I broke the internet

Just a slight exaggeration there but my dsl has not been working for weeks now and I've been so busy with the holidays and work that I haven't gotten around to fixing it so I can post.
I have spent quite a few work hours reading about holiday knitting on dozens of knitting blogs. I did little in the way of holiday knitting. Just a few dish cloths from Mason -Dixon knitting. Lots of Jayne hat knitting. I think I must have knit at least 30 of them in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I actually had to shut down my eBay store because I couldn't keep up with all that knitting.
I've got a ton of post-holiday knitting planned. First on the list are some very adorable cotton bags that I plan on lining . These are my own design and I hope to have them up on my webstore by the end of January, just in time for some Valentine's shopping.
I also saw the new Noni bags - I still haven't had the time to knit the bag I got the pattern for last summer. There's one new bag that is very simple but totally my kind of bag. I so want to be Noni when I grow up.

Tenacious D(ish Cloth)

This has now enticed me to go see the Tenacious D movie - very clever marketing:
http://www.tenaciousdmovie.com/rocktheinternet/?id=83082

In knitting news, the browncoats are busy with requests for all things Jayne so I've been knitting away. I had high hopes of knitted gifts this Christmas but there's no way I'll be able to make all the things I'd like to make. Besides, I can not get the hand of sock knitting. Who knew it would be so hard? I'm also having issues with one particular yo in a lace scarf I'm making. Again, who knew? I've been knitting for close to 40 years (and I ain't that old). You think I could manage a simple yo or a sock.
But, I'm having great fun making dishclothes from the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. It's cute and quick and fun! Besides, knitting in brightly colored cotton isn't a bad thing. I'm going to make a dozen or so and actually pass them off as face cloths along with some soap from the Body Shop as gifts for my 7 aunts. The scarf and socks will probably be next years gifts. Once I finish a few more, I'll post pictures.

Over, Under? WTF?

OK, I had a semi-quiet nice Saturday planned - wanted to make some progress on the lace scarf but noooooooooooooooooooo. Either there is an error in the pattern o r I'm a complete ejit because I keep coming out with 1 extra stich on row 3 and 5 of the repeats. I've frogged this sucker 3 times so methinks I'll set it aside for the moment and get on with some Mason-Dixon knitting. I did rush out to the bookstore on Friday night and I got the Mason-Dixon book and it is wonderful. I so want to make a log cabin afghan now but I know that it'll take for-freaking-ever so I have to settle for some dishclothes. I have a plethoa of cotton yarn in some great solid and variegated colors so I'll be working on that whilst my lace-block dissappears. Plus I've got at least one more Jayne hat ordered so I've got plenty to do.

I think I could live for a week in a bookstore, expecially one with a coffee bar and cheesecake like the Borders closest to my house. It is attached to a mall but it's a "trendy" kind of mall without the usual Target or PayLess housed inside. This mall has a Nordstroms and a Macy's and an amazing food court with the best Korean BBQ I've had in a long time. So maybe I could live in the bookstore as long as I had acess to the Korean BBQ. Anyway, I love buying books almost as much as I love buying yarn. And my son is a reader, he can get through a sci-fi book in a couple of hours. So when I want to go to the bookstore and I don't want to drive there alone, all I have to say is "I'll buy you a book" and he's fetching car keys and running down the stairs (keep in mind the boy is days away from turning 21). Truth be told, I like to bring him along because it keeps me from spending an entire paycheck at the bookstore. So this particular Friday night, I got the afroementioned Mason Dixion Knitting and a copy of the holiday Interweave Knits magazine and the Yarn Harlot's book which I've also been coveting for quite a while. I haven't gotten to read it yet but it's going to be my BART book - the book that fits into my purse that I can read on my short train ride to work.

All this has made me realize that when I do open my very own uber fun highly successful yarn store, I must have a cozy comfty book section with a coffee bar and cheesecake located next to a Korean BBQ restaurant.

Progress Report

I cast on last night for my first foray into lace. It's a lace scarf and I saw the pattern online through a knitting group forum - the designer said the pattern can use any type of yarn and needles resulting in any size of scarf you want. It claims to be a leaf pattern but looks far more like lacey cables to me. It is an easy pattern but I got hung up on the numerous yarn overs between switching from knits to purls. I've only gone thorough one repeats - it's only 8 rows - and it does look lacey. I've only got one order left for Jayne hats so I may actually make some progress on this scarf.
I also want to start one holiday project - I really only have 2 or maybe 3 plus one big January project - I want to make some of those wonderful washclothes from Mason Dixon knitting. I love the blog but I haven't gotten the book yet. I have tons of cotton in my stash so yarn won't be a problem. I'll be book shoppinig manana. :)

Socks Epiphany

I had an epiphany today durning an especially boring spell at work (and a major hot flash that won't seem to dimish). I want to knit something for each person on my Christmas list. I don't have a huge list, 1 parent, 2 kids, 1 sister, 2 neices and 1 aunt and uncle. Now what can I make 8 of in the next 2 months? S. O. C. K. S!
I have the needles, the yarn, the books, what am I waiting for? Maybe I'm waiting for the knit fairy to come and get me started because I can't for the life of me get one going that I like.
I've got at least 3 hours of good tv tonite - Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy & ER - I should be able to actually get a sock going, right?

Jayne Jayne & More Jayne

I'm thinking, when I die, my headstone needs to have a Jayne hat on it. I've knit more than 50 full size hats and just as many minis and custom sized hats. My current fav is one I knit for someone who wanted to gift a friend who had a plushie made from his/her comic book character, Owly. So here he is in all his shiny glory. I also have to say, I've dealt with close to a hundred Browncoats with these hats and every single one of them has been kind and gracious. Even the poor bloke in the UK who's hat got kidnapped by Customs for a week or two, all sweet, polite people. I wish I could say the same for some of the other people I deal with on eBay.

In more Jayne news, the yarn I buy (Lion's Brand Wool-Ease) is getting scare in the colors I need. I suspect it's because the hat happens to be in Pumpkin, Cranberry & Gold and tis the holiday season full of those colors. My fear is that I'll be bombarded with requests for hats and run out of yarn. I've got wool allergies so that limits my selections (and I'd have to charge a lot more for the hats if I used a more expensive wool yarn). I'm not a yarn snob and have no problem with RedHeart but I want my Cranberry & Pumpkin, damn it!!

I did save the best news for last.....I've been making these hats for more than a year now and the idea of people actually paying for something I've created spurred me to create an online store. My plan is to design and create unique women's accessories. I've made a few things that I thought to be very unique. For example, four or five years ago, I purchases a Palm Pilot for work. I didn't want it to get trashed and I hated the butch looking leather thingys that you could buy to protect it. So, I crocheted a little mini purse to hold it out of some size 10 cotton thread. It was a hit so I made one for my sister for her phone. Her coworkers saw it and wanted some, etc, etc. Naturally, I wasn't the only one with the idea to knit or crochet something to protect iPods, cells, pda, becase within months you saw iPod socks in Apple stores . When I made my first Jayne hat for my son and his friends all wanted one - he suggested eBay as a way to handle it. The eBay store has evolved into my online store. Only problem, is 18 months later, the Jayne hats (and keychains, iPod socks, etc) are keeping me busy. I've got a sketchbook full of designs, a head full of ideas, a dozen plastic bins full of yarn, patterns and needles....but no time. Full time job, single mom of 2, another pt job helping out at my mom's business and no time. But I'm determined to find a way to do this - twice in the past three months, I've seen ideas I have in my sketchbook, on the pages of knitting magazines. In one sense it frustates but in another, it's validation that I'm on the right track. That my sketchbook full of designs will yield patterns that are publish worthy!! So yesterday (a slow day at work) as I'm checking my eBay page and email, I get an email about a paypal payment. I move on over to eBay and nothing's sold. Hmmmmmm, maybe eBay having issues. Hours later, I open the email and actually read it - two items sold from my online store. What? I hadn't told anyone outside of family about the online store, let alone try and publicize it. So today, I shipped out the two items and I'm dying to email the buyer and ask her how the hell she found my store but that would be soooooooooo tacky. So that's the good news!!!! Yay Me!!! Yay Browncoats!!!!

Finally

I'm finally caught up on Jayne hats - Hallej....however you spell that....I was actually home sick from work today - the allergy gods are hating on me - but it did allow me to catch up on Jayne hat knitting. And....since I'm caught up on Jayne hat knitting - that means I get to knit something else - something amazing different from a Jayne hat - something I'll actually wear...and it's not the socks I started weeks and weeks ago that I can't seem to get the hang of no matter how much I try...it's a sweater. Yes, I'm going to actually knit myself a sweater.
30+ years of knitting and I've never, ever made an adult sized sweater. Not only is this an adult sized sweater - it's a my sized sweater - bigger than your average adult female. And, to top it all off....it's a duster! And it's knit on small needles. So I could possibly be a grandmother by the time I actually finish it, I have cast on. All 291 stitches. The pattern calls for size 4 & 6 circs (36" cables) but I could only find 29" cables but it's good so far. I couldn't get an exact gauge to save my life but I got pretty damn close so I'm going for it. The pattern also called for 28 (yes 2 8 ) skeins of very expensive wool/silk blend. I'm not willing to pay 9 bucks a skein when I need to buy 28 of them - so I got some Simply Soft in a jet black color for 2.49 a skein and only needed to buy 8 of them. I used Simply Soft to make my mom's clapitos and I liked the feel of it. Plus, with my allergies to wool, I wasn't going to use the suggested yarn anyways. So, I'm off to veg in front of the TV watching some baseball and knit away!

Happy Hat folks

Happy Happy - the couple I knit the "authentic" Jayne hats for sent me a pic - they are too too cute.
In other knitting new, I stopped at the bookstore today and picked up Vogue's little tiny sock knitting book. I almost picked up 3-4 others and a magazine but I managed to maintain my budget!!! So hopefully I'll have sock pics soon. I'm also very close to finished the handles of my Sophie bag - pics of that coming soon as well.

Long Live The Hero of Canton

Again, up to my ears in Jayne hats so I haven't had time to post. My version of the hats seem to be very popular. I had a special request for a couple going to Dragon-con and I think the hats turned out very well. Here's proof that I've been knitting hats non-stop:

Highly Anticipated....

I wish ...... been a while since I posted. Why? Because I've got too much work to do!!!! Lots and lots of folks want Jayne hats so I've been knitting them up every single day. This is a good thing - a little extra Jayne cash doesn't hurt.
BTW - here's a totally random vacation pic - just because. Yah vacation!
I did see something knitting related on the way home from work on Friday. My car died (rip) so I've been taking BART for the past 2 weeks. Inside the train there was a poster thanking "Knitters, Crocheters & Needleworkers" for riding BART. I wanted to grab my cell and take a quickie pic but I didn't want to embarass myself with the loud clicking noise my phone makes. And, I didn't want the two commuters sitting in front of the sign to think I was some freaky stalker person. And, I didn't want to draw any attention to myself with all the heightened security on the BART trains due to the foiled terrorist plot uncovered in the UK. But the sign was cute and I almost wished I had a longer commute so I could knit on the train. As it is, most days I don't even get to sit down as I ride the most congested portion. But then I only pay $45 a month to ride as much as I want which is far less than the 300 - 400 a month I spent on parking & gas to drive my car to work. Yah me!!!

In more specific knitting news - I did get some new patterns and yarn with the intention of making some Christmas gifts. I'm close to finishing one felted purse and I'd love to start on the Noni purse I want just for moi but I don't have enough yarn for the Noni - and I still need the flower pattern. And I need to order handles and magnetic closures for the purse. And, I'm trying not to spend money on knitting (unless it's for something I've sold) until I finish some more items. Yah me!!!!
I also think the Jayne hats are going to continue to be popular because of the upcoming Dragon-Con and Browncoat ball and then the Christmas holidays. But like I said, extra cash rocks since I need to buy a new car in the next few months (after I've weaned my family from the thought that I'm a freaking chauffeaur). Double Yah me :)

Memes

OK - found this on someone else's blog - in honor of my declining years - here's a meme:
bold the ones you've done

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree10.
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly could
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run3
6. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Gone white water rafting
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour9
8. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge1
02. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery1
20. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon1
22. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life
I tag you.

Jimmy Beans Rocks

While I was on vacation, I accidently discovered a wonderful yarn store, Jimmy Beans Wool, in Truckee (of all places.) The saleswomen told me about the store's website and being a good little internet girl, I looked at it when I got home.
While looking at it I discovered these patterns : http://www.nonibags.com/
Now I must have 10 different projects I'm currently knitting or want to knit. I sooooooo don't have the time or the money to start a new project. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
But how can I resist this:

I'm bbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Back from vacation - and I actually got to spend a whole 20 minutes in a yarn store in Truckee. It had to be 187 degrees outside so we didn't stay anywhere too long - but there happened to be a store across from the restaurant where we had lunch - so natually I had to stop by and look. It's Jimmy Beans Wool and they had a great selection of Noro. I did get two hanks of sock yarn since I'm on a sock binge. It was fun to be in a store and see and touch all the yarns I've been reading about. I live in a big city and there are lots of yarn stores here but parking sucks in this big city so I don't get to visit as often as I like. The saleswoman in the store was great - asking me if I'd ever knit with Lorna's Laces before and when I said "no", she gushed..."you're going to love it" and hugged the hanks to her chest. I thought to myself - "these are my people." Even my son realized I wasn't the only one and the cult of knitting was an ever expanding group. The saleswoman immediately pulled two socks out of her bag to show me the yarn knit up. I swear, if it wasn't hotter than hell that day, I would have stayed in that store for hours. Yah for yarn stores and double yah for saleswoman who rock. 

V A C A T I O N

I leaving the big city for greener pastures - taking a vacation - hoping to finish a number of knits on my trip - like my mom's b/d gift since she's coming along and it'll be her actual birthday. And socks, my first ever attempt. And my peacock purse. And a mini clapitos. Yeah, I don't plan on leaving the condo much.
See you in a week or so.

I love KnitPicks!!!

My big ole box of yarn arrived at the bar yesterday and I just picked it up this morning. I love knitpicks, I love free shipping and I especially love when the big ole box of yarn arrives earlier than expected!!!!
Most of what I purchased was WofA for some more felted purses but I did get some sock yarn and some dpns for......S O C K S. After plugging through a bunch of different patterns and stash yarns without any sucess I decided to get some self-striping sock yarn and give that a go. I planned on making socks for my aunt who's confined to her bed while recovering from a fall but I fear by the time I'm finished she'll be running marathons. And, my daughter asked me when I was going to make her some socks - the daughter who H A T E S everything I knit. I feel lots of sock knitting in my future.
But first, I have a hat to finish for my last eBay auction before vacation, and a bd gift for mommie dearest to finish before next sunday, plus work and packing and cleaning and making sure i paid all the bills while i'm without a puter for a whole damn week. Plus, I'm publishing a book of really bad poems for a friend of my mothers......enough stalling....off to the needles.

TGIF

Ever have one of those days? The kind where pretty much everything you touch turns to sh*t? That was today for me.....after a hellicous week at work I come home to an even more hellicous house and it went downhill from there. So I vegged out at the computer playing mindless yahoo games (and totally ignoring the knitting I have stacked up waiting to be finished)....and I came across this......

and it made me smile - so I'm thinking the rest of the weekend won't be so bad. TGIF

ETA: figures, it's supposed to be an animated gif and there's no animation - I'm staying in bed all weekend :>

God Bless The Hero of Canton

Jayne hats are flying off the shelves again - ok, so two in one week - that's flying off the shelves for me. I may actually have to buy more yarn. But that, some gifty knitting, and an ever so jam packed week at work and I've been neglecting my dear old blog.
But, tomorrow is Friday, and no work on the weekend so I can take some pics and blog some blogs.
And happy birthday daddy :)

Red-White-Blue Clutch

I've finished the stars & stripes cotton clutch I designed - I still have to weave in the gazillion ends and maybe try and block it a bit before I line it. And paint the handles. Then I need to write up the pattern in a language normal knitters can understand - thank god I took good notes - then I'll post the pattern on my website. Here's an in-progress pic:

Drumroll please.............

We have a logo people - we have a logo!!
After months and months of sketching, ripping, resketching I finally have a logo I like. Despite the fact that my children have once again, fallen on the floor laughing hysterically when I debut'd this little gem, I'm keeping the sucker.
It's actually modeled after a children's bedroom wall in a magazine. But I like it. It's cute and it's currently plastered all over my website. Soon, it'll be plastered all over business cards.
Now, I have to get back to knitting.
I've got a purse on the needles that I've dubbed the candie corn purse because of the colors. I need to finish the body and decide how I want the straps to be. I've got a jayne hat on the needles...why? because I ALWAYS have a jayne hat on the needles. I've got yarn for two more clutches in really bright summery colors that I want to knit up before my vacation next month. I've got a clapotis that I have to finish as it's a gift. As I've been knitting the clapitos, which I love, I get a hundred ideas for other types of wraps. I suspect my vacation will be spent desiging those wraps (between trips to the casino of course). Enough typing - back to knitting.

Happy Father's Day

I decided to pay a visit to the cemetary toady - my daughter spent a good 30 minutes cleaning my dad's headstone. She never got to meet my dad - I was pregnant when he died but he knew she was coming - didn't know she was a she - thought he was about to have a boy - whom I was going to name after him - rest in peace daddy.

WoW, I'm a Knitter

The worlds of WoW and Knitting collide!

In other news, after work I planned on going to NoeKnits to buy some sock yarn. I want to knit socks for my aunt who's been ill. I didn't have anything appropriate in my stash and I'm too impatient to wait for a knitpicks order so off to my lys. I got there at 5:59. They close at 6 on Fridays (??? why so early?). They were long gone when I hit the door at 5:59. So sad. I really like Noe Knits but this discourages me from taking the time and trouble to patronize my lys. Parking sucks in Noe Valley and I was thrilled to find a spot right in front. All I wanted was some pretty sock yarn and some size 2 bamboo dpns. Not much to ask for on a summer's evening? But noooooooooooooo, they decided to close early. Yesterday was payday, I suspect I would have purchased more than 2 skeins of sock yarn and some needles. I suspect I would have bought some nore Noro to make another booja bag and maybe something silky to make a 2nd clapitos but nooooooooooo, they weren't open even though it wasn't exactly 6pm. I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.......big mistake.....big mistake.
buh bye Noe Knits - good luck to ya!

C L A P T O I S

Finally!! I started on Claptois last night. I'm using some old Lions Brand wool I had sitting around. I bought it to make a felted purse but never got around to it. I actually had some Red Heart something or other in a beautiful brown, tan, teal combo but it curled and curled and curled and I know acrylic won't be something that I can successfully block so I switched to the wool. The pattern is so easy. I guess the dropped stitch thing scared me. I can't wait to get to that part - makes for motivation whilst knitting. Here's a wip pic :)

SUNSCREEN IS NOT OPTIONAL

OK, this is what happens when you don't wear sunscreen to the Giants game. Today is Tuesday - game was a week ago Wednesday and this hurts like a mofo. Pardon the cleve pics but they do illustrate what happens when you don't use sunscreen.
The really stupid (on my part) part of this is before I left for work, I asked my daughter if she had sunscreen. She didn't so I made sure I grabbed a hat to cover up with. I even worn long sleeves. Someone at the game even offered me some sunscreen but since my face and arms were covered, I assumed all was ok. NOT - I am not a wimp when it comes to pain - I've had 12 lb kids and root canals without pain killers - yet this sunburn has me whining like a little girl because it hurts so bad. Never again will I leave the house without sunscreen - I have learned my lesson - now can my peeling, oozing skin go back to normal? please? I promise I'll be good oh mighty sun gods.

TGIF

This afternoon at work I had a tad too much free time - I think the whole mid-week baseball game thingy just killed any productivity I had for the week. Wasn't just moi either, the place has been a ghost town since about noonish on Friday. I started making a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish this weekend and 80% were knitting related. Lately I've been thinking about the big picture - about what I want to do with the rest of my life. I've been a wife, a mom, a college graduate, a secretary, a bookkeeper, a bar owner, a deli owner, a field producer, a web producer, a satellite producer, a assignment desk editor and now a media manager. The best and sometimes worse of those times where the years at TechTV when I was satellite producer. TechTV was a startup tv network devoted to all things internet and technological. So when Al Gore spoke about inventing the internet - we knew exactly what he meant and who actually did the "inventing". Some of my former co-workers have recently dubbed it Camelot - we knew that we were part of something special - something that should have nutured and allowed to grow. But those who thought they knew better, destroyed it. In destroying it, they also destroyed what they loved - so no one wins. But, it was still an experience I'll likely never repeat and one I'll never regret. We've all moved on to different things - one guy is the radiator king of Denver, one woman co-anchors Headline news, me and a few others fell into a retail tv network (stuff you see in stores) but we're all still connected by our own technological Camelot.
So, as I sit and ponder about what I really want to do - I know precisely what I don't want to do - I don't want to do local news, I don't want to run a bar or a deli, I don't want to do administrative work. Part of me still wants to work in news - but I'm too old and too experienced to be back in local news working night shift, weekends and every holiday because I have no senority. And, I don't want to leave San Francisco - leaving the city means I could probably have my pick of a number of news jobs - management jobs - but I don't want to do that. So, that leaves me with staying in retail tv or ? or what? That what has become more and more defined for me of late. I've been knitting and trying to knit a number of items - hats, bags, shawls, scarves, etc. I LOVE doing this. I LOVE trying to figure out how some make an idea in my head work on a pair of knitting needles. And most of all, when I create something and give it to someone else, I LOVE to see their reaction - good or bad. And I really love when someone seens my stuff on eBay and buys it - then tells me how much they love it!! So in the back of my mind I'd been thinking, wouldn't it be fun to have a store where I'd carry yarn that I love, teach classes, sell patterns I design. It would be a love fest. Then I think - well, would it make enough $$ to support myself - hell, health insurance costs alone can kill you!
So today, as I sat and read a thread to emails from former TechTV co-workers reminising about our camelot, I came to a decision. I'm going to create my own Camelot (without the tragic ending of course.) My first step is going to have to be a business plan - not an easy task for a psych major turned satellite bitch - but not impossible. So my list of things to do this weekend have been dwindled down a bit - work on business plan - keep knitting, just keep knitting.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

No Knitting Content Today!! Why you ask? It's because this is where I was all afternoon - resulting is a major sunburn. Why yes, I should know better. Why no, I didn't bring sunscreen. Why yes, I'm feeling majorly stupid at the moment. And, the G men got their butts kicked. :<

Here fishy fishy fishy......

Too much time online means less time knitting!!!!
The out-of-print magazine I won on eBay last week arrived with the tesselating (sp?) fishy afghan. I've got the yarn and I've got the needles. A fishin' we will go!!!!!!

My company's having a summer event tomorrow - baseball game and I'm bringing along my son - I'm totally dying to bring my knitting but I fear my co-workers and my son will harass the hell out of me so the fishies will stay home. I'm sure I can think of something else to annoy them all anyway.

100 Things

I learned how to knit from my 5th grade teacher Mrs. Caster.
My first FO was a square.
My 2nd was a purple and pink stuffed alligator.
When I was younger I wanted to be a nun.
I also always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
I worked in TV news for 14 years.
I work in advertising now.
I don’t like advertising.
I once wrote a column for a political website.
I love to cook but I suck at making gravy.
I once was offered a place at the California Culinary Academy.
My father told me I should be a cop.
I spent my 16th birthday at Candlestick Park watching my cousin play baseball for the Giants.
I went to more than 60 home games that year.
I went to school with Juan Marichal’s daughters
I was Yearbook Photographer in high school.
I went to the same college my mother & sister went to (except I graduated).
I have a degree in Developmental Psychology.
I have a degree in Sociology too.
I’m allergic to Chocolate, but I eat it anyway.
I’m allergic to seafood too, so I don’t eat it.
My favorite seafood is abalone.
The summer camp my parents sent me to was run by Ursuline nuns.
I went to Catholic school for 12 years.
I have a tattoo on my right shoulder of a heart with wings.
I’m thinking of getting another one, something celtic to remember my dad and cousin by.
My son calls my tattoo my “mid-life crisis”.
I’m a frustrated rock-n-roll singer (i.e. I can’t carry a tune).
I was on the honor roll every semester in high school.
I ran for office my senior year of high school.
I won.
No one ran against me.
I graduated college with honors.
I worked in the office of a construction company after college.
I have a small mole under my left nostril that has, on occasion, been mistaken for something else.
I’m thinking of having it removed.
I get ocular migraines.
I’m allergic to fluorescent lighting.
My mom owns a bar.
I play video games ( currently WoW, formerly SWG).
I own a Cher CD.
I was married for 18 years.
I get alone with my ex-in-laws now better than when I was married.
I have an uncle named Bumpsy.
My aunt died and her kids never told us.
My sister and I used to play Mass and make faux communion wafers in our Easy Bake oven.
I once dressed up like a nun for Halloween, when I was pregnant.
My cousin and I pushed a counselor into a locker at summer camp
That counselor became a nun
She was the 8th grade teacher for both of my children.
Nuns have good memories.
I keep score when I go to a baseball game.
I hate the DH rule in the American League.
I love Barry Bonds.
I sew.
I made the flower girl dresses for my wedding.
I made my daughter’s baptismal gown with lace from Ireland.
I crochet.
I crocheted baby blankets for both my children, both rainbow colored.
I hate to clean.
I’m a perfectionist.
I’m also a control freak.
I used to hate rap music but now it’s grown on me.
I discovered the Ben & Jerry’s Black and Tan ice cream is the only ice cream on the planet that I won’t eat.
I ate ice cream every day I was pregnant.
I once made my husband at the time, drive to Santa Cruz to buy me carmel apples when I was pregnant.
I make the best fried chicken in the universe.
I’m a browncoat.
My ancestors arrived on the Mayflower.
My dream job would be any job at Lucas Arts in the Presidio.
I got carded buying cigarettes when I was in my mid-40’s.
I once grew 7’ tall sunflowers in my backyard.
I’ve also grown tomatoes, squash, peppers and radishes.
My favorite flowers are tulips.
My favorite color is purple.
I’m allergic to wool.
I gave birth to my 11 ½ lb son without any painkillers.
I’ve never been outside the US.
I wish I knew how to play the guitar.
I’m dangerously addicted to reality TV.
My favorite reality show is CBS’s Big Brother.
In the past, I’ve subscribed to the live feeds online for Big Brother.
The only class in High School I had problems with was Spanish.
I can, however, swear in Spanish, French, Arabic & Celtic.
My credit rating sucks but I’m working on it.
I took ballet as a child.
I also took Irish dancing.
and clarinet lessons.
I coached my daughter’s volleyball team.
I own my own bowling ball and two league bowling shirts.
My dream is to open a yarn store and design purse patterns.
I’ll never get married again.
I feel guilty for not going to mass every week.
Elevators make me anxious.
Flying makes me anxious.
I have an unnatural fear of driving on the freeway but only if I’m driving.
I love watching cooking shows especially old Juila Child and Jaques Pepin shows on PBS.
I don’t like Emeril.
I wish Van Halen would stop breaking up.
I’ve got lotto tickets in my purse for the next 5 drawings.

Socks, Socks, I need to knit socks

In my 30+ years of knitting I've managed to avoid knitting a single pair of socks. Yesterday my aunt fell and fractured her pelvis and will now be laid up in the hospital for a while. This particular aunt (I've got 8 of them just on my mom's side of the family!) is a crafting goddess. She crochets and sews some of the cutest things on the planet. A little background - we have a big family and have a Christmas party every year that serves as a family reunion. Over 100 attend to a full blown Turkey dinner (which I've cooked every 3 or 4 years). Part of the tradition of this event are contests - shopping bags, deserts, centerpieces, appetizers - all with some sort of prize. Well, when it's Aunt Connie's turn at hosting the party the competition heats up for the contests because her prizes are always something hand made and stunningly clever. One year I won a teeny tiny sewn baby doll inside a hand crochected basket. The entire thing was smaller than my thumb.
Now, with her accident, I want to do something special for her. I'm gonna make her some kick-ass socks. Wool allergies run in my family so it'll have to be cotton so I'll be making a trip to my lys manana to find some amazing sock yarn and a simple pattern so I can hurry the hell up and get Aunt Connie some kick-ass socks to keep her toes toasty while she recovers. Wish me luck!

Lots of FOs

I've been meaing to do this for a long time - lots of finished projects!

This one is a purse I knit for my neice Kaylee's 17th birthday - I made her sister the little piggy cell phone holder so turnabout is fair play. I got the pattern from a Spring 06 Magazine that I promptly lost - but it's a basic st stitch with increases. I did learn to cable cast on for this and I've made a couple more for gifts.


This purse is the first thing I made with KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. I made a Booja bag using Noro Kuryeon and had a hard time felting it. I wanted a more structed bag so I designed this one with the inspiration being the leather bags my sister and I would buy at the Sonoma County fair every summer. They had a nice heavy flap that kept everything inside the purse actually inside the purse. I like this one except I sucked making the buttom hole (and I don't actually like the button). I've got another on the needles that looks to be better.

The poncho from the movie Monster-In-Law - which is actually crocheted and way too small for any normal sized human.



And, just to prove that everything I knit does not have blue in it - the Jayne hat - this must have been # 8975932.5.

It's Official!

It's official, I'm addicted to knitting. Today at work, we had one of those hastily pulled togther meetings to discuss "rumors". Anyone who's worked at a sizeable company knows those meeting often lead to layoffs. Having survived rounds and rounds and rounds of layoffs at my last company, I'm fairly certain it won't be the case here - seems they're just being proactive. But, standing there listening to the rumor control, the thought crossed my mind that this could be the beginning of rounds of layoffs. Previously I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the thought of being laid off (single mom, 2 kids - scary thought). This time, the very first thought in my head was "I wonder if they're going to offer some kind of early servance package if anyone wants to quit and if they do will it be enough cash to open a lys?". This was immediatley followed by thoughts of "I can finally finish that purse I'm trying to design" and then "Maybe I should go by NoeKnits tonite and get some yarn to cast on for Clapitos or, better yet, that coat from Big Girls Knits." I'm toast, I'm done, I'm obsessed.

Long Live The Hero of Canton

 

Wedding Pictures!!!

Ok, so it's not about yarn or knitting (unless you consider that I was about to knit up a shawl to match my daughter's dress) but there are some cute pics of my sister-in-law's wedding last weekend! 

Google Me

Ever google your name and see what comes up? Yep, those chimpmunk cheeks and squinty eyes belong to moi.

All In.....

My first post - ever!!!!
Not so recently, I've indulged my passion for knitting. I've indulged it to the point where my stash now consumes 7 big plastic bins. Hey, when I do something I do it big. Ever watch those poker matches on TV and the player goes "all in"? That's me, I'm all in.
Let's take a trip back to the early 70's.....the candie girl is in 5th grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Caster, is rarely seen without her needles in her hands. In fact, more often than not, one could hear Mrs. Caster's click, click, clicking, long before you could actually see her. In that 5th grade classroom, it was time for an art lesson - about colors. The events that immediately proceeded this art lesson remain vague and blurry (give me a break, it's been 35 years) but the result was a terribly adorable purple and pink stuffed alligator with a red felt tongue. The candie girl was hooked. It was almost magical that this teacher who could strike fear into the heart of any 10 year old with a mere glance, was able to create ANYTHING with those two needles and a skein of yarn that was always hidden away in her little straw tote bag.
Over the years, the candie girl would knit and crochet a variety of items. Being an impatient girl, she spend a lot of time making baby items and the occasional afghan. At many a baby shower, tears were shed by the receipt of one of her baby blankets or cover-ups. But, being the impatient girl she was, most of these items were crocheted.
Fast forward to 2004 when the big, ugly, evil, greedy Comcast purchased the company Candie Girl worked for and fired all 285 employees. The girl was pissed and decided to take an extended amount of time off. To fulfill some of the generous amounts of free time she now had, Candie Girl broke out the knitting paraphalia and began to create again.
One afternoon, while browsing knitting blogs, she ran across a post discussing a pattern for a hat seen on a character on a non-cancelled sci-fi series. This was the series her son had been talking about non-stop. She printed out all the posts hoping to discern a pattern from them. The posts suggested using circular needles, Candie Girl had never, ever used circs in all her 30 plus years of knitting but never one to back down from a challenge, she purchased yarn and needles and set to work. The hat, which is one ugly hat, was a success. Her son posted a picture of himself wearing said hat (which now had cult like status amoung knitter and sci-fi fans) and the requests came in. So, Candie Girl did what any smart tech-savvy girl would do, she went to eBay and put a hat up for auction. The hat sold in a few hours. Candie Girl wrote out a pattern for her hat (lest she forget how she made the damn thing) and set to work. She make big hats, small hats, mini hats. She even made hats that worked as key chains and iPod socks.
Fueled by the success of her ugly hats Candie Girl decided a new career was born. Well, maybe a mini-career as she now had a full time job back in television. Candie Girl now spends her free evenings designing and knitting various accessories. Her most recent obsession was ponchos and her current obsession is purses. And, if she is ever satisfied with her creations and finds the time to make her new website look prettyful, those items will be available to the world at large - for now - just friends and family.
ETA - the pic above is one of the Mobile Monsters from Stitch N Bitch Nation - cute finale but the pattern isn't very well written.