The State of Affairs...Or Lack Thereof

This is my life right now:



So true, so true.

Ohhhh, Ahhhh! Behold, the Red Scarf!

Last night was spent starting this little beauty. I must say that I am really enjoying the way the pattern is coming along. I got it from Crazy Aunt Purl's site! Here's the pattern. I think whoever receives it will be pleased.

I am using Lion Brand Wool Thick-N-Quick in Cranberry



Here's a question for ya: Can you block a FO if it is made of 20% wool and 80% acrylic?


So, other than that life is fairly boring this week. I've got to write a paper tonight and then school tomorrow. So long knitting, see you Friday.

And the Pirates say "ARGH!"

Renaissance Festival Fun!!!!!! Let me just start off by saying that my little brother, and by "little" I mean "younger" because he no longer littler than me, has got more hair folicles on his head than I do on my entire body. The boy has such luxurious hair that I think there are many 40 and 50 year old men who probably look at his full head of hair and remember their youth fondly. And to top it off, he probably will never go bald! Lucky Bastard.
I mean look at it! It's crazy out of control!

Note, that is a hat he really wanted because it is similar if not exact looking to the one that Jimmie Hendrix made notorious.

This weekend was full of fun yet again, excluding a minor trip to the ER where they made us wait for five hours, taking everyone except us in that time frame. We ended up leaving without any description of what may have happened...blah, blah, blah, not really that important, just frustrating.

So, on Saturday I went to the Baltimore Italian Festival. I must say that I was quite disappointed. It was three blocks, 1 game of Boche Ball, two stand of meatballs (yummy), some Italian ice stands, and the Macaroni Grille, along with your local political harassment teams (Erlich, no O'Malley, No ERLICH, NO O'MALLEY!!!). I thought for sure I was going to see gigantic sunflowers, people dancing in noodle costumes, someone tossing dough in the air, or something else really Italian, but there was very little. Baltimore Italians, you can do better!

And then Sunday was a fun filled Ren Fest Day! There was the rope ladder climbing! Did you know that you are not allowed to climb the rope ladder upside down? I did not, nor did my brother, he did it anyway, screw the wench and her rules! I got a beautiful flower halo.

Happy Renaissance Family!

Need Help!!??

I'm completely devastated. The brown sweater tank I've been working on this month isn't going to wearable! I ran out of my yarn, which was supplied by my Secret Pal, so I bought more off line.

This is what has happened :(

See the discoloration? I'm sooooo upset. This was to be my first wearable self-knitted garment. Now what do I do?

I could:

A) finish the garment and use it as a sample for future clothing, know that I gauged correctly.

B) I could finish the garment and attempt bleaching it and then redying it.

C) I could frog the who thing. The largest thing I've ever knitted. :(

What do you think I should do fellow knit bloggers? Have you ever done this?

P.S. What a valuable, expensive, and time consuming lesson. Always buy enough of the same dye lot!

If the Moonshine don't kill me then I'll live till I die....

So, the birthday month is slooooowly coming to a close. Just a dinner tonight and Ren Fest and Melting Pot on Sunday and I think I'm all birthday'd out. I suppose it's a good thing too because I'm tired. Too much fun for me.

Today I ordered one last birthday gift for myself, the Fall 2006 Knitscene magazine by Interweave Press. The other day I was blog stalking and I found Yarn-A-Go-Go's site and was completely swept away by the sweater she had just completed! She said it was a fairly simple cable pattern. So, I'm figuring it would be a great first cable sweater and since I already have all that blue virgin wool I can use that and hopefully get started this month! But first I must finish the brown sweater tank, maybe this weekend (keep fingers crossed!).

No updated knitting pictures from this week because, like I said, birthday, birthday, birthday. Pictures to come on Monday.

I leave you with this inspiring shot though, this is a picture of my step-grandparents. They have been married 50 years and last Saturday all their friends and family gathered to celebrate this milestone. Believe it or not some of the folks that attended their wedding were at the party and one of the aunts who is 88 years old ( I think) had brought the party favor from their wedding 50 years ago.

Here's hoping we can all find that kind of love and security.


Happy Weekend!

Birthday Sweet Birthday

Oh what a birthday celebration month! Yes, that's right month. I get the whole month of September and if it spills into October well, I won't complain.

It started on Friday with a lovely birthday dinner with Dad and Barb (D & B). There was cake, ribs, a balloon, and a personal rendition of Happy Birthday, sung to me by this random girl with a beautiful voice at the Greenmount Tavern.

Then imagine my shock and surprise when I arrived home later that evening to find a surprise package from Miss BySarah! Not only had Miss BySarah sent me a pattern that I was dying to get my hands on but she made me my very own Sock knitting bag! I was thrilled and studied it immediately. Hope to make one this weekend! Thank you BySarah!

Saturday I did a little yarn shopping for myself and used some of birthday monies from D & B and got all this lovely virgin wool, 12 skeins of blue, 4 skeins of purple, and 3 sets of needles, 1 stitch maker, 1 cable needles, a set of #5 DPN's, and 1 circular #5 needle all for $20! I love Craigslist!

And then Sunday was all day MD Winefest with 8 lovely friends! Yummmmmmy! No pictures yet because apparently I like to loose the batteries in my camera when I drink wine. And my sweet girlfriend Kristin, gave me the Stitch-N-Bitch Nation book! Yay! Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday, I went to Mamasita's and she gave me the Color Purple which I have always wanted to read and a new sewing machine!

Then, today I was getting the mail for work and what should arrive but a lovely ball of Cascade Yarns, Sierra, Chocolate #32 that I had ordered online last week so that I could finally finish the sweater tank!

Life is good! Crafty Birthdays are Better!

I think that 26 is going to be a very good year!

Motivational Stand Still

It's raining. Raining, raining, raining.

I'm happy it's raining because my lawn has been the most unattractive shade of yellow this summer and Maryland really needs the rain. However, with the rain comes the traffic, frizzy hair, wet pant cuffs, balancing act of bag, purse, coffee, umbrella, and keys half in the door before you drop them on the ground and yell "S#*t!".

Let us begin with the traffic. This morning my 15 minute commute became...60 minutes. Now, the rain isn't only to blame for this. It's back to school season and while i know this makes most parents very happy to get rid of their kiddies for up to 7 hours a day, the traffic transporting said kiddies is attrocious. My commute runs down a road that has two private schools along the two way street. These schools don't provide public transportation in the form of school busses or even yellow limos. Why? Because they are private. So, private parents must drive their private children on these public roads and screw up everyone's commute by congesting the streets and polutting the environment. Perhaps some of that tuition could go towards a huge Dillon bus or something to pick up the locals. So here I am stuck behind Mrs. Private school and her gas guzzleing SUV, stopping at every traffic light, watching her sip her Starbucks, being blinded by her gigantic wedding ring and assuming that her driving has been all over this road because her diamond shoes are on too tight. I'm sure she is very nice and her kids are getting one of the finest educations money can buy but she's in my way and that makes her obnoxious.

So, I get to work...late. And then am confronted with the realization that not only is it raining today but I don't want to be here. I'm completely unmotivated. This weather is not meant for productivity. The construction workers that have been rockin' my world (ie: running their steam roller 10ft from my quaking building) all week don't have to work today. They realize that today is a day to stay in. Who knows, they could all be home knitting for all I know, and I want to be with them.

I can't possibly be expected to get anything accomplished today. I should have called out "unmotivated" today. Think of the gas I would have saved on the commute alone! I can't wait for the day to end. I just want to go home and put on comfy, and by that i mean elastic waistband, pants and slippers and sit in my livingroom watching Oprah and knitting.

But there will be no comfy knitting for me. For even after work I must get thee to class.

Hmmm, maybe I will develop some sort of "problem" tomorrow and have to call out. I hear it's going to rain!

Yarn IS Lovely

Lovely Yarns in Hampden is just that, lovely. I visited the store this Saturday and was very impressed with Sue and the yarn environment that she had created there on Hampden's Avenue. Would you believe that you can knit Bamboo!? I didn't, but sure enough Sue had Bamboo yarn in her shop, she offers it in single ply through 4ply and it is softer than cotton. She had yummy snacks for all her visitors and a cozie knitting corner in the bay window.
And thanks to Sue for putting our picture up on her website under Knitting Nights!

The Baltimore Knitting Meetup group met there on Saturday and we had the greatest time wandering around and touching all the yummy yarn. I was ridiculously excited to see and somewhat meet Coleen and Jen who's blogs I read weekly. And even more excited when Coleen informed me she read mine and quoted something from the prior day's post! And here I thought only my annoyed friends and family visited the site. Thanks to all the readers who stop by, leave a comment and I'll write you back!

Also, I got to meet bySarah, whom I had befriended only the day before. She joined the Meetup group and met us that day. I was thrilled that she'd brought some of her Sock WIPs bags! This girl is really talented.

It was a great outting.

Besides a lovely dinner party on Saturday night most of the weekend was spent working on the sweater tank; which, just as I was about to decrease for the armholes, I ran out of yarn. Arrggghh. Turns out I might have to order more from California so she probably won't get finished by the end of the week which was my goal. Then I decided to work on a quilt only to sew together the last panel and realize that I was missing a piece. Again...Arrrgggghhh! Work with me people!

Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something. Maybe it's that I shouldn't feel guilty about not finishing things because it's just not in my destiny.

What kind of Knitter are you!

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Two Truths and A Lie

Yes! I've been tagged by Jessalu Knits and Spins!

Ok, below please find three statements. Two of these statements are true, one is false. Please send me a comment if you can figure out which is the false statement.

1. I come from a very large Irish Catholic family, the Kirby's. My father's name is Francis Xaiver. He has seven sisters. Six of these sisters have the first name Mary, their mother's name is also Mary. My mother's name is Mary.

2. When I was 20 I met a woman in San Miguel, Mexico while riding horseback. She asked what I was studying in college. I said I hadn't picked a major yet and she asked what my interests were. When I told her fashion and arts she suggested I check out The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, FIDM. I moved out to Los Angeles, CA 7months later and received my degree in Merchandise and Marketings at the age of 23. I worked for Jo.s A. Banks in Carroll County for 2 years before I decided that I didn't want to be in the fashion industry anymore.

3. I was 14 when I first traveled abroad to France. I lived in a small town call Buc, just outside of Paris, with a wealthy french family. The father worked in the film industry, the mother was a landscape architect. For the three weeks I stayed there they fed me mostly fast food, McDonalds, Pizzas, etc. I tried smoking for the first time while I was there and also visited the Rivira where I sat fully clothed on a nude beach with my naked French family.

Can you find the Lie? Leave a comment if you have a guess, you don't have to have a blog to comment.

Chloe and Emily, consider yourselves tagged!

Helicopters, Yoga, and Progress. Oh My!

Nothing like having a goal ruined by law enforcement.

There I was on Monday night trying to get to sleep by 10:30 pm in keeping with my new goal of getting up at 6 am and starting my day off with a 1/2 hour of yoga a day when a helicopter started swarming around my neighborhood. Now, I don't exactly live in the ghetto...I live right next to it. Any of you out there ever heard of Govans, Baltimore? Well I live next to it. A helicopter is not an unfamiliar noise to the area however last nights copter seemed dead set on finding whoever they were looking for lurking in-or-around my yard. This went on for about 30 minutes. Ok, ok I think, not so bad, it's only 11 pm now, that will give me 7 hours of sleep.

Then there was a cop car...siren. This went on for about 5-10 mins. At this point I'm starting to get a little nervous that, in fact, the villain is on the loose somewhere near my house.

Next starts the barking. Oh yes, barking! Three dogs that live across the street are barking. Barking at what, I don't know. But in my head it goes a little something like this. The villain has escaped from whatever crime he viciously committed. He ran from Govans towards my area, hid from the helicopter, stared trekking through open backyards, and has now entered my street and is attempting to break into my basement, from which he is plotting how to enter my house and attack me in my bed. Paranoid? Maybe, so what!

I give in. I get up from my comfortable safe haven and walk carefully around my house, wearing my underwear and a tank top and carrying nothing to protect myself (obviously, my paranoia does not scare me enough to keep a flashlight, knife, or extra pants by my bed). I find nothing in any of the four rooms, no monsters in my closet, no villian in my kitchen cabinets, no one trying to take a shower in my bathtub, and no one sitting in livingroom waiting to attack me.

While in my livingroom I take a gander outside to see what the G.D. dogs are barking at. My very cute male neighbor is across the street on his front porch (not wearing a shirt ;)) and his 3 dogs are in the front yard wandering around without leashes (this is normal, they are very well trained and friendly). So, now I feel at ease. I figure my strapping neighbor and his vicious but friendly dogs will protect me should the villian come around. Also, the guy that lives above me is a body builder so I am not too concerned.

You may ask yourself why, during my household hunt for the villain did I not look in the basement. Well, I told myself that if he was hiding down it's just better that I don't know, maybe he'll get bored hiding out and decide to do some of my laundry!

Suffice to say that I did not get up and do yoga this morning being that all that commotion and paranoia kept me up till midnight.

On the plus side, I did get a lot done on my sweater vest! The entire back is done. And as suggested by many fellow knitters, I put on a tank top and pinned the 1/2 knitted garment to myself to assure proper gauging and such. Guess what? I think it's gonna fit!

Simple Knits for Knitwits!

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

See the beautiful progress that was made two nights ago, ooohhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh. Well turns out I dropped a stitch! G.D.!!! I had to rip out 1.5 inches last night, which is a lot because of the small needles. See it? See the evil little sneaky stitch that hid while I was knitting away completely oblivious to the mistake. Naturally, because one small missed stitch can completely ruin a sweater, I ripped everything out and started over...and then when I had about 5 rows done what did I find? That's right! Another dropped bastard! Oh the devistation!

The third time around I was determined to win the battle, I paced the room, gave myself a pep talk, turned the the partially knitted sweater and yelled profanities at it, did some deep breathing, and began ripping out the five rows. I slowly rethreaded my needle, counting each stitch along the way and began for a third time.

And look! Progress...real progress!

Oh the satisfaction is sooo sweet.

Here is bobi, my lucious cat (not fat, lucious), not interested in what I am doing and without any concern for my distress. Isn't he pretty! I'm so excited to have him lazying around my house. I think he must be happy too because he's put on happy weight. This cats eats all day, it's ridiculous. He'll bite me if he only has a few pieces of food left in his bowl. I think he starts to worry that he might starve if his bowl gets too low.












Happy Holidays!