Social Knitter

...and I'm back.

2009-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Ive thought about coming back so much over the past year and lately its been on my mind to start up again. It seems that so much has happened in the past year and found so many new friends and new hobbies. I will start with this:

In August we met a couple at a Rancid show from our hometown that are in a car club. We have since joined it and bought a car. I cant tell you how much fun we have had in the past months. We have met so many new and interesting people at drag races and car shows. Car culture is a crazy thing, at least it is here in the south.

I have been knitting too, not as much as before the car club though. In the next few days I will start taking more pictures of it and uploading it to Rav and here. I really want to get back to blogging because I feel now more than ever I have something to say.

If you are curious about what Ive done, I have literally hundreds of pictures on Flickr to show you. Including a brand spanking new tattoo. I ended my year last time with a tattoo and its only fitting I start a new blogging year by showing you my newest one. Its a week old and this tattoo means a whole lot to me.

Just click on it to get the full description.

I also plan on doing some sewing with some kick ass vintage patterns Ive been collecting. I'm still making up my mind about it though.

View 3 would be the one I would make...or maybe this dress?

That's it for now...and hopefully it wont be another year before you hear from me again.

2008-02-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

I am just going to ignore the fact that I havent posted in a couple of months k?

I've been knitting and have lots to show you but for now I am going to show you my tattoo I got last week.

I promise to post again soon. I have a very exciting project to show you.

2007-12-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

Holidays are finally over::headed to San Fran::packing too many clothes...and an extra suitcase for goodies::still learning my D40 for the best pics in SF.

Hope your holidays were as good as hers...

More pictures later...

Scrooge you!

2007-12-20T04:51:00.000-08:00

I am officially tired of Christmas. It sucks big hairy donkey dick. No money + obnoxious in laws = sucky ass time.

I never celebrated Christmas until I was 23, when Brody was born. I grew up a JW and escaped in 1997. My first Christmas with the Randy was really different though and I went all out. I decorated that damn tree 3 different times to get it just right and I think I burnt myself out. We hate putting up a tree and if we wanted to be scrooge-parents we wouldn't put up one ever. But, I want my kids to enjoy Christmas because after all, I never got that as a kid. Having a 2 year old and a kitten this Christmas means your ornaments do not stay on the tree and you tend to find a kitten at the top every now and then. To be honest, this does not stress me out because again, I don't care about how perfect the tree is. I actually love it because I know one day when the kids are grown and we have the perfect tree I will be missing these days.

On another note, we had to take family pictures last night. Lets just say that we will probably wait another 5 years to take family pics again. Jbean wouldn't stay still, the middle wouldn't smile, and the oldest knocked down the background. Yeah, good times. This goes under the obnoxious in laws category because she won a gift certificate and made us go and use it before the end of the year. I think we will be lucky to get one good picture. I know that we will look back and laugh and be happy that we did it but right now its all too fresh in our minds. haha

In music news, when we go to San Fran next week (OMG THATS NEXT WEEK!) we are going to try to see Rev Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy. I think we might be taking the couple that is going with us but lets just say that they are NOT the type to go to these types of shows. (READ: Not punk at all) This should be interesting, very interesting. We also just found out that Tiger Army is coming to Tulsa in Feb and we are totally stoked about this. This is the most listened to band in our house at the moment. (although Beat on the Brat by the Ramones is a close second. There is nothing like your 5 yr old singing along with this song, indoctrination has begun.)

I also just wanted to say thanks for your comments in the last post and we are doing much better now. I officially changed my birthday to the next day and was a much better day. I also made sure to check out my other kitties and they are all healthy so that makes it a bit better.

I leave you with a pic of my latest finished object this is after all a knitting blog right? It only took me 5 days and I really liked making this. I will venture out into other lace projects now. I hope to post one more time before Scroogemas but if not, Happy fucking Holidays! :)

Wisp from Knitty.com. More on Ravelry...

RIP Sammy

2007-12-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

I had a great post planned for today, after all it is my birthday. But this morning I took ole Sam to the vet because he wasnt feeling well at all and I learned that he had Feline Leukemia and he had to be put to sleep. He was in a bad way and is in a better place now but it still sucks.

This was taken earlier this year, he was a weird cat that liked to get under the covers and he was always sweet to the kids.

We will miss ya Sammy.

2007-12-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

I planned on telling you about my latest project that I casted on for to go with a fabulous dress, but I received this picture from my GIL (girlfriendinlaw) today.

This is Rob my brother. About 2 months ago he called me ecstatic from his car somewhere in san fran with a sewing machine and the cabinet strapeed to the top of his car, Arkansas style. He had found a machine in the original cab for about 30 bucks and was thrilled beyond belief to start sewing. He is having a baby girl in March and has promised his gf a boppy pillow and more.

I am even more excited because in 23 days I get to get on an plane and come see the asshole. The husband and I got a free trip for 3 days (and no its not a timeshare thingy.) I am planning on engorging my self on all kinds of ethnic food and bringing home an extra suitcase of fabric and yarn. Randy really does not need clothes right?

Randy and I also hope to go see these guys here. Maybe even convince the other fab Rachel to venture out to see me???? hmmm? whatcha think?

belated Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T06:15:00.001-08:00

Even though Thanksgiving was last week, I am going to say that I am very thankful for my family and our health. I think someone else is thankful too.

This is Harp. I found her in the grocery store (Harp's) parking lot last Monday. She was almost ran over by a little old lady who had stopped in the middle of the parking lot and the kitten was panicky and climbing up into this lady's undercarriage of her car. I had both kids and Clay was already in the car when I wheeled my cart with Jbean over to her and laid on the ground to fish this cat out of her car. The little old lady said "Honey she's gonna scratch you." Haha uh yeah. So I wheeled Jbean, holding this kitty over to my car wondering how in the hell I was going to put Jbean in the car and not freak out this cat. I knew if I let her go she would run and get seriously hurt. At this point Harp was growling and hissing like a feral cat and I knew she was freaked out. Thankfully this other lady who saw me helped put Jbean in the car and was looking for a blanket to put the kitten in. I found a t shirt in the trunk and wrapped her in it only to be bitten by her. She wasn't letting go either and I knew I was in for a ride. We rode home with the middle telling Jbean to be quiet because we need to "whhhhiiiissssper." It was pretty comical, only I would be put in this situation.

I put her in our large dog cage and fed her. She was mean and would hiss and spit when I would enter the room and I was grateful for the leather gloves that were too small for Randy. I only had scoopable litter to put in the box and she proceeded to splash her water everywhere and water and scoopable litter only makes cement. (Randy that might be a cheaper alternative to concrete for your jobs.) The next morning I called my vet and the humane society to find out what in the world to do with her. My vet urged me to have her rabies tested which the only way to do that is to put her down and chop off her head and send it to the health dept. Well, I just couldn't do this. So I talked to a very nice man at the humane society officially advised me to get her rabies tested because she was wild and bit me. UNOFFICIALLY he told me how to tame her. I took his advice and later that afternoon bought some tuna. I soon had her in my lap (with gloves on mind you) and was feeding her tuna and cleaning her cement out of her fur and paws. It turns out that her mom must have cleaned her a lot because she just loved me cleaning her and after feeling a little bit more secure started purring. She was injured (she had hair missing and her back legs didn't work very well) and I was worried but with good food and a warm bed she has been healing very fast. It took her a few days to not hiss at you and she is now a normal kitty running around tormenting the dogs and trying to be friends with my other kitties.

She's turned into quite a sweet kitty that wants to be in the same room all the time. I am just very thankful that she is ok, and to Randy for not griping too much about cat #4, yes we have 4.

Colder than a pimp's heart

2007-11-18T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hi all, its me...miss anti-social. I have been knitting, I have been sewing, and I have been trespassing. Ive been dying for over a year now to go through this junkyard and take some pictures. I pass it everyday (yes, I live in the south where this is no big deal) and finally without kids I dropped in on this pleasant place.

After Viva Scrapper took a picture of her newest baby I knew I had to do a bit of trespassing for her. We have never seen the owner or knew who to call to look around but about 15 min after we got there the owner showed up and jokingly threatened to shoot us. (It is the south, remember?) We left shortly after...

More on Flickr.

Oh yeah, knitting. Here is a peek at the latest project...

Just a little Jodi Green.

Anthony Fucking Bourdain

2007-10-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm just going to jump back in here like I haven't been gone for a month, K?

A lot of you don't know, ok all of you don't know that Randy and I are huge foodies. I guess you could credit my mother for a lot of this because she was always introducing new and foreign foods to us when in the south most parents don't. My mother was born and raised on the east coast and actually traveled and lived in a few countries. (I was almost born in Greece...mmmm Greek food) Anyway she always liked to make her own yogurt or grow her own sprouts, not to mention the Tabbouleh that she would make. We were NEVER allowed to say Yuck and my friends that came over were never allowed to say it either. So this instilled in me a love of food from different places and an appreciation for different cultures.

It really should come as no surprise that I like cooking shows and especially travel cooking shows. Enter Anthony Bourdain. We have been watching him for a while now and when I found out that our local library was doing a lecture/book signing I jumped at the chance to meet him and Randy quickly called up the in laws for babysitters. He was fun to listen to and one of my favorite quotes from the night was "Rachael Ray, $40 a day? Tip bitch!"

Before the lecture started they gave you a post it note and a number (25) to write what you wanted him to write in your book. Ok, this is beyond lame. I really don't get the post it note, I mean people were writing full fledged paragraphs for him to write in his book. He doesn't know you, he doesn't care about Jodi who couldn't be there because she was sick. One guy in line before us actually put "Jodi, missed you being here, Tony Bourdain, 10/19/07." I mean HE SIGNED ANTHONY BOURDAINS NAME TO THE GODDAMN POST IT NOTE! Come on people! Early on I decided that I dint want to leave the post it note blank but put something on there that was a tad different than most. My post it note read "Your Fucking Name." I dint want a long paragraph about how he missed me or anything else. I just wanted him to sign my book. So I get up there and he is having trouble reading the note and so I tell him that it says your fucking name. He looks at me like, huh? Did you just say what I think you said? Then he comments on my jacket, (The Social Distortion one) and says that they are a great band. He then signs my book. I am going to have a hard time showing the in-laws this one. I mean how am I gonna explain this to my MIL? eh, who cares? haha

In music news, the Koffin Kats came to Fayetteville which is a huge deal because NO ONE comes to Fayetteville, AR. (I do mean no one, at least anybody I want to see) They are AWESOME guys and a great band. They can put on one helluva show and like to hang out and meet you. A lot of punk type bands are like this anyway but they were extra cute. (shhh don't tell Randy)

In other news, I have been knitting and sewing like a fiend. I will show you more later. JBean turned 2 and knew exactly what she was doing when she had to blow out those candles.

Like her bling? She is SUCH a girl!

Knitting brothel

2007-09-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I am a whore. A knitting whore that is. I am among the crowd that has a lot more projects than I have admitted to on Ravelry. I think I start a new one every week, or I at least fantasize about them that much. My problem isn't just knitting either, I also have the bi sewing thing going on. I'm not sure what my orientation is and I'm still figuring it out. (not to mention that I got a part time job at a fabric store and its like a sex addict getting a job at an Adult movie store) Since this is mainly a knitting blog, I'm not going to admit all of my sewing projects yet. I'm not quite ready to come out of the closet so to speak.

Anyway this post is about all of my neglected projects and I will start off with my favorite one yet. Its a remake of this sweater. Isn't she lovely, the sweater I mean. I am writing a pattern for it and I am making it out of some DK merino/alpaca/silk yarn in black. I am almost finished with the right front and I really hope this one works out.

Next up is

The Back to School U Neck vest is almost done. Its a lot further along than in this pic. I really liked this one and its made out of Tahki Donegal Tweed that I bought at a garage sale last year.

Next up we have

Vintage pattern for a sweater for the husband. Its made out of Rowan wool cotton which is probably my favorite yarn at the moment. See that slit in the front there? Its going to be a pocket. I love this simple pattern, it seems like some vintage patterns contain no fluff and they are very easy to navigate. I am making the sweater on the right, with that burnt orange as the body and a navy blue for the sleeves. Its almost his school colors (OSU orange and black) but we wont tell him that. wink wink

Next up is The tangled yoke cardigan by Eunny. I have a few more inches knitted on this one too and I am loving this Felted Tweed. I really cannot wait to get into the meat of this project (the cable) it is going to be a great learning experience.

Next up is

a simple little scarf for Jbean. Its made out of yarn that I thrifted at a church yard sale for 50 cents. Its that mango silk yarn. I'm sure she will like it, she loves any accessories right now.

Thanks for staying on till the end, and I have to admit that this STILL isn't all of them. I have another couple ok, maybe 3 more. I will just have to save them for later. For now, I will leave you with our little football player. He begged for 2 years to play and we finally relented this year. They have played 2 games and even though he is the smallest on his team, he can block like nobodies business.

Beast of Burden

2007-08-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

You ever have one of those O Shit moments? I have a lot of them, o shit I am screwing up my children, o shit I just bounced a check or maybe 2, o shit I'm late for work. You know what I'm talking about, the moments where your heart just sinks and you know that you are doomed. It seems lately that I have not only been having those in "normal" life but in "knitting" life as well. Many of you may remember this moment earlier in the summer. It seems like my knitting this summer was just way off and I don't trust anything that comes off my needles anymore. So it was no surprise last night at O about 4 am that I realized that O shit the streetlight has gone out (it wasn't blaring in my eyes, I must change sides of the bed with the husbeast) and that O shit that freaking sweater that I am knitting for my sister in law is going to be too small and I am on the sleeves already. The sweater that just wont get gauge, wont look right, wont be right at all. I haven't told you all about it because all of my plans for telling you went right out the door last week and weekend because my family was possessed by a puking alien virus. ANYWAY, back to the point. I finally made a decision that before I knit any more on it I am going to block a portion of this god forsaken sweater to see if it will stretch out. (What made me think that I could knit a sweater for a someone else if I cant even knit one that fits me?) Here she is blocking and I measured and then measured again. It has seemed to stretch and it looks like it will fit a normal sized woman and not a 2 year old. I feel as if a weight has been lifted off and I can now stop freaking out about 1 thing in my life. Now onto trying to not screw up the kids too bad.

Special Visitor during the summer

2007-08-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

We had a really great summer, there were some low points. Like DH breaking his femur and tearing his hamstring off in 2 places, and having no money to go on the trip that we wanted to go on. But don't cry for me, we had some fun times too.

School started Monday and it has been quiet bliss for 2 days. The Middle has been a riot starting Kindergarten. He insisted yesterday to his teacher that he was a bus rider (he's a car rider) and was in line to get on some bus when big brother stepped in and stopped that one. He was so mad that he started fighting with Big Brother in the hallway and it resulted in the little one kicking the big one. Ahhh good times. DH told him last night that if he got on a bus, he wouldn't come home. To this he said in a whiny voice, "But I want to come home!" Its been fun.

Im so glad that fall is on its way, I HATE Arkansas summers. I would gladly trade places with you Che anytime. Snow and all!

I have been working on LOTS of things, and I will show you more later. I'm also on Ravelry, SocialKnitter there.

For now, I will leave you with this picture I took of our special visitor.

This Black widow spider was on the side of our house and was as big as a half dollar. It was pretty scary considering that they can kill or really hurt small children. She was quickly killed by the DH, who knew that De Icer could be just as good as Raid? Freaky huh? Its our 7th BW Spider here in 3 years. That doesn't even include the Brown Recluses that we find either. Oh ick.