Liar's Club

Here's how to play: I'm going to make a few statements about each of the following pictures. You have to pick which statement is the truth. Or, actually, just pick the statement you wish was the truth. (There are no guarantees. I might not actually give a truthful statement. I'm just like that).

Santa

a) It's tough to be only one guy on strike. There's never anybody to trade off with, so you have to do everything, even sleep, in the picket line.

b) Sorry, kids, Santa won't be coming to town this year. He had a really rough Thanksgiving.

c) New this year! Are you sick and tired of waiting around for your inflatable yard decorations to fill completely? Save time and money with our partially inflatable Santa! Some of the joy, half of the wait!

Imprints

a) A family of concrete cleaners spent some time at my mom's house this fall, unfortunately, they cleaned themselves into a corner and had to clean around their feet, and it left this family of footprints on the patio.

b) Look for the explanation on the all new season of Ghost Hunters on the SciFi channel. Or maybe it's Alien Hunters. I can't ever remember.

c) "Step on a crack, break your mother's back, or at least leave impressions of all your flip-flops on her back patio."


Calvin Klein

a) A scout from Calvin Klein was browsing patterns on Knitty.com and commissioned me to create a sweater incorporating their logo. You can purchase your own sweater for a mere $9,740 at the after-Christmas sales at Neiman Marcus.

b) Charlie Kaminsky called, he wants his initials back.

c) Calvin Kiley turned a whopping ONE year old on Thanksgiving Day. What better to commemorate than with his very first (kind of) birthday sweater.

Central Park

a) Fiber wall art. We all knew it would happen in this house sooner or later.

b) Using a ball and a quarter of Donegal Tweed, I've finished the first piece (Front Left) of the Central Park hoodie. This piece went unbelievably fast. It's too bad I don't have the other 10 balls of yarn nearby. I could be wearing this thing by Christmas. Okay. Maybe by Groundhog Day.

c) "I know what blocking is! It's when you get it wet and staple it to the wall!"

Thanks a Bunch

It's nearly impossible to choose the projects that will accompany me on my journey North tomorrow morning. So instead of fretting about that, I'm messing with the project I cast on last night. It's a Mason Dixon mitered square. Hey, I've never knit a mitered square before, and it's important that I broaden my horizons. There aren't any looming deadlines (that is, deadlines within a few days), so I can knit whatever I want. Apparently I liked that chocolate covered cherry look from Morgan's socks and wanted to duplicate it here. While I love how it turns out, I have a feeling this could get boring pretty quickly. Will she even be able to finish the first square?

I swatched and cast on for my green sweater. It's called a central park hoodie, in case I neglected to mention that. Did you catch that first statement? I swatched. I hit gauge on the first try, both stitches and rows. Heh. I've found that it will probably be pretty easy to up-size this sweater, as most of the sizes are multiples of four inches, and most of the measurements are evenly incremental. I've started with... The Left Front. I'm still working on the ribbing, so I'll save the progress picture for some time when there's actually been real progress.

Not only is tomorrow Thanksgiving, but it's also my very first nephew's very first birthday. I'm very thankful for him and for all my family and friends. I'm looking forward to spending the next few days with family and remembering to appreciate the good people around me. So thanks to everyone who still reads this blog with any regularity. I really appreciate your support and your great comments. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Endings and Beginnings (and Somewhere in the Middlings)

Let me start off with a couple of clarifications. First, my needles were free because I finished a project. I know it's tough to grasp that, what with this being the Drunken Monkey blog and all that. Unfortunately the needles were not free of charge, although sometimes I can get them for 50% off at Hobby Lobby, and that's nothin' on which to spit.

And yes, not only did I finish one project on deadline, but I finished another project by its deadline as well. The first one, I can show you:

Pomatomus socks from Knitty, for Morgan, whose birthday was yesterday. Happy Birthday, Morgan! These were made with Claudia's Hand Painted sock yarn, in the chocolate covered cherries colorway. I must have had two different dye lots, or else it's a hazard of knitting with hand painted yarn, but one of the socks is a bit lighter than the other sock, but they still go together quite well.

I didn't originally intend to make these for Morgan's birthday, but I was pretty darn proud of myself for getting them done in time. I had a hard time taking a good, interesting picture of them under pressure to pack them up to ship them, so maybe I can get a good picture at Christmastime when we visit.

Here's a teaser for the other project I finished and mailed out. Isn't this the best button? At first glance, it's just another brassy button. Upon closer inspection, it's the cutest little walrus with the cutest little mustache. And frankly, it's on the cutest little sweater, but I can't show that to you yet, cuz his birthday isn't until Thanksgiving.

I don't have to tell you that I have other projects going. We all know there are at least half a dozen socks rambling around here somewhere, and I think there's an entrelac bag still waiting to be loved. However, I worked at the yarn store yesterday and was forced into loving a sweater pattern. One of the owners was talking about the pattern, then showed me the pattern in the fall 2006 knitscene magazine. I wasn't even interested in that magazine! She made me like it! Only a few minutes after we finished talking about the sweater, a customer came in wearing the exact same sweater. We made quite the scene. It was gorgeous, and confirmed my need to make one. Wanna see?

Isn't it great? In a very uncharacteristic fashion, I plan to make this sweater from the very yarn it calls for, in the very color it's modeled in. I do plan, however, to make some extreme adjustments to the pattern, since it was not originally designed to fit a prehistoric carnivore. I have the pattern and one ball of yarn for swatching, and soon I shall commence. Hopefully.... hopefully this will end up being my very first COMPLETED adult sized sweater. Wish me luck!

Are Your Needles Free?

Sung to the tune of "Do Your Ears Hang Low?"

Would you...

Stick them in your hair?

Would you give the chimp a pair?

Would you put them with the paste?

Would you give black beans a taste?

Would you start another project
Like a coonskin cap for Crockett?

Are your needles free?

-----

Mine are. There's nothing like a deadline. More soon.

Oh My!

So how was your weekend?

Mine was Nautie!




















Knitty's Nautie
Needles: size #2 dpns
Yarn: Shell is Cascade 220 koolaid dyed by my friend Nicole, head and tentacles are Christmas yarn from my friend Brenda.
(Read: STASH yarn)

Come Along With Me

...on a little guilt trip.

While I hate being guilted into doing things, I do have to agree it might be time for an update. I have to tell you though, it's tough to be motivated to post when very little changes.

I have been knitting, but I can't really show you. (I can't even tell you what a hindrance that is to posting.) As you can tell, I'm not the only one entranced by a shiny new stitch marker.

Others of us don't seem to care.

I've been taking some walks with some friends. Well, near some friends.

I've been taking pictures of weeping willow trees for my mom. (Hi, Mom!)

I got a sweet birthday gift from my friend Leone... more sock yarn! I really need to start finishing some socks.

Oh. I, umm, finished a sock. (I can show you this one, because the recipient already knows about them. The second one is already halfway down the cuff.)

I owed you a birthday party pic. Here you go. Standing (from left): John, Ed, and Thomas. On the couch (from left): Aunt Karyl Lyn, Wendy, Linda, Tobie, Nicole, and me. In the front: Kimmie.

Today is Dad's birthday. I mixed my corn with my mashed potatoes at dinner to honor him.