YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!

The damn Bavarian Socks are finally finished!
I really don't know why they took me so long. When I went into my Ravelry project page to tag them for the Ravelympics as finished, I was shocked to see that my start date on them was July 9. Many sock knitters have the problem where they finish the first sock, then take forever to finish the second, if they do at all. I have never had that problem before. And I don't understand why it was a problem this time. The wool was nice to work with, the stitch pattern was easy & I memorized it after only 2 repeats, I mean they're socks for goodness sakes. There's nothing hard about them in general (I know there are exceptions, but this was not the pair to be that exception). Regular heel turning, nothing special about the toe, nada. I just don't get it.
So in the Ravelympics, I signed up for WIPS (works in progress) Dancing. I had expected to finish the sock, a Pea Pod baby set and Middlemarch, which of course got frogged. I finished the sock last night at about 2am while watching The Twilight Zone.
And Stephanie Pearl-McPhee? She finished a whole bloody sweater. Sure, she nearly went insane doing it, but she's a knitter. It comes with the territory. I am so ashamed.
And I don't even have any pics to prove I'm finished, because I left my camera at school.

Grrr...

Frogging Middlemarch. This is one wack pattern. I've been having trouble with it right from the start. I added stitches here, took them away there, to try and match the pattern. But coming down to the waist decreases was completely off. I've read and reread the pattern, and it makes no sense. There's no pic of the back for me to look at and try to decipher it by sight, either. Too bad. It's a gorgeous sweater, and done in the Jo Sharp aran it would have been amazing. But I think it's not to be. The Knitting Gods and Goddesses do not like. Sigh. I hate it when they take over the pattern.
Well, that's one less item to finish for my Knitting Olympics - Team WIP for the Ravelympics! Now I just have the rest of a Bavarian sock, the Pea Pod Baby Set and the Jolene scarf. No problem!

"The Olympics Really Begin"

This was the headline today on www.ctv.ca.

Gee, I guess the gold, the 2 silver & the bronze medals we've already won don't matter, because they weren't hockey medals.

Way to go, irresponsible sports journalists. The 80% of our athletes who DON'T play hockey thank you, for belittling their efforts and the sacrifices made by them and their family members, all because they choose to participate in a sport other than hockey.

And people wonder why I hate the damn sport so much.

WOO HOO!!!

Check that count at the bottom of the page - I broke 1500! And not too long ago I was spinning from getting just 1000. Love you - hugs and kisses and knitting karma and fantastic manicures to you all!!!

My New Obssession

It totally gets in the way of knitting. Can't knit with wet nails! I'm a daily reader of The Frisky, a pop culture chick site, and one day they profiled a blog called The Daily Nail. Now I'm completely obssessed with nail polish and manicures. The Daily Nail introduced me to this very cool thing called Konad. It's a nail stamping kit that is unbelievably easy to use, but makes it look like you spend hours and hours on your nails. Here's what I did today, very 60s mod, I think. I did the same pattern on a friend on Saturday night, with a light purple background and dark purple pattern. It looked really good, too, but I love this black & white. Way cool. And dry, so I can knit tonight. I've put aside Middlemarch to start a Pea Pod baby set in Paton's Grace (a lovely green shade called Wasabi!) for a friend at school expecting her first in July.

Help Out

By now you will have heard about last evening's devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The population has been through coup d'etats, dictators, near civil war, more political unrest, the restoration of democracy, hurricanes, you name it, and all in the past 100 years. The last thing they needed was a natural disaster of this magnitude. Because of the country's poverty, buildings are not exactly earthquake proof. There is nothing left. No hospitals, no medical clinics, no fire departments, nothing.
The people of Haiti need international aid on a daily basis, but now they need it more than ever. Medicins sans frontieres/Doctors Without Borders were already in the country. Their hospital has collapsed and they have lost staff members, but they are still doing their best. They have set up tents in their parking lot and on the grounds and are treating the wounded as best as they can. But they need your help. Go to their website and make a donation for Haiti relief, then let the Yarn Harlot know that you did. She will add your donation to her Tricoteuses sans frontieres/Knitters Without Borders total.
We are so lucky to live in the best country in the world. Let's share our wealth a little bit.

sample!!

Just showing the kids how to work a blog. They're so interested. They are the best students ever. HA HA HA HA!!!!