buahhhhh ha ha ha ... 2

i know i did that with the finger cookies - so it needed to be repeated for the holiday. Happy Ghoulie Day to those who run around with costumes on - as i do not any longer.

I will not be home this evening so i made up two little bags for the new neighbor girls - and saartje's booties with 1 strap for the new baby. they all came out pretty cute if i do say so myself.

tonite is my first game as a season ticketholder... yay!

....the death of me yet...

... yesterday bouncing away on the BBS, into the rounds of the feet and deciding to continue for a little mindless knitting rather than starting on the gusset of its brother.... and i am out of freakin' yarn.... now i go to the "regia stretch" box... and i am out of freakin' yarn. these socks will, i have determined, be the freakin' death of me yet..... just about to beg some from the source, i go tearing through the closest baskets to me looking for YARN - but specific yarn not just any yarn... regia silk, trekking , lana grosso,,,,,,, arrrg... but wait.... what is that???? YAY! one ball left and i am in straight knitting heaven. i have decided these socks are the ones to make me hate black knitting. but i will finish them... i will finish them... i will... between the two feet i will be able to do these with 3 balls of stretch - and that will put paint to them.

We started a Socks for Soldiers group on Ravelry, mainly, in my case, to "hold the place". so i will just keep a slight eye on it in meanwhile.

We also split up our tickets for the first part of the season. there are 16 home games between now and 1/2. will be easy enough to do, if only my dh will consent to plan to be with me. if not, dash it, i will go myself.

i am off - have a day - i will!

Monday... Monday....

today is monday - as we all know who have calendars or tvs or radios in this world. and probably even if you don't.

Knitting today consisted of BBs - i am not onto the heel of the second - excuse me CONCURRENT sock, as i finished up with the gusset decreases on its brother. once i get heel and gusset done on this baby it will be all done but the shouting! very nice indeed. This particular pair of socks seems like it has been on my needles since dinosaurs ruled the earth. i am happy to have stuck them out.

My Le Slouch, as it turned out to be such an easy knit, is finished. I worked on it in the car yesterday on my way to do our errands. I can knit easy and big yarn projects in the car, and can do k1p1 rib on bbs in the car, but cannot do anything that involves looking at the knitted fabric - so gusset decreases are definitely O U T.

Rock Climbing 101

... well i've climbed THE ROCK... the Prudential Center opened its doors for NJ Devils business - opened for actual business a few days earlier but this definitely will be known as a hockey arena... i loved the touches of hockey jerseys from each high school and private school in the state - as well as colleges i believe - there is enough food there to support a small country... crowded - yes but it was the home opener in a new arena... parking - not a problem for us. Seats in our section? tight by my standards - cup holders are a nice touch but if you are that tight who can use them? who will be sitting in that arena with a winter coat on? who knows - where will you put the coat you have to wear? aaaaahhh.. who knows again?? I enjoy hockey. So sue me...

i am rounding the gusset decreases on my BBS. that is a good thing. I am so chomping at the bit to start a hat or two - i don't really know why but i am - so sue me again. i like the le slouch hat (see post from 10/27 for link) - i've seen pics of on ravelry - the variations of this hat include making it SLOUCHIER than the original by adding more inches before the decrease - i will definitely be doing that. i think i like the seed stitch version - i love the nubby quality of seed stitch. knitting seed stitch in the round is like mindless rib knitting - you just keep going round and round in k1p1 - you just start with an odd number of stitches so you are always off one stitch from a rib.

if i knit on my BBS past the gussets today perhaps i can reward myself by starting a hat. wish i knew of a red and black bulky weight i could use on a hat for me for game nights...

so much inspiration...

... usually around now i am putting up my knitting because i've lost the will to finish things for the holidays... things have just blown up around me and i figure - "omaha steak catalogue here i come". Well not this year.

i am determined to finish bbs this week - actually rounding on one foot now and it is clear sailing once past the heel - one word to say there CONCURRENTLY. I love Regia Stretch and the way it has a bounce-back when you are knitting with it. I am a loose knitter so i am always down to 1's for the rib and 0's for the heels, and i never seem to split Stretch with my pointy Harmony needles.

I've had tons of inspiration this week - so i can't complain of having too many "impulse purchases" and not enough small projects to use them up. I have started Le Slouch hat by Wendy Bernardfor a gift, as well as finding on another blog - the braided hat someone on knittinghelp.com. you must click on the link for "braided hat" and not the picture, since clicking through the picture brings you to a different hat. these hats and gauntlets will be terrific christmas gifts that will take a moment or two to knit. and not too much longer to get into a package and ship off. yay.

Ravelry has given me a new place to really compare the different free patterns i find. To see who used what yarn for what... to see what alterations took place to make the pattern more to my liking.

And in browsing sites that i am brought to by ravelry browsing, i find gems like this - PROVISIONAL LONG TAIL CAST ON by Wendy Bernard which is a great way to start a project with a technique you know, but get a different result! Also take a look at her Last Minute Purled Beret for another quick gift idea - looks like people will be getting hats for christmas.

to the heels...

... my bbs are at the heels - well - one is definitely - one i might have about 5 more rib rows - but i am there baby... after this pair i think i will do a couple in the other colors of regia stretch i have and ask for them to be dyed. i think the black is doing a mischief to my eyes of late.

My cookies (see the previous post) and other costume accoutrement (sp?) are winging there way to the kids for their festivities on saturday. I have my own festivities planned, as the arena opens to the first home game - yay!

i've finally learned how to add those blogs i read to the sidebar - i have lots more to add, but i ran out of time today. back to the drawing board, eh?

...and your little dog too...

finger cookies.... ahhhhhhh

buah ha ha hah ha

so... i think in all my diabolical-ness, i have collected enough fingernails for the lady-finger cookies for this weekend's bash... sorry couldn't help myself - knife optional of course. they are drying now in readiness for cookie preparation..... the rubber gloves are what started me on it - how RED is red food coloring anyway????

fit in a couple more things maybe?

okay - this morning at 10 was dds - and yuck- i hate dds, although i do love mine. he is very patient with this off the wall patient.... and since i hate the dds let's leave it at that....

.... i spent the next hour researching in auto how to best get to 280 for the flight to our arena for hockey - and promptly got lost - but thank heavens for GPS. so home to visit with the dad for an hour, to la groceria - yes i blew it off yesterday in the soap suds of laundry - and back home.... sitting for a moment contemplating the "ladies fingers" cookies i am to make for ms. beth's bash this weekend when someone ims me asking "how was the flu shot?" to which i reply "$%^#$ - gotta go." i checked with the dr. who would still take me and so i have completed my tasks for the day.

so i am done for the day - will be working on BBS exclusively tonite. will not start something else until i am past the heels on these socks dammit. wow - not much knitting content here today was there....
... oh yes - the dds secretarial support loved her "gauntlets" - seen in the post previous to this one - it is a knitty pattern called fetching. look for it - made them out of debbie bliss cashmerino aran.

mondays.... washdays.... mashdays....

... so i have to do laundry, i guess i can't deny it. i could keep going out and buying new underwear for my husband and myself and keep throwing away the old stuff.... but then i won't have money for yarn....

... i hate laundry. i think it is one of my big hates... that and the #$$#@#%@#$% groceria which i cannot stand on a good day - i don't think i could stand it with the mp3 player in my ears and knitting needles in my hands while i do the aisles... i really don't.

so those things are in todays future (well in the present - i am on my 3rd load) and so if i grump well sue me.

we went to the new arena yesterday and if we can square away the parking, the hockey experience will be the better for the new place.... seems to be a pretty big IF though.

i am working on BBS and am getting there - this pair for some reason is the neverending BBS story.

i made another pair of SAARTJE's booties in the car on the way to the arena and back. they are made out of leftover sock yarn - and if i have the camera here i will pix them before the end of the day.

my next sockclub delivery from Pickup Sticks sock club arrived today - Harvest Moon socks in Louette Gems - where IS the camera???

so i've been busy.....

.... let's just say its been a bit of a week. and let's just leave it at that...

... i finished the little booties i found to make for our newest next door neighbor Lily. They are a pattern that is on the internet - Saartje's Booties - and they are quick as a wink to make. i've also seen versions where there is one long ankle strap and not two crossovers.

the baby surprise jacket is moving along. i've gotten some good notes on that one, too. i think i will be making them in the future because they are - like the BBS - ultimately portable.

As for the Black and Big socks - i am almost to the heel turn - remember that they are CONCURRENT so i will be heeling two at the same time, gusseting two at the same time and rounding the bend to the end...

... a woman walks into staples....

... to replace her card reader.... purchases one, returns home... and is told by her husband that he could have ordered the "hardwired" piece and slapped it into her desktop whenever she'd wanted him to... perhaps it does not surprise you to read he is currently strung up in the garage.... maybe i will release him in a week or two.

anyway - thanks to sandisk i can post pics again.

since i've not posted any pics of bbs here - here is my pair in progress. I do them CONCURRENTLY so i don't have flabby ankles or slippy heels on one and not the other.

Also showing today for your pleasure is an update on my Baby Surprise Jacket. I am also trying out a lovely and looking like quick pattern for cross-strapped baby booties by Saartje.

I've learned (as you can see) that linking up some of these projects will make it easier for anyone who might stumble upon these words to find them.

Card Reader, il le morte

it's at times like these when i could throttle the person who ordered me this computer. i asked for a built-in card reader but..... NNOOOOOOO.... so today when i took pics of socks, stash and a baby surprise jacket... and went to upload them to the pc from the card.... and the card reader is dead..... hmmmm

well i guess i know what i will be doing tomorrow. i tried uploading directly from the camera but my usb cord doesn't have the right size plug for the camera....

enough with the whining - i am the only one who reads this anyway.

Not ebony.... but Harmony...

Today questions came up on a knitting group about dp needles - i purchased the new Knitpicks harmony needles and must say, not that i am an expert mind you, they are terrific.

They are wood, so warm, laminated, so strong, and POINTY so so so so NICE for socks and small items - i have yet to split yarn with them, so i am a happy person where my needles are concerned.

i only have 1 set of the dps, much preferring to knit my socks on circs - so i have 2 pr of each 0, 1 and 2 in the 24" circ.... doo doo doo doo dooo.... i'm lovin' them.

and what am i knitting? well i am still a bit off the base - still climbing out of my freefall of last week. but i am inching away on the BBS, have cast on for a leisure pair which i will snap and post, and also working a bit a day on a BSJ for my next door neighbor. this is my first bsj so i am keeping care of the diagonal decreases and increases... hope it works out and i don't have a mess when i am done.

Sailing..... Sailing away....

we spent saturday night sailing on World Yacht's dinner cruise around (well sorta) Manhattan. The evening was marred by the fact that the airconditioning did not work in the dining room - and the windows for the most part do not open... so it was definitely too hot to enjoy. but the deck views were incredible! just incredible. i would do it for the views alone, although that makes it one pricey tour. i am glad to have taken the canon camera along - point and shoot camera didn't work at all - needed to be able to adjust aperture and film speed to get semi-unblurry photos... after all - the boat is moving even if you are stabilized.....

i have no chance in hades to get my stash organized enough to put it all on ravelry. i've put some of my sock yarns there, but it is a daunting task that will take a long time. i am enjoying trolling for patterns and inspiration, and have made some friends there already.

i did not really make much headway this weekend, between visitors, until saturday afternoon, cruising saturday night and ragging my sister's entry hall on sunday. the entry hall is not finished, but i think it will only take a couple of evenings, to make an end. i love the way it turned out so far, and i still have one more tone to add.

Happy Anniversary....

.... today is Phil and Beth's #4! And we get to see them tonite and tomorrow so i am so so happy.
things are just same old same old... i have not worked on bbs in two days... but i have not been able to knit at all because of the elbow thing.

i will not wax poetic about Ravelry. it is not fair for people waiting to get in. but it IS pretty cool and i know eventually everyone WILL be in. so look me up when you get there - same old ddhockey.

i just found out my new neighbor is having a girl - i knew she was pregnant as it is rather hard to miss. so i think i will do a little something something for her - but i have not figured out what. I found two new baby sweaters - a yoked one piece sweater and a raglan cardie that look really cute. I researched the yarns they mention and the softee or whatever is like a sport and the jamie is a fingering... hope that helps anyone looking for a sweater.

well even typing is aggravating the bloody tendonitis so i better close

well i can't knit a blue ribbon...

... i guess i can get a blue ribbon for knitting (like THAT is about to happen) - so i will do one more photo of our girl with her bows....

... as for Ravelry, i played about a little yesterday - looks like i have way way more photos to up load than i thought - not that much on flickr actually and i only have the free account so i don't know what the limits are.

last night i knit my obligatory inch on the BBS - after all we were watching the Battle of the Bulge on THE WAR - and then switched to something on big needles - i find this is helping me AND my elbow.

as i list stash and other nonsensical things on Ravelry, i will post pics here too. Someone said something about Ravelry being like being invited to sit with the popular kids and then not having anything to say - .... yup that sounds like me.

do i look different??? does it SHOW???

I've been invited to join RAVELRY and i admit to being very excited to join!

I also admit i am not on the knitting cutting edge here. so there must have been lots and LOTS of folks who heard about ravelry before me. But after patiently refreshing and checking to see if i was close, my invitation came today.

I will have to learn more about lots of the internet/computer/web savvy things, but i already belong to flickr so i guess i am on-pace there.

the weekend was tough as one might expect, but i spent my time trying to keep my mind off it by watching Maddie Girl compete in Canine Agility Trials locally. While she doesn't live with me, she is "our dog" by love if not by address. if i can figure out how to get the video on youtube, i will link it here eventually.