No, not my muscle, but Ann’s. God I love that woman. Every now and again we talk about a podcast – a one time thing actually – but it probably wouldn’t be funny to anyone but us. Hey Annie – I was telling G about our conversation and he just shook his head and said we were wicked retahded.

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, but this week is crayzee! Usually I’m home all day by myself trying desperately to get some work done or alternately staring at the filth around me willing it to clean itself (which takes A LOT of energy. Almost as much energy as if I were to ACTUALLY clean it.) But this week, wouldn’t you know, when I would just love to sit around and dream about my vacation, I’m out every single day. Today I have a meeting and then I’m off to Lawn Guyland for guild. So no post tomorrow either. I suck. I know. Hopefully next week things will get back on track and all will be right with the universe again – read me sitting inside with the air conditioner on high, showerless, knitting my little heart out.

Just a brief note on yarn store reviews: as I said in my last post and as evidenced by the comments – for every person who LOVES an LYS, there’s someone else who thinks it’s eh or even ick. That’s the nature of human nature. Maybe I caught the staff at Imagiknit on a bad day. Maybe I was in a bad mood. Maybe maybe maybe. I got a vibe. I’m not telling you not to go to the store – I would never say that (unless it was TRULY awful, which it wasn’t) and I’m pretty sure I didn’t say that. I ended up buying close to $100.00 worth of yarn and stuff. If I had really thought the store was terrible I wouldn’t have spent a cent. The truth is is that the “vibe” is something tangible, and if we’re all honest with ourselves, we’ve probably felt it at one time or another in most yarn stores. It may pass quickly and truly we might not get it at all, but it exists. Which is something I find remarkable given that the any person going into a yarn store must truly have some kind of interest in the craft, whether burgeoning or established, it’s there.

The truth of the matter is that I don’t really frequent yarn stores all that often. I wouldn’t say I have my own lys. I don’t knit with a group, period, let alone one associated with an lys. There are a million and one yarn stores in my area – a huge variety – some of the nastiest I’ve ever been to and some of the nicest, some of the prettiest, some of the ugliest, some of the astounding variety nature, and some of the one trick pony type. Between the internet and the yarn stores in my area, I don’t need to go to yarn stores when I’m on vacation. But I love to do it! I love to visit and see what’s out there – most of them are no different really from what I can get at home – but every now and again you find something really special. And then there are the people. The knitters. You can’t discount the knitters.

Without you damn knitters I wouldn’t be having conversations about love muscles and laughing my ass off. For that, I thank you truly.

Next week! Lots of knitting! I’m about to start the second chart of Moth! Maybe a finished sock! AND the big reveal!

Clue #2

Stay tuned folks….

I hate to do this to you, but I’m outie. Sadly, I didn’t knit a stitch yesterday – a predicament which will be remedied next week. We’re off Sunday and between now and then I have every second accounted for – there is A LOT of work to get done before I can vacay with a good conscience.

I will try hard to post at least once while I’m away (a week for blog purposes). This is a true vacation, though, so I’m planning on spending every second with my honey.

I’ve got one thing to ask though…

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Have fun. BE SAFE.
L, C

Well, that didn’t last long. Ugh. When I came home yesterday, even though I was in a good mood, the new pants veil had been lifted and all I saw was a really dirty house (we’re almost at squalor people) and pictures from my niece’s birthday party where I look really really fat. Jabba The Hutt fat. Fatter than fat. Gross.

What’s a girl to do? After I ate the super huge Baja Fresh burrito (SHUT UP! It was lunch AND dinner!) I actually folded clothes and put mine away and then knit two repeats on my beautiful new shawl. That almost made it better, but I did fuck something up near the end of the second repeat. It was easily ripped and fixed so we’re back on track.

I’ve got a lot of work to do before we leave on Sunday and I’ve got nothing new to show you – so I’m going to leave you with a couple of links:

First up – did you see what Nona the GENIUS is doing? She knitting a sock. Yeah yeah. We can all knit socks. But can you knit a sock SIDEWAYS?!? In true Nona style she’s got a serial tutorial going on for her new sock pattern: SIDEWINDERS. She’s up to the third part but there’s plenty of time to catch up. I’ve met Nona and she really is a genius. I’m not just saying that. She’s so smart it makes my brain hurt. GO THERE NOW.

Then, you all know that my dear friend Claudia is raising money for MS right? She’s got fabulous prizes to give away, including some of my notecards, and she’s gotten such a great response she’s had to extend her fundraising goal! YAY! I’ve already given twice because my motto is give early, give often and if you haven’t done so – you should just run right over there with your credit card in hand. (Or you can send a check. Or paypal. Claudia’s got all the details.) She’s trying to reach $30,000 and I’m sure she’s going to blow right past that.

In related news, the Lovely Anne of Knitspot is working her own raffle in conjunction with Claudia’s fundraiser. She, too, has fabulous prizes to give away AND she’s matching FUNDS!. You can find out all the information to win some of Anne’s good stuff here.

And if that’s not enticing enough, Lilith let me know yesterday that if you give to Claudia and tell Anne about it, she’s putting you into her OWN raffle for a fabulous pair of handknitted MONKEY socks!!!! That’s right! Lilith will knit you a pair of socks! What are you waiting for?

Whew! I actually feel better now. Thanks everyone!

PS – My current favorite make me happy trick? The ending of 40 Year Old Virgin. Dude. I dare you to watch this and not laugh your ass off.

You can thank me later.

PPS – In case you haven’t seen the movie, this scene appears after the 40 Year Old Virgin has had sex for the first (and second) time. This is supposed to be what he thinks of it. 😉

The princess birthday party was a RESOUNDING success. Think big backyard. Barbeque. Trampoline. Decorate your own tiara crafts. Sprinklers. Water Balloons. Castle Piñata. Ice Cream Cake. No rain. Family. Friends. LOTS of kids. At one point my niece was sitting on the top of the slide that lands you right in the blow up pool and she said to me – and I quote – “My party is CRAZY!” with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. My sister and brother-in-law outdid themselves and I don’t think we’ll see another party like that for awhile. At least a year. 😉

On my way home from Philly yesterday I took a detour and stopped downtown at Rosie’s Yarn Cellar. I was desperate for some Addi Lace needles so I could start my Wing O’ The Moth Shawl. I ended up with two size 6s – the 32″ length and the 47″ length which I realize now was a HUGE mistake. I should’ve bought a size 6 32″ and a size 5 32″. I started on the size 6s, of course, because that’s all I have and I’m worried. For me, this yarn is LACEWEIGHT even though everyone says it’s a bit thicker than lace weight. I’ve never knit a shawl in anything thinner than fingering weight, to be honest, and the thinness is scaring me. I feel like it’s too loose. Like I need to knit it on 5s even though Anne told me that she’d knit the shawl on 6s with this yarn and she’s the kind of knitter that doesn’t knit too loose or too tight and usually gets gauge. I’m the same way. I might actually swatch which I SO don’t want to do – but I might. And I also might get me some 5s because I’m nervous that way. So no real start to Moth, but some good work on my latest monkey. I should have a finished pair for you tomorrow. Although you’re probably really sick of them already.

I didn’t walk away without yarn from Rosie’s:

Koigu. P123. I have a weird thing about Koigu. When I want to buy yarn and I don’t have anything specific in mind and the store has Koigu, I buy it. It’s become my souvenir yarn. But I rarely knit with it. I actually feel guilty knitting socks with anything other than STR. I told you it was weird. And it’s a shame too because I think this yarn would make excellent Monkeys.

It’s rainy and icky and I’d love to just sit and knit my socks. For a change, I actually have to go out today. Figures.

I managed to knit to one repeat and the toe on my Seastone Mini-Monkey and then I gave up. I’m crazy today so this is what you get – socks will be modeled tomorrow.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow! You’re only a day AWAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Thank you thank you thank you! All your good vibes made my reunion a RESOUNDING SUCCESS! I had SUCH a GREAT time! Sure I was nervous walking in, but after like five seconds it was all good. It was a blast to see so many people and the years have treated us all well. Every single person told me I looked like I hadn’t changed AT ALL, which I took as a good thing. (The zit on my cheek probably helped that. 😉 ) I was talking to one friend and he told me that it felt like everyone was in a really great place – everyone seemed happy and happy to be there. No pretentions, no airs, no misery. I totally agreed with him! There was a fantastic vibe to the evening! I guess all the miserable people stayed home. The turnout seemed great. My outfit was comfortable (even the spanx!) and my hair behaved and I felt really really good. I was so pleasantly surprised, I can’t even tell you. I even got to talk about knitting! (Hi Diane! It was so great to see you!)

I ended up wearing a black pair of dress pants, a sleeveless black top, black backless sandals, and my shawl. It was perfect. This is how good the evening was: on my way home I stopped at McDonald’s and after I ate, I popped my zit. All in all, a really nice night – I’m sure I’ll be ready to do it again in 10 years!

The rest of the weekend was just as fantastic. My sister’s mil gave my sister her gently used bike for Mother’s Day and since the seat needs to be adjusted for my sister, I got to ride all weekend! Her mil put a seat on the back for the kids so I played pony for the weekend. What a blast! I had so much fun! My sister literally lives in Mayberry USA and every time we passed a neighbor they’d wave to me and the kid on the back of the bike. Then, to make things even more idyllic, the ice cream man came and we all got treats! Dude. I never ran into the house so fast for money! I’ve known this for a little while, but it all solidified this weekend. Being a kid as an adult is SO MUCH BETTER than being a kid as a kid. My sister and I decided that it’s because we know just how much fun being a kid really is and we can appreciate it so much better. I also understand, though, that being a kid is just as hard TO KIDS as being an adult can be to us. I’m so happy to be grown up!

For Mother’s Day, I did a photoshoot with the kids for my sister. I haven’t taken pictures of them in a long time – too busy being their aunt to worry about pictures – or even bring my equipment down. Besides, that’s work (as much as I love it) and I like to play when I’m with the kids. (See paragraph above.) Anyway, the shoot was great. My niece continues to be my BEST model – since she was four days old. I’ve got LOTS of pictures, so I hope you enjoy.

And even though it was an absolute MESS getting home last night (a train hit a deer on the Northeast Corridor line), there was my favorite boy and YARN waiting for me when I finally got home. Socks That Rock yarn at that!

Knitting tomorrow – hope you like the photographs! Thanks!

See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities

I picked the yarn for my next pair of monkey socks. Always good to think ahead.

The yarn is STR Dutch Canyon (Lightweight – I only knit socks with Lightweight so it’s safe to assume that any STR yarn I’m making a sock out of is Lightweight.) I tried to use this yarn once before – as a Pomotomus sock, but alas, I didn’t like it. I think it’s MUCH better suited to Monkey. I knew this yarn was destined to be a Cookie A pattern!

Speaking of Monkey socks, The RachFace seems to have a bit of knitocd going on herself: she’s got washclothes or bibs and monkey socks as far as I can tell, but who knows what other obsessions are going on over there. Although, as far as obsessions go, six pairs of monkey socks is kind of lame. I’m just saying cough10jaywalkerpairscough, you could be a bit more obsessed. But thank you for raising the bar for me. 😉 But mostly – thank you for your modifications! Check out all of rach’s Monkey Mods – some very cool socks.

In other news, I have a nice big red zit on my cheek. I’m prone to breakouts, but mostly on my chin and lately things haven’t been too bad. So to break out on my cheek – you know – right in the middle of my freaking face – isn’t the most attractive. I’m dealing with it as only a seventeen yr old can.

Did I mention that Friday is my high school reunion? Did I mention I’m GOING?

Yeah. That zit just got A WHOLE HELLUVA LOT BIGGER!

I’m sort of iffy on the whole reunion thing. I was talking to Ann today and I said that 99% of the people attending I haven’t spoken to in 20 years. She said, that’s the point of a reunion. Duh. The zit is eating my brain. But still – the reunion website lists all the people attending and I can’t help but click over there a half a dozen times a day and think – oh. I don’t want to see her again. And they all keep popping up in my dreams. I have to say though – I’m pretty damn happy with my life and where I’m at in it and who I have in it and it’s nice to go to a reunion and be confident. Although I do have a huge zit. Here’s what I looked like in high school:

No, I don’t have a skin condition – that’s scanner rot. And here’s a funny picture for the family Annie! My senior prom dress!

Even then I couldn’t keep the boobs up! And no, I didn’t go to my prom with Conan O’Brien. I have no idea what happened to my date – he joined the Air Force soon after high school. I hope he’s safe.

Now go pray for my zit to go away.

Today Vicki linked to a story I wrote entitled “The BBC.” The story is a satirical look at tragedy in our world today. With the events that occured at Virginia Tech yesterday, and the news that the shooter was a Creative Writing student at the University, I’m putting up the story again for all to read.

My hope is that the story’s absurdity makes you laugh a little bit today, as well as think about the nature of such events. My thoughts are with the entire VT extended family.

Read “The BBC.”

Thank you.