and ze wiener is...

This is a bit late because (as usual) I underestimated how much time things would take*. There was the cheezy moviethon that Fathers Day turned into (I watched van Helsing without complaining and if that doesn't say Happy Fathers Day I don't know what does). The 3 trips to check out a place that we were really warming up to until I realized what was hidden behind all those trees next door (lets just say they won't be moving anytime soon unless they get time off for good behavior). I also underestimated how hard it would be to pick a winner. Thank you so much for your absurd theories. They cheered me up enormously and helped get my mind off all the stress.

So without further ado the grand prize winner of absolutely nothing is (drum roll please)

Stitchy Fingers!

The winning theory - they read your blog and are awarding points to 1) how many times you mention them 2) how upset you get 3) clues to whether you're willing to raise your offer 4) do you really believe that there is another offer.

* It was overestimating my ability to press the publish post button that caused the biggest delay though. This has been sitting in my drafts folder for 2 days. Whoopsie

Moving On

He went with the other people. Whatever. I'm over it. It's not as if I liked the kitchen so much that I saved the picture from the listing. I certainly didn't dream that the owner went w the other people but called to tell us who did his kitchen. I definitely didn't plan on where I would put my Muppet canisters and the pic I would take to show it to all of you. Nope, wasn't me. We got the news while we were at the Yankees game thanks to a pair of last minute freebies from my SIL so I couldn't cry-kick-scream-curse. Not while the Yankees had the lead anyway. Instead I fumed and performed the expanded version of Carlin's most famous routine in my head for the rest of the game. Since then I've been constantly hitting refresh on the MLS listings and last night we drove up and took a second look at some neighborhoods. There are a few new listings that look promising and hopefully we will get to see them this weekend. I'll post the winners of the contest this weekend too. In the meantime here is some more Hawaiian eye candy.

Doris Duke's Shangri La

BONUS pic!

Hawaiian Penguins

These poor little guys were at the crazy Hilton (correct me if I'm wrong, babe) that was across the street from our hotel in Oahu. I wonder if they are all huddled in the back because that's where the AC is or if they just want to be as far away from the tourists as possible. Sorry for the crappy pic. We were in a rush to get to the beach in time for sunset (that was a tough day).

PICK ME!

I'm sick of typing "the owner" so I'm calling him the tiger from now on. The tiger finally called about 20 minutes ago. He apologized for not calling early and blah blah blah they still haven't decided. They will call tomorrow. Wednesday at the latest but probably tomorrow. How can someone so polite be so evil? Clearly the mild mannered thing is an act. The contest continues until the tiger cuts me loose.

A contest ! Maybe even with prizes!

Wednesday night I found out why the owners were so eager to take the other offer. It was for cash. A real plus since the owners want to close by the end of this month. They told Dv this because now the buyer is talking about financing and he seems to have annoyed the owner. So the owner asked us to look into an appraiser and basically be ready because he might decide to go with us. Exciting, right? And also very very mean. He has promised to tell us either Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on how late he and his wife get back from the weekend (How can he go away at a time like this!) So I have all weekend to think things like ;"I hope I get the place. I'm never going to find a place with such a nice kitchen for that price. A slipper chair would look so nice next to the fireplace. Dammit Jess stop thinking like you'll get it! Now you've jinxed it. " rinse and repeat. Then of course there is the ultimate question, Stress Eating vs Anxiety Induced Nausea; who will win? So in an effort to keep myself sane I've devised this desperate plea for comments mildly amusing game.

Tell me why they need to close so soon. Some background; They seem like nice people. I've only meet the husband but he seems like just your everyday blue-collar mid thirties just started a family suburbanite. Drives an SUV, has boring even by Pottery-Barn-standards taste in furniture. His new house probably has a picket fence. He's pretty good looking and I imagine his wife and child are as well. By suburban standards. Really you don't have much to go on. Be as outrageous as you like. There are no censors here. Points will be awarded for making me laugh out loud, 2 points for making Dv laugh out loud, Triple points if either one of us shoots a beverage out our nose while reading your comment (I cannot guarantee that every post will be read while drinking but what are the chances that we'll stop at this point). 4 points if you make Dv blush (0 points for making me blush. There is no challenge in making a redhead change color.), 1/2 point for including a pun and so on. Oh and points for sending people here since my already slim readership is probably all off enjoying the summer. Actual prizes will be awarded if we get the place and if not you can all be disappointed with me.

She Loved Bamboo

There is something so sweet and simple about that epitaph. I can't help thinking of Edward Gorey when I read it, though I doubt the pages preceding it would be so innocent.

Well this sucks

So we went to take a second look at the place. On the way over we went over our opening bid, confirmed our max. Get out of the car say hello to the seller and he tells us he accepted an offer. Today. Like a few hours ago. Even though he had an appointment with us. He couldn't wait a few hours. The cherry on top? The place was nicer than I remembered. I tried to find out how much the offer was for. I tried to make us sound like ideal buyers (Hey babeee you should see my preapproval letter. I've got a credit score the likes of which you've only dreamed about.) If his current offer falls through he'll call us. The buyers already have financing set up so I don't have much hope.

Did I mention we are house hunting?

We might make an offer on a place tonight. The owner claims he's received offers. Has he? Why did he turn them down? The suspense is killing me. I don't like not knowing. I'm not good at wheeling and dealing. A friend who is says we should offer 90% of the asking price which sounds ok until you do the math and jesus it looks so much lower in dollars. Or is it? Who the hell knows. I'm way too worried about offending someone (prob because I do it so often by accicent). I wish some of the blogs I read covered this stuff. I get way too much info from blogs. Why don't I know more people who have done this already! And of course we are doing this without a broker because involving a professional would just make this too easy. We do have a lawyer so we probably won't get ourselves in too much trouble. I'm trying not to get too attached to the place. Sure its in a great town and the kitchen is beautiful and all that but the bedrooms are kinda skinny and the bathrooms need to be redone. Oh, but that isn't even a negative. I can't wait to redo a bathroom. Any other room in the house I would be totally frozen about redoing but a bathroom thats just fun. Well maybe not the hoisting ceramic thrones but the tilework and all that no prob. I'll be so happy when this is done. Dv thinks it will cost about 1K to move. I have no idea where he came up with that number. We don't plan on hiring movers after all thats what family is for. We put up with those loons for things like this. We'll have to rent a truck but how much does he expect to spend on boxes and bubble wrap? Screw bubble wrap! We'll just wrap everything in yarn. It's the right thing for the environment. OK, I need to take a deep breath and go to my happy place.

Send the Peanuts to bed

I've got a little something for the peahens.


As further proof of how the internet is the worst thing to ever happen to procrastinators and the easily distracted I present this. I found it while researching something* for this post. It's clearly the love child of an infomercial and a Letterman skit.

*I was trying to verify that baby peacocks are officially called peanuts (turns out they aren't but I used it anyway because I know some people use it and it sounds better than peachick)

LOL SKEIN

I go lie down now, k?

Yeah Mondays are supposed to suck and everything but damn it would have been nice if I managed to get 2 whole hours of sleep before being forced to investigate the loud banging noises coming from the back of the house. Also, it would have been nice if I had some advance notice about the replacement of the screen door because really, I didn't need to wake up to two guys in my kitchen. Well, not those two guys anyway. Moving on, here's what was going to be my eye candy last week until something either distracted me mid-post or I decided I didn't like the pics that much. I can't remember which and I had already uploaded them so...
I think this is a useful tip. Of course, I'm the sort of person who reverses direction in the middle of winding yarn onto a niddy noddy so it's probably completely unnecessary for those that don't take the short bus to the yarn festivals. I always use a bit of scrap string to mark the end of the skein that will be in the center when winding yarn into a center-pull cake. Left unmarked it invariably disappears into the dark center and I tug on the some bit from the middle and turn it into a mess.

Must knit faster!

I think I'm a little more overwhelmed by the latest stash additions than I realized. Friday night I nodded off during a baseball game and when I awoke the TV screen was dominated by a shot of the diagonal striped field. My first thought? Clapotis! Then last night I dreamt that I was talking to my sister and said if I ever knit a Bohus sweater I would make The Wild Apple. I start flipping through Poems of Color to show her the pic but before I can find it she says "Yeah, that one is nice but I would make the Pink Goulash". I was so annoyed that not only was she already familiar with Bohus, she knew of a sweater design that I didn't. Of course, now that I'm awake I'm pretty glad I don't know what the Pink Goulash Bohus looks like.

When I wasn't dreaming of meaty sweaters this weekend I started a Bainbridge Scarf. I'm using some Fibre Company alpaca that I picked up at MDSW.

What's that other thing?

You know the thing you do with yarn after you buy it and after you enter it into the spreadsheet? What could it be...
Oh I remember now! Knitting. Nice way to spend a car ride, that knitting stuff.

Clapotis
Yarn - 10.5 oz (about 1.32 skeins) Brooks Farm Duet NY D 13
Needle Size - 4.5 mm
Measurements - 84"x20" (approx)
Changes - Finer yarn and needles & 4 extra repeats in the straight section (I was afraid it would be too short).

The colors in the pic are completely wrong. The pale sections are pale spring green and the rest is much more purple. My camera has issues with that shade of purple and I couldn't correct it for anything.

It's a clapotis. The pattern rocks. What can I say that hasn't already been said? It shows off the variegated yarn beautifully. The only pooling is a purple splotch in the increase section and a matching green splotch in the decreases. I actually like it, they make me smile. I made two mistakes because I didn't stick to Kate's instructions. Duet is beautiful and soft and I love how the two plies look but the mohair content made it an absolute pain in the ass when it came to dropping the stitches. I had to poke at every. single. dropped. stitch. Then I blocked it a little too much and flattened the columns more than I wanted to. I really just wanted to straighten the corners but i just kept pinning and spritzing. Maybe it'll bounce back while it waits for the cold weather to return. I wish I knew of someplace that really blasts the AC so I could wear it now! Someplace besides the meat dept at Fairway, that is.

Feelin' Sheepish

Being a slow blogger is great because it cuts down on the number of times I contradict myself. When I came home from Hawai'i the Maryland Sheep & Wool catalog was waiting for me. I wanted to go but having just spent so much money on the vacation there was no way it was going to happen. Long story short, my mom oh-ed and ah-ed over the catalog, our taxes were a pleasant surprise and of course I'm a greedy piggy. All of which conspired to put me in a Maryland hotel room Friday night with a crab cake in my belly.

I'm having a hard time writing about MDSW. I had a lot more fun at Rhinebeck and I'm not sure why. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Maryland. There were some great vendors that don't make it up to Rhinebeck. Just, something was missing and I'm just not sure what. I do know that I'm sick of trying to get this post written. I give up. Let's just move on to my purchases.

I bumped into a friend there. When she saw my shopping bag she remembered her first time at MDSW. She said she was like a slut, buying up everything. I was no mere slut, no I was more like a wool crazed satyr. If there was a sexual equivalent to me at the fair you would probably find it in Mick Jagger's bedroom circa 1969. Which is why I will not show off all my purchases. Frankly I'm a little embarrassed at my total lack of restraint. I wasn't helped by my husband.
Me - [on line to pay at the Fold] - I really like Seal Rock and Amethyst too.
Him - So why not buy them?
Me - I dunno. Self control?
Him - [sorta rolls eyes] We did just drive 200 miles to get here.
Honestly, when you start the day off with that sort of logic you can see how I got into trouble. Here's a peak at the ridiculousness -


Hey look! A nearly finished clapotis! Amazing what guilt will do...

Fringe Festival

I did something today I haven't done in over 12 years. I had a pro cut my hair. I have bangs!
I could go on and on about it but it's hard to type and pet my new bangs at the same time. Also there aren't enough shiny surfaces near the computer.

Muscari

Snakes on a Train (too late?)

So, I'm at the 8th St stop waiting for the train and I see this guy who looks exactly like a tv character but I can't figure out who he reminds me of. He has the exact same hair and body type while his clothes and tattoos are pretty close. I can totally hear the character's Vally girl boy accent in my head but I. Just. Can't. Place. It. Just before bed I finally realized he's Snake!

Spring Time Resolutions

It's beginning to look like spring around here. Highways in New York are ablaze with forsythia and our parkways are flooding. Maybe that's why I'm so full of optimism and resolutions, especially green ones. At dinner last night, apropos of nothing, I told Dave that I'd like to try cloth diapering. Considering that we aren't even trying to get me pregnant (yet) you can imagine the look of bewilderment on his face. I quickly told him I didn't mean for me personally and we moved on. On a more imminent note I've resolved to bring the number of shopping bags I take home to zero. I always refuse bags when I can fit my purchase in my purse or tote bag but it isn't often enough. I have tons of canvas bags (I'm a sucker for a free-with-purchase tote) but they are too bulky to keep in my purse or pocket 24/7 so they only get used some of the time. My solution? Buy stuff! (Yeah, I know. One day at a time, OK?) I just ordered a few of these super-lightweight bags to keep in my purse and scatter amongst my family. I also bought one of these babies to try out. To my eye that last one looks like an armored paper bag. No one is gonna mess with my bananas!

Bonus link - A gorgeous bit of paper marbling. I would have named the pattern Lotus but that's just me.

Mo-Mullet!

And on with the Random!

1. Imogen pattern from Perl Grey
Have you ever seen a cozier sweater? I'm ordering the pattern as soon as I decide if I want anything else from their selection of neat pewter buttons & jewelry. Angry monkey stick pin anyone? discovered via Knit Spot

2. Useful tip for users of Firefox - If you accidentally close a tab you can retrieve it by going to History and then "Recently Closed Tabs". You get back your tab with its history intact. Very neat. I only just discovered this so if everyone else knew it forever please just nod and smile.


3. My damn earrings. I bought these for $7 while stocking up on tees at Old Navy. I can not believe the range (or number) of people that have come up to me while I was wearing them. Everyone from trendy blondes to middle-aged women to an old rocker (who was sporting the oddest mohawk/mullet combo) loved them. I can't take all the attention (or maybe it's because they look handmade and I didn't make them) so I'm sending them to live w my sister.

Cat for scale










4. Cat Bordhi's Coriolis Sock Finally an episode of Knitty Gritty worth watching! I was beginning to think HGTV only showed the old episodes (I don't get DIY). The Coriolis sock looks easy and comfortable. It sort of wraps around the foot and I think this new construction will make for an extra comfortable sock. Now if only the publication date of her new book wasn't pushed back! I could have sworn New Pathways for Sock Knitters was coming out in May but the site now reads July/August.

5. The crack that is Socks that Rock (BTW they have some new colors up on their site). At Rhinebeck last year I left Dave on line at the Fold with a few skeins of STR. Ten minutes later he calls me away from the Brooks Farm booth so he can pick out some sock yarn. When I left he didn't want any. Did those evil women waiting with him on line convince him that he needed some? Did he just get caught up in the buying frenzy? All I know is now I have to knit a pair of size 12 socks for a man that refuses to wear short socks. I've been putting it off saying the one skein isn't enough and I need to get a coordinating one to do the toes, heels and cuffs. Maryland is two weeks away. My time is up.

6. Eye Candy. Sick of Hawaii yet?

A drizzly morning on the Trail of Devastation
in Volcanoes National Park

Sacrificial Scarf

I'm sending my first* scarf off to be frogged and used in an afghan (along w the leftover yarn). I've never worn it. I suppose it's technically not even finished since I didn't break yarn after binding off. The bind-off didn't match the cast-on edge and I never bothered to research an alternative method since the yarn is pretty itchy. It was while knitting this scarf that I realized I knit combination style. I had no idea. Not that I've lead a sheltered knitting life or anything but the first time I saw someone knit in the English style I just thought they were left-handed. Anyway, the yarn should make a good afghan. Paisley certainly approves of its squishiness.

A close-up of the yarn, Air by Berroco, that shows off its nylon core.

*That is to say my first since I started knitting again last year. I'm sure I must have knit one as a child.

Kinokuniya Kutie

Browsing Kinokuniya yesterday I saw this ridiculously cute hedgehog


It's a book on carving your own stamps and creating labels and such with them. Here's a shoot from the inside

The rest of the book features other creatures like penguins and mermaids. I forgot to write down the ISBN. I felt so guilty about blogging a Japanese craft book without it that I started searching amazon.co.jp for it (why let a little thing like not understanding a bit of Japanese get in the way?). Amazingly I was able to find it in a few minutes. Whaa-la! ISBN 4529043398

I'm giving a bag of yarn the stink eye

I have a huge crush on Artyarns color #106. Some might call it an obsession. It started slow with a sample in my LYS and it wasn't long before I could spot a skein of it from across the room or in the crappiest of blog photos. Shades of lime to darker green, teals and a splash of brown-edged purple, whats not to love? You would think I have tons of it in my stash but I'm cheap and it's everywhere so I waited. I finally see it online for a nice price. 48 hours later it's in my grubby paws and I feel like I finally got to kiss a summer long crush only to find out he has bad breath. The purple edged with brown? Nowhere to be seen. Instead the yarn is dominated by kelly (shudder) green with some lime, a bit of olive, some sad looking teals and making a surprise appearance, navy. I've been disappointed by online purchases in the past but never by something I've seen in the flesh wool (multiple places!). I don't blame the retailer for this at all. I went back and checked the photo (you know, the one I ignored because I know what my beloved 106 looks like) and it looks exactly like what I got. humph

Gecko!

click to check out its beautiful bumpy skin

Steel, milk, crabshells, corn and now ceramic

Needful yarns has a new yarn that is 95% viscose and 5% ceramic. It is anti-static, will shield you from UVA/UVB rays and lower your body temperature by 5 degrees. Probably makes a great dessert topping and floor wax too.

Palm Trees

I learned a few things in Hawai'i. 1 - Not even the Hawaiian sun will color my pasty calves (sadly not true for the rest of me). 2- The day you go to Ka Lae is not a good day to skip braiding your hair (windiest place I have ever been). 3- I really like palm trees, especially their bark (is bark the right word?). I took more than a few pictures featuring them and even more closeups of their many trunks than I care to admit. I wish I could have captured the sound of the wind rustling the palms at Pu'uhonau o Honaunau. I hate summer and I'm not too fond of the warm halves of spring and autumn but listening to those palms as the sun went down...yeah, I could move there.

Three Palms at Foster Botanical Garden

Kitty Strokes and Turtles

So here's what I spared you since my last wordy post. 1) Finally booked the flight to Hawai'i the husband and I have been talking about for ages. 2) The next day Teddy (seen here licking a pumpkin) had what the doctors called a stroke. It looked like the lower half of his body was trying to roll across the room while the rest of him tried to get away. This was on a Friday and we spent the rest of the weekend going to the emergency vet for an ECG, blood tests and an extended blood pressure test so that we could find out that he has an enlarged heart and a very bad heart murmur but otherwise he's perfect. Long story short he's on medication and is back to his old self and his prognosis is good except for the sudden death part. I wish I was kidding about that last bit. We asked the vet what we are probably looking at in the future and that's what he said. In between there was lots of waiting room knitting on my clapotis. Big mistake. For months afterward every time I looked at my knitting bag it was with dread since I was sure I was going to have to rip multiple rows because of knitting too tight and who knows how many mistakes. In the end it wasn't as bad as I imagined and my mom's motto of eh, good enough worked fine. I also spent a whole lotta time watching Ted in case he did something weird. That was kinda like staring at a stuffed animal in case it gets furry. Once things with Ted calmed down it was all Hawai'i all the time. Everyone around me must have been sick of hearing about the islands, even my husband who was going with me. In the interest of not driving the rest of you away I'll start wrapping this up. The sands pictured in the last post are (from top to bottom) Lanikai (super soft), Punalu'u (turtles!) and the olivine (AKA peridot) was from Pu'u Mahana. Here are two sea turtles snacking on seaweed at Punalu'u.

And she's back!

So where was I? Here's a hint


Too vague? here's another


Still not sure? This one is really specific

Twilight Tree

Phragmipedium Tara

Smooch

Ebony Jewelwing

Ebony Jewelwing damselfly in Ponemah Bog last July

Someone is going on my list!

This past week I've noticed that at least three of the blogs (FemiKnit Mafia, Squid Knits & Yarnageddon) I subscribe to disappeared off my Bloglines. I'm not sure when they went missing since I'm perpetually behind and it took a while to realize I hadn't read anything about Ms. 1890 or window chewing squirrels in weeks. Has anyone else had problems with Bloglines? Was this was a side effect of people being forced over to the new blogger? I wish I knew where to cast the stink eye.

Apropos of nothing here's some chocolate dipped cuttlefish.

Buttons and Wooly Monmouth

I’ve wanted to go to go to Wooly Monmouth in Red Bank, NJ ever since I saw their name. I’m a sucker for a punny name (it is on Monmouth St in Monmouth County) but what really burned them into my mental list of “things worth going off course for” is their logo. I love it and had to have a tote bag with a knitting woolly mammoth on it. At the end of December I was finally close enough to say it was on-the-way with a straight face. WM is a small shop packed full of favorite yarns (Noro Kureyon, Lobster Pot cashmere, some Koigu) and some I hadn’t seen before (which I can’t remember because I didn’t take notes), pattern books and notions. They also have an excellent button selection. All the buttons pictured in this post are from WM. If it wasn't right after christmas I probably would have bought twice as many. Really, it is just a great little LYS even if they don’t have tote bags (yet!). I spoke to the owner (who seems cool) and she’s thinking about having some printed up. So if you happen to be in the neighborhood make sure you mention how great the logo would look on a tote bag, ok?

Maybe I'm just tired but...

Is it just me or are these socks a bit disturbing?

Obsolete Eye Candy

The old Busch Stadium about a week before the final regular season game.

Knitting Philistine's eye candy left me speechless. If you haven't already go take a look.

Sheesh

I just spent two hours casting-on and ripping and casting-on for a hat. I usually make a mistake or three in the beginning before I get into the grove of a project but this was pretty bad even for me. The last time I went very slowly and carefully counted as I worked the first pattern row and it was still wrong. That was when I remembered the page of errata that I printed out two days ago.

Anarchy in the Parking Lot - Eye Candy Friday

I may be the only one that thinks this is eye candy. Up until yesterday there was more evidence of snow in Malibu than in southern NY. That just isn't right.

I'm 55 and my husband is 24

In Wii years that is. A Wii has taken up residence in our living room and it's the latest reason why I'm not knitting much. Thankfully I can knit in the car so all is not lost. Also, I just received a jury questionnaire so that will probably mean more knitting time in the future. Chances are I'll only have to go for one day if I do get called. Defense lawyers usually take one look at me and my perma-scowl and send me on my way. Of course now that I've said that and tempted the fates...

Since last I took the time to do a proper blog post about my knitting I've made myself a Calorimetry and finished that orange scarf for my mom (only a week late). I'll post about Calorimetry soon but the scarf is going to have to wait until I can get a pic. I didn't work on the Clapotis for a few weeks. I'm back at it now and I've noticed that I'm knitting a little tighter. Not a big deal since its just a big scarf. It's annoying though. I didn't switch from the Inox needle (which feels like it is going to break any minute now) to the Knit Picks needles I got for Christmas because I was afraid my gauge would change. Now that it has anyway and the cold weather is making the Inox cable stiffen up I might as well switch. What's the worst that could happen?

If I give you roses...

will you forgive me? I've been awfully lax at posting pics for Eye Candy Friday. It's amazing how Friday comes as a surprise every single week.

Resolutions

Is it too late for a New Years post? Nah, I'm only over a week late. This is a great example of what I should be resolving to change. I was thinking about resolutions for a while but did I blog? No, of course not. Too busy procrastinating until I find myself in an mood apathetic enough to allow myself to publish my imperfect posts. I'm gonna have to put an end to that, or at least start drinking to embrace my imperfections. Sounds like a perfect plan and of course there's the usual eat better, exercise more, moisturize more and knit more than I buy. I won't be doing Wendy's Knit From Your Stash '07. I like buying yarn too much and I'm already planning my trip to MD$W. Am I the only one that was surprised by Rabbitch & Wendy's chilly response to the shop owner who freaked out at the idea of an organized yarn fast? Once you get past the histrionics it isn't hard to understand why she is so upset. Small independent shops have a hard enough time competing against Webs, Knit Picks, eBay and all the other discount retailers. Hearing that someone with over 5,600* subscribers to her blog is suggesting that people stop buying yarn right at what is generally a slow period for most retailers, well if I owned a shop I'd freak out too. Anyone that doubts the power of the yarn blog has to go read this post. Maybe I'm just particularly sympathetic because one of my local yarn shops is closing this month. The owner decided being a lawyer was easier than running a yarn shop. Draw your own conclusions.

*That is just the number of people subscribed through Bloglines.