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As promised, here are some pics of my new sock bag and DPN case from my swap with trek.
They really don’t do these lovelies any justice.















And some Ball Band progress.







And a new hat for charity knitting. I’ve done about an inch of K2 P1 ribbing, and have just started stockinette. When I get to the very top, I’m going to switch to green. It shall be called Blueberry.










In non-knitting news, I finished two good books this week. Angels Fall, the new Nora Roberts. It was good. Pretty much what you’d expect from her hardcover books. Girl goes to remote location to heal, girl meets boy, who helps her to heal, some mystery/murder happens, girl and boy become involved, and end up saving the day and each other. But, it has strong characters, a consistent plot, and better editing than some of her more recent works. Maybe she’s finally hired a new editing staff. I’ll give it a 3 and ½ out of 5.
I also finished Scent to Her Grave by India Ink, a pseudonym for Yasmine Galenorn, who writes the Chintz n’ China series I love. This one is set in a small beauty salon. The main sleuth, Persia, is some type of aroma therapist, but she’s been to college for perfumery or some such thing. I liked the general idea of the story, although I thought that it had some repetitious spots. It was like she forgot that she had already told the reader about such and such a place, or person. I like the Chintz n’ China series better overall, but I could get attached to this character as well. The premise is that Persia finds a dead beauty queen in the shop one morning. The local police immediately focus on one person as the killer, and Persia and her family/friends, set out to prove that the person the police have in custody isn’t the killer. It includes some possible love interest tension, as does the Chintz n’ China series. The outcome was a nice twist, one I didn’t immediately see coming. I’d give this book a 4 on a scale of 5.
And I am so excited about seeing our sock yarn tonight!!!! That's it, I'm done.

Ball Band-wagon

I have finally succumbed to the simplicity and beauty that is the Ball Band Dishcloth. Yes, it’s true. And in order to score some Peaches and Cream Cotton, I had to do a deal with Devil. I went to Wal-Mart.
I tried other places first. Meijer and K-mart both carry Lily Sugar n’ Cream, which is very close to Peaches and Cream, so I picked up a few balls at both places, thinking it would be enough-that I would be able to quickly conquer my desire to make a Ball Band Dishcloth.
But alas, none of the ones I started had that pretty bright feeling to them, like the ones in Mason Dixon. I needed to find some bright colored Peaches and Cream. And so I went to the last place I knew for sure carried P and C – that evil mega monster Wal-Mart. And behold, they had not one, not two, but three brightly colored, striped colors of P and C.
And I bought all three. Darn those Mason Dixon ladies. If they hadn’t knit up such luscious dishcloths in the first place, my soul would still be mine… And, have you seen the Elmore-Pisgah website? http://www.elmore-pisgah.com/ So many beautiful colors, so many yummy balls of yarn waiting to be knit into dishcloths. Perhaps if I order from the company directly I can regain my place in knitter’s heaven?

And, did I mention that I am anxiously awaiting a package in the mail from the lovely and talented trek? http://trekcelt.blogspot.com/ Hopefully containing a pretty pink sock bag and matching dpn case? And yay for me, she works with swaps, so even my non-credit card holding dark ages self was able to get hold of her wares. I love a good old-fashioned barter.

24 days to go until vacation. This will be my first real vacation since E was born. We’re planning to be down in Amelia for 4 whole days. We’re going to leave Wednesday after I take E to school (it’s her first day of first grade) then stop halfway there, spend the night, get up Thursday and drive the rest of the way, and leave Monday morning and drive straight back. I went ahead and took that Tuesday off just in case though.
So, I will officially have K all to myself for 6 days. I think we can do it. We’re taking my car, so if he misbehaves, I can always just leave him down there. But, now that we’ve talked things over, like how I felt about him paying for everything, and how I didn’t want him to come back later and try to hold that over my head,(which he swore, on pain of a knitting needle through his eye, he would never do) I really am looking forward to it. Since we’re taking my car, and I’m paying for the gas, I feel like I’m actually contributing to the trip. And, since we had our talk, things have been better overall between us, like we’ve cleared the air, and can move forward. Oh. Wow, I have really rambled on. I should probably go now, and if any of you are still awake, you should go too, and have a martini or something, since you made it all the way to the end.

Pictures!!

And now, without further ado, I give you, Pumpkin Head!

First I cast on 74 stitches using a size 8 16 inch circ. I worked some orange Encore in 2 x 2 ribbing until it felt like it was time to change to some green Encore. When I started the green, I wanted it to look like points, ya know, like on a real pumpkin, so I carried the green along and knit every 5th stitch green, then the next row, I knit the stitch before and after that first green stitch in green, and so on, until I had no orange stitches left, and I had made the complete switch to green. I continued working the green in plain stockinette, and began doing decreases every 10 stitches every other row. But then I decided it wasn’t decreasing fast enough, so I started doing every row, then after a few rows like that, I began decreasing every 4 stitches, then every other stitch, until I had 6 stitches left. I worked the 6 stitches for about an inch to form a stem, and then bound off, and voila, one pumpkin hat for a bebe. While I think it looks pretty nifty from the outside, it looks kinda scary from the inside.

I’m all afraid the baby is going to get some stray tiny body part entangled in the lengths of yarn that run the inside of the hat for like an inch or so. Am I being way too paranoid?
Also, I think I may have made it either too long, or not long enough. While I rolled it up on the doll’s head (an original Cabbage Patch circa 1980 now bringing joy to its second generation of Carter girls), I think that it would look better unrolled, but if I unroll it, the only baby it would fit would need to have been spawned by Coneheads. So, it isn’t perfect, and next time I make one, I’ll probably make it longer, and then maybe I’ll make a third one and make it shorter…

Newish book review

I purchased a digital camera last week, so I’m going to try and work on adding some pictures to the old blogola, but it may take me a while.
I finished a pumpkin hat for the Harlot’s WIC lady in Cal. While I borrowed the idea from Holly, I really sort of just made it up as I went along. I’m going to grab some AA batteries tonight, so hopefully I’ll have pics up later this week.
And, I know I said I would try and review (using that term very loosely) The Knitting Way, but I left it at home and I don’t want to review it without having it in front of me. I will say that if you are looking for lots of patterns and pictures of said patterns, this is not the book for you. The only pictures are in black and white, and there is usually only one picture of the item. However, it does have some really cool stuff to say about the meditative and spiritual aspects of knitting. More to come.
In other knittinb book news the copy of Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush that I have been waiting for finally arrived today. I am so going to buy this book. It has lots of great sock patterns, as well as some fun history of sock knitting. If you liked Nancy’s Folk Socks book, you will like this book too.
It has great pictures; simple, easy to follow instructions and charts; and in the first part of the book, Nancy includes 4 different types of heels, and 6 different types of toes. She also has timelines of fun facts on the bottom of the pattern pages. (Fun for the history geeks among us that is.)
She also lists the full information for the yarns she used, so that swapping a yarn should be pretty easy. I hate it when a pattern just says “Yarn used WoolHouse PinkPetunia” and that’s all. Or just, “Worsted weight wool, 50 oz.” or “2 ply yarn, 280 yards” I want to as much information as possible, so that if I need to substitute a different yarn, I can without too much worry that it will mess up the pattern. But I digress.
All in all, I think that this book will make a great addition to any sock knitter’s book shelf.

Sorry, I couldn't resist

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

NEW CAR!!

First, Thanks to everyone for the Good Birthday Wishes. Second, Lots of LOVE and HUGS and KISSESS galore to K for the flowers. They are so pretty, and best of all is NO ROSES(Sorry if you are a rose fan. I just don’t care for them that much) Since I don’t have a digital camera with me, here is a pic snagged from the Nanz and Kraft website of what the flowers look like: (although I have a different balloon)

Apparently, that didn't work. Hmmm, I guess I need to figure out how to do this. Sorry.

Third, I got my new to me car!! I went with a 2004 Hyundai Accent. It’s a bare bones, no frills little car, and I LOVE IT! She is super cute and actually pretty peppy for a little car. And I mean little. I can reach every door from the driver’s seat, which is good since it doesn’t have power locks. It doesn’t have power windows either. But it does have killer AC, a tape player that works, so I can actually use the CD and IPOD adapter, driver, passenger, and side curtain air bags, 4 and 5 star ratings from the NHTSA and gets 30-35 MPG. But the best part? Total cost, out the door: 9385.00. How f’ing great is that? Oh, and did I mention that it has less then 30,000 miles on it? And 2 1/2 years left on its bumper to bumper warranty, and 1 year of free maintenance? So, if anything goes wrong, it won’t cost me a dime, unless of course it’s a tire that blows out, but even then, the tires are small, which equals inexpensive. And, I have heard that it should lower my insurance. WOO HOO! I made a practical car purchase. I may actually be becoming a responsible adult. Ok, so maybe it’s a little soon to assume that…

Hodegpodge

Alright, go ahead, ask me how far along I am on my charity knitting… I deserve to be flogged with the yarn, for I have done absolutely nothing. I bought the yarn, and I was all psyched to get started, and now… well I just haven’t really been in the mood to knit. I can understand what Liz was saying about apathy.
There are so many causes that I hear about, and think, “Oh yeah, I can totally get behind that” or “That is so awful. Someone should do something about (insert cause here)” When I was pregnant with Eden I read Ariel Gore, the original hip mama, and was so blown away by her spirit. I was all about working to bring about change and fighting the man. I was going to be the super cool, hip activist mom, and teach my daughter about how to be a super strong, assertive woman in our male-centered society. Then the baby was actually born, and I was so busy just trying to make it through the day, all thoughts of activism flew right out the door.
So, the other day when I read the Harlot’s post, it stirred up all my activist, hippie thoughts again. I’m thinking, here is something I can actually do. One of the hardest parts about being active and taking a stand against, or for, a cause, is that I don’t have a lot of spare time to do everything I would like to. But knit a baby hat? That I can do. So why I am stuck? I still feel very passionately that the cause is worthy of my time.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been preoccupied with my life and my own drama this past week. It was E’s 6th birthday, and between the cake, the presents and the parties, we are both pooped. Next year, I’m having one party. My families will just have to suck it up. E had three parties. Yes, THREE. One with my mom’s family, one with her friends, and one with my dad’s family. Oh, and we took her out to eat on her actual birthday. It was almost as much fun as Christmas, when I was driving all over the city trying to get her to 3 different Christmas parties. Oh what fun it is to be the child of a broken home, who then has a child and splits up with the kid’s father…
But, in good news, I am hoping to go by a new-to-me car tomorrow. I am soooo excited!!!! Everyone keep their fingers crossed that it all works out. I’m worried that I won’t be able to get a car I really like for what I can afford. I don’t want to have to settle for some ancient, fugly POS car. I’m hoping I can at least get one made in this decade. Wish me luck!
PS, A newish knitting book also arrived in my delivery box this afternoon. It is called The Knitting Way: A Guide to Spiritual Self-Discovery. I've only had a chance to flip the pages, and if you are a visual person like me, I am thinking this may not be the best book for us. It appears to have only b and w pics. More information to come..