So whatever happened to...

OK, I'll admit it. When something I am knitting goes horribly awry, one of a few things happens to it:

1. I frog it completely, usually in front of Gina so I can have the evil pleasure of watching her face split in half. It's a thing. (It's a funny thing, despite the fact that I am deliberately wasting hours of work. This happened more when I was starting to knit, since I could never repair booboos without making them worse. So - RIBIT.)
   
   In this group:
   
   the Mary Jane cachet (never even got close to starting the frigging sweater yet!)
   the first four attempts at a Jaywalker sock (more on that damned thing in a bit)
   several assorted first / second / third / nth attempts at projects that have since reached the light of day in their complete state
   


2. I put it aside to fester, mold, dissolve, or otherwise entertain itself until I work up the spit to go back to it and fix it.
   
   In this group:
   
   the Cheetos Bolero shrug, which gave me almost a year of agida until it was completed for Merry Thankmas (huh? didn't read that blog? go look for it. funny.)
   TWO attempts at a Jaywalker sock - one with some Opal sock yarn, and another with Gina's awesome watermelon yarn. Doesn't matter how awesome the yarn is though. I still screwed up, and it will take an act of great will to pick these up again.
   
   
   


3. I finish it anyway, but it never sees the light of day. It goes in a drawer, never to be spoken of again.
   
   In this group, and only discussed for the need of an example, is the mildly infamous Willie Warmer.
   
   I finished it, but the head?tip? can I call it anything without being obscene? just doesn't look right. I know why - I increased a bit at the top of the ribbed column, then started to gradually decrease. I was going for an (ahem) mushroom-like shape.
   
   The decreases and increases were all in the same places though - so the end result is that the head looks like a four pointed starfruit. And any willie that would fit that is one I want nothing to do with.
   
   So, haven't frogged it. I accepted the result humbly as a learning event. But soon, will start searching for a way to get the shape I am looking for. If anyone has ideas or can link me to a pattern, I would be eternally grateful.
   
   
   
   
   

Adopt a Soldier

I recently found an organization called Soldiers' Angels, which matches people stateside with military men and women all over the world. You "adopt" a soldier, and send messages and care packages to them so that they can feel some tie to home.

I adopted Olivia - I don't know much about her yet, and may never receive a response from her (after all, they have way more important things to do), but its kinda cool to think that maybe the goodies I am sending her brighten her days once in a while.

There's even another website (several, actually) on which you can order care packages to be delivered for you. They worry about the shipping, and customs, and security - all that stuff. How easy is that? I'm thinking Olivia could use some Easter nummies!

So thinking that you could do more? Check out this site. Adopt someone who could really appreciate hearing their name called at mail call!

Cuz Ericka Likes a Quickie

There. Nuff said.

You're welcome, Ericka.

Did You Know?

I was looking through my day timer this week and found one of those facts pages they throw in to jack up the price of the thing - and saw the Anniversaries and appropriate gifts list.

Did you know that the 7th anniversary is (among other things) the WOOL anniversary?

Hmmm.....very interesting.....

-LaLa (married 09.02.00)

FO Two

Finished Jess' Cheetos Sweater from that Hotplace, made with Knit Picks Shine cotton in apricot.

Can you see see her in it? Nope - cuz her mother hasn't sent the Merry Thankmas pics to post.
HINT, HINT.

FO One - UPDATED, FINALLY!!!

April 10, 2007: And finally, here is a picture. Worth the wait, huh? Isn't she a righteous babe?

Finished Lisa's wristers, made with soft baby alpaca in a maroon to match her scrubs.
Can you see them? Nope - cuz she hasn't sent me a picture of her in them to post. I didn't have my camera when I gave them to her.
HINT, HINT.

Ah, SPA!!!

Better late than never, I 'spose. Went to NETA Spa in Portland Maine a few weeks ago, and had a great time. Took Lisa, of course - whenever there is an excuse to get the heck away for awhile, we are so there. Spa weekend doesn't even start until Friday afternoon, but we went up on Thursday just to have more time to relax.

Lisa is standing next to a fantastic mermaid in progress, by Lida Diak at Grafton Fibers. What cracks me up is the mermaid doll the big one is holding. (No, I will NOT pick up another fiber skill. No, I will NOT pick up another fiber skill. No, I will not pick up another fiber skill. But felting is pretty cool. So maybe someday...)

Thursday, Feb. 15th: Got to the Doubletree in Portland after a very easy drive up there (and an excellent lunch at the Galley Hatch in Hampton - EXCELLENT onion rings!!) around 6:00, and stopped at the Shaw's down the street for a few munchies, water, and other stuff we forgot. Would you believe the lobby was full of spinners and knitters already?

Friday, Feb. 16th: Grabbed lunch at Amato's - will definitely go back there again. Great Italian takeout and the owner was a big flirty teddy bear - just my type, if I wasn't married...

Lisa and I did a shift as Greeter Gnomes at the welcome table, got to chat with Tommi Hall for awhile. She's very cool - even took the time to teach someone how to knit on Thursday night. How do I know that? Her pupil got in our elevator, and headed to Tommi's room right across the hall from us.

It killed me, just about, to watch everyone file into the Vendor room at 5:00, when our shift wasn't over until 6:00. The good stuff was going to be all gone!!! Little did I know, there was way more good stuff than could be bought in an hour by hundreds of fiber-ers with itchy credit cards. I liked that most of the fiber for sale was home-grown, home-dyed, and / or home spun. There were products there you would never see in the typical yearn store. And OMG - the spinning wheels were beautiful. I am sticking to my promise never to take up spinning, but it's tough. Maybe a drop spindle some day....


Saturday, Feb. 17th: Was today the day of Lisa's first knitting joke? Or was it Friday - I forget. But we were checking out the vendors, and we found one with about a dozen beautiful fish hanging from her kiosk. She had knitted them, felted them, and stuffed them. So she actually asked - are those (wait for it...) GE-FELTED fish? Bwahahahahahahaha. No really, it was funny at the time.

Also met a very nice lady who was weaving on a jackloom as she ran her kiosk full of yarn, books, weaving tools. Since I am still working up the courage to take my Kromski Loom out of the box, I asked her if she had a book for total weaving idiots, and she made several suggestions. Picked up some books, some Interwoven magazines, checked out her Opal yarn but managed to resist.

Sunday, Feb. 18th: It was hard to check out. Didn't do a whole lot of e xciting things, only hooked up briefly with other knitters, and barely saw the ManchVegas crew, but it was relaxing, and very liberating to do whatever we wanted, when we wanted to. No hubbies, no pets, no kids, no chores. No dishes. Beds made for us. What's not to like?

The Doubletree did a fantastic job for us. I have never slept in a more comfortable bed, with more pillows than one human needed. The restaurant served most meals buffet style, and the food could have been a bit better, but it was fine for the price. Lisa would have been happy with their bean medley for all three meals. Odd girl. Where's the chocolate? Well, it was in our room, that's for damn sure.

Lisa found some super-soft chunky yarn to start another project on. Or maybe to stuff in her bra, right, Gina?