Who wants to join? I've been trying to come up with what I'm going to knit for
Stephanie's Knitting Olympics. I know you are all dying to find out. However, I have a lot going on dammit. Yesterday at the shop the girls scoffed at my choice as they knew it wasn't
really a challenge to me. But give the girl a break. I'm busy and want to still play! Therefore I have received some major sponsorship to start up my own team who will sweep the Olympic medals. Just you watch. I'm proud to announce.....
sandbag
One entry found for sandbag.
Main Entry: 2sandbag
Function: transitive verb
1 : to bank, stop up, or weight with sandbags
2 a : to hit or stun with or as if with a sandbag b : to treat unfairly or harshly c : to coerce by crude means <are raiding the Treasury and sandbagging the government -- C. W. Ferguson> d : to conceal or misrepresent one's true position, potential, or intent especially in order to take advantage of
- sand·bag·ger noun
I'm not even going to go into anymore details. Feel free to Google it. You'll know if you're meant to be on my team or not. We're going to take over the Olympics man!
I'm curious
After making 3 pairs of socks with no gauge or needle problems at all this whole Jaywalker thing has me a bit frustrated. I started on 2's with the 84 stitches. Frogged that and went down to the 76 on 1's. Yesterday I bought the Susan Bates sock set and switched to metal DPN's which are soooooo much better but I'm afraid now that the sock won't even fit on my feet! Anyway. This led me to wonder what everyone out there likes to use when making socks. Now I know it depends on what yarn you're using but let's just make Scout happy and go with what you use the most okay? Take the poll and leave me some feedback. Can I have some Jaywalker feedback too please? I have a size 9 foot that isn't crazy large and I think I made a mistake in going with the 76 stitches. Good thing I'm only doing short ones. Last night my T. said, "Looks like someone's getting a nice pair of socks!" @*#%@!!
Wanna know something else?
I'm tired of doing my girls hair everyday. Oh I know. Those of you with boys or those who can't wait to have a little girl would have a hard time believing that. But trust me. Some mornings I can barely get myself together let alone another little person. I love her hair too. However, I was feeling pretty damn lazy today which inspired a trip to Jungle Cuts where you can basically get a free week off from hairdoin' for the low cost of $10.00 including tip. I mean, what a brilliant idea huh?  
 You know what this means right? Well, let's add up 5 minutes a day x 7 days and that equals a good 35-40 minutes I'll gain on knitting this week. Minus the aggravation of doing the hair too and I'd say that's well worth $10.00. Now I'm off to find my extra-super-strong-hold hairspray so those braids don't move an inch and I get my week off dammit. I wonder if she'll sleep sitting up in a chair so they might last more than a week?
Mucho better
 Imagine that. When I actually use the proper needles you can see the proper pattern. Whouldathunk!? I'm totally digging this pattern. It's super easy to remember and fun to watch. I think I'm actually going to get some plastic needles today because suprisingly, I'm not liking my bamboo 1's. I got the Susan Bates sock set DPN's and am in heaven!
Oh yeah, I also spent the morning creating a Blog for our Stitch 'n' Bitch group. Aw yeah.
And if you have yet to see this, click it and go support the cause! Damn you SFSE!!
STITCH 'N' BITCH
Stitch 'n' Bitch
Stitch 'n' Bitch
Stitch 'n' Bitch
Stitch 'n' Bitch!!!Am I going to get in trouble for saying that now? /sarcasm So I think our Stitch 'n' Bitch should win some sort of prize for having the most people at one time casting on for Jaywalkers. Cara, you are more than welcome to take this picture if you want too. Although, we're missing 2-3 more people in our group who cast on yesterday with us. How cool is that? We had 8 of us last night casting on. Click all pictures to see bigger.  We all had so much fun watching the pattern emerge and knew we'd have a hard time stopping last night. Well, those of us that didn't have to frog and start over that is. Yeah. For some reason I started mine on 2's thinking it'd work. I knew I had to frog after receiving this e-mail from Cara. Frog. That's my advice. Do them on 1s. Why did you decide to do them on 2s anyway? Are your legs/feet particularly large? Did you try them on?Frog. That's my advice. Do them on 1s. Why did you decide to do them on 2s anyway? Are your legs/feet particularly large? Did you try them on?She was so nice in that e-mail wasn't she? She could have said, "What the hell? Get a clue and follow the damn directions okay?" So Miss Scout learned her lesson and now has a pair of Jaywalkers that look much better. If my tummy would behave I might get some knitting done today. I'm finding out I'm not completely better yet. Back to Stitch 'n' Bitch. Here are the rest of the girlies who were knitting but just not the Jaywalkers. It's all good! We still love them. ;) Look at my student Debbie who learned how to knit just 2 weeks ago! She loved my Booga Bag so much she decided that had to be her first project ever. She was so damn happy after I helped her pick up the stitches last night. But look at her bag! She's rockin'!  
 This is Bev & Carole's tribute to the late Johnny Cash. We're so mature aren't we?
Oh Socks That Rock
How do I love thee? I really think that this colorway is my most favorite yarn ever. Click to see it bigger. I mean, how can you go wrong with pinks, blacks, greys & fuchsia? Hard Rock. To. Die. For. Is this not the prettiest yarn?  Since the lighting completely blows where we knit, most of us are casting on before tonight because the Abq girls are starting our own Jaywalker KAL. It should be a blast. I'll remember to bring my camera to document the momentous occasion. Now that I have my ribbing done I'll be a good girl and go back the the criss-cross scarf for the girl. Carole already threatened me not to knit more than the ribbing since I yelled at her not to either.  I'm so in love with this yarn. I really need to go and buy some other colors. I think I'll make my T. a pair after mine.
I'm alive
Got a bit more sleep last night and definitely feel better. I ate some toast and am going to even brave some coffee now that something is in my tummy. I have a huge headache from no caffeine yesterday. Thanks for all of the well wishes. I'm just happy it was just a 24 hour thing. I'm even hoping to maybe go to work for a few hours. We'll see how I feel in a bit. Now, on to knitty goodness. I did happen to finish the boy's socks two nights ago. They turned out great. They are a little bit too big in the calf but it's okay. He loves them. The girly had to model hers too.   I loved all of the ideas for the 2 day knitting contest. No one really won since I didn't get to knit for one of those days. However, if I had to pick the one I liked the best I would have to say that my girl Bev would win. I love these little bags. I will have to make one soon. So I'll be picking up something fun for you from the store okay? What I did start the other night after the socks were done was this fun scarf I saw on Knitty Gritty. I'm using some Bernat Cottontots I bought for that baby sweater I have yet to make. Shhhhhhhh.  The first criss cross row was a bit awkward but then it's a breeze afterwards. I think I'll make this for the girly. It's just some stash yarn but pretty cute for a little girl I think. Isn't it a fun pattern? It's supposed to be done with something more like mohair but I think it can work with this too. Okay. I'm going to go get coffee, wind my Socks That Rock and cast on for Jaywalker so I'm ready to go tonight. Cara, I'm e-mailing you because I have a question about these. **Edited to add - Here is the pattern for the scarf as requested by a few of you.**
Wish me luck
I just ate a few spoonfulls of rice. Let's hope this time it stays down. The first time I tried to eat today was not very successful. You know you're really sick when you're in bed all day and can't even knit. I'm that sick. Lots of fun. I just also woke up from a 3 hour nap. Fun, fun, fun.
Ughhhhhhhhhhh
In case you have forgotten? Throwing up is not a lot of fun. No sir. Thankfully, my T. is home for the day and got the kids out of the house by 8:30 and said he'd be gone all day with them. Ugh. Maybe this is what I get for declaring it "Ignore your family and come have breakfast with me at Flying Star Day" yesterday?
Good morning lovies
How is everyone doing today? I'm just happy that I don't have one single thing planned except for a possible bowling outing later with a few family friends. We'll see. I'm feeling like a day filled with knitting and football. Can I tell you all how much I absolutely love working at Village Wools? Most of my local girls know this firsthand as they have all seen me in action. Friday was so much fun because almost my entire group of knitting chicas came in to see me. Noelle, Ramona, Meredith, Cari, Beverly and Beth all came in. I'm not missing anyone am I? Then on Saturday I had that please of meeting two cool chicas from the * other* group! It was so funny. I walked over to them and asked if they needed any help and they said, "Are you Scout? We're nepenthe & woman obsessed!" I've e-mailed with both of them for a bit now so it was fun to finally meet them in person. I have to say I was very impressed with their ability to stick with their self-imposed yarn diet. They were both good girls and only ended buying magnets for their cars and the new Vogue Knitting which is actually really good this issue. Bobbles and cables are definitely in. Speaking of the magnets, someone saw my blog and called and ordered 4 magnets from Illinois! The women at the shop thought it was so cool. Okay, here is where I'm asking for some help from you. One of the things I really want to learn about is fiber. I mean, it's probably the one area I need to learn the most about. For example, someone bought some tencel yesterday. I couldn't tell you all of the details that Franzie the owner was able to tell me. It fancinates me! So. If I want to buy one really excellent resource that would go into detail about fiber what would you recommend? I'm counting on you. You hear me!? The teacher in me does not like not knowing EVERYTHING! Now I am off to finish my boys' socks and watch some football! Oh wait. Also, if you had 2 days to knit something cool what would you knit? I'm starting Jaywalkers on Tuesday but can't go two days without knitting. The person who gives me the best idea will win something. For reals! I'll send you something from the shop. Ready? Go! Inspire me with a pattern and everything.
Cara....we are your friends.
But I'm a bit worried about your obsession with the Jaywalker socks. Therefore, I have decided to stage and intervention. I told you I was concerned. I know the Jaywalkers are great socks. I'm even about to start knitting my own. But Cara, sweet Cara? We're all worried about you. Are you eating and sleeping? Or are you simply living and breathing knitting these socks? Please take a minute to evaluate your situation because we are all concerned. You do know that there is medication for this? Maybe you have a secret number of these you're going to knit and until then you won't stop? What is it? Ten? Twenty? Anyway. Just know that we're all here to support you. We will listen to you and hold your hand through this. We can help wean you off of this if you need help. All you have to do is ask. Okay? Heeeeeeee! (For those of you hiding under a rock, Cara just finished her NINTH SIXTH pair of these wonderful socks! Go check them out. They are all fantastic. She's amazing!)
Wanna know a secret?
My daughter is taking a nap and I'm sitting in my comfy chair knitting and eating her Fruit Loops. The best part? They are damn tasty. Shhhhhhh. Don't tell anyone okay? Tell me a secret.
One more...
 (My feed was being totally wonky yesterday so I hope my Blogline buddies got the feed finally.)I got brave. It took a while to get it to fit perfectly but I did it. I lined my first bag ever. I've easily made about 10 bags and have never lined them. Now that I know how to do it I look forward to making this one again. I really love how easy this bag is to make. Here's my funky mod lining. Cute huh?
Pictures Galore
Hope you like picture updates because you've got one here. I've been a busy little Scout this week. Where shall we start? How about I show you what my girl Carole made for my boy for his birthday? You gotta love Wendy's Boogietime.  Here was the whole gang that came to celebrate  Next we're onto some FO's. First we have Cherry Garcia made with some beeyootiful yarn made by misshawklet.   Next we have my most favorite bag I've ever made. I love this so much and can't wait to show it off today. I was going to go with black round handles but I really think I like the look of these natural ones even better. I just have to line it and it's done. However, I'm thinking I may take it out today even without the lining because I'm impatient like that. Here she is. Isn't she gorgeous? Thank you again Allison for your help. 
 And last but not least.... Cara, lookie!  Socks that Rock. OMG. Prettiest sock yarn ever. Period. I can't wait to cast on my Jaywalkers! Alrighty. How's that for a picture-post update?! Now I'm off to finish my boy's socks. Oh wait! One more! Ha. Here are the Sandias once the sun hits them. Almost as pretty as some of Margene's pictures huh? 
Meme # dos
Here's my next fun meme for my readers with the additional brain power of Ana. I posted about it the other day and I've seen a few of you out there posting your pictures but I want to see more. I should have a contest to see who can get a magnet in a picture the farthest distance away from me possible. (That be some good English!) In fact. That is a challenge I propose as of today. I know I have some European readers. China? Japan? Australia? I will send the winner something fun from the Shop if you buy a magnet from Lisa and post a picture of it on something where you live. And photoshopping a car with a magnet on it, in front of the Eiffel Tower will not count! Here is mine. I live in Albuquerque and have the prettiest view from my driveway of the Sandia Mountains. It's early so you can't see them very well. Maybe I'll do another one once the sun is pretty on the mountains. I can't tell you how many people comment on my magnet. I love it so much. If you are reading this (and I know at least 100+ people a day read this) consider yourself tagged. Come on y'all. Knitters of the world unite! Get your magent and tell the world you're a knitter and you're cool! See what happens when I have a Starbucks triple shot latte first thing in the morning? Lots and lots of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is that saying?
" Idle hands are the devil's tools"? That was me last night as I sat in my knitting chair and my family started watching " Attack of the Clones". See where it says 142 minutes? I knew I was in trouble because I had forgotten my Booga Bag with my current WIP at the store. I felt all fidgety and knew I had to start something or I'd go nuts trying to sit there all night without something to knit. I immediately grabbed for my misshawklet homespun sent to me by my wonderful Secret Pal Jen and decided to start on HelloYarn's Cherry Garcia. Ramona finished one up a few weeks ago and it seemed like a fairly quick and fun knit. So all was good in the Scout house last night as I was able to fill my knitting needs as I whipped up almost 2 repeats of the pattern. I know it's kind of haerd to see what's going on there but I promise it's way pretty! Isn't her yarn yummy too?  My only concern is that I don't have enough yarn. I guess I'll just knit until there's nothing left. I could always do some sort of ribbibng on each end with another yarn if it's too short? For anyone looking for a fun project I highly recommend this one. I wonder if it'll ever get cold enough to wear it here!?
Workin' it!
Yesterday was my first day of work and it was great. It was like I've been there forever. I walked in and basically they just had me start working. I watched Meg (one of the four owners) write up one sales and then I was on my own. I felt 100% comfortable and could pretty much help everyone who walked in with the exception of the woman with the eyelash shawl who had *put it down and forgot where she was* as she pulled out the most tangled mess of eyelash I've ever seen. I even found myself saying, "Sometimes you just have to decide to cut your losses and cut that all out and start over." I happily passed her over to a coworker who knew the pattern she was attempting. They all thought it was funny that I fully admitted to my OCD tendancies and will spend all of my free time straightening up the yarn. I'm going in today from 1-5 if anyone wants to come visit! Please!? So yeah. I totally will love working there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they buy a new space just down the street from me so it only takes me 2 minutes to get there instead of the 15. Also, Beth from my Stitch 'n' Bitch came in and bought a few things and we spent forEVER winding up a hank of sock yarn. The other thing is that I'm worried I'm coming down with a cold. Dr. T. told me to take the day off from working out so I'm following his directions and taking it easy. Blair has some birthday money to spend so I think I'll just go out and do that with him this morning. Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! So yeah.... 1-5 today! Who's coming in!?
Happy Birthday to my big boy!
 Happy Birthday baby! May all bad luck slide off that buttered nose throughout the next year. (tradition in our house is to butter-Earth Balance each other's noses on Birthdays) We love you so damn much. I can not believe you are 7 years old! Such a big kid.
I'll play this one!
I'll preface this by saying I'm Jewish and this is supposed to be FUNNY! If you haven't seen JenLa's Blog yet you must go check it out and play. This is like Go Fug Your Avatar. My avatar is called "The shiksa celebrates Hanukkah for the first time." Isn't her outfit hot!? She even brought a bacon cheeseburger to the party! She brought enough to share with everyone else too but was a little confused when they politely declined.  Go ahead... it's FUNNY! Or is my humor not appreciated? Hummmmmmmm..... do I delete it? Or can my reading crowd handle a little offensive humor? Maybe this post will self destruct shortly.
Holy crap y'all!
Um, weirdest day. I got a phone call at 12:00pm today from one of the owners of the local yarn shop where I'm frequently found. ( Village Wools for those who don't know) Totally out of the blue, they asked if I could work for them. I was speechless. I hadn't said a word to them and am not even looking for a job. With my two kiddos and the two other bigger kiddos I watch in the afternoons I'm already pretty busy. I immediately freaked out a bit wondering how it could even be possible to make it work. I send people there all of the time and they know I started the Albuquerque Stitch 'n' Bitch group but how that came to offering me a job I don't really know. Oh yes, let us not forget my charming personality!!! That's the ticket! Anyway, after going in and talking with the owners and talking with T. I called them back and told them I could work Mondays 10-2, Fridays 11-3 and Saturdays off and on when they need me. She agreed right there on the phone and I'm going in this Friday! The cool thing is that all of the women who work their have kids, know what it's like and are very understanding and flexible about working there. They said that all of their kids grew up in the shop. I didn't realize it's 30 years old. So yeah. I um, have a job in a yarn shop! How CRAZY!? And to think I was going to possibly join that stashalong. No way dudes!
And the winner is.....
 Emy! How freaking cute is this bag? This one in particular belongs to Allison. I know a bunch of people made these over the past year but hers really caught my eye. There's a whole long thread about them on craftster.org if you're interested in making one. I know, it's a knock-off but man....I just had to make it! And who the hell pays $150-$200 for a knitted bag!? I'm using Twillys "Freedom Wool" in #405. My picture below doesn't do the color justice at all. It's so much prettier in person. I also got some cool, black retro fabric for the inside and want to do a black ribbon with black handles. It's going to totally rock! Thanks again Allison for the inspiration. Also! Look what my best girl made for me. We're both having a hard time getting the lighting so look at the one on the website.  Isn't that yarn gorgeous? It's from kpixie and it's called Karaoke-color 278. I love it so much. The pattern is on their website for free too. When I get a better picture of hers I'll post.
| 
