Just because it dings doesn't mean it's done

Ok guys, it's knitting content time. Really quick, just wanted to say, I know everyone has different opinions on yesterday's post, but I want to tell you all that I added something to the bottom of it, so if you already read it, go read the bottom part after the "ETA." Again, didn't mean to offend anyone, just sharing my opinion. Moving on.

On Ravelry as you most know, I'm part of a Fingerless Fanatics Group (ravelry link).We're doing a May KAL (ravelry), which I was in for, but then out of because of my wrist, but now I'm back in. I bought yarn yesterday for Bronte's Mitts (pdf) and I love it. It's Mondial Dolce Mohair (ravelry), which is a little heavier than the pattern called for, (a strand of fingering weight with a strand of laceweight mohair) but that's ok because my hands are a little bigger than the pattern calls for. :) I love it. It's so squishy and soft...


I'm on the thumb gusset for endpaper mitt number one, which I am not taking a picture of... imagine the picture from the other day, but bigger. If I make this pattern again, I'm going to redo the chart so that it works out better... it irritates me a little that it doesn't flow from the back of the hand to the front.

Oh and guess what? I'm almost to the heel on my plain vanilla sock I started... well... a long time ago. Yay! Maybe we can talk Angie into posting soon? Yes? ;)

Too serious for a funny title

Today instead of talking about knitting or any other yarny thing, I want to talk about something that's really important to me. You don't have to read about it, but if you do let me know what you think. If not, come back tomorrow for knitting content. Today's soap box topic?

The Paris Hilton Standard

Ok, here's the scoop. We all know about Paris Hilton, and I'm sure I don't have to explain this, but first I'm going to start by explaining what the Paris Hilton Standard is to me. The PHS is a line, a way that society judges people in my generation (being the 18-30 or so age group). If you are on the PH side, you are really into your looks, possibly have money, and very narrow-minded. You find yourself judging others because of what they're wearing or how they look as opposed to their personalities. You care about what people you don't know think about you, sometimes even more than what the people who really care about you think about you.

Some people are on that side. If you're on the other side of the line, you are the opposite. You care about people, not popularity. You don't judge people based on their looks or money, but based on their actions or inactions. You find yourself wanting to buy clothes that look good on you, not because they're popular but because you want them.

Why is this so important to me? Every time Paris Hilton's name is brought up, it irritates me. She's basically famous for nothing (anyone besides me find that phrase funny? No?), and she takes advantage of it. Recently she went to Africa, and no matter what the magazines or papers say, it was not to help people in need. We all know why she went. She was losing her popularity because of stupid things that she was doing, and she wanted to look as though she was trying to help others, because it was the thing to do. Not because it was the right thing to do. All this time, she's had all this money and all this weight that she could pull, this ability to do things and have people want to do them because she did it, and she used it on fashion and looks. Now, when people are sick of her, she's going to Africa to use those people who need help to get back into popularity. When people aren't going to follow her.

The Africa thing, as you all know, has been bothering me for a while. I'm going to steal the words of one of my favorite people in the world here. Our generation will be remembered in the history books based on what we do about the situation in Africa. Right now, we have more power than at any other point in history to change things, to start to make things right. If every single person who spends 50 dollars on a shirt at a popular fashion place just took that 50 dollars and put it to good use, can you imagine how different our would would be?

So what do you guys think? Which side of the line are we going to be on? Our decision will change someone's life.

ETA: Not trying to get all political or argue or anything because everyone has a right to their opinion... it's just that we have a government that, if it really wanted to, could stop all issues with poverty in the United States. The US is the richest country in the world, and a lot of the people, not all or even most, but a lot of the people who are poor in the US are in poverty because of their own doing. We have the opportunity to change things in our country, for ourselves, and the government does as well. Think about it. There are places that anyone can get a job, regardless of anything in the US. People come to our country from Cuba or Mexico and find work who have nothing, including citizenship. We, as a people, may not take that opportunity to change things, but it is there.

They don't. There is nothing that those people can do to get out of that situation or stop it from happening without our help. In South Africa there are enough children orphaned because of poverty to fill up all of Manhattan. So, this is my explanation to why I think they need our help, even more that our own country. Because they can't do it alone.

Also... this is just one opinion, so I don't mean to offend anyone or what you all believe. I'm sorry if I did.

You don't eat mini-wheats with your ear, doofus

Hey guys! Long time no see! You'll be happy to know my wrist is feeling better. So much so that I've actually been knitting the last few days! But not enough that I feel like typing a long post. Well, a picture says a thousand words, right? And if a picture says a thousand words and I type 300, and there are 4 pictures, well that's 4300 words you have to read, and who has time for all of that? So, without further ado...

I finished the everlasting bagstopper!

Pattern: Everlasting bagstopper from knitty.
Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream. One 113 gram ball, color rose pink.
Needles: US 5 for bottom, 11 for body, and 8 for the end.
Extras: Well, the bag isn't actually finished, because I haven't added them yet. But I'm going to try to find something I can use as straps, and barring that I might make some. I have this idea involving braided I-cord... which is AWESOME considering how much I LOVE i-cord (Please, don't ask if I've finished the baby pants i-cord yet. I haven't.). But we'll see. I'm also going to add an elastic closure similar to the one she used on the bag, but at the top so that I can, well... close it. And maybe a button, just for decor.
Mods: I only made the bag 8 inches unstretched, instead of the 10 the pattern calls for. And I used size 8s for the top instead of the size 5s that I used for the bottom. I think that's it.

Wow... that was a lot more words than I meant to type. I'll try harder to say less for the rest, ok?
Endpaper mitts (still number one... remember when I frogged them? Well, I do, but I seriously can't find the place where I blogged it, sooo... they were frogged. Man I need to stop typing so much!!!) .

Booga bag, with promised link.

And a butterfly dishcloth.

Well, right now, just a dishcloth. No butterfly yet. Oh well. Ok, now get off the computer and go enjoy the nice weather! Unless of course, you're not having nice weather. In that case, stay on the computer and leave us a comment! :)

Ok, you've been abducted by... oh hi!!

Hey guys!!! Look, I'm alive! My wrist is healing... slowly... but healing. I can knit sometimes now! I've mostly been working on the everlasting bagstopper (see sidebar) which is almost finished. I just have 6 rows of garter stitch and then I'm done with the main part. I just have to find the other parts now. I also just started a booga bag (no link... seriously popular bag, just google it. I'll give you guys a link later) in turquoise and black which will be my first real felted thing. It's nerve wracking... especially since I'm doing this swatch-less. I'm a little nervous.

Ok, so no knitting photos for you but I do have my G... G is for great hair!!! I got it cut yesterday and I. LOVE. IT. It's so short and cute. Here's the before...

And now.

Note: In neither of those pictures do I have bangs. I do have bangs. I almost always do. But with my hair short like this it works better to not have them. Which, actually, is better for the summer anyway.

Thanks guys for stopping by! What are you all up to?

It's hard to mmm hmm with a mouthfull of banana

So I had a little spending money and I've done a fair amount of shopping lately. First up is my gorgeous new knitting bag/someday diaper bag. I've been carrying this thing everywhere. I got it from UNIC Leather at the mall which doesn't seem to have a website. That's funny. I thought everywhere had a website now.



What's in it today?






Well, there are two nearly finished baby hats. Pink/white just needs the ends to be woven in and the white earflappy one needs bear ears and an embroidered polar bear face.




And I bought yarn, of course. In addition to the three more balls of yarn for the baby blanket I got, from left to right: A ball of Cotton-Ease for this, a ball of Patons Decor (same yarn as the baby blanket) for this, and a ball of Bernat Baby for this. The cotton ease sweater is for my great-niece for her birthday in July and the rest is for my future baby. Rory will be well outfitted when she finally gets here. And no, Heather, I'm not pregnant yet. *laugh*




And finally I went to Lush to get a present for Trisha at knitting group and I just couldn't pass this up. It's Shimmy Shimmy, a sparkly, glittery massage bar. As soon as DH heard massage bar he perked up until I informed him that it was just for me to use to add a little glitter here and there, not for what he had in mind. *cracks up* And it smells heavenly too. I love Lush. I'm going there sometime next week to pick up two more birthday presents and I hope I have money to spend in there. I have my eye on a shampoo bar.

(PS This smells so good and it has chunks of cocoa butter in it. Dear lord. Chunks of cocoa butter. Get thy butt there and buy one. Mmmmm.... lol)

I don't wanna go to the closet bug!

Hi! Krystal, injured as she is, is still kicking my butt on this blogging thing. Really. This is supposed to be a co blog. You can't be part of the Yarn Mafia by yourself. *shakes her head* So I'm back. I've been working obsessively on one project lately.




It's a log cabin baby blanket. I used the Mason Dixon tutorial floating around out there somewhere (ie I'm leaving for my knitting group in 30 minutes and don't have time to look lol) but once you figure it out you don't need a pattern. I'm using sage green, a dusty purple (the photos on here aren't color accurate re the purple), cranberry, and a tweedy gray. I love it so so much. This picture is actually from a few days ago. I've blown way past this point now. I'm on the second bit of green and about to start the second purple. I think I'm going to repeat the colors twice. Wanna see a picture of the rows and rows of garter stitch?




Well look no further. *smile* I love garter stitch, let me tell ya. It's strange. Anyway, got to go now. I have to catch the bus in a little less than an hour and I need to be sure my mp3 player is charged (weirdo repellent on the bus), my knitting bag is packed, and I locate the cell phone I'm taking with me. Ta ta!

I don't want to fight with my oven today...

Remember a while ago I decided to do a "Pay it forward" thing? Donna at Random Knits was paying it forward, and the goal was to get three people to make something nice for three people each, and you would make something for each of them, and so on. I think it's a brilliant idea! So far, I only have one person who has agreed to pay it forward... any new takers?

Anyway, I got my gift from Donna today!!!

That is two chocolate bars, that I've never heard of. made by Cadbury, which I have heard of, strangely enough. They're cool, One has a red Kangaroo on it and the other has a Tasmanian Devil. There is also a bag that she made, I think at least, because she did such a good job it's hard to tell.

I love it. Here's the inside.

Thanks Donna!! I love the little card, it has a girl knitting! :) I'm so happy! Yay! :)

Tomorrow, or later tonight, I'm going to do my G is for... whatever. :)

Never forget the suspenders

Hey guys, just a quick blog to let you all know I didn't, in fact, die. On Monday, my friend and I were taking a walk and I tripped and fell, hard. I severely sprained my left wrist (yes, I'm left-handed). So, I won't be blogging for a little while.

The worst part of this whole thing? I can't knit!! Ahhhh!

Best thing? I'm doing some cross stitching, which, believe it or not, I've missed.

I'll blog again later when it's not so hard to type. Maybe we can talk Angie into blogging more often? :) Talk to you guys soon!!

PS- don't worry... I'll still be stalking all of your blogs!

PPS- Go congratulate Carly -- She's engaged!!!

PPPS- Go check out these two contests! First, Knitter Bunny is having a contest, and one of them is real easy- just leave a comment on her blog! If you go there, let her know I sent you, ok? Also, go check out this post-- check out those little baby bunnies! Aww!!

Second, Creative KJ is having an awesome contest, if you like music, go check it out!!!!!

Thanks Turtle for sharing!!

It was more interesting when it was pink panther

Hey guys! Wow what a nice weekend we had! It's so pretty and sunny... I got new clothes... and new yarn, and buttons! With all of that, you know it had to be good. Look at my newest buttons! (Wow... can anyone say exclamation marks?!?)

I love those hearts. It's hard to see but they have little flowers on them. So cute. They're the kind of buttons that have the little thin in the back instead of holes, but that's ok. I love them. They're destined for baby sweaters or something.

Now, here's something interesting I've figured out. Since becoming a Knitter (I went from knitter to Knitter the minute I finished Icarus), I've become more... granola. I don't like the idea of taking a pill all the time to make myself better (although my thoughts about that changed QUICKLY when I discovered Claritin...), I've become a vegetarian (and lost 15 pounds since I did. I don't know exactly when but I'm thinking about 6 weeks?), and I'm considering using cloth diapers when I have a baby. I'm also buying a bike (instead of a car... lol like they're the same price, right?) so I can go to the store if I want to. In the spirit of all of that, I'm making the everlasting bagstopper from Knitty.

I was ready to strangle myself until I got to the part with the bigger needles. It was mostly just the picking up the stitches on the sides and bottom of the bag, and then trying to knit 5 rows (I did 3 lol) on a circular that was too long. Not fun. Now, I'm using a 24 inch size ELEVEN needle. I love it. So so fast. I'm going to find a ribbon or something to match that button, and put the button on probably as just decoration. And instead of using the drawstring to store it like she does in the pattern, I'm going to use it to close it at the top. Fun stuff, right? :) How was everyone's weekend?

You spend way to much time in the blender, Storm

Hey guys! Remember in December when Angie did the dropped stitch tutorial? Well, I'm going to show you all what to do if you have a dropped stitch (or, say, 30) and no crochet hook. Before we do that, here's the story of how this all came about. First of all, I'm a smart person. Generally. Usually. Angie... be nice. Anyway, I carry a crochet hook in my purse. Always. Unfortunately... the crochet hook that was in my purse on that fateful day was... well, let's just says I use it on the baby blanket. It wouldn't work for, say, socks.

So, one day Emmy and I went to the movies. I took my current plain sock to work on. Well, about halfway through, I realized I had split the yarn on the previous row. Well, being that it was way too dark to fix it, I sat it in my purse to be fixed the next day. So, the next chance I got to fix it (In the car, going to my mom's house with David), I got out the sock and the crochet hook (ya know, the one that's too big) and stared at my knitting in shocked silence. Two of the needles had somehow gotten pulled completely out of the knitting. Completely. I nearly gave up on it. But then I thought to myself, no no, you can do this. So I started to try to put the stitches back onto the needles. When I came to the first stitch that had dropped down, I tried to use the crochet hook to pick it up... and I discovered my error of not switching them. Hence, the discovery. in depth discovery, and tutorial of the crochet hook-less method of picking up dropped stitches. Wow, that's a long name. Note to self, consider revision hideously long name...

Anyway, so you're knitting along and all of a sudden... I don't know, the dog jumps on you and spills your hot coffee all over you and your brand new 200 dollar white pants. Ok, I made that up, but I'm sure it's happened. In the haste to save your pants...

You dropped a stitch. But, you're at your great aunt Susan's house and forgot your crochet hook at home. No worries! First, look behind the stitch that has laddered down, in this case, two rows.

See those two strands between the stitches? Those are the strands we are concerning ourselves with. First, put the stitch back on the left needle. Make sure it's oriented the right way, so that it looks like all the other stitches.

Take the needle on the right and stick it underneath of the bottom strand from the back, you could say "purlwise." You want the yarn to cross over the needle from the back left to the front right, if that makes sense.

Then, take the strand that's now on the right needle and transfer it to the left needle. In the picture and your knitting, the strand is now on the right side of the left needle.

Now, simply take the needle and insert it purlwise into the original stitch, which is the second strand in on your left needle.

And pull it off your needle. Repeat for the second strand/ladder and... Ta da!!!

It might sound complicated but seriously, I actually think it's easier than the crochet hook method. I just would not recommend trying it on lace without... well... I just wouldn't do it. If my pictures aren't clear enough, even if you click them to embiggen them, let me know, or if I'm confusing, I'll clear it up for you! :) Have a good weekend!

That's right, remember who has the hankie!!!

Look, I'm blogging two days in a row! *runs to look out the window to see if the sky is falling* It was a wonderful sunny day today and I just couldn't help but take pictures of the knitting I had at my fingertips.

First off is my Ice Queen. I love it. Love it love it love it.



I think I did something wrong though. It's too short. Look how much yarn I have left.




Ah well. I'm not willing to risk angering the knitting gods (great though they are *anxious look skyward*) by attempting to rip it. It's still a lovely cowl. Maybe a good wet block would fix the length problem. Hmmm...

Anyway, in true Yarn Mafia fashion, I obsessively knitted booties. Really. Two pairs. And if I hadn't stopped myself I would have started a third pair. They just need the ends woven in and I need to find some buttons. Little round silver ones for the STR booties and little black buttons for the pink and black ones.




And to bring up a project that hasn't been seen for awhile, I knitted a little icord vine and three little leaves yesterday. I love them. This is pretty close to how they'll be sewn onto the baby pants.


That's all I have for you today. I think I'll go find another baby bootie pattern to knit obsessively.

Why... are you in a diaper?? What???

Hey look, Angie's still alive!!! Quick, go comment and tell her how cute the booties are, or Miss O, or both. I'll wait.

Tapping foot impatiently.

Ok, now that you're back, just wanted to let you know what I've been up to. For some reason I haven't been knitting much the last few days. I'm not particularly really really loving anything I'm knitting, and it's making me less than inclined to work on anything. So, I went to work on Juno today, and I figured out that while I love love love the pattern, I just wasn't loving the way it was working up, so... it was frogged. I think I might try the Print O' The Wave stole, but right now using a provisional cast on to cast on 64 sts is just too much for me (I'm taking out a pattern repeat). I also spent all afternoon on the internet and leafing through books looking for ANY PATTERN that I really really wanted to do... and nothing struck me. So I'm stuck. So, what did I do? You got it.

Finished a baby sock. That is only number six. I'm not as insane as Angie tells you all behind my back. Shut it, Heather and Diane. :) And, I... ahem... cast on for another one.

But it's in different YARN!!! That makes it completely different, right? It's *reaches up and pulls ball band out of, where else, button vase* Claudia's Hand Painted yarns in the Buckeye colorway, which is new for sock yarn, and I had to have it, but I didn't feel like dishing out 36 dollars for enough for a whole pair of socks, so I got one and am making baby socks. Plus, these are only for game days. I'm going to make a pair in several sizes, so that no matter how old my kid is during football... you know what? Moving on. Look what I bought Wednesday!!

Yay!! I finished Things I Learned from Knitting already, and it's wonderful, I really think every knitter should own a copy, if only for comedic relief for when you've completely ruined a project. Seriously. I have already read about half of Knitting Rules but I knew I have to have it... and 22 dollars for both of them at Barnes and Noble? That is both TOGETHER. Counting my Caramel low fat frappucchino I only spent like, 25 dollars, which is great. What are you all doing this weekend?

I'm the president of jelly beans!!!!!

Hey y'all! I'm allowed to say that, I've got West Virginia in my genes. Sorry I went MIA there for a bit. It's immigration time again. Which means it's time for me to renew my visa. And it's time for me to finish up my immigration stuff. Or at least my end of it, since we have the money now. So to say I'm stressed would be an understatement. The good news is I finally figured out what the agency that gives out health cards wanted from me and that means a health card should be in my immediate future. Which might mean someone to wear these.





Pattern: Saartje's Fleeglized Bootie
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight in Fire On The Mountain
Needles: size 2 circular for the bottom and size 2 dpns once the circ began to irritate the crap out of me.

I love it. As soon as I finish this post I'm going to go knit the other one. Or as much as I can get done in the hour and a half or so that I have before I go down and start dinner.

What else have I been doing in my absence? Let's see... Remember, most of this I have no pictures of because finding the camera and actually taking pictures has just been too much lately. Umm... I finished a pair of child medium size socks for no one in particular. I've started a blanket for my aging cat back in Ohio who is driving my mother absolutely crazy laying on everything anyone lays down. I'm hoping she'll find the blanket more comfy than Dad's coat or Mom's knitting. I'm working on a pair of plain fingerless gloves for DH. And I learned to knit two socks at once on the same dpns.

Go back and read that again if you need to.

It's really not all that hard. If you've ever done double knitting or did fair isle two handed you're already well on your way. The hardest part is preventing the two strands of yarn from getting twisted together. I ran into a problem in the heel and didn't realize it till I was ready to graft the toes. Here's a picture so you can see that they are actually one inside the other.



The thing that annoyed me the most was this:


My yarn got miserably tangled and nothing I could do would fix it. I hate it when yarn does this. And it's always sock yarn. I think it has something to do with how tightly spun sock yarn is.

I have two more photos to leave you with that aren't knitting related at all. Well, I guess you could say one is since I'm in it. But I don't think that counts.


This is Miss O thinking DH making a teddy bear talk to her is the funniest thing in the world. This is the kid who is afraid of a frog stuffy that croaks when you push a button. I don't get it. lol


Then Miss O and I shared a popsicle. It all went well till she decided she was a big girl who could hold it herself. Then I had to take it away and the screaming ensued. It's ok though, she's so cute she could scream in my ear all night and it doesn't bother me the slightest.

That's all. Just wanted to stop in and say I'm still alive. Once things settle down again I should be posting more regularly.

That would be the first place I'd look!!

F is for.... Fingerless gloves, of course!

I have made who knows how many pairs of these, mostly because of my fingerless gloves fanatics group on ravelry. What you see there is 3.5 pairs of gloves that I made and one pair made for me. Yeah, .5. One glove doesn't have a mate because it was my second knitting project and it's just... it wasn't finished well and I'd never wear it. This doesn't count the one I've almsot finished for Dave, the pair I made for my friends Linda and Misti, and the pair I made for my spring swap partner. That's.... a lot of fingerless gloves. I don't have any otn right now (except Dave's but that doesn't count) and I miss them. I need a pair. Hmm... :)

But... why would assasins hide in the closet?

This is quite a day. Mark it down in the history books. Ladies and gentlemen, I have officially cast on for and finished a project in THREE DAYS. I know right? Who am I and what have I done with Krystal, your ADD friend? Seriously though, no April Fooling involved, I finished the Snowflower hat.

And, just for reference, Lucy has a much smaller head than me, because the hat barely fits me.

I'm going to try again once it's dry, and if it still doesn't fit, I'm going to block it. As it is, I just washed it and put it flay to dry. My favorite part of the hat is this one:

I just love how the snowflakes seem to sparkle (because of the sparkly bit in the yarn). It's hard to see in pictures but... use your imaginations. I know you have them. Right?

My least favorite part?

It's bunchy and not nearly as pretty because of the &*&^^* dpns. I will never, ever ever again do fair-isle on dpns. It was waaaay too hard for my little brain to comprehend.

Pattern: Snowflower hat, adapted by Marcie Nishioka from the Fake-Isle hat (by Amy King) that's in Magknits.

Yarn : Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted, about half a skein or 110 yards in Carnation; also, Lion Brand Wool-ease glitter in white/multi, also about half a skein or 81 yards.

Needles: Size 8 dpns, size 8 16" Circular.

Gauge: 4.5 spi in st st. (I know you all don't care about my gauge but I do.)

See it on ravelry!!

And look what else I've been working on!

I've been working on it mostly during movies. We saw "Horton hears a who" and "Drillbit Taylor," both of which were excellent movies btw.