Rave on, Ravelry!

I am just sooo in love with Ravelry. I found yet another group to join today - Covered in Bees! A (support?) group for those of us in love with that wee sexie beast, Eddie Izzard. I would so knit him a sweater. That shows you my level of commitment to him. Actually, shouldn't that be 'I'd knit him lingerie'? White Lies Designs has a lovely selection that he'd rock.
My mother is going to read this post and see this pic and just shake her head. I don't think her generation would get Eddie. I think when I'm down next I should bring her Dress to Kill and try to broaden her horizons.
TEA AND CAKE OR DEATH!!!

No, your eyes do not decieve you

Yes. That is what you think it is. Gold lame yarn. I am not kidding. Do not adjust your set.
I don't even know where one would buy this crap. A woman gave my mother a sweater that she had knit and won 1st prize at some county fair. In her defense, it was amazingly well done, the seams were invisible, yada yada yada. But it was a v-neck cardigan, with gold trim all around the ribbing and - get this - gold argyle down the front. Oy. The main yarn is a beautiful cotton that she told my mum she got in Ireland. So I liberated it. As I ripped the sweater apart, I felt rather guilty. Then I'd get to the gold, and I reminded myself that anyone who knits with gold lame without being ironic deserves to have their work ripped apart.

Knock knock! Cable repairman!

Don't you just hate it when you're knitting happily away and then you notice that you made a mistake on your cable - 4 carries ago? Grrrrrr. But it actually didn't take too much to fix. Serves me right for watching Battlestar Galactica while I was knitting. Can't take my eyes of Helo (Tahmoh Penikett). Ooo baby! He can be my cable repairman any day!

Gotta love the Harlot!

I made a mistake on Cromarty. I had my parents, especially my knitter mother, look over it to see if it was as obvious to them as it was to me. They couldn't see it. It still jumps out at me, though. But I just read a great quote from the Yarn Harlot: no matter how well you knit, looking at your work too closely isn't helpful. It's like kissing with your eyes open. Nobody looks good that close up.
Ha! Now, I need to follow the advice I give to my uber-competitive students: let it go.

Ravelry is the best & a new wool goddess

I just luuuuurve Ravelry!! I posted on the ISO board (in search of) that I was hunting desperately for wool for Cromarty - and a new wool goddess has emerged!
Nancy in B.C. has - get this - not only the same colour, but the same freaking dye lot!! She is sending it my way. Nancy hereby joins my LYS goddess Karen as wool goddess. If I weren't held back by killer cramps, I would totally be dancing a jig right now. Even though I have never been taught how to jig. Although we were forced to sing that horrible squid jigging song in elementary school. I don't think they're related, though. Somehow I can't see manly Newfie fisherman making squid dance until they died.
But there's a Far Side cartoon in there, isn't there?

Oh too cool!

Ravelry has a knitting Olympics set to take place during the Beijing Olympics. The Ravelympics! Competing knithletes must undertake to start and finish items during the 17 days of the Olympics. I have signed up for the Glove Decathlon and WIP Wrestling, which is a bit of a cheat, because WIP stands for Works in Progress. I'll finish the sweater and hat that I've barely started for my friend Nat's baby girl Sophia, born at the end of July.
I'm also thinking about doing the Freehand Felting, but I haven't decided. I'm also on Team Browncoat!! Yay!! More knitting geeks! Shiny! But who will be Captain Tightpants, is the question. Ooh, Nathan Fillion. Yummy.

Cromarty progress update!

So here is Cromarty - front, sleeves, and the bit of the back I've finished. Am starting to majorly panic about not having enough wool. Cross those fingers and toes for me! Because, of course, it's been in my stash so long that it's been discontinued, so not even my yarn goddess Karen could get any more in for me. Eeek!

Dial-up RULES!!!

All this time I've been trash talking and whining about having dial-up Internet (living in the middle of Practically and Nowhere), and tonight I found something out - it ROCKS!!
The pages take so long to load that I can knit while I wait. I bet you people with hi-speed can't say that! Oh, sure, you can download songs and movies, and you don't disconnect every 3 minutes.....
I just remembered. Dial-up sucks.

I have been sitting on my lazy a$$ knitting all week. I have a Homer Simpson butt print in my couch. But man, is the sweater moving along nicely! On the down side, I have been talking to myself rather animatedly and the few times I have left the house, I haven't remembered to remove the cable needle from the top of my head. Gets me rather strange looks. Maybe I should get out tomorrow.

Nah. Knitting to be done.

Ah, summer!

I do so love summer. As much as I love teaching & I love my students, they do seem to get in the way of my knitting! No pics to post right now - nothing new. I've finished both sleeves of Cromarty, and I've just started the back, so I'll post that when it's something worth seeing. And I've almost finished something for a coworker whose lovely little girl was born at the end of July, so I'll post it when I've finished.
Note to Schank: Hope you're having a good summer! Say hi to mum and give Mary a hug for me.