Yo La Tejo

FO: Back to School U-Neck Vest

2008-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you wish for:

I've been fighting off the snifflies for about three weeks now, and just the other day, I said to my friend, You know, I'm tired of being vaguely sick. I need to either get sick for real, or really get better. Guess which wish the genie gave me?

Yesterday it was all I could do to hold myself upright on the futon, and I was only able to watch two episodes of Alias (separately, in small doses). Today, I feel much better, enough to work my way through two episodes of The L Word (consecutively), and blog this much-delayed FO:

Back to School U-Neck Vest

Specs

Pattern: Back to School U-Neck Vest, Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: Cascade 220, 2.5 skeins
Needles: 7 and 5

Notes: I left the bottom garter band off, because I'm just not down with all of the garter bands that Stefanie likes to throw on her designs. I like Greek architecture, but do I want to look like a Doric pillar? In the same spirit, I knit fewer rows onto the armbands, but left the neckband as written in the pattern. If you're planning to knit this, also take note of some comments I made in my last post about the errata.

It took me quite a while to finish this (let's just say that this "back to school vest" was an appropriate name for this knit), but mostly because y'all know how ribbing goes. I really enjoyed wearing it the other day, and see myself getting quite a bit of use out of it before it starts to warm up around here.

And that's all she wrote! Looks like a nap is next on the agenda...

The espadrilles, or the wedges?

2008-01-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

Do you all know that cell phone commercial, where a couple is out shopping, and the girl asks her guy--"what do you think? the hoops or the danglies?" "the espadrilles or the wedges?" And no matter what the poor guy says, he never gets it right. "the danglies???" "I think the hoops!" (Of course, he finally wins in the end with the phone he really wants.)

I feel a bit like that girl, with my hank of Fleece Artist Blue Faced Leicester DK: "Do you think the Clapotis, or entrelac?" "Socks, or a cowl?" Thanks to everyone who left helpful suggestions; I think I may have responded to each one with a different whim. First I was sold on the entrelac, based on all the fun everyone else seemed to have with it, but Meg thought that the variegated yarn might not do so well as, say, Noro, with it's longer color repeats. Now, I'm back to thinking Clapotis, not because I think it'll be a fun knit, really, but because I really want a yummy scarf, and I want to use all of the yarn, without any left over (there's a generous 500 yards in this hank, approximately).

In the meanwhile, while I dither away, here's a better picture of that fine woollyness:

In the almost-finished-object department, I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on the Back to School U-Neck Vest! Just two armholes to finish, and ends to weave in:

I had to rip out the back because I didn't do the decreases right--they're once at each end, while I did them as for the front, at every other end. If anyone is thinking of knitting this, be sure to check the errata, but also look at the Ravelry discussion boards, if you're on there. The pattern is sprinkled with mistakes, and when you get to the part about decreasing for the back, the numbers don't add up and they aren't corrected on the errata. It's OK, though, because you can just do an extra decrease or less here to make the number of stitches fit what the book calls for.

Got something else cooking too. Next up on the needles is a project that a friend asked for--a guitar strap. I took him to Gauge over the weekend to pick out the yarn, and give him a lot of credit for not doubling right back out. You see, Gauge has become my Cheers, where everybody knows my name, and since I haven't been there in over a month, it was all about squeeing and catching up and showing off my in-progress Malabrigo Easy Flame Lace Scarf
:

We also walked in on Lisa Shobana Mason's signing for her new book, Yarnplay at Home. She was super nice, and had on the cutest grey felt skirt.

Despite all the excitement, I managed to concentrate on the task at hand, and my friend and I picked out these colors, to reflect the colors of his favorite soccer team (Barcelona, I think?):

I also may have walked out with a new skein of Malabrigo, for a hat and neckwarmer. More on that next time.

I was thinking of swatching for the guitar strap a couple of different ways, one with a crochet stitch, and another with a knitted slip stitch, inspired by Anna Bell's tweed stitch belt pattern. The fabric should be firm and not stretch out too much. My gut tells me crochet, but I'm not too confident in my crocheting skills yet. Does anyone have any other ideas?

A winter dispatch.

2008-01-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I was going to wait until I got back to Austin to post about my newest yarn purchase, because I forgot to bring my camera cord to Chicago for the holiday break. But I just couldn't wait, and opted to do violence to the beauty of this Fleece Artist Blue Faced Leicester DK by snapping a picture with my cell phone:

Ohhhh. The loveliest shades of pinks touched with a hint of brown. The colorway is "burgundy," but really, if you wanted to be poetic about it, it should have something about chocolates and cherries in the name. Yum!

After a nice lunch of Indian food catching up with old friends from grad school (hi, Vim!) Ashley and I escaped from MLA madness on Saturday and had ourselves a little yarn excursion to Loopy, on south State Street. I was going to take some sock yarn, but Ashley pressed this hank of BFL into my hands and declared that it was the best thing she'd ever knit with, or some such thing. Well, how do you walk away from yarn with that kind of endorsement? It was the perfect way to spend some holiday money and treat myself for post-MLA exhaustion.

So now the question is, what to knit? Ashley suggested a hat and some mittens. There is definitely serious yardage (metrage?): 450 meters. Other possibilities I found by combing through Ravelry:

Clapotis (I haven't knit one yet. No, really.)
Cowl (perhaps ala Joelle Hoverson's in Last Minute Knitted Gifts?)
Counterpane accessories pouch (from Handknit Holidays)
Entrelac scarf
???

Any other suggestions? What to do with this pretty, pretty yarn?

In other news, I saw this at my local Target:

Thirty dollars for a set of six sock-type sleeves for the Ipod. Really????

No dissertation yet, but there's been some knitting.

2007-12-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

How can I account for my time? It's easier to answer that question from you guys, than if it were coming from my dissertation advisor. I'm taking a cue from Kate, and posting my month and a half in pictures, because there is no possible way I could catch up otherwise.

I finished my niece's sweater, (Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater, from Greetings from the Knit Cafe) and made her a little bag. I used this tutorial for the drawstring pouch.

Inspired by this, I dressed as Frida Kahlo in drag for the annual Dia de los Muertos parade; this year, they celebrated Frida's 100th birthday by calling for 100 costumed Fridas to lead the parade from the East Side to Congress Avenue. I had fun, but I discovered I make a damn ugly guy. Let's just say I enjoy being a girl.

I swapped socks with a couple of lovely women; Femiknitter sent me the Monkey, and I sent Ariel the Fancy Silk Sock. We must now knit the second sock, and given my current state of distraction, it may take me a while to have my second Monkey. Thanks to Femiknitter, though, for a beautiful first sock, and a new project bag that I love, love, love.

Elizabeth came for a visit. We got stinking drunk on margaritas, passed out, and woke up covered in yarn. (Just kidding. She came for Stitch, and we had a fantastic time and maybe had a couple of margaritas and did a little shopping.) She gave me this gorgeous handmade scarf.

In a fit of knitting ADD, I made a hat and a hat-like covering, and a couple of washcloths.

Cue the music...you know you hear the song, people. My Raspberry Beret (Kat Coyle's pattern from Greetings From the Knit Cafe Knit with Blue Sky Alpaca Silk--it took a skein and a little bit of a second. The book says it's only one skein).

And a Calorimetry, with less than half a skein of Malabrigo. I cast on 90 sts for this one.

A sedge stitch washcloth, the pattern which is available on the Lion Brand website. I saw Laura's and monkey see, monkey do, I had to pick up my crochet hook (even though I can't manage to hold the hook in any other way than with the Grip of Death).

And a fun little washcloth pattern I found on Ravelry. I knit this with Lily Sugar & Cream, I think, in really pretty ombre colors.

'Kay, kiddos, that's all I got for now! I'm going to try not to let too much time go before I post again...I'm working on Stefanie Japel's Back to School vest, and perhaps another couple of holiday gifts. Hope all is well with you!

This is how I roll.

2007-10-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty busy here at Chez Yo La Tejo, what with teaching and grading, working and writing, and all kinds of looming deadlines. It's kind of killing my joy.

But there are two things that I can always manage to find time for, no matter how crazy it gets: friends, and knitting. My good friend Marisa came to visit Austin a couple of weeks ago for the Women's Flat Track Derby Association national championships. Marisa, a.k.a. May R. Daley, kicks ass as a member of the Windy City Rollers home team, and she was in town to cheer for the road team. Woot!

I'd never been to roller derby before, so getting to see it for the first time at the finals was really the way to go. We got there for the first match at 11 am, and then bought ourselves Bloody Marys and settled in for a full day. I'd heard that the sport was pretty rough and while that was true, I was just mesmerized by the grace of the skaters.

Marisa tried explaining the finer points of the game to me, but all I knew was to look for the lead jammer to break away from the pack. The jammers score once they catch up again and pass other team members.

When the lead jammer breaks away, the crowd goes nuts, and she gets her own referee, who follows her from the inside of the rink, with one arm raised in the air and the other pointing directly at her. It's so cool. I want a lead jammer referee in my day-to-day life, giving me points when I teach a good class or make a good cup of coffee. On second thought, having someone following me around pointing at me might be kind of creepy.

Later that day, the Windy City Rollers went up against the Texecutioners, but sadly lost after fighting hard. It was a bummer, but just seeing all the hardcore fans that traveled to Austin from Chicago to support their team was pretty amazing.

The second day, we went back for the last bout at night, and I took a sock project like a big geek. I brought it out for a little while, and sure enough, the derby girl next to me (decked out in tattoos and short, brightly colored hair) asked me about it. Turns out she's a knitter too, but she bluntly admitted to collecting more stash than she was able to knit. Huh. And that's a problem because...?

Here's the beginnings of the Fancy Silk Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, in Regia Silk; I've gotten quite a ways up the cuff and will soon make it to the heel, si dios quiere. Sweet Jesus, please, yes.

Finally, it would seem that my birthday keeps getting celebrated, waaay beyond the birthday month. My friend Vero, who was in Japan for a whole month, brought me back some lovely gifts. (It should be noted that I am famous (or infamous) for roping my friends into celebrating the Birthday Weekend, or the Birthday Week. But I've never before succeeded in making it a Whole Month. Mwahahaha.)

Among the very cool presents Vero and her husband Mike gave me (which included the perfect erasable pen, pretty stationery, and a cute-ass bento box), there was this little guy:

I wish I could tell you what his given name is, but the tag is in Japanese, which I do not read. He is wearing a track suit that says Hokkaido on the back (which is the second largest island in Japan, according to the infallible Wikipedia).

Oh, and that codpiece, you ask? Well, you can pull it. And when you do, he vibrates and giggles merrily.

Joaquin looks concerned.

Gauge yarn store.

2007-10-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Gauge is reopening on Saturday, October 27, at 11 am. They are located at 5406 Parkcrest Drive Austin, TX 78731. Yay!

This post is for you Austinites and Central Texans out there:

Gauge, the new local yarn store that I blogged about recently, is temporarily closed for internal restructuring. Only temporarily.

I've been in contact with the owner Karli, who hand-delivered a book that I'd ordered (EZ's Knitter's Almanac, yay!) to me last night. She assured me that the store is not closed for good, but that she is working out the business issues and that she hopes to be open by the end of this month.

I'm on their email list, so when I get the notice that they've opened their doors again, I'll let y'all know.

Real knitting content to come soon, I swear.

Cotton-knittin' blues.

2007-09-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks, sweet readers, for your comments on my finished lace tank! I got some great ideas for layering it and wearing it into the fall (although the only layering I can possibly consider right now that it's still 92 degrees is the kind that lasagna does. Mmmm...)

And the warm weather knitting continues to drag on here at Chez Yo La Tejo, as progress on this baby cardigan goes slowslowslow:

I don't think I've blogged much about this project; it's Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater pattern from Greetings From the Knit Cafe. It's for my baby niece, and I specifically looked for a kimono-style pattern because they're just so darn cute. I found the yarn in the sale bin at my LYS; it was part of a Classic Elite sweater kit so old that they couldn't even tell me if the company made that yarn anymore.

It was in perfectly good condition, so I happily started the six month size, but the closer I got to finishing, the more unsure I became about the measurements. Specifically, I think the gauge is off (but because it's for a baby, I thought, heck. It doesn't have to fit like couture.)

Plainly speaking, though, I think it looks a little weird. Like it's going to be too long, and have these little mini-sleeves dangling off the top, to make my poor niece look like Randy bundled in his snowsuit in A Christmas Story.

I was on verge of ripping it out, before I started the first sleeve. After months of work, I really don't like the way the slit gaps in the back...but then I said the hell with it. Ya basta. Enough. I want to knit with wool. So I'm gonna finish this little sucker.

I'm off to knit.

Lacey days...

2007-09-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

...not lazy days. Oof, I wish. Now that the semester's started, I don't know that I'll see another lazy day in...oh, probably months. AND. Now that I'm.....(wait for it)....actually doing some WRITING for my dissertation, even my stolen moments knitting and blogging will probably be colored by severe guilt.

But enough with the whining! (Actually, I secretly love that I can now whine about writing my diss. I feel like I've joined the club..."demented and sad, but social.") I have a finished object for you all.

Lace Tank

(this is my "dreamily holding the hem like they do in IK" pose.)

Specs:

Pattern: Lace Tank, from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2007
Yarn: Euroflax Linen, 2 100g skeins, color champagne
Needles: Size 6
Size made: 34"

Notes:

First of all, don't be intimidated by this pattern, or the dumb magazine copy that's on page 71. They say in the techniques section that when knitting the edge, "it will be helpful to count the stitches at the end of every row to make sure you have the correct number; a missing yarn over would be disastrous." Disastrous? Way to go, Vogue...you've just scared away half of your knitters. The truth about the edging is that it's only ever 14-20 stitches long, so if you make it to the end of your row and you're missing a stitch, well, you just tink back a row of 14-20 stitches.

Because the lace is double-sided, I actually was pretty intimdated at first, but once you get past the edging and the razor lace, you're more than halfway done. The more complicated lace near the top demands your attention, it's true, but it's not that hard (there's no crazy "knit 5 together through the back loop" action going on here). There are also charts available on the VK site, so be sure to look for those.

I wore this tank all day today, and I'm actually pleased with it. Which surprised me, because as I was knitting it, I was convinced that it was going to be one of those FOs that spent more time in the closet than in the light of day. Why, you ask? Well, I love knitting lace (as those of you who've been reading for a while well know), but the tank tops I've knit haven't really worked out well for me, either stretching out or not fitting right. And, because the yarn was so scratchy to begin with, I was sure that wearing this would be akin to wearing a big heavy dishcloth.

Not so. I ran it through the wash in a lingerie bag, and it softened up considerably. I know that the more wash it gets, the texture and the drape will improve.

I did find, however, that it was just too long on me. What they don't show you in the magazine (but what you can kind of see here if you look closely) is that the armholes are really roomy. Also, I felt that bust portion was hanging too low. After cutting into the single crochet edging on the sleeves and neckline, I frogged about an inch from each of the straps, kind of eyeballing it, which was a mistake. I botched one of the straps, ripping back too much, so I knit it again in garter stitch until it was even.

I wouldn't recommend the reckless approach! I would recommend, however, trying the darn thing on to see if you're happy with the armholes before seaming the straps and working the single crochet. Common sense? Yes. Do I have any? Apparently not.

After those adjustments, I picked up the crochet and finished the edgings, weaved in the ends, and ta da! The fit is much better.

In other knitterly news, I visited Gauge, the new LYS in town. The space is airy and modern, with that just-painted feel to it. Yarns are arranged by gauge (of course), and although the store owners kept saying that they weren't completely settled in yet, they had a nice selection.

I was stupidly excited to see shelves of Cotton-Ease. Ha! I thought this was brilliant, since I can't find the stuff either at the other LYS or at Hobby Lobby. I was also pleased to see Malabrigo worsted weight, and brought home two skeins in the American Rose color.

The owners were super sweet and very helpful, and Karli even offered to start a "favorites" list for me. They have a spacious, comfy lounge area in the back for classes and, as Karli explained, just for hanging out; the place has wireless, a selection of tea, and a library of books and back issues of IK and Vogue.

Oh, and also! Free knitting classes! I think they're beginner classes, and one to a customer.

As if yarn, wireless, and free classes weren't enough, they also had some cute t-shirts and jewelry for sale. All in all, a hip little yarn boutique that I'm sure will do well in this town.

All for fall.

2007-09-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

Whelp, it's certainly been a while since I posted last! I was still in L.A. and had just finished my niece's folklorico skirt; since then, I made a whirlwind visit to Chicago to help care for my mom (who was just out of surgery) and then back to Austin...the day before the semester started! Obviously, some things had to be prioritized--preparing a syllabus or blogging? Oooh, tough decision. I don't even think my students know how close we came to just winging it all semester. :-)

Thanks to everyone who left comments on the skirt I made for Isabel! She wore it to her recital and according to my sister, danced to the left while everyone else danced to the right. When asked later if she had forgotten the steps, she simply said, "no." Apparently everyone else had gotten it wrong.

Knitting has been progressing at a sluggish rate, but the planning? Ooh, the planning for fall knits. I pretty much pushed myself to finish the lace tank from Vogue Knitting (spring issue, I think?) just so that I could cast on with some wool.

I begrudgingly did the crochet edging around the sleeves and neck while starting the third season of Angel, and now it just needs a few ends woven in and a good blocking. I would have just soaked it, but because it's Euroflax linen, I want to run it through the wash to see if the yarn will soften up some.

Meanwhile, since my birthday's coming up, I treated myself to a set of Addi lace circs and a skein of Smooshy sock yarn at my LYS's monthly sale (all 20% off). Even though I have a stash of sock yarn waiting for me, I couldn't wait to cast on with the Smooshy, which poses here with some Cascade 220 I have queued to knit Stephanie Japel's Back-to-School vest from Fitted Knits.

I was literally standing there at the LYS, minding my own beeswax, when a woman came up to me and asked me if I'd seen the Smooshy. I was all, the whuh-huh? She pointed to the stock on the lower shelf and declared it to be the softest yarn that made the warmest socks. And that her Sockapalooza pal was very happy with the pair she'd made out of Smooshy. Well, with that kind of testimonial (and the name Smooshy), how could I resist? I picked out this green, which in person looks positively incandescent. (I also privately marveled at how she threw out the concept of Sockapalooza without wondering if I would even know what the heck that was, in addition to what the heck Smooshy was.)

Speaking of LYSes, Austin is getting a new one! Woot woot! But before I tell you more, I know you'll get a kick out of the little story about how I found out it was coming...

At the end of last semester, I was grading papers at a favorite local coffee shop, when I noticed that three women next to me were having a business meeting. (Noticed or eavesdropped? Potayto, potahto.) One woman looked super familiar, but I couldn't remember where I knew her from. Well, I continued grading papers, but I heard them talking about sock yarn. Could have been some other thing going by the name of Regia...

Finally, one of the women pulls out a bag of Claudia's Handpainted, and I just could. Not. Restrain. Myself. I leaned over and commented that I couldn't help but notice all the yarn and were they by any chance opening up a new yarn store? (Pause. Bated breath.) Then I realized that the woman I'd recognized before was Karli, who used to work at really what's the only LYS in Austin (there's another in Cedar Park). I mentioned this and a friendly discussion ensued during which Karli threw a skein of sock yarn at me to see what I thought of the color. I got to help pick out a color for the stock, y'all!

Anyway, it turns out that Karli and a partner were planning to open an LYS called Gauge (cute!), and they took my email and blog url down. I just got an email from them letting me know that they just opened. Hurray! It's almost like having another birthday present. For you Austinites out there, the address is 5406 Parkcrest Drive Austin, Tx. 78731.

Coinciding with the start of a new semester and a new season, is the arrival of a very special someone in my house. Meet Joaquin P. Pickering:

Joaquin's creator is the lovely and talented Floresita of Things I've Made, and to celebrate her blogiversary, she held a little contest offering up some monkey love, which I won! If you do nothing else today, you have to go see the portraits of Joaquin with his brothers and sister, taken before he embarked on his journey from NYC to Austin. As soon as he got here, he devoured the felt bananas I had waiting for him! Here here is perusing my book collection and considering the perennial question--is he a Sandra Cisneros fan, or an Ana Castillo devotee? Hmm. Take your time, Joaquin...it won't be an easy choice!

For next time--an FO post!

* All for Fall is the name of a children's book I used to have that I read to pieces. I don't remember exactly how it went, but it probably had lots to say about falling leaves and new school supplies and hot cocoa. Maybe even something about wool sweaters.

De colores.

2007-08-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day Friday working on this:

My niece, who is already involved in more extracurricular activities than I ever was in high school, and who hasn't even hit kindergarten yet, will be performing in her baile folklorico recital on Monday. Sadly, I leave tomorrow and won't be able to see her, but at least I managed to finish this skirt for her to wear!

If you've ever seen a Mexican baile folklorico performance, you'll recognize the skirt that the girls wear and that are very much a part of the dance as they twirl the hem edges around with their hands...OK, this is very poorly described, but you can watch a clip here.

My sister asked if I would make the skirt since the one she ordered via Abuelita Express wouldn't get here in time (granny's on a trip to Durango and was supposed to bring one back but has been delayed). Sure! I said. I'd been wanting to sew something for the kid but didn't know her measurements, so this would be the perfect opportunity.

The pattern's Simplicity 3863. Looking at the pattern instructions, which don't run longer than a page, I smugly said, oh, this'll take about two or three hours. Ha! Oh, the hubris. Can you see why that guess was very, very off?

The ruffle. Oh yeah...Satan's invention, that ruffle was. Applying the ribbons was pretty straightforward, albeit time-consuming. Gathering the ruffle and setting it in place? Not so much fun.

But otherwise! The skirt's as "easy" as they get...no buttons, no zippers, just two ties on either side. All in all, it was worth it just so that she can twirl with the others on Monday.

My sister asked me what my must-do things were before leaving L.A. We came up with the following:

The Knit Cafe
Pedicure (so cheap here!)
Bionico

We headed over on Melrose Avenue until we finally found the Knit Cafe. I averted my eyes from the help wanted sign on the door (it said "knitting experience required"! I have that!) and walked in with my nieces, sister, and brother-in-law. They wandered around while I handled, in a very star-struck, googly-eyed fashion, the sample knits from the book (Kat Coyle's pink dress! The pom pom awning! The cashmere shawl!).

I finally settled on two pretty skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in white and bright pink, which is actually quite fitting because when I visited Purl Soho last year I bought some LL in white and blue, which turned into some very pretty ribbed socks.

I was a little too self conscious to have my sister take a picture of me there, but I snapped one of my niece, who was only too happy to ham it up while my brother-in-law wondered where the coffee was (it's the Knit Cafe, after all! turns out the coffee maker's tucked away and i didn't see it until just before we left):

Afterwards, we went to the Grove shopping mall, which was fun but also scary in that kind of pseudo/simulated small-town aesthetic that seems to be popping up in sprawling cities where no one ever gets out of their car (Austin has the Domain). The Grove has a "town square" that looks like it came straight out of a Gilmore Girls episode. The farmer's market at the end, though, was really fantastic--almost anything you can think of to eat. I had the best glass of lemonade, which I slurped down eagerly in the 95 degree heat.

We stopped in East L.A. for the much-talked-about bionico. My friend V., a native Angeleno, told me to make sure to have one for her. When I found out what it was--apples, bananas, strawberries, melon, raisins, granola, and coconut doused in sweetened condensed milk--I was more than happy to oblige. The shop we went to (whose name my sister can't remember, even though she took me there specifically because they do bionicos best, in her opinion), also had a dizzying array of ice cream flavors:

I guess I'll have to plan another trip to L.A. so that I can try the pineapple flavor! We finally rounded out the day with the pedicures, and my sister got one too, which was a nice treat. We sat side by side as my niece bounced around us, testing the water in the foot spa with her finger and checking out the acrylic nails on the hand mannequins.

I'll be back in Austin for a day and then off to Chicago for a week to check in on my mom, who had to have some minor foot surgery. And then the semester starts! Where did the summer go?

P.S. Thanks to close quarters with a five year old, I am currently obsessed with Charlie and Lola. Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Riches.

2007-08-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

As in, "an embarrassment of."

That's what happens when you wait to post for so long...you queue up your news and your projects and your tidbits until you have an embarrassment of riches to talk about and well, something's going to be forgotten along the way and then two weeks later, you go, OH heck. I forgot to post about the funny thing so and so said to me as I was knitting in public the other day and about how good the tuna was in my sandwich.

This week, since I'm in L.A., I have extra family-related riches to add to my general feelings of contentment and happiness. I shared some of the special nuggets of wisdom that my niece, Isabel, came up with in my last post. No doubt about it, you will never giggle more than when you're hanging out with a five-year-old.

(In fact, as I'm sitting here blogging, she just came up to me utterly BEDECKED in her Sleeping Beauty costume, complete with stand up collar and velvet headband, a big grin on her face. )

(And in the time it took me to write this down, she went to her room and changed into her Snow White costume.)

Here we are at Bugsy's Cafe the other day (located in the Kidspace museum in Pasadena), wrangling over whether I ordered the Poo Poo platter or not:

And swimming lessons are a must, of course:

Knitting lessons? Got some of those, too:

I confess, I don't know if she's really still too young to pick up this hobby--she learned the steps perfectly well and can knit a few stitches on her own, but jumps up every so often to get a drink of water, or to go look at the baby, or to watch Zack and Cody's The Suite Life (there's something about that show that's like fingernails on a chalkboard for me). Short attention span, a bit?

We started with ten stitches on these Red Heart needles I bought for her, and pretty soon she was asking how long it would be before it would become a Dora skirt for her. Uh, uh, I said. How about a headband? OK. How long before it's a headband? We settled on a wrist warmer. Which turned out pretty freakin' cute, if I do say so myself. At the moment, it's pretty freakin' lost, so pictures of that particular FO will have to wait.

On the blogging front, there's been lots of great stuff, too: I've been super-honored with the Rocking Girl Blogger award--not once, but twice!

Once from Laura, and once from Karen, two of my oldest knitblogger friends. And because my blogiversary slipped past last month, that means we've been corresponding steadily for two years! I've been blessed to have these two amazing women in my my life, and to be continually inspired by their wonderful energy and huge hearts.

I don't know where this blogger award emerged, but I can only guess that it was thought up to address the perceived disparity among male and female bloggers--meaning that the mainstream bloggers that get the most attention are largely dudes. Well, being sheltered in this cozy corner of the blogiverse, I get to see women of all ages and pursuits; I visit their blogs for the crafting content, but stay for their stories and senses of humor.

Having received the Rocking Girl Blogger award, I now get to make five nominations of my own:

Aloha and Oreos: Sock knitter and fashionista extraordinaire, this girl kicks some serious butt.

Things I've Made: I love Flor's blog for the way she incorporates elements of our Mexican art and folk traditions, but also for her sense of whimsy and her lovely photography.

Saunshine: I admire this talented designer for leaving everything comfortable and safe behind and striking out on her own to NYC to start at FIT this fall. New York in the fall...love! I'm so jealous.

Grrleigh Knits: For her laugh-out-loud irreverence, her scathing fashion reviews, and her brilliant observation about Twinkle's pattern sizing issues. Holla!

John Wayne's Daughter: This is the only non-knitting blog on my list, but JWD definitely is a Rocking Girl Blogger--her vignettes can make you laugh or they can make you cry, but they always hit close to the heart. And she skates in roller derby! How awesome is that? (Even if she did nothing but chronicle her lunches every day, this fact alone would score her the nomination from me.)

You ready for this? Another round of nominations, this time via Craftylilly for the Schmoozer award!

As it goes, schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship."

Thank you, Jennifer! I'm incredibly flattered, especially seeing as how I was always the kid on the playground with her nose buried in a book...so not a schmoozer!

Here are my nominations for the Schmoozer award. I can't really say more than what the above paragraph already says, except for saying that these women have a talent for genuineness and warmth:

Karen of Kodachrome
Karen of Mostly Self-Taught Knitter
Elizabeth of A Mingled Yarn
Laura of Affiknitty
Ashley of Dogged Knits

Thank you, ladies! I probably wouldn't still be doing this blogging thing if it weren't for you all.

And see? Now I've got to stop because we're heading out for Universal Studios, and I'm SURE I forgot to blog about something. Oh yes...the baby quilt I made for my sister's new baby! Oh, well...that's more blog fodder for next time.

Morning conversations.

2007-08-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

"The Easter Bunny gave me a basket at Easter. It had toys and candy. And Hot Cheetos."

******

"I have an idea. When you finish school and find a job, you could live with us in L.A. and we could teach you how to drive. But you'll have to leave your car in Texas." I asked why. "Because it won't fit in the plane!"

******

"I don't like those," my niece says, pointing to the scones. "I like Froot Loops." I wrinkled my nose. I don't like Froot Loops, I say. "Do you like macaroni and cheese?" Yes! "Do you like tuna fish?" Yes! "Do you like cucumber rolls?" I say, what do you mean? "Sushi!" I ask, do you like salmon? "Yes! I eat salmon every time I go to sushi." Do you like unagi? "No. I love octopus!"

Having a great time in L.A.! I'll post about nieces and baby blankets as soon as I can get set up with my own laptop here. Hope you're all enjoying the hot lazy days of August.

80 degrees and wooly.

2007-07-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hey, kids! I've finally emerged from Ravelry! (For my sweet non-knitting faithful readers who come here to keep up with me and not my projects, Ravelry is like a Friendster, for knitters.)

I haven't really posted very many of my own projects, but it's taken some great willpower to not browse endlessly. In spite of my excellent restraint (cough! ahem.), I came across Marnie's gorgeous version of Annie Modesitt'sCorset Top ), and have decided to add that to my must-knit list.

This is the kind of thing that Ravelry was built for, I suppose--I'd never seen Marnie's FO, despite having been a long-term reader of hers. But on Ravelry, I was browsing the pattern and came across Marnie's corset, and completely fell in love. I had no intention of knitting that project anytime soon. But today, I even ordered the same yarn Marnie used, Filatura di Crosa Brilla, which is on sale at Elann! Monkey see, monkey do.

In the meantime, this is all the knitting I've been doing. Eighty degrees and humid in Austin, and I've been knitting with Malabrigo: a warm cabled hat as a thank you gift for the ~~enabler~~ friend who's been loaning me her Buffy DVDs.

M's leaving for a fancy university teaching job up in Wisconsin, so I thought she might be able to use a nice cabled hat. I know there's a billion hat patterns out there, and a million cable patterns, but I've used this one twice and have been pretty pleased with it.

Here's a gratuitous shot of the yummy ball of Malabrigo I used, in the Hummingbird colorway:

I had been trying to eke a hat out of half a ball of Malabrigo I had lying around, but after two attempts, decided to suck it up and hit the LYS and maybe find some nice Manos. To my surprise/delight/astonishment (pick your favorite superlative), Hill Country Weavers had stocked up on some Malabrigo! Hurray! Hurrah! There weren't a whole lotta colors to pick from, but the saleswoman said that they were testing it out and would probably order some more stock. They even had laceweight!

I think my life is complete now.

If you don't hear from me in a few weeks...don't hesitate to send a search team.

2007-07-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

I got my Ravelry invite today!

Wish me luck, I'm going in.

Goodwill goodness.

2007-07-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my latest thrift store finds that I had to share:

Sigh. I love this blouse so much. I think I may marry it.

I washed it by hand so that I could wear it right away, since I'd just done my laundry last Friday. And I loathe handwashing. There was a teeny little spot on the front that came right out with the help of my Clorox bleach pen. Which is the best invention since...oh, maybe the lightbulb. Seriously.

And then, in spite of my ongoing efforts to declutter, I couldn't help but bring back this beauty.

It's a handmade pitcher/vase, and I couldn't resist the color and the glaze.

I'm not always this lucky, but I went in completely on the spur of the moment and just skimmed around to see what popped out at me. It's one of my favorite ways to have a weekend adventure.

PS: Has anyone seen La Vie en Rose, the Edith Piaf biopic? Just to add my two cents worth--Marion Cotillard as Piaf is astonishing. She portrays the singer from young womanhood to the last years of her decline, transforming herself seamlessly from a wild young girl to an unconventional beauty, to a prematurely old woman, shriveled by addiction and poor health. The movie itself is entertaining. Definitely worth seeing!

Recovering.

2007-07-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted, and a really long time since I've blogged about anything substantial. Coming back from Cancun with the worst cold I've had in a while really took the wind out of my sails for a while--I couldn't even dredge up the energy to knit, and what's the point of a sick day or two if you can't indulge in some knitting?

I'm also admitting to myself now that I think I lost some of my blogging mojo for a while there...posting joyless little entries that don't have much of the same energy and gusto I used to load up my writing with. Looking back over earlier entries, I couldn't believe the way I used to go on, and on, and on...and on. (You get the picture!)

I imagined that maybe my blogging style was evolving to shorter entries, more to the point, and while that's true, I also think that I wasn't very juiced up about the writing. You know the state of mind, where you get this great idea for a post and think of the clever title and start composing it in your head long before you actually fire up the laptop?

Luckily, I've had all of you to draw inspiration from and keep me interested! I feel that things are about to take a turn for the better, which probably also means good things for my dissertation-to-be, since any kind of writing feeds the professional writing I have to do. Anyway, I hope to post more often, and with more joy.

Here are a few things to update you on:

Cancun! I've already shared a few pictures, but here are a couple of highlights:

These are pictures of Tulum, taken by Jennifer and her dad. These Mayan ruins are, in a word, astonishing. I'd been to the Aztec ruins of Tenochtitlan before, which are spectacular in their own way, but I was in no way prepared for the magic of Tulum. It's a walled city overlooking the ocean, so before you walk through the tiny doorway in the stone wall, you have no idea about what lies behind it. The claustrophobia of the passage only intensifies the astonishment at how the city opens up in front of you.

Iguanas sat and posed regally for us. I imagined that they were ancient Mayan princes who remained to dwell among their ruins and keep guard. They so obviously gave off an air of ownership.

The city drops off at the edge of a cliff, opening out to the Caribbean. The water is the bluest, warmest water I've ever seen. I wish I were floating out there right now.

Another of our outings was to Isla de Mujeres, where we scooted around the island on a golf cart, had lunch, and did a little shopping. I took some pictures while trying not to bounce off the back of the golf cart (watch out for those speed bumps!).

All in all, a truly wonderful vacation.

In crafty news, I didn't have a chance before I left to Mexico to post about the tote bag I made for Jennifer. This is the All-Day Tote from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing:

How happy am I that I finally broke down and bought a self-healing mat and a rotary cutter? That made cutting out all the pieces for the tote super easy, since everything was basically a square or a rectangle.

I'd found this Alexander Henry fabric, the Sexy Wrangler Cowboy Pinups, at my local quilting shop last year after having seen it on the blogosphere in a few places. (I think it's out-of-print now, but you can still find it on Ebay occasionally; I just checked and saw some fat quarters.) I instantly knew I wanted to make something for Jennifer out of it, since she was leaving Texas to move back to her home state of California and, well, I wanted her to have a little something to remember us by.

Ha! Well, it's almost been a year since she moved away, and I finally got around to making the tote. I decided to use the fabric for the lining, and found some pretty denim to complement it for the outside. I love the way the red stripes make it look a little tailored, and completely fail to prepare you for opening up the tote and finding this:

(That's Vanessa Minillo on the cover of Lucky in there, looking utterly content to be surrounded by all that beefcake. Ahem.)

The cutting of the pocket was utterly serendipitous. I swear I cut this piece without any kind of planning.

The surprised scream and giggling when Jennifer looked inside was totally worth it. She also loves the tote in general, and used it on the beach, and has brought it with her for her summer visit back to Texas. A success!

One thing, though--I think the tote could use some reinforcement, in the form of interfacing or a cardboard bit on the bottom, and Jansdotter doesn't mention either in her instructions. But since I wanted to make this tote very packable and washable, I decided to leave all that out.

Next time, I'll update you all on my lace tank from the Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2007 issue. I've realized that knitting complicated lace while watching Buffy leads you to only one place: Tink City. So it's coming along, but a little sloooowly.

What I did on my summer vacation.

2007-06-27T12:22:00.001-07:00

(pier photo by Jenn)

Just got back from my Cancun vacation, y'all! Seven days of swimming, and reading, and lounging about...oh, and some knitting, too. I decided to start a new project with yarn that wouldn't be unbearable to the touch in 95 degree weather with 100% humidity, so I settled on this sweet top from the latest Vogue Knitting.

The Euroflax linen was the perfect choice; in fact, its roughness was softened up a bit by the humidity in the air. I could tell the yarn was drying out on the flight back because it got scratchier!

Anyway, I'd love to write more, but I got laid up with a nasty cold bug the day after I got back and the only thing I'm really good for right now is lying on the couch to watch Buffy and bad afternoon television programs. I missed you all, though, and maybe I'll try rousing myself later to catch up on some blog reading.

In the meantime, I made this awesome soup for myself last night. If it's not too hot where you are, you really need to try it!

Happy days.

2007-06-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

To borrow a line from Melanie Hamilton Wilkes:

"The happiest days are when babies come."

My new niece, who wasn't supposed to be here for another month, made her way into the world on Tuesday! Her name is Clara Victoria, and although she is a tad premature, she's doing absolutely fine, as is her mom. My sister, who'd been scheduled for a c-section, went in for a routine check, and the doctors were concerned about the baby's heartbeat (which was too fast or not fast enough, I'm not entirely sure). So they decided to have her out that very day!

My mom, who flew out to California with my dad the very next day, reports that the baby has a lot of dark hair, is beautiful, and doesn't even look like a preemie. I'm pretty much jonesing hard for a picture, and will definitely hold a long grudge against my brother-in-law if he can't get me at least one little picture, soon! (ha ha! just kidding, J! I'll settle for a cell phone shot!)

Because babies don't respect schedules, especially knitting schedules, my projects are now officially late:

Story of my life. I've got to get cracking.

Sahara.

2007-05-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

The young man agreed
He would satisfy their need
So they danced for his pleasure
With a joy you could not measure
They would wait for him here
The same place every year
Beneath the sheltering sky
Across the desert he would fly

Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you

I got this song in my head as I started to write this post. Remember? It's The Police, from Synchronicity. Do you think the sisters wore this lovely number as they danced for his pleasure? I think they might have.

Sahara

Yarn: Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple (2 skeins) and Disco Lights (1 skein) in Hibiscus

Needles: Sizes 4 and 6

Notes:Wow. This really is the most luscious yarn I've ever worked with. I knit the XS size after reading in the pattern notes about the tendency of the yarn to stretch. I think it'll be fine, except that I may need to tack the neckline together a bit more because I think it's already starting to stretch out a little and if I'd turned a little sideways you'd all get a nice glimpse of my bra.

A word about binding off: I learned that just because the pattern says to bind off loosely, it doesn't mean that you can just take really loose stitches with the needles you're using. I bound off the neckline with the size 4 needles I was working with and the neckline was so tight that it hiked the bottom of the lace panel all the way to my cleavage.

I undid the cast off and because I was working with Disco Lights, I stripped the yarn free of all the sequins, because let me tell you what, it is a nightmare to pull out the stitches if you have to frog.

I then cast off with size 6 needles, and it was better, but I undid it again and tried Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off, which is a super stretchy bind off (here's a nice tutorial from Knitty). Ta da! Like magic. I went back and redid the hem with this bind off, as well.

Because I am a relatively new short rower, I was wrapping the stitches on the cap sleeves without picking them up and knitting them. That little piece of information (about picking up the wraps) is at the beginning of that section, but of course I missed it, and a little voice inside my head kept saying, this isn't right, this isn't right. Sure enough, at 2:30 in the morning when I had finished the first sleeve, I focused my bleary eyes on the pattern again and realized that it does say to pick up the stitches. It just doesn't say that in the instructions where you might expect it to spell that out for you. Doh.

This just may be the most beautiful thing I've ever knit. Now, I just need to find a party to wear it to! (hey, if I open some wine, I can start the party right now...*grin*)

Coming soon, this holiday weekend.

2007-05-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

I hope.

It's Sahara. Here's the diamond rib hem:

I think I see an end in sight. I'm currently taking a break to rest my aching arm from the p3 tog through the back loop on the neck band. This is a technique that is the Devil's plaything, I am sure.

Hope you all have a fun Memorial Day weekend!

This 'n that. And a meme.

2007-05-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hoo, boy. It's been a while since I've posted, and while I haven't made much progress on my Sahara, I've been kept busy with lots of other little projects, here and there.

It's been the busiest gift season for me since Christmas, what with baby showers and Mother's Day. A little knitting, a little sewing, and a little painting, and I got through it...I even managed to work on a little something for myself:
Yay! I finally tried freezer paper stencils, after watching everyone else turn out adorable projects. This is a stencil of a graphic from one of my favorite local bands, Maneja Beto. They haven't gotten around to making and selling band t-shirts yet, so I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.

I have a sticker that I based this sketch on, and then traced that sketch onto the freezer paper. I love the way it turned out! I've now washed it, and the only small problem is that the paint is cracking a little where the ribs are on the tank top.

You should also know that I brightened this picture with Snipshots, an online photo editing tool that one of y'all turned me on to (sorry! I can't remember exactly who it was, but I'm very grateful!). It's got limited capabilities, but it's great because you don't have to go through the hassle of creating an account or anything like that. You just upload your picture, fix it, and save it back to your computer.

I was so happy with the stencil that when my friend Lena got a baby shower invitation that specified "homemade gifts only," I helped her paint some onesies with a giraffe and an elephant stencil I found here. I think we had the most fun we've had crafting since kindergarten fingerpainting. I got the same shower invitation, but I just finished the Pasha I was working on and wrapped it up. I didn't get any pictures for the blog, but both gifts were a big hit, and I actually think that the mom-to-be might hoard Pasha for herself!

And here is an apron I made from Lotte Jansdotter's Simple Sewing:

This is for a friend's mom, for Mother's Day. She and I were shopping at Williams-Sonoma and she was admiring an expensive, overpriced apron. I joked that I'd make it for her and only charge her half, and she got excited and asked me to do it. We went straight to Jo-Ann's and she picked out this pretty home decorating fabric, and because the apron is reversible, we got some lightweight cotton for the other side. I modified the pattern slightly by adding a pocket and trimming the top and bottom edges with bias tape.

I really love this book! I joked with Karen, who made me want the book in the first place, that some of the patterns seem sort of ridiculous (napkin? Um, isn't that just a square?), but the simple patterns are definitely a good place for beginners to practice their straight seams.

I mostly bought the book for the tote bag and the duvet cover (um, isn't that just a really big square?), but all of the designs are adorable and practical--now I want to make the wall organizer, the magazine holder, the bedside pocket, the sun hat... I'm sure the book will keep me busy for a while.

Whelp, it looks like the 7 random things meme is making the rounds again, and Nancy tagged me this time. In fairness, Marisa tagged me a few months ago with the 6 weird things meme, but since I couldn't think of anything weird or eccentric about me (ahem), I'll let this one count for both.

Seven Random Things About Me

1. My childhood names were Cookie and Lili. My niece now calls me Tia Cookie.

2. When I walk into stores like Banana Republic or J. Crew, I have to touch everything I'm interested in, and sometimes I pick things up and smell them. Silk and leather smell the best to me.

3. I've had the same pair of Rollerblades for 12 years, although I've switched out the wheels once. I still use them, but have lately been considering an upgrade.

4. I hate bathrooms on airplanes and refuse to go unless an accident is imminent.

5. I love horror movies, but am having a hard time watching them alone the older I get. I'm borrowing my friend's husband to see 28 Weeks Later tonight, because all of my other friends are too chicken to see it.

6. I love nothing better than to organize someone else's mess, but hate cleaning my own desk/office/apartment.

7. I've only had two "real" vacations in my adult life, which I call those trips that had nothing to do with visiting friends or family: Grand Cayman and Paris. I'm about to take my third in June...Cancun! Yay! With my friend Jennifer and her lovely family, who agreed to let me tag along on their annual vacation. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

I'll tag Jennifer and La Rebelde. If you want to play along, consider yourself tagged!

Possibly the most beautiful thing you will ever see on this blog.

2007-05-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Two skeins of Tilli Tomas's Pure and Simple, and a third of Disco Lights. It's the Sahara kit from kpixie.This was the bundle of self-indulgent yumminess that was waiting inside that priority mail package the other day. I didn't mean to leave you guys hanging for so long! I wanted to post about this right away, but the grading of student papers is totally cramping my style right now.

I'm not usually this extravagant, but this is a special package. I was emailing with Ashley a while ago about feeling blue due to some personal stuff that's been going on, and offhandedly mentioned that a trip to the LYS might improve my mood. Ashley, being the amazingly sweet, generous person that she is, sent me yarn therapy, in the form of a kpixie gift certificate.

I should say that Ashley is the only knitblogger I know in person, and that's because we met in graduate school. We were friendly, but I feel like I've really gotten to know her since she got her job as a real professor (yay!) and moved away (boo!)...and we began to read each other's blogs.

We commiserate about Texas, and Willie Nelson, and Nature's Most Perfect Food. I'm glad that I'm able to keep up not only with her creative genius, but also with updates on her adorable nephew, and of course, Bailey (do I even have to post a link? Girl has the best banner ever). Your thoughtfulness humbles me, Ashley. Thank you so much! I'm lucky to have found such a good friend in you.

Needless to say, when I got the kpixie email., I was completely floored and literally moved to tears. After I pulled myself together, I went yarn shopping! I decided to go all out and use Ashley's gift towards this kit, which was on sale for the short sleeve Sahara, in this hibiscus color and another pale yellow color.

Clearly, pure silk is the best kind of mood enhancer. This is how beautiful it is: I cast on provisionally and knit the first row instead of purled, which is how the instructions tell you to start. I'd gotten all the way to the armhole shaping (37 rows), realized my mistake, and happily frogged back without a second thought. Would my mistake have mattered? Probably not. Could I have continued? Sure. But I got to knit that section again. With that yarn.

In fact, this yarn is so magical that I fully expect that it will make me look exactly like that otherworldly, glowy-eyed nymph in the ad.

Knitting ADD.

2007-05-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I've got what you might call a severe case of knitterly ADD lately. Could it be because the semester's over! (Woo hoo!) Could it be because I unofficially stopped teaching two weeks ago because I smartly built in student presentations on the syllabus? (Can I get a whut whut?)

Well, the celebrating's a bit premature, because, alas there are still papers to grade. But behold the fruits of my work avoidance:

This is the Roundabout Leaf Tank (I think that's what the name is) from Knitting Nature, in Berroco Denim Silk (such a misnomer, there's so little silk in there and so much synthetic fiber). I started this a while ago, and have been knitting a little on it here and there.

Pasha! It's a penguin! Look, look! The magic of short rows. So cool.

Sweet Mary Jane, which I started a very, very long time ago (mmm, maybe around Christmas?). At first the lace pattern was giving me some grief, but ever since I switched from jump rings to regular Susan Bates stitch markers, it's been easy going. I've made quite a bit of progress lately! Which you can't really tell from the little bit of progress I had before, but trust me on this one.
The Lullaby baby blanket for my niece-to-be. I finally chose...you got it, Caron's Simply Soft in this pretty mint green. Searched though I might, there is no Cotton-Ease to be had in the Austin area Michael's or Hobby Lobbys. S'ok, though, because I'm really happy with this color, which seems to have a pearly luminescence. Not bad for acrylic, eh?

Today, though, I got what I think will be my cure for the knitting ADD. The yarny equivalent of Ritalin, if you will.

The big reveal for next time!

7.5 minutes.

2007-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

I love how knitting blogs sometimes find their way into news stories about the upsurge in blogging. Nancy (of Beekeeper Granddaughter's fame) recently was quoted in her local newspaper about her take on the whole matter. And guess what? I piggybacked on her 15 minutes of fame! The reporter used one of my comments on Nancy's post about the White Sox to demonstrate the kind of lively dialogue that goes on, I suppose. So maybe that would really be only, like, 3.25 minutes of fame for me, huh? Paris Hilton better watch her back.

Now that the semester's winding down to a close, I've finally had a chance to break out my sewing machine, which has been collecting dust in a corner. Occasionally, I'd give it longing looks as I typed away at a conference paper (three conferences this semester! total madness!). Since I'd already cut out the pieces for this dress, I decided to spend the better portion of last weekend sewing it together:

Reading Erin's posts about the Duro dress on Dress a Day was like experiencing subliminal persuasion. (This may possibly be the first post that got that bandwagon going.) Every time I'd read one, I'd go, ooh, pretty dress. Oooh, pretty dress. Must make that dress. Must make that dress now.

Like the good little follower that I am, I picked up the McCall's version next time Joann's was having a sale. I thought it might be nice in cotton, but because I don't listen to my instincts and instead read the pattern envelope, I bought some rayon challis on clearance for the body, as well as the silky blue fabric.

If I were to make this again, it would definitely be in cotton. There's a whole lotta fabric in this dress, and the rayon definitely adds some weight. (In fact, if I had turned sideways in these shots, I'd bear a striking resemblance to Lady Bracknell!)

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it turned out; I think this is probably my most involved project yet, although it wasn't technically that difficult. Just a whole bunch of steps you have to get through, what with all the pieces (the sash ties in the back, but it's not all one piece...it's actually five).

I did have a crisis moment when I attached the bottom band and tried it on. It was waaay too long, and almost fell around my ankles! It was one a.m., but I was determined to not wake up in the morning with this project still cluttering my kitchen table.

I ripped out the bottom band (which I'd spent two painstaking hours blindstitching by hand), cut it in half, and then just machine sewed it back on. The stitching is sloppy, but you can't see it unless you're up close (and if you're that close, what the heck are you doing hanging around down there anyway???).

So, guess what I saw in the dumpster outside my house this morning?

Weird, huh? Although it does make me sad to see abandoned afghans, I do stop short of picking them out of the garbage. But even more than that, I just want to know how the heck it got there! And why is it draped over the top instead of being stuffed in? Is this some drive-by fiber art installation?

New socks.

2007-04-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

While a lot of procrastinating goes on at Chez Yo La Tejo, some things do manage to get done.

Pattern: Madder Rib Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (I forget the exact name of the colorway, but it was something like China Blue, or China Stripes)
Needles: Size 1

Yay! Socks for me! After knitting three pairs of socks for other people, I finally decided to put some on the needles for myself. Selfishly, I've decided not to join Sockapalooza this year, simply because I want to knit stuff for me (and the occasional baby blanket for a new niece). Besides, my confidence in knitting something to fit a stranger who can't try on as I go took a hit last year; my sockpal never posted a modeled shot, leading me to believe that she probably couldn't get them on over her heel, but was too nice to say so.

As I've posted before, this is the yarn I originally started Jaywalkers with. I hated the pooling, ripped the sock, and then settled on a simple rib pattern, which shows the colors to much better advantage.

I knit the socks exactly to the pattern, and am not entirely pleased with the extremely pointy toe (I think Nancy Bush calls this the Star Toe). You need to stop knitting the ribbing about three inches below where you want the sock to end, which means that on my small foot, the ribbing ends about halfway up the instep. Also, the square heel doesn't lie flat, really, and kind of pulls down the heel (you can see this in the picture if you look closely).

Who cares? Ill fitting or not, I love them to pieces. Sadly, they will have to get tucked away for next winter, since it's flip flop weather here already. Don't hate! :-)

I leave you with a clip from Angel that makes me giggle every time I watch it (I think I'm only on my fifteenth view). I switched to Angel after my ~~crack dealer~~ friend with every Buffy season on DVD couldn't find the fourth season to loan me. In desperation, I told her I'd take the first season of Angel. I don't like it as much, but find myself developing a huge crush on the brooding, tortured vampire. (Brooding? Tortured? What's not to love?) Which are the qualities that make this video such a hoot.

Momma's got a brand new bag.

2007-04-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Meg asked me to post a picture of the sweet little purse I got at Lord & Taylor in Boston. Here's my beloved new Le Sportsac. (Apologies for the crappy cell phone pics.)

My ex-roomie Jennifer will attest to the fact that I adore bags with lots and LOTS of pockets. The more the better, and this one has two on the front, one on the back, and two main compartments. AND. It comes with a cosmetic pouch. Bonus! What could be better? Turns out, it's the perfect size for a sock knitting bag:

This is my Madder Rib sock (from Knitting Vintage Socks) in progress...actually, it's the second sock in the pair. Almost done! The yarn is the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I was knitting my fugly Jaywalkers with. Ugh. Can you believe I got all the way to the toe on the first Jaywalker, and ripped it out? I had it on my foot, and my antipathy toward it--toward the striping, toward the blotchy pooling--was just so visceral that I clawed it off and immediately frogged it.

But now. Sigh. This is so much better. It's clear this yarn was meant for a sock with fewer stitches (60 as opposed to 75, or whatever the Jaywalker calls for). The pooling is now pretty and regular. So happy with it!

For today's post, I thought I'd throw in some random Latino-themed content, because after all, this is a Latina knitting blog, y'all:

* Did you all see this adorable Mexican dress pattern on the Craft blog? I've been wanting to make one of these for myself for the longest time!

* Jennifer and I went to Helena Maria Viramontes's book reading here in Austin on Sunday. I can actually start a gallery now of my close encounters with my favorite authors!

She's got a new book out, called Their Dogs Came With Them, which is about East Los Angeles during the 1960s, the process of razing that neighborhood in order to build the freeways, and the people who were displaced and forgotten.

* Have you seen how beautiful Madonna's daughter Lourdes, aka Lola, has become? It makes me irrationally happy to see that she also looks like a straight-up Latina (she's half, of course).

* And here's some Ricky Martin unplugged to make you irrationally happy. His cheese factor may have gone up with his English-language crossover, but when he sings in Spanish, he is nothing but pure, distilled hotness.

Baby blanket bingo.

2007-04-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post with opinions and advice about the baby blanket I've decided to make for my new niece, who'll be arriving in July. The last option, which is called "Lullaby," was the overwhelming favorite, and truth be told, it was my favorite too. It combines lace with garter ridge scallops, and looks like it has the right amount of heft.

And it's in worsted weight for a faster knit, so how can you go wrong? Ashley suggested Valley Yarns Longmeadow (from WEBS), so that's a contender. I'm also looking at another time-tested cotton/acrylic blend...Cotton-Ease, of course. I don't know that I've actually seen it in the stores since Lion Brand brought it back out of retirement, but I've been planning a trip to JoAnn's or Michael's to check out yarns for this blanket, so maybe I'll see it then.

While in Boston last week for a conference, I was able to sneak in a yarn store visit. Hooray! The conference was at the Marriott Copley Place, so the first thing I did when I checked into my hotel was to fire up the laptop and google for yarn stores. I found three that looked pretty close, but Newbury Yarns, at 164 Newbury Street, turned out to be a felicitous stone's throw from the Marriott. I checked into the conference, walked over to Lord and Taylor and scored the cutest Le Sportsac purse on sale to hold all my conference paraphernelia, and then wandered over to the LYS.

When I walked in, a mother and daughter were chatting with the salesperson, so I contented myself with stroking the Malabrigo. When they left, I struck up a lovely conversation with the salesperson, whose name is Meg, and totally geeked out on the sock she was making from Cherry Tree Hill yarn. I mentioned that I was making a Jaywalker with Lorna's Laces and hated the pooling; she mentioned other Jaywalkers she'd made, so I knew she was part of the tribe. Y'all know. I asked her if she read blogs, and she said she did, and she asked me if I had one, and you can imagine the rest.

I was thinking of buying some sock yarn, but surprisingly their selection had been pretty well picked over (Meg surmised that the sock she was knitting inspired people to buy out the sock yarn section--good sales strategy!). So I bought some sweet cherry-colored Malabrigo (it's actually called Geranium) and happily trooped back to the conference hotel and checked out a panel on vampires (um, it was a pop culture conference, natch.)

Well, when I got back to the hotel, I surfed over to Meg's blog, Nepenthe's Misadventures, and discovered that she's the designer of the Shimmer socks in last month's MagKnits! So cool! I decided that I would knit her Bramble scarf pattern with the Malabrigo I bought, so that it could be a true memento of my Boston trip.

I also finally finished the Monica top for my 5 year old niece:

Pattern: Monica, from Spring 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (stash leftovers)
Needle size: 8

This was a super easy, super fast knit. I knit it in a worsted weight, because that's what I had, so I followed the directions for the smallest size and got the medium size's measurements. I thought I would be clever and make the straps adjustable by sewing buttons on them and making buttonholes. Now I'm not convinced that the straps will hold up because, let's face it, a top knit in worsted weight is a pretty heavy top. Elizabeth just made the same top (in almost the same colors, too!) but she knit long cords for spaghetti straps, so that they can just be tied. I like this idea better.

Also, my garter ridges on the hems are thicker because the pattern instructions confused me. If it tells you to start knitting stockinette on the wrong side, does that mean you knit a purl row? Apparently so. I knit a knit row. Oh, well.

Here's another FO:

It may seem like I'm knocking 'em out, but this was a really fast knit--it's the Trendsetter Swing yarn I bought in Memphis for my friend V., who picked it out. It's just a garter stitch scarf done the long way, and by holding together the Swing with some Lana Grossa Baby Kid Extra. Together, they made the softest scarf ever, and with the green garter rows, it reminded me of spring flowers on a vine.

It cheered me up over the Easter weekend, which was full of nasty rain and sleet here in Austin. But, warmer weather has come back, and I hope it's here to stay!

New kid on the block.

2007-04-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a little secret I've been keeping from you all...I'm going to be an auntie! Again! If you've been reading for a while you're well aware of the fact that I have a lovely about-to-be-5-year-old niece, Isabel. Well, she is about to become a sister! And is very excited and proud of that fact, too. If you ask me, she's the perfect age to be a big sister; she's ready to give up her throne as the baby in the family, and hopefully will be less likely to be jealous.

I don't think I gave up my baby throne so easily when my sister came along. My mother likes to remind me that I was still very much attached to my bottle at the old age of three. I distinctly remember her showing me my bottle, telling me that I was going to have to stop drinking from it because there would be a new baby soon, and placing it on a very high shelf in the kitchen. I remember watching her put it there, and scheming in my little mind about how I was going to climb up there to get it back. Thankfully, that little feat was beyond me, since I probably would have pulled down half the glassware in my tumble from those great heights.

Anyway, my baby sister's own new baby is coming in July, and we know she's going to be a girl. Hurray for girls! I've decided that I want to knit her a blankie, inspired in part by all of Alison's blankie knitting and the way in which her boys love theirs to pieces.

I don't have Sarah Dallas's book, which is what she's using for her stitch patterns, but I do have a lovely Leisure Arts Best Baby Blankets (or some such title), and have narrowed down my choices to the following (apologies for the dim lighting):

I like this one for the openwork hearts.
These I like for thier laciness (not laziness...that would be me.)

I like the following two for their laciness, too, but also because of their weightiness. There's something about a heavier blanket that's comforting, don't you think?

What do you guys think? Any opinions? Preferences?

I also need to decide on the yarn, and I'm pretty sure I want to go with acrylic or cotton for washability. Lolly just had a discussion of the fact that not all acrylics are created equal, Caron Simply Soft being one of the nicer ones, and Laura recently decided that Red Heart Soft Yarn was the Two Buck Chuck of acrylic yarns. I happen to like Caron Simply Soft a lot, and it comes in great colors, but I'm not sure how it'll wear over time. Does anyone have any other recommendations? I might even spring for Knitpicks Shine if people think it would make a good baby blanket.

In other niece news, Monica's still not seamed, and the big birthday is coming up! I also have to go to a conference on pop culture this week in Boston, where I'll be presenting a paper on...blogging! Sadly, I wish it were on knitbloggers but it's not; I'm talking about the way culture is linked to gender performance online by Chicano/a bloggers. It's been fun to write, and has also made me acutely aware of how I perform certain aspects of my own identity on my blog.

Fun times, huh?

So many decisions.

2007-03-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Corn, or flour? Beef, or chicken?

Mexico has a new holiday. Go out and celebrate!

Something's in the water.

2007-03-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Does anyone see any similarities between this craze and this one? Just sayin.

Sometimes I feel/I've got to ___ away.

2007-03-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

I came home from the gym, with every intention of taking a shower and making myself dinner. This quiz stopped me in my tracks.

Yes, I am a dork. But the quiz is fun, and it's actually got the answers too, once you're done.

Monica progress.

2007-03-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Spring has made it to Austin; I went rollerblading yesterday at the Veloway and got to see quite a few wildflowers. There was a crop of bluebonnets right where the path begins, but since I'd left my purse and cell phone in the car, I couldn't take any pictures. Bluebonnets, which are the state flower, grow like crazy along the highway medians, but for me it's rare to see them close up.

It was a nice overcast day, too--much better, in my opinion, than the sun beating down on you as you're huffing and puffing up a hill! Today, it's actually raining. I like rainy days, as long as they're not cold. Right now, it's perfect.

Here's a shot of color to liven up this gray day:
Monica is almost done! Just the seaming, and it'll be ready to go. My niece's birthday is coming up in April, and I don't think I've knit anything bigger than a hat for her in a while. It was a good stash-busting opportunity; I had some left-over Cotton-Ease (pre-discontinuation), and it was just enough to eke out this top.

The gauge is different from the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece the pattern calls for, so in a rare moment of attacking the maths head-on, I converted the gauge and cast on 53 (which is the smallest set of stitches in the pattern, but which will give me a medium sized top).

I also knit the straps in one long piece and made buttonholes, so that she can adjust them as the top stretches out. Experience (sad, sad experience) has taught me that cotton tops will always stretch out; I've had to reknit the straps for almost all the cotton tops I've made. I don't think this top was meant to hang around the belly button, so I'm hoping that this will be a good solution.

Here are the buttons I found at Joann's this weekend. The blue matches perfectly!

A Very Merry Unbirthday Sweater.

2007-03-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I've got that particular Alice in Wonderland ditty running through my head (courtesy of the Disney mind meld), I present to you the Phyllo Yoked Pullover! I'd been calling it my birthday sweater, because Knitting Nature was a gift from my B., and the yarn was bought with birthday cash from Mom and Dad. But since my birthday was, oh, well over half a year ago, the pullover has now become my unbirthday sweater.

Specs:

Pattern: Phyllo Yoked Pullover from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature
Yarn: 7 balls of Rowan Calmer in Peacock
Needles: Size 7
Modifications: shortened the sleeves

Notes: Part of the reason this sweater took so long was because knitting stockinette is so. BORING. It is utter Dullsville, which actually turned out to be the place that I needed to be right before my exams last month. The reason I abandoned it in the first place became the reason I picked it up again in January. Nothing like mindless knitting to counteract test anxiety.

This sweater is knit flat in pieces up to the part where you join for the yoke, and if I'd had half a brain, I would have knit the thing in the round or knit both the front and the back at the same time on a long circular.

I didn't run out of yarn, as I'd feared. I'd gotten to the part where both sleeves and the front and back pieces were knit, and I only had two balls left. Since the front and back ate up so much yarn, I panicked and didn't knit the sleeves as long as the pattern directed; I just stopped right after the last increases. I think this turned out to be a good thing for my short arms, but the sleeves sometimes crawl upwards and I find myself tugging them down.

But other than that, I love the finished product. The simple lace pattern was a delight to knit. The sweater is more snug than the model's is in the book; I knit the XS size because I only had 7 balls of yarn. I think it looks OK in its form-fittingness. Honestly, I thought the Calmer would grow after a soak, but this yarn has got some serious memory.

Oh, and it's also the most delicious thing against your skin.

I'm already cranking out Monica for my niece's birthday next month; progress pics for next time!

Spring break!

2007-03-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Cristina and I took a little road trip to Memphis last weekend to visit our friends Vero and Mike. Vero has been teaching at a small liberal arts college up there, and since spring break was coming up and we've been talking a lot of smack about visiting her, we finally decided to put our mileage where our mouth is.

Memphis is about a 10 hour drive from Austin, so it was eminently doable, with Cristina driving from Austin to Texarkana, and me all the way through Arkansas. You would think that Arkansas would be the tougher drive, but anyone who's driven in Texas knows that it takes a loooong time to get out of this state.

We only stayed two days, but we had such a great time! Some of the highlights were:

Graceland
The National Civil Rights Museum
Drinks in the Peabody Hotel lobby
Dinner at the Germantown Commissary
Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Corner
Breakfast at Brother Juniper's
The Memphis Zoo
Sun Studio tour

You'll notice that most of the highlights had to do with drinking or eating. I'm sure I gained about ten pounds and will spend the next two weeks working it off. But it was definitely worth it.

There are loads of pictures on my Flickr page, if anyone is interested, but I'll share a couple of pics here from the Yarn Studio:

My friends were super good sports for indulging my little yarn fetish, and Vero already knew about this place because she'd passed it before on her way home. The Yarn Studio is a cute little store, with a decent stock and a nice salesperson. I snagged some Jawoll Cotton Superwash sock yarn on sale, and we picked out a ball of Trendsetter Swing for a funky scarf for Vero.

Here's Cristina and Mike admiring some Colinette yarn. Cristina was talking to her brother on the phone, and her conversation went something like this:

Hi, I'm in Memphis, at a yarn store. Yes, a yarn store. Olga wanted to come. Well, I don't know, I guess she likes to find yarn stores in the places she visits.

After she hung up, Mike asked if her brother's end of the conversation went like this: You're at a yarn store? Why? Why would she do that?

I forget sometimes that our yarn hoarding habits can seem a bit strange to people.

Ah, well. I'm milking my last couple of days off before I have to get back to work. But I have good news! The Phyllo Yoke Pullover is done! And yes, happily, I did not run out of yarn and even had a goodly amount left over (maybe about 1/4 skein). Pictures to come in the next post.

Holding my breath.

2007-03-06T18:07:00.000-08:00

You would think that, now that my prelim exams are over, I'd have nothing to do but knit and blog, wouldn't you? Ha! I thought so myself, until the week following the exams, when I had a graduate student journal to edit, a fellowship deadline to meet, an MLA panel to apply for, and general teaching-related deadlines.

But I gotta say, I'll take a post-exam day over a pre-exam day, any day. Thank you to everyone who left comments wishing me well and congratulations. I think it's finally sinking in that I'm a Ph.D. candidate, finally.

But my knitting? I wish I could say the prospects were as good. Witness:

The Phyllo Yoke Pullover from Knitting Nature is hitting the home stretch. And guess what? I have a mere two balls left of Calmer to finish this baby with. Because I bought the yarn on Ebay, the color (Peacock) is discontinued, of course. I'm knitting this and holding my breath; if it doesn't work out, I saw that Fluffa! knit Cece out of six and half balls of Calmer, so I have at least one alternative if I have to frog.

Hoo, boy. Yes, I may be the last person in the blogosphere to knit the ubiquitous Jaywalker. I cast on with the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn I got last year at Purl Soho, and I love the colorway (I think they call it china stripes, just to avoid getting sued for calling it Wedgewood. But it is definitely Wedgewood blue).

But ew. Witness the unsightly blotchiness. It's worse than a fourteen-year-old's complexion. I must confess, I'm not loving this sock. Maybe a ribbed pattern would conceal the pooling better?

Ah, well. At least I have the Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It may look like something that the cat threw up, but at least it's coming out the way it should.

After the fate of the Phyllo Pullover has been decided, I need to boogie on my niece's birthday present! I'd had a design in mind ever since I bought a few balls of Katia Sonrisa--basically I wanted a child-sized Picovoli, with lace on the lower half and no waist shaping. And then, yesterday, I saw this in the new MagKnits! It's close...not exactly what I'd pictured, but I think I could easily modify the neckline to make it a little wider. And it's knit from the bottom up; I think I'd rather knit it top-down.

Has anyone knit a kid-sized Picovoli? Any advice?

ABD.

2007-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

Um, yeah. Really. That's me, as of yesterday!

A collection of gifts, supportive and celebratory. The liquor and Trader Joe's chocolate covered peanuts are from my sister's care package. She's been through law school, so she knows what will best soothe a stressed out student! The tiara, from my friend Virginia, who crowned me as soon as I stepped off the elevator, post-exam. The bag from East Side Cafe from Brenda, with an intoxicating lavender soap and a candle. And the flowers from my sweet Cristina; lilies are my favorite!

What I can't show you here are the phone calls, text messages, and home-cooked food from people I love, without whom I couldn't have gotten through this. Thank you!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to knit and watch Buffy on DVD all afternoon.

Distracted.

2007-02-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

Which I'm sure is a result of an impending conference and my exams the week after that. But all of a sudden, I want to knit everything in sight.

Which also means my yarn diet has gone out the window. It's usually this way with diets for me, especially shopping ones. I'll be good for a while, sometimes a month, sometimes several, and then I'll make one purchase. And then...whee! Get ready for a fast ride down a slippery slope.

I didn't blog about it, but like everyone else, I vowed this year to knit through my stash. I know what I have, and I have projects assigned to at least several batches of yarn. But then I made an innocent little trip to my LYS, because I was going to make an exception to buy yarn for Pasha.

Ever since seeing Ashley's, I've wanted a knitted penguin in my life. And the black and white yarn? Also perfect for the sushi roll toilet paper cover! Cheesey? Kitschy? Yes and yes. But recently I bought what feels like a pallet's worth of Kirkland TP at Costco, and they are all individually wrapped. I feel like this calls for a TP cozy, don't you?

I then saw some Berroco Denim Silk yarn on sale, and I had just been leafing through my copy of Knitting Nature, and knew that this was the yarn used in the Roundabout Leaf Tank. It was on sale! And it's in a color that will look good on me. Have I mentioned that it was on sale?
That was all the damage I did that day, but I ran back two days ago because I missed a friend's birthday and decided to knit the Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The book claims that this is a four hour project. Like many of the other projects in this book...doubtful. It's a simple pattern, yes, but with the slipperiness of the Kidsilk Haze and the potential for dropped stitches, it's been slow going for me. And, I was screwing up the last knit together/yarnover combo, so that I was losing stitches but not knowing why. I frogged it twice before I finally figured it out.

I have also been coveting Kodachrome's beret (and a number of others), so I picked up some Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk to make the beret from Greetings from the Knit Cafe.

Do you see a pattern here? Monkey see, monkey want!

I also got suckered into digital cable the other day; I have cable internet, but originally wanted to save money when I moved into my new place, so I skipped the cable TV. Yet when the Time Warner cable salesman came and knocked on my door recently, he may as well have prefaced his pitch by announcing confidently, resistance is futile. I get digital cable for 30 days for free, and then for half off for two months after. Then I can downgrade to basic.

It's pretty ridiculous, me having digital cable, because I really only watch a few shows on network TV, and then sometimes Bravo, AMC, A&E, stuff like that. I honestly don't know what to do with all these channels. And the music? Just discovered it this morning. You know what, though? Don't care. Don't want it.

The one thing I was excited about was....Knitty Gritty! Yay! The other cable provider I had before didn't carry DIY, so I sat myself down as soon as I found the show, heart aflutter in anticipation.

Yay! Marnie MacLean, one of my favorite bloggers, was demonstrating her Hooray for Me! gloves. I love Marnie--she was one of the first bloggers I read when discovering the whole knitblogger world, and she was the first blogger I didn't know personally to respond to a comment. I was in shock when I got her email, but then was happy to tell her how much I loved her, and how generous to put all those beautiful patterns for free on her website.

Anyway, while watching the show, I had that moment where I was like, oh my God, Marnie's a real person. The universe rent in two for a brief second, and then I settled into listening to her voice and thinking that she sounded just like I expected her to.

Vickie Howell, on the other hand...hmmm. She's much more low-key than I expected. She's an Austinite, so I actually have seen her running around the LYS here, kids in tow, hair askew. Obviously, she's totally polished on the show, and so pretty to boot, but I guess I expected her to have a more energetic on-air persona.

Anyway, I've seen a couple more Knitty Gritty episodes since then, and I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed. With the exception of that first episode, where Marnie demonstrated double knitting, the other two have been about pillows. Snooze. Granted, the first one demonstrated applique, and in the second, the guest demonstrated bleaching stripes into the knitting to get a checkerboard design. But still.

One final note on the whole new cable thing--I called Time Warner because I couldn't figure out how, or I couldn't remember, how to record on my VCR from the cable box. I got a nice young man in technical support who helped me fix the way the cable box defaulted to channel one (the reason I didn't record 24 last Monday, but instead a whole hour of the Time Warner sales pitch).

Just to confirm, I asked him, so I set my VCR to channel 3, and then leave the cable box on the channel I want. Pause. Oh, no offense, he says, but I didn't realize you said VCR. I thought you said DVR.

Mmm, no. I have a VCR.

Oh, I'm sorry. I've never hooked up a VCR to to cable, myself.

You're making me feel old, I wailed.

Sorry. I'm into the technology.

So this is how it happens, folks. One day, you wake up, and when you're not even aware of it, and when you may even think you're advancing by hooking up digital cable, you instead turn into a technology dinosaur.

Silent Poetry Reading.

2007-02-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

I was reminded by Ashley and Nancy that today is the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading. I'm not working at home, so I'm not able to look through my books. Which is a good test of seeing which poems really stick with you, even after months or years of not having read them. So I went looking for this on the internets (meaning typos and missing accent marks, apologies to the poet).

I present to you another Sandra Cisneros poem. What can I say? She's da bomb.

"You Bring Out The Mexican In Me"

You bring out the Mexican in me.
The hunkered thick dark spiral.
The core of a heart howl.
The bitter bile.
The tequila lagrimas on Saturday all
through next weekend Sunday.
You are the one I'd let go the other loves for,
surrender my one-woman house.
Allow you red wine in bed,
even with my vintage linens.
Maybe. Maybe.

For you.

You bring out the Dolores del Rio in me.
The Mexican spitfire in me.
The raw navajas, glint and passion in me.
The raise Cain and dance with the rooster-footed devil in me.
The spangled sequin in me.
The eagle and serpent in me.
The mariachi trumpets of the blood in me.
The Aztec love of war in me.
The fierce obsidian of the tongue in me.
The berrinchuda, bien-cabrona in me.
The Pandora's curiosity in me.
The pre-Columbian death and destruction in me.
The rainforest disaster, nuclear threat in me.
The fear of fascists in me.
Yes, you do. Yes, you do.

You bring out the colonizer in me.
The holocaust of desire in me.
The Mexico City '85 earthquake in me.
The Popocatepetl/Ixtaccihuatl in me.
The tidal wave of recession in me.
The Agustin Lara hopeless romantic in me.
The barbacoa taquitos on Sunday in me.
The cover the mirrors with cloth in me.

Sweet twin. My wicked other,
I am the memory that circles your bed nights,
that tugs you taut as moon tugs ocean.
I claim you all mine,
arrogant as Manifest Destiny.
I want to rattle and rent you in two.
I want to defile you and raise hell.
I want to pull out the kitchen knives,
dull and sharp, and whisk the air with crosses.
Me sacas lo mexicana en mi,
like it or not, honey.

You bring out the Uled-Nayl in me.
The stand-back-white-bitch-in me.
The switchblade in the boot in me.
The Acapulco cliff diver in me.
The Flecha Roja mountain disaster in me.
The dengue fever in me.
The Alarma! murderess in me.
I could kill in the name of you and think
it worth it. Brandish a fork and terrorize rivals,
female and male, who loiter and look at you,
languid in your light. Oh,

I am evil. I am the filth goddess Tlazoltotl.
I am the swallower of sins.
The lust goddess without guilt.
The delicious debauchery. You bring out
the primordial exquisiteness in me.
The nasty obsession in me.
The corporal and venial sin in me.
The original transgression in me.

Red ocher. Yellow ocher. Indigo. Cochineal.
Pinon. Copal. Sweetgrass. Myrrh.
All you saints, blessed and terrible,
Virgen de Guadalupe, diosa Coatlicue,
I invoke you.

Quiero ser tuya. Only yours. Only you.
Quiero amarte.
Atarte. Amarrarte.
Love the way a Mexican woman loves. Let
me show you. Love the only way I know how.

Perchance to dream.

2007-01-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

Now, I'm not usually a stress-case. I'm pretty laid back, even-keeled, I breathe in and out. Those of you non-knitters who read this blog because you know me and love me anyway, wouldn't you agree?

When I am stressed, I usually feel it in my shoulders and neck, to the point where friends who give in to my repeated appeals for a shoulder rub always say, you're so tight!

Point being, I internalize things. I don't have an ulcer yet, but I have been having some weird dreams.

The other night, I dreamed that my computer was falling apart. The screen was unhinging from my laptop, and the casing was falling off. This one was pretty easy to figure out; thanks to a certain someone, and we're not naming names, who suggested that maybe my computer was getting old and likely to break down and ruin my academic career. (OK, he didn't go as far as to talk about the ruin of my career, but isn't that the next step?)

That same night, I also dreamed that I prepared for teaching class, prepared hard, and when I got there, some person who was team teaching was having the students play musical chairs. So we spent the class playing games. Although it may sound like a fun dream, it really was pretty anxious. Hmmm...maybe I'm worried about being too dry and boring in my class?

But here's the coup de grace. Today, after I taught class (which went well), I came home and took a little nap. I dreamed that I was knitting my Phyllo Yoke Pullover, but realized that I had already knit the piece I was working on.

OK, stress dreams about knitting? Hello!!! Knitting is supposed to relieve stress, not cause it! The funny thing about this dream is that I have been working almost exclusively on the back of the pullover, and it's nothing but stockinette. So you can imagine, right, the consternation it would cause if you realized you knitted 16" of stockinette for nothing?

Anyway, blogging's been scarce of late because there hasn't been anything but stockinette to show. Here's the back piece of the pullover, in the Calmer that I scored on Ebay. I'd started this project back in the fall and abandoned it, overwhelmed by the sheer stockinette-yness of it all, but it's become the perfect mindless project that I need right now. The knitting poses here with the tote bag I got at the Jeff Tweedy show last week here in Austin. Look at it twice. Isn't it cool?

B. and I had a great time. The first time I saw Wilco at the Vic in Chicago a couple of years ago, I honestly felt that it was the best show I'd ever been to. Tweedy has a completely engaging way with the audience, which really makes the show a blast. He's also got one of the purest, most wistful voices I can think of. I'm not really a music person, so go here if you want a more nuanced review of the night.

I wish I could say the knitting and work nightmares will be over, but school's going to be somewhat demanding in the next few weeks. I'm editing a student journal, I'll be going to a conference in Albuquerque in mid-February, and I've scheduled my prospectus exam for the week after. If I make it out alive, it'll be a miracle.

Wish me luck!

A Gift.

2007-01-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

Not from me. From designer Celeste Culpepper.

Anyone who wants to knit her Sweet Mary Jane Cardigan pattern, formerly sold through Knitpicks, can call them and get Celeste's email address. And she will send it to you as a PDF, for free.

UPDATE: Celeste has given permission to email her directly. You can write her at ccbc at netidea dot com.

Her one request? Well, in her own words:

If the knitter would like to send a donation to Yarn Harlot's Knitters without Borders, that would be sweet.

Incredible. Celeste, you are the sweet one.

I should say here, too, that the cardigan was named for the designer's mother. The catalogue copy accompanying the pattern said:

In 1984, my mother died of breast cancer. That was two decades ago. The fact that mothers, sisters and daughters are still dying of breast cancer saddens us all. The journey into the hospital system with all of the anxieties, stress and isolation is one filled with grief and hope. I have designed this bed jacket as a tribute to my mother Mary Jane, and to all who are having to make this journey.

Thanks to Sara for also investigating this issue with Knitpicks and commenting here about it. Sara, send me your email address or something! I don't know if it's a Blogger bug, but I have no return address information for you.

Can't we all just get along?

2007-01-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know if y'all have kept up with the Grey's Anatomy fiasco involving Isaiah Washington, but I just pulled this item off the Perez Hilton web site. (If you haven't heard about the situation, Perez's got plenty to say about it, just keep scrolling through his posts.) John Mayer weighs in with an interesting proposal for the show's writers on his blog.

P.S. John Mayer's adorable *and* smart and funny? Adding him to my blogroll!!

Thawing out.

2007-01-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

Austin's back open for business! I went into school today, taught my first class (in which we did mostly intros and I tried to be the scary teacher by snarling out my attendance policy), had lunch, had a meeting, went to a job talk, and declined an invitation to dinner with friends so that I could come home, collapse on the futon and knit.

I know what you're thinking...wuss! But after spending not one but two "snow" days at home, all that activity left me exhausted. By the way, don't let the news reports from Austin fool you, people, if you live in other parts of the country; you would have thought that the apocalypse had come in the form of ice and freezing rain by the way the local weatherpeople trumped up the winter storm warnings.

Terrified to go out lest I end up like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining, I finally ventured outside and discovered that it really wasn't that bad. A friend and I agreed that the weatherpeople whip up fear and anxiety to keep us in thrall to the weather report (normally 4 minutes long, yesterday the lead story and every other story except for sports), and boost their ratings.

Well, what can I say? It worked. And who I am to complain about extra crafting time? You would think that I whipped out a pile of FOs like Meg did. Honestly, I have just one sock to show:

It's the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock, from Knitting Vintage Socks. And as long as I'm coming clean about it, I finished it tonight (in my defense, to get a fitting on the recipient's foot before I knit the toe). Hey, Ashley, recognize the yarn? I won the Lanett Superwash skeins in Ashley's Predict the First Day of Snow contest, um, in 2005. Yes, I am a bit behind on my sock knitting.

I am most excited, however, about my latest repurposing project: my laptop case! Yay! Check it out:

Remember this sweater from my Salvation Army story? It's an Old Navy pullover that someone felted, so the fabric was nice and thick. I've been wanting a laptop sleeve that I can slip into a backpack or a tote, and almost bought a Tumi one at the outlets for $30. Good price for Tumi, but I already had this idea percolating and decided to give it a shot.

I cut off the sleeves and the turtleneck collar, making sure that I had two pieces of fabric as big as I could get them. Whee! What a liberating feeling, to cut into a knitted sweater with no guilt.

I had planned for a much more complicated pouch, but discovered that simplicity was ultimately better. For example, I was going to line it, but realized that it wasn't really necessary, and I liked the reverse stockinette to show on the inside. I was going to machine stitch it, but the fabric was so thick that it wouldn't fit underneath my presser foot, so I picked up my yarn needle. I was going to make a zippered case, but then found that I liked the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater and thought it would make a nice flap. I thought I might add some velcro to keep it closed, but since the flap is long enough, it stays closed.

To stitch the whole thing together, I decided to use the gold Cascade 220 (from the Harry Potter Scarf), referenced my trusty Stitch and Bitch book, and picked a sturdy backstitch to sew the body together.

I measured and trimmed as I went, and didn't leave much of a seam allowance to avoid bulk. I decided to blanket stitch the edges to stabilize them, and initally wasn't sure if I liked the look or if it looked too homey. Ultimately, the look grew on me, so I decided to finish off the flap edges this way too.

I kept screwing this part up! My fingers insisted on inserting the needle from back to front, and then I couldn't figure out why it didn't look like the picture in Stitch and Bitch. It took me a good ten minutes and a visit to the Internets (where the picture looked exactly the same as the book) for it to sink in that the needle gets inserted from front to back. Durr. (Meaning, also, that my picture is wrong.) When I got the hang of it, though, it was fun.

So now I have a nice, snug sweater for my laptop. And it's way cozier than the black nylon Tumi.

Meanwhile, if knits could talk:

Hey! I'm Sweet Mary Jane! I thought you wanted to knit me so bad! What happened? Nobody puts Baby in a corner! Nobody!

Housebound.

2007-01-16T11:08:00.000-08:00

Austin is currently shut down, for all intents and purposes. First day of class at the University of Texas? Forget it. Here is the situation:

This was taken right outside my apartment door, when I looked out the window and realized that it was SNOWING!!! Little piddly flakes that you can't even see in the picture, but snow nonetheless. See the little accumulation on the roof of the house next door? See the anemic little icicles? It's a bona fide arctic blast!

Kidding aside, however, if a city does not know how to cope with winter weather conditions, then it does get dangerous. People drive like damned fools, and already this morning there was a fatal car wreck on I35 near Buda.

Today was supposed to be my first day of teaching Mexican American literature. Too bad! Even though I've got piles of stuff to do, I'm taking the day off. Screw it. I'm going to knit until my shoulder cramps up and drink lots of tea.

And see if I can't be the boss of my knitting--the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan, despite its simple lace pattern, is not turning out to be so sweet. I was using jump rings for stitch markers, but the laceweight yarn kept slipping through the openings, thereby throwing off the pattern repeat.

Yesterday I dashed outside, ahead of the storm, for an emergency stitch marker run to Hobby Lobby. (I wasn't the only one! There were other people there, stocking up on their crafts in anticipation of the winter storm!) Hopefully the regular stitch markers will help, but when you've got 214 stitches on your needles, even a simple lace pattern can turn out to be the plaything of the Devil.

Jack's back.

2007-01-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Season 6 of 24 starts tonight, and the New York Times says it's possibly the best season yet. I am GIDDY with anticipation. Kiefer Sutherland may be a sobriety-challenged Christmas-tree-smashing fool, but my heart belongs to Jack!

Windy City blues.

2007-01-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Apparently I was a little obssessed with blue yarn while I was in Chicago.

I managed to visit two yarn stores; this despite having no wheels and taking all manner of buses and trains to get to where I needed to go. I forget how enormous the city is until I realize that it takes me about an hour and a half to get from my parents' house on the South Side to my friend Marie's house on the Northwest side, one bus and two trains later.

But one of the yarn stores I found was Loopy Yarns...where else but in the South Loop! I stumbled across them on the Internets somewhere, and I wish I could remember where because I told the very nice woman working there that maybe I'd seen them on a blog and she was thrilled to hear it! She excitedly told me that they were hearing rumors that they're one friendliest yarn stores. Well, if you're going to have a rumor circulating about you, it may as well be something like that!

It's a great store, and they were friendly in just the right way, asking if I needed help but not in an aggressive or snobby way. They had a great clearance section, but I gravitated to their wide selection of sock yarn, since I'd read on their website that they'd just gotten in new Fleece Artist yarns. I also found Brown Sheep sock yarn, which I didn't know existed, but I ended up falling in love with this gorgeous Fleece Artist colorway, which is on the right:

It's called Aegean, and the picture doesn't do justice to it--the blues are just so deep and vivid. The skein on the left is a half skein left of Malabrigo that I bought at the Knitche in Downers Grove. My Austin LYS doesn't carry Malabrigo, but I've read so many raves about it on the blogs that I had to bring some home to see what all the fuss is about. As it turned out, a friend was having a birthday in early January, so I reached into my mini-stash and made a simple roll brim hat with the Malabrigo:

Ohhhhh. Yeah, baby. Now I know what all the fuss is about. It's like someone drafted a cloud and spun it into the softest yarn imaginable. And I still have half a skein left! The Knitche was a cute store, with lots of fancy yarn, and you could get a cappucino there, too! In theory, a good idea, but if your staff is busy serving up coffee and trying to help people with their yarn at the same time, it can get a little crazy. I was about to give up and put the Malabrigo back, but the lady in front of me kindly let me purchase my yarn ahead of her, as it seemed she was looking for a million different single skeins, maybe to make a funky afghan.

I got some lovely craft-related Christmas presents, too.

The bag is from my beloved friend Jennifer, who went to a craft fair and found this gorgeous bag at a booth where the vendor had just put the finishing touches on it. It'll make a perfect knitting bag...heck, it'll be perfect for any occasion. And this book! Sew What! Skirts is from my brilliant and beautiful sister-in-law, who lurks here and occasionally comments, and apparently knows me better than I thought. I had just been looking at this book at Borders and putting it on my must-have list the next time I got a coupon in my email. It essentially empowers you to draft your own patterns and it includes instructions on many different variations. It's perfect for the odd length or two of fabric you fell in love with at the store and which is now sitting in your stash, waiting to see the light of day.

Finally, my holidays were wrapped up with some fun news from my sister: apparently, a dress I knitted for my niece THREE years ago finally fits her! Even better, she's wearing it of her own volition. My sister explained to her that Tia Cookie handmade that dress for her. My niece shook her head. Nuh uh. She didn't make it with her hands, she made it with needles!

Hee hee. From the mouths of babes.

P.S. I found that Bloglines had dropped a number of my feeds recently, and Karen also noticed that I fell off her blogroll! So check your feeds to make sure you're not missing any of your favorite reads.

Salvation's in the bag.

2007-01-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

Every few months, I get the urge to look for a couch. I've had my futon ever since I started graduate school, which is too long ago for me to want to remember, for various reasons. I check out Craigslist, get overwhelmed, decide my futon is good enough for now, and forget about it.

Today the itch struck me again, so I popped into the Salvation Army, where they usually have a sizeable assortment of 70s and 80s style furniture (I actually found my comfy little side chair there). I tried out a few couches, but unfortunately enough, the one that was most comfortable and had springs that didn't sink down to the floor was the most ugly couch. Hands down. It looked like it came out of Gramma's attic--pine green velvet and scuffed around the arms.

I considered it for a brief second, trying to decide if I could pull off a shabby chic look, or if it would just be sadly shabby. I shelved the idea and started to look around the rest of the store.

I have an idea for making a laptop case, and thought that a felted sweater or a wool coat could offer up enough material for it. As I looked around, the Mexican woman working in the back, putting out merchandise, kept yelling to the cashier to bring her things, orale, and calling him "calavera." I turned and saw a tall, thin man with a closely shaved head running back to her, and nodded. The name certainly seemed apt.

Finally, I found an Old Navy sweater in a size L that someone had shrunk down to probably an XS. Sad for the owner, but it yielded a nice thick fabric. I picked it up and headed to the register.

Close up, I could see even better why the woman was teasing the cashier. Sunken eyes and pale skin. Calavera rang up the sweater, and commented that it would be too warm to wear it, soon. I shrugged and told him I was going to cut it up anyway. Try and make a purse out of it.

He looked at me and said, You're very attractive. Surprised, I smiled brightly, as though he were praising my penmanship or how well I tied my shoes. Thank you! Wait a minute, he said, turning to reach into the display case behind him. He brought out a leather purse, that at first glance looked like one of those Mexican bags that tourists used to bring back.

Do you like it? I looked at it uncertainly, not knowing what to say. I'll sell it to you for a dollar. Um, I said, digging in my wallet....I just gave you all my cash. Forget it, he said. I'll buy it for you. No, no, I insisted, looking for quarters. No, really. Take it. He turned away abruptly and I grabbed the plastic bag and scurried out of the store.

Once I was safely away, in the Target parking lot, I opened the bag and examined it. It looks like it might have been handmade, and the name Juanita I. Oliver is written in ink on the flap. There is no lining, and the strap is well-worn.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it. It's neat, but it kinda freaks me out.

FO action.

2006-12-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share some pictures of my Christmas finished objects and their recipients. Sorry for the bad camera phone photo quality, but I left my camera in my friend's car and haven't retrieved it yet.

My mom's Broadripple socks, in Cascade Fixation.

My friend Marie's Mistake Rib scarf in Noro Sumile.

My friend Sarah's armwarmers in Noro Kureyon. (I'm especially pleased with the way these turned out. I think some mitts with the leftover yarn is in order.)

Hurray! Holiday knits are DONE. I've swatched for the Sweet Mary Jane cardigan, but I skipped the sachet instructions that come with the pattern...it just didn't make any sense to me to knit a gauge swatch in the round on fiddly size 6 dpns when the cardigan is knit flat. I cast on today and knit two rows.

I'm at the Harold Washington Library in downtown Chicago right now and will leave you with a picture of what I've decided has to be one of my most favorite places in the city: the Winter Garden.

Sigh. I love this town.

I'll be back to regular blogging and blog reading on January 3. Until then, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Secret gift knitting. (Oh, you knew there had to be one.)

2006-12-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving for Chicago tonight, and Bill is coming to pick me up any second to take me to the airport. So I before I go, I wanted to unveil my secret gift knit this holiday season.

A Harry Potter Hogwarts Scarf for the Boy, and some treats for his pup.

Specs:

Yarn: Cascade 220, in colors 2413 (scarlet) and 2415 (gold).

Needle size: 7 circulars

Notes: No modifications....just pure stockinette fun, boys and girls. It turned out to be about 66" long, which, um, someone do the math for me...is about five and a half feet.

He's going to be mad, because we agreed to exchange gifts after we get back from spending the holidays with our respective families. But you see, I couldn't send him off to New York without a wooly scarf. Merry Christmas, baby.

And happy holidays to all of you, my sweet knitblogger friends!

Gnarly knits, redux.

2006-12-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

A variety of things to tell today:

First, thank you all who posted your honest opinions about the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch and Bitch Nation. It seems that the power of suggestion is a strong one, because almost everyone saw the veins instead of vines once I said it. I decided to frog it, because I also didn't like the way the sloppy way the stitches looked.

I then tried knitting a cable down the back, but didn't like that either because it pulled in the fabric too much. Finally, I decided to go with the Hand/Wrist Warmer pattern in a traveling rib stitch from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Sigh...much better. It seems that my Noro yarn always finds a tricky rib pattern that it's happy with: the mistake rib scarf in Noro Sumile, and the Noro Lotus scarf I made last year in this very same traveling rib stitch.

Here are some more pictures of works in progress:

One Broadripple sock for my mom. Soon to be followed by another, I hope. This was the Cascade Fixation Hawaiian colorway, which is bright and fun, except for the not-so-fun pooling at the ankle. It pooled in white! It looks like a big old bleach stain. Out of all the colors....anyway.

A cable hat in Cascade Pastazo. Man, this yarn is hairier than my eyebrows before a wax.

Finally, someone left me a funny comment on the whole Sweet Mary Jane pattern issue...this person had the exact same thought I did about wanting to knit it, went through the same hassle of looking for it on the Knitpicks website, and then found me through a google search. It's funny because I could have written that comment...it's like we're living in parallel universes.

But this person's comment came through as anonymous, so I hope she sees this post and emails me directly (the address is in my sidebar). I don't want to post the designer's email address on the blog in case she doesn't want that information made public.

And, by the way? Blogger beta isn't giving me your return email information anymore when I get your comments via email. Bastards! I want Marty McFly's version of the software time machine. Where's the flux capacitor when you need it?

Holiday meme.

2006-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Stole this from Nancy.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for kids...it's more fun to tear off the paper than take something out of a bag!

2. Real tree or artificial? This year I bought a red tinsel tree, about 8 inches high, at Michael's. Since I don't spend Christmas in my apartment, I don't put out too much effort.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually, right after Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down? After Dia de los Reyes Magos/Three Kings Day, January 6.

5. Do you like eggnog? Oh, yeah. Especially with a little rum in it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My sister and I got the Barbie Dream House. We had to share it, and it was like both our birthdays and Christmas wrapped up in one, but we loved that house so much! It had a working doorbell, a balcony with French doors, and it came with furniture. Swanky!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I love them. In keeping with Austin kitsch, Bill and I were joking that I should make one with Frida Kahlo as Mary and Trotsky as Joseph. He argued that Fidel should be the baby Jesus, but I wanted Diego Rivera. It would be a quasi-homage to this.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad, for sure. He says he doesn't want anything.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. She loves anything Christmas-themed.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Although I've pared my list down this year...too much work, not enough time!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of anything I'd call the worst!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Definitely A Christmas Story. I could watch that movie over and over and it would never get old.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After Thanksgiving. I can't wrap my head around it before then.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No. I'm sentimental, so I'll keep whatever it is, no matter how weird. (See also #11.)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Tamales!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells. Does anyone remember the Sweeney Sisters' rendition?

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I always go home to Chicago.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes, but I have to sing it. "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall...."

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We always had angels on top when we were kids.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Now we open them at midnight. But we used to always have to wait till the morning, so we'd scramble out of bed at 6 am. I remember always being awed by the fact that Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk we left out for him.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Christmas music on an endless loop in the stores. If you're cranky, it doesn't help!

23. What would you like for Christmas? A finished prospectus! Santa, do you think you can manage that one?

Gnarly knits.

2006-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

So, the holiday knitting proceeds apace here at Chez Yo La Tejo. Except that something weird is going on with my Noro knits. It's not the fault of Noro, I don't think...at least not with the armwarmers.

The problem here is with the bud and vine motif running up the back. It's the Hurry Up Armwarmers from Stitch and Bitch Nation, and quite frankly, I think the vines look like bulging veins. My hand looks kind of like the Incredible Hulk's, when he's very, VERY angry.

Here's a detail:

See, when it's up close you can see the bud on the left hand side, and it makes sense and is somewhat pretty. But who's gonna be looking at your hand that close up? Ugh. I think that maybe a simple cable would have been better.

Opinions? Be honest, seriously. It took me a Sunday car ride from the Valley (that's South Texas to you Californians) to finish this one, so it won't be a tragedy if I frog it.

More weird stuff is happening with my Noro Sumile* chenille scarf, which I've been blogging about for a while now:

The right side is the first skein I knit in Mistake Rib, and the left side is the second skein. Right side, deep lush ribs. Left side....totally flattened out.

I actually like the left side better because it looks neater, so I'm thinking I'll just be able to block out the right side to match the left. But. So. Weird. I swear I used the same needles.

* Amanda commented a few posts back that she didn't know Noro made chenille. Sumile is what it's called, and I found it in the clearance bin at my lys, which suggests to me that it's heading toward Discontinued City. [TWO MINUTES LATER] Yarndex says yes, this was discontinued in Spring 2005.

Send the Jamaicans to Iraq.

2006-12-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Iraq Study Group released its report today. On t.v. this morning, every time they mentioned the words "Iraq Study," this is what I thought I heard. Which would make for an interesting exit strategy.

Happiness is...an obsession satisfied.

2006-12-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

I knew there was a good reason for knitblogging, along with getting to show your pretty finished objects. This weekend, I was overwhelmed, impressed, and thrilled by the feedback I got on my Sweet Mary Jane obsession. I thought about adding an update to the original post, but decided, no. This is too good. Let me walk you through it.

First of all, thanks to those of you who indulged me with sympathetic comments of the "that blows" variety. I knew you all would understand better than anyone the disappointment of a discontinued pattern. But before most comments had been posted, I got an email from the vice president of Knitpicks. Yes, you read that correctly. She wrote:

I saw your blog post about your frustration in trying to obtain the Sweet Mary Jane pattern. I am sorry our customer service rep did not give you more information. Knit Picks licensed that pattern for one year, and now the rights have reverted to the designer, Celeste Culpepper. I bet she would be willing to sell you the pattern.

Which explains why a pattern might be discontinued with a particular company, but not totally dead in the water. Anyway, the VP gave me the designer's email address so that I might contact her directly.

Can I tell you how weirded out I was by this, initially? I certainly didn't email the company; I'm guessing that they must do Technorati searches for their name to see what people might be reporting. But the more I thought about it, the more impressed I became.

Because, and I know you will be stunned by this news, I have not yet bought anything from Knitpicks. Not a single skein of sock yarn. And yet this woman wrote directly to me to help with an issue that wouldn't directly profit her company. That, my friends, is customer service. And, additionally, an understanding of the market, which must be increasingly driven by blog buzz.

I also want to send a warm thanks to saleknitter, a commenter who didn't leave her email address, otherwise I would email her directly. She suggested a number of helpful things, including searching for other bloggers who have made the pattern and seeing if they might part with it; looking at the errata pdf and deciding if I really still had to have the pattern; and posting on Ebay's Want It Now (which I didn't know anything about...what a great idea!).

Finally, Jennifer actually has that pattern and has offered a swap, so if we can work something out, I think this is the way I might go.

Really. Who knew that one little whiny post could lead to so much good information? You all are beyond fantastic.

Waaaaaaaah!

2006-12-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

I had one of THOSE nights last night.

You know the kind. When you suddenly get it into your head that you want to knit a particular thing, and so you embark on an Internet quest to find the perfect pattern/yarn. And you can't find it immediately, so you grow more obsessed, and more determined...until it's 2 am and you have to go to bed because you're not getting anywhere and you're about to fall sideways out of your chair.

In my version of this scenario, I decided I had to knit this:

It's the Sweet Mary Jane Cardigan from Knitpicks, and I'd had my eye on it for a while, but never got around to ordering it. You know what's coming next, don't you? It's been discontinued. DISCONTINUED!

Which I didn't find out until this morning. I knew I'd seen it on Knitpicks, and so I exhaustively searched through all the patterns, until the certain knowledge that I'd never find it settled like a stone in my stomach. That made me only more determined to find it, of course.

I couldn't remember the name of the pattern, though, so I started googling "lacy bed jacket," "lace cardigan," etc. Desperate to find anything that resembled it, and getting back, of course, tons of patterns that were nothing like it.

This morning I had the brilliant idea of looking in a print Knitpicks catalogue I had lying about, and sure enough, it was in there! I called the company and hopefully asked if they'd be bringing it back. "No, it's been discontinued." Is there anything, um, well, is there anywhere....? "I'm sorry," the nice lady said, firmly. "It's been discontinued."

Of course, this is now the pattern I want to knit most in the world. Has anyone seen any other pattern that sort of resembles it, that isn't discontinued? I also think that I might be able to figure it out from the picture; the lace repeat looks like the same one from Orangina.

Or I could settle on something else to satisfy my lace knitting itch. I'm thinking about the Gibson Girl (which I do have the pattern for, in the Summer 2004 IK).

For post-holiday knitting, of course.

In stable condition.

2006-11-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

So, the weather? Yesterday, 80+ degrees. Warm and steamy.

Today? Heh. 35 degrees. And apparently steamy inside my apartment:

Not quite frost flowers, but a true indicator that winter has finally arrived here in Austin. Not just namby-pamby-fake-upper-50s-degree winter, but lo, the real thing.

The kind of thing we Texas knitters rejoice over, in fact! Bring out the wool! Here's a sweater I knit before I started this here blog:

It's the Not Just a Sweatshirt (or something like that) from The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits, and it was my first big knitting splurge, because I knit it with Manos del Uruguay in my favorite color.

I love this sweater...it's seen me through two Chicago holiday seasons, and is soft and cozy. The only problem has been the hood. A hood knitted in Manos, plus an I-cord with tassels, is pretty gosh-darned heavy. I finally decided to cut it off and recycle the yarn for something else. A hat? A bag? Who knows...I'm just happy that hunk of yarn ain't choking me anymore.

I cut it off with scissors rather than finding the ends and picking out the seams. The yarn's pretty well felted along the neckline now, so I took a deep breath and performed the surgery. I'm happy to report that the neckline's in stable condition, although I might do some single crochet to stabilize it a bit more along the back.

I just might wear it today. And also,maybe even my sockapaloooza socks...I'll have on the two wool knitted things I own! Yay, winter!

Sunday morning project.

2006-11-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take much to make me happy. I am deliriously happy with the results of this morning's sewing project.

I finally got around to making a pillow out of the needlepoint I brought home from the flea market about two months ago. I had to find the right cozy fabric, and I finally settled on some navy blue bottomweight corduroy--I may have been better off with some home decorator fabric, but I couldn't find a color I liked. The corduroy I picked out has a little stretchiness to it, but I figured that would be OK since I would need to stuff a pillow form into the finished product.

I also tried my hand at sewing in some piping.

All in all, very pleased, except that I completely ignored the advice of my Sewing for Dummies book (aptly named for people like me, as it turns out), which says to cut the fabric to the size of the pillow form. That didn't seem right, so I cut a half inch seam allowance, and now. The pillow is a little baggy. Ah, well, I suppose I can always take out the pillow form and stuff it with loose stuffing.

That in the background there, in the first picture, is a Christmas cross-stitch kit I dug out the other day. (Holla, Nancy!) It would seem that, as my prospectus nears completion, my crafting has taken on an obsessive-compulsive dimension. Hmm...do you suppose there's a connection?

But as long as we're speaking of multiple craft endeavors, here's a questionnaire Nancy put together:

Are you multi-crafty?

Oh, hell yes. With a vengeance. I'm looking for new things to try all the time. Stenciling? Check! Card-making? Check! Sidewalk chalk drawing? Check check!

If so, what crafts do you do?

I knit and have tried crochet. I cross-stitch, and am learning to sew. I have dabbled in jewelry making. I love to draw, and would like to get better.

If not, which would you like to try?

See above. I would also love to learn how to decoupage.

Which do you consider your "main" craft?

Knitting, no question about it. Most of my craft dollars flow into yarn.

Do you ever feel guilty about the time you spend on one craft that you could/should be spending on another?

YES! Especially now as the holidays approach! Which is why every time I got near the sewing machine, I would think, but my mom's Christmas socks haven't made it past the first ankle...

At what point do you think a hobby becomes an obsession?

Um, when you look up and realize it's two in the afternoon and you haven't really showered or had breakfast because you've been working on a project. Wow...I need help.

Do you have any weird "craft" habits?

I don't know if this counts as weird, but I can't leave my LYS without making a complete tour of their inventory. Obsessive, yes. Weird...well, how many of you do this?

Are you ever hesitant to admit your love of "craft"?

Nope.

Is your stash/tools listed in your will?

They probably will be. Or maybe I'll have my next of kin give it all away on the blog, first come, first served.

Your house is on fire (and you've already saved the kids/pets/family photos)...what "craft" item would you save? Remember, you have to be able to carry it out of the burning building.

I guess that would have to be my sewing machine. Most expensive item, easiest to carry.

What about you all?

Before signing off, I present to you proof positive that I am indeed turning into my mother:

I hoarded these Biscoff cookies from my last Delta trip...really, the only good thing about those flights. Delicious cinnamony goodness.

KIP report.

2006-11-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was at the laundromat, commonly known here in Texas as the "washateria," on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I'd been knitting on the leg of a sock for my mom's Christmas present--Broadripples, in Cascade Fixation. Yes, I've done these before, but hey! Different color.

So this guy comes up to me as I'm folding my laundry. Hey, I saw you were knitting. I eye him warily...that's not your typical pick-up line. He thrusts a lavender chenille sweater at me. This is my girlfriend's sweater, and it's missing its tag, and I'm not sure if I should wash it or dry clean it.

I reach out to stroke the chenille. It's a store-bought sweater, and the chenille is lycra-stretchy; my dad gave me something very much like this for Christmas last year. Mine says handwash.

I wrinkle my nose in appraisal. If I told this guy to handwash, would that mean anything to him? Would I want to be the one responsible, anyway, if he destroyed the sweater? Don't wash it, I told him. It'll probably get all pilly.

OK, he said, nodding. Dry clean. I nodded back. Good idea.

Sweet guy, doing laundry for his girlfriend. But isn't it funny that I come off as the fabric-care expert just because I'm knitting? Maybe he knows more about knitters and their yarn obsession tendencies than I give him credit for.

Actual Knitting Content.

2006-11-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

Whelp, things have settled down somewhat here at Chez Yo La Tejo, after a month of frantic writing, scrambling to make deadlines, and running around the entire Eastern half of the country. Not that there still isn't plenty to be done, school-wise, but at least I'll stay put for the few weeks before I leave for the Christmas holidays.

I forgot to blog last time about a new knitter...my friend Jen (the one I was visiting last week)! When she expressed the tiniest bit of interest in the sock I was knitting, that was all I needed to pack her off to Michael's so that we could pick out some yarn and needles. We found some soft Paton's chunky tweed yarn in a nice cream color and some Clover bamboos, and I bought her one of those Learn to Knit in One Day for reference.

We sat down that night, I showed her how to do a longtail caston, and then she was off! I was amazed as she took to it like the proverbial ducky to water. She almost made some mistakes wrapping the yarn or inserting the needle into the stitch, but always, always caught herself and corrected herself before I needed to say anything. Momma's so proud! She even confessed the next day that she'd dreamt about knitting. Don't you think that's a sign? I definitely think she's on her way to becoming as yarn obsessed as the rest of us.

Anyway, here at home there isn't much on the needles right now, but it is the holiday season, after all, so I don't suppose anyone expects a complicated Alice Starmore sweater emerging from the knitting blogs right now. I'm really wanting to try Eunny's new Endpaper Mitts (and with that name, how could I not?). But here's what I've actually got:

Mistake Rib Noro Chenille Scarf

I've talked alot about this yarn already, mostly in terms of what to do with it. I attempted the Opera Scarf , thinking the open lace would look interesting with the chunky chenille. It's a simple pattern, and I knit a few rows of it--it's a simple slip one purlwise, yarnover, knit 2 together. Wrong side and right side. Over and over.

I put it away for a while. Uh, big mistake. Because when I picked it up again, I couldn't remember how I'd been doing the yarnovers. You know what it's like when you look at a word for too long and it doesn't make sense anymore? Something that comes second nature and you never think about it while you're doing it, but if you're forced to pick it apart....it just falls apart.

What kind of a knitter am I? I couldn't figure out this yarnover! I ripped out the whole thing and started the Mistake Rib, which I found in Last Minute Knitted Gifts (it's the child's scarf), but is a pretty common stitch pattern. I like the way this looks, and I've made progress beyond what the picture shows. The funny thing is that the part on the bottom lies pretty flat because I ripped out that yarn so much trying to figure out what I wanted that it's all chewed up and scraggly now. But the fresh yarn produces lush, soft ribs.

And then there's my leftover Longhorn socklet:

Yay! I finally finished one, and it's so cozy that I can't wait to finish the other. The pattern is Alison's, and I think I finally figured out the short-row business. Yay! I even figured out how to purl 3 together through the back loop, although it took a lot of swearing and almost breaking my Brittanys to pull it off. The only downside here, in my opinion, is that if you decide to do a short-row toe, you've got a gajillion live stitches to Kitchener together. I did it this time just to learn the technique, but I think I prefer decreasing at the toe.

And that's about it, folks. But here's a gratuitious picture of a pretty hand-wound skein:

Look, ma! No swift!

Sweet Jesus, hallelujah.

2006-11-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

News Corp. has pulled the plug on the OJ Simpson t.v. special and book, If I Did It.

Rupert Murdoch says that he and senior management agree that this was an ill-considered project. DUH! I heard this morning on The View that editor and publisher Judith Regan trotted out some shoddy excuse about wanting to help abused women with the release of the book and the special. Suuuure, I can see that, if you were possibly thinking about dating OJ Simpson. Anyone? Anyone?

Also, on a minor note, does the title bug anyone else? Shouldn't it be, If I'd Done It? Because the rest of the sentence would have to read, I would have burned the glove, would have driven faster on the freeway, etc. The tenses need to agree.

Crimes against grammar, yep. That's my thing.

Aw, yeah.

2006-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

You are 84% REAL Texan!!

You're way more Texan than average. You're parents were probably from here too. We're glad to have you. You probably go to the border for Christmas shopping and are well versed in BBQ, Mexican Food and .. well thats pretty much it.

How Texan Are You?

Here, There, and Everywhere.

2006-11-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

I thought up the title of the post to describe where I've been for the last, oh, two to three weeks, but as I started to think of everything I've been wanting to post about, I realized that it would pretty much describe the random direction of today's subject matter.

How's that for a long-ass sentence? OK, if you're still with me...

First off, the travel-related content! You may remember I posted about my Detroit trip at the end of October. I was, quite frankly, amused by the variety of responses I got regarding the Motor City. Many people had never heard a single good thing about Detroit. Others ventured nice things about Michigan, as if to mitigate the bad juju (Nancy offered a kind word about Flint, which I only know through Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine). But Kodachrome Knits flew into the fray with a passionate defense of Detroit as a place with lots of culture and things to do.

About my own experience, I should say that I certainly don't think I saw the more ravaged parts of town. I had the privilege of staying close to Wayne State University. While we're not exactly talking Greenwich Village here, nevertheless the neighborhood was charming. Here are more Victorian houses on Trumbull Avenue:

And here's a touch of eccentricity:

I couldn't figure out if this building was a residence, or a business, or both....? But this is what was on the front:

Whatever its purpose, it's full of color and good vibes.

I also loved Detroit for its industrial, Midwestern feel. As I explained to Bill, it just felt very familiar to me, having grown up in Chicago. I immediately, instinctively knew my way around, took notice of the street names (there was a Trumbull Street one block over from where I lived as a kid, and of course there's a Martin Luther King Boulevard), and rejoiced when I saw an elevated train in the downtown area. It's clear, both from the built environment and the attitude that the city exudes, that Detroit is making a valiant effort to come back from its bad reputation.

On our cab ride downtown, the cabbie proudly pointed out the bright theater marquees, the new Comerica Park in the heart of downtown, and restaurants she'd heard were good. Yet while walking around after our fantastic Greek dinner, we were struck by one building, surrounded by glossy office buildings, that looked like it had been shelled. It's this stark contrast that best sums up, for me, this city in transition.

Two weeks later and I was on a plane again, bound for Philadelphia to attend a conference. Unfortunately, I had to fly on the day that a bunch of flights were cancelled due to bad weather and poor visibility. I landed in Cincinnati to discover my flight was cancelled, then gave up my seat on the next flight to Philly in order to score a free ticket.

Ha! Nothing in life is free, my friends. The alternatives were to fly into Philly in the am (not acceptable, since I was attending the conference that day), or to fly into Harrisburg, which is an hour and a half away from Philly. Delta would pay for the cab ride, of course. I decided on the more inconvenient Harrisburg trip, and what do you suppose happened. Aw, take a guess.

Yeah, my luggage was missing. Of course! Is Mercury out of freaking retrograde yet, Karen? Anyway, I made the trip to Philly with a very nice cab driver, during which we talked about life, religion, near-death experiences (not mine), career choices, etc. It was like being in a benign David Lynch movie--surreal, but non-threatening.

Well, I had my conference paper with me, and that was all that mattered. My luggage showed up the next day, I delivered the paper, and then hightailed it out of Philly to visit my good friend Jen in Reston, Virginia. She's the mom of the cute baby boy who got the red sweater I knit a month or two ago. I spent a great weekend with her and her family and our friend Michael, not doing anything but playing board games and hanging out and going to see Running With Scissors.

And I finally got the second Longhorn Rib and Cable sock done! Yay! If it weren't for all the plane time I've been logging lately, I might never have finished these:

Cristina was wearing tights when I finally delivered them, so I didn't make her put these on for a photo shoot, but eventually I'll catch her wearing them and snap a picture. Basic specs are the Rib & Cable sock pattern from Interweave Knits Fall 2005, and the yarn is Hill Country Yarn in the Hook 'em Horns colorway. I ordered this skein at the same time I ordered yarn for my Sockapaloooza pal, and I somehow ended up with a ton of this yarn left over--Cristina's socks were shorter than my sockpal's, and I knit them with slightly bigger needles (2 instead of 1). So, I immediately cast on for some ankle socks for me!

Which brings me to some long overdue thanks to everyone who left valuable advice on avoiding the yarnover holes while turning the heel. I'm now using my little anklets to test the backward yo method in Alison's free sock pattern. I somehow screwed up a little and ended up with too many stitches after I thought I'd incorporated all the yarnovers, so I just decreased on either side of the heel. And I just can't figure out that purl 3 together through the back loop...oh well. That's the beauty of test socks, they don't have to be perfect!

I've read in the blogosphere about people working on the small projects but really wanting to cast on for a sweater for themselves; chalk it up to the holidays, I guess. I've made four hats in the past four weeks--I even made one to keep for myself! Can I just say? Love, thy name is RYC Cashsoft Aran. I've made three beanie-type hats out of this and could just keep knitting with it fo'ever.

I also cobbled together a pattern for this baby hat:

Bobblelicious! It was my first time making 'em, and how fun! It's a basic hat pattern, but I took a wave motif out of my Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns, and set a big ole bobble on the top of each crest. Ta da! I used a skein of Takhi Newport Cotton, which was lovely and thick and glossy.

Speaking of long overdue thanks, I also have to send a big hug and lots of love over to Laura, who sent me a belated birthday present quite a while ago:

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, and Brittany dpns for my next sock project! I'm still trying to decide which pattern to use, but I would love to try something from my new copy of Knitting Vintage Socks. I can't wait to wear these...they'll be a real treat.

And thanks to Kodachrome, who sent me the cutest little prize for guessing the identity of the bust in her office (it was Ernest Hemingway).

She made the kleenex holder, added some charms that say "create" and a notebook to keep track of crafty ideas, made a copy of Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" (because I had just blogged about the Gee's Bend quilts), and wrapped it all in a beautifully embellished envelope.

All in all, I have been a lucky girl over the past month, what with the postman (who still sneaks looks at my chest when he drops off packages) and the UPS man visiting with frequent regularity.

One more thing before I sign off--I went to Target today and they have the most adorable Christmas stuff in their dollar bin. Little felt totes and pails that look handcrafted (and probably were by some poor kid in Malaysia), generous little bags of Ghirardelli coffee, and Mrs. Field's chocolates. Snap em up, folks, because I don't think these will last for long.

The Man in Black Sez...

2006-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

...get out and VOTE! You don't want to mess with Johnny.

KIP report.

2006-10-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

The Texas Book Festival happened this weekend, and although I missed most of it, I did manage to ride my bike down to the state Capitol for the event with Gore Vidal and Maureen Dowd. I vaguely knew about Gore Vidal as the writer of hefty tomes, but Maureen Dowd I adore--I frequently used her op-ed pieces as rhetorical analysis exercises in my Rhetoric and Composition classes.

So I'm sitting there in the Paramount Theater in the half-dark, knitting away on my Mistake Rib scarf in Noro chenille (which used to be the Opera Scarf, but no more, I'll tell you later). The Paramount is one of those beautiful vintage theaters, reminding me so much of the theaters in The Prestige, which I got to see on Friday. The seats, therefore, are somewhat narrow, and the woman next to me, who'd been chatting away with her friend, abruptly peered into my lap and said, Oh, you're knitting! Aren't you too young for that?

I explained that there were lots of young knitters these days, but she looked doubtful. I floated my theory about the post 9/11 drift back to tradition, and she nodded, and then her friend asked me if I'd been to Hill Country Weavers (which is really the only LYS in the city limits and therefore like a church to me) and volunteered that they had a knitting group there called Stitch and Bitch. She said my yarn looked like it came from there. Meaning colorful and not acrylic? Well, the line is getting more fine with the new yarns at Hobby Lobby and Michael's, but it was true, I did buy the Noro there.

I'm not sure why I was amused by her comment about my age, although i guess I'm not surprised that there are still people out there who haven't rediscovered knitting (imagine! ;-) She looked like she was probably in her 50s, which makes me wonder...knitting obviously is expected of the over-60 set, and has clearly taken hold of many young women in their 20s and 30s, but does this woman represent a demographic that either deliberately rejects the knitting (it's for grandmas), or has otherwise been just out of reach of the marketing?

Because to know knitting is to love it, right? Why would you reject it?

Anyway, Gore and Maureen were entertaining--he is a crotchety old man who makes thudnering, unequivocal pronouncements about GWB, and Maureen surprises you at first with her dry, nasal voice, but then wins you over with her wit and humor. One of the most interesting things they talked about was the speculation about who would run in 2008, and of course the question of the day is whether a woman or a black (Maureen's term, but I just heard it today again on The View...what, is "black person" or "African-American" too much of a mouthful?) would have a better chance at winning. She opined that a black man would probably have the edge, because people ultimately seem more concerned about masculinity than race (I'm paraphrasing here), and a woman would have a harder time proving herself there.

Which is interesting, and I could go on about, but I have to shower and get out of here, so let me just say that this is exactly what nauseates me the most about Iraq rhetoric--the "cut and run" arguments, or the "you can't play Monday morning quarterback." You could just choke on the testosterone.

48 Things You Could Care Less About

2006-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

1. FIRST NAME? Olga

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mom. I am Olga Lydia, and she is Olga Maria. She, in turn, was named after a shop in Monterrey called "Olga's Novedades."

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Last Saturday. I connected in Chicago on my way back from Detroit and cried because I couldn't stay.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's a-ight. It's legible.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Roast beef.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think so, except I'd probably spend the first week wondering if I really liked me (I have been told that I am somewhat inscrutable, but I'm actually just shy).

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? No, and I have never been able to keep one. I don't like being alone with my thoughts.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Oh, absolutely.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Banana Nut Crunch. But I eat Special K. :-/

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Not unless they won't come off otherwise.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Vanilla with some kind of chocolate or caramel mixed in. Nuts are sometimes part of the equation.

14. SHOE SIZE? 5 1/2 or 6.

5. RED OR PINK? Cherry red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My incomparable ability to procrastinate!

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My family.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I think most everyone's done this one already.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? My jammies, still. Black lounge pants and a thermal gray long sleeved shirt.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A Quaker Oats Oatmeal to Go bar. It was meh.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The latest Ritmo Latino podcast.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Oh, isn't that obvious? Red.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? My boyfriend's Old Spice.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Laura.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Physically, their smile. Personality-wise, their intelligence and sense of humor.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I definitely like Elizabeth's online personality, and one of these days we will cross the vast divide between Austin and Houston to meet, damnit.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Right now, the Spiced Appletini at Fino.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Huh?

29. EYE COLOR? Boring brown.

30. HAT SIZE? Small/medium.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Mostly, I do, but I just bought myself a new pair of glasses. Like em?

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Burger and fries. Or sushi.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Well, how about a scary movie with a happy ending?...nah, those are boring.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? I'll take summer over a Chicago winter anytime, but not over autumn.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes, please.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Brownie ala mode.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I think Jennifer should respond, because she hasn't posted in forever!

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Don't know...

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Right now, Where are the Voices? and Crystal Gazing in the Amber Fluid, two collections of poetry by Carlos Cortez.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? I've got a laptop, but you can see my Vickie Howell sticker in the above photo. I also have a Maneja Beto sticker on the other side.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I rented Transamerica on DVD. First movie I've really liked in a while.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Rain. My niece's voice.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Both.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Paris.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Raising one eyebrow. I used to practice a lot.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Monterrey, Mexico.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Elizabeth said I'd be most likely to respond (see number 38). So of course, I had to!

I heart Detroit.

2006-10-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's almost been a whole week since I've been in Detroit! Thanks to everyone who left good wishes about the trip (hi, Ashley! No wheels, so we couldn't get to Grand Rapids, sadly.). My friend Cristina was presenting a paper at a labor conference, and I planned to do some research in the Wayne State University library.

We left Detroit last Saturday, right before the World Series was to start, and the air was electric with excitement. Everyone, including the homeless guy who helped us squeeze out of our tight downtown parking spot, was positively giddy. A week later and...ew. Things don't look so good for the Tigers, but I'm sure those fans are hanging in there.

On the way back, while I waited for my connecting flight, I called Bill for company. He asked me how I liked Detroit, and I said, yeah! I liked it a lot. He said, you're the first person I've ever heard say that about Detroit. But it was true! Wwe had Greek food, we got to see the Diego Rivera mural at the Detroit Institute of Art, and Cristina fell in love with Comerica Park. Maybe it was Tiger fever, but we found the city to be hospitable and charming, even.

OK, so the charm probably had a lot to do with the bed and breakfast we stayed in. The Woodbridge Star, owned and operated by Alan Reid and Stephen Tezyk, is a lovely old Victorian house, located a few blocks away from the university.

The house was lovingly restored, but the rooms are a little quirky....there's a Doll Suite, y'all. And a Teddy Bear room.

Cristina and I stayed all the way upstairs in the Deco Suite. It was just lovely, with a tea nook, a copper lined tub, and a bedroom tucked underneath the eaves:

This was right about when my camera batteries pooped out, so I didn't get any more shots. Damn! And no convenience stores in sight...probably our only complaint about Detroit.

But I did get a pic of some fall foliage:

Isn't that beautiful? It was definitely a much needed sight for this autumn starved, STARVED I tell you, midwesterner. And! We saw black squirrels! I scrambled for my camera the first time we saw one, and then when I was too slow to catch that glossy little critter, we saw another two minutes later. And then another. I definitely felt like the out of towner, trying to get a picture of a squirrel.

Did I get any sock knitting done on this trip? I did! I finished one sock! Socktoberfest has come and almost gone, and all I got to show for it is this one lonely sock. But just feast your eyes on the perfect fit that is the Longhorn Rib and Cable:

Cristina was only too happy to model her new sock at our favorite coffee spot, the Dandelion Cafe. But now she's expecting the other one. Well, I guess they do come in pairs...

Before I sign off, I have to tell you about the best flight attendant I had on United. I was sitting there working on my sock, and as she walked by, she asked, are you knitting a sock? Well, my jaw dropped; you sock knitters know that if someone asks you anything, it's more along the lines of, is that some kind of instrument of torture? To which you answer, no, they're double pointed needles. (Which some knitters may agree are instruments of torture, but I happen to like em.)

Anyway, she knew exactly what I was doing, because she's a sock knitter too! She admired my sock, and brought back a preemie hat she was working on to donate to charity. I gave her my card and wrote my blog url on the back, so I hope she stops by. Hi, Barbara! You guys were great! :-)

Blech.

2006-10-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

I know there hasn't been much knitting content around these here parts, lately. Truth is, I've been kind of piddling around with this project and that, not getting much of any of them done.

I started the Phyllo Yoke Pullover from Knitting Nature, but with the holidays coming up, I decided I couldn't afford to knit anything for myself right now.

I messed around with different stitch patterns to knit a scarf out of some soft Noro chenille I got on sale a while ago, and finally settled on the Opera Scarf pattern. It'll be fun to see what the heavier-weight chenille will do to the lacy pattern, but I haven't picked up the project in a while.

I bought some Noro Kureyon at the last LYS sale to make the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch and Bitch Nation, but haven't gotten beyond the cuff.

Don't even ask me about the Trellis stole. Just don't.

Is this what the knitting blahs are? It feels more like the knitting blechs, especially after turning the heel on these socks:

These are the Rib and Cable socks from IK Fall 2005. I like the yarn (Hook Em Horns colorway from Hill Country Yarn), I like the pattern, but for some reason these short row holes seem more egregious to me than they have in other socks I've made in the past. I ripped out the gusset to pick up an extra stitch in that little valley between the dpns, and I'm still not satisfied. Me no likey.

I'll bet that Knitting Answer book probably deals with this issue, and I know I've seen other bloggers whip those holes into submission (but why can't I find those posts now?). What do you guys do? Do you have the fix? Or are you happy to let handknitted socks be handknitted socks, in all their imperfect glory?

Because we're not machines, damn it.

Anyway, I'll be off tomorrow to Detroit for a few days to go poke around in some archives up at Wayne State University. Know what that means? Airplane knitting time! Maybe I'll finally finish these socks.

Knitting is my gateway drug.

2006-10-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

There's been a little sewing around here lately.

Inspired by Kodachrome's neat idea for making a needle case out of two placemats, I went and made a case for my DPNs out of one placemat. (She's written a whole tutorial, if you'd like the expanded version.)

I simply laid out the placemat lengthwise, folded up the bottom end, stitched the sides together, and then stitched in the pockets.

[WARNING, KNITTING NEEDLE SNOBS: ALUMINUM DPN CLOSE-UP. You may want to avert your eyes and/or take the children out of the room.]

This way, there should be enough fabric at the top to fold down so that the needles don't fall out.

When I folded the flap down, I found it easier to roll the ends inward if I flipped the whole thing over so that the back of the case was facing up. So I stitched a ribbon on the top flap so that when it's rolled in, I just tie the ribbon to keep the whole thing together.

I'm quite pleased with the outcome--it was super simple, except for all the thread ends I had to tie off!

I also never got around to showing you the Knitflix swap package I put together for my pal, Becky:

She had Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason on her wishlist, so I got her some British candy and a bag of Tatyos to go with the movie and the Lorna's Laces sock yarn I picked out for her. I'd never tried the Taytos, so I got her the relatively harmless sounding Wuster Sauce flavor, as opposed to the questionable Prawn Cocktail.

I also had this fun zebra upholstery fabric, so I made a little zippered pouch to hold the treats. I found the tutorial on Craftster, and I swear, it took about half an hour. It might have taken less if I hadn't insisted on sewing the zipper on the wrong way THREE times. (Note to self: limit red wine intake while sewing machine is in operation.) Anyway....yay! I would have made another one on the spot, except I didn't have another zipper.

I also had to show you what's on the label of this Yorkie bar:

What's up with that??? Of course, I HAD to buy it, especially to go with such a girly movie. Apparently, it's Britian's "Hungry Man" version of the candy bar. Check out the Wikipedia entry for the naughty joke about the Yorkie (it's the last paragraph). Oh, and I found this while doing "research" for the candy...isn't it cool?

Stealth Asian.

2006-10-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

I cracked up when I saw this because I always get mistaken for Asian. The website actually returned quite a few more Asian actresses/celebrities, but I didn't post them--not because I have anything against looking Asian, but I just don't know who the heck they are. I don't know who these two are, either, but the one on the left resembles me most at 86%

Barbara Mori is the gorgeous actress from La Mujer de mi Hermano, a delightfully cheesy, melodramatic Mexican film released here recently. I love Jennifer Lopez, but I can acknowledge that I don't look anything like her. But Madonna was my fashion icon in high school, so needless to say I was pleased as punch to see her come up.

No wonder this is fun!

Thanks to Bill for the original photograph.

Red sweater days.

2006-10-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

Thought you all might to see this picture:

You might recognize the sweater from an earlier post, but here it is on the intended recipient. Nico was born in August to my friend Jennifer, whom I've known since she and I worked together as editorial assistants in New York. Since then, I've been a bridesmaid in her wedding and seen her and her husband become a family with the addition of Cece and Nico.

Given new mama's busy schedule, these kinds of pictures, where baby actually models the gift knits, are like gold! Thanks, Jennifer!

Socktoberfest comes to Yo La Tejo.

2006-10-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

While every other knitter in the country knits away on warm wooly socks, anticipating frigid temperatures, I am merely awaiting a break in the heat so that I can turn off my air conditioning. Waah, waah, I know what you're thinking, cry me a river, so it's year-round summer where you live, poor thing.

I miss the seasons! Here in Austin, there's only two: summer and Christmas. Having grown up in the northern climes, I don't miss the blasts of freezing air coming off of Lake Michigan, but I do long for the crisp days of September and October. So I joined Socktoberfest, hoping that at least knitting socks will create the illusion of oncoming fall days.

By the way, Chicago peeps, what's going to pass for Oktoberfest in the Loop now that Berghoff's is closed? That was one of the best parts about working downtown; sitting in my office on Dearborn and Adams, listening to German accordions and drunk businesspeople whoop it up in the post office plaza, and going downstairs at lunchtime for some beer and bratwurst.

UPDATE: I got a comment this morning that this post was excerpted on a Berghoff's memorial blog...go check it out for a fun picture of Oktoberfest happening around the Alexander Calder sculpture!

Although I have to say, we had some very tasty beer brats at the Texas Barbecue Festival today. A handful of meat purveyors from throughout central Texas got together to sell their wares at the farmer's market and so we sampled, and sampled, and sampled...that was some good eatin'! Anyway, the brats come from Shiner, which also produces what is commonly considered to be the state beer. As it so happens, Shiner is hosting Bocktoberfest (I know it sounds funny, but because the beer is Shiner Bock they had to get clever with the name). All I gotta say is, thank goodness those German immigrants came to Texas.

Uh, got a little off track there, didn't I? Without further ado, here are my Socktoberfest questionnaire answers:

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started knitting socks on the car trip to Big Bend in March 2005. I'd bought a skein of Lana Grossa Meileinweit Cotton in some pretty sorbet colors, and wanted to teach myself from one of those Leisure Arts books.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? What would you have done differently?

Those Meilenweit socks were my first ones, and I can safely say they were NOT a success. Pretty colors do not ensure a good sock, and neither does a lacy cuff, especially for your first pair. I picked the pattern because I liked the lace, but I didn't check my gauge, and when I finally got to the stockinette part of the foot and realized that the fabric was a bit loose, I was too far along to want to rip it all out. I finished them, but they're really too baggy to wear anywhere but to bed.

The other bad part about that experience was that I was knitting a lace pattern with thin cotton yarn on metal dpns. Can you imagine the nightmare? The headaches? The needles kept slipping off and I vowed never again to knit a pair of socks. Time healed my scars (or at least dulled the pain), so when I began my Cascade Fixation socks, it was like a miracle that the yarn stayed on the needles. I know better now about a good match between yarn and needle, and maybe about gauge, too. I would have knit these on size two or size one birch or bamboo dpns.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

I've knit with the Meilenweit, Cascade Fixation, and Hill Country Yarn. The Meilenweit Cotton is the plaything of the devil, but I love both Fixation and the Hill Country Yarn. I made my Sockapaloooza socks from the latter, and am now knitting with Hill Country Yarn in the University of Texas colors, burnt orange and white. Not my favorite hues, but it's amazing what wool can do for your appreciation of a color.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I've only knit on DPNs, although I keep saying I'd like to learn a different way. I'm comfortable with the dpns, though, and ever since I bought the Brittany birch dpns, I don't imagine I'll be ready to change anytime soon.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I don't know. I've only knit three pairs of socks, and I can't honestly remember how the heels went.

How many pairs have you made?

Three. The baggy cotton ones, the Fixation Broadripples (love those!), and the Sockapalooza Rib and Cables, which I have to confess, I don't think fit my sock pal. I never saw a picture of her modeling them, and now that I've started my second pair of Rib and Cables, I think the gauge was way too tight. I had to go up a needle size for the second pair. Sorry, Sue! You deserve a do-over.

Thanks for coming up with the questionnaire, Lolly! If anything, I've learned that my sock knitting experience is paltry and I have quite a ways to go. I'm planning, in addition to the Longhorn ones, socks with some lovely alpaca Laura gave me and some green superwash I won in Ashley's Guess the First Day of Snow contest last year.

In order to supplement my education (ahem!), I finally went and bought Knitting Vintage Socks. Hooray! There are so many beautiful patterns in there, and I can't wait to explore the intricacies of a French heel versus a German heel.

Did someone say German heel? Pass the Shiner!

The trouble with grudges.

2006-10-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

I was forwarded this email by a friend, and although I don't like to forward on chain emails, I thought you all would appreciate it.

Dear Everyone On My Sundry Mailing Lists,

This is a direct response to the horrible tragedy in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania this past Monday when Charles Roberts gunned down ten young Amish girls, five of whom died and five who are fighting still for their lives. My friend Chris lives in this community and I emailed him Monday afternoon to offer him my... well, to tell him I was thinking about him.

Because it had been reported that the gunman carried out these executions due to a twenty year-old grudge, I told Chris that, to honor those little girls and their community, I am taking a vow from here on out to not hold any more grudges. (For those of you who know me or have read my work, you know that me vowing to give up grudges is akin to a dog voluntarily giving up its bark. This won't be an easy thing for me but it's something I've been needing to do for a long time. I'm just sorry it took something so horrible to get my attention re: the trouble with grudges.)

I got a note back from Chris who told me he passed my message on to one of his Amish neighbors who said, "That is the best response I heard." Honestly, I wasn't angling for a reply, so I was surprised to get this message back. And so I am passing along to you a request that, if you have it in you, please, in honor of the Amish community, give up one grudge today, or at least try. This is what we call, in yoga, a counter pose. If you stretch one way, it's really important to stretch the opposite way for balance. Please, join me in stretching in the opposite direction of Charles Roberts.

Before I got Chris's email today, Herman and I were watching the news and there was a segment about the shootings. And I said to Herman that the thing that would be the most astonishing is that the Amish will find a way to forgive the killer and, I predict, they will reach out to his wife and children. This echoes two tales I recount in my last book. In one story, Amy Biehl, a young white American Fullbright Scholar working for racial equality South Africa was stoned and stabbed to death by blacks. Her parents forgave these men and went on to continue their daughter's work through the Amy Biehl Foundation. In the other story, a guy named Bud Welch, whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing not only forgave Timothy McVeigh but
also befriended McVeigh's father. (My friend Hank Stuever wrote a wonderful piece about "Bud the Forgiver" for the Washington Post.)

.......
I want to preface by saying that I'm not a fan of forwarded emails and yet I am going to ask you, if you like what I have to say, please forward this on to others who might be interested. I am going to go and let go of a grudge now so if you hear a loud groan or other noise of transition, that would be me, making a change.

With love and hope,

Spike

www.spikegillespie.com

Like Spike, I famously hold grudges. But I've also learned that they don't hurt the person you're upset with, they only hurt you. Knowing this doesn't really make it easier, but I think I will try.

The Art of the Craft.

2006-10-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes our crafts aren't taken seriously as artistic endeavors. Heck, I certainly don't consider myself an artist in most of the stuff I make; I find I like to buy other people's patterns, follow them to the letter, and haven't yet designed anything more original than the first scarf I knit (where I tried out garter stitch, ribbing, and basketweave all on one piece of knitting. Not pretty.)

But often knitting or beading or spinning, traditionally considered women's work, isn't valued in the same way as a painting, for example, or a sculpture. I don't think I have to enumerate those reasons with this group (the same reasons women still earn roughly $.75 on the dollar compared to men); it's been covered before, by more knowledgeable people. Yet everywhere I look on the blogosphere, I see artists--I see originality and talent, and not just in the work but in web page design and photography, too.

I say this for a couple of reasons. I sent a good friend a book for her birthday recently, along with a little tank top I embroidered:

The book is Crafty Chica's Art de la Soul: Glittery Ideas to Liven Up Your Life, by Kathy Cano Murillo. And that there, on the tank top, is supposed to resemble ebi sushi. (The design is from the awesome Sublime Stitching Kit by Austin artist Jenny Hart.)

I thought my friend, V., would probably like the book; it's a great mixture of Mexican folk culture and personal narrative, and full of lots of great projects--jewelry, coasters, candles, a quilt, and more. V's very crafty in her own right; I own a beautiful box she decorated for me with a collage of saints, and use it to keep my beading tools in.

But I didn't expect the reaction I got: she looooved the book. She luh-uved it. Lurved it. She said that validated her passion for crafting, to see a book embody her aesthetic so well. She wrote about feeling worried that every time she gave something she'd made as a gift, the person would give it the old heave-ho into the closet (or worse!) as soon as she got a chance. God! That sounded so familiar to me!

Well, V., I can't wait to see what you whip up for me for Christmas!

The other reason (remember? I had two) was because I was privileged to go to an event this weekend with the quilters from Gee's Bend. I feel like I'm the last person in the world to find out about these stunning quilts. Funnily enough, I first saw them in the post office last week, when I walked in and bought a new book of stamps! I saw the Gee's Bend stamps and of course had to have them, but thought the designs had to have been stylized so that they could print more cleanly.

Uh uh. Nope. I hope you do see for yourself and go visit the Gee's Bend web page or the Austin Museum of Art's page, where they're having an exhibition that runs through November 5. Because these quilts are just. Amazing.

The talk on Saturday was with Mary Lee Bendolph, her daughter, Essie Bendolph Pettway, and her daughter-in-law, Louisiana Pettway Bendolph, and also with the museum's curator, the organizer of the exhibition, and the art historian who wrote the catalogue (sorry! I didn't catch those guys' names.) The talk was just a fascinating discussion of Southern African-American folk culture, the experience of poverty, the disappearance and revival of a tiny town, and the reception they've gotten in the "art" world in New York and in other major cities.

The organizer hinted at the resistance he originally got when trying to put together a show, but he was deliberately and tantalizingly enigmatic. He wouldn't say anything specific, but it certainly sounded like some art world gatekeepers were not happy about a quilting show going up in a museum space and with quilts by African-American women, at that. Yet the New York Times called these "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." Other reviewers likened the quilters' aesthetics to those of jazz and blues, improvising on a form and coming up with work that is completely original and uniquely American.

It stunned and thrilled me to hear that. Mary Lee Bendolph ended up sending her son to college on the money she received for her quilts. And had enough money left over to contribute to another child's education. The quilts have kept Gee's Bend, a tiny town with no jobs, from disappearing as children leave to seek better economic opportunities.

The women each talked about their method for designing a quilt--Mary Lee Bendolph designs as she goes, without a predetermined order, while her daughter-in-law, a more recent quilter, has entire designs come to her, and her daughter Essie sees inspiration on her drive home from work. Essie creates quilts from new fabrics, but Mary still uses patches from old clothing and scraps. For me, that is where the story was--having to take whatever is available and somehow ending up with a beautiful, coherent design. Her first quilt, as a child, took her a whole year to assemble because that's how long it took to get the material together.

One of the museum's staff members asked about the connection between African-American spirituals and quilting. Essie talked about how your foot can tap out a good rhythm as you work, but she wouldn't sing. Later, though, Mary launched into a song and the other women on stage began singing and clapping, and other audience members joined in. The auditorium vibrated and rang with music. It was so beautiful I almost cried.

I sat there through the whole thing, knitting and knitting away. As the women talked, I considered how and why making things is just so damned appealing to me, and I made a connection.

Even though I've only been knitting for about three years, the instinct and the drive to create isn't really new for me, even though I often think it is. My friends and my mom do, too, looking on at my sewing and knitting mania with bemusement. You know, like where the heck did this come from?

But I remembered reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a little kid, and being utterly entranced by the descriptions of Pa making things for the house. Or Ma sewing a new dress. I pored over those stories, visualizing how everything was being put together. It was just so beautiful to me, and sitting at that talk I remembered the scene where Pa makes a rocking chair for Ma. I became sort of obsessed by finding that scene again (me? obsessed?) and went to Half-Price Books to try and find it. But you know? There are like, nine books in that series!

By chance I picked out Little House on the Prairie and I found the scene, with the help of the illustrations. It was just as compelling as ever. But even more compelling, now that I also am a dedicated maker of things, was the scene where Laura and Mary find beads scattered in an abandoned Indian camp, collect them, and bring them home:

Laura stirred her beads with her finger and watched them sparkle and shine. "These are mine," she said.

Then Mary said, "Carrie can have mine."

Ma waited to hear what Laura would say. Laura didn't want to say anything. She wanted to keep those pretty beads. Her chest felt all hot inside, and she wished with all her might that Mary wouldn't always be such a good little girl. Byut she couldn't let Mary be better than she was.

So she said slowly, "Carrie can have mine, too."

"That's my unselfish, good little girls," said Ma.

Hey! Who hasn't been there?!!? Later, as the girls were stringing their beads:

They didn't say anything. Perhaps Mary felt sweet and good inside, but Laura didn't. When she looked at Mary she wanted to slap her. So she dared not look at Mary again.

The beads made a beautiful string. Carrie clapped her hands and laughed when she saw it. Then Ma tied it around Carrie's little neck, and it glittered there. Laura felt a little bit better. After all, her beads were not enough beads to make a whole string, and neither were Mary's but together they made a whole string of beads for Carrie. (pp. 179-181)

Leaving aside for the moment the problematic nature of the uncritical appropriation of Indian cultural objects and the representation of Indians in the book in general....oh, who's been in school too long? Anyway, I thought this scene was sweet and funny and honest and speaks to our greedy little crafters' hearts and why sometimes it is good to give the things we make away.

Our art, I mean.

So there's pictures....

2006-09-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

but Blogger's not letting me upload them. (I'm going to start calling Blogger Booger. Who's with me?) Anyway, thanks to B. (i.e., Bill, the Boy, b.f., etc.), who had an extra camera cord, I was able to finally illustrate my last post.

Happy Thursday!

Phyllo Yoke Pullover

2006-09-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Phyllo Yoke Pullover
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

This is my birthday project! Woo hoo! I got this Rowan Calmer on ebay with birthday money from my mom and dad, and plan to make this pullover from Knitting Nature, the book that my Boy got me.

In the wooly woods

2006-09-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

In the wooly woods
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

Here's the great needlepoint I found at the flea market last weekend for a buck! I'm going to make a pillow, and went scouting for fabrics yesterday. I'm thinking either green and blue stripes, or a dark blue. Piping, or no piping?

Movie night

2006-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Movie night
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

Here's the great Knitflix swap I got from Becky, who is originally from Australia. Hence the Australian themed movie night! Can't wait to watch that movie this weekend.

In every blogger's life....

2006-09-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

must come a moment like this. Y'all, I can't find my camera cord.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whilst hunting for it all over the house, hither and yon, I realized exactly why it's possible for me to blog--I have this digital camera. It's not the best, and it's definitely not the newest, but it does the job. I'm a pretty lucky girl to have it at all, and hey! It would appear I'm lost, blog-wise, without it.

Because I have so many things to show you! So many! And I have to fall back on my lackluster descriptions. Poor you.

First of all, the mystery box. I'm surprised and tickled that you guys have actually taken an interest in the box the postman delivered on Saturday. It's my birthday yarn, that I bought to make a sweater from Knitting Nature, my birthday book. And guess what? I splurged on Rowan Calmer. Yes, I did.

I guess this jeopardizes my Ghetto Knitter status (where are you, oh Chris of Bits of Knits, to revoke my GK license?), but I so did not pay full price on these 7 yummy skeins, because I bought them on ebay! Honestly, I was shocked that nobody else came in and swiped these away from me at the last minute. Anyway, they're delicious, although maybe not the first color I would have picked, but I do love the dusky blue I ended up with.

My special delivery was really just the beginning of a very crafty weekend. The Boy and I stumbled across an outdoor flea market on the way to brunch (nothing like the 29th street flea in New York, but what can you do?), and I found adorable needlepoint someone had finished. It's a picture of trees, birds, and a kitty cat, very seventies style, but really the sweetest thing ever. I bought it for a buck, and it came with the hoop and extra yarn. I can't wait to make a cute little pillow out of it.

Do you guys ever feel like you have to adopt every handcrafted project you see when thrifting? I went to Goodwill to scout out some placemats for a very cool idea Kodachrome Knits came up with for a needle case, and I saw a Project Linus blanket with the tags still attached. I mean, come on! Who got a Project Linus blanket and then promptly shoved it in a box to give to Goodwill? I suppose there's the chance that this person got too much stuff, or didn't like the colors, but it still breaks my little crafter's heart.

That night I went to the movies with my friend Cristina, and we saw The Science of Sleep. Has anyone out there seen it? Such a great movie! It's got hottie Gael Garcia Bernal in it (holla, Jennifer!), and it's about this guy's dream world, blending in with his everyday life. I was particularly charmed (and I know you would be, too), because his love interest is this girl who lives next door and makes stuffed felt animals by hand. And in one scene, she's running a hand-operated knitting machine! So cool.

Maybe the most charming moment for me was when he is describing her to someone else, and says that he loves her because she makes things with her hands (and waves his own around). Swoon! Finally, a crafter's love story!

On Sunday, I spent a good hour going through a pile of crafting books at Borders. These may not be new to you, but they were new to me, and I loved them:

Get Your Sparkle On: Create and Wear the Gems that Make You Shine: Beautiful photography, cute, tasteful projects, and guest projects (for example, the accessories editor of Glamour designed a chunky colorful necklace, and then the author gives instructions for it).
Simply Baby: the new Debbie Bliss book. Need I say more? Just absolutely freakin' adorable knits.
Last Minute Fabric Gifts: From the people who brought you Last Minute Knitted Gifts (duh!). Love this book. Love it sooo much! Ideas for recycling thrift store finds, as well as projects using new fabric. And a sewing tutorial in the back. Everything is well illustrated and the directions seem clear and reasonable.

Sigh. I was there to buy a birthday present for someone, so I can't tell you about that yet, but I was strong, and restrained myself to just the one purchase.

Besides, it's not like I haven't had an embarrassment of riches lately. It seems like that ogling postman is coming to my door every other day, because on Monday (and I was properly dressed this time!), he delivered my Knitflix swap. Coordinated by Jennifer at Craftylilly, this is a cool swap where you basically put together a movie/knitting night for a pal. I could hardly stop from jumping up and down, I got the best package!

I told Becky, my swap pal, that I wanted to see Rabbit Proof Fence. It turns out that Becky is Australian, so she put together an Australian themed package with the movie, candy treats, a Cadbury bar, and included some Vegemite! Ooh, I've never tried it before, but she warns me that it's an acquired taste. :-) Oh, and some Regia sock yarn in blues and greens, and the best thing--an adorable tote bag she made herself! Thank you so much, Becky, I loved it all!

Damn you, camera cord! Where are you???

Potatoes are my waterloo.

2006-09-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a pretty good cook. Not like gourmet quality, but sometimes I do well. Last week, I made the best chicken soup I've ever turned out, I think.

So why can't I ever get fried potatoes right?

At least I had good, exciting, fun news to balance out the demise of my breakfast this morning. It has to do with ebay and yarn.

I heard a pounding on my door as I sat here sipping coffee and reading blogs in my nightie, and not having a chance to put anything else on because the postman began pounding again, I opened the door.

"Didn't wake you, did I?"

No, I laughed, and joked about wondering who would come see me so early in the morning (it's eleven am).

My merriment (augmented by the priority mail package he held out) went unnoticed, preoccupied as he was with getting a good look at my boobs before I shut the door.

But there's yarn! I'll tell ya more soon.

Well, if you got money for yarn, then surely you can find a little extra for this.

2006-09-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

I may be the last person to post about this in our little corner of the knitting blogosphere. But if there's a chance that you don't know that Karen G., blogger and graphics designer, is raising money to fight diabetes, then you should. She is participating in the Walk for Diabetes in October with her husband, and you can help by donating here.

I think that Karen is brave for having shared her personal struggle with this disease, but look at what the results have been! Her initial goal of raising $500 has already been surpassed, and now she is well on her way to the $1000 mark.

I'm writing this post not just to help Karen raise money, but also to thank her. In her original post announcing her fundraising drive, she wrote that she doesn't expect a cure to be found in our lifetimes, but that children now who are being diagnosed perhaps have a chance for that cure. Her selflessness continued when I told her that both my parents are diabetic, and she wrote that she would think of them as she walked. I was so incredibly touched by this, that she would offer to keep in mind people she's never even met.

This is a picture of my sweet mom and dad, enjoying the Taste of Chicago festival in Grant Park a couple of years ago. My mom was diagnosed quite a few years ago, and my dad more recently. They've been able to keep good control over their diet and even got a treadmill so that they could take walks even in the dead of winter. Living so far away from them, I worry of course, but feel lucky that they have each other to help stay on track.

This is Gloria Anzaldua, one of our most beloved writers in Chicano studies. She passed away in May 2004 of diabetes-related complications. Her groundbreaking book, Borderlands, gave a voice to populations who feel most marginalized in our society. I spent the last year archiving her papers for the University of Texas, and I can tell you that there are boxes upon boxes of projects she'd been working on, that she never got a chance to finish. She still had years of work she wanted to see through, and she died at the age of sixty-one.

Of course, with treatment, diet, and exercise, chances of survival are excellent. But the outlook would be even better if we were able to find a cure. If you donate through Karen G., she will enter you in a drawing for knitting-related prizes, and you also have the option of buying a sock pattern designed especially for Karen's walk, with the entire proceeds going toward the cause.

In another giving-related note, I blogged recently about donating my hair to Locks of Love, which makes hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children who have medically-related hair loss. Laura wondered if she could donate even if her hair was in layers and/or colored. As long as your hair is in a ponytail of 10" or more and healthy (it can be colored but not damaged), you can donate it. Layers should be separated into their own ponytails.

And, if you go to one of the participating salons listed on their website, you can get the haircut for free! What's not to love about that?

What? A free moment to blog?

2006-09-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Oh, the many moments over the past week that I've thought about posting...even going so far as to download FO pictures to my computer. But I've been trying to be good, and trying to make that little prospectus progress bar on the right sidebar move, just a bit. And so I've been doing some school writing, and making a little headway here and there, for a few hours every day.

But when it became clear that today would be a wash in terms of writing (meetings scheduled all day, lots of personal stuff to do, like trying to renew my car insurance!), I realized that I would actually get to blog! And then I opened up Blogger, and thought....um. What was I going to write about?

Oh yeah, an FO. No, wait...two FOs!

Child's Placket Sweater and Baby Denim Pants from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Sweater pattern notes

Size: 0-3 months
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere, about 3 skeins from stash
Needles: size 4 circulars

Such cuteness! I couldn't get over how cute this sweater was when it was finally done (I bought some little 1/4" yellow buttons and sewed them on after I took these pictures). The ridiculous cuteness almost made up for the grief with the pattern...which has been well documented in other places in the blogosphere. OH, yes, and also on the Purl website. Sheesh, you'd think I would have checked that out first, no? Well, I did look for errata, but Joelle Hoverson, ever so thoughtful, has made the revisions available as a PDF, separate from the other pattern corrections listed on her website. Where did I look, though? I looked at the list of other pattern corrections, and not seeing it there, thought, hum. It must just be ME that's too stupid to understand why the placket is knitting up waaaay to the right side. But then later, after I figured it out, fixed it, and looked back at the website, I saw the link for the Placket sweater.

Anyway, yes, the instructions are confusing for dividing the sweater in the front and casting on extra stitches, so that even with the corrected pattern, I still don't think it makes sense. If you're going to knit this, take heed: The revised pattern tells you to cast on five stitches at the beginning of the round. (I think the uncorrected version says to cast on at the end of the round.) Either way, it's unclear what she means by the beginning or the end of the round since you've stopped in the middle front, X number of stitches away from the raglan sleeve where the round currently begins. If you turn your work to begin purling toward the other end, you might think this is the beginning of the round, and start casting on stitches here. That's what I did, and that's the way to get the placket skewed toward the right.

So once you stop in the middle of the sweater, turn your work. Purl back to the other side, and cable cast on your stitches there. These will become a seed stitch panel, which you will stitch to the front and will sit behind the front panel.

Baby Denim Pants

Size: 0-6 months
Yarn: Rowan Denim
Needles: Size 6 dpns

Pattern notes:

Yes! Finally washed, shrunk, sewn, and threaded. You may remember that I posted these before, half-finished with the crotch unseamed and without its drawstring. They turned out to be perfectly adorable, and they shrank in the wash, as promised. They also rubbed blue dye all over my fingers and bamboo needles, but whatever.

Together, the set looked kinda funny...the legs on the pants are sooo long and the waistband is so high that the outfit looked appropriate for some flamingo baby. But the seat of the pants is roomy on purpose for stuffing diapers in there, so it should look better on.

The recipient is now a month and a week, or thereabouts. I sent the package out today so that the child can wear it for a couple of days before he outgrows it. If the mom gives the OK, I'll send you on over to her blog so you can check out the new kid on the block. Heck, maybe we can even talk her into doing a fashion shoot! Between feeding and changing the new baby, and being mom to her four-year old, and feeding and changing herself, I'm sure she'll have time to humor me. Don't you think?

I don't usually like to toot the birthday horn, but I just have to share that my birthday was last week because I got Knitting Nature from my sweet boyfriend. He asked for a wish list, and I put a load of knitting books on there and also some fiction. He got two books from my list (I got the Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea as well), as well as a beautiful pearl and gemstone pendant on a silver chain.

Seriously? It's long been my theory that men don't like to buy jewelry for girlfriends (billionares excluded) because they're petrified that she won't like it. True, jewelry is a very personal choice, but that's what makes a gift like that special. In my opinion, just the fact that your guy actually walked into a jewelry store, picked something out, and tried to imagine you wearing is just priceless. In this case, the pendant really is beautiful. Thanks, baby. I love it.

Maybe some of you have had different experiences (i.e., he showered you with loads of glittery jewels, enough to make Croesus green with envy), but I've not been given any jewelry since I was sixteen, when my high school boyfriend brought back a little gold heart on a chain from Hawaii. (And yes, I've been married and divorced since then. And no, the rings did not count...guess who paid for those?)

Not to neglect my other gift givers...I got loads of great presents and loved each and every one of them! And my mom sent me a check to buy myself a birthday present. Knitters, what do you think that'll be? Hee, hee.

I haven't spent the money yet, but have decided that the most appropriate thing to do with the money is to buy yarn for a sweater out of Knitting Nature. It'll be the birthday project! I have my eye on the sweater with the diamond eyelets around the yoke...and it calls for Rowan Calmer. Which would ordinarily be out of the question for me, since it's out of my price range...but with birthday money, it suddenly becomes much more affordable.

Anyway, must run now, but more! posts! to come!

Book Meme

2006-09-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Via Elizabeth.

1. One book that changed your life: The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. I came to this book when I was about 21, via my oldest friend in the world, Maribel. We were going to a reading by this Cisneros person, and I think Mari bought me a copy for my birthday. I was knocked flat on my ass for two reasons--one, this book literally bore so many resemblances to my childhood in Chicago that I could have written it (if I had any talent), and two, I had just graduated from college as an English major and could not believe that Mexican-Americans or Latinos/as had published books and we had never read any of them in any of my classes. I was a women's studies minor, and not even in those classes were they teaching Cisneros (this was 1987-1991). Things have changed since then, but this book is primarily the reason I decided to come back to school, so that I could teach this kind of literature.

2. One book that you've read more than once: Gone With the Wind. Every time I open to that first page, I'm a goner.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: I'm tempted to answer with a knitting book, but then you'd need yarn, and who wants to knit with all that sand around? I'm going to say one good anthology of American or world literature. Maybe the Norton, maybe the Harper's.

4. One book that made you laugh: Bridget Jones's Diary. A friend loaned me this book when we went to Grand Cayman together, and it hadn't been published in the States yet. I remember standing in the customs line at the airport, reading the fire house scene, and laughing like a crazy woman.

5. One book that made you cry: I don't cry easily, either with books or at movies. I scoured my bookshelves and decided that yes, I must have cried at the end of Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier.

6. One book you wish had been written: Never Marry Your High School Boyfriend: You're Not as Mature as You Think You Are.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Ooh, this may have to be a toss-up between The Rules and Anne Coulter's new book. Both evil, in different ways.

8. One book you're currently reading: Well, I just finished my for fun book, Snapshots by William Norris. Now I'm splitting my time between Mexican Ballads, Chicano Poems by Jose Limon, Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and Writing Chicago by Carla Cappetti.

9. One book you've been meaning to read: Goodness gracious, there's so many. How about The Devil's Highway, by Luis Urrea.

10. Six people to tag: Laura, Kodachrome Knits, Claire, Marisa, Jennifer, Joseph.

Would you like a new haircut to go with that finished object?

2006-09-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Finally! An FO to show, my finished Silk Camisole, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts! I've been done with the cami for maybe a week now, and have been wanting my talented boyfriend to take some pictures, but distracted by trying my hand at making pesto and watching the third season of 24 on DVD, and then by crepes and prosecco and lemon panna cotta (all slurped up at last night's First Thursday), I just kept forgetting.

So I fell back on the tried-and-true bathroom self-portrait this morning. (OK, maybe not so true...apologies for the blurry pic. I'll have to have another go at it, you guys deserve a better picture than this.)

Silk Camisole

Details:
Pattern--Last Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn--Jaeger Trinity, two and a half skeins
Size--34
Needles--size 4 circulars

Notes:
I wore the cami out on Saturday, so it's already been road tested. I didn't make any pattern modifications, except with the length of the straps. They were pretty long when I first tried it on, so I took off two inches. Boy, did this baby streeeetch out! The fit is definitely a bit looser (which is OK, because there's no shaping, it's not exactly fitted), but by the end of the day it was definitely hanging low enough to showcase my bra. I got home and shortened the straps another two inches, and now I think it's fine. With I-cord straps, though, I need to remember to wear the garment around a while before grafting them to the back, because it's pretty much guaranteed that they're going to stretch out with the weight of the piece.

I bought this yarn from Elizabeth's destashing, and really enjoyed knitting with it. It's nubbly, so it's not the smoothest knit, but I liked the texture beneath my fingers...it almost feels like it's made of paper (it's a silk/cotton blend). Elizabeth bought it to make the Silk Corset, I think, but decided the yarn wasn't right for the project--a smart move. This fabric doesn't have a lot of memory, but it's light and drapey. Good for a cami, maybe not so much for a corset.

I also chopped all my hair off.

I was badly in need of a trim (I think my last haircut was in December!), but as the day of my haircut appointment approached, I wondered if it was long enough to donate to Locks of Love, an organization that makes hairpieces for financially disadvantaged kids with long-term medical hair loss. It turned out to be more than enough (it needs to be at least ten inches), and so off it came! With the Texas heat that's only let up just a little, you can bet that having a bare neck is a welcome relief.

Well, first Thursdays here in Austin, in addition to food and music and arts and crafts, also bring yarn sales at Hill Country Weavers! Of course I had to go to poke around, and naturally I found a great deal:

It's Noro--I forget the name of the yarn, but it's chenille. I bought three skeins for a scarf, but haven't decided on a pattern. What do you guys think? I'm thinking something lacy on biggish needles, but I've never knit with chenille. Would that work? I also thought that the multidirectional scarf that's in Handknit Holidays might also look cool in this yarn.

Oh, and there's this little guy, looking a bit like a Frankenstein baby knit with all those needles and stitch holders sticking out:

This is the baby placket sweater from LMKG. The recipient of this item has been born already, and is probably outgrowing the sweater as we speak! This'll have my undivided attention until it's done. Now that the sleeves have been attached, it'll probably go pretty fast.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who's wished me sweet dreams in the new bed! I was so happy when the bed was made up that I almost cried. I also have been keeping the bed made in the mornings, which is something I have NEVER done.

Grrr.

2006-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I found this story, via Dress a Day, about Macy's inability to get the signage right at Marshall Field's State Street.

As if it weren't bad enough already. Hey, Macy's! Take your asses back home to Seventh STREET and 34th AVENUE!!!!

Heaven.

2006-09-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Yes, Virginia, split box springs really do come in full size.

Take THAT, DENVER MATTRESS!

One of these things doesn't belong here. Come on, can you tell which one?

2006-08-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA so long, y'all must have thought I'd gone off my rocker. Celebrating my one-year blogiversary in July, having a big old yarn-giving contest...I was so excited, I tooted horns, did backwards somersaults, set sparklers alight, and then....nada, for a month and a half, except for the one post about my friends, which didn't even have any knitting in it.

(Thanks, by the way, to everyone who offered sweet wishes and kind words about Jennifer and Laura. And thank you for sharing memories of your cherished friends with me, as well.)

Was I quitting on a high note, like Jerry counseled George on Seinfeld? That's it, folks, my work is done, I'm outta here. If I had knit anything memorable recently, maybe I could get away with saying that. [Cranes neck, looks around.] Nope, no knitted magnum opus lying around here.

Well, you may or may not remember that my life got turned upside down and inside out, pretty much for the entire month of August. Moved out of my apartment, drove all the way to California with my girlfriends (road trip! woo hoo! no truckers were harmed, if you must know.) Attended a wedding in New Mexico, and THEN came back to an unpacked apartment, which took much longer than I thought to set to rights.

There were the obvious things to unpack, like kitchen and bathroom stuff, and then the zillion and one doodads and thingamajigs to be weeded out and thrown away...I am worse than a magpie, y'all. Any bright piece of string (and knitters, you know there's lots of those to go around) and it gets tucked into a book/keepsake box/underwear drawer. My new apartment is lovely and spacious, but let's face it--even the roomiest closet has a finite amount of space. Sad, but true.

So after all the weeding out and donating and giving away was done, I finished putting away the sizable amount of stuff that remained, and my apartment was almost there. Almost there.

Jewelry arranged on my bureau drawer, books shelved in a loosely logical order, the re-emergence of my knitting on the futon, beloved posters and plaques hung, my full-size box spring leaning against the wall.

Um, you don't have your box spring leaning against the wall? You don't enjoy sleeping on the floor and waking up with a bad back for the first time in your lives? Yah, didn't think so. Neither do I.

Turns out, my full size box spring does not fit up the narrow back stairs that leads to my loft bedroom. My friend, who was the previous tenant, warned me of this and offered to give me her split box spring, which comes in two pieces. I didn't take it, because this was back in May and I didn't have anywhere to store it for three months. And yes, I've heard of Public Storage, but royal fool that I am, I figured I'd find a way to get another.

So, two weeks ago, after some calling around, I ordered a split full size box spring from a local, apparently reputable mattress store, and happily awaited my new foundation. At night, I would drop all the way to the floor where my mattress rests, and thoughts of luxuriating in a proper bed would lull me to sleep. Last Wednesday, the day the foundation would be delivered, I woke up as excited as if it were Christmas morning.

When the delivery men knocked on my door, I flew to answer it. "We're here to deliver a foundation."

I smiled happily. "Yes! It's in two pieces, right?" "Nooo. It's in one piece. Split box springs don't come in full-size."

"But, but, I ordered a split one! Over the phone! With Greg!" "Oh, yeah, Greg. He's only been there for four months. He doesn't know."

Grrrreeeeaaaat. After he investigated the back stairs, confirming that a full-size box spring would not go up (which should have been obvious, since my old one was leaning forlornly against the living room wall), he suggested a twin size. And burst into laughter. The other guy burst into laughter. We all had a good laugh at my expense, and I'm still not sure why. Single girl like you? You're going to need a bigger mattress! Or maybe, Thirtysomething old fart like you? In a twin bed?

Appealing as this idea was (and I have to say, visions of pink canopies began to float through my head later that day, only half-ironically), I hustled back to the mattress store to get my money back. Sauntering in, I chirped, "Which one of you's Greg?"

A salesman at the desk lifted his head and said, "That's me." Trying to remain polite, I launched into a description of who I was and what my problem was. He said casually, "Oh yeah, the delivery guy called from your apartment." I nodded expectantly. He slowly shook his head, a carefully cultivated blank look on his face. "But they don't sell split box springs in full size."

My jaw dropped. I sputtered. Now, you should know that I am normally an extremely mild-mannered person. I rarely honk at other drivers on the road, and if I have to, I feel guilty for upsetting them. But this guy's comment just made my blood boil.

In a snotty tone of voice, I asked, "Now why would I order a full-size box spring if it weren't going to be a split one? I HAVE a full size mattress and box spring at home. Why would I order something I already had?"

He looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights, and cautiously began to offer other suggestions. Like a mini-foundation, or a foam one. "You. Don't. Understand. It's. Not. Going. To. Fit."

The salesguy behind him, watching this whole time, piped up. "I've been in this business for years, and I've never seen a split foundation in a full size. Don't worry, ma'am, we'll refund your money." Half-snickering, he said, "Yeah, Greg doesn't know. He's only been here four months."

To make a long story a little less long, I got my money back. My friend/previous tenant got back in from out of town and helped me find the mattress store she got her split foundation from. We went there, I told the guy what I needed, he said no problem, and I plunked down my credit card. They're supposed to deliver in the next couple of days. My aching back can't wait.

I also finally ditched the old box spring, setting it outside for the junk man to carry away. So my apartment is finally almost ready, almost there. Almost.

Oh, hang on, knitting content! The tank top pictured above is the one I've been working on since time immemorial, the camisole from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, in Jaeger Trinity. I'm on the home stretch with that, and am really really really hoping my next post is an FO post.

Endings. And beginnings.

2006-08-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Graduate school is not really supposed to be the time for making some of the best friends of your life. If anything, grad school is designed to alienate and exclude, pitting you against scores of other students--some whip-smart, some not so much but with hunger to make up for it. You rarely feel smart enough, let alone competent, and seminar rooms are regularly the scene of spectacles of public humiliation.

How blessed I have been, then, to meet and become friends with a brilliant, beautiful group of women who have kept me sane through five years of school. The greatest comfort I've found after days of bumbling through class or dealing with indifferent students is to vent to my friends and know that they understand, because they'd been there too. (Although retail therapy and Amy's ice cream always help.)

Once you've crossed this grad school Rubicon, your future is, in many ways, more uncertain than ever. Some people realize that books and poverty don't suit them, and return to their previous pursuits. Some linger long over their dissertations, settling into the velvet rut of professional studentdom. Jobs are never guaranteed, and are ridiculously hard to come by. If you think you'd like to be in (fill in your state of choice), it is pretty certain that the only job you're qualified for is in a state you don't even know how to locate on a map.

This is why it is amazing and wonderful that two of my dear friends have finished their Ph.D.s and landed plum jobs in the states of their choice, close to their families. Dr. Jennifer will be teaching at a major research university in California, and Dr. Laura can be found at a small, excellent liberal arts college in Colorado.

This is also why it is bittersweet that in order to move on with their professional lives, they have to leave ours. Over the past two weeks, I have been in the process of moving out of the apartment that Jennifer and I shared for two years, helping her ship her stuff to California, throwing my possessions into a new one-bedroom, hitting the road to help her drive across three states to her new home, and flying into Albuquerque for Lo's wedding to her Pete.

The wedding, by the way, was one of the best ever. I've thought that if our story were to be a novel, it would conclude at this celebration, a happy ending. Through all kinds of drama, from the mundane to the life-threatening, we'd come, safe and sound, to this lovely place in New Mexico. And all partnered in some way, whether with spouses or boyfriends, sparing ourselves the awkward position of being the odd Singleton at the table.

You know, though, that endings by their nature are not very happy. We tearfully said our goodbyes on Monday, headed for California, Colorado, and Texas. Toward our own respective futures. There are a handful of us still here in Austin, getting incrementally closer to our own Ph.D.s. We'll still go out, and do fun things, since it's impossible to do otherwise in Austin. But it won't be the same, and we'll feel their absence, and reminisce, and call them.

Jennifer and Laura...you women are like sisters to me. I love you.

And the winner is....

2006-07-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

Mazhalai!

Lovely Mazhalai, send an email with your address to lilytx at yahoo dot com, and I'll get out your delicious Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn in Purple Midnight lickety split! It's going to be hard to part with this, I tell ya...I may have to visit Hill Country Weavers again to see if they have any more skeins hiding somewhere!

The rest of you should boogie on over to her blog to check out her very funny and clever Amazing Lace post!

Seriously, though, it was such fun to host this contest and see all my regular peeps stop by to say hi, plus regular peeps who never comment and delurked shamelessly for yarn (you know who you are, wink wink) and a few brand new peeps thrown in there for good measure. I spent all afternoon yesterday at Flightpath cafe stalking y'alls blogs and adding subscriptions to my Bloglines, so that I will now NEVER get any work done on my dissertation, but will be very caught up with all my knittaz.

If I may get sappy for a brief minute, it's been so great to get to know the people I have over the past year, and to develop real friendships, and to learn a tremendous lot about knitting from all of you. From the moment my blogging godmother Heather generously posted pictures of my Viennese Shrug, I've been constantly amazed by the sweetness and supportiveness of this community.

Snurfle. OK, sappy minute's over! I have a little consolation treat for all of you who did not win yarn...all right, you too, Mazhalai! Hustle on over to my boy's blog for his special recipe for infused blueberry vanilla bourbon...trust me, this stuff is fantastic. He whips up various different blends for one of Austin's fine eating establishments (kiwi and strawberry tequila was the latest), and each one of these concoctions sells out every weekend it's available.

Enjoy!

Now we are one. Hundred.

2006-07-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Guess whose blogiversary is today?

And believe it or not, this is my one hundredth post! I couldn't possibly have planned it this way, seeing as how I can barely plan my outfits in the morning or what I'm having for lunch.

(Do you guys remember Garanimals? Now there's wardrobe planning for you. I wonder what those would look like for big girls? ;-)

Anyway, this is a major milestone for me. Not because I've learned tons of new things about knitting (although I have), and not because I've made so many new friends (although this is absolutely true), but because I never thought, once I started blogging, that I would ever be able to keep it up on a regular basis. I thought for sure I would be kicked off the webrings by the second or third week.

Look at me, guys! I can commit to something! Woo hoo!

To celebrate, I could spend time giving you highlights of the year, or working on an anniversary knit (Laura's brilliant idea, to re-knit one item to see if she could do it better), but I'm not that clever. All I got is yarn.

Did she say yarn?

Yes! My very first contest! Leave a comment between today and midnight Saturday, July 22 (CST), and I will choose a lucky winner with a random number generator to receive two skeins of Claudia's Handpainted fingering weight yarn in Purple Midnight. I don't have my own picture, but trust me, the colors are truly breathtaking.

Good luck!!

Knitting blues.

2006-07-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

What with work, and throwing bridal showers, and attending dissertation defenses (one good friend is responsible for two of those events, believe it or not), knitting hasn't been much in evidence around my house lately.

This morning, I wanted to start the baby sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (to make an outfit with the Baby Denim Pants from the same book), discovered my gauge was off, and couldn't find the right needle from my Boye interchangeables. I tried to remember the projects I had going, couldn't figure out where it might be, and finally had to look at my own sidebar to remember where the size 4s were! (In the camisole top, also from LMKG. I hadn't realized I was giving that book quite a workout.)

Man, it's a sad day when you have to check the Internet to find your knitting needles.

In the meanwhile, I just made the deadline for the most recent Sew? I Knit project.

This may be my last sewing project in a while, since I'll be moving apartments at the end of the month. Things'll be chaotic enough without fabric scraps and pins littering the dining room floor. Thank god knitting's so portable!

Almost there.

2006-07-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Man! It feels like it's been a long time since I've posted any knitting progress! (Um, hi? Olga? Maybe because there hasn't been any?)

Thank you for humoring me with my Amazing Lace challenges along the way. Coming up with creative entries has been fun. Progress on the Trellis Stole, however, has sort of fallen by the wayside.

Ah, well. What can you do? It's summer, it's hot in Austin, and who wants to wrap yards of fiber around their sweaty little fingers for fun? Well. I kinda do, but knitting time has been in short supply, and sometimes I sneak in a couple of rows here and there on the Jaeger Trinity cami I'm working on, but that Trellis? What with the charts, and the slippery needles and the itty bitty lace yarn, it's seriously a jealous mistress, demanding all my attention. No 24 on DVD, no nuthin'.

I did manage to finish up the knitting on the Baby Denim Pants from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, however! I won't make this an official FO post, because they still have to go in the wash to shrink, but here are some pre-wash photos:

Right now, they seem long enough to fit a pre-schooler, but I'm hoping they will shrink enough (as Joelle Hoverson and Rowan both promise).

Love the seed stitch cuffs!

The waistband is neat, too, with the purl row making the fold nice and flat. The drawstring holes, on the other hand, are pretty much FUBAR. Hopefully, the drawstrings will detract attention from this bit of ugliness.

In other news, have y'all seen the new Knitty? Girls and boys, I am really not one to engage in public snarkiness on other people's designs (although I do heartily enjoy reading others' snark).

But really, Amy Singer? More fingerless glove patterns? Seriously? Seriously?? (I don't have anything against the fingerless glove, per se, but I do not understand why there have to be endless and infinite variations on this theme, sucking up precious pattern space in my favorite online and print knitting magazines.) And I just do not understand this and this. And sweet Jesus, in the name of everything sacred and holy, what is this?!?!

However, if you look hard enough, there are a few gems: these stunning socks from Cookie A., these unbelievably adorable booties, and the knitted calla lilies. Lilies are my favorite (with tulips running a close second), so I may be a little biased.

So, there you have it. In the now infamous words of Miranda Priestly...that is all.

The Amazing Lace: Challenge #3.

2006-06-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

From our lovely hosts:

Challege #3: The Poetry Challenge

Poetry is a way of exploring the deeper essence of the human (and lace) selves, what it is that makes us human (or lace, as the case may be). Poetry can take many forms, from the classical dactylic hexameter to the haiku to free verse; it can rhyme or not rhyme; it can be written in the first, second, or third person. What all forms of poetry have in common is their ability to evoke a deep sentiment and emotion.

Your challenge: One poem, written by, for, or about your lace teammate posted to your blog (or photohosting account) by midnight EDT (UTC -4:00), July 2.

Ahem. With apologies to Emily:

A Challenge--Trellis! said Helen's Lace
Enticing me with silken thread
You must knit seven into five--
I knit a camisole instead

She of the muted Blues drew me to
The Chart--It belied complexity and grace
Bewitched, I began to knit
Intoxicated with a love for lace

Stitches shivered as I coaxed
Through the loop, the Strand
It slipped onto my waiting needle--
Triumphant!

Pictures. For reals.

2006-06-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

I've had it with the Blogger picture uploading nonsense. I'm going to post all my recent pix via Flickr, so unless there's a better way to do it, they're all going to appear as separate posts. C'est la vie.

A little background on where I've been lately: I was on a maid-of-honor tour of duty this past weekend, flying out to New Jersey to collect my boyfriend, who was celebrating his birthday with his family, then driving up to Rochester for the wedding on Saturday.

The wedding was lovely, the weather was perfect, but in terms of knitting, not so great. I took Trellis (it really does exist! not just on paper!), and the airplane knitting was fine, but truly, it is not a road trip project. The lace yarn threatened to slip off my aluminum needles with every bump, and yeah, there were a few bumps. Sadly, I had to put it away after a while and resign myself to listening to Bill's iPod (just kidding, babe! I heart Bruce!).

Sunday night, we got back to Jersey early enough to have dinner at Carmen's, where they have delicious pizza (I'm not saying it's better than Chicago style, just different, and good). Afterward, Bill took me to the Jersey Shore. I said, well, I've already been to the beach. Clearly, though, I hadn't been to the Shore. We went to Point Pleasant to visit the baby boardwalk, and scored all kinds of junk playing Skeeball and video poker.

Here's a picture of the bi-species stuffed toy we brought back and decided to call Mouskey:

Is he a mouse? Is he a monkey? We debated this for minutes on end, yet my roommate took one look at him and pronounced him a monkey. Why? Because the tag says so, duh.

Now I'm back in Austin and trying to switch from vacation mode to work mode. Such a drag! Is it the weekend yet? :-)

It lights up!

2006-06-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

It lights up!
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

My pen from the Point Pleasant boardwalk. Ain't it cool?

Bridesmaid's tote.

2006-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Tote
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

I didn't want to run all over town looking for a purse for the wedding, so I stitched this little tote from some remnants I bought at Silk Road, the most amazing little fabric shop in Austin.

Trellis Stole

2006-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Trellis Stole
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

Detail of Trellis. I didn't pin it out, just stretched it with my fingers.

Trellis Stole.

2006-06-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Trellis Stole
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

As you can see, miniscule progress has been made. Despite a 12-hour round trip road trip. And the pattern? Not so memorizable. But I am loving it...the colorway is Denim, so it's soft and muted and has variations in the color. It's lovely.

Silk Camisole

2006-06-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Silk Camisole
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

Doesn't look like much yet, but this is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's a gift...for me! I scored some Jaeger Trinity from Elizabeth, who was destashing. I love it so far--it's a silk cotton blend, and light and sorta papery. Perfect for summer!

Midwest Moonlight Scarf

2006-06-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Midwest Moonlight Scarf
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

Ah, the pleasure of a scarf. This is the Caron Simply Soft that I frogged from my disastrous attempt at the Glimmer shrug from Knitty. The pattern is from Scarf Style, and it's so adorable! Easy to memorize, and the more I knit, the more you can see how the garter stitch looks like tumbling blocks.

Baby Denim Pants

2006-06-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Baby Denim Pants
Originally uploaded by Yo La Tejo.

More progress has been made since this picture...the legs have been joined! The gauge is all loosey goosey on this one, but I'm guessing it's because the Rowan Denim yarn is meant to shrink the wash. I hope.

Oh, the irony.

2006-06-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

My original title for this post was going to be, "Real pictures, of real stuff." Because I haven't posted anything but my doodles lately, and I've cast on for new projects that I wanted to show, and I took a trip that I wanted to talk about...and I wanted to illustrate it all, gloriously, with real pictures!

This is the only thing I could get uploaded:

These are the goods B. and I scored this past weekend at the Point Pleasant boardwalk on the Jersey Shore, playing Skeeball and video poker. We also brought back a little fellow we call Mouskey, because he's a strange inter-species cross between a monkey and a mouse (stuffed, of course).

I'm so bummed about the pictures. Next time!