a lightbulb(s) moment!

Posted by ann

Did you read Norma the other day? She posted about a light box idea, she found the information here. I don’t need to tell you that Norma is one clever gal, and if she thinks something is worthwhile, it usually is. (I wonder what she thought of the horny goat weed? I know she blogged that it fell out of her wallet, but I don’t believe she ever blogged its efficacy) So anyway, I decided to give the light box a try. Boar picked up some clamp lamps at Home Depot and I was all set to go.

my basement set up

not too bad for my first attempt. I need to get a truly seamless background – maybe some fabric instead of two sheets of paper and I also need to move the clamp lamps. In many of the pictures you can see their reflections.

In addition to fiddling with the camera, I have been knitting. Knitting and knitting. I am happy to report that I am back to where I was before the big rip. The stockinette stitch is making me batty. I am tempted to pick up another project to alleviate the boredom, but if I do that I will never finish. So I will keep my shoulder to the wheel, nose to the grindstone etc.

true color lies somewhere in betweenas I play around with light, I give you She Who Doesn’t Have a Bad Angle

Lucy working the light to her advantage

Posted by ann

Like the rest of the north east, it is bitterly cold here on Long Island. It seemed the perfect night to light a fire and sit and knit. Our fireplace is in the living room, but the room is without a tv. With my new ipod, that is no problem – I will listen to Cast On and knit away on my new sweater project. So there I am, all cozy and knitterly and the phone rings. Naturally I forgot to bring it with me into the living room and I have to get up and find it. This was the scene upon my return …..

Ott light & pug

shayna punim

Posted by ann

check out my new swimming headgear! a big thanks to Mary for the bday prezzie! I will certainly be the talk of the temple and will be leaving them in my wake (literally!).

You will be happy to hear that I have ordered some yarn for my upcoming sweater project. I decided on Araucania Nature Wool from Webs. The price was so fantastic that I did what I swore I wasn’t going to do – order yarn without a project in mind. I ordered a sweater’s worth of both color #8 and color #41. Can I just say that $4.69/ball beats yarn store employee discount? I felt it would be fiscally irresponsible not to order more yarn.

If you also read Cara’s site (and who amongst us doesn’t?), you will have read the hilarious story of Janice & Marge. What she may not have mentioned is all the bitching she is doing about being Marge. I don’t know what she has against the Marges of the world, but man oh man there is some deep sh*t there. Knowing that such Marge hostility exists in this world makes me even happier to be Janice.

Here is some Marge in poetry – when Cara sees that Marge is not just some blue-haired cartoon, maybe she will have a change of heart.

“Still the world is wondrous large, — seven seas from marge to marge”
In the Neolithic Age by Rudyard Kipling

“Lines I write the first time and the last time.
He who works in fresco, steals a hairbrush,
Curbs the liberal hand, subservient proudly,
Cramps his spirit, crowds its all in little,
Makes a strange art of an art familiar,
Fills his lady`s missal – marge with flowerets.”
One Word More XIII by Robert Browning

can I just say that the whole lady’s missal thing is weirding me out a little? I’m not sure what a missal is, but I don’t want to go anywhere near it, let alone cram it full with flowers.

hold the phone – I just looked it up. whew, I feel better.

it’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to…..

Posted by ann

First things first – my package from Margene!

a handmade card!

Margene recognizes my inner hot mamma!
she hasn’t been the same since our kiss ;)

how sweet is that sachet?!

it smells so good

Thanks Margene – you’re the best!!

and now for the birthday heartbreak in the form of a small story

……. in my stash I had two skeins of CherryTree Hill yarn. “I shall knit some socks. Look! they are in the same colorway and so there is plenty of yarn ” and I begin to knit. And knit. One sock is completed and the other has a partial heelflap. It is at this point that I run out of yarn on the first skein.

While I am setting the second skein on my swift for winding, I realize that it is not the same weight as the first skein. Crapola. whattodo whattodo? A conference with Cara yields the solution of holding the strands doubled. okayokaythatshouldwork okayokaythatshouldwork

Not only is it now too thick – but the act of knitting reveals that these are not the same colorway at all! double crapola.

I have some leftover Koigu in the stash from the last time I ran out of sock yarn. So here’s the choice:

do I decide that I possess that certain younosayqua to not only knit, but wear mismatched socks? the benefit – I just attach the Koigu and knit. the downside? I can’t even spell younosayqua let alone act it out.
or do I rip out the exisiting sock? the benefit: I will have matched socks. the downside: I already have the ends woven in!

You would think that this would be the end of the heartbreak. You would be wrong.

As a means of distracting myself from some tough knitting decisions, I turned my attention to my BeaverSlide color cards. More phone consultation and a color was deemed perfect for my upcoming % sweater project. I got on their website – chokecherry is sold out! I have inquired as to the chokecherry availability timeframe …….

but, do I pick another color? the upside? I will have new yarn for my project. the downside? this will be especially difficult since chokecherry was crowned the perfect one.
or do I wait it out and knit another % sweater from my stash? the benefit? there are two benefits …. I will have knit a prototype % sweater and worked out any kinks and I will have knit from my stash. the downside? I hate my stash.

~wail~