ... her hubby, a most excellent kind-hearted, music-playing, quilt-making, army guy (I know, I know ... he defies all stereotypes, which is a big part of why I adore him), asked me to teach him to knit. Roo scrounged up some fat needles and some pumpkin Wool Ease, and I taught him to knit!! We started out with English, but after about 10 rows, I realized that I should teach him Continental. He did really well. Was a total natural. By the way John, if you run into trouble, this is a great source for knitting videos: Knitting Help.

My big goal for the weekend is to wave my wand over this random stuff:



and turn it into Little Man's costume (sans crown):



Wish me luck!

Zebra-Ass and Clogs

Wow! The People's Republic of Cambridge is very responsive. I got a call from Public Works within a couple hours. I got a call from the Mayor's office within a day. The Galaxy sculpture was roped off like a scene from Law and Order. Within two days, I had tracked down the responsible party (Boston Properties) and secured a promise of reimbursement. You know what that means? NEW CLOGS!!

Here's the big question -- should I be practical and buy brown (to match my blue work pants) or buy a fun color or style because this is a little windfall? Or should I combine the two perspectives and buy simultaneously brown/practical and fun/mary janes/embroidered? Or should I get Dykey-Dansko like the Jolie or the Melodie??

Or should I share some of the windfall with Wifey, who is an unemployed SAHM and hasn't seen a windfall in a long time?

Perhaps I should create my first blog poll? Ohh ... fun! Here goes:

Today's Adventure

Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 2:26 PM
To: jweeks@cambridgema.gov; lhsu@cambridgema.gov;
hyngvason@cambridgema.gov; ggarber@cambridgema.gov;
mayor@cambridgema.gov
Subject: wet paint in Kendall Sq.

TO:
Michael Sullivan, Mayor of Cambridge
Greg Garber, Superintendent of Parks and Urban Forestry, Cambridge
Department of Public Works
Jason Weeks, Executive Director, Cambridge Arts Council
Hafthor Yngvason, Director of Public Art
Lillian Hsu, Public Art Administrator

As an MIT employee, I appreciate and regularly use the parks around MIT during my lunch hour. However, today I had a horrible experience at the "galaxy" sculpture in Kendall Square.



I sat on one of the silver benches that surround the sculpture, not realizing that the bench was recently re-painted. There were absolutely no signs indicating, "wet paint." I wore black dress pants to work today, and I walked away with silver stripes all over my back side.

Go ahead, laugh. It's OK.

However, when you are finished laughing, please contact me about how this happened in the first place, and how you can ensure that it will never happen again. My contact information is listed below. I also expect to be reimbursed for the cost of replacing my pants, and would appreciate a swift reimbursement.

Thank you,

P.S. For proof, I have attached a charming photo of my striped rear end.
--


** UPDATE **
Additionally, I just discovered paint all over my Dansko clogs. Please contact me about prompt reimbursement.

Worlds Collide - KnitOut, Part 2

As the Yarn Harlot likes to say, knitters are nice people. So I don't usually worry about politics when I'm in the presence of other knitters. But my worlds collided yesterday when I spotted a big "Stop Abortion Now" sign on the Common. I later discovered that Massachusetts Citizens for Life were demonstrating their evil ways on the Common at the same time as the KnitOut. ahh!

With my blood pressure already on the rise from the stupid sign, I watched Ray Flynn and his wife stroll past me in their Sunday best. Smoke poured from my ears. My cheeks turned beet red. My Danskos got twitchy. I later discovered that Flynnazi was strolling back from Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross where Archbishop O'Malley was actively recruiting parishioners to sign a petition to put another anti-gay constitutional amendment on the ballot. With politics at the pulpit, can someone tell me why these people still have tax-free status?? Flynnazi has this to say to the Boston Globe:

''...it's for children and it's for the stability of marriage..." said Raymond L. Flynn, a former mayor of Boston and Vatican ambassador whose name appears on the petition as one of its chief sponsors.

Yep, there I am ... standing on the Boston Common with my fingers wrapped around the stroller handles and turning my fair Little Man away from the sun ... I'm evil. FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckYou! There ... now I'm evil.

Try as I might to ignore it, I couldn't stop thinking about the stark differences between us fiber folks and those scary folks. Yes, I understand that some knitters might be anti-choice or anti-gay [gasp!]. But they chose fiber over hatred. That's OK with me. I was having a hard time separating my fiber from my hatred. Oops ... did I say that out loud?

So I exacted the only revenge I could in order to protect Little Man from the image of his Mafia-Mom in a fist fight with an 60 year old white man.

Formula: 1 polite Mafia+first day of period+intestinal disturbance = 1 belly FULL of gas and 1 tired anal sphincter.
Enter Mass Citizens for Life, who completely surrounded me on the Orange Line train:



EQUALS ===
1 disturbingly stinking ride for the bigots and one smirking Mafia.

Boston KnitOut

Joined by about 700 of our closest knitterly friends, Little Man and I had such a wonderful day on the Boston Common yesterday.

After much contemplation, I decided to "out" myself as a blogger. eek! I thought this was the most appropriate place for my sticker.


Little Man was "outed" as a blogger too.



In the first hour I wrestled my way into tents and stroller-herded people away from my favorite free patterns. I snagged a bag of 4 (5?) free balls of Berocco yarns and a dozen coupons from local yarn shops. I met up with Rhonda. We spotted Katie. I convinced Rhonda to enter the Fastest Hook contest. We oohed and ahhed at the beautiful entries in the Interweave Knits scarf contest. We met other bloggers - Hi Alison and her cutie Boys. After a diaper change, Little Man was so excited to feel the air on his bare legs that I let him run around in his diaper and rainbow Elmo socks (Gramma bought them, I swear!).

After that, I spent a long long time chasing this surprisingly fast Little Man around and around and around the Common. Thank god for Rhonda and Jessica. They sat calmly knitting on the Common and watching our stroller-pile while I ran around with Little Man.


Big shout out to Christine for her excellent MC skills. Huge shout out to Cynthia for entertaining Little Man while I snuck into the nasty porta-potty before heading home. This became especially important when you realize what I did to some anti-choice thugs on the way home ... hheeeee!

Kitten with a Death Wish

Boston KnitOut

I'll be there. Will you?

I love my socks!

My SockPal socks arrived while I was gone last weekend. What a wonderful surprise. My SockPal lovingly included two bars of chocolate from Trader Joes, extra yarn and a cute card. I would've take pictures of the box, but when I came home there was one chocolate bar and one empty wrapper. A little mouse in my house had PMS and ate one of my treats, so we bought a cruelty free mouse trap and set it up. Strangely, we haven't found any mice. Hmmm...

Aren't these beautiful? I am so impressed by her Kool Aid dye job, the pattern, the perfect short row heels and toes, and the length (half-calf). And the colors ... oh, the colors. I am deeply in love. Swoon.



And they fit too. I wore them to work on Tuesday.



Thanks SockPal. I LOVE them! And thanks to Alison for hosting such a great exchange. I'll certainly do this again.

Another milestone

I have reached a bloggerly milestone too! I got my first comment spam. I know ... I know ... it's annoying, but I turned on verification. From now on, you must prove that you're a human, not a droid spammer. However, if you're a droid spammer and want to leave me comments about my stunning beauty and wit, I promise to knit a nice warm hat for your cold metallic head. Your choice.

Errata, really?

It's official. I'm a knitter. I have passed a milestone in my fiberly adventures. I have found a mistake in a pattern. Hooray. After much frowning, squinting, consulting the local experts, and poking my wayward cables with my needles, I am fairly certain there's a mistake in the pattern. Without boring you with the details (although I reserve the right to bore you tomorrow), let's just say that the pattern has an 8 row repeat, calling for a zig, a zig and a zag. Repeat. However, the picture looks like a zig, zag, zig, zag, etc. I tried to simply add the missing zag, but alas, it's not exactly correct. So I pulled the knitting off the needles, introduced it to my trust stitch holders and will cast on for a long experimental swatch on the way home tonight. I'm determined to figured this out, damnit!

As for weekend news -- I'll be brief.

1. MY BROTHER IS THE BEST MAN IN THE WORLD (and mind you, I'm a nasty ol' dyke, so that means a lot)

2. The Mafia-mobile has a new engine (well, its actually new "head," but for all intents and purposes its an engine), a semi-leaky radiator, and a tweaked throttle. In spite of the Bro's amazing skill, the Mafia-mobile ended up in our local shop again on Tuesday and Wednesday for additional work. Dear god, will this ever end? On the good side - the Mafia has a head full of car knowledge and the scratches, bruises and burns to prove it. And -- I looked pretty hot with my head under the hood.

3. Taking a long bus trip is not that bad. The bus didn't smell. Noone talked to me. There were only a couple incidents of old-man-fart-smell that quickly dissipated. I did a lot of knitting and watched a mainstream movie that I would've never watched otherwise.

4. I brought 6 projects (!).
- Little Man socks. I finished one, and left the other to rot in the ziploc. Second sock syndrome? For sure.
- Little Man chunky cabled sweater from Zoe Mellor.
- Roo's socks. Didn't touch 'em.
- BFF&ExGF#2's ponchette? Forgot the pattern at home, but still lugged all 6 balls of Karabella in hopes that I'd find an internet connection at my Mom's house. No such luck.
- Mafia socks in beautiful ArtYarns purpley-olivey. No progress.
- I can't remember the last one. Clearly there was no progress.

More errata drama to come. Stay tuned...

Errata or Sheer Stupidity?

My bet's on Sheer Stupidity.

I spent a good part of the weekend working on Little Man's fancy Debbie Bliss merion aran "Chunky Cabled Sweater" from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots. Unfortunately after two repeats of the 8-row pattern, I'm fairly certain that I'm doing something wrong. Either there is a mistake on the pattern (probably not), or I'm not doing a FC or BC correctly. Danielle and I puzzled over the criss-crossed center cable and couldn't come up with a definitive answer. So I'll search around and I'll post some pictures tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll contemplate whether I should rip to a lifeline (thank god I finally started using a lifeline) or start doing it correctly now and call that section a learning experience. Hmmmm? Thoughts?

In better news, it appears that I have almost tackled the gauge monster. This Little Man sweater is probably going to fit.

8 hours on a bus

It appears that spending 8 hours on a bus will be the cheapest way to haul the Mafia-ass from MA to NY to pick up the newly repaired Mafia-mobile. Damn! I hate smelly buses.

However, that means 8 hours of undisturbed knitting time. Ah ... the luxury.

Here's a poll -- how many projects would you bring on an 8 hour bus ride? What kinds of projects? How many projects could one reasonably fit into a backpack?

I'm thinking of:
- finishing a pair of Little Man socks,
- starting a Little Man cabled sweater from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots,
- starting the ponchette for BFF&ExGF#2 from Poncho Loco, and
- starting the socks for Roo.

Would 4 projects be enough?? I'll probably have to swatch for the sweater and ponchette. Should I bring my entire needle roll? What if I forget one small notion?

I find it absolutely astounding that ExGF#3 would call me neurotic on her blog. :-)

The Socks Arrived

Not mine ... but the ones I knit. Karen over at K-Knit was my SockPal and she got her socks already. I'm such a horrible secret-keeper that I'm shocked I managed to keep this one quiet. Here's a photo of the package prior to mailing:



See that spiral bit of paper? That's where I hid the specs - appropriately placed in the extra yarn so she can redo anything that doesn't fit quite right. After I completed the socks, she wrote about the shape of her feet on the blog. I spent Sept 13-14th trying to decide if I should reknit the pair to accomodate her shapely feet. Then I realized I was being insane. Fingers tightly crossed that they fit ...

* Shout out to Danielle for letting me borrow her digital camera 'cuz I forgot mine. Mommy brain.

Socks are en route

My SockPal emailed yesterday with apologies for the delay. Thankfully she's (he's?) been reading my blog, noticed that I moved, and emailed to get my new address. Thank God someone is organized! It never occured to me to update my address with Alison. eek! So ... Thank You to my mysterious SockPal (with a fake email address) for being so thoughtful. I can't wait to see my new socks, especially because I have NO recollection of what I wrote in my original likes/dislikes email. A great surpise around the corner. Hooray!