Squeeeee... UPDATED

01/11/2012

5:27 A.M.

Out For Delivery

Bring it UPS!

UPDATE:  The squee-able items have arrived.  I'll try and post pictures and have a final big SQUEEEE by the end of the week.

Squee...

OK, we're just warming up with the squee here...

Behold the first shipment.  These two were ordered after the first wave, yet they arrived first.  Go figure.  These are earmarked for a Honey Project.  These are the only ones that will be remotely connected to a project and/or a person.  The rest will just be shown and you can all ooh and ahh my stash enhancements from afar.  While I sit on my Chair and squish and squee.

No, there is no craziness in the Chaos.

Really.  There isn't any.  Craziness.

The rest of the yarny goodness should be here tomorrow.

Unless UPS tracking is lying.

Back on...

Going au naturale (grey) is back on again.  I'm holding off on the hair coloring.

Mainly because I really don't feel like doing it myself - and I don't feel like sitting in a salon chair for 3 hours (or more) getting it done.

We'll see how long this lasts as there is a box of color in my medicine cabinet.  I could just flip out one night and decide to crack it open and have at it.

If this was Vegas, I'd say the odds are 50-50.

It's actually been an eye opener to see my natural color.  I've been using a brown a shade or two lighter.  Guess it's a shock because I haven't actually seen it in about 17 years.

The calm before the SQUEEEEEE

After many sortings and cullings of the yarny stash, I am left with not very much.  That is both good and bad.

The good:  Less to have hanging around the Chaos.  Less that needs knitting  up (wait a minute, that means less knitting - that is not good).

The bad: The hole left in the stash that is begging to be filled.

What's a knitter to do?

Enter an email from Cherry Tree Hill yarn.  Just my favorite merino sock yarn ever.

Yeah, you know where this is going...

"Don't forget about our Annual New Year's Eve Sale - 50-60% off select yarn!"

Yeah, so now you REALLY know where this is going.

Let's start here:

The stash got sorted and put all in one place (except the needles, I don't know why - that has been corrected).

Knitting patterns were gone through, matched with yarns and set into two containers that now sit next to the Chair.  A long list was made.

12in cube box of yarn and my knitting bag.  Full to the brim with yarny goodness and looking happy.

There is also my poor Juliet sweater...

...which now seems like it would fit. Whatever.

The only way I'll ever know if it will fit properly or not is when I finish it and put it on.

Whatever.

2012 will be filled with knitting.  Not going to show you my list of projects because 90% of what I'm knitting will be gifted.  Most of the people I knit for know they will be getting something - they don't need to know exactly what though. :)

The projects are all small, except for the Juliet sweater.  I think I have enough yarn to do one project per month for about 1.5 years, maybe more.

Even so, on New Year's Eve while Times Square was counting down, I was online shopping.  It was oh so darn easy.  Especially since it was not quite 9pm here in California. :)

The yarn was purty and it easily fell into my cart.  I have never in my life bought so much yarn at once (even though there is not that much of it) and spent so much money on it.  It was on sale and I had put back some of my Xmas gift money.  I had a strict limit, and I stuck to it.

It will arrive about Wednesday-ish.

Much squeeee-ing and squishing and general ooooh-ing and aaaah-ing and more squishing will then occur.

After all that is over with, I will post photos of my latest stash enhancing exploits.

Then the new additions will be put into their own 12in cube box and put up on the shelf.

If things go as planned, I'll be ready to knit on all that Next January.

Even if I'm not, I'm pretty sure I'm set for yarnage for the next two years, probably more.

Coming soon to a Chaos near you: 10 skeins of more yarny goodness.

I've definitely spoiled myself with my gift money. 

Thanks Mom for aiding and abetting my yarny deliquency.

The first item made from the new stash has your name on it. :)

2nd verse

Rinkety tinkety tink
This knitter is pushed to the brink
She's tired of tinking
Her mojo is sinking
Rinkety tinkety tink

Chickened out already...

Remember the other day when I said I was thinking of going grey?

Well, yeah.

Not gonna happen.

My roots are rather long right now, and I was messing with my hair and pulled it back off my face.

The color of my grey does not go well with my skin tone.

I have come to that conclusion several times over the last few years.

About every 6 months actually.

Guess I keep forgetting.

D'oh.

Happy New Year Everyone!

May the New Year bring all that my dear friends and readers wish for and a few happy surprises.

I wish every good thing for my Spencer - he'll be graduating from High School, turning 18 and going off to college to begin his own life.  All around a HUGE year.  Choose well my son.  Is your turn to do all that now.  I've done my part, now it's your turn.  Go get 'em!

Excuse me while I go cry...

OK...

For my Mom and Sis I wish a happy, healthy New Year and a bottomless box of Kleenex as we all watch our Spencer go forth to conquer the world.  And he will, cos that's the kind of guy he is...

Oh crap, here come more tears....

My Honey and I get the same wish: health, happiness and to be united with the one we love.  Anyone know a good immigration lawyer who gives free consultations?

Going going gone...

Many things going in the Chaos.

The old year is going (obviously).

Things no longer needed are (eventually) going.

The Chaos is also (eventually) going. Somewhere else.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I will be going.  Maybe.  Haven't decided yet. I always chicken out.  Going where you ask?

Not where, what.  I am once again contemplating NOT coloring my hair.  Just going au naturale. 

Grey. 

I think I'd be a 50/50 salt 'n pepper.  I'm not quite sure because I keep coloring my hair. :)

Anyway, now would be a really good time to do it.

I'm feeling the need for a coiffure change.

Whether going grey will be that change, I don't know yet.

One thing I do know for sure is that I really need a haircut.

Maybe a salt 'n pepper new cut?

Dare I do both?

Me and my big mouth...

This is what happens when you are stupid enough to not start on time, then rush, and then have the balls to brag that things are going along GREAT JUST GREAT!

And then you publish it on the internet.

You mess up the pattern and don't notice until 3 rows later.

THREE LONG ROWS OF 130+ stitches.

And it wasn't a simple enough thing for me that I could just let a stitch go, go down a bit and fix the mistake.  I don't do well with that process to begin with...  If I did that, it would just be better to frog and start over because it would all be a big fat yarny mess.

So just spent almost the entire knitting time since I bragged about how well things were going, tinking*.

Rinkety tinkety tink. 
The yarn ball fell in the sink. 
The knitter went skating, instead of just waiting,
and busted her butt in the rink.

(Makes no sense whatever, I know. It just popped into my head.)

So... Sorry Sis, you'll have to wait a few extra days for your knitterly item.  There's an envelope coming to Mom's house by Saturday.  Enjoy your gift card in the interim.

*Definition of Tink:
Tink is the term used by knitters to mean unknitting or knitting backward. Tink is actually knit spelled backward.

When you notice a mistake in your knitting either in the row you are currently working on or the row you just finished working, the easiest way to fix it is to tink back to the problem stitch and start over.

It is not recommended that you tink over several rows because it takes a long time and is very nerve-wracking.

Also Known As: Unknitting, backward knitting

Secret knitting continues...

...I am pushing the limits here, but still knitting my little fingers off.  If I was using metal needles, I think sparks would be flying.

Not really, but the projects have been going along a lot quicker than usual.  I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the short deadline I'm up against.

Not at all.

One project is blocking another is halfway done on the needles.  The rest are not due before Xmas, so I'm in pretty good shape so far.

I'd be in better shape if I would have started earlier, but well, I'm knitting now, that's all that matters.

Spence and I spent yesterday with family friends who came into town with their son to spend the day "in the big city" shopping and seeing the sites. 

Spence and I went earlier so I could shop for a coat. Happy to say I found one and now I won't be freezing my butt off at the bus stop in every long sleeved shirt and fleece I have with a down vest zipped over it.


One of the downsizes of losing weight is all your nice warm winter coats and jackets are too big. Don't get me wrong, clothes being too big is a good thing, but not in winter.

Anyway, we met with friends after lunch and spent more time trying to keep track of each other in the crowds than actually LOOKING at anything.


Oh, and I don't care what language you speak, I'm sure they ALL include the words EXCUSE ME or PARDON ME or THANK YOU.  We may not all speak what words you speak, but most of us can recognize good manners.

And to the guy trying to sell his "art" for money instead of begging...it was a good idea until you started yelling out random insults.  Kinda ruined the whole vibe you had going on.

Just sayin'.

We gave up on the insanity after 2 hours (not even 2 actually) and got in the car for the long journey out of downtown.  It took us longer to get from Union Square to the Bay Bridge than it did to get from the Bay Bridge to Back 40 Texas BBQ.

Where we all enjoyed the company of friends over a yummy meal.

After we waited 40 min to be seated.

Winter WonderSuck...

More like Winter WTF?!?

Not much to say here except that there has been a whole bunch of SUCK going on...as in lots of little sucky things have happened to add up to one giant HOOVER.  And from what I've been reading in other blogs, I'm not the only ones who has had a Hoover sort of week.  WTF?!?

Whatever.

It is over now - so far as I know.

I'll take it.

I won't take the daily afternoon hot flashes though.  Mother nature can have those back.

Happiness in the fog of What.Ever.

Happiness is having a dedicated Knitting Chair.  Mine is now known affectionately by the name Chair.

As in My Chair, do not sit in My Chair.

Capitalized because it is a such wonderful revered place - if only by me, but who cares.

This is the first time in all my knitting years (that's about 42 total btw - yes, i started VERY YOUNG), that I've had a dedicated knitting chair.

It's the first time, since I became a single parent that I've had a VERY NICE chair.  All my other furniture has been fine: second hand/ consignment furniture that has more than done it's duty and served it's purpose.  It's worn out, I'm worn out and I only had the bare necessities because that's all I could afford.  An extra comfy chair would have been considered a luxury.

And right now, I need some luxury.  Still can't afford it, but I have an Angel.

Chair is not brand new, but it sure does look like it.  Thanks to a very generous friend who manages to give me some wonderful cast-offs whenever she moves.  I've had it for over a year, but have had to share it with a teenage son and an old Kitty and then some very soft donation items.

Now that Kitty has been gone for a while (sadness) and the son is getting ready for college (more sadness...especially since the acceptance letters have started to arrive), and I've packed up the donation clothes, I have now reclaimed it as MINE.

I NEED the Chair.  It helps me relax during what little down time I have. Definitely should have reclaimed it earlier, but I guess I wasn't ready to acknowledge I needed it.  Or some sort of hooey whatsit.  I now officially acknowledge the need.

It's the right amount of coziness.

And Chair soon could be joined by a storage cube/ottoman.  Generous friend informed me last night that she has a few to hand off after their last move (they are redecorating in the new place) and would I be interested.

HELL TO THE YES.

A place to put my weary tooties that also holds yarny goodies?

Oh yes indeedy, I am very interested.

Last night was the first night I actually sat in Chair and knit for more than a few minutes.

Knitterly heaven in a sea of boxes.

As soon as all the boxes go away, I'll post a photo of my special place in the Chaos.  There are still too many of them in the background.

What.Ever.

So tomorrow is the "annual inspecting of the apartments".

What have I done for the last few days or nights when I've had free time?

Knit.

Road my bike with Spencer.

Played a stupid computer game.

Some would say I'm not ready for inspection (like me, for instance).

I don't really care.  The place is clean and I'll shift the clutter around into the stacks where it should go and will end up anyway.  It's mostly in boxes right now, so it'll be easier than it sounds.

A few signs saying "Donate" and "Back to storage" on each of the respective stacks and I'm done.

Although the "Back to storage" is really "still need to go through" as I do not intend to put anything back into storage.

But the inspectors don't need to know that right now.

That's how we roll in The Chaos

OK, so my friend Antonella gave me these awesome covertible fleece gloves last Christmas in a most fetching green.  Fingerless gloves with the tops off, put the tops on and you've got warm mittens.  They even have zippers on the top to hold money, an ID, your bus pass, or a key or two.

I wore them every day when I got them until the weather changed and I didn't need them anymore.  They were set aside and that was that til the next winter.

Well the next winter is here.  The temps dropped last week and there I was going through all my winter accessories and lo and behold, NO GREEN GLOVES.

I look night after night. Sound familiar? Yeah, I was also looking for my knitting needles.

So The Chaos was torn apart, put back together and torn apart again.

The needles were found, but not the gloves...until last night.

Also found with them were a few other items (from top to bottom as they were pulled out of where they were):

• two organic face towels that have been earmarked for a special project
• a large freezer ziplock bag (empty)
• Ms Cow's knitted sleeping bag (I was wondering where that was too)
• the gloves
• a small ziplock bag containing the leftover yarn from Ms Cow knitted sleeping bag and two sets of dpn's (which I noticed were missing from the ones I found the other day)
• a small silk pouch with my best set of zils
• my favorite veil (used mostly in dance class)

Quite an eclectic collection of items, wouldn't you say?

Oh, and Donna, where DID you happen to FIND all these items?

Ummm...wellll....

They were in a small tote bag sitting innocently next to a shelving unit in my bedroom.  I ummm never bothered to look in it because I thought the whole thing was full of the face towels that were the top layer.

I just so happened to accidentally knock it over as I moved the shelving cabinet to see if my gloves had fallen down behind it.

When BAZINGA all those diverse little goodies spilled onto the floor.

Of all the things I manage to lose in my apartment, I really do miss my sanity the most.

...and she still tries...

OK, so how's the secret knitting going?

Ummmmm....

Ummmmm....

It was going along quite well.  Until.

Until the temperature dropped down into the 30's at night and my hands got so stiff and achy that not even knitting could help.  I have tried to knit in fingerless gloves, but that's not working with dpn's.

Neither is sitting on the train bundled up in every outer garment I possess and trying to knit.  I only have 20 minutes on the train, so disrobing in order to knit is not an option. By the time I do that, pull out the latest secret knitting project and get started, it's time to pack up, get dressed and run off.

Besides, everyone else on the train is bundled up in every single outer garment they possess, so there is not much elbow room.  The other day, I actually had to lean out in the aisle and knit.  That did not go well, as I was on a cabling row.

I don't want to talk about it.

And now we are having a City Inspector come out and do their yearly apartment inspection next Monday.

While I appreciate that my little town takes care of its renters, I don't appreciate them waiting until the Holidays when my apartment is a disaster while I downsize, shift things around and have boxes of Xmas decorations everywhere to come and do an inspection.

I'm supposed to be Knitting Secret Things, not cleaning up.

Jeez.

...and the secret knitting begins...

...but not after two whole nights spent tearing The Chaos apart to locate my stash of knitting needles.  I had even went so far as to hit Michael's during lunch yesterday to buy the needles I needed - knowing full well that a minimum of TWO SETS of the damn things were at home.

Somewhere.

Luckily for my wallet and my sanity, Michael's didn't have ANYTHING I needed.

And I found ALL my needles last night.

PHEW!!!!

So now this sweater languishes once again in the bottom of my project bag sitting next to the couch, buried under the new projects ready and waiting to go once the one on my needles is done.

Every night this week that wasn't spent searching desperately for needles was spent going through a shitload of knitting patterns, my boxes of yarn, and my gift list and seeing who gets what and in what yarn, and wondering CAN I POSSIBLY KNIT IT ALL BEFORE XMAS?!?

You know, typical knitter crap.  You KNOW you are or already HAVE gone through all this, don't deny it my knitting friends.

For the non-knitters, welcome to the insanity that is Xmas gift knitting.

Usually it starts earlier for me, in October or so, but I haven't picked up the needles on anything since Mom's birthday Damask shawl in June.  After the shawl, the weather got really HOT and I lost my mojo.  And it has stayed too warm-ish to knit until the last few weeks.

It came SCREAMING back Sunday night-along with high winds and colder temps.  Just in time to (hopefully) knock out a few small gift projects.  Now that I have all my damn needles, I think I'll be OK.

Here's an important tip...organizing all your knitting stuff into one general area only works if you ACTUALLY PUT IT ALL IN THE SAME DAMN SPOT.

So now after I finish off this post, I'm going to go back to watching Bocelli live from Central Park on PBS and pick up the needles and continue on with the first project on my list.

The only thing missing from this whole setup tonight is my faithful knitting companion Kitty.  I do so miss her company on these solo nights at home. :(

Remember the Knitting

OK, so here I sit typing up a blog about knitting when I should be fast asleep.

Whatever.

Some things have not changed in The Chaos.  It hasn't moved and I haven't done much with sorting through things lately.

Some things have changed in The Chaos.  The Queen of The Chaos (that would be me) is shrinking.  Just a little.  If Her Majesty could get off her Royal Bum, she might be shrinking faster.  But that's a whole new blog post.

The point is, this sweater has been languishing in my project bag for a long time.  A very long time.  I'm making it with the most scrumptous yarn (in the 07 Autumn colorway) I have ever gotten my Royal Paws into...bought in England.  Yum.  And Purrrrrrrrrr.  And if I had an entire room of it, I would sleep on it.

Yes, it's THAT yummy.

Anyway, I had a feeling all along that Juliet would end up being too big, but that did not deter me one bit in continuing to knit it.

Why?

Well, honestly, because I have no concept of gauge and how to manipulate that S.O.B. to get it to work in my favor.  Also, well I am a short, potato shaped knitter with a warped sense of what should fit.  It's not that I'm a size 20 trying to fit into a size 2.  It's just that I cannot for the life of me accurately judge what size I am.  Seriously.  Measuring does not help.  I just cannot correlate measurements with making garments that fit me.

That sounds much better than "because I'm a total nutter", doesn't it?

This gauge imparement is why I make socks and scarves and hats.  Simple stuff for my simple brain - until I can get a handle on this whole gauge thing.  Honestly (again), if I could handle free-form knitting that ended up as something usable, I'd do that.  No pattern, no gauge, no rules - just KNITTING at it's purest.

Right.

Anyway, back on topic.  Now that I'm not so much the large Idaho I used to be, but, still potato shaped none-the-less, I realize that my Juliet will need to be frogged and restarted.

Which does not bother me in the least, because if you have been reading me since the beginning, you know that deconstructing is one of my favorite knitting activities.

Because then I can knit it all up over and probably over again.

There goes that whole "not admitting to being a nutter" theory.

The Chaos is still where it was...

...and the prospects for moving it aren't too good right now.

That's ok though, something will come up and when it does, we'll be ready.

This Friday, I'm taking a half day, borrowing a friend's car and taking a bunch of boxes to the Thrift store.

When I'm done there, I will be taking some Household Hazardous Waste to the local drop-off station.

So far, Spencer's room is 95% ready to move.  He's cleared out a huge mound of give-aways (which is what is going on Friday to make room for more sorting and piling of give-aways from my room).  Included in that mound, are some kitchen items and a few items from the "general stack of boxes from the storage unit".

I'll also be making a run to a local office supply store to take a box full of papers for shredding.  A lot of the boxes from my room are filled with old papers.  99% of which I do not need anymore (that's how old they are).

I dread going thru the hall closet.  It's filled with tools and hardware.  I'm sure I'll dump the hardware and will want to keep the tools.  A woman and her power tools are not soon parted.

As much as I'm giving away, I've thrown away a lot too, and have recycled as much as I could.

And I still have quite a few boxes to go through too.  If there is anything I know what to do, it's fill up boxes with stuff and store them in any nook and cranny that will fit them.

I've gotten out of that habit though and am making quite a few sacrifices to the "moving reality gods".

I am greatly reducing the size of my stashes.  Just for the record, I did indeed type that with an 's'.  There are stashes for sewing, embroidery, knit/crochet, jewelry and general crafting.  I have applied the "culling the closet principal" of organization.  If I haven't used the supply in question for anything within the last year and there is no immediate intended use, out it goes.

In other words, I'm winging it.  If I still like the supply and can picture myself making an item that is worth gifting, keeping, or selling, then I keep it.

A lot of things I have had so long that I just can't even imagine wanting something made from it for myself, let alone giving something I made from it to someone else.

Time to set it free out in the world so that someone else can be inspired by it like I once was back in the day.

One good thing about Thrift Stores/Charity Shops is that items like these that are still usable and in excellent shape but have fallen out of my favor will definitely find a home somewhere...and for about 1/20th the price I paid for it.

I'm OK with that. Totally.

Would you like a pint of blood, my right arm, AND my firstborn?

Oh the wonderful world of looking for a new place to call "The Chaos".

And I thought it was difficult getting a new car or buying a house.

Has anyone else ever been asked for 3 years worth of tax returns for a rental?

Or do I just look like such a crook that they need that sort of proof that I'm actually gainfully employed...  Usually a call to the HR department of your current position takes care of that...at least it USED to...

What absolutely KILLS me is that I know people who have had bankruptcies, evictions, unemployment, etc and have not had near this much trouble finding nice places in nice 'hoods.

I've never had any of that but the unemployment (who hasn't been unemployed) and I've got almost 13 YEARS (yes I said years - in the same place) of solid rental history.

Good grief.

Next open house is tomorrow after work.  I think I'm going to GRILL THE HECK out of any potential future landlords.  If you're going to ask me for all this, I have the right to know stuff about you too.

Jeez.

Dear Occupy San Francisco Protestors

I am all for folks exercising their right to free speech and expressing their frustration with the system.  BUT. It's probably not a good idea to yell at and insult the people who could possibly be sympathetic to your cause.  And...now that you've done just that, well, you can just shove it.  You stay over on your side of the street and I'll be on my side.  Don't talk to me and I won't talk to you.

Just because someone hasn't been camping out on the street with you and doesn't look homeless like most of you do, doesn't mean they are the "1%".

Why am I ranting?

Spencer is on his way to my place now.  He rode his bike from his Dad's place to the Embarcadero BART Station.  The Occupy folks are hanging out close by there.  For some reason, they fixated on him and started yelling that "you are the 1% you need to be brought down!"

REALLY?!?!?!?

A kid on his bike riding down the street.

"YOU NEED TO BE BROUGHT DOWN"

REALLY?!?

I think those folks have been breathing in the vehicle fumes (and whatever they have been smoking) there on the side of the street for WAY TOO LONG.  Go home, clean up and take a break.

First protestor who touches one hair on the head of me or mine draws back a bloody stump.

Really.