My father in law..
is an interesting man.. this is in his front yard right now in MD.
click for larger version
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September 30, 2004
A cute knitting poem
Machinery Doesn't Answer, Either,
but You Aren't Married to It
Ogden Nash
Oh Daddy, look at that man,
excuse my pointing, but just look at him!
He is in a frenzy or something,
as if a red rag or something had been shook at him!
His eyes are rolling like a maniac's,
Oh isn't it shocking how insaniacs!
Oh Daddy, he is talking to thin air,
He is having a long conversation
with somebody who isn't there!
He is talking to himself,
he must be under the influence
of either Luna or Bacchus;
Oh Daddy, Daddy, I think we had better go
a long way away from him immediately
because one in his condition might
at any moment have an impulse to attacchus!
Nay, flush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye,
my little white manchild,
Who if your parents hadn't been Caucasian
would have been an ebony or copper or tan child,
Life will teach you many things,
chief of which is that every man
who talks to himself isn't necessarily
out of his wits;
He may have a wife who knits.
Probably only he and his Maker
Know how many evenings he has spent
trying to raise a conversation
while his beloved created sweaters
by the acre.
Ah, my inquiring offspring,
you must learn that life can be very bitter,
But never quite so much so as when trying
to pry a word out of a knitter.
Sometimes she knits and sits,
Sometimes she sits and knits,
And you tell her what you have been
doing all day and you ask what
she has been doing all day and nothing happens,
and you tell her what you would like to do
this evening and ask her what she would like
to do this evening and nothing happens,
and you think you will disintegrate
if you don't get some response,
and you speak tenderly of your courtship
and your bridal,
And you might just as well try to
get a response out of an Oriental idol,
And you notice a spasmodic movement of her lips,
And you think she is going to say something
but she is only counting the number
of stitches it takes to surround the hips;
And she furrows her beautiful brow,
which is a sign that something
is wrong somewhere and you keep on talking,
and disregard the sign,
And she casts a lethal glance,
as one who purls before swine,
And this goes on for weeks
At the end of which she
lays her work down and speaks,
And you think now maybe you can
have some home life but she speaks
in a tone as far off as Mercury or Saturn,
And she says thank goodness that is finished,
it is a sight and she will never be able to wear it,
but it doesn't matter because
she can hardly wait to start on
an adorable new pattern,
And when this has been going on
for a long time,
why that's the time that strong men
break down and go around talking
to themselves in public, finally,
And it doesn't mean that they are
weak mentally or spinally,
It doesn't mean, my boy,
that they ought to be in an asylum,
like Nijinksy the dancer,
It only means that they got into the habit
of talking to themselves at home because
they themselves were the only people
they could talk to and get an answer.
I found it on http://knitting.livejournal.com
September 29, 2004
Dale Chamonix Ski Sweater
Okay I ordered more yarn.. SHHHHHHHHH don't tell my husband.. even tho its for him.
I am doing it in that exact color-way. Wanna know whats really cool? Click to go to this link at amazon.com, can you believe that? Machine knit I am sure.. but look at the price. I can make the small through kidknits for under $70. Half price! Who said buying it is cheaper? hehe..
Kid Knits had it for $20 cheaper (from the total) then anyone else, if you want Dale yarn this is the place. I got my Gerbera yarn here and it came in a week no problems. Most of it is under $5 a skein and decent yardage. It's nearly a buck cheaper a skein then all the other sites. Also I think one of the owners or women who runs it is on the Norge yahoo group and she's really nice!
I'm having a fitz, a fitz I tell you!
Looky thar, I even cast off the 5 sts on the left and right side and now have 8 inches to go till I'm done. I did 5 inches last night so I'm figuring it will take me 2 more nights.. my poor hands are gonna fall off!
I was reading UrbanGypZ's blog yesterday and she mentioned going to yoga and I thought.. gee that sounds like a good idea. So tonight I'll be going to my first ever yoga class! weeeeeee!!
My company has the WEIRDEST carpet you have ever seen!
September 28, 2004
Stitch markers anyone?
Well I have a lady at work who makes jewlery and she is going to show me how to create stitch markers.. so while playing around with graphics etc I used the time to come up with a pseudo logo!
What do you think? I need to put something clever inside the framed picture, this image was orignally the art work for the cover of the music to Knit One, Purl Two from 1944.
September 27, 2004
Cuteness!
My first hat being worn by it's adorable new owner. A co-workers son in Dallas.
Crazyness!
Where did you get that?
September 26, 2004
A knitty weekend..
I did a fair amount of knitting. I spent the first half of friday all motivated to do something with my SP3 gift:
I'm not telling what I'm makin! hehe!
I cast on for fitz yesterday and I have already gotten through 6 inches! Wow I'm improving in speed! I'm past the rib and into the body.
I have to say I'm not pleased so far with how the color knits up. There are some weird white and then yellow splooches of febric that are really annoying, like the color didn't take right. The purple looks out of place and hardly lasts 2 rows which Is not fun. I'll give it a chanse however and see how I feel when it's done, I think I'll like it no matter what simply because I made it!
I actually didn't knit near as much as I ment to. I spent the second half of friday trying very hard to sleep away a migrain.. then discovered sleep on my left side brought the headache on. Weirdness.. eventually it went away sometime late saturday. We went to go see "forgotten" or whatever it's called and wow that was scarey!
September 23, 2004
what is this??
What could make my "friday" better? I'll tell you what, SOMETHING FROM MY SECRETE PAL OMG!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
I pulled into the driveway and saw a fedex package on the front stoop.. I thought maybe it was the yarn I had ordered for the hat. Nope it was from my SP3.. and I immediatly looked at the from address (of course):
CALI! I was born in cali! How neat to have a pal from all the way across the country!
Cute paper!
Could it be?? WHY YES IT IS!! Cotton Fleece, something I have wanted to try out for months, and in such a pretty blue!
Whats this, what a pretty cloth.. I wonder whats in it.
It's a cute frame, the pup must inspect things to make sure it's all safe!
Lastly I realized this was on the back of the note. Wow it's hand painted, are the swirls painted then? Its soooo pretty!
What I think is really cute and something I have in common with my SP is that she color coordinated everything. Even if she didn't realize she did I think it's pretty darn cool because I am big into wrapping things. Everything is pink and blue :)
My pal rocks beyond words, I'm very impressed and pleased!! THANK YOU!!!!
It's Friday for ME!
I am taking tomorrow as a PTO day, and dang nab it I plan on knitting my heart out and maybe being productive.
I have decided to frog out the completed first 4 rows of Gerbera.. my join is not to fab and I know I got off track on the pattern a few places.. so before I get in over my head I'm gonna re-work it.
Last night I got possesed and fixed some food (3rd time in a month I 'cooked') and I did the dishes (which I loath doing) and served my man up some eats. Now he went and worked out which is very good for him on a psychological level, I am very supportive of him going to the gym. We had a very sweet and romantic evening.. lets just say we haven't had a romantic evening sense we got married not to long ago so I was really happy. I find it VERY funny that this seemed to be the result of my doing domestic things. So do I have to clean and cook to get some booty? On some subconscious level I really think that effects my husband, and also his working out is good for his mind.
So this is one happy pixie! My co-worker probably read this (my fellow knitter) which is very funny.. shhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone!! lol
September 22, 2004
Altering Fitzgerald
I am a 32/34" bust and here are my alterations to the pattern. Numbers in () are the old numbers for the smallest size. I only typed out the parts that I changed. I am giving myself the reccomended 4-6" of ease for a pullover which will make this 38" when completed vs. the 48" for the smallest size given.
Back:
Cast on 86 stiches (110)
Back should measure 13" (16")
Armohole Shaping:
Cast off 4 stitches (5) w/ 82 st left (100)
Shape Shoulders:
Cast off 26 (30)
Leave 30 (40)
Front:
Work until 2" (4")
Shape Left Neck:
Knit 41 (50)
Measures 5.5" (7")
p7 (p10), slip 9 (12)
Dec until 26 (30)
Armohole measures 8" (9.5")
Sleeves:
I won't know how many to cast on till I use the completed front/back to see how I want it to fit, but with the body changes you want to build up to 72 st (96 st) and I'm going to measure till about 16" and then cast off 4 (5).
It took us about an hour to figure all that out..
September 21, 2004
S. Charles Collezione Fall 2003
This was something I spotted my first week of knitting. I thought it was way out of my league.. now I find it on my "next up" list of things to buy once I get other FO's!
Here is an awful photograph..
My color way..
Rialto
Ritratto
Cosmos
Here is the rest of the book..
Finally proper knitting pics. Here is my good friend from work working on her beutiful project! I like how the photo catches her sticks flying.
click for detail view
Lynne (the instructor on the right - Cast on Cottage) helping a student figure out how to make button holes (yes thats noro in the wall behind her, and Fitz was born there.. lol)
click for detail view
Last but not least, the pixie working on gerbera..
click for detail view
A top secret package...
..to be delivered by Batman to my front door!! OH OH OHHHHHHHH!!!!!! OHHHHHHH!!!!!!
(see previous posts comments to understand my babble)
Funny things..
I spy another Fitzgerald Knitter! Jennifer is joining the knit-a-long!
Funny conversation with DH:
----- Original Message -----
From: Pixie
To: 'DH'
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Subject: RE: I didnt wanna..
[insert our dogs name here] is my litttle butter ball, he's so snuggly to sleep with.. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry fuzzzzzzzzzzzzzy. You need more hair like him :P
From: DH
To: 'Pixie'
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Subject: RE: I didnt wanna..
I'm actually an electrolisis-treated Wookie the size of an Ewok... sorry, it won't grow back.
September 20, 2004
Displeased with Yarnware.com
Well I am not very happy with Yarnware.com, I ordered the yarn for the hat serveral days ago and got no responce from them. So I emailed them today and they tell me that the red yarn is out of stock and they expect it in *soon*.
A) I shouldn't be able to order something that is out of stock .
B) They should alert you right away. The last time this happend I cancled the order. I am tempted to do that with them but they offered to ship what they have at no cost till the rest arrives.
I have enough to knit at the moment anways. I won't order from them again. Gerbera progress posted tommorow!
Is it really monday again?
If I manage to Finish Fitzgerald I'm going to buy something from here (Phildar Anything!). Some of them come with an english insert. So I need to get cracking so I can justify something from here!
I really would love to finish Fitzgerald by the middle of October because I'll be going to a cabin party up past Dahlonega for a weekend and I would love to be able to show off my cool knitting and shock people when they say (er.. if they say..) "cute sweater, where did you get it?", ohh to be able to say "I made it" ohhhhhh I can't wait!
So class on tuesday (last knitting class!!) and the teacher will help me change the measurments for fitz, and I plan on casting on Gerbera tonight. I was to tired this weekend to take on such a task.. and I am worried my cast-on will be to tight.. so I'm going to try to cast on a bit looser then normal.. it makes me very nervouse all this YO, K2tog-tbl.. but I'm just gonna go for it and stop being scared.
Sky Captain and The World of Tommorow.. can I tell you how much I hate movies where the guy cheats on the girl and then they get back together? Enough said, DH purchased me FFXI (Final Fantasy - Online Game) and I spent all last night installing it. I can't wait to try it out! I am considering naming my character Pixie Purls hehe..
I hardly knit at all. I did math for fitz, and attempted to swatch pattern A of gerbera but it doesnt work well if not in the round for me.. and I checked my previous gerbera swatch (yay for correct gauge!). I also am very close to the top of the Sirdar sweater and I'll finish up the back and cast on for the sleeves this week!
September 18, 2004
It's not lazy sunday *just* yet!
This morning I was woken up by my mother in law at 10:30am.. I am not a morning person.. needles to say I was agrevated.. but thats okay because..
it ment I got up in time to go to an LYS I hadn't been to! This time I went to String Of Purls because the 3rd saturday of every month they have a "ask the expert" day for FREE! It's over at noon but because they knew I was driving 45 minutes to come visit them (I arrived at 11:58!) the women was nice enough to stay and talk with me for an hour! I found out you read patterns from right to left (!!) this I was not aware of.. could have been disasterous had I started Gerbera..
I purchased some Addi's (US6 circs) for Gerbera, some straights for Fitzgerald (US7) and DPN's for that muchroom hat I will be making DH (US4) along with a cute little toy:
They had Hauk Dale yarn (!!) and I really liked it, but I have to pick something washable for that other sweater. Besides, I should not be looking at more yarn! I got my SP3 person something I hope they like!
So I tried to do the Gerbera pattern with the YO's and the k2tog-bl and well it's just impossible when not in the round so I'll need to suck it up, cast on 200 st and see what happens.. but I got tired and went back to the Sirdar sweater.. which is always a fun and easy knit:
That's a rare thing right there. The cat rarley comes into the same room as me and the dog.. she's a strange one indeed. Cute tho! Yes that's my messy stash in the corner.
September 17, 2004
Swatching Gerbera
Well Hurrican Ivan (ehem.. tropical storm) created an actual waterfall in my backyard! A 4 inch wide stream of water travled down our hill creating a 30 foot long pool of water curving around the whole entire back side of our house and then streaming down a 4 foot wide "river" it created in between ours house and the one next door.
With no internet and no access to Fair Isle 101 I was left to do things on my own. So being anxious I went ahead.. even though I probably should have waited. The yarn was so.. so.. wonderful. It knits up so nicley. Very thick and nice. I like it better then silk garden, though that's nice to. Here is a shot of my Sisik colorway.
Here is a sad little swatch created by someone who has no clue about fair isle and was working in candle-light.
I went over the Fair Isle 101 and learned lots today about floats and weaving, throwing and picking. If I have internet at home I'll try to do it correctly!
September 16, 2004
A creative.. creation!
Okay I have found that hats are great little side projects when the bigger projects get you down. DH wants me to make him a warm hat he can wear after working out.. so he doesn't catch cold when going from the hot sweaty workout room, to 40 degree weather outside this winter.
So being the big geek he is, I want to make him something just his style. I found a cross stich pattern for a nintendo muchroom which i think would be so cute!
Here is the colorway:
The hat would be the soft red, with a peach/red/white combination for the icon going around the hat. Here is a great (free) hat pattern which is bascially what i want to do, but with my own pattern. I am going to use the recomended Cleckheaton Country 100% superwash wool.
I spy another Fitzgerald!
Theresa over at The Keyboard Biologist is knitting one for John. That link takes you to her Fitzgerald catagory so you can watch her progress.
Book: World of Knitted Toys
What a cute book... I so want this! But NO pixie, you have been bad and are not allowed to spend anymore money (except on your secret pal of course).
September 15, 2004
Finished (for real this time)
The pups trusty carrot toy does a nice job showing off the new pom pom. I found an easy way to create it. You wrap yarn around 3 of your fingers 50 times. Tie it together in the center, then cut the end of all the loops on each end, spread them out and clip any extra long ones. Nice and easy.
Swatch-buckler
18 stiches for a 4in swatch b'iatch! I seem to always be on gauge so it must be a good sign for my knitting. I already have a redness on my index finger from knitting the swatch. What in the world am I going to do to keep from getting a blister??
September 14, 2004
Finished! (Maybe)
I think it needs a pom pom on top.. or somethin!
Noro Knits - Fitzgerald
The pattern book
The pattern (yes it's for a guy but I like comfy cloths!)
The yarn - Silk Garden Col No. 73 Lot A
Join the Fitzgerald A-Long! Comment to this entry and I'll add you to the list!
Excuse me..
Dear dirty, dirty women who pissed all over the toilet in the bathroom,
I hate you.
Yours truley,
Pixie Purls
Seriously, you people all afraid of getting nasty things on your ass, what do you think is on the bathroom door, and the door into the bathroom, and your keyboard after the IT guy updated your settings, or after you sneezed near it. Instead, I now have your slimy piss all over mine.
SIT YOUR ASS DOWN ON THE DAMN TOILET AND TAKE A PISS LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. The rest of us would apprechiate it.
September 13, 2004
Yikes! I did it! Gerbera Along!!
I just ordered lots of yarn.. for Gerbera!! Then after I did it I remembered I had yet to see a clear photograph of the neck of this sweater.. haha..
I ordered it in and Pewter/156 and Navy/166. I also got enough to make the hat.
It just so happens DH wants me to make a pattern from that same book so it works out.
That uses the very masculin named Hauk yarn (knit on 3-5 needles ackkkkk!! save my poor fingers!). I adore Dale patterns and yarns. My top three favs; Dale, Noro and Phildar!
Another Lazy Weekend??
All day yesterday DH and I sat on our bed and did nothing! He played some game cube game while I sat and knit as much as my hands would let me. I got through 14 rows more of the Sirdar Sweater, and I got very far along on the hat. I just need to get some DPN's tommorow night to finish it!
Over at Fluffa you can vote for the best BUP! The winner will get lots of goodies.
Then over at Dogs Steal Yarn some trouble is brewing! It reminds me of what happened on Friday when I got home from work. DH says to me "Someone's been bad" and I was very confused because I thought he meant *I* had been bad! As it turned out our son (the dog) had gotten into my hand-dyed Australian wool during the day and had made a mess of things. That wool is the future cat bed for our kitty. I think he was jealous and wanted me to throw out the yarn, because I tend to throw out most things he makes a mess of.
Oh, and Adelle of "Girl is Crafty" just finished an adorable baby blanket.
September 09, 2004
my friend complaining
because I am AFK on AIM all the time..
Her: you'll come back 15 min later saying "oh, I was watching a VH1 special, cause I'm so old"
Her: exact words
Pixie: man, your little asian ass is gonna get beat@!
Pixie: BEAT I TELL YOU!
Her: by a drunk little irish girl?!
Pixie: ahhhhhhhhhhhh haaaaaa
Pixie: *sniff*
Her: a think not. I know ninja stuff
Pixie: nu uh
Her: uh huh
Pixie: NU UH
Her: all japanese do!
Her: they are born with it
Pixie: I have no retort for that
Minor Surgery
In SP3 news.. I have the coolest Pal, she(?) has sent me cute emails and e-cards and I'm just so excited!
ehem..
Well while looking at my loverly progress on the hat, I spotted.. the dreaded dropped stich. Blast it all!
(click the photo to be able to read the fuzzy text)
Why frog back when you can frog forward? I got a scrap peice of the yarn and tied it into the loop of the dropped stich.
Can't even tell where it was!
The guts are still a mess. I'm not really a surgeon, I can't be held accountable!
It was very hard to fight the urge to frog, but I must learn to move forward.. not backward. This little hat represents a change in my knitting style. I am taking risks, and I'm not looking back!
September 08, 2004
Hostess Twinkies Sushi
How could I not show you this?
a fun filled knitting class
Class was so great last night! The teacher Lynne is really great. She wants us to see the stiches, really see them. I know how to count rows, I know how to visualy see if a knit stich is twisted just by looking at a swatch. Lots of cool little things. I like her attention to the details and our learning the details. So yesterday in class I swatched for a fun little side project:
I am using an Anne Norling pattern as a base for it but it's really my own design. It's going to have a 1 inch rib and then go into normal stockinette. It's going to be a cute little baby hat. I can't tell you how much I love this Tiny Tots Sirdar yarn. It's not as hard to knit with as i would have imagined, it's easy on the hands, and just so cute! Here is what I did last night while watching TV.
In the "it's a small world" strange-zone one of the students came into class late because of work and she was wearing a lab type jacket. It had her spa's logo on it and she was telling another classmate about how where she works they do all kinds of spa things and other full service medical botox stuff.
So just on a whim, for the heck of it I said "Do you work with XXXXX XXXXXX"? You see XXXXX XXXXXX was a bridesmaid in my wedding not to long ago, and she was telling me about her new job at a nice spa and how a lady their was knitting her something. I totally asked just out of a whim, what are the chanses? What do you know, she said YES.. and wait a minute, is that her pancho your knitting?? Why yes it is! HAH! Small world.. and XXXXX XXXXX lives way down on the south side, and this is a big city and it's just CRAZY that here I am in a knitting class with her co-worker. I love the ladies in my class, all so nice and talkative. Much, MUCH better then my last class.
I leave you with.. a cup of coffee..
Thats my shadow over the cup, heh.
September 07, 2004
Gerbera - Dale of Norway
I am so very tempted to make this sweater. I am thinking of ditching moonbeam and using the yarn to make a childs sweater or something like that. This is such a bad habbit no? Picking out yarn and a pattern and then.. simply not wanting to make it anymore?? BAD habbit I would think..
This site sells the whole kit for $67 including the pattern book. I'll wait.. make myself be good.. finish the things I have started.. plus I don't like how every picture of this sweater hides the neck line. I am not a big fan of round necklines, would be cool if I could alter it to have a v-neck, and I wonder is the neck lined in the lighter color the way the other edges are? It doesn't apear to be..
I think I'll wait and see how it looks when they are finished.
knitting without confidence
So I sat for 20 minutes tonight thinking that the front side of my sirdar sweater was shorter in width then the front I had complete a while ago. I got angry, depressed, irritated.. then dumb founded.
Then I sat down to show my DH and discovered.. it was not shorter. It was the exact same width. DH said to me "you have no confidence in your ability to knit". It rang true, and he's right. I have been keeping up with knitting.livejournal.com and I am amazed by these knitters. They come up with, alter, or change pattersn on a whim, knitters for only a few WEEKS let alone a few months. The confidence amazes me. I wish I could be so confident. But my personality type does not gain confidence till it gains knowledge. Then I put the smack down.. but until then I tend to be very insecure. Yet I forge ahead, I stay within lines, borders, and I am a perfectionist. I am inhibited. One thing my art teacher told me that made my drawings good was, I am un-inhibited, why do I not bring that into my knitting? I wish i could.
some depressing things.. I am so sadned by the happenings in russia with all the children that died.. even worse I have been so disapointed in the lack of news on it. It's totally missing from the evening news, and CNN headline news mentions it in passing with very few details. CNN dot com on the contrary I have gotten lots of info from. It was strange on friday it was front page news on CNN dot com, but I couldn't find it on the TV at all. I am so tired of all this election crap. It's disgusting the way these men pick on each other like little boys, more important things are happening in the world! Far more important things..
September 06, 2004
lazy long weekend
so one of my goals is to have a photo with every entry in this blog.. I doubt I will always do that, but a girl can try. I need to create an about section and fix up the sub-pages, and I am commisioning a new drawing from the creator of the pixie illustration above. When I get that in place I think I'll make the page a bit wider and easier to read..
I got my SP3 Pal and I am excited. I can't wait for knitting class on tuesday so I can buy them stuff :)
So I leave you with a photo of my backyard. It's windy and stormy looking, but no sign of rain yet. Yeah I know, I need to trim the suckers around the mertle, my back yard needs lots of work. You can see the neighbors perfectness I am going to try to copy.
September 05, 2004
Fun stich markers!
Today I got some stich markers I got off ebay. I got cats, and dogs. The dog ones are bit heavy so I'm not sure how they will do, but the cat ones are so adorable and small! I love em, the ebay seller was really nice to.
September 04, 2004
Would you like some Tea?
Today DH and I stopped by the mall on the way home. I adore Teavana. They have these awsume loose tea's, the freshest tea you could get besides picking it from your own backyard (I dream of one day doing that!). I got some green tea, egyptian chamomile and some Jasmine Pearls.
Here is my cute teapot I got, that's a honey-stick next to it.
This is my 3rd knitting book. I try not to get to many books because then I can spend more money on yarn! I have to set my limits.. heh..
September 01, 2004
Sirdar 2062
I actually was farther but had to frog it by like 10 rows because of an error. *sigh*
