Cara — Page 58

Hissies and Their Fits

April 7, 2006 By Cara

You know, the older I get the more I learn from my mistakes. It’s all part of that growing up process my 85 yr old grandmother promises me NEVER ends. We’re ALWAYS growing and hopefully learning and even more hopefully APPLYING that knowledge. One of the things I’ve really been trying to learn and apply in my life is knowing when enough is enough. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our bodies and our minds were like our gas tanks? I get a nice little reminder on my car – it’s called DTE. Distance Till Empty. Along with the little orange light that blinks, DTE gives me plenty of warning on when (not if) I will run out of gas. If that should happen, well, then, I’m the only one to blame. I mean, really, the car TOLD me it was going to happen.

I guess, in reality, our bodies do have a warning light – it’s just so much easier to ignore. But last night was one of those LOUD AND CLEAR warnings. Sirens wailing. Smoke detectors going off even though you took out the battery an hour ago. A camel dehydrating in the desert. DUDES! I was DONE!

I ended up going to be very late Wednesday night – even though I hadn’t planned on it – and then I didn’t get anything done I needed to get done on Thursday. Thursday night was great though! I went to see Ann and Kay read at Knitty City – a new shop in NYC on 79th (btwn Amsterdam and Broadway). What a wonderful shop! Great yarn selections – TONS of Cascade 220. Lorna’s Laces. They’ll be carrying the full line of Koigu next fall. Cottons, wools, alpaca, sock yarn, fun yarn – everything. A nice book selection. Classes. A full service yarn store and the staff was very nice too – the complete antithesis to that OTHER yarn store on the UWS. Give it a try. Anyway, it was great to see Ann and Kay and meet some new to me knitter and bloggers! Hi Mary! Hi Marcela! (Marcela and I have the SAME BIRTHDAY!!! How cool is that?) Hi Margaret! Hi Sahara! And there were so many others that I’m sorry I’ve forgotten! It was a great crowd and lots of fun knitters. I’ll definitely be back. ETA! I forgot to say Hi Ina! And look! Ina has a picture of my funkycoolfabulous new shoes on her blog! Thanks Ina!

So I came home, kind of early, with the hopes of knocking out what I couldn’t (wouldn’t) do during the day, so that I could leave today to go to Philly and see Ann and Kay at Loop. I have to be in Philadelphia anyway – today is the baby’s FIRST BIRTHDAY! Can you believe it?! Tomorrow is his birthday party and next week is Passover. But last night my printer decided to fuck with me. Really really fuck with me. It’s been happening a lot lately – when it spits out a piece of paper it either wrinkles or tears the top of the page. So I’m trying to print client stuff to pack into the box I need to send out today and all it will do is rip the top of the page!!!! There were things thrown. There were curses yelled. There were tears. Lots and lots of tears.

I ended up in bed, crying, watching the HBO documentary on Rosie O’Donnell’s Gay Family Cruise. Now, I’m NOT a Rosie O’Donnell fan. Annoying doesn’t even begin to cut it. But I cried and cried watching all those beautiful happy families. I don’t know. I was jealous I was happy I was sad that our fucked up country can’t see family for what it really is and should be. Whatever. I was really, really tired. G was giving me space because I yelled at him because I was pissed and all I wanted was someone to rub my back and take care of me. But I didn’t ask for it and I did say leave me alone so he did.

This morning when I woke up I realized that I don’t have to kill myself to get to Philly tonight. Ann and Kay will be fine without me. My sister will be fine without me. My nephew (the older one) will forgive me for not being there when he comes home from school. I can show up to the birthday party tomorrow afternoon and be there until Thursday and get what I need to get done and relax a little bit and help myself.

So far today I’ve sat on the couch and knit on my sockapaloooza socks! And I LOVE THEM!

This is Lover’s Leap (lightweight) from Socks That Rock and it’s absolutely PERFECT for this pattern. I’m using the Simpley Lovely Lace Socks from the new IK and it’s beautiful! It’s hard for me, though, to knit for someone else – let alone someone I don’t know and can’t try on the socks. They seem pretty big – I’m knitting them on size 2s and using the 60 stitch pattern – but I only be really relaxed when my pal gets the socks and tells me they’re perfect! And SO FAST! I’m only about a repeat away (four rows) from splitting for the heel. I’ll have at least one done by the time I get back from my sister’s. And hopefully the other one will be just as fast because I really need to start working on my BDFS if I want it done by the 29th.

Okay. G was home all morning working so the computer was busy and I’ve been knitting and I feel SO MUCH BETTER! As soon as I post this I’m going to eat some lunch and go out and buy a new printer then come home and do the work I need to do and then have dinner with my husband and sleep another night in my own bed and then go to Philly tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. After all. Tomorrow is another day!

Lesson learned. Lesson applied.
Have a great weekend!

PS – Blogging will be sporadic at best next week. I’ll be home sometime on Thursday. Knit well!

Filed Under: Sock Pal Socks

All Seats Provide Equal Viewing of the Universe

April 6, 2006 By Cara

Yesterday Wendy and I took a detour from the MDK Spring Fling East Coast Tour: Knit Squares or Die and headed off to The Museum of Natural History, you know, in order to feel like we were in third grade again on a SCHOOL TRIP! (I promised Wendy no puking.) When we weren’t being lulled into a false sense of security by Robert Redford’s crackly voice (in actuality he was telling us we’re all insignificant specks on the kitchen floor that is the universe and we will all die in a firey intergalactic collision) I was having the rug of life ripped out from under me. WARNING…WARNING! DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT THE RUG OF LIFE RIPPED OUT FROM UNDER YOU!!!!! Did you people know that those animals in the “history” museum were MURDERED and STUFFED for your viewing pleasure? BABY SITATUNGA were KILLED so you and your kids can point at them and say, “Look, another deer!” By the time you get to the Plains Indians, you’re like, hey – they slaughtered the Indians too! And then you remember, it IS a HISTORY museum.

Yeah. I’ll stick to paintings next time.

The butterflies were WAY cool though and a very cute boy (and when I say boy I mean he was at least 21) told us about pupas and stuff and even though Wendy was about to puke it was kind of hot to me. And it wasn’t because the room was 97freakingdegrees either. Man, though, those MOTHS are scary as shit.

After the museum it was on to another fabulous inspirational evening with the girls. Ann and the LI crew were there, along with Karola, long time reader who needs her own blog, and Katherine and Camille and baby Skye all the way from SLC! (Margene! You were like Kevin Bacon! I felt like I was standing RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!!!) Lots of other cool peeps too. We invaded a regular knit night and were welcomed with open arms. I’m sorry if I wasn’t my usual bright and sunny self (just ask Lt. Uhura) but I wasn’t feeling so well yesterday. Usually I’m much funnier. And prettier. And skinnier. If you come out tonight I will be a better me! See you at Knitty City!

PS – The contest is open until 11:59 PM TONIGHT. And since mysteriously ANOTHER book has appeared in my home, I will be giving away TWO signed copies. Winner chosen at random.

Filed Under: Life

Get Yer Own!

April 5, 2006 By Cara

Since I’ve got the luxury of hanging with the MDK girls FOUR nights in a row, and I know some of you won’t have that priviledge, I’m giving away a TWO SIGNED ~~copy~~ COPIES of their TOME!

In order to win, leave me a comment stating your most favorite thing MASON and your most favorite thing DIXON. For instance, mint juleps and a heaping bowl of clam chowder. Or reading Moby Dick while listening to Patsy Cline. Opposites attract, but judging from the girls I hung with last night, they also compliment very nicely. GO TO IT! Comments will close Thursday, 11:59 PM. Winner picked at random. Please enter only once. There may be yarn in the mix as well. 😉

Filed Under: Contest

Too Good To Be True

April 4, 2006 By Cara

Yesterday I felt like crap most of the day so I didn’t clean for Wendy. She, in her infinite cuteness and generosity, took this as a sign that I really, really, really love her. In her thinking, I would only really clean for someone I was intimidated by, or uncomfortable with – as I wouldn’t want to reveal the slob I really am to a stranger, but to someone I love and am close with they get me warts and all. I can see her logic – I would tell her not to clean for me either, but my house is so disgusting these days I’m almost looking for an EXCUSE to clean, you know? I will be doing a bit of lysol handiwipe wipe down and a bit of vacuuming. Because I will feel better.

I have a good excuse for the state of disrepair that is my house. I’ve been trying and trying to get it all straightened out and cleaned up but a consultation with the calendar the other day proved that I haven’t been home two weekends in a row since before New Year’s. And I will continue to be gone every other weekend through June. That’s a lot of time away. And not a lot of continuum to get things done. While all of the away time has been good time, I’m kind of sick of it.

G did book us a mini-vacation though! That’s okay! We’re going here. It’ll be a hectic ten days – wedding on Saturday (better get kicking on that BDFS!) then Bermuda M-Th, then MDSW F and S. Then I’ll be home for a weekend then off again. Then home, then off. Then home, then off. Now that I think of it, I might have two weekends home in April. But that’s right before our big week.

So when I wasn’t cleaning yesterday I spun a little – I’m trying to get this pink stuff done because I’m anxious to spin up my new PS Yellow/Orange. Then I pushed to finish a sock. It didn’t take as long as I thought:

I’m still not sure about how it looks on my foot. And I’m really not sure about the toe.

Gives camel toe a whole new meaning. I mean, my toe looks like I’ve got a hoof. I’ll make the other one, but I may just go back to a regular toe. And then I’ll redo the toe on this one. Otherwise, I’m happy with my modifications: I added another full repeat on the leg – 4.5 – and I did the first two repeats on size 2s (Addis) then switched to size 1s. I did my regular jaywalker heel and I’m very happy with that – if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it!

I was going to change the title of the post because I was originally going to be talking about this niggling feeling I’ve had – you know when things just all of a sudden start to fall into place and everything is going really well and then you wake up in a cold sweat and think everything’s going so well! What’s going to happen now? Then I thought I woudn’t talk about it but I’m kind of in that place. I was telling my sister about all the good stuff that’s been happening while she was away and then I kind of had a mini-panic attack. Are things supposed to go this well? I mean, I’ve worked hard to get things where they are, but still? Shouldn’t it be harder? Or not as good? Or what’s going to happen now? I don’t like this about myself – this pessimism for lack of a better word – and I’m trying to just enjoy the moment but I can’t help thinking the other shoe’s about to fall. Is Mercury still in retrograde? Because I’m a Capricorn and we usually do well when eveyone else is miserable – so that we can get back to our miserableness when everyone else is doing well, which is most of the time. Better go check my horrorscope. Right after I clean a bathroom. Thanks for reading.

Filed Under: Embossed Leaves Socks

Same Time This Year.

April 3, 2006 By Cara

In what’s become (or at least I like to think so) something of a tradition, I’m announcing this year’s blogger/knitter meet-up at Maryland Sheep and Wool!

Saturday, May 6th, 1:30 PM
By the Stage, close to the Main Exhibition Hall.
See Fairgrounds Map.

Leave your name in the comments and I’ll put you on the list in the sidebar! Hope to see you there!

Ps – In the great minds category, Wendy, perhaps the knitbloggerest knitblogger of them all, has informed me she’ll be signing her new book, at the time of the meet-up, in the same place! WOW! PERFECT!

PPS – I almost wasn’t going. Sad I know. All my best travel buddies opted out and I didn’t want to go by myself, but my intrepid husband stepped up to the plate and said he’d take me. Don’t look for him on the fairgrounds though. I think he’s doing the drop and run thing on Saturday. We’re staying over Friday night and heading back home on Saturday night. I mean, really! How could I miss my first big fiber festival since I bought the WHEEL!

Filed Under: Maryland Sheep & Wool

Monday Monday

April 3, 2006 By Cara

It’s one of those mornings. Daylight savings time really threw us for a loop. I’m up by 7:30AM every day (even on the weekends) and today I slept until 8:30. Then G was really late and I drove him into the city so my morning was pretty much shot. Add to that some seriously hurting boobies and a massive sinus headache and I’m just so freaking happy today!! Yeah MONEY!

I did, though, have a very fun and productive weekend. Saturday was CAR day. G and I had narrowed it down to three cars after all our (his) research and spreadsheets and statistics. We had one more test drive Saturday morning: one was already pretty much out of the running because of cup holders (all things being equal, it’s a dealbreaker), one was on the top of the list, and then one needed to knock our socks off. Didn’t happen. Then we went and test drove our first choice again and we were both once again COMPLETELY WOWED!! We love this car. It’s different – not many people have it all – it’s fast – it drives like a dream – it’s safe. Everything we want. We’re not in a complete rush – we have a couple of months before we have to give our car back, so they’re working on finding exactly what we want. (We always go for a weird combination of color/extras that’s kind of hard to find.) On Sunday we actually changed our minds a bit about the interior color and G sent the guy an email. Wouldn’t you know it? They found the original car we asked for at the port, but now we’ll have to wait again for the color combo. I’m so excited!!! I would tell you what car we got, but it’s so perfect for the ABC A-Long Letter R that I don’t want to give it away. 😉 Suffice it to say we’re EXTREMELY excited about our new purchase. It’s going to be a blast!!!

Friday I worked diligently on a job and rewarded myself by starting my Sockapaloooza socks.

And the whole time I’m knitting them (I got about two pattern repeats in after the picot edge) I’m thinking this yarn would look really really good as…

…you guessed it. Some people may claim to be a harlot when it comes to their knitting, I’m just basically a whore. I scraped the sockapaloooza socks and started a pair of picot edge jaywalkers for moi. So crass. I knit the entire cuff on Saturday going from car dealer to car dealer. G was nice enough to drive the whole time – usually I’m the one behind the wheel. The heal has now been turned and I just have to pick up the gusset. Before you go and accuse me of being the worst kind of charlatan, the yarn just wasn’t working with my chosen Sock Pal pattern. I’ve since ordered some new fantastic yarn from Tina at Blue Moon, which should arrive later this week, and this yarn is guaranteed to be PERFECT for the pattern and my sock pal. GUARANTEED. And since the socks I’ve chosen are short, on size 2s with an easily memorizable pattern, we’re good to go by the deadline.

The best way to gain back interest in something you claim to be bored with is to actually SAY you’re bored with it. All I did this weekend was knit socks. I picked up the Embossed Leaves sock again – and found that I had made a mistake with the instep pattern somewhere after I picked up the gusset so I ripped. Then counted wrong and ripped again. FINALLY I’m on my way to finishing the foot. It’s going pretty fast – I think I’ve got a repeat and a half to go before I start decreasing for the toe. There’s only one itsy bitsy problem. I think I like them better on the needles than I do on my feet.

I dont’ know. It’s weird – I think they look really cool off – the colors the yarn the pattern, but on, they seem just eh. Oh well. I will finish them. I think it’s pretty funny that you all got so concerned when I said I was bored with socks. I mean, I don’t really consider myself a sock knitter. Of course, I knit socks, but basically I’ve knit the same sock a million times. I often get questions about socks and sock knitting and I rarely know the answer – unless, of course, you’re asking about jaywalkers. I don’t know anything about heels or toes or short rows – in fact, I put my normal jaywalker heel on my embossed leaves sock. Not that I mind being thought of as a sock knitter, it’s just not really how I see myself. That said, here are the three socks I’ve got on my needles currently. Two need the gusset picked up and one needs a foot.

Yesterday, I finished another job and sent it off to the printer! YAY! And I’m thisclose to getting the taxes done – I just needed some stuff from G which he provided late last night. Today they will be finished. And then I have to at least make an attempt to clean. A bathroom at the least. Bookish Wendy is coming for a couple wild parties with the girls over at MDK. I hope they don’t get sick of me because I plan to go to see them Tuesday, Wednesday (with the LI Crew in da house!!!!), Thursday and finally Friday in Philly! WHOOHOO! I lurve me some Ann and Kay.

Last but not least, I flashed my stash on Saturday. Many of you stopped by to see. When I was taking the pictures I didn’t really think much of it – it’s just another blog thing why not, but after getting all the comments and traveling around to other people’s stashes I actually was kind of uncomfortable about showing mine. The few posts I read about excess and waste didn’t help matters, but I glossed over those. I mean, I know I have a decent amount of yarn. Some of it I should really get rid of because I will never knit with it and deep down I know it but I’m not ready to part with it. Besides STR (which I’ll get to in a minute) I haven’t really been buying a lot of yarn lately. Most of what’s in my stash was bought last year: my first experience with elann.com. My first trip to Maryland. My first pair of socks. Since I’ve gotten rid of all those firsts, the only yarn I’ve really bought had a pattern to go with it. And I’ve been trying to knit from stash when I can. The STR is a whole other ball game. I think of that like a collection. And the truth is that I do knit it up – I’ve got STR socks on the needles (right now three pairs going) at all times since I started buying it. I
‘m going to Maryland next month and while I will probably come home with some yarn, I don’t have any intentions of buying any. I won’t be buying any STR (unless I see something I’ve really been looking for, but I doubt it.) I will be looking for fiber and spinning stuff. That’s this year’s obsession. Right now I’m too busy making my own yarn to buy someone else’s. 😉

The thing is my house is also filled (and I mean filled) with books. I doubt anyone would comment on the excess of that. Just an observation. I could be wrong, and I’m sure my feelings of discomfort are just that – my feelings. No one said anything unkind to me – it’s just the impression that I got from the comments. And no need to stroke my ego in the comments today – it’s all just thoughts off the top of my head.

Off to finish the taxes and clean a toilet or two. Ghost story winner announced tomorrow.
Have a FANTASTIC DAY!
L, C

Filed Under: Embossed Leaves Socks, Socks

Meme-Day 2: Art for Art’s Sake

April 2, 2006 By Cara

Scout tagged me for this new meme: Post your favorite paintings. I’m going with two, although there are a million others I really, really love. Starry Night by Van Gogh at MOMA is always a treat. I’ve recently fallen in LOVE with Whistler’s watercolors and his non-figure paintings – many of which can be seen at the Frick, my favorite museum. Goya’s “Black Paintings” that we saw at the Prado in Spain are wonderfully evocative. El Greco’s View of Toledo is one of my all time favorites, and when we went to Toledo I got to see the actual landscape and it was like it had jumped out of the picture.

The first painting I’m going with is Ruben’s Prometheus Bound.

It’s part of the Permanent Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the museum I grew up in. When we would go as a family when I was young I HAD to see this painting. I remember you walk through the old church room (I guess pre-Renaissance works) and then you come into the European Master’s Room and there was my painting. I loved this painting so much I had a poster of it that I hung in my room. My sister didn’t like that too much, but tough. I’m the oldest. It’s kind of gruesome, but what are you going to do? It’s what I liked at the time.

The second painting I’m going with is Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights that resides in the Prado in Madrid.

That’s the center panel of the tryptich. There’s a good story behind my love of this painting. Maybe I’ve told parts of this before, but you’ll hear it again and you’ll love it! Anyway, I was a senior in college and I still had to take my Art or Music requirement to graduate. I had been waiting four years to take Modern Art, which was only offered once a year in the Spring and it filled up ridiculously early and you basically had to be a senior to get in (seniors had first priority when registering.) So I’ve been waiting four years to take this class and it ends up being at the same time as a seminar on Philosophy of Religion (I was a double major Religious Studies and Philosophy) taught by one of my favorite professors and there ain’t no way I’m missing that. So I still have to take an Arts requirement. I look over the schedule and figure I can’t take music – too hard – so I take Renaissance Art instead. BEST.CLASS.EVER! Seriously. Without a doubt one of the best classes I’ve ever taken in any discipline. The professor was funny as shit – he was weirdly obsessed with the sex lives of these artists and the art was even better. Having been a Modern Art person (Post-Impressionists more than Post-Modern) I didn’t know anything about Renaissance Art besides you know, Leonardo and Michaelangelo and stuff. I FELL IN LOVE! The Van Dycks! The Breugels! The El Grecos! The Titians! The Frans Hals! The Boschs! I was in HEAVEN. I started hanging out at the Frick on a daily basis. I skipped over the Modern room at the Met. I shunned MOMA and the Guggenheim. Instead I dragged G around Italy on a long weekend – getting lost in Venice – searching desperately for a Tintoretto! Then G had a big dinner to plan in Madrid. He was flying back and forth and they were using a Velazquez painting and he had all these private tours of the Prado. He comes home telling me about El Bosco! And this amazing painting he saw! The Garden of Earthly Delights! Did I know it? DID I KNOW IT!!!! It’s the most amazing painting EVER! I mean the weirdness that comes out of the mind of El Bosco puts my twisted imagination to shame. This man was really, really sick. In the best possible way.

One weekend G whisked me off to Madrid. He wanted to take me to the Prado to see my favorite El Bosco in person. We walked into the hallowed halls of that beautiful old museum, the ugly Americans. We passed the Velazquezs. We passed the Goyas. The El Grecos. And finally we asked a guard, “Where’s the El Bosco? The Garden painting?” After much pantomime and speaking loud slow English, he got it and led us to another room. With a wonderfully large empty space on the wall. The Garden of Earthly Delights. The Genius Painting of Hieronymous Bosch. The WHOLE reason for a wonderful weekend in Madrid. The fucking painting was out being cleaned. Can you believe it?!?! We laughed so hard we cried. All was not a loss though. I did buy a couple of posters.

This painting is filled with the most physical, psychic and spiritual depravity ever imagined! I LOVE IT! You could stare at it for hours. In the last year we had some problems with the heat/AC unit in the room where these posters hang and the repair guy would bring his apprentice – maybe this kid was nineteen at the oldest. He would stand there and stare at the pictures – like he was in a trance or something. Then he’d look at me funny and I’d just stand in the doorway, my hands folded over my chest, with a cheshire cat smile on my face. So much fun.

Thanks Scout, for tagging me for a great meme. I hope you enjoy the paintings as much as I do. And you are now IT!

Filed Under: blogging stuff

Meme-Day 1: Books for Books Sake

April 2, 2006 By Cara

I’m tired and I’ve got a lot of work to get done today. Perfect time for a couple of MEMES! The ultimate in procrastination!

From Carole:

Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.

~~The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown~~ (It’s a principle thing with me now. Greedy bastards with the hardcovers if you ask me. And yes. I know about libraries. I don’t think I have privleges anymore though.)
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger (At least two copies on my shelf – one G’s, one mine.)
~~The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams~~
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (I’m shocked, but I can’t find this in the house.)
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
~~Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling~~
~~Life of Pi – Yann Martel~~
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller (I’ve read half of it. Hence the bold and the italics.)
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
~~Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling~~
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
~~The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold~~
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Atonement – Ian McEwan
(The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert