Tuesday Tens: Ten Things My Readers Should Know About the Last Ten Months (more or less)

It's been a while, and I'm not quite sure what to say. So I decided to say it in a list. A Tuesday Tens list.

1. I haven't gone anywhere, I just haven't been myself for a while. Last summer was tough. I was starting to get back in the blogging habit in October, then I got the the Swine Flu and everything came to a grinding halt. (Yes, this right before the vaccines became available to the general public.) Between that and all the other things I'm about to talk about, I just fell out of circulation. It's not just the blogging. It's the knitting, crochet, spinning, yarn sales, knitting groups, local yarn shops, Ravelry and everything else that goes with it. Some of my knitting friends probably think I fell off the face of the earth. I feel so embarrassed. I didn't know that Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe closed, and I'm only vaguely aware that The Knitting Nest moved. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I just needed a break. Maybe I'll be back even bigger and better than before.

So if you've messaged me on Ravelry, left a comment, e-mailed me, etc and I haven't responded, I'm sorry. But now I'm back. Feel free to contact me again. You'll probably get an answer.

2. Jules and I are no longer together. We haven't been since last October. I'm not going in to details except to say we didn't get along while we were living together. He moved into his own place in October, and then back to California in January. We still talk on the phone every now and then.

3. I'm unemployed again. Not many people can say they've been laid off by the same employer twice. But this time there was no rehire. It happened February 12, and it was the exact opposite of the other lay off. I didn't see it coming, and I was the only one (on that particular morning) that was let go.

I was having a good Friday morning when it happened. Mid-morning my pen ran out of ink and I needed a new notepad. I was finishing up entering stuff into the computer, and I was going to find the office manager to get more supplies when they called me in. They cleaned out my desk for me, and I tried to get to my car as quickly as possible before I saw anyone I know.

But don't feel sorry for me. Between collecting unemployment and a little help from The Bank of Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine and looking forward to a fresh start.


4. I'm cleaning my apartment. Seriously. After lots of false starts over the past few years, I'm really, honestly, truly making progress. The picture above is my "Wall O' Yarn." (It's all cataloged on Ravelry, except for a couple of specific categories.) You can see more pictures of my apartment on Flickr. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to post the "before" pictures.

5. I have contacts now, but the headaches are back. Last summer I talked about my new glasses hurting. It was awful. The pain around my nose traveled to the back of my head and down my neck. It went on for months, until I finally gave in and got contacts for my birthday in December. For a while, all the pain went away. But then in March I developed a headache in the left side of my forehead (the same side as the pain from the glasses.) The pain also started traveling down my neck, so I know they must be related to the pain I had with the glasses. It's been a problem since March. I'll probably blog more about it later, but there are medications, doctors and a chiropractor involved now.

(The good news is that my contacts are awesome!)

6. I may blog about non-yarn things more often. I've had the urge to write more about other topics than what will fit in a Facebook status update. So you'll probably see more non-knitting stuff here.

7. I have all sorts of unfinished business to blog about. There's an FO that's never been seen on this blog, a follow up to the Potholder Swap and all kinds of pictures to post.


8. This is my most recent WIP. I'm calling it the "Back in the Saddle Scarf," for obvious reasons. It's the Easy Drop Stitch Scarf, only wider. I'm planning to add some fringe as well. I'm using Noro Lily from Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe.

9. I feel incredibly guilty about crapping out on the Gauge Scarf Circle. I really owe a big apology to Gauge and all it's customers, especially those in my scarf circle. I never finished the scarves, and a couple have been lingering in my house. I was late, then I was ashamed, so I avoided going, and that made me later and more ashamed and guilty, and then I really avoided dropping them off, and it went on and on like that for months. I'm probably the reason the scarves in my circle weren't finished. And now that I've blogged it, I'm think I'm brave enough to return the scarves in my possession.

10. Guilt has been a huge factor in my absence. It's irrational, but every time something knitting, blogging or fiber related came up in the past few months, I couldn't enjoy it because I felt guilty. Guilty for not keeping up, for being out of the loop, for having big plans and not following up and, in a few areas, guilty for not following through on my promises. So I avoided it. I know this doesn't make sense, so I'm going to push myself back into it until it feels right again.

A Few More Odds and Ends

I didn't get to post this picture from Gauge on Saturday before, and I wanted to share it. They had a bunch of marked down yarns set up back there. I want my apartment to look like this. (Yarn included.)

I also forgot to mention that I officially found out that I didn't get the Ravelry job. Considering that 1,500 people applied, I'm not letting myself get down over it.


Finally, I had to show everyone my P-Mates that I won from Norma. I haven't used them yet, since I'm saving them for swimming or some other activity where they'll came in handy. It turns out I had it wrong before. I didn't win three P-Mates, I won one package of five P-Mates. (Three people won.)

(You can buy P-Mates here.)

Thanks Norma!

Friday Bits and Pieces - Catching Up

Here are some bits and pieces that didn't quite fit anywhere else.



Tuesday was Mom's birthday, and we celebrated on Wednesday. I already posted the tawashi I made for her. Jules made a pineapple upside down cake. Katie gave Mom brownies, a special double-walled cup and Aqua Globes.


Last Saturday Before Jules arrived, I had Katie trim my hair. This is the after picture. The before picture is here. (Obviously, she didn't cut very much.)


I'm leaning towards these glasses. Everyone except Jules likes them. I'm thinking about going to Lenscrafters this weekend to see my other options. I'm probably going to get something similar if I don't get these.

I'm starting to adjust to my CPAP. I can sleep for most of the night with it, although I seem to drool some while I'm wearing it.

Hill Country Weavers is having its Second Annual Warehouse Blowout. I didn't go to the first one, but I plan to drop by tomorrow. Even if I don't find anything, it blows my mind that Suzanne has enough stock to fill an entire house, and hold a sale in a warehouse.

Gauge is having a sale too. I'll see you there.

Scarf Circle Time

I hadn't been to Gauge in ages, so it was especially nice to spend some time there on Saturday.

I came in because I got an e-mail about the store's scarf circle (aka the traveling scarves.) Everyone in the circle starts their own scarf. They knit five inches, put their knitting on a stitch holder (or scrap yarn) and pass it on to the next person. The next person uses their own yarn and knits five more inches. The scarves rotate around until everyone has knit 5 inches on each scarf, and you end up with a scarf that everyone has knit on.

The interesting thing is that I actually don't remember signing up for the scarf circle, but my name was on the list. I'm glad though, because I do want to participate.


I decided to use the yarn leftover from Katie's Beret for my scarf. (I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Amy's Vintage Office.) Unfortunately, the leftover ball had been bouncing around my knitting bag since I finished the beret, leaving me with a tangled mess. I tried using the ball winder, but winding by hand ended up being a better choice.


Ta da!


I considered more complicated stitch patterns, but the seed stitch looked so good on Katie's beret, I decided it would look good on my scarf. I used US size 7 needles, the same ones I used on the beret. I left it at the store for the next person, along with a note with all the pertinent information. On the 27th, I'll be able to pick up the next scarf to work on.


I had some time to hang out while I was there and talk to the other knitters. This pile of mohair locks was in the background the entire time. No one knew why it was there, including the staff. I had to get a picture of the mystery mohair.

Are you ready for OPP? (Other People's Projects)


Alexandra had two Simple Yet Effective Shawls that I fell in love with. She is knitting this one out of Be Sweet Bamboo.


Here's the first one she knit out of Noro sock yarn. (I don't remember if it's Kuyeron Sock or Silk Garden Sock.)

I definitely want to make one of these shawls.


I'll leave you with the swirlies. Forgive me, but I forgot who was knitting this (if it was you, let me know), what pattern it was and what specific yarn it was. I do know this is a JoJoLand pattern, and I think it uses their yarn as well.

Roc Day Party

(Gigi has good taste. She likes wool and wrapping paper.)

I hadn't even heard of Roc Day until a couple of days ago. It's on January 7, right after the twelve days of Christmas. It's day the spinners got to work. (It's also known as Distaff Day.)


Emily (above) decided to have a party to celebrate Roc Day on Sunday. (Sunday wasn't technically Roc Day, but close enough.) She invited a bunch of knitters from Gauge. The party included a ham dinner, champagne, gelato and a White Elephant stash swap.


We spend the first hour or so knitting and talking. There's Ceci with Gigi, and Ana knitting a Bumble Bee Baby Surprise Jacket.

(As I mentioned yesterday, I ran out of yarn for Jules' Gloves during the party. Luckily I had a back up project.)

After we chowed down, it was time for the white elephant swap. The Baby Surprise Jacket showed up again.


Jane got an abandoned Baby Surprise Jacket. It was hilarious when she opened. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the yarn, then cracked up when the UFO came out of the bag.

Actually, Jane didn't end up with it in the end. Faye was the final person to steal it. It was some nice yarn, and came with the needles, so it was in demand. I think the person who started it was relieved to see it go.


Ana got ended up with a skein of my Kool Aid yarn from ages ago. I decided I didn't need all four skeins. I think she appreciated it.



I opened a nostepinne from Craftiness. It was promptly stolen from me.


I ended up with a notion kit from Ana. It included Ana's stitch markers, a holder for the stitch markers and a nifty gauge.

We haven't had OPP in a while. (Other People's Projects) You saw the Bumble Bee Baby Surprise above. Here's some of the other projects I saw at the party.


Robin wore her Klaralund sweater (Ravelry link) made from super soft Malabrigo Worsted in Dusty Olive.


Faye wore her hat. I think (but I'm not positive) that it's the Virtue hat (Ravelry link) knit in Malabrigo.


Finally, Emily still had her tree up, adorned with the rings we helped her knit in November.

I like Roc Day. I think we should celebrate it again next year.

You can see all my Roc Day pictures here.

Emily's Birthday Paty

Sunday night, Emily celebrated her birthday in style, and I got to join her. Everyone met at Gauge for lots of good food, nice decor, yarn and Wallace and Gromit.


Here's the birthday girl, with the yarn I gave her. It's a skein of Wild Thang Triptek from Heritage Arts. The yarn is 63% Superwash Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon and 2% Silver. Yes, that's silver, as in the metal. I got it at Kid 'n Ewe. (I got a skein for me too. Mine is blue and purple.)


Emily had the best party favor of all - yarn. She asked everyone to bring some to swap. I actually wrapped mine, but the swap turned out to be much less formal. Everyone added to the pile and took some away. I put in a skein from the never-ending recycled sari silk. (Emily chose that skein.) I got a partial skein of handspun yarn by Robincat (on the left) and a skein of Opal Sock Yarn (on the right.)

You can see some of the fancy food behind the yarn. There was lots of good food, like fancy meats and cheeses, fresh fruit, bread, dips, olives and Emily's handmade Gelato for dessert. (This time she had blood orange flavor. Yum.)


Ceci came along with the new baby. She put pictures of the party on her blog as well. You can see a picture of me looking way too serious about my food over there.


Of course, we can't have a party without Cheva.


While we were watching Wallace and Gromit, we each knit a ring for Emily's Christmas garland. Emily brought her sock yarn scraps and some size three needles. (Luckily, I had my Size 0s, because my gauge is loose.) It's a very simple pattern, and I think Emily plans post it online.


Here's my finished ring. I did mine in the round. They have enough rings knit on straights to connect them, and having a couple in the round will probably save them time.

You can see all the pictures I took at the party here.

WIP: Big Ol' Titty

I'd lost my blogging mojo for a while, but I'm back, and I brought boobs!


It's a little hard to tell in this picture. The yellow one with the pink nipple is a completed Tit Bit. The brown ones are in progress.

On Saturday I went to the Tit Bit event at Gauge that I wrote about last week.

They had tit cakes!


It's funny, Norma Knits just posted about booby cupcakes. These aren't quite as literal as the ones she links to. These are more subliminal. It's a little more obvious from the side.


They tasted good too.


This is Dell. She is going to be one of the recipients. She came to see what we were doing and take some pictures.


Gauge is working with the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin to knit the breasts. The ones we are working on now will probably be used as examples. Then we'll take "orders." The Tit Bits can be knit in several sizes and adjusted to fit just right. It makes more sense to make them to order.

A representative from the BCRC (I forgot her name) came and talked to us (and answered a lot of our questions.) She showed us one of her prosthetic bras. It was heavy, and cost several several hundred dollars. (Insurance covered part of the cost, but it was still expensive.) She talked about how expensive and uncomfortable regular prosthetics can be. It was easy to see why these could be a better choice for many women.


These are the rocks that Gauge provided to put inside the tit bits along with the Polyfil. The weights help center the breast in the bra, without making them too heavy.


This is my tit bit so far. And it is only one tit bit. I'll sew the pieces together to make a single tit bit.

I decided to make a big tit bit. I'm using a yarn at a larger gauge than the pattern recommends. (This is Bernat Cottontots.) When I tied the optional nipple, it was huge! So I decided to make a big boob to fit the nipple.

(Besides, there's plenty of big women out there too.)

Knit Your (Tit) Bit

Gauge has all sorts of fun stuff coming up this weekend. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary party. I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but I'll be there Sunday for Tit Bit knitting.

From the Gauge website:

"KNIT-A-TIT" FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
Sunday October 26, 3-6PM

After losing her breast to cancer, knitter Beryl Tsang was depressed and frustrated by her options in prosthetics: all were "too heavy, squishy, or ugly... they reminded me of raw liver, and the bra resmebled the suspension system of my 1995 Volvo." She decided she could knit something better from the luxurious yards in her stash. The result - the "Tit-Bit" - ia s hand-knitted breast pattern which can be customized in dimensions and materials to satisfy the requirements of any woman.

To conclude Breast Cancer Awareness Month we invite participants to knit Tit-Bits, check out an array of examples from practical to outrageous, and talk to breast cancer survivors modeling their own Tit-Bits. BCRC staff will offer information on prosthetic options as well as on breast cancer detection, education and support


things to bring if you'd like to knit donations:

machine washable yarn - keep in mind knitting will be worn against the body so soft is good

needles for your yarn -

a copy of the pattern - http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html

we'll provide fiber fill and weights

Hope to see you there!

Hill Country Yarn Crawl 2008

After some debate I decided to go on the Hill Country Yarn Crawl and take the bus that left from Hill Country Weavers. I couldn't make it today, when most of the people went and the bus went to the shops out of town. But I did have fun going to all my local shops and getting to see a new one.

You can see all the pictures I took on the yarn crawl here.


I got to Hill Country Weavers nice and early, where I picked up my passport and my tote bag for all my goodies.


Hill Country Weavers gave out skeins of Plymouth Ocean Side Organic cotton yarn and a booklet with patterns for these dishcloths.


Trish of Tanglewood Fiber Creations was there, with all her beautiful, luscious handspun yarn.


Pam got a skein of Tanglewood yarn. It was 50% silk, 50% cashmere, with beads. It was so soft that she decided to wear it as a necklace.

There were only eight people who went on Saturday, so they reserved a 15 passenger van. The van was late. Way late. So more than an hour after we were supposed to leave, this is what showed up to pick us up:


Yep, there wasn't even enough room for eight, much less 15. They had confirmed the time and the size of the van the day before. We weren't thrilled.

So we waited for another van to come.


Finally, a second van arrived. This one was bigger, but there still weren't enough seats. We ended up taking both.

As we talked to our driver in the second van, we discovered that she wasn't a driver, and she didn't have a fleet van. Apparently she works for the owner of the business, but not as a driver. She was driving her own personal van. Her boss had called her up and asked her to come let us use her van. When we needed two vehicles, she got roped into driving us all around town.

The driver was very nice despite the situation. She enjoyed the shops, and she may try knitting. (She already sews.) We had a good time talking. She said she had a great time, and I told her not to tell her boss that.

So that was the main hitch in the plan. We still made it to all the shops, but we didn't have as much time to spend. But we didn't let it ruin our day.


Our first stop was The Knitting Nest, where they gave us kits for spider headbands, just in time for Halloween. In addition to the new notion holders, they had several new yarns including Cascade Greenland (the same stuff I got from Wildfire), Laines Du Nord Calipso, Cascade Cotton Rich and Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks. And they had this...


This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Amy's Vintage Office, the limited edition color I've been drooling over. Stacy said they ran out of the sock weight already, and these three skeins in Shepherd Worsted were all that was left. I bought one of them.

Speaking of Stacy, there's a story behind this picture:


Stacy is a trooper. She cut her hand when she broke the vase her anniversary roses came in. Since then, she's had surgery on her hand. (She showed me her stitches.) This was less than a week ago, yet she was at the store, on lots of painkillers.

She agreed to let me take a picture, and I said I wouldn't put it up if I didn't get a good shot. She joked that I could edit her face out.

Well, I got a bad shot, and Picnik had some effects that matched the Halloween decor. So I went for it.


The next stop was Yarnorama in Paige, where we had lunch. I'll have a full entry on them later, but I wanted to show off the hand dyed silk hankies. We each got one with a little kit that had instructions for knitting a little pouch. Susan, the owner, showed us how to stretch the silk into roving that we could knit.


I bought a pound and a half of fiber. But that doesn't compare to Clara, who bought a spinning wheel. (It's in the box she's holding.)

After Yarnorama, we went to Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe. We didn't have much time because they closed at five. But we did have time to look around. Everything was 10% off for yarn crawlers. (Even the clearance yarns were 60% off, instead of the usual 50% off.)


Everyone got a kit for these little pouches and a pattern for both knit and crochet versions. They were in paper bags, so we didn't know exactly what we got until we opened them.


The final stop was Gauge, where they gave out vouchers for free classes, and their yarns were also 10% off for yarn crawlers. They still had a good selection of Handmaiden Sea Silk and Double Sea Silk. I snagged a skein of the Double Sea Silk in the "Vintage" colorway.


Cheva was there sporting her latest creation. (Also, Carly was sporting some cool felted bangles.)

I was happy to find that Gauge has some roving for sale. Now I can get my fiber fix closer to home.

I was exhausted when we returned to HCW, and my arms were full. Here is what I got on the crawl.


There are more details about the yarn here and the fiber here.

And here's all the freebies.


The bus ride is over, but there's one day left to buy your passports, get you free gifts and enter the drawing. They're at all the participating shops.