Adventures of a Yarn Yahoo.

This is harder than I thought it would be.

2010-10-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

My grandma, who taught me how to crochet, died.

I don't know what more to say than that.

Blogging seems so weird now, because it all started because of her, really, and I can't seem to start a blog post without thinking of that, and then I derail because all I can think to write is, my grandma isn't here any more, and I miss her, even though we were only close when she was teaching me how to crochet.

How sad is that? I think that's what gets me the most. That side of the family doesn't really get along, and I can't remember a Christmas or Thanksgiving that didn't involve yelling or fighting, so I stayed away as much as possible to avoid all the bullshit fights that started over nothing. Now I can't go back.

We didn't even have a funeral. Probably because everyone would fight. I keep waiting for the release I get from saying my final goodbye, and I'm never going to get that. So then now, three weeks later, when I'm on the verge of tears from even thinking about it, I feel silly. Like, I shouldn't be crying over a woman who I wasn't really as close with as I would have liked to been, but I still miss her, and I think people won't understand why I'm upset.

Later, I'll talk about my sweater. I just need this right now.

Better late than never, I suppose.

2010-09-21T16:47:00.029-07:00

Finally, here is Traveling Ann's Lie to Me Hat in person!

And even though Ann is awesome, I'm going to admit that I didn't quite follow the pattern as you wrote it. (like always...) Instead of holding a yarn double, I just used my hand spun held single because I didn't want to use rent money on yarn...again. It knits like a dream and I'm pretty sure several in my family will be getting this for Christmas, if that's alright with you, Ann?

Lets see, I've also started on a baby blanket for one of my oldest and bestest friends. I keep forgetting that I'm 22 and not 12, and people my age do in fact spawn. I'm still working on this. But the blanket is going to be amazing and soft and the little chichorito is going to love it...assuming I can convince the cable in the pattern to stop being a stuck up bitch.

Sock heels still suck but I've made my peace with that because Jeff bought me 2 1/2 pounds of dreamy corriedale that is going to be dyed, spun and then knit into a sweater. Plus it means that when he find yarn all over his backpack, it isn't totally my fault anymore. I love dating an enabler.

(pssssst. Look at all my new pages!)

Why, Caitie. Why do this to yourself.

2010-08-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in trouble.

Not "HOLY &@^% if my mother finds out I did this, no matter how old I am, she will murder me," trouble. But "I'm going to eat this bag of Cheetos even though I'll regret it in more ways then one," trouble.

I really, really, really, REALLY want to knit a sweater. I even have the perfect wee pattern that uses a super chunky yarn to make it process go by faster. I even have this crazy feeling that it will cease to be a million-bajillion degrees outside and I'll be able wear the sweater.

I'm just a cheap bastard. Looking around, I saw that it'll cost me about $50-60 bucks, not including shipping, to get yarn for this project. I don't know if I can do this. If the yarn was 30 bucks, and in a color that doesn't look like shit on me, then I'd have that on lock down. Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

I thought since I graduated from college, the whole "broke student" reality wouldn't apply to me. Damn. But if anyone sees or knows where I can find some good super chunky yarn on the inexpensive level, please, please, please, let me know. I'll owe you my first born child, or something.

I love you. I hate you. I wear you.

2010-08-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Socks.

Unless it's summer or you're wearing heels, then you probably wear these little buggers quite often. Probably white, and it came with 6 other pairs for two bucks from Wal-Mart. If you're in a position to make socks, then I'm sure that unlike me, you have a whole drawer full of charming handmade feet covers some place in your home, from the every day wool garter stitch socks to the special silk-cotton blend that you break out twice a year on special occasions. And you probably enjoy making them, to some degree.

Again, here's where I can't yet fit the stereotype.

I love making socks. I love the little project that fits perfectly in a bag and that doesn't require much space to work on. I love that I memorized the pattern so I can hold a conversation while I work. I don't even mind knitting on a size 2 needle. Knitting mind you. Purling? Fucking. Hate. It.

I don't know why, but purling with those small needles is a special kind of hell for me, which means that my cuff ribbing is as short as possible and looks like crap, and my heels are a tad wonky and I hate every minute of it. I get through that part as fast as possible so I can just do the rest in plain garter stitch and whip out a pair of every day socks.

Which would be totally awesome, but I would like to some day incorporate patterns into my socks. Maybe a cable here or a hint of a lace pattern there...which all requires purling...or at least a stitch manipulation.

Is there any way to make purling on sock needles easier? Traveling Ann (Who is all kinds of awesome. And understands my zombie obsession) gave me a different heel pattern to try. And since these are Jeff's hiking socks, I'm 90% certain that he won't mind one heel being different. I'm also 90% certain that he won't notice....

Seriously, if anyone has any suggestions about purling shortcuts, or just how to make it less painful, I'm open to suggestions.

Missing: Active urge to knit and crochet. If seen, call me.

2010-08-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

When I first started things blog (two summers ago, happy late blogversery to me!) I said that the main reason I crocheted was because it was the only free way to recover from a total mental break down, thanks to school. Having a place to, as Ken put it, crochet and swear, made everything a lot better. Especially when I realized that there is a whole community out there who also crochet and swears. Or knits, spins, dyes....you get the point.

Since school has been out in May, my stress has been down to pre-puberty levels, meaning that I don't have any anger issues to take out on inanimate objects.

On the one hand, I love this. I've stopped chewing on my nails and the area under my eyes looks more like my actual skin tone than Eye Black. But that nervous, twitchy drive that I've relied on isn't there any more, and I don't need to do a mind numbing creative task just to knock out.

I need to find that creative drive again. Maybe this is a good thing about summer ending, and I'll realize that I'm freezing my ass off and need to rectify that with wool. Like a sweater that I'm wanting to make, even though I'm slightly nervous about making something with sleeves.

What I did on my summer vacation.

2010-08-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

I bought a spinning wheel. It's a Bea Modern with a built in Lazy Kate. It spins like a dream and I love it so much. Probably because I got it second had for a flat $200, even after getting it shipped from the Netherlands.

I spun more yarn than you could shake a stick at.

I even learned how to dye it with Kool Aid and tea.

This lead to a re-branding of Crochet Creations by Caitie, which is now Fiber Fashionista.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FiberFashionista

Then I turned 22 in Vegas.

And got an internship at blue22pr

Things I didn't do on my summer vacation:

Worry about school.

Blog.

That first one is awesome, but the second one? Yeah I'm about to get right on that...

I'm gonna love him, and squeeze him and call him George

2010-05-27T20:15:00.001-07:00

John Steinbeck and I have had a thing since I was 12, probably because I can relate to his experiences of living in a farm community. Don't judge me.

(News flash, Jeff apparently doesn't know who John Steinbeck is. How we've gone 3 years without me knowing this is a gut wrenching mystery, and must be mended on our next trip to the library. Don't fight it. You're going to read East of Eden and enjoy it, dammit. ....Love you!)

So last weekend after a few crappy shifts at the jobjob, I was feeling pretty blech, and decided to get a used spinning wheel that I had my eye one for about two weeks. It's called a Bea Modern, and from what I've heard, it's pretty popular in the Netherlands, where the lady selling it is from.

I know I'm not punctuating my sentences with multiple exclamation points (!!!!!) or CAPS LOCK. AND BRIEF SENTENCES, but I'm freakin' excited about the possibility of not hand spinning unless I want to. The spinning wheel comes with three spindles and a lazy kate, and for 50 bucks more I could have bought an umbrella winder and a ball winder. But I don't have the space...yet.

Honestly, just thinking about finally having a spinning wheel makes me fidget and want to buy my weight in fleece. The joy and excitement that I'm feeling could only possibly be matched by the joy I'll feel on my wedding day or the birth of my children. Maybe.

I'm still not really sure where I'll be putting the spinning wheel, because my apartment is basically 25X25. Yeah, hole in the wall. But if Jeff and I stay in Arizona, we'll be moving to a larger apartment in the same complex, so then I should have more room, but alas, no yarn room, yet.

Converted

2010-05-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did a naughty thing.

I took my friend Jettie from a sweet, non-yarny person, and I think I turned her to the dark side. And by dark side, I mean her Facebook posts and Tweets are about crocheting. We already have a yarn store trip planned for Thursday and after that....the transformation will be complete.

I keep hearing Darth Vader's voice in my head. Not really a problem, right?

But anyways, Shaun, I apologize in advance (but I don't really mean it), your fiancée will now want tot talk about yarn, crocheting, patterns and either how awesome they are or how much they suck, and little else. I'm sorry for the yarn bits that you'll find on your floor, in clothes, hair and in your cat's poop. Jeff seems to cope really well with me, and I'm sure he'll share his techniques. But really, you just have to deal with it, and be glad she doesn't crochet, knit, spin and dye yarn, like me. You'll get nice soft things out of this, just make sure Jettie knows that even though mauve looks great with dark skin, guys don't really dig that.

Be grateful, Shaun, that Jettie doesn't want to drop $300 bucks on a spinning wheel, like I do. I'm currently obsessed with the Luet S15 kit, just because it's so cheap and I can spin SO MUCH MORE on it. I love handspinning, but after a pound of spinning, the last thing I want to do is go back and ply that. My poor hands! I just have to figure out a way to make room for one without sacrificing book space. I have no problems sacrificing clothes space, or computer desk space, but when two book worms live together, book space is sacred.

Alumna.

2010-05-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

As of 6:30 last night, I am no longer and undergraduate student. The label that I've identified with for the last four years no longer applies to me, and I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm happy that I don't have to put up with school BS and ASU's outrageous fees, but I'm also sad because for the first time in my life, I'm not working toward a foreseeable goal. And that is really, really weird.

I've learned a lot too:
Some adults will act like 12 year olds, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.
Sometimes all you can do is cry, because everyone needs a good nervous breakdown every now and again.
It is incredibly hard to put yourself through college and come out with a respectable GPA (not like that matters in the real world, but I'm proud of my 2.89)
Studying shouldn't be everything. I could tell you about the 1996 Telecommunications Act, but if I don't go hang out with friends, who will be there to listen to me?

I think that college has a point to make, that we're all a bunch of idiots, but here's how to not be as much of an idiot. Maybe that's why I had to take so many cultural awareness classes. Good thing I love anthropology, otherwise I would have been stuck taking white guilt courses. Yuck.

So, as everyone probably knows, I really don't have any plans as far as what I'm doing with my life, but as my friend Chris put it "Dude, don't worry so much. Sometimes all you can do is hope your shoes are tied and your underwear is clean. That way you can be ready for the best thing to ever happen to you."

I really hope he's right.

Friday

2010-05-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

When my mom gets mad or stressed, she cleans. (Believe me, when I still lived there, the kitchen was IMMACULATE, just so she didn't kill me). I tried that, and sometimes it works. Like when I'm on the phone and I get news of people acting like idiots, I start cleaning the bathroom. If I can't clean, I knit or crochet or spin. that way my feelings aren't take out on people and I feel productive.

Unfortunately, this isn't one of those times. Graduation is next Friday. In a week and 6 hours, I'll be walking onto ASU's campus as a student and leaving as an alumna. That has my nerves in such a tangle I can't focus. Which is really a shame, because I have a laundry list of knitting and crocheting to do, like my mom's Mother's Day/Birthday present (both of which, are Sunday) and then another half dozen titty-bitty crosses to make out of lace for Susan. Plus the Frankenbag and slowly forming bathing suit cover up. I figured since I'm confident in my utter sexy-ness to actually WEAR one this year, I deserve something cute to wear over it when I'm eating or lounging. Damn right.

The only other defense mechanism that I have against stress and scary things is falling asleep, like a possum. Whenever I have to drive with Jeff over the 5 mile bridge in Tampa, I fall asleep. Great defense, except that it actually works against me when it's finals and I need to stay awake. Awesome.

I really don't have any real reason to be SUPER STRESSED, because even though my student job ends, I'll be working part-time at Costco until I can find a full time job. When it all comes down to it, a paycheck is a paycheck, but I wish that I could have a job that put my journalism skills to use.

At least until I save up the money to open my own yarn store : D

You spin me right round baby

2010-05-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

What have I done since January? (other than have weekly panic attacks about graduation, which happens in 9 days) I spun. A lot.

Remember this?

Which some of became this:

Am I the only one who thinks that looks like a group of green and pink rats? Barf. Well that and some other colors became this:

I'm not that good at math, but I can tell you the following is true. Shit load of spinning = shit load of yarn. I think I'm around 900 yards, but like I said, I'm bad at math. The yarn reminds me of sorbet, which reminds me of summer, so I've made it my decision to make a summery bag out of this. Of course, what I have in mind and the patterns I've found don't really add up, so I might have to wing this. Yikes. Usually Frankenpatterns don't work out.

When I wasn't spinning, I turned this:

Into these:

Needless to say, I'm in love. Good thing I'm not neurotic about matching socks, because these are just too cool. I finished these in the dead of winter, and having bright fun socks made everything better.

Other than school, that has been my life for the past few months. Now I just need to worry about graduation.

Which is in 9 days.

Fuck.

Fear

2010-05-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have an awesome friend. He's a blunt sonovabitch but he really put things into perspective for me. You see, I had run into a problem, a jerk-y problem. I had written something and it was taken offense at, even though I didn't mean it that way (I actually thought it was a compliment). After that, I was afraid to write. Hell, you would be to, if you got threatened with blacklisting.

When I told Luis, he was surprised. Not because the threat was made (okay a little) but because I hadn't done anything about it. In his words, I'm the type of girl who will come across the room an smack you if you say something disrespectful and mean, so why was I letting this get to me? Why wasn't I hauling ass across the room to smack someone?

Don't you just hate when people know you too well? Can't get any sympathy. But Luis had a point. I let something get in the way of my writing, and I can't ever let that happen again. So please, take offense to this. It might mean that I'm doing something right.

Everyone, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let fear of retribution get in the way of yarn. So if you'll let me, I have a lot of catching up to do.

Christmas, almost a month later.

2010-01-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

So here is a rundown of what I gave and got for Christmas.

Since my dad rides a motorcycle to and from El Centro a few days a week, even in the cold, I knit him a helmet liner from the Citizen Sam organization.

I guess this could also be used if I wanted to rob a bank.

I then undertook what turned into a huge pain in the ass when I tried to knit the Opie Hat from Weaverknits (Go back to April, it's a pretty cool pattern). This was the project that I had when the yarn felted on me. Which was so. MUCH. FUN.

My bad on the flash. But it was early and I was still half asleep. Its Fame Trend, I just don't no what colorway it is. I love how the striping turned out.

My mom got a crochet beret and Darrin got an ASU stocking.

Again, sorry for the shitty pictures.

I actually got three things from Jeff, but the blue Romney got spun up rather quickly. I'll post the project that it'll turn into.

The sock yarn is the same as what his hat is made of, just a hell of a lot prettier.

I have one sock almost finished, and I'll post pictures of that when I'm done with the pair.

Also, because Jeff loves me, he got me about a 1/2 pound of undyed Merino fleece.

Which I then mixed with Kool-Aid to make these!

I also have some yellow and red that I dyed up, but have no pictures of.

Okay, that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last month. What about you? Any fun things going on?

Love is...

2010-01-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

....Wearing a pair of socks that your girlfriend made because she loves you, even if they're a bit wonky.

Happy Anniversary Jeff. Thanks for putting up with my insane ranting and odd obsessions. Some that change daily. And for not giving me the look when I come home with a sheepish look and a bag of yarn. (Get it? Sheepish? Man I crack myself up.)

(Tomorrow will include pictures of Christmas and my yarn dyeing attempts. Now isn't that snazzy?)

Mostly Alive.

2010-01-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

I tried to be good. Really.

On Christmas morning I took pictures of everyone with their handmade gifts. I took pictures of my yarn and wooly presents. I took pictures of me using said presents. I had blog posts outlined.

And yet, this is the first you're hearing of me this year.

Whoops.

I meant to post everything on Christmas night or on the 26th, but after dealing with the mess of my brother's hood apartment break in Round 2, I was in no mood. Believe me, there would have been so much swearing my computer would have exploded.

The week between Christmas and New Year was a pain, because I had to work, be sick, and plan how I was going to get Clara to Yuma before Jeff and I left for Tampa. Last week, I was in Tampa, and sick. You didn't want to hear from me then either, just because I would have gone on and on about being a snot monster. And who wants to hear that for two weeks?

But it will get done this week, because next week school starts and then all hell will really break loose and I won't have time for much catch up.

But I made an effort this time, does that count?

Just kind of freaking out.

2009-12-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Due to great planning and refusing to make everyone and their mom a handmade something this year, all presents have been knit and wrapped for Clara to pounce on. Except one. And it's driving me insane.

I like to have a project with me all the time, that way if I have to wait for something, then I can keep myself occupied instead of falling asleep, and right now that project is Jeff's Present. But Jeff's Present doesn't want to be carried around, so in retaliation, the yarn is felting.

Let me just say that again. THE YARN IS FELTING. ON ITS OWN. AS I'M TRYING TO USE IT.

Felting is basically when you rough up yarn to create a piece of felt. Which is a really cool effect, but you do it after you knit up the piece. Not while it's still being worked, you piece of shit.

So now I get to fight with my last present 8 days before Christmas. Thankfully I'm nearing the end, but its still going to be a close call, because I can't work on it when Jeff is around (obviously), which is really hard seeing as we live in a hole in the wall apartment and he works from home. He's always around.

I've been reduced to train knitting with felting yarn (and not to mention the usual garden variety of creepers). This is what I get for gloating.

Present Update

2009-12-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

At the risk of pissing off the higher ups, Christmas (Oh Sh!t) Knit Fest 2009 is going.....well.

Like really, really well. I finished two things today while watching a load of documentaries thanks to Jeff's Netflix account. I only have three or four things more to make, but they're all really simple projects that I should be able to knock out in a few days.

This year, I'm actually enjoying making these gifts, because I don't have to make about 10 things for people, like last year, which resulted in me almost throwing a huge hissy fit at Jeff's grandparents at 2am on Christmas Eve. Which is just about as much fun as you think it is. Especially since I'm under swearing censorship there since Xena is 13. So that's why I put a limit on what I'm making this year, less stress, less swearing and it's more enjoyable.

So the two things I made are drying after a good blocking and then they'll get wrapped and shoved under the tree for Clara to try and eat. Aw. Isn't she cute.

And I may regret this, but so far, I'm feeling pretty good about Christmas presents.

Surounded by yarn

2009-12-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

You know the saying, "water, water everywhere. But not a drop to drink." ? That's how I feel about yarn right now.

For my PR writing class, we had to pick a "client" and the only place I could think of that wouldn't mind me hounding them ever 40 seconds would the my ever-living Fiber Factory. (And I was right) Which isn't a bad thing. I know the product and I'm getting to know the industry so that I have that leg up when I open my own store, but it sucks ass for someone on self-imposed yarn exile. And exile is the only way I know I won't spend rent money on yarn.

So there I am, going into the Fiber Factory on a weekly basis, surrounded by soft and fluffy and pretty yarn and fiber.....but I can't get any. Welcome to the only Hell worse than the Hell Of The Horny Dragon.

Although I'm only semi-self imposed now, because Christmas (Oh Sh!t) Knit Fest 2009 is in full swing. This past weekend I bought enough yarn for two presents and I have to wait til Friday when I get paid to get the rest. I refuse to comment on how well or poor I'm doing, least I invoke the Crochet and Knit Gods and then punish me by hiding all my hooks and needles. Or make my fingers fall off. In their infinate mercy.

Although I'm drawing the line this year. I just want to get it out there that I love everyone, and this year the amount of love I have for you IS NOT related to you receiving (or not) hand made goods. If you get the Sons of Anarchy Season 1 on DVD doesn't mean that I hate you.

Oh, wait, that's what I want for Christmas.

You know, in case anyone was wondering what to get me.

Divine intervnetion.

2009-11-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

I finished up another hat last night, and a pair of socks over the weekend, and I feel I'm at a perilous position as far as being a crafter goes.

I have no projects, and nothing to do.

Well, yeah, I do. But they're stupid and mean and don't want to be worked. Their loss.

I finished my hat faster than I thought I would, and it hit me this morning that I have nothing to throw in my bag, and nothing to do tomorrow when I watch the Macy's Day Parade.

Let me reiterate. During TV watching time, which is prime knitting time. I have nothing to knit. I don't know how I'm going to get through this.

This is either hell, or divine intervention.

Hell, because I love nothing more than knocking the dust out of my brain with some simple knitting or crocheting or spinning (Shut up Chris) and watching TV. And tomorrow is TV heaven with the parade, football and cheezy holiday specials.

Divine intervention because I have a stack of homework that's as tall as me, and and an apartment that looks like Sarajevo, and a dinner to make for tomorrow. Since I can't knit, I really don't have an excuse to not clean and do homework and blah blah blah.

Even pulling the sick card wouldn't work, because I have nothing to keep me occupied. Crap. My speed and efficiency has backed me into a wool-less corner, and I don't see a way out.

Someone, send yarn. (Or vodka)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Idle hands and fitting the stereotype.

2009-11-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a creature of habit.

I had the same hairstyle for 6 years. I stuck to crocheting for 1/2 my life before I even gave those pointy sticks a second glance. I still wear purple shoes and think that Starbucks price gouges and has a campus monopoly to make us all cry. And for the longest time, I wanted nothing to do with the whole "knitting socks" thing.

Last Christmas, Jeff bought me a sock knitting kit that I tried once and then threw it back into my bag. Then this spring Terry convinced me to buy Hyia-hyia needles that were intended to take the suck out of knitting socks on double points. And it did.

Not that I'll EVER admit that to her face. (Unless she's somehow found this blog. In that case. Hi Terry!!)

Since then I've knit 3 pairs of socks, each a little less wonky than the last. And I think I need help. I want to knit more of the stupid buggers.

I'm working on another hat, but I can't take that with me because I need to follow the pattern to the letter or everything gets messed up. I've pretty much memorized the sock pattern I use so it makes for quick train knitting without much brain power. Perfect for my 6 am train rides into Downtown Phoenix. So while listening to music and reading Bangkok Haunts is a great way to wake up...but my hands of nothing to do.

So chances are I'll cast something on over the Thanksgivige break and have it finished before it gets really cold so my toes won't freeze. (A perk of all wool socks)

I think I now fit the knitting stereotype: yarn in places I didn't know existed, a yarn blog, multiple projects, a love of sock knitting, and a crazy ass cat who may or may not be the reincarnation of Genghis Khan.

I don't know if I hate this or not.

In which I always feel miserly.

2009-11-16T09:57:00.001-07:00

"I never have enough yarn."

Every knitter and crocheter says it, even while holding arm fulls of Noro and snatching sock yarn off the shelf as fast as humanly possible. There's this inherent fear that we'll be right in the middle of a project (or God forbid, within the last few inches) and we'll discover that we don't have enough yarn to finish, and that type/color/weight can't be found ANYWHERE on the face of the Earth ever ever again. If you don't believe it, you'll be acossed with horror stories until you're loading up on yarn muttering to yourself.

Unless you're me. Why do I feel like the steadfast exception to the rule? I just buy what I want, because I don't plan my projects out in advance. (Stupidstupidstupid) This isn't so bad, because the Fiber Factory is about 2 feet from my apartment, and they never run out of stuff. Like ever.

But this summer, after schlepping a million bajillion blocks in Manhattan with my Energizer Bunny Boyfriend and his Sherpa cousin, I rewarded myself by visiting Knit Picks in the Garment District and picked out two skeins of pretty yarn as a souvenir, one of them being a hank of Kudo Plymouth Yarn #41. Cotton with a bit of rayon and silk thrown in there, beautiful, am I right? Since I was too worried about filling my shoes with blood that I grabbed my yarn and bolted.

It wasn't until later that I realized that I should have gone with my gut and gotten two hanks, because the one I got was only 198 yards, enough for a hat or maybe a neck warmer.

Which isn't so bad, except that most hats make me look like I have some weird piece of anatomy stuck on my head, if you get my drift. I can make berets, but then people look at me like I'm some smelly hipster. Ew.

Thankfully my Twitter friends ( Like Mraeknitter and Francescaknits) came to my rescue yesterday and this morning and have sent over patterns that take a small amount of yarn and are rather cute.

Lessons of the day?
When Donovan and Jeff say 'Lets go for a walk," tell them exactly where they can walk themselves to.
Plan projects out, and maybe grab more than you'll think you'll need for a change.

God walked out in the cool of the day, called Adam by his name

2009-11-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

When I want to get something done, I usually plop down with something good to watch to counter the Knitting Vortex and away I go. For about two weeks it was The Tudors, and may I say that I can't wait for season 4 of that show. I'm a huge history nerd, and even more so when it comes to Tudor history (Plus this isn't so bad to watch). But sadly, I go through shows like no body's business, which left me with no show to knit with.

Now I'm sure I could get cable and solve my problems. But I like watching shows all at once, or in big chucks while I do something. Plus full cable packages are expensive (I'm talking to you, Cox Communications). So I love Hulu and Surf The Channel, and now, I'm in love with Sons of Anarchy.

I tried watching it last year when it was brand new, but I couldn't get into it, and it wasn't the right time for me to watch it. I started watching it last Sunday when I was waiting for Jeff's flight to come in and ooooohhhh Lordy. I've found my new show.

I finished season 1 last night and I'll probably start the next one in a day or two. The show is really good, if you haven't watched it, but what really gets me is the music. My title comes from a lyric from John the Revalator by Curtis Stiger and the Forest Rangers. I think its the same band that does the intro song too.

But wow, am I right? I love those deep soul songs, and that's one thing this show has. It seems like this type of music really is what draws on emotions of the singer and you can tell. I've been listening to this song all morning.

So I've been plugging away on my second sock (Thankfully I don't suffer from SSS) and have been itching to get one more thing in before the Christmas Craft Crusade of 2009, but I'm not sure what I should start making. Any ideas?

Missed opportunities

2009-10-29T09:55:00.003-07:00

I'm so mad at myself. Not only did I miss the Southwest Fiber Festival, but I'm 90% sure I missed sheep shearing day at the state fair. Dammit! The SFF would have been perfect to go to, since Jeff is out of town I wouldn't have had to drag him all over the place (although he is a wonderful sport about it, and looks at me like he knows I'm batshit bonkers and loves me anyways). But it was south of Tucson, and I'm in Mesa, which a shitty car and an even worse bank balance, so even if I would have remembered it, I still wouldn't have been able to go, let alone buy anything.

Its times like these when I really despise college. Because I'm busting my ass to pass my classes and pay rent, I have to work at places that offer part time, and that means that while I have all my basics covered, I don't have any wiggle room.

Before you start yelling at me.

I know people have it worse off than I do right now. Hell I've been worse off before. But after a few years of this, and the stark realization that this broke trend will continue well after May when I graduate, it can feel mildly depressing.

So I played catch up on The Tudors and knit on my second sock and tried to forget all the fuzzy cute animals.

Which worked out about as well as you think it did.

In other news, Phoenix has been hit my a sporadic cold spell lasting two days. Being the desert rat that I am, this is how I like my cold. Short, sweet and too the point. Meaning I get to whip out my scarves and hats that I've worked on between February and now, but it isn't cold long enough that I start getting depressed or never get warm. Tomorrow is back up to the 70s (Fahrenheit, so that'd be....21C? Thank you high school Chem for finally paying off. ) and then it will probably stay warm til Thanksgivingish.

Introspective

2009-10-26T15:47:00.003-07:00

Ask anyone, I usually have a lot to say. Especially if you ask Luis, he'll probably tell you I never shut the hell up.

Wanna know a secret?

I think I write like a doof. Probably cause I use the word "doof" a lot. Sure, when something has been put through Dale (lovingly referred to as Big Fuzzy Yoda), it comes out looking polished and mildly professional. But here? When its just me and my thoughts, I can get a bit rough. And I swear often. My bad.

I know my spelling can make my mom wince and I tend to have run on sentences, and it's that knowledge that makes me reluctant to share my blog with people who don't already know it exists. If I know the person already, then they know my quirks. They know when I launch into a swearing tirade I'm usually trying to find a way to joke about it. But random lurkers may not get that right away, and if the first post is a lovely trot down Expletive Highway, well then that leads to not nice things being said, usually about the quality of my writing.

Doof does not equal shit. But its feedback like that which makes me even more hesitant to show others my writing and projects (because lets face it, people thing a 21 year old hand spinning on the lightrail is weird enough). If you're going to be wandering around the internet reading blogs, please remember that actual people with actual feeling (Shut up Chris) write these.

In craft news, I knit a sock in 9 days. Suck it.

Why I do it.

2009-10-19T09:22:00.004-07:00

When someone who doesn't know me or see me very often, they give me weird looks when they see me pull out my crocheting/knitting (or god forbid the archaic spinning) and inevitably I get the question: Why are you doing that?

For the record:
1. Yes, I know I can probably find the item that I'm making in the store, in bigger quantities, cheaper.
2. No, I am no Amish.
3. Yes, I'm perfectly sane. And there is the key.

I knit/crochet/spin so that I'm not talking to invisible monsters/loosing my grip on reality/killing the first idiot who looks at me cross eyed. I craft to stay sane.

If I didn't have an outlet or focus, I'd go stir crazy every time I had to wait for something and my perennial ADHD kicks in. Or every time I got upset, I'd probably sit there and cry instead of sit there and knit and call the heel of a sock stupid rather than a person.

I'm not the only one. A few months ago I met a Desert Storm Navy vet on the lightrail heading downtown. First thing he said to me: "A knit two purl 2 ribbing with two colors? How do you do the carry up the side?" Shocking that he knew that I was knitting and not weaving/basket making/directing traffic, but he knew the language. He then told me that when he was in basic training, he was so stressed that he was getting horrible headaches which made him loose sleep, and that made him more stressed out to the point of killing himself. He ended up going to see a doctor about it, and the doctor told him that he just needed an outlet, and gave him a crochet hook. I remember the guy laughing and saying.

"Now the doc, he was a big dude, probably was a drill instructor at some point, and he's sitting there telling me that not only does he crochet lace, he knits too. I thought he was joking and was just trying to make the situation better, but he wouldn't give me any meds until I tried my hand at crocheting and that didn't work."

The guy said it did, and he's been crocheting ever since. Aww.

Its the fact that it takes your mind off whatever it is that's bothering you and forces you to think about something else (I dare any one of you to tell me that you can crochet anything in a V stitch pattern and zone out). He also told me something really really interesting. His doc told him that people who have a hobby that forces them to make something, be it pottery, painting, weaving or what have you, they cut their suicide risk almost in half. Probably because you're forced to be a part of a community in some way shape or form, and because you have something to keep you going, even if its a stupid granny square blanket and you've made a bajillion squares already and you're sick of squares but you keep making more because its the thing that keeps you going in the morning. (Been there)

I'm not saying that people should stop taking Prozac and pick up a hobby. But a hobby can only help. Or turn you into an obsessive compulsive and you have to be within reach of yarn. Either way.

That's the long version of why I knit. The short version? Its fun and I get to spend time with people just as loony as I am.

You know its true.

2009-10-15T10:05:00.002-07:00

Fall and other news.

2009-10-12T08:46:00.002-07:00

Last year about this time, I was tearing my hair out from stress because of JMC 301, or Intermediate Reporting. Basicially its a wash-out class that makes you turn in a story every week and no matter how hard you bust your ass to get an amazing story, the best you can hope for is a B+. But that meant that for the months of October and November, I was cooped up inside writing/calling/begging people to talk to me, or writing up articles for Pop Warner Football on the weekends. Needless to say, not much time to enjoy fall.

This year has been totally different. While I'm still cooped up from work and school, I can at least enjoy myself when I'm outside, either riding my bike or running. And it also means that I'm really getting a kick out of making fall things.

Like the beret and matching neck warmer that I made with the wool Jeff gave me for my birthday. I made the hat when we were in Tampa (to keep sane) and I finished the neck warmer yesterday, and even found two buttons that worked perfectly. I somehow get lucky with buttons. I know that knitters/crocheters can spend days or even weeks looking for the perfect button, but I seem to find them on the first or second venture. Maybe I just know where to look?

Or the socks that I made for Jeff. I can't tell you how long he ~~bugged me~~ politely asked for a pair of socks. I finished them about two weeks ago and yesterday cast on for another pair of socks for me. I have pictures (Seriously. No, I'm serious, I really do) they just aren't up here yet. A for effort.

In other, non-yarn news, I'm running my first ever 5k in FIVE DAYS. I'm not going to lie I'm one running horror story away from hiding in the closet until Sunday. Its not that I don't think I can do it, because I have twice now, and will do it again tonight and tomorrow. Its just that when I run with Jeff, any failure I have is a private one, unless I'm crazy enough to post it on Facebook/Twitter. But on Saturday, I'll be running in public. With a few thousand people to see me if I mess up, and there's no hiding it.

Yeah. Mildly terrified.

(Ps. If you want to come cheer me on, the race is a Tempe Town Lake on Saturday Oct. 17 and it starts at 8:35. I can run it in about 30ish minutes, so you wouldn't even need to show up to the finish line til 9. I'll buy you breakfast too.)

Stitch'n'Pitch Stink.

2009-09-21T10:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Jeff and I went to our first Stitch'n'Pitch. After reading other blogs about knitters who went to other games in the past, I hoped to see a good deal of other yarn yahoos.

However, I should have remembered that this was Phoenix, and that while stuff is cool at other places, here it's quite lame. Other than the booth set up by the Fiber Factory (and the far end of the field near the nosebleeds) I counted about 10 other knitters. The whole game.

Seriously, guys, what the hell? Okay, you may not be a fan of baseball, and our team may be in dead last, but the money for the tickets went to a good cause and it's a time you get to go and support your teams. If people don't then whats happening with the Coyotes will happen to other teams here. And then how will Dale get me to work?

I don't get why people wouldn't even go out to support the Fiber Factory and the Food Bank (where the money for the tickets went to). This is the only LYS in Mesa for a good 30 miles, and they're hurting just like everyone else. I'm on a fixed income with an airtight budget, and I know how important it is to support local busineses and charities.

Of course it didn't help that the Dbacks lost....again. And they lost because of Haren...again. Sadly, he's the best man for the job, and their relief staff should really be in the minors. I hate to say this, but I can't wait for the season to be over with. Just so I can stop hearing people say how crappy we are and how we were a one hit wonder.

I'm finding loopholes left and right.

2009-09-16T09:03:00.002-07:00

When I first started seriously crocheting a year an a half ago, and picked up knitting 6 months ago, I was dedicated to a project. To a fault it seems. But now, I' browse patterns when I'm bored and see something that I just HAVE TO HAVE. It also doesn't help that I'm following Esty and Revelry on Twitter. Or that my PR client is a yarn store.

But I've been goodish recently. Even with the fun and pretty yarn I bought in New York, I haven't made anything with it. Even with my shawl yarn that I've now switched patterns on a dozen times is waiting patiently.

Mostly because I owe Jeff a sock and a hat, and it's going to get to the point where he can use both in a month or so. But also because I'm learning to control my yarn urges, and I'm broke. I'm sadly not joking when I say that my budget is so tight it squeaks, and that's without throwing yarn and wool in. But there are going to be two exceptions to my rule of "no non-essential crap".

Stitch'n'Pitch is Sunday. I will need a fun project to work on since I won't be the only yarn toting weirdo at Chase Field. I told my editor (who is also going to the game) that for once he'll be the odd man out and not knitting or crocheting. So there.

The Arizona State Fair's Sheep Shearing Day. (Shut up Chris) Susan and Terri have been telling me that I can get a pound of natural blue ribbon fleece for $5 a pound.

Let me put that into perspective:
1 pound of fleece will make half a sweater.
Kool-Aid to dye it: 10 cents a packet, 1 packet per ounce, so roughly $1.60 to dye a pound.

Pre-dyed blue ribbon 4oz fleece: 15 bucks.

No Freaking Contest.

I'm so excited about sheep shearing day I can't think straight. And the best part? They WASH the fleece for you before you pick it out. That means my apartment won't smell like a dead wet dog for two weeks and Jeff won't have to wake up to buckets of nasty in the kitchen. AND I GET A POUND OF FLEECE FOR $5!!

Needless to say its a win-win situation. Sure, I don't know where I'll put all of this when I'm not spinning it, but it's 5 DOLLARS for a pound. When you're a broke yarn yahoo, you don't argue with that logic.

To do, or do not. (but usually do)

2009-09-11T09:08:00.002-07:00

I love writing. I love crocheting. I love knitting. I love spinning. I love talking about any of these things, as well as a varity of other (less important) topics depending on who my audience.

But I wasn't writing about crocheting or knitting or spinning because I felt that my projects were too Plain Jane and took too long to have any real importance to show to the 4 or 5 people who read me from time to time.

Then I started thinking about readers when I had to (yes had to) start a blog for my Online Media class. (Its about the funnier side of Yuma. More Than Just A Rest Stop) even though its an assignment, I've been having fun with it. Execpt with the stupid photo page. Ignore that.

So that got me thinking. Maybe my mom, Jeff and Theresa because she's awesome will be the only ones to ever read my blog, and its for a class that can bore me to tears, but who gives a shit? Its still fun! I think I lost that here.

Remember that wonky sock? Well it has a mate, just as wonky as the first. It took me 3 weeks to knit it but it looks like a sock and its soft (and I'ma love em and squeeze em and call em George) and who cares that its a little funky. Jeff doesn't so he asked that I make him a pair of socks. Which I have about half way done.

Plus I was abe to knit a sweet hat from the batt that Jeff bought be for my birthday, with a little left over, and I have some yarn that I bought in New York and did I mention that I found purple sock yarn for me? And Crochet Creations by Caitie is starting to pick up, so why not start talking about that again?

I guess at the end of the day, it all comes down to this: I needed to take a step back and look at who I was writing for, and why I was doing it.

So in short. I'm back.

Vinni Viddi Knitti.

2009-07-11T16:54:00.003-07:00

I came, I saw, I knit.

Behold the Wonky First Sock. It fits and I'm wearing it right now, even though I don't have it's mate yet. I'll probably start on that tonight or tomorrow, but right now my hands need a break.

4.67 inches.

2009-06-29T09:47:00.002-07:00

That's how much you have to knit for three days to get 14 inches.

Which I did, thank you very much.

After being ignored, threatened, taunted and otherwise abused, my knit shirt decided to shape up and work with me on Friday, and just flew out of my hands. It took me three days and all I have left on one front is to work the strap and finish the shaping. What took me two weeks now took me three FREAKIN days.

I love it. I want to wear this shirt before next year's tank top season rolls around, and I'm on track to have it finished in a week. Balla.

I may have found something to counter act the Knitting In The Vortex: watching Real Housewives of New York City.

Please tell me I'm not the only one totally obsessed with this show. The Real Housewives of Atlanta and OC are way to dramatic for my taste and the New Jersey one....well....Cammie I love you, but them are some crazy bitches.

I know, I'm a horrible human for watching a show were chicks act like skanks and throw a year's salary down on a season's worth of clothes, but it's so nice to watch rich people be naughty. Espicially when they're a few crayons short and can't figure out why people don't like them.

Anyway, so the hat I did a few weeks ago that I love? I still love it, but I haveto tweek it even more (supirsed?). It fit fine when I had longer hair, cause the weight held it in place and we were all groovy. However since I chopped my hair off a week ago, the hat slides off and is too loose to stay in place. Plus all my hair fits under it, so I look like I'm half Orthodox Jew. This is only a problem when Jewish guys come up and try to impress me with weird facts about being a Jew. Thanks but I'll pass, guys.

Summer projects, summer attitude

2009-06-16T11:48:00.002-07:00

Usually for summer I like to have one big project and a few smaller projects to take the edge off when I realize that I'm making something roughly the size of Rhode Island. My bigger summer project this year is my pretty hot pink shawl. I was honestly going along fine, almost at the end of my second ball of color...when I realized the last inch I knit was done totally bass-akwards and looked like crap. So I ripped it back a week ago and I can't bring myself to touch it. Its like it has the I Messed Up Plague and must be avoided, least I give that Plague to another project.

Also suffering from the Plague is Jeff's hat. I officially hate Son of a Stitch'n'Bitch and I don't care who knows it. I converted all the stitches properly the first time, but for some reason to top part of Jeff's hat feels like sticking it's middle finger at me and refusing to cooperate. It's still sitting in my drawer.

The knit shirt refused to play nice, so I'm refusing to knit it. It's a war of the wills at this point.

However this past weekend I did knit a fun little beret. The link is here, but since its a Ravelry link I'm not sure anyone else I can see it. I'll try and post pictures soon (snort). Its a little wonky because I opted for the less slouchy pattern, which doesn't quite fit the directions, but I love it anyways. I'm curious to see what the slouchy pattern looked like, because my drapes enough that I could fit dreadlocks into it and be all Rasta.

I'm working on the sock, still. But my sock doesn't like to be talked about much, because then it gets shy and doesn't want to work. Let us speak no more of this.

I think next on my lists are Jeff's (stupidstupidstupid) hat and my shawl. I think I can get the (stupidstupidstupid) hat done this weekend, and that's a good thing considering my birthday is Monday and if I get any new fiber then I'm playing with that instead.

Jeeze, when did I leave project monogamy behind? It seems that last summer, when I started this blog, I would diligently work on ONE project at a time, no matter how much it sucked. Now I'll do a stash toss at a moments notice and start something new. I think Tracy might be right, I have converted to the dark side. But I don't care because the dark side is fluffy and fun. Suck it, Kenobi.

Dear Knit Shirt.

2009-05-29T08:41:00.002-07:00

I know things have been rocky between us. I knit you up once, nearly loosing my sanity on the back because of the Vortex, but other than that I enjoyed the experience. The pattern was simple enough to be done anywhere, the fiber combinations alone were amazing, and I felt fairly awesome. This was the first piece of clothing that I had attempted to make, and had to do much of it blind, because the pattern sucked.

But I didn't take this out on you. And when I tried you on and you were a smidgen too big for me, what did I do? I painstakingly undid you, measured myself again, did a wee bit of woolly math, and cast on. I followed YOUR pattern, you wanted to be knit in a slightly different way, and I respect that! I really do.

However I don't respect the crap you're pulling now.

If I go out of my way to knit you how you want to be knit, can you please cooperate? No more of this "Hm, how about I make a huge hole in the fabric that can't logically be explained!" I want to knit you. You want to be knit. Meet me half way, and get your shit together. I have other projects, sweetheart, so don't think that I won't throw your ass back in the bin until you're in a more agreeable frame of mind.

You see that crochet hook next to you in my purse? That isn't an idle threat. You know that hook and I have a long, loving history, and I won't hesitate to go back to my first love if my current one is causing me to swear more than usual.

This is a plea vaguely disguised as a threat. Please, shape up, or we're through.

Love,
Caitie.

Photo essay

2009-05-23T08:06:00.015-07:00

Looking at my list of things that I have done from the other day, here are the projects that match up with it:

First, only one baby blanket. I only got a picture of this one because the other ones flew out of my hands and into the hands of the mamas so fast I hardly had time to think. This one is for Jeff's new baby half-brother, Omer.

This blanket reminded me of why I hate making Afghan style blankets and why I usually stick with granny square. Afghan blankets take forever to make, because you're doing one super long row at a time, rather than a semi-fast square in about 5 minutes. I call this this The Vortex Blanket, and I'll explain what I mean in a minute.

Oh, wait, did I say the blanket was for Omer? I meant it was for Clara.

When she wasn't stalking the birdies from our window the other day, she was doing everything in her power to get near anything fibery or yarny that I had laying around. Brat.

Next is my first knitting piece of clothing, which is a few inches too big.

I'm not sad that it's too big, honestly. It's in the style of a corset, with the sides and fronts being laced up instead of sewn together. This one has already been moved to the frog pile, and I intend to re-knit it to fit better, and make a few more changes. This then brings to me to fact that I don't think I've followed a pattern as written in...well ever. No I do take that back. My standard beanie pattern and a scarf pattern were done straight from the book, but since then I've been changing things to fit me, so much so that there are times I've re-written entire patterns. I think it all comes from the fact that I hate when people tell me what to do....even if its in the form of a pattern. Yeah, that's it.

This top was also an example of a Vortex. I came up with the term knitting/crocheting in a vortex when you work and work and work and work...but you don't seem to gain anything on the project. The only explanation is that there is a vortex right under your work that follows you around and sucks up all the knitting/crocheting. You know what I mean if you've been there. Not a fun place.

Why we're on the subject of weird ass patters. Let's bring attention to this shawl. Pretty, right? This was what I wanted to do for my first pretty, girlie and all around frou-frou project. So I go to the yarn store, thrown down for yarn the color of whore's panties (if they still wear panties...am I dating myself by saying that?) and start knitting away. Until I get to the part in the pattern where it says that I start off with 256 stitches, then decrease by two stitches for every stitch and end up with 252 stitches. This didn't work. When you decrease by two for ever stitch you make, you cut your total stitches in half, which is just what I did. So I ripped back, said "fuckitall" and once again, came up with something off the top of my head (Otherwise known as flying By The Seat Of Your Pants Airlines).

That's the length of it, bundled up on my circular (GASP!) needles. I know that most knitters usually work the pattern of a shawl from the bottom up, meaning they start with the least amount of stitches and work their way to the top part with the most amount of stitches. Naturally, I like doing everything bass-akwards, so I started from the top and am now working my way to the bottom by decreasing every other row.

I know that I'm probably the only one who finds that fact facinating, so lets move on to the picture of what this brain child'o'mine should look like.

Its a really simple yarn over pattern, which is what makes those gaps. For those of you with eyes like a hawk, yes I used a provisional crochet cast on, but I didn't un zip it. I like the looke of the crochet cast on the way it is when you first do it, so I just ran with it.

Now, on to spinning!

This was taken a bit ago, with the purple fiber being spun on my hand spindle (which I love very, very much) and those two light balls at the bottom being wool that I washed, carded, spun and plyed on an actual spinning wheel. (The Lady Bug one, Mom!)

Oh, wait. Did I say MY fiber? I meant Clara's fiber.

Brat.

So I spun all that purple fiber, and then I went and spun this awesome blue fiber too.

Then I took the blue and purple and I've started plying them together to make a softer, better yarn.

I have a few ideas about what is to be done with that, but we'll see if I get the yardage I need.

What was that?

2009-05-19T13:25:00.002-07:00

Well since the semester that hit me like a truck is now over, i can get back to crafting, writing, and all around slacking off. Awesome

Things I have done

1. Made more baby blankets than I want to admit.

2. Finished the knit top.

3. Realized that I lost weight since I measured myself for the top, and it is now too big.

4. This is not a bad thing.

5. But now my pretty shirt won't fit.

6. Still, overall, not a bad thing.

7. Overcame my hatred of circular needles. We have an uneasy truce.

8. Again, this is not a bad thing.

9. Re-wrote several patterns to fit my needs.

10. Learned how to spin yarn.

11. This has led to a new obsession.

12. This ~~could be a bad thing~~ is a good thing.

13. I've started my summer project. It is big. It is pink.

14. This could be a good thing.

Things I have yet to do
1. How do I put this into non crafting terms? Find a Debbie Stoller 'Stitch'n'Bitch pattern that isn't pants on head RETARDED.

I feel bad for saying this, because she seems like a wonderfully nice woman, and her directions are clear...but the other artists (and I'm using that term in the LOOSEST way possible) are a mess. There's a thing called test knit/crochet, look into it.

So no pictures up yet. I hope to remedy that, since I have been told that if I didn't at least post something with pictures soon to follow, I would be Shanghaied. Yup. True friends indeed.

Though I think that my school induced hiatus has proved that "When the going gets tough, the tough ~~go batty~~ get crafty.

I'm Still Straight...or "Why I Hate Circular Needles"

2009-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've finished my two fronts on my white and red knitted tank top. I got the sides to match perfectly, the dropped stitches are doing what they're supposed to do, and the lengths all around match. The piece is bigger than the pattern says it should be, so I've had to compensate for that on needle length. That being said, when I bought the needles, I assumed that the shorter ones I always use would work just fine. And they have, until I started knitting a back piece that is about 24 inches long (and my needles are 10 inches a piece). Yeah. Problem.

So I thought the reason I hated circular needles was because I had a crappy plastic set that is older than I am. So I went and bought a set of circular needles from a brand that I buy my straight needles from...but I still hate them.

Its because the cast on stitches (the first row) shouldn't stretch, and they do on circular needles. This means its really easy to start actually knitting, the stitches have a nasty habit of ripping right off the stupid needles.

So I knit a few rows on the straight ones and then transferred them to circulars....and it seems to be working so far *knock on wood*

In other words, I'm going to be in a magazine! You would think that after being surrounded by journalism crap for three years, the novelty of being interviewed would wear off, but nope! Its an article about college students who started their own business, and the writer remembered me! It comes out in the College Times this Thursday, so I'll have copies with me, and post the link all over the place. This is the first outside media exposure I've had, so hopefully I don't screw it up. I'm thinking about using it as a promo piece to get more orders in, but I'm still thinking.

And next time: Unique New York, or "Why For The Life Of Me I Can't Follow A Pattern As Written."

I got a fever...

2009-03-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

AND THE ONLY CURE IS MORE COWBELL.

I'm sorry, really, but I couldn't resist.

Okay so I'm not sorry, but I do have a case of the awful startitis. I wish a cure for that was more cowbell. Startitis is when you have a fire under your butt to start new projects, but once the new fun of it wears off, you discover that you know have half finished piles of stuff that may or may not resemble an actual garment. Ugh.

Dammit. So I started a knit top, but quickly found that it was designed for a stick figure of a 12 year old with no boobs. I am no stick figure and I have boobs. This wasn't going to work, obviously. So I did what I usually do and change the pattern to fit me. It's still going to be amazing and I still love it, but I wish it was done already. 14 inches of Knit 2 Purl 2 ribbing and I'm about ready to strangle myself...but I have 3 more inches to go before I can start doing the armholes. Then I have the other front piece to do and a back piece.

What the hell am I doing.

I seriously think I have no grasp with reality when it comes to making things. Where do I get this? My mom isn't like it....neither is my granma....so my guess is my great granma. From what my mom said she had all kinds of projects laying around half done. Awesome. I love the traits that skip two generations and hit me like a truck.

It doesn't help that spring is here, and that makes me want to do nothing but sit outside and read, maybe sleep, which makes any knitting or crocheting hard to get done.

And for those that are asking, I haven't made much progress on my sock. Its still staring at me from the end table and I've tried not to think about it.

Sweet sock success

2009-03-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I didn't want to knit a sock. The prospect of using three or four or God help me even five needles at once terrified the living piss out of me. Until around Christmas, when I was probably hit with a rather large object and all of a sudden I wanted to try and knit a sock. Jeff, being the amazingly yarn-tolerant boyfriend that he is, went out and bought me sock needles, yarn, and a book that says I have to use the Terrible 5 Needle Technique. Well I tried that a few times, but the amount of needles just hanging off my work, threatening to poke me in the eye made me want to light it all on fire and go back too hooking. Which I did.

But the I realized, most of the people that I've randomly met through the blogworld tell me they knit with only four needles. Meaning that the yarn is on three needles, making a triangle, and then knit with a fourth.

Huh. One less needle. Could it be that simple? Short answer, yes. Long answer, it would appear to be correct.

So after seeing a lady on the train working on her sock (who was also nice enough to let me watch up close so I could see what she was doing with her hands), I figured I'd try the 4 Needles of Not-So-Scariness.

I was told to go here, because it was the technique I wanted and it has TONS of pictures. And after, oh, I dunno, 20 minutes, I got my cast on and one whole needle knit of a sock.

Oh yeah.

It may not sound like much but that is the most I have gotten done on a sock ever in my LIFE. Usually I drop my cast on stitches in the middle needle, and then I have to frog the whole thing and after, oh 5 million times, I just get sick of it.

But not now.

The project is now sitting is my backpack waiting til I go on lunch break where I will not eat, but I will knit. Like a woman possessed. I'm dead serious. I was knitting while Jeff went for an extra run (because lets face it, he has to keep up with me when we go running, and that isn't much of a workout for anyone but my out of breath ass), and I'm glad he wasn't there because not only did I do the happy white girl dance, but I think I cackled and rubbed my fingers together menacingly.

Lets just hope that this momentum and Silver's Sock Genius keeps going...

Caitie dear, what have you been up to?

2009-03-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well guess what I found.

Sanity, no.
Dignity, no.
Camera charger, yes.

Without further ado, here's what I've been doing these past few months other than homework:

First. Knitted Thing One:

Hot damn, awesome or what? Here's a close up of the stitching. Its just straight garter stitch so nothing fancy.
Oh baby, talk about nice. I have another scarf that I made from some crazily cool yarn that Kristi found me. Chickity check this out.

The colors go from purple to blue to green to yellow to gold then back to purple. Its amazing.

So then I feel bad, because the hat that I made for Jeff didn't really turn out all that great, so I owed him something.

That something being the tie, not the cat. For some reason she likes to be anywhere near any yarn or current or past projects. I'm really not sure why. As we speak she cuddling with my current project.

I know this seems like a lot of non-crochet stuff, and since this is a crochet blog, here's some of what I have:

That is Silk Garden, in all its glorious wonder. I love it. Absolutely LOVE it. Its the perfect thing to wear on a cold, depressing, COLD winter day. Plus since its wool, its warm even when wet. Scoredizzle.

This next one I actually finished around Christmas, and is actually a few hats in one. It was my own design and since I was making it up on the fly, I had to frog it a few times.

It's a Turkish yarn, and my current favorite. It is unbelievable soft and can withstand WW3. I liked my Winter Beret (Unique, I know. Shut up Chris.) so much that I wanted a spring one to wear.

Oh yeah. Again, my Spring Beret (Shut UP Chris. I can hear you laughing at me.) is a design all my own, and was made about 15 different times. Anal retentive? You bet. But if I'm going to wear something then it is going to turn out exactly the way I want, no exceptions. The result is something that I'm liking so much I'm wearing it right now. :D

I'm thinking I might write the directions down and post them here. Its a really simple pattern and is something that is cuter (I think) than a plain ol' beanie. Plus all the berets are in style now.

OMG Caitie going with the trend? Yes. When I don't have to pay much to be a lemming, why the hell not? Though only half lemming, because I actually made something unique and not from the store. Woot.

So that has me caught up for the most part, but I'll leave you with my favorite picture of tonight's picture session:

So artsy. :o)

My attempt to be a "Good Girl"

2009-02-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

Not surprisingly, it fell flat on its face.

Honestly, I wanted to be a Good Girl and post pictures of new projects, current projects and stuff I'm obsessed with at the moment. Seriously. I was going to do homework, then try and ~~throw my projects on the ground~~ artfully arrange my projects so show off what, exactly, I've been up to.

So I went to make sure my camera was charged, and turns out it wasn't. But my, thinking ahead, decided to let it charge while I hacked my way through anthropology...but I can't find my battery charger.

I looked in the last place I thought I left it. Not there.
I looked in logical places. Not there.
I looked on bookshelves that I might have set it on. Not there.
I looked in drawers. Not there.
I got down to kitty level to see if Clara was playing with it. Not there.

If it hadn't been almost 10 pm, I would have torn into my apartment looking for the damn thing. I had planned to post pictures of cute and colorful things, as well as a hint at my next projects, but no. Thwarted by a dead battery. What the hell.

I have a few other ideas about where it could be, but they're highly unlikely areas (kitchen, bathroom etc). So we'll see. If anything I think I can work out what a rough drawing of a scarf looks like.

Yeah, I hope I find my camera too.

I have the coolest best friend.

2009-02-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

So this isn't about yarn/knitting/crocheting, but it does fall into the random crap category that I sometimes blab on about.

When I'm feeling sick and disgusting because I'm more Snot Monster than Human, one thing that can make me feel better (besides sleep and waking up to finished homework) are my friends. Even more so when it's my bestest friend in the whole wide world. Like Cammie. Or Cammietron 500 and 1/2, as I decided to call her Freshman year. She always perks me up, even if its just a blog comment that took maybe 2 seconds to write. So I'm going to promote her shamelessly, because she has a really cool blog for broke people (Like me!)

CLICK ME!

Seriously, click it.

Sick days...

2009-02-10T15:33:00.001-07:00

I don't get sick very often, thankfully, but in the past few days I've come down with something seriously funky. When I woke up yesterday, I felt like my throat was on fire, but it calmed down a little for the rest of the day, until I got home when it felt worse. This morning I tried to get to school, but made it about four feet from the bed before I decided to hell with it all and crawled back into bed, burning throat and all.

Its still bad, but thanks to all the water I've been drinking, I've got it to a manageable level, rather than a total hurty level. Only bad thing (aside from larger than normal fiery tonsils) is that both my nose and ears are stuffed. Go figure?

But since I've spent all day in my PJ's, I've gotten a lot of knitting done. Jeff's hat because a hat for Deagan, because I made it a smidgen too small for Jeff but what looked like a perfect size for a toddler. Instead I've been working on a blue and white knitted striped tie for Jeff. We went to the yarn store on Saturday and he picked out two really nice (and manly) sock yarns. Silk and wool, so it won't be too heavy in the summer time. Terry couldn't help but teasing me about being a crazy little knitter now, but she was happy that I was broadening my horizons. Then in about two months I start spinning and I'll go crazy for even more yarns, fleece, dyes and the whole shebang. Needless to say I'm pretty jazzed, especially because now I'll have another outlet for stress relief.

Now if only my throat was normal and my ears weren't stuffed up, and I didn't have to write a buggery history paper on a stupid love trial in Venice, this would have been a pretty sweet sick day.

If only I had my Granma's sick couch and sick lunch, I'd be good to go right now.

Purls are a girl's best friend.

2009-02-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

I love pearls. To me they are much classier than dimonds. They aren't showy and you can never go wrong with pearls. I demand that all stone jewlery be in pearl form.

Purls, however, have thrown me for a loop. I could never tell which side of my fabric was knit and which was purl, so I'd end up doing two different types of stitching, realize it looked very stupid, frog it and go eat a cookie.

This has happened twice with ony project: Jeff's knitted beanie. It was supposed to be a present for him, but that turned into a crochet beanie and I felt like I copped out. So I decided to try again, because I apparently don't know what this 'failure' word means.

I knit a few rows of dark blue, and started on the grey which is one row purl one row knit, so on and so forth until it should cover his head. after a few rows, it dawned on me.

1. I too can purl. Huh. Who'da thunk?

2. Purling is freaking sexy.

Don't get me wrong, I love my only knit scarves. They're sleek and simple. But purls...oooo baby.

It has given me a whole new boost of confidance that I can knit stuff no matter what! That, mixes with today's weather, had me looking up simple patterns for knit tops, even though this weekend is going to be cold and rainy. Thankfully I haven't given up on the hat and Jeff may actually get some use out of it...

Coment on the weather....

2009-02-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Dear January and February.

What the hell, man? I thought you and I were cool; I didn't bitch about how I hated being cold like I do in November, and you two keep your promises to stay nice and cool.

But no. Not this time. This time you have to go and be 80 degrees one week, and then 60 the next. Right now is supposed to be a crocheter's Paradise! I even knitted two things for you. Two. That's love right there.

But instead, you decide to play with my emotions and show early signs of schizophrenia. I usually love the warm weather, but only starting in March. Right now I'm supposed to be freezing at the train stop and wiping icicles from my nose after a bike ride.

It makes it hard to get any projects done, too. Because I'll be on the train, sweating from biking from one end of campus to the other, and knitting a freaking hat. So I think to myself, "What the hell are you doing, /r/tard? You should be crocheting purses and tops, not a cold weather hat!" So I start browsing online sites and my own patterns, trying to find something Spring-y to make, when all of a sudden you drop your temperature like a frat boy drops his pants, and I'm walking around freezing my nards* off, thinking "Wow, it would be really nice if I had that damn hat already."

So, this is a plea for some stability. MAKE UP YOUR FREAKING MIND ALREADY! The stupid groundhog made up his mind, and I thought it was your job to comply with that. I don't care if you're going through some teenage rebellion phase, knock it off already! Conform dammit!

Consider this a warning. I'm not above using violence to get my way. Remember what happened when October screwed around with me?

Yeah, I thought you might...

*to those of you involved in the nard debate. Yes, I'm fully aware that as a female I'm technically nard-less, but that is because they have already been frozen off. I thought we've gone over this enough.

If Knitting is Knotty....

2009-01-30T08:49:00.002-07:00

...then I'm a bad, bad girl.

I haven't exactally been neglecting my hooks of recent (seriously, I've churned out three 6 foot scarves in two weeks while going to school) but I have spent the last two days knitting another scarf. For those of you who don't know, thats what the first knitted thing was, a burgandy scarf. Basicially a knit version of my mom's crochet Christmas present.

Needless to say I'm having a lot more fun this go around than I was last time. Last time was just straight burgandy color, but this time I'm using a yarn Kristi found me at the Goodwill. It's very soft, crimpy (seriously) yarn that has a slight color to it, and that color goes from purple, blue, green, yellow, gold and then back to purple. Its amazing and I'm in love with it. I've also noticed that I usually love the majority of my projects. Odd.

Now it turns out that I'll probably be back to my hooks for two presents coming up soon. I would love to knit a blanket, but time constraits say that I can't. Besides crochet is more durable when we're talking about kids. Maybe between making those and a few other presents, I'll try to knit socks....

2009-01-30T08:49:00.001-07:00

Radio slience

2009-01-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I blame that on school. Even though school just started Tuesday, the week before I was mildly moody and in no mood to write anything. But as promised:

The Massively Manly Man Hat, and my brother. Tell me he does not look like a lumberjack. I had to use two strands of yarn at once, because otherwise it wouldn't be thick enough for him to wear to actually keep him warm, which is my goal.

Jeeze, that kid is so weird.

Now for some reason, Phoenix hasn't realized that it is January and that means it is supposed to be cold. Not that I'm complaining about the 70 degree weather, but I was banking on another month of business before trying to convince people that crochet is a year round accessory. Now I'm being bumped up a head of schedule and its messing with me. Arg. Whatever though, I guess. Just means that I have to be creative with my advertising and marketing stratigies. Which are currently in the relem of the unknown...

So its official, last Friday I threw down 70 bucks to learn how to spin in April! I'm so excited, even though it means that I'll probably have to start saving up for a spinning wheel (they start at $1500....) but until then, I'll get a drop spindle from the class and be able to do hand spinning. Yay being even more crafty!

Massively Manly Man Beard.

2009-01-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

That is the name of Ian's Christmas present. I had to re-do his entire hat, because the kid just has a huge head. And feet. I'm sorry Ian, but chances are I'll never be able to knit or crochet socks for you, just because of the cost.

But anyways.

As I'm sitting on the couch, hookin away, it dawns on me. Just because of the sheer size and yarn volume of it (I had to double up), the Mustache Hat had become something much, much more than a simple hat.

Mainly because of the Massively Manly Man Beard, which took up the majority of the project. Ian will look like a lumberjack, or if I put horns on it, which I am seriously thinking of doing, he'd look like a freaking Viking.

How awesome is that! Plus I not have the cure for friends who can't grow facial hair...namely Jose. I tried to get Jeff to let me make him one, but he quickly pointed out that he is fully capable of growing his own beard. I just have to say that while yes this is true, he had to shave his beard last night, so now would be the perfect time for a Massively Manly Man Beard.

And yes, Chris, I do know that I used the word "man" twice in a row, but dude, you have to see this thing. I'll try and get pictures up asap.

I'm not a creeper, I just like to knit

2009-01-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Using Phoenix's public transportation is always an adventure, even more so in the wee hours of the morning when some of the weirdos are still hanging around.

Yesterday, I arrived at the only Light Rail stop in Mesa (thankfully only a few blocks from my apartment) and waited patiently for the train to leave while knitting. I usually don't register other people when I'm knitting or crocheting, unless they scream "CAITIE!" at the top of their lungs. It's a problem I'm trying to work on. Anyways.

At the second stop, two guys get on and I happen to look up, mid stitch. All of a sudden one guy screams out, "OH. MY. GOD. I have to go sit with that girl!!" That girl being me. I was about half way to reaching for my trusty pepper spray and bolting like a madwoman when he very calmly said

"No worries, I'm not a creeper, I just like to knit."

I laughed so hard I couldn't breath right for about an hour. It's so nice to meet others who aren't afraid to knit in public, but I wish that they wouldn't scare the living daylights out of me in the process.

Speaking of the knitted thing...

IT. IS. DONE.

That's right. I actually knitted something and didn't frog it after the first few rows. I had to look in the book to learn how to cast off, since I had never gotten that far in a project before. On the flip side, my cast on is damn near perfect).

I haven't decided what my next project will be, probably a hat or something with cables (since that is what Jeff has strongly hinted at that he wants). Or I may go back to my hooks, since the poor things are probably feeling so left out and abandoned.

But know this.

I, Caitie the Crochet Crusader, can now knit.

Fear me.

Coming along nicely

2009-01-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

So I have yet to become totally disgusted with my knitting abilities yet, and so far have made a little more than arm's length of scarf, basically just enough to wrap around my neck. Its a simple stitch (I didn't want to get TOO cocky with my first project) so its all knitted, no purls. Unfortunately that means the scarf doesn't have a tradition V shaped stitch but I think it works.

And of course, that got me thinking to my next project. For reasons I don't understand and can't explain, I want this.

Yes, I know ponchos are totally goofy. Yes I know that in Arizona I'd get maybe one or two month of wearing it at best. Yes I know that I may not even wear it because its goofy.

But I still want it. And I still want to knit it.

I'm thinking I might knit a hat first, just to make sure that I have the knitting skills down first before I tackle something a little more complicated.

Work has been pretty slow since I've been back in town, so I've actually developed a method of knitting under my desk. I do about 5 stitches at a time, then click a few keys to make it seem like I'm doing actual work. My work friend Chris found out what I was doing and made vague suggestions to me being a raving lunatic.

To Chris. (because I know you're sitting at your desk reading this right now, freakin' weirdo.)

1. It isn't a bad thing to be crafty. Besides, if I'm going to be at work then I want to feel like I'm contributing something to this planet besides sucking oxygen.

and 2. Shut up.

New year, new goals

2009-01-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

So, no pictures yet. That's because I'm a lazy bum who hasn't had enough energy to get off my comfy couch to post them. The only reason I made it into work was the shot of adrenaline I got this morning realizing I woke up an hour late.

So, instead of pictures, you get rambling...so nothing new.

Well, execpt I organized my yarn stache.

OH YEAH!

Now I've taken everything out of the trunk of my car and put it into a nice green bin where yarn is organized by amount (big on bottom and little on top), color, weight and type. Then I have all my tools and accessories in a plastic drawer on top of that, along with all my projects that I'm working on. This way I know exactally what I have in the way of yarn so that I'm not out buying what I already have (been there, done that) and it means that I know what I'm working on so that I'm not as tempted to start something different when I have a few projects in the drawer.

But speaking of that. I'm on a knitting kick right now. Not socks, unfortunatly, because there was an issue with the needle size that I discovered only AFTER I cast on 45 stitches in a perfect square. No, this time it's a simple scarf, in a nice burgandy color. It's so streachy! I still can't get over that. Meaning that I'm randomly giggling while Jeff and the cat look at me like I've lost my mind.

Another fun thing I've discovered is that knitting takes up less yarn than crocheting, which means its perfect for crafter on a budget!

So, I guess my one goal for 2009 is to be able to knit as well as I crochet. Not that hard, considering that I've had the basics down for a while now. The hardest part of knitting is getting started, because I drop stitches like Snoop Dogg droping stuff like it's hot.

I had to open my big mouth.

2008-12-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I pissed to Crochet Gods off last night.

I apparently was bragging a bit too much and gloating just a shade too bright when walking around the mall with Chichi and Jeff last night, when something came over me to suggest that I should make their cousin Chris something.

In the words of St. Homer: D'oh!

So now I'm charged with whipping out a beanie before tonight. Yeah. Except I don't want to do it.

Well, that's not right. I want to do it because it gives me something to do other than bake or gossip about people I don't know, but I'm really tired of doing monochromatic "male colors", which are mostly black, grey, brown, dark blue and any combination of above listed colors. It all goes back to "Why can't people want what I tell them to want?" dilemma that I have all the time. Damn free will.

In other news, as Jeff just reminded me while staring over my shoulder as I'm typing, (Hi honey!) Chichi bought me a pretty sweet present for Christmas...which Jeff just happened to buy right in front of me cause I told him to.

Oh Snap!

Its the return of the Silk Garden! The very first one that is on the page, that bright blue color, is the one I have sitting patiently in the back of Jeff's car screaming "CROCHET ME!"

Its screaming really, really loud. ;)

Merry Christmas!

Twas the night before the night before Christmas

2008-12-23T14:06:00.001-07:00

With less than two days to spare, I've finished my Christmas presents for 2008.

Whew.

Even though I didn't need to have my parent's stuff done till January, it still feels good that I have them all done.

Fin.

Finito.

Terminado.

That feels SOOOO GOOOD to say.

I'm really trying hard to not piss off the Crochet Gods and be cocky, least they take out their vengence on me next year when I may have a shorter deadline. But I have learned a few things:

1. It never hurts to start early. LIke before Thanksgiving. We'll see how that one pans out in actuality.

2. Leave extra time to compensate for badly written patterns. This is what screwed me over this time for my mom's present. I think I should switch my career to proof-reading crochet patterns. I'd save a lot of crocheters a lot of time and stress.

3. Be realistic. If I think I can't fix a pattern and make something, then my gut feeling is right. But then if I listen to Rule 1 and start early, then maybe I'll have enough time to fix those badly written patterns.

A bad thing about being done before Christmas is that I'll probably have to drag Jeff to the Knit and Knibble to find more yarn or something to do on the flight home. It also means that Jeff's Granma wants me to help bake.

Crap.

Crapcrapcrap.

I'm not saying that I can't bake, but when I'm around professionals, then it looks like I'm a 4 year old with the skills of a two year old. I hate estrogen filled events. Thats why I avoid them with my own family, but since Jeff's Granma is letting me stay here for free and feeding me, then I probably should give back.

Damn.

So darn close

2008-12-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have maybe a half an hour of crocheting left on my mom's Christmas present, then it's back to trying to find something for my dad. I have a vague idea, and I'll have to see how that pans out. I'm just so ready to be done with all this stuff, and put my Christmas present to good use.

Jeff and I exchanged Christmas presents before we left (so we wouldn't have to pack wrapped gifts) and he got me a How To Knit Sock book, plus needles and yarn! So I can finally attempt to make a darn knitted sock. Should be interesting. The yarn is a pretty color at least.

I just ned to sit down and get these presents done with. It's driving me insane. I even had a dream about crocheting presents last night. Yeah. I need to get this done.

In other good news, I'm pretty excited to get back because for the first time in my life I've decided to take formal craft classes at the Fiber Factory. Im taking a class on Amigurmi ( a type of crochet that allows you to create cute little dolls) and spinning, so that I can make my own type of yarn. It should be pretty interesting, if I can come up with the money to rent a spinning wheel. But that's what my left over student loans are for, right?

I'm about to throw a hissy fit.

2008-12-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Dead serious. And I haven't had a major one since I was about 13, and this one is probably going to end up a doozy.

So I frogged my mom's would be Christmas present, and started diligently working on her next one.

Which pretty much sucks.

It's a simple pattern, but almost too simple. I probably would even wear it. It looked cool when I was thinking about it, but then when the making it part had to happen, well.

It pretty much sucks.

So I'm back to square one. I refuse to touch that for the rest of the night and went to work on my dad's Christmas present, when I realized that all the patterns that aren't completely /r/tarded are for kids.

Crap.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

So here I am. Still stuck on the LAST TWO Christmas presents this year. Ugh.

I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do. Usually what I normally make seems kinda silly and way too simple, but then when I want to do something awesome and neat, its something the person doesn't want. Oy. Why can't people want what I tell them to want? That would make things SO MUCH SIMPLER. But then there'd be no free will and all that garbage so I guess I'll have to make due with something.

Just not quite sure what, at this exact moment.

Serves me right

2008-12-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm still stuck.

I have everyone except my mom and dad taken care of as far as Christmas presents go. I'm really nervous about my mom's, because I realized halfway thru my first piece that the gauge was totally off. So I'm sitting on the couch at Jeff's granmas, seething, and trying to decided if I should frog the damn thing or just set it on fire, when Jeff looks over the pattern and looks at me and says,

"Babe, didn't you check the gauge?"

Grrr....

I hate gauges. They seem like a waste of my time and are mostly irrelevant in the world of crocheting unless the pattern is wrong.

Which this one is.

*&^%!

So here I am, trying to decide if I should stop the present and switch to another idea or keep going and try to salvage this. I have a feeling the first option will be what eventually happens, but only after I try and try and oh-I-think-I-can-make-it, before reality sets in and I have to make a decision.

I guess I know what my mom is getting for her birthday.

For one good measure.

*&^$%!

(I would swear with real words, but Jeff's 12-year-old sister is sitting right next to me. See, I am cleaning up my language, honey...)

Continuously Crocheting

2008-12-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, otherwise known as the Yarn Harlot to us yarn aficionados has a calender called Never Not Knitting where she makes light hearted jokes about what happens when the yarn and pattern is just driving you insane.

Which got me thinking.

There's a fun knitting calender for all the knitters....but what about us hookers?!

There should be a book/calender/support hotline called Continuously Crocheting for us wack jobs who can't function unless we're within reaching distance of hooks. Maybe that'll be my goal once I graduate, since I'll have all this spare money from my journalist carreer (snort.)

The bad thing about the Christmas season is the lack of pictures until they've all been recieved. I have a bunch of projects that have been completed in record timing and look positivly kick ass, but because I never know who reads this (aside from my mom and Kristi. All hail faithful readers!) I don't want to give away Christmas presents.

I can say, Yarn Harlot was right on the money with obsession over Silk Garden. I'm in love and if it wasn't so dang pricey I'd stock up on it and go nuts. Although there is a Korean knock off that's half the price and looks the same. Why is there always a Korean kock off...?

Making a dent

2008-12-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well I'll be honest. I didn't get as much done this weekend as I wanted to, but I'm in good shape still. I have all the yarn that I need, I think. Carly's and Xena's presents may require an extra trip to the yarn store, but we'll see about that. I'm really happy withe yarn choices on all of my projects, even if I did feel like I was illegally selling yarn out of the trunk of my car. Thankfully my mom and Ian understand where I'm coming from and didn't mind choosing their yarn from what I already had. I'll have to make it up to them when I actually have money.

There is one yarn that I'm really looking forward to working with, after hearing the Yarn Harlot gush about the Silk Garden yarn for about the past month, I had to get my hands on it. It's a beautiful light weight yarn that keeps warm really easy. Totally organic too! Although I'm not quite sure that my projects will turn out quite as good as the Yarn Harlot's, I'm willing to try. It's just not going to be a scarf, so this might get real interesting real quick.

Since I'll be done with my exams and all starting FRIDAY I won't have nay pesky homework to interfere with my yarn yearnings so I can probably knock out the rest of my Christmas stuff in a few days.

In the mean time, I'm also keeping my eyes out for how to use a double ended crochet hook. It looks a little like this. When Aunt Sally died, she passed on her handmade double ended hook, but didn't have time to teach me how to use it. So instead of letting it gather dust at my mom's house, I figured that I should probably attempt to learn how to use it, and then start making the really fun stuff.

Weekend plans

2008-12-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Since this weekend is the last weekend before finals, I figure that I can take a little time off from school and get some good crocheting it. I have Ian's Christmas present almost done, Jeff's Christmas present done and I still have:

Ian's Birthday present
Mom's Birthday present
Chi chi's Christmas present
Carly's Christmas present
Xena's Christmas present.

...oy.

This weekend should be interesting. I think I can get them all done, and I'm trying really hard not to be cocky when it comes to finishing it, because Christmas is only 24 days away. So here's my prayer to the Crochet Gods:

O Heavenly Hookers, look down favorably upon Thy humble daughter, and see her WIP and UFOs through to completion, and if it is Thy Will, slow time down so your faithful disciple has enough time to spread Thy message this Christmas season.

In the name of the Hook, The Yarn, and the Frog, Amen.

Needless to say, when I found that I laughed my ass off.

Things I learned from crocheting without ever meaning to.

2008-11-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

-There is nothing wrong frogging a project. Any project. If you're not happy with it when you're half way through, what in God's name makes you think you'll be happy with it when you've finished? Better to take the time to re-do it the way you want it. Yes, you'll seem like you're totally off the wall crazy and anal retentive, but as long as you hide the evidence, no one will know.

-If there are no pictures, it never existed.

-The best things in life are anything free, anything yarn, and any free yarn.

-If the yarn is talking, it's time to re-connect with the outside world. STEP AWAY FROM THE HOOKS.

-The best thing you can give your boyfriend is something he'll wear. Yes I love working with silk cotton blend yarn in bright pink colors, but Jeff is more of a natural wool kinda guy. I made him a beanie out of Icelandic wool, and waddya know, it gets worn.

-Don't be so quick to knock down non natural things. Acrylic is a Godsend when it comes to crocheting for toddlers or teenagers.

-Don't be afraid to try something new. Just because the project seems challenging doesn't mean it's impossible.

-The people at the LYS exist for a reason. They know yarn inside and out. Make them your best friend and you're good to go.

-Crocheting at 6 am at the bus stop in the middle of winter is a great way to develop arthritic hands before you're 30.

And finally.

-Crocheting isn't just for your grandmother anymore.

I say that one because it really bothers me the first time I tell people that I crochet, their first reaction is that it's something that only old people in nursing homes do.

Please, homeskillet. Bet you're feeling kinda silly now, looking at my pictures?

So as a New Year's Resolution, I've decided to take back crocheting for the young people of the world! I'm not quite sure how I'll do this, so I'll keep you posted...

Name Change.

2008-11-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

So I decided to change my blog name for two reasons:
1. Talk about corny. The last name I had I basicially pull out of my butt and didn't care about.
2. At the yarn store, a "Yarn Yahoo" is someone who has a certain brand/type of yarn they love (and/or hate) with a passion. When ever I walk into the store, I usually head right to the Turkish stuff. Its so soft and durable!! It's acryllic and cotton based, but you wouldn't know that unless you read it off the label.

That being said, I always avoid anything Alpaca. No matter what, I refuse to work with that garbage again. Tracy said that qualifies me as a "yarn yahoo" Woo!

Oh, and check out what Ian wants for Christmas:

I bet you're looking at that thinking "What the fuck?!" Well thats what I thought at first. This is a Mustache Hat.

I'm dead serious. This thing goes for around $140 online.

Again. WHAT THE FUCK!?

Am I the only one who things this is the most usless/hilarious piece of outerware ever? Although I can see Ian jumping and skiping down palm walk wearing this, grinning like a dork.

Thats my baby brother!

Explaining an underground culture.

2008-11-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Christmas may become my most favorite time of year again.

Not for the crazy family get togethers, or for the insane amounts of stuffing (basically the only thing I eat besides Granma's rolls) but because of the hilarious patterns and projects that I've found.

And crochet socks. WOO!

So I've officially started on Christmas projects for people, and although they pretty much know what they'll be getting (perks of picking out the pattern, I suppose) I still hope that some of it is a surprise to them. I'll post pictures after Christmas of what I've made, just so you can understand what I mean when I say some of these made me seriously LOL.

And now I'm back to having a very short project list. Which is good because then it gives me time to work on personal projects, but then in the same sentance is bad because I'm not making any money. ARG. Sometimes being a fast crocheter is a bad thing.

But back on the subject of socks. I LOVE knitted socks. The funky patterns that you can make, the incredible feel of them, and they're ability to withstand World War III, if thats what it came down to. Yet, I've never really had the patience to learn how to knit them. I guess the idea of working on 4 (or 5, 0r 6) needles at once point freaks me out, espicially when I've only recently mastered 2.

But now, I've found crochet sock patterns! I can have that same amazing warm feeling and fun colors with only one hook. AWESOME. If I can perfect it then I'll probably stop buying socks, and if I can perfect them fast enough, then they're going out for Christmas.

And always, talking about socks brings me to the Sock Pictures.

Basicially, its a fun thing in the underground culture of knitters and crocheters to take pictures of cool/important/famous things and people holding your sock in progress.

Don't ask me to explain it. It's like the Sweater Curse, either you get it or you don't.

But now I can partake in the Sock Pictures, but be different with it because instead of knitting I'll be crocheting.

I know. I'm such a rebel.

Fine Print.

2008-11-10T12:30:00.001-07:00

I guess people don't read anymore. I'm only bringing this up in my craft blog because of some problems I've run into recently involving Crochet Creations by Caitie.

I have one basic rule. Get back to me within one week after I send the first email saying "Hey! I need to start working your project now! Tell me what you want me to do with it!"

I do this because otherwise, I'd be sitting on a project for God knows how long without making any money and possibly loose people from my project list because it is taking so long.

I've had this up since I started back in June. So for 5 months now, right?

Right.

Well right now, I'm in the middle of something not so fun with a former friend. Back in September (Before the price hike) she emailed me and said she was interested in a beanie. Sweet. Simple enough and a quick $7.00 right there. So about three weeks ago, her project came up, and I emailed her.

One week later, nothing. so I bumped her. In that time, I've made about 3 hats and a scarf. easily 40 bucks profit right there because I wasn't waiting to do her hat.

So last week, I get this email from her about the colors of the beanie, but I write back saying that, sorry, the project is no longer on my list but she's welcome to reorder something and I'll put her at the bottom.

Ever since then, she's been yelling at me over the internet, saying that isn't fair and that she didn't know about it. She even tried to play the race card.

Hold it.

1. Are you serious.
2. No, really. Are you serious?
3. C'mon. You're fucking serious?
4. Just because you didn't read what I have on my site in regards to my policies doesn't give you the right to blame me. It even says "MUY IMPORTANTE!!!! PLEASE READ!!!"

I'm just a little upset. This is a business I'm trying to run. Yes, its a hobby and I do it mostly because I love to crochet and I love the feelings people get when they have something made just for them. But it helps with the grocery bill at the end of the month, or when it comes to putting gas in my car. I can't make money when I'm not crocheting anything.

I really am sorry she felt she got screwed out of a beanie, but C'MON. Put on your big girl panties and DEAL WITH IT. Don't waste my time yelling at me because you didn't read all of the available information.

Cold snap.

2008-11-10T08:41:00.001-07:00

So here I was, bitching about not having any drive to work, and then all of a sudden about two weeks ago, something happened.

It got cold.

And just just "Hm I think I'll throw a sweater on..." cold but the "Holy &%$! if I had nuts they'd be frozen by now!" type of cold. And wind.

All of a sudden, I'm the coolest thing on the block. (ha, unintentional pun)

I got slammed with beanie requests. And my in box exploded with people that I don't know and friends wanting to know how long it'll take me to start making things for them. Fun!

See, everyone ignores me when its September and nice out still, but that's when my hooks have nothing to do! Now everyone and their mom wants something warm, and there's a waiting line. Huh. Should have listened to me maybe?

The bad thing is, people are asking for huge orders (queen size blankets) to be done in time for Christmas. Um, HELLO...I have a little over a month. If I wasn't in school, I might be able to, but with everything going on, I'll be hard pressed to get my own gifts done by then!

Speaking of those, I've started to work on some gifts for people. This year money's kinda not there, so really, handmade crocheted gifts are probably whats going to get out there this year from me. I just can't go out and spend even what I did last year, because that money is going to a plane ticket for Tampa. I seriously hate being broke.

But whatever.

I was at the Greek festival for church yesterday helping out at the Agora, and I was looking at some of the handmade stuff they had, and low and behold! Crochet stuff! I mentioned to Kelly and Lisa that I had been crocheting since I was a kid, and they told me that if I can stock up on blue and white stuff between now and next year's Greek festival, I'm more than welcome to sell it at the Agora and then just walk away with the cash right there. Freaking sweet!!

I know for sure the beanies will sell. Those things are pretty popular and since they can be unisex, I don't have to worry about alienating part of my potential clients. Plus, a granny square Greek flag blanket will be all too easy to make. I may not make much, but I know I'll be able to make more than what I'm doing on my own, since the Greek festival is in Scottsdale (and most of the people there are from Scottsdale) and they have no problem throwing down $100 for random crap.

My favorite kind of people.

Gathering dust.

2008-10-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

I've done a horrible thing.

I haven't been crocheting as much have been. Not for lack of yarn, oh no. My yarn drawer is filled with many colorful balls at the moment.

I just haven't had the drive.

That is why I can't stand winter. It sucks all my energy out, and what I keep doing is reduced to enough homework and house work to get me by until the spring equinox. That, and my project list is a little daunting. I think I may have done too good of a job promoting myself. It wouldn't be so bad if my clients got back to me in a timely matter, but no. They take forever and then bitch when I take them off my list. Even when my policy states that if I've contacted you and its over a week since I've heard anything, I'm taking the project off and moving to the next one. Then again, these are the same people that just expect everything to revolve around them, so why do I give a hoot?

Part of it, I think, is because school and work has me so stressed out that I can't sit down and enjoy playing with yarn, because there's always something that I can be doing for school. I need to turn off for a few days, but that's not going to be happening for at least another month and a half. School really screws with my production abilities.

What are you looking at.

2008-10-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was finally cool enough to start wearing some of the cute things I had made, and the perfect occasion to bust out my chic blue scarf. I wore a skirt and everything. I had my crochet purse too, because thats just my everyday all around purse, and it went with the blue.

It took a lot of time and effort to make those pieces, and I was damn proud of myself.

But apparently in the world of Prada and $1,000 dress, that's looked down on as "Trashy". But the girl whose ass and boobs were almost hanging out of her dress was okay, because her Chanel dress cost more than I make in a year. Or the guy that had vomit colored shoes, because they were $600 they looked better than something tactfully homemade.

This is what pisses me off.

Whatever happened to the "haute coture" that every one liked? That was homemade looking (abit looked like a 5 year old made it) but I'll roll with it. But no. Because someone who isn't a designer by trade made something for under 6 bucks and didn't charged atleast $100, people felt like they could take cheap shots behind my back and give me dirty looks.

Well fuck you, and you little dog too.

This is why I avoid shopping in high end places (even if its a time when I can afford it) because every little bleach blonde bitch thinks that just because her undies were handstitched in Venice that she's better than me. Gee, I'm sorry I don't see the value of spending half my year's salary on clothes with a label, but would rather spend that money on something priceless for under 10 bucks.

Yeah, I have a real twisted sence of values.

People around me need to stop having babies.

2008-09-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm dead serious. Knock it off.

So Tami is pregnant, Kristi is pregnant, Ebony is pregnant, Jolie is pregnant and Jeff just told me that his stepmom, Hidy, is pregnant.

Now how in the hell am I supposed to make memorable baby things for all of you AND keep up with my regular orders?

Seriously!

Think of my fingers here, people! Is there nothing good on TV any more?

So now I know exactly what I'll be doing between now and spring time. Working feverishly to find cute things to make for babies and their mamas.

I'm probably going to hate pastel colors by May.

And I'm normally not one to be all "ya'll owe me..." But seriously...ya'll owe me. At least make sure your kids don't throw away my hard work. And if you just so happen to be in area of yarn, I hope you think of me. Or at least tell me what colors the room will be so I have a general idea of what I'm working with.

Down right adorable

2008-09-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

A while ago, my patient friend Heather came to me with an idea. She wanted a baby blanket and beanie for her son's Christmas. And after much swearing on behalf of the blanket, I give you this:

I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of myself. It turned out the right size and the color scheme worked better than I thought. This was a blanket of little details, and while it took me a while to figure all those out, I really enjoyed making it. The blanket it thicker, with a different stitch used to make the squares. I think I'll be making all my blankets like that from now on. I think it gives it a better look over all (although it does use up more yarn). Here's a close up of the middle:

I'm in love with this blanket. Its a cute design and I liked only using three colors. Makes it unified and then the squares just went where ever they decided to go.

I only have a few more, simpler projects line up, so I launched my Christmas Present Initiative today. from now until, oh probably the middle of November, I intend to whore myself out on myspace and try and get some more orders in.

Hand Stitch 'n' Bitch.

2008-09-14T17:54:00.001-07:00

I need to buy a sewing machine.

I know, I've said that about 40 times already, but I've just been too lazy to do it. I need to stop being lazy and get a sewing machine. I'll even look on Craig's List or see if there are any freecycle things going on in my area.

I'm in the process of hand stitching a granny square baby blanket and I've poked myself about 15 times, judging from all the Band Aides. Yes Mom, I'm complaining, but my hands hurt!! :(

So after I finish Heather's baby blanket, I have some smaller, weekend projects, then nothing. Which means I think its time to start pushing my "Buy crap from me for Christmas gifts." If Walmart can start in September, then so can I.

Besides, if a person orders it in September, I may not get to it until November just because I have my waiting list. So we'll see. I figure as long as I have a steady stream of people in line for stuff, I'll be okay. Three or four people waiting at a time seems better than seven or eight people...less pressure. But I must admit, seven people at a time would be freaking sweet. Eh, whatever.

Hopefully I'll get some more exposure soon. My friend Matt works for the State Press's business section, and he said if he can get the okay from his editor, then he'd like to write a story on me because I'm a student and and I actually own my own business. I know that the point of the story won't be to give me free advertising, but if it gets my name out there, and there's a spike in orders....well then so be it. But I'm actually thinking of putting an ad in the paper, just for Christmas orders. Once I get a logo going, I'll think about doing that.

My Fall Line...

2008-09-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

After much ado about something, here's probably the cutest thing I've made. Its from a cotton-silk blend and so so soft!! Perfect final touch for when I'm wandering around town looking all fly.

Here's a close up. I had to use the two different colors because as you recall, I ran out of the dark blue. I think it works tho!

Next is a purse that I'm in love with. I saw the pattern, and it was white...which was NOT going to work. So I went with brown...nice earthy colors that work well in both the fall and winter. Just means that I'll have to make a new one from spring and summer. Oh darn? The rivets that I bought ended up being smaller than I thought, but it adds a nice touch of bling to it that I love.

Now for my surprise unveiling...

KNITTING!

With two colors!!

Its supposed to be a scarf. Or the makings of one. So its not perfect, but I'm not a knitter by trade! I'm a crocheter! For a first attempt to actually MAKE something, I think its a decent shot at it.

Labor Day of Love.

2008-09-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the four day weekend, I've caught up on my personal projects, just in time for "fall" too. I finished my scarf on the buss yesterday, and I'm almost done with my bag. I just have to finish the strap for it (shouldn't be a problem, as I'm stuck on the shuttle for an hour today) and then wait for my special order rivets to come it. The bag looks like something my granma might have made, and that wasn't what I was going for.

So I'm staring at it yesterday, and it hit me. How do you take something that looks like it was made by someone 50 years older than me and make it look better? Throw pieces of metal on it and call it post modern. Bam! Instant transformation.

Then I can finally start on Heather's beanie/blanket combo, get caught up on orders and start working on Christmas gifts.

OH YES. Sorry guys, but with all the fun patterns I've found, you're getting handmade gifts this year. It'll be cute, I promise. Unless you tick me off sometime between now and then. Then I'll go momentarily color blind(er).

I'll try and have more pictures up by tonight.

Reward system

2008-08-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

I think I can figure out how I can fit crocheting and all that other crap I have to do into my limited hours that aren't taken up by sleeping (I.e. homework, eating, venturing out of my cave) if I bust my ass to get all my homework done during the week, including interviews for my news articles, then my reward will be hiding under the piles of multi-colored yarn and reveling in the fact that I can sit there and crochet with a clean conscious, if in a somewhat messy apartment.

And watch Dexter. Man, I LOVE Dexter. I think if I wasn't madly in love already I'd have a total crush Michael Hall. Seriously.

I think I've become one of those people...you know, I have 4 or 5 projects going at once...yeah. THOSE people. I'm still working on that cute lacy blue scarf that I mentioned, but only because I've been too lazy to get more lacy yarn for it. I couldn't find the exact match, but I found something close, and I hope it works.

Then I started on a purse thing. Its cute, with circles turned into squares that you have to weave together. If I can pull that one off, it'll be adorable. If not I'm, burning it. Its made me mad enough that I'm not willing to waste anymore time in frogging it.

Then I have a blanket beanie combo for Heather that I haven't even started on, but I need to. That's one of the many things I'm hoping to accomplish this weekend. In addition to getting food, because I think I'm out of milk. And if I'm out of milk than my diet of cereal and Mac N Cheese is in serious jeopardy.

Withdrawl.

2008-08-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

Why do I have to decide between homework and crochet? Two things I feel I have to do, and yet I can only do one at a time. It's not fair!! I haven't touched yarn in about 2 days and my hands are all twitchy. I need to be crafty. I need to make things.

I need a life.

I sound like a junkie.

I guess the good news is that if I bust out my mad study skillz I can be done in another two semesters...

Knowing my luck that isn't going to happen but hey, I can always hope.

Brave new frontier

2008-08-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said I was travelling into the unknown world of children's items? Vinni Vidi Vinci, suckers. Here's proof! (And sorry for the Cesar reference...I've been watching way to much of HBO's Rome recently.)

Beanie for a 1 year old boy.

I made it nice and stretchy, so he could probably wear it this winter as well as next winter. (Colors are blue, white, and gray.)

Then I made a beanie for his 3 year old sister!

Again, its stretchy enough for her to wear for this winter at some of next. I think this was the most fun project I've had in a while...just because it was colorful for a change! I'm used to working with darker colors, that although are fun and chic and all that, get kind of boring after a while. (colors are pink, brown, and white).

Here's proof I BEAT pompoms!! :D

Oh yes. A worthy adversary. Thanks to my mom for helping me figure those out....then teasing me on myspace in front of all my clients. I love you too, crazy lady.

Here's also a picture of the gloves that I made all on my own! Also made from that stupid Alpaca wool. Good thing I love Jeff. Seriously...

He said they'd be good for bar fighting, but then that means that he won't be getting any thing else crocheted for him ever.

In other news, I took he scary plunge and raised my prices today. Now maybe I'll actually see some profit! With my old prices, I was pretty much breaking even as far as cost of yarn, and gas to get to and from the yarn store. Pathetic or what? I've been a little hesitant to do it, just because I'm afraid of driving away my clients just when I'm finally starting to see some roll in. My mom pointed out that I've already made a name for myself with good quality products and a fairly fast turn around (except with pompoms) and people should understand that I need to eat. Still, something doesn't feel right. Its not exactly that I feel I'm cheating people...okay maybe that's exactly how I feel. Jana, my manager and the recipient of the two kids beanies, says that I don't give myself enough credit and that I should feel justified with the price change, but I don't. I'm competing with Hollister, A&E, Gap, Target, and just about every other major retail store out there. If you were to go with them, you'd get your product immediately. Of course with me there's the allure of something handmade, but I'm not sure people really appreciate that much any more. Don't get me wrong, I'm as much a victim of instant gratification as the next girl, but I LOVE being crafty and having one of a kind things, so I'm willing to wait.

So we'll see where this new price hike takes me. If there's no change in my clients then congrats everyone who's been after me to change my prices, you get one free "I told you so"

But if you're wrong. Then you'll know deep in your hearts that I called it, and now you'll be the subject of my need to crochet. And I just might go color blind in the yarn store. Mauve and neon green go together, right?

Stitch Snob

2008-08-18T14:53:00.001-07:00

I like to think that I'm a well rounded person, able to get along with (almost) everyone, and definatly not a sob. Until you show me a cute pattern with a single crochet stitch.

I'm making a cute little boy's beanie for Jana, and stitched onto the hat is a little monkey face. Adorable. Or it would be, if it wasn't done ENTIRELY in single crochet! I fought with it for 6 hours yesterday, and was only able to get the mouth done. The problem is that the stitches are way too tight (think watertight) and so when you have to undo then, they get all snarled and messy. Or when you try the next row, the stitching is too tight and you get a snarled mess. Plus its SO time consuming, and the same stitch look can be had with half double crochet. Not hard at all. A little bigger but thats why you adjust. I may have to do that, but since its not just some practice project for my boyfriend I'm a little nervous about winging the pattern.

I never understood single crochet. Its not that pretty, and you can't create anything cool with it, like ridges or spikes or anything. Once I get rich and famous, I'm going to make a pattern book with no single crochets anywhere. Ever.

DEATH TO THE SINGLE!

Trials, Tribbles, and Tribulations.

2008-08-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

So the blue lacy ribbon that Jana gave me apparently doesn't exist anywhere. I've gone to several craft stores and my yarn store, and they have things similier, but not what I'm looking for. I really had my heart set on the pattern with the scalloped edges in a deep blue that would go with anything I own...but now I have a few options.

Look for it online.
Keep looking in craft stores.
Get something similier and switch it up a bit.
Make the scarf shorter.

Ugh. I just hate making something and then when I'm almost done I have to change it.

I know this is my craft blog, but I'm so exicted for this next thing I just can't help but "nerd out"....not only is the new Star Trek moive due out next winter (Squee!!) but finally Hasbro said they're almost ready to launch the online Star Trek game!(SQUEE!!!!!) Think World of Warcraft but in space. You play as one of the races featured in the Next Generation series, and try to take over the galaxy. AWESOME. So now I have something to do when my hands need a break from hooking.

Yesterday Mesa got slammed with a storm, and I was in the yarn store picking out colors for my nex project. Spent a little more than I should, but I was happy with what I had...until I got home.

I forgot one stupid color.

I hate when this happens! Now I have to go back tomorrow and hope they have the type of yarn still. I got the other colors on clearence because it was time to start switching over to the fall yarn (less linen and cotton based yarn and more wool). I hate when I have to do this... Not that I don't mind another trip to the yarn store, but its still a pain.

Weekend Warriors.

2008-08-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

My mom was in town for the weekend, and when I wasn't sleeping, she was knitting and I was practicing my knitting/crocheting. I started on this really cute almost lacy blue scarf, just for when I want something cute and sassy to wear....you know...when I'm out clubbing.

If you read that last sentance without laughing, I applaud you. I couldn't hold back the giggles when I was typing, so now people at work are trying to find out what is so funny about the work I'm supposed to be doing.

But I digress. This weekend, or should I say, tomorrow, I'll venture into a brand-new world...children's crafts. Jana has asked me to make some ADORABLE hats for he 1 year old nephew and 3 year old niece. The pattern says its for babies, but I think I can fidget with the directions a bit til I get it all worked out. Which is good, because apparently everyone I know either just had a kid, is currently pregnant, or is trying to get pregnant. Great timing, because I found a pattern for a teddy bear, a senorita doll (so cute I actually squeeled when I saw it) and rabbit doll, which I think would be perfect gifts for people. (Kristi I'm not telling you what yours will be, so don't think I'll be giving out hints!! ;) )

As a side note, thanks to my mom, I finally got Darrin's buggery golf club covers finished. I'm never making pompoms again, so if anyone finds a pattern with pompoms, sit on it and do them yourselves. I refuse to.

Making a name for myself.

2008-08-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

I ride the bus because:

A: Too broke to drive (the bus is free for ASU students)
B: Helping the air quality (asthmatics everywhere, breathe easy!)

Every morning there's this older lady, Cindy, that waits at the same bus stop with me. We've talked every now and again, but this morning, when I whiped out my latest project (crochet scarf out of blue lace) she just started laughing.

"You know, I've seen you make squares, circles, and stripes of every different color, but I've never seen a final project!"

I started laughing and pulled out my camera to show off my mad skillz, and Cindy was actually pretty impressed. Said for a 20 year old I've done some pretty cool projects, and she was interested in some for herself. (SCORE!)

So I'm on the bus, blasting Frank Sinatra on my Ipod and working on the scarf, when I get this tapping on my knee.

Standing in front of me is a little girl, maybe 6 years old. Her and her mom ride the bus every morning to Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel, where I'm guessing she goes to school.

" 'Scuse me, miss. Whats that?"

AWW.

So I explain to her its crocheting, and how it works. She had some string in her backpack (?) so i gave her one of my spare hooks and showed her the basic stitch, the chain stitch. I have to tell you there is nothing cuter than watching a 6 year old whos feet don't even reach the ground scrunch her face up trying to get how to crochet and then watching her when it finally clicks.

Right before her stop, she tries to give the hook back to me. I tell her to keep it, and keep working on the chain, and that next time I see her I'll show her some new stitching.

You would have thought I gave her wood off the True Cross, from the look on her face. After getting the OK from mom, she jumps up and gave me a hug.

AWWWW.

Sitting a few seats down from me, and after watching the whole scene, a guy around my age started laughing.

"I always see you making things, but I didn't know that the bus was a place you offered lessons."

I told him if someone is wanting to learn, and if they can put up with my teaching skills (or lack thereof) I'll show them how it works.

Its funny. I don't really talk to anyone, and I thought that for the most part people just ignored me, but I guess there aren't too many people doing something "old timey" like crocheting very often.

PICTURES!

2008-08-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

So, I've been promising pictures, and LOW AND BEHOLD!

Here are some:

This is a granny square blanket that got me through the stress of finals. Its made from yarn belonging to my great-granma and my Aunt Sally (amazing crocheters in their own right) as well as some yarn thrown in by me!

So then I started making hats!

Hat for Colin:

Hat for Bea (the circular thing is a button holding an ear flap up)

And a hat for Jeff! (made from Icelandic wool!)

Other than hats, I've also made this scarf for Cammie:

So with all these projects I had been doing, I had a lot of yarn left over, and I decided to make a throw rug! I figured I had been bitching about my old rug too long, and since the hippie in me cant throw anything kind of useful away...you get this:

I have a few other projects, but my camera needs to charge before I post those.

I feel like a big girl now.

2008-08-02T08:38:00.001-07:00

So Jeff comes to me and asks if I can make him some Hobo Gloves (basically half fingered ones) and I figured why not. I found a pattern I could probably work, but when I sat down to actually do it, I discovered the pattern called for the single crochet stitch.

While its the most basic, it's also the hardest, most time consuming stitch ever, and is a royal pain in the ass. After searching for an hour on Jeff's old ~~paperweight~~ laptop and finding similar gloves but all in single crochet, I decided to wing it.

I used the pattern a a basic guide for the construction, but the stitching (half double crochet, if you cared to know) and the finger placement were all my ideas.

I feel like I've taken a giant step in the world of crocheters. Gave me a heck of a lot more confidence too!! I'll hopefully have pictures up tonight (I know, I know, I keep saying that...). Plus, I really enjoined making them! Not that I don't like making beanies and scarfs, but something a little more challenging thrown in never hurt. Plus because the construction was all my own, it was like putting together a puzzle in the dark...which is surprisingly fun.

Now I'm a little less hesitant to tackle different projects, like this ADORABLE granny square purse. Who knows? If I don't like the pattern...I may just make my own!

Oh! So Jeff's step mom, Hidy, also crochets, and she sells her stuff at craft markets around Tampa. I've tried looking for those out here, but all I'd be able to do would be sell things at swap meets, where its about $100 bucks to even rent a stupid stall. Needless to say totally not worth my time and effort. After I told that to Hidy, she had a few choice words to say about how unfair that was (but it was in Turkish so she could have been commenting on the weather...). So yesterday while Jeff and I were walking around UT, she calls and offers to sell some of my things at her shows around Tampa!! I'd have to wait til it got colder, and she said that she couldn't promise me they'd sell, but she said that she knows how hard it is to sell things like that all by yourself, and wants to help me out.

YAY!

Now I have to think of something nice to do/make for Hidy. Even if it turns out they don't sell that was an incredibly sweet thing of her to do.

I hate Alpaca.

2008-07-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Seriously. The wool from them is a pain in the ass and not worth it. Oh I'm sure its nice and lovely and soft and all that crap. But unraveling it? Good luck.

&%!#

I'm not normally violent towards animals, but if I were to come across an Alpaca (which isn't all that likely in Tampa...)

I'd probably go VietCong on them....

Stupid Alpaca.

Hooks are missing. Go to Defcon 1.

2008-07-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

So this morning, I had a few minutes to kill before leaving for work, so I thought I'd crochet a little...until I couldn't find my hooks.

I looked in my yarn drawer.
I looked on my desk.
I looked between the coushins of my couch.
I looked in my sheets.
I looked in my closet.
I looked in my kitchen.

My hooks went missing! I almost had a panic attack...which is pretty pathetic, I think, but its like when you lose your cell phone or your keys and that feeling of panic/dread settles in your stomach.

Execpt I'm missing pieces of metal.

I really wanted to find them this morning, because after work I'm taking Nilla and spending the night at Cammie's then get on a plane for my vacation! And if I don't have my hooks I'm going to be really, really bored on the plane.

Now my apartment is pretty small, rather a hole in the wall. So I know they didn't get too far away, but that not knowing where they are really bothers me. Thats my livelyhood!

When I get home, I'll just tear into my apartment until I find them, and if that means that I go through everything and move things around till I find my blue pouch of wonderfull hooks, well.

So be it.

Knock on wood wouldn't help...

2008-07-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

I made my weekly trip to the yarn store yesterday to find pompom makers (which help not a whit, by the way) and I started talking to Linda, the owner and her daughter, Amy (Amy's in her 40s) for about 20 minutes with other knitters/crocheters throwing their two cents in about their own yarn adventures and I mentioned that I didn't believe in the Sweater Curse.

Basically the Sweater Curse states that if you knit or crochet your boyfriend a sweater (even if he wants it!) it will end the relationship half way through the project or just weeks after you finish it. In a store with about 20 chatty ladies, everything went dead silent.

Followed by 20 ladies then telling me their own horror stories involving the Sweater Curse. Yikes. Didn't know it was that of a touchy subject. I know that by nature crocheters and knitters are superstitious (like you're not supposed to throw away your first hooks/needles) but I didn't know it was that bad.

Sorry Jeff, looks like you're not getting a baja type garment for Christmas. Tho apparently hats, gloves and scarfs are okay? Don't ask, I have no clue.

I still hate pompoms. Last night I tried making some with the help of those pompom maker things, and as I mentioned before, they didn't do shit. But they did help make it look like I at a ton of Mac and Cheese and then puked all over my apartment (thanks, humidity, for making yarn look and feel like noodles). Very attractive I'm sure. Nilla got a kick out of it at least, because then Mommie would yell and gold strings would fly and she'd get some shiny new pieces to play with. Aw how cute.

I hate pom poms.

2008-07-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about the cheerleader ones, but I'm talking bout the ones you'd see on top of beanies or golf club covers, which I'm trying to make for Darrin. So I finish up the actual sock parts of the covers (two maroon and one gold) and I tackle what's supposed to be the easy part...the pompom. All I had to do was wrap the yarn around some cardboard 100 times, tie off and whip stitch that bitch (rhyme!) into place.

Yeah.

I tried tying it off, but the minute the yarn was cut free from the cardboard, it kind of exploded all over my sofa (I'll probably be finding gold strands of yarn for the next 6 months...). So on my second attempt I got it off the cardboard andfastened off, but when I tried tacking it to the actual sock...it exploded...again.

Fast forward 2 hours.

I'm covered in thousands of two inch strands of gold yarn and Nilla's playing with some that got into her cage. Don't ask how it got there, I have no clue.

#%*@!

I really didn't want to go and spend MORE money to get these dang things done (after fighting with the damn stiching for two weeks...) but I'm going to the Fiber Factory later tonight to see if they have pom pom makers. But thats just too easy. If it had been my own personal project I'd have set it on fire or frogged them into pot holders by now.

No wonder I hate golf.

After that I think I'm going to take a break from making things for Crochet Creations by Caitie while I'm in Tampa (fyi, Kristi, the only webpage I have for that is myspace.com/madamhook) and start on some presents. Like Jeff's gloves that he knows he's getting and Cam's hat and a few other things for people. Lord knows I won't be able to get it done closer to Christmas...

I'm just ticked that one stupid thing held me up from finishing my project! Plus if I don't finish, then I don't get paid, tis that simple.

#%*@! pom poms.....

**Kristi, for some reason I can't read your blog under my email address that I gave you. The one I have for this blog is madamhook@gmail.com, maybe that one will work?

I know, I'm a horrible person for not posting....

2008-07-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

...I've been busy as all hell!

My online class has started, as well as my own crochet company Crochet Creations by Caitie. Creative I know. I'll try to have pictures up by this evening, but don't hold me to that.

So between making things for people (at practally slave labor prices) I managed to hook up a throw rug from old, crappy acrylic yarn that the hippie in me won't let throw away. One think I've noticed is that since making things for people, I'm more willing to tackle projects that I wouldn normally shy away from because the stiching is really flashy or because the colors scream LOOK AT ME, but I've really enjoied myself. The making part is awesome, but I think I like the feeling others get when they have something handmade espicially for them. Doesn't happen much anymore, sadly. Now if someone wants a scarf they just head over to A&E or Hollister and get one. I'm not knocking store bought items, not in the slightest. But for me, its just something more meaningful when someone says "Hey, that's cute! Where'd you get it?" and you can say "I had it made for me by a friend (or girlfriend, cousin etc.)." Plus theres the pride that comes along with it, knowing that you have a valuable skill.

And I look for any excuse to work with yarn. :D

So after making a throw rug for myself out of the scraps, I still have a lot of good yarn left over, so I'm in the process of crocheting beanies and other headcovers for the Arizona Cancer Center.

AWW I know, I'm a good human'n'such.

But I figure that yarn will just sit in my drawer collecting dust until I can find something to make, and even then it may not get used. Whereas if I make it into a beanie or hat for someone who needs it, it'll get warn and they'll appreciate it.

So if anyone has any yarn, and you don't want it anymore, please let me know! It'll go to a good cause!

Therapy Sessions

2008-06-24T08:33:00.001-07:00

When I'm mad or upset, I do three things. The first is cry. I just need to get all that crud out of me, and in about 5 minutes, I'm good to go. After that, I either go running and hit something, or I crochet.

Yesterday I found out that I'm getting the short end of the stick, and that really really upset me. So I did the crying, then I sat down and started working on my new bag. I hadn't understood the pattern at first, but I was able to work it out without translating it out of shorthand.

For me, shoving my hook through a pain in the ass row of single crochets (my least favorite stitch) and yanking the yarn every which way really help me take my anger out. Plus it has a really calming effect on me (when I watch someone do it, I almost always fall asleep). Sure its not a conventional type of therapy, but I haven't killed anyone or torn up my apartment, so I think it works.

Speaking of my bag, I found a pattern on the Internet, and its actually supposed to be a project bag that you can carry the pattern, your hooks, the yarn and a few other odds and ends around with you. Well I do that no matter what kind of bag I'm using at the moment, so I figured with a few modifications, I can just make it into a regular bag for school. The pattern is really fun too, with a solid back ground, black in my case, and hot pink stripes. When I get some of the pieces done, I'll post them.

I think Jeff's hat has become a UFO for now... :(

One hell of a happy hooker.

2008-06-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jeff is amazing.

I know that will only inflate his ego and make him impossible to be around, but in this instance, he deserves to know.

He got me Happy Hooker for my birthday! I can't think of the lady's name...Debbie something, but its part of the Stich'n'Bitch series, and unlike the Son of a Stich'n'Bitch, its ALL crochet!!

After I figure out the assembly of Jeff's stupid hat, and then do my bag, I'm taking a crack at just about every pattern in there. Screw shopping for clothes. I know that makes me sound like a total hippy, but its cheaper to buy the yarn than it is to buy a shirt, and its in the color I want and fits me the way I want it to.

Maybe that will give me the motiviation to figure out the crappy sewing directions. Well they aren't even sewing directions...but crochet! Meaning the guy who wrote this pattern wants me to crochet the pices together, but is so vague I gave up and just hand sewed the back pieces togeher. I think I got them right, because that was just common sence, but the rest? I'm totally lost at.

I think I just need to vite the bullet and invest in a sewing machine, and learn how to use it. My granny squares would have gone so much faster, and I'm not going to be hand sewing any shirts I make together. Thanks but no.

Now all i want to do is sit around and crochet all day. Maybe knit and watch Deadwood here and there.

Deadwood and needles

2008-06-21T06:39:00.001-07:00

I'm a huge fan of the HBO series Deadwood, and often, I love nothing more than curling up on my couch with my knitting needles and a ball of yarn that was passed down to me, and attempt to knit while watching Swearengen make his double dealing (yet good natured) plans for the camp. Well last night, as we were finishing up Season 2, I finally got it.

Ladies, gentlemen, and anyone in between.

I have mastered knitting basics!!

I did about 10 rows last night, give or take a few, and I didn't drop or add stitches and they're mostly the same size. It wasn't fancy, just knit one row, purl the next, knit, purl, yadda yadda yadda. But I'm still really proud of myself! I'm now the only crocheter, and knitter in the family. Though my mom says she knows the basics, but she kind of forgot them. I remember when I started my afghan she went with me and bought some yarn and a pair of needles to try and remember, but I'm not sure how that went. But for the longest time, there was a ball of yarn and some needles sitting on her bookshelf, and I'm not sure what happened to them.

I'm just really really proud of myself at the moment :D

My first post!

2008-06-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

...
No bang, no BOOM, nothing.

Anyways, so basically my friends and family on Myspace(Oh nose!) got sick of hearing me vent about my crochet projects not looking as they should, or didn't understand my joy of finding the perfect yarn (on sale, at that). So I figured I'd just up and move to a place where in theory, people care about crocheting/knitting. Tho living out here in Arizona, the land of "hot to trot", and not needing to wear anything of yarn for warmth, I've yet to find these people.

So as a quick introduction, I've been crocheting since I was about 10 years old. My grandmother taught me because A:) It kept me inside and inside I couldn't trip and mangle myself, and B:) I was the only person that had any interest in anything yarn like.

I didn't really get into crocheting until about 6 months ago. I had been trying to finish a personal size afghan (yellow and lavender) for about 6 years, and finally did it shortly after New Years. then around spring break, after teaching myself the Knitting basics, I found a whole bunch of yarn that my great aunt had given to me shortly before she passed away. In in, there was yarn she used, and some that my great-grandmother had used. Mixing that with some of my own yarn, I made granny squares til I was blue in the face, and joined them to a blanket.

About 6 months ago, I got my hands on Son of a Stich'n'Bitch and Jeff asked for one of the few crochet projects in there...the Lidsville. I finally got the courage to attempt it, and churned the pieces out in about a week in a half. The assembly has me worried, just because I think I may have gotten some of the pieces wrong, and then theres the whole sewing it together thing....

Eep.

Dammit, Jim! I'm a crocheter, not a seamstress!

Well I think this weekend I'm going to wait til he's at work, throw on some Flogging Molly and try to hash it out. Wish me luck!!