The Bookish Girl

Pass the non-alcoholic beer!

2006-09-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

Duuuudeee.

Are you still hanging out over here?

The Party has moved...

www.thebookishgirl.com

Come join the fun!

My world is a changin'

2006-08-27T19:18:00.000-05:00

I have moved to an exclusive URL with WordPress as my platform.

Come see me in my new home... This blogger site will stay up but will not be updated.

New website:
www.thebookishgirl.com
ETA - please copy and paste this address into your browser. Blogger is f-ing with this site and will not allow me to hotlink. (Thanks Deb!)

New RSS feed:
http://thebookishgirl.com/?feed=rss2

Baby news awaits (how's that for a bait and switch?!)

The Baby ate my blog

2006-08-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Apparently the damn comments have been fixed by damn blogger.

All the love out there must of killed them. Thank you all, I totally know how you feel - because I have felt the same for all the other knitter baby birthers out there. It's so exciting. And fun. And exciting.

Weeeeee.

More to follow...

Top Secret Project Revealed

2006-08-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

The time has come to reveal the answer to the question. "Where oh, where has our Bookish Girl Gone?"

Answer: She has been
a - sleeping
b - peeing
c - staring at a wall
d - all of the above.

Why:

Baby Daryl (not the name, just something to call it.)
12 weeks 4 days
Due: Feb 22, 2007

You're not the only one who was surprised by this news. It took me 7 weeks to clue in and even at that point I wasn't convinced.

Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap. Bar of soap.

2006-07-26T15:25:00.000-05:00

I cracked Mason Dixon Knitting last week. I read this often because it's like having a little bit of Ann and Kay in your hands and really, what could be better than that? (Man, do I ever sound like a freaky stalker lady.) However, I hadn't yet knit something anything from the book.

I was thinking that I should make something for Rob's sister, as a thank you for letting us crash her house for a bit. We are travelling to visit her and the rest of the family in a few weeks. It's a family reunion, Kentucky style. Rumor has it that there will be some mullets in the house. Being the token Northern Person they think I'M THE WEIRD ONE. All I know is that I'm going straight for the Banana Pudding* screw Southern Hospitality, get out of my way.

Back to Rob's sister. Cathy loves lavender so we often take some yummy smelly something. I thought that I would bring some soap this time around. What better to go with a bar of soap.

A Warshrag.

Genius. Pure Genius.

* The best Banana Pudding I've ever had? Holiday Inn, Athens Georgia. Crazy. I never would have known it was there. All unassuming in its creepy hotel restaurant buffet. I discovered this jewel while on jury duty. They took us out to lunch every day and, fortunately, Athens has a plethora of fabulous soul food locales. I never would have taken the Holiday Inn for one of them. Apparently some old lady who lived in town got up to make it every morning. Pure bliss. I dream about that Banana Pudding. I also sing this song about day old banana pudding (I think it's by Southern Culture on the Skids?) every time I think about eating Banana Pudding. Clearly I have too much time on my hands.

Hell hath frozen over

2006-07-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you LauraA for the keen editing eye. Yes, it is the Andy Griffith Show and NOT Andy Griffin. My "lack of proof-reading" error. However, Maryse, you are a big turd for making fun of me when you're Ms. "I'm french and drop letters at the ends of words just to confuse people who try to speak my language." Bo-ho-ho.

Jenn has pinky double dog dare promised that she did not cheat. So, she will be the recipient of the pooping sheep. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised. I figured you would all see the prize and claim that you had cheated until the cows came home just to get out of receiving it. I am beyond thrilled that you, my readers, have my wasted sense of humor. I will likely end up at the craft store sometime soon and will try to seek out the pooper for KarenK who will be disappointed at Jenn's stand up non-cheating self.

On to the real news of the day.

You feel that?

That cold breeze?

Ohh, is it, perhaps, freezing?

I. am. knitting. lace.

Crazy.

I picked this yarn up at last year's New York Sheep and Wool Festival. I needed something to occupy my mind and hands. I figured, eh? What the hell. If ANYTHING is going to keep my mind busy it's going to be lace. It sure ain't reading, or staring, or tv watching, or showering, or sleeping, or... well, you get the drift.

The pattern is the Flower Basket Shawl from Interweave Knits. So far so good. Armed with my trusty dental floss (for use as a lifeline) I have completed two repeats only 8 million more.

Watch out for flying pigs.

Back to the contest

2006-07-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

I've been busy with a top-secret project over here. It's kept me from blogging and other activities. I'll share the details soon.

In the meantime.

Remember this?

Allll-righty.

There were a bunch of correct answers in the lot. Those that used Google, while I applaud your go-gettum attitude are disqualified. EvaLux, my darling, you didn't have a fighting chance with this one.

Guys? Eva is European. And no, that is not a joke that you tell when you're a kid (Yer a peeing) it is a land far from here that is, tragically, missing many American Pop Culture Icons. While I would argue in most cases this is a benefit of this far away land in this case, it is tragic.

Eva is currently living in Luxumbourg. And while I cannot remember if she is Luxumborgish, she lives there and for that she will always be in my, 'too cool for words' category. Why you ask? Because I used to live in Luxumbourg! File that one away in your, "huh, that Wendy is full of mysteries". I lived there for ~5 months in 1996(?) for a semester abroad. It. was. awesome. One of those seminal times in your life when the world feels right, you know you're doing the right thing, leading the right life, etc. etc. There have been few times reserved for those feelings.

Back to the topic. Loaded Goat, the absolute coolest, radest, magically delicious music project in the whole damn universe is named after an Andy Griffin Episode. My husband is a huge Andy Griffin fan and I have learned to love it as well.

Now, the first person to with the correct answer in the comments is Eva. Unfortunately, she's disqualified for Googling. Jenn is the next person. However, I'm a bit suspicious that she was Google informed as well. Jenn, if you can pinky swear with sugar and a cherry on top that you did not Google to come up with the answer, then you are the proud winner. If not the cheesy funny prize will head off to KarenK, who clearly knew the whole story about the episode. Please email me (bookishwendy at gmail dot com) with your mailing address.

The prize (in case you want to back out!) is a little something I picked up at a local craft store...

It's a sheep that poops jelly beans! hehehehe.

Thanks for playing.

Reader Wrap-Up

2006-07-07T07:18:00.000-05:00

I've been reading quite a bit these last few months. I do this every once in awhile - have these insatiable urges to read whole days away. When I am rich and famous I will do just that. Until then I will read on my way to work, read while waiting for the elevators, read in lines, read at home, read in bed. I've finished the following books recently with the currently finished first.

Heat by Bill Buford
Verdict: This book has had a lot of money poured into it's promotion. However, I think that it is deserving. The author, Bill Buford, is a great writer and does a beautiful job describing his evolution from home kitchen cook to expert butcher, prepper, griller, etc. One of my favorite parts of the book is his description of Big and Small food and the taste memory of those from the Old Country. If you like food - I think you would enjoy this book.

The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver
Verdict: Love. Love. Love. This is the first fiction of Kingsolver's that I've read. I know, I know. I own most of her books, just have not gotten around to reading them until now. This is a great story. Another book that illustrates that the number of pages you use to tell a story does not positively correlate with is magnitude.

Eventide by Kent Haruf
Verdict: I loved this book. I think that many of my feelings about books are somehow, in part, due to the books I've read immediately before (immediately below). Ken Haruf kicks ass with this book. It's short and sweet. The prose flows so beautifully. The characters are rich and the story is amazing. Many of the reviews on this book state, in one way or another, that the story "elevates" the reader. This is so true

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
verdict: This book was too damn long. I'm not against reading a long book, but it requires a tip in the cost benefit scale. This was chosen for my bookclub and, had it not been for that, I would have put it down. I get really angry when authors repeat the same scenes over and over with know real literary purpose. The characters were interesting, the story jarring. The fact that the author could have accomplished the same in a novel half the size will keep me from looking back fondly on this book and will leave me cursing it.

The Eight by Katherine Neville
Verdict: As you know, Elisa gifted me this book for my birthday. I thought it was interesting and was a fun read. I learned a little about chess and really enjoyed the setting of the book - Alergia. Now there would be a fun place to visit.

If you follow any of the links above they will take you to my LibraryThing catalog. This is a tool I found via a commenter (I don't remember who!) that I am totally addicted to. I have not yet gotten all of my books into it. Pretty much all of the knitting books are missing. It is so fun to see everything all organized and looking snazzy! *cough* *cough* total. nerd. *cough*

I'm a weiner!

2006-07-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

I am totally into the drive-by posting lately. This closely mirrors my attention span. I am like a kid that just ingested 25 pixie sticks before bed.

Today's topic:

I'm a winner!!!

Actually, my sister was a winner and because she was one of my "Friends" I won too!!

Get this - an Ipod Nano?! Crazy huh? I decided the take the alternative prize - a $150 gift card. Rob and I need to do some travelling for a family reunion and this will take the sting out of the cost of the flights.

How fun?

If you'd like to be my friend and win with me click the link below

I have not forgotten that we have a winner on the Loaded Goat Post. I can't help but be disappointed that some people guessed with Google! Eva - you have a free pass because you're not American. Some of you clearly knew without the intranets...others, I'm not so sure...

Finding the Humor

2006-06-29T11:55:00.000-05:00

Graphic: NYtimes.com, 6/29/06

I habitually check a few major news outlets throughout the day. The NY Times is one of those. Rather than fall prey to the varying emotions that occur as a result of these peeks into our "Present Day World that is Sometimes Heartbreaking" I try to focus on one thing - the absurd.

I just took a break to check out nytimes.com. Just to make sure no buildings had been blown up recently. The graphic above was listed next to a headline for this article regarding the US Sumpreme Courts decision on the military tribunals at Guantanamo.

A little known fact about me? I love graphics, tables, etc. The conveyance of information in graphic form is one of my "things". (Hence, the love of maps.) I admire the intention behind this graphic. Giving a face to the law. Allowing people to take a glance and see, visually, where the votes fell. However, the absurd factor is cranked up to eleven in this one. I'm not sure they could have done it differently to eliminate the absurd factor. I tend to think it's there on purpose.

When I see this graphic all I think is,

"The floating heads of justice."

And the photo's they used?! Kennedy's eyes are closed. Are they closed to justice? Alito looks like he's sitting for a mug shot. Has he committed a crime against justice?....

This one is going to keep me entertained for days.

Who you calling Loaded?

2006-06-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

Inspired by all of the giving in these here parts I hobbled over to Cara's registry and got Rob 3/10 of a Goat for his birthday.

Because really? What would we do with a whole goat?

It is way more fun to say that you have 3/10ths of a goat.

People look at you funny.

I wonder which part they'll send us? I hope it's not the ass.

What?

They don't SEND you the Goat?

It goes to a family in need?

Damn.

Well, to tell you the truth, I was a bit concerned about what 3/10ths of a Goat would look like and how it would smell in a few months.

A free fun silly prize to the first person who get's the pop culture referenced in the picture above. Rob has a band named Loaded Goat, where did he get this from?

ps - If you know us in real life and know the answer to this question you cannot answer because you will ruin it for everyone and I will cry and stamp my feet and throw my hands up in the air.

pps - Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I think Rob had the best birthday evah, which was partly due to you all. Thank you.

NOT Dirty 30!

2006-06-15T12:14:00.000-05:00

Today is Robby's birthday. How old is he now? Older than I can count. Older than the Magna Carta. Older than the mountains. Older than the oceans..

Okay - he is not that old.

A brain stormed list of reasons I am glad Rob was born..

1. Um, obvious one first - If he hadn't been I would be without a husband.

2. He is kind to animals of all sizes, shapes, and kinds. Even bees. He rescues bees from swimming pools. Seriously.

3. He is funny. I mean fall over, hold your hand over your crotch to avoid peeing your pants funny.

4. He is supportive. I could tell him that I wanted to move to Siberia to make snowmen and he would be up for it. He may complain like it's going out of style. But, he would go.

5. He told me on our 4th date that he wanted to have kids with me. Yes, this freaked my shit. However, his honesty, tenacity, and utter devotion in the face of rejection allowed me to somehow filter through my cold, dark heart and fall in love.

6. If I say, "Honey, do you want some ice cream." He'll get up from the couch, walk into the kitchen and return with a bowl of ice cream, complete with Rainbow sprinkles FOR ME. Seriously, no training necessary, he just came this way.

7. He is a lover of words. We like different words, but he loves them just the same.

8. He is passionate about things he cares about. Don't even get him started on JFK and the current administration and all other things that reek of hidden agendas and dishonesty.

9. He thinks Jesus was a cool dude and an incredible role model. He also believes he was a pacifist and a benevolent person. As people go - Jesus is a pretty good guy to model yourself after...regardless of where you stand on the whole "son of God" thing.

10. He believes in family and devotion and love.

11. He is a good friend to those around them. He knows how to listen and truly enjoys hearing what people have to say.

12. He can, if you can get him out of his rocking chair and kick off his old man suit, be really spontaneous and adventurous.

13. He is incredibly complicated and filled with contradictions. Always keeps you guessing, that one.

14. There is something about him that just fits. I don't know what it is or how to define it. It is just there and I love it and I love him.

Happy Birthday Bo-bo.

Smarty McSmart Pants

2006-06-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

I hosted a Duct Tape Dummy making party for some of our local gals this weekend. So. Much. Fun. The food, the company, the sangria! All of it melded into perfect time for me, I can only hope my guests had as much fun.

Claudia was my wrapper, thank you darling! To create the dummy (or smarty in my case because, let's face it, a duct tape dress form filled with poly-fill is probably sharmter than me sometimes) you dress yourself in a plain white t-shirt and get wrapped up in duct tape.

Good times.

Here are a few photos of the process:

Cross your heart baby.

As you can see Claudia became quite intimate with by boobs. And my chubs. - Yes I am making a funny face here.

Here I am all wrapped up. I have Ben to my right and Martha to my left. I cut them out until I get permission to post them all wrapped up.

It's looks uncomfortable. Strangely it was actually somewhat comfortable. Your spine is aligned, you have to stand up straight and all your chubbies have been put away. I wouldn't want to hang out like this for too long. But it certainly wasn't as horrible as I anticipated it being.

Just in case there was any confusion Maryse labelled my Boobies and Chubs. I love that she put a heart next to my chubs. I lub them.

After getting cut out of the dummy you have to tape it back together and stuff it with poly-fil. You also have to measure to make sure your measurement's are realistic. I found that the smarty's chest was a bit too small. Time for a boob job.

I found, at this point, that it was easier to use one of my bras to help me get the right size and shape. It made my job quite a bit easier.

Some things I learned:

My belly button is off center - by about an inch!

The back half of my waist is about 4" shorter than the front part of my waist.

Woman have incredibly beautiful bodies. We are all different but truly amazing. I was the wrapper for Julia and Chreryl - both different body builds and equally as stunning.

I adore my knitting community. Absolutely and totally adore them.

Stitchy's book - amazing. Truly.

Thank you to all the girls that could make it over. You've warmed my home and my house.

Johanna makes a mean cupcake. (and she has news! big news!)

Mwah!

(I think I hit you all - but if I forgot someone please tell me!)

And to smarty - my new bestest friend...

It's strange to feel your self up.

I'm hot blooded, check it and see I got a fever of a hundred and three...

2006-06-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

... Come on baby, do you do more than dance?

Let's lighten the load over here.

Another finished knit.

Finished back in February, right before I started the Olympics. The pattern is a free pattern from Blue Alverez Designs, it is called - Hot Lava. Which, every time I think of the name, I think of the Foreigner song quoted in the title and at the start of the post. So funny.

I used Classic Elite Montera. Another score from our Christmas trip to the Warehouse. It was fun yarn. Definitely a WOOL wool.

Not sure what sized needles I used, I can't remember.

I love this sweater. It was an easy knit. It fits great. I actually prefer to wear it upside down from the intended orientation. I like the way fabric lies. It's sassy while still being functional.

And, most importantly. It deals with the rack well.

sweeetttt.

I just found another pattern from Blue Alverez that I think I'll put on my list...Licorice Whip.

Earth to Wendy, tune in Wendy

2006-06-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for the trip suggestions. We have chosen a place from one of the comments and are actually going to be able to spend two nights! I'm super excited. I will let you know where we went after the fact just in case anyone reading this block is a murderereererere.

I also want to thank you for the compliments on the sweater and my legs. It is truly amazing what a camera angle can do - my legs are not that long. For realsies. I'm 5'3" with a long torso. My inseam is about 28". I would like to confirm this but I can't find one of the million tape measures that I have...

The sweater did shrink with blocking. As I suspected, it did not come up quite enough. I thought I would just rip out the extra length and then I decided that the sweater is going to be ripped to the armpits.

As I was explaining to Lauren today, the yoke of the sweater is knit from the top down starting as one piece. You then separate the front and back and knit them flat, rejoining again after the armholes are shaped. Teva has you adding quite a few stitches under the arms as you join the front and back. I dubiously followed her instructions to the letter, with the appropriate gauge adjustments. Too bulky. As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted a tighter sweater out of the Lace Leaf Pullover. So, I ripped back and added less....about halfway through I got nervous and, against my instinct, didn't leave off as many stitches as I intended.

The sweater is totally wearable. I would probably be happy with the finished product. However, I'm approaching this whole thing as an exercise. Make a garment that I'm 100% satisfied with. At 3.25 sts/in this is a great project to approach with that attitude. I may go ahead and knit a sleeve to see how it looks with the sleeve set in. I will definitely sleep on this decision.

Which brings me back to the thing about the instincts. I truly believe that if we listen to ourselves, really listen and hear, that we can make no "mistakes" in knitting or in life. We may get it wrong and have to try again but I view that as something different than a mistake. Getting it wrong is not knowing any better. A mistake is knowing better and doing it anyway.

I look at many of the mistakes that I have made, the knitting ones are the easiest to see and/or admit, and realize that - deep down - I probably knew better. Why don't we listen to ourselves? Especially woman - I think our sense in this area is a little better honed. This is not a diss on our male friends and/or lovers, it's genetic. We also, in most cases, need it the most often. Growing up I always had to be aware of myself, where I was, and whether or not I was safe. Learning to trust my instincts to remove me from a potentially dangerous or unsafe situation. I had to do this not because I lived in an unsafe place (I grew up in Middle Class America) but because I was a girl.

I have had many discussions with male friends who marvel at the idea of such an existence and few have had little frame of reference. Whereas my girl friends totally know what I'm talking about. In fact, too many of them, myself included, have had experiences that reinforce the need for this kind of behavior. They know what it means to feel an instinct, a gut feeling, a inkling that something is right, or not right, or "off" just a bit. The problem, I think, is that most of us do not know how to or will decide not to act on that instinct. Do we fear the repercussions? The risk? The thought of getting it wrong? Of going against the grain?

I wonder about our little girls in society. How do we teach them to listen to themselves, pay attention to their instincts, and to follow through with what they know is right, even in the face of those that will tell them they are wrong? I wonder about the woman in our society how to we teach them? How do we teach ourselves?

How to you listen to and HEAR yourself in a way that moves you to act?

Whoa. Reading through this I realized that this went a different way than I thought this post would go. But, hey, I'm crazy like this. I am putting it out there. Feel free to comment or not.

Dude, you so forgot your pants

2006-06-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

Something drew me to Rowan Cork. Not so sure what. I tried it way back at the Taste of Yarn I hosted (which I just realized was OVER a year ago, so strange how quickly time flies.) Didn't hate it, didn't love it. However, something drew me to the bag of sale yarn. I walked out of the store without it. Rob is the one that insisted that we go back and purchase enough for me to make the sweater I had spotted in the Rowan Cork book (Bless if you're curious.)

As I began to swatch I really began to love the yarn and wanted to make a simple top down pullover with ribbing at the neck, sleeves, and waist. I wanted subtle shaping and a sweater with little ease (to make up for the bulk of the yarn, Cork knits up at ~3.5 sts/in) I was not up for writing a pattern. I shuffled through my knitting books and found a sweater that I have been coveting for awhile. Which, ultimately, made me think that when I find something I like and would like to knit that I should record it somewhere. Thereby allowing me to buy yarn with a purpose when the need comes. Does anyone have any ideas where I could write these things? What? Where? In a knitting blog? Huh. Great suggestion. I'll have to look into that.

The sweater - The Lace Leaf pullover by Teva Durham. It totally satisfied my requirements, minus the waist shaping but I could easily add that. The construction, as many of you probably know, is a bit original. It's knit top down and bottom up with a bunch of grafting in the middle. I wasn't up for that so I eliminated the bottom leaf. My swatch told me that I needed to make some changes due to a difference in gauge. I pulled out the calculator. A quick look at the pattern made me realize that I'd have to size the pattern down as I wanted a tighter fit with less ease than the designer intended. I pulled out some paper. I realized I wanted it a bit longer. I pulled out the pencil.

Next thing you know I'm rewriting the pattern. Good bones by Teva, I modified based off of her ideas.

I started knitting top down in the round (I prefer sweaters with seams...but we were going for easy here). And I knit and I knit. My swatch told me that I would loose about 12% of my length so I knit it 12% longer than I would like it to ultimately end up. I finished all of that damn twisted stitch and, last night 10pm, I tried it on with my new shoes.

Ever had those dreams where you go to work and realize, after you arrive, that you've forgotten your pants?

This is the sweater for you. Long enough to cover it all up, erase your mistake, pretend it was all on purpose.

At least that's my story.

This is pre-block and a little bit stretched to hide my bizzness.

My fingers are crossed that the 12% length skrinkage really shakes out.

Oh, and this photo-shoot is dedicated to Kay. "This Fresca is for you!"

The Internet that Ate my Brain

2006-06-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

So. Tired.

The internet ate me last night. I was up until 1 a.m. with all of these cool language sites. Seriously, I have a problem.

Tonight I'm focused on twisted rib for my Cork project. I hate this part. Twisted rib, 100+ stitches in the round with size 11 needles. Not. fun. It's taken me all night to get through five rows. No joke.

Rob and I are thinking of taking an overnight somewhere nearby for his birthday. We hope to head out next weekend, with the dogs. We are poor and would like a fun adventurous 24+ hours within a 150 mile radius of Boston. I've been trying to find a cheap cabin to rent for the night but the internet truly doesn't lend itself to these type of things. We would be up for camping but we can only go for one night and that seems like a lot of prep work for one evening.
Any suggestions? The only real requirement is that the dogs must be welcomed.

Chi·ra·gra - A knitters worst fear

2006-06-04T22:28:00.000-05:00

I am a creature of habit. The laws of physics practice their ways on me. I blog blog blog and then I stop stop stop. No reason. Busy as always. Just out of the habit.

As a way of reentering my world. Here's what's up:

Readin':
Just finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I read it for my bookclub and really enjoyed the novel. Something I learned: Slut's Wool. My original thought on the definition wasn't too far off from the actual. However, I believe mine (which you can guess by firmly placing your head in the gutter) is more amusing. As an alternative definition, I can't help but think this is what all those little crap pieces of yarn strewn about the house should be called.
I'm now settling into The Eight by Katerine Neville, a gift from Elisa. I had started Wuthering Heights by "one of those damn Bronte sisters", as Rob says (purchased at the thrift store for 50 cents thankyouverymuch). While I enjoyed the first chapter I found I was not in the mood to concentrate so hard. Neville's book is perfect for my current attention span.

Watchin':
Many of you may remember that I love old movies. I'm slowly trying to get through the decades past. Times of women in skirts and men in pants with waists at their nipples. Hitchcock is a favorite. The man made a lot of movies. These are the movies that I got through this weekend. All, believe it or not, first time viewings.
1 - Young and Innocent. Verdict: Not my favorite Hitchcock but very entertaining. He was a younger film maker and it shows. However, some of his trademarks are striking in this film.
2 - Lost Angel. Verdict: Cute feel good film. Shirley Temple-esque. Which reminded me to add her to my DVR WishList.
3 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Verdict: Great movie. Moving and a fine film. Rings too true for our times.
On the non-movie front.
1 - I am about two-thirds of the way through The Age of AIDS, a Frontline program. Verdict: This level of darkness and tragedy is difficult for me to process. However, I feel a sense of devotion and responsibility to those that have been more deeply affected by this disease. It's an interesting look through our history as a nation and how the character of those in the Executive Office so strongly influenced the course of the disease.
2 - National Spelling Bee. Verdict: I am without words. For a fun site that takes a look at the final words through the eyes of baseball check out this MLB article.

Listenin'
My ipod supplies me with music and books on tape. Maryse insists that listening to the books does not count as "reading" them. So, here we go - they're in a different category.
I am EXTREMELY picky about my readers. If you're going to invade my ears for more than 8 hours - you need not annoy the crap out of me. I also can only listen to certain types of books on tape. Books that are driven by plot rather than by characters are a bit easier for me to pay attention to. I just finished, A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Loved the narrator, loved the story. Two thumbs up. Christopher Moore does a great job with turning phrases. Lends it self well to the auditory experience. The nice thing about audible (where I download my stories from) is the feature where you can see what other books they narrator has recorded. Must keep this in mind for future selections. I presently have Heat by Bill Buford in the queue. How could I pass up a book that has "pasta-maker" in the title? (ps - I just found out this is the abridged version. Pissed. I do not do abridged books.)

Doin':
Workin', Knittin', Readin', Watchin', Thinkin' and just a gettin' it. Oh, I suppose there may have been some farting with my pants off in there too. ;)

Knittin':
We had to travel to Milton, MA last weekend. This meant a stop in at Stupid Snow Goose. A LYS there with which I have a love hate relationship. Most of the hate is really just a matter of personal preference, as the people there have never been anything but friendly and accommodating as I plop my credit card down on their counter. The store is an OCDers nightmare. Yarn everywhere. In piles. In corners. No logical organization. The sale box? Clearly visible. I picked up a bag of Rowan Cork and the pattern book. Seriously, nothing like discontinuing a yarn to get you to purchase it. I came home swatched, abandoned all other projects, and haven't looked back. I am loving the yarn and really loving the project that I'm working on. I'll spare the details for my next post. All the watchin' I have been doing? Totally the fault of this damn yarn and pattern.

Eatin':
Fresh Strawberries. Yummmm.

Lovin':
Aside from the usual swell that I have in my heart for the man who sleeps next to me as I sleep without EVER snoring, I am lovin' my new knitting bag. Unfortunately I cannot find it online. It's a black diaper bag from Targ*t.

Thinkin':
If humans are intelligent enough to manipulate cells to create medicines, vaccines, and treatments for major disease than why oh why have they not created a crystal ball? My family's life is at a cross road. We are searching and seeking the right direction. I have faith we will find it but man, it would be a hell of a lot easier with a damn kick ass crystal ball.

Oh, and tell me how stupid I felt when I realized that, at the age of thirty, the phrase, "for all intensive purposes" is a malapropism. It is actually, "for all intents and purposes". While it is, apparently, a common error I am still shocked. Seriously, how can I count the ways my English teachers have failed me and/or how dense my brain must be?*** PS- I love how the linked to website says the mistake is made by people who do not read much...right, sure....this falls into the same category that people who read are really good spellers.
By the way, this would be a great opportunity to use one of the words (psittacism) that I learned as a result of the Spelling Bee. However, it's 11:21 pm and by brain cannot stretch that far. So, I will be satisfied by just telling you about it.

Hmmm, this is kind of fun. Maybe I'll make this a regular feature. Except in the future we'll have to add a "Spinnin'" category. Yip!

*** My husband just informed me that he has corrected me on this phrase multiple times. In fact, he insists that a few years ago we made a bet and I looked it up and, of course, lost. I guess I cannot realling blame the teachers huh? My thick head is the larger problem.

Mini, Come on Down!

2006-05-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

The poop yarn?

I threw it out. There was no way that was going into my tub to get washed. Blech.

In the interest of full disclosure - that is not the first time I have been a bird's target. In fact, it was the 4th. Go figure. According to many of you - I must be really really lucky.

The second time was actually pretty amusing.

It was 1998, I had graduated from college. With all of my earthly possessions loaded in my car I drove into Washington, D.C. to start a internship at a national park. A time of transition. Of freedom. There is nothing like fitting ALL of your life into a car and starting out in a new place. I was definitely feeling great, the sun was shining and my windows were open. I hit the beltway (the big circle highway around D.C.) and flew through traffic at about 60mph. A loud noise startled me and I felt wet. I looked to the center of my car and realized -

A bird had crapped and somehow managed to target me, inside my vehicle, through my sunroof, going 60mph. The physics there are completely mindbending. Don't even try to figure it out. Just know - at that speed bird crap splatters EVERYWHERE.

*****

And now a word from Mr. Bookish,

I SPENT TWO DAYS IN THE FREEZING RAIN AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY BROKEN ARM (or How I Survived Wet Wool Fest 2006).

Aside from that time I was lost in the woods and had to survive on grubs for 9 days… picking the winner of the WET WOOL FEST 2006 PRIZE is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Man, yall are good!

If I had read all of these BEFORE the event (like I was supposed to), I would have taken Rycrafty’s sage advice, snuck in behind the Bookish Girl and picked up a few of those fawned-over items and held them back for future birthdays, etc. But I am a dumb-ass. (Thanks for the heads-up Ry!)

I was genuinely impressed with all responses (Katie Couric, Cute knitter chicks, but you can’t go home with everything you see, sexual favors… haw!). But thank God I DIDN’T read these before the event… because with a little hindsight, it’s clear which response I HAVE to choose.

And with these words:

“He can coast for at least ONE MONTH on this....forgot to take out the trash? "but I went to NHS&W!". Don't want to sit through a "chick flick" "but I went to NHS&W!" It can be used oh so many ways…”

I crown Mini the winner and my newest bestest friend. Let’s just hope there’s at least one back rub in all of this somewhere… or at least one forgiven hang-over.

God bless you Mini… and God bless America!

(The broken arm, crazy guitar synthesizers, beers, tequila and more beers, and torrential downpour stories will have to wait another day.)

peace"

*****

The Mini referred to is Ms. Minestrone Soup. Girl, send me your address and I promise to mail this (sometime in the next decade):

Sock Yarn from Dorchester Farms. One of my favorite festival vendors. His sense of color is right up my alley. Usually a bit different from the normal hues you find.

And the broken arm that Rob "claims" to have? It's not broken, it's barely bruised. Unfortunately his arm had a run in with my hand. Poor Robby....

In other interesting news.... many of us (myself included) get endless hours of amusement from reviewing the google search terms that get people to our site. My new favorite one just appeared within the last 24 hours:

"girls who fart with there [sic] pants off"

Oh yah. That's me.

I'd like to make a deposit please

2006-05-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

"People dressed in a certain kind of clothing are never wrong. Also they never fart. What Mary Whitney used to say was, If there's farting in a room where they are, you may be sure you done it yourself. And even if you never did, you better not say so or it's all Damn your insolence, and a boot in the backside and out on the street with you."

- Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace, 1996

I read this as I was drying my hair this morning. It struck me as a genius series of thoughts and words. Truly captures some of my thinking lately. I digested a few more paragraphs and headed off to work.

There I was greeted by A DAY. We all have had them. No event in particular. Just a series of incidences that make you want to THROW OPEN YOUR WINDOW AND TEST THE AIR CURRENT'S STRENGTH.

This paragraph ran through my head and framed my thoughts. An interesting day, I was glad to wander home and take a bit of a lie down followed by Chinese take-out (sans MSG thankyouverymuch). There is little that Chinese take-out cannot fix.

Rob and I have been doing quite a bit of thrifting. I will surely find the time to explain in more detail the joy I find in this and the treasures I carry home. I have been working on recycling a particularly large wool sweater that I found. Last night I formed skeins, soaked, washed, rinsed, washed, rinsed, and hung the little bundles out to dry.

I came home tonight to check my little babies.

As a statement on the day this is what I found:

Not sure what you're looking at? Here is a hint:

Robby said that the bird wanted to buy my yarn. When I asked him how he knew that he said,

"He liked it so much he put a deposit on it."

And that, my friends, is the kind of day I had.

Trudy the Tetrahymena has Left the Building

2006-05-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Wayyyyy back when (have you noticed I say this a lot) I conceived and started to implement a genius idea.

I was going to knit a Tetrahymena for my BFF's husband Chad.

The prototype was completed before the holidays. And then this big alien ship came down and possessed my body. Unfortunately this alien didn't know how to knit, but man did it ever know how to eat! Whew. It just ate and ate and ate...

Okay - so the alien did not come down and I did find appropriate yarns (Brown Sheep and some eyelashy crappy crap) for the job and I knit and knit and knit. I finished the project right around my Birthday and felted the sucker for good measure. Unfortunately I did not take any before pictures.

Picture me this: a deflated astro-turfy covered pear shaped foot ball sized sack.

Here she is all stuff up and ready to be sent.

Robby made a name tags for her. There would be nothing more embarrassing than Chad not being able to recognize the organism on which he expends the majority of his creative and scientific energy. I was worried the astro-turfy look would throw him off (note to self: choose another color next time.)

Chad seems to think Trudy the Tetrahymena sounds like a porn name. Hmm, what kind of porn is Chad watching? Juli you should keep a better eye on yer fella. ;)

The name was actually inspired by this character:

Truly Scrumptious in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (alright. so we have a long running argument in our house. I happen to think that Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the old one) is an incredibly scary horrible scary horrible movie. Rob laughs. However, he claims that Chitty-Chitty is a terrifying movie not suited for children.** We have serious debates here. Weigh in with your opinion. Your voice will be heard!)

We had just watched Truly sweeten her way into the hearts of Dick Van Dyke when we were faced with the naming task. Trudy fell right off of our lips and onto the tetrahymena.

Chad received his gift this week. Upon receipt he sent and email off to me. Get this - there is another knitted tetrahymena out there!!!

Chad sayzzz:

"The crazy thing is that this isn’t the only knitted Tetrahymena in the world. Two weeks ago I was at this meeting and this guy had one made for him….crazy huh? He has been traveling all around the world with it, taking pictures of it on mountain, tall buildings etc. Tetrahymena people are a little crazy."

Eh, big deal. Knitter's who knit them are crazier!

**ETA: For clarification, our debate is actually about which was/is scarier to us. Rob used to have nightmares about the child-stealer in CCBB. I have always thought Charlie and the CF was wayyy scarier. Neither of us has ever considered the appropriateness.

Quiz Show

2006-05-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

Let's talk quiz.

You all did pretty well. I kept all the questions within the realm of what an average reader could know if they paid a lot of attention. Having said that, I am notoriously horrible at coming up with information at the ding of a bell and have royally screwed up some of my friend's quizzes. Some of them I purposefully messed up just cause I thought it would be funny.

A few people did really really well. The Purloined Letter was the only one to get 100. I have to admit this freaked me a bit - because I wasn't aware of this person until this quiz. However, I emailed her and she had admittedly guessed on a bunch and got lucky.

Rob did well - only missing one (about the lace.) And Emily (my roommate from college took the quiz and obviously did well too. Most of the people that scored higher know me in real life (or have met me.)

I think this is so interesting. I am fairly open on my site. I am not so into self censorship. However, there are things that never make it to the pages, or when they do are mentioned in passing. It is interesting to compare these levels of intimacy. You all don't really know many of the things that I would say act to define me in real life- like my height) or my degree. But, you obviously know other things about me - like I am the funniest, wittiest, dorkiest, reading knitter out there. ;)

I laughed my ass off at a few answers.

1 - Cara thinks I'm 5'7". I am 5'3". Do you have any idea how much time I've spent standing next to, near, or in the same proximity of this woman? C - I may not remember what side of the bed you sleep on but I would likely guess your height.

2 - Cynthia thinks Rob is younger than me. He is 13 years older. Cynthia (in a blog worthy event that I failed to blog about) stayed with Rob and I earlier in the spring. She spent the night in our guest room - harassed by one of my four animals (she did get that question right.) She spend an evening with Rob and me, graciously taking us out to dinner. Now, I explain this not to mock Cynthia - even though it is pretty funny. But to demonstrate that age is defined by your attitude about life - not your body.

Rob is 13 years older than me. However, he often gets carded and behaves like a much younger person. He is full of life and humor and has a baby face to match. When we first started dating he nervously told me his age. I shrugged it off mostly because I wasn't thinking that our relationship would get serious. My mom was super excited to hear that I was with someone older she said, "Good he's got all the piss and vinegar out of him." That's my mom. Five years later and - we're married! The age difference doesn't show it self too often. Only when we talk about culture from our youths. My first concert vs his first concert. A concert I went to when I was young and the same concert he went to when he was old. But, that's fun stuff.

3 - Maryse thinking I was born in Berkley, CA. I was born in Dallas, TX. She said that she just couldn't bring herself to believe that I was born in Texas. Hehehe.

4 - Many, many, many of you thinking that my Master's degree was in English. So sweet. But really, I think if that was the case than my degree school should be burned. I am horrible horrible horrible with grammar. This should be abundantly clear to all of you. In fact, there are typos and grammar errors in the quiz! I am a bit old fashioned in that I believe English majors should be champions of the language they carry on their degree. My degree is in Geography. I concentrated on Water Resources and Ecology. My thesis focused on a species of fish in Northern Georgia. I relied heavily on statistics and tenacity. Somehow it worked, I earned a degree. Something I honestly never thought I would do.

There were others, these are the ones that float to the top at this minute. Thank you all for taking the time to learn more about me! I got a lot of amusement from this!

Here, for the record, are the correct answers with a bit of commentary.

1) In what city was I born?
a) Dallas "I'm really a redneck", Texas.
comment: My parents are from Upstate New York. My father works for a major company based there. In the early 1970's he was transferred to Dallas. They lasted about a three years. During that time I was born. Soon after my birth they transferred back home. That is where I was raised with my brother and sister.

2) Growing up what was my favorite thing to do?
d) Read
comment: duh! When asked my hobby I always got very embarrassed. I felt like reading wasn't really a hobby and that people would make fun of me. Poor kid. When I was very young, just about to turn 5, I would sit next to my mom on the couch while she read. I always had a book with me that I read too. Except, I did not really know how to read so I watch my mom for cues. When she turned her page - I turned mine!

3) How much older than me is my husband?
b) 13 years

4) How many animals am I owned by?
a) 4 - 2 dogs, 2 cats
comment: I introduced each of these beasties early in my blog's career. We have two cats: Kumar and FutureMan, and two dogs: Gabby, and Rya.

5) What is my middle name?
c) Lynn
comment: First name after a little girl my mom used to babysit for, middle name after my mom's best friend

6) If I could live anywhere in the world, which would I pick?
a) Water, Water, Water
comment: This was another one that most got wrong. I love the water. I grew up on and in the water. My childhood home is surrounded by lakes and we always had a pool growing up. I studied rivers in school and came into my first big girl job to perform research on rivers. The ocean is my solace. I would love to live on the water. We currently live about 15 minutes from the beach and just a few miles from two major East Coast Rivers (the Charles and the Neponset.) All other places I could take or leave (I do love the mountains) but water is the place for me.

7) I have a Master's degree in what subject
a) Geography

8) How many lace projects have I completed in my knitting life?
d) Ha! Yah, right.
comment: I have assembled all of the necessary tools to conquer this one. There is only one thing I'm missing - balls.

9) How tall am I?
c) 5'3"

10) How old was I when I learned to knit?
c) 27
comment: I think this is wrong. I think I was 28. Dang! I got my own quiz wrong.

In which the Girl gets her panties wet and loads up on Tequila

2006-05-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

If you have not yet heard about the biblical rains that are slamming my fair city you must be stuck in a hole. Or not on the East Coast. Really is there a difference?! Tehehe. Kidding.

We did make it up to New Hampshire for the Sheep and Wool festival. It was wet. Saying that is just about the biggest freaking understatement of the year. Robby and I left early Saturday morning. Typically a road trip of over two hours leads to some change in weather. Not in this case. We drove and drove and it rained and rained. It was a bit cold as well.

We arrived and hit some of the barns. I showed Robby the wheels, the fleece, the yarn. He took a bunch of pictures met some of the girls that I hang out with and made nice with his fellow fair goers. Then his boyfriend Mike showed up and the two of them high-tailed it out of there and were off to greener pastures (or at least drier ones.)

I stuck it out for a few more hours. Wandered around. Laughed with some of the bloggers, ate food, drank hot cocoa (seriously, how is it that something so simple could Save. Your. Life.) I managed to get everything that I came for, with the exception of one item (part of a secret gift that will be revealed at a later date.) It was difficult to socialize through the rain, the mud, and the chattering teeth. I went solo for much of the afternoon which was an interesting experience.
My credit card is a bit hurt by the whole weekend.

Among other things I was pleased to find a Kumihimo Disk at one of the booths. 'Member when I blogged about trying this? Well this is the first one I've been able to locate in person. It seemed silly to pay as much to ship something as it was to purchase it. I was determined to wait until I found one in the real world. I did. I haven't tried it yet - I'll give you the scoop when I pull it out.

I left the fair in the late afternoon because my panties were wet from all of the damn rain. I headed over to our hotel to warm up. I was determined to finish the second sock of my pair before we headed to dinner that night. I wanted to wear it out! Total nerd. I did not finish the sock before we left. However, I did finish in the bar while we waited for a table. Fortunately Kellee was able to snap a shot with her cell phone for posterity sake. Keep in mind that I wasn't drunk - yet.

Yarn:

Yarn: Fortissima Mexiko/Fairisle
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns sock pattern. Roll top.

How cool is it that I finished the Mexiko sock in a Mexican restaurant?!

See all of those Margarita's on the table.? Um, I drank a lot. In my real life I rarely drink A LOT. I hardly ever get drunk. It's a testiment to my love for these random internet knitters who blog that I felt comfortable enough to imbibe. That and the hubber was there to take care of me. And, he would have if he wasn't too busy drinking all on his own! ;)

We woke up late the next morning, had breakfast with Elisa and Mike, rearranged cars along the lines of sex and interest and Elisa and I headed up to Patternworks. The boys headed to the guitar store and then the bar. Shocking, I know. Patternworks was a great place. I felt pretty inspired while there and managed to find some cool tools (I'm a sucker for some tools), a pattern book (or two), and a felted fish kit.

I feel very warm and fuzzy today. Happy and proud that my man spent the weekend with me and truly enjoyed getting to know the girls that I spend so much time with. Some weird cosmic thing was going on and there were a lot of husbands/sig others floating around. Our dinner included four of these characters. Watching them fit so flawlessly into the seams of our group was really neat. Just goes to show - A little knitting can bring you quite a lot.

I picked up a super cool prize for the winner of last week's contest. I just have to get Rob to pick who it is!!

This wagon is too fun to avoid

2006-05-11T11:29:00.000-05:00

Seriously - how funny is it when something travels through blog land and you see it over, and over, and over, and over again?

It drives you crazy.

The repetitiveness, the sheep mentality (hehe), the utter lack of originality.

You follow the links,
you place you answers,
you marvel at the little bits of information that you know
or don't know about people.

You are slowly pulled in...

You wonder.

How well do they know me?

Oh what pretty Links you have.

2006-05-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

So, I am working on a fun project that is taking a lot of my free time. The finished knits parade is not quite over (groan from the crowd.) It will pick up again in a bit.

Rob and I are headed up to New Hampshire this weekend for the NH Sheep and Wool festival. This will be Rob's first fiber festival and well, he is not so excited. Shocking! I know!

In fact, Elisa and I had to bribe our respective partners into attendance with promises of "boyfriend alone time" (background here: Mike and Rob have many of the same interests and sincerely enjoy eachother's company independet of Elisa and my friendship. This is great and we have all dubbed their affection for one another as you would if they were dating one another.) (Kellee is still working on hers).

Their expected reply was: "Grumble, Grumble, well, I GUESS I'll go if he's going. (Sudden smile) HEY! I bet there are MUSIC stores up there." Dear Mike has mapped out a thrilling weekend for them both. I'm hoping that Rob will spend some time at the event, just so he can get a taste of the fun sheepy goodness.

Maybe he'll even make it to the TGKWB* lunch event (details here if you're interested).

Here's your opportunity to lend him some of your best advice.

Leave a comment with one (or both) of the following:

1 - Why he should attend.
2 - Survival techniques for negotiated the hysteria that may occur when Knitters (and Spinners!) are faced with SO MUCH FIBER.

They funnier the better. I will have him pick the most compelling and we will send you a bit of something from the festival.

Deadline for responses: 6pm Friday, May 12th. We'll announce the winner that night.

On another note,

I ran into two interesting items in today's papers. Check them out, some food for thought.

Poll Gives Bush His Worst Marks Yet
Graphic of Poll Here. via NYTimes. Generally Polls drive me crazy. I have a background in statistics and the media's warping of the statistics behind the polls is, more often than not, really quite irritating. This is true no matter how I feel about the topic. However, general trends like these and the details about perceptions is quite interesting.

Scraping to fill the shelves of the Bush library Op Ed in Today's Boston Globe.

* The Gaggle of Knitters Who Blog.