UrbanGypZ Blog

It has been one hell of a month. Blogging has taken a back seat to an insane schedule. Well actually I have been visiting the blog only to clean up the 20+ comment spam I recieve daily. But other wise it has taken a back seat mainly to crazy work stuff. Got sick, had a big photo shoot, took a road trip to Knoxville, Huntsville, and Charlotte. Tried to take some vacation time. Finally as I approach a much needed week off, the dust has settled and I find I have one hell of a blog entry ready to go. Well actually this is the second version of that f***ing blog entry, it crashed Safari the first go round. But a beer and a raspberry brownie later?here we go again.
Gerbera

I am still working on this damn sleeve. I swear it is taking me twice as long to get this far as it did to do the entire body of the sweater. This sleeve is probably some of the most challenging knitting I have had in quite some time. As other Gerbera knit-a-longers have discovered the sleeves are way to long in the pattern. I am going to have to frog back to a few inches before the fair isle patterning. GRRRRR. I also forgot to incerease during the fair isle part. I am not sure I would mind it if I did not have to frog it anyway. After reading about a problem with the pattern break in the fair isle part of the sleeve (can’t for the life of me remember who blogged about that) I decided to add a 3 stitch checkered patterning to transition the fair isle stuff a little better.

I keep putting this sweater down in frustration. I want to be able to finish it. I am sure I will love it when I am done. How could I not with all the time, effort and lessons learned.
My Mindless Knitting

During my time off Thanksgiving week I picked up this scarf. I was fried from my meltdown and blue because I had to give up my trip to Birmingham. Gerbera knitting was out of the question. I had 3 novelty yarns that I wanted to use but show off. This pattern is based on a yarn mixing technique I learned at the TKGA conference last spring. Garter stitch sections and a wrap stitch section is patterned in a way that shows off the yarns in a lacy looking scarf. I was able to finish it Thanksgiving Day during family “quality” time.

I am so dead for posting this.
Making Over the Old Age of Aquarius
I think it is a shame to spend 2.5 months ona sweater I never wear. After wearing the original Age of Aquarius in complete denial, I shelved it and that is where it has been for about a year. I was even able to knit a completelynew one int that time. I finally got the kahuanas up to steek it into something I would actually wear.

I measured, machine sewed, and mattress stiched the seams. May I present my new favorite sweater.

Such A Special Gift

This was waiting for me when I got home on Friday.

It is a thank you gift from Fatema, Hajera and Khadija?Rahman, the authors of the afghan book I worked on last winter. It is a pattern from the book, this is the actual afghan in the photo. I can’t tell you how touched I was to recieve this beautiful work. Shameless plug…buy the book…I designed it and the afghans kick ass.

Buy it here.
What’s New

I needed some mindless knitting for the Pub and BeanStreets. A pattern fromknitty. I have been looking for this very thing to wear around the house while I try to conserve heat (after I nearly choked writting a $300 check for heating oil). Who knows maybe they may venture out in public given the right garters and mini skirt.
And finally…
Drum roll please….this is no longer my car.

My car looks something like this now.

The old tracker has seenme through many a trips to the beach, New Orleans, Atlanta, my finding my new home in Asheville. It has cruised 3 Do Da Day parades and been broken into 5 times (I mean really how hard is it to unzip the top) and barely survived one wreck. I fell in love with the convertible top and used to try to make it to the beach and back without using the top (and christened every time, damn it) My first new car…the first time I ever haggled with a car sales man. Twelve years, one replacement top in desperate need of a replacement itself…it barely made its final journey to Knoxville. I had to retied the top down twice (thank god I knit and always carry yarn). I was not even sad to see it go. Good ridance. I love my new wheels. Every one I know is still amazed I have a real car and not a safari vehicle anymore. Planning a road trip sometime soon.
So that’s what I have been up to for the most part. Thanks, David for checking in on me.

Wow. I don’t think I have ever taken such a hiatus from blogging. I have never been so busy with work. Was suppose to be on vacation in Alabama this week. In a blaze of emotional meltdown and bad mojo…I found myself stuck in North Carolina for the week. It is really for the best. I have been taking it easy, getting back into my knitting. I am a little stuck on the gerbera sleeve. I am to the fair isle part of sleeve #1 and just have not had the attention span and focus to tackle it. I have started a mindless scarf out of 3 fabulous novelty yarns and have steeked and shaped the original Age of aquarius sweater into a lovely shapely cotton aran. I am in dire need of some cardigans so I am looking to finish some old projects too. Love having the time off. I really needed the time to decompress. Posting pix later.

I know a whole week since I have blogged. I am such the slack blogger. I have recovered (well, somewhat recovered) from my post election depression. Now I am just scared. Have not had the heart to watch the news. And I am not going to blog about it now either.
Knitting content…right…. I have finally moved my Gerbera/PetMe? sleeve to public knitting status…well at least until I get to the fair isle part. I am probably a bout 3 inches from doing that. Will bring it to the pub tonight, but I may have to pick up the kimono sweater instead. I have been a little distracted at SnB lately by this guy. But he actually braved the estrogen the other week to sit and talk about the Age of Aquarius sweater I was showing off. He looks a little dangerous (but is really a nice guy)…could tell the girls had my backside if I seemed a little uncomfortable. We have tentative lunch plans…well see. Really have not been knitting awhole lot. I have been busy…but I could not really tell you with what. It feels like my days are way shorter. Maybe it is because I am finally getting close to the amount of sleep I should be getting. Crazy.
Something is happening to my waredrobe. As you might have noticed by the flux of pink shoes lately. This morning I had serious fashion crisis. I want soft fluffy sweaters and miniskirts. I have converted 2 pairs of jeans into skirts and am looking at the rest of my clothes with scissors and sewing machine ready. Don’t know what is up…call it my midlife crisis… Call it a little bit of weight loss…everything feels really baggy.
Mom, Dad, and Granny are coming tomorrow to help me burn a vacation day I have to use or lose before Dec. 1. The rest will be spent the week of Thanksgiving in Alabama. Look forward to seeing my friends.

I am not even sure what to blog today. I have had very little sleep. Was up all night checking results of the election. I am most upset about the way the media has handled the polling. I varied widely among the stations and I am not even talking about Fox News. I actually heard Charlie on Good Morning America say Kerry just needs to go ahead and concede. WHAT???!!?? IIf my vote was in there I would want it counted even if it was the only one for Kerry. It’s like shutting down the marathon before the last runner crosses the finish line. Just count all the damn votes already. I can wait.
Otherwise I am just livid. I don’t feel like Republicans think that I have any rights unless I am a white christian submissively married middle class suburbanite with 2.5 kids. They are paving the way for all my gay friends to lose their right to expreess their committment to the one they love (But they are okay with the Vegas drive through chapels so long as it is a man and a woman). I want to move to Canada.
Yeah I’ve been knitting but right now I really don’t give a shit.

I love Elvis Costello. Listening to his latest CD. I love it… a definite Mississippi Delta undertone with good ole’ classic Elvis.

The rayon kinomo is boring me to tears…but I guess that is the point. I needed a project I could take to Stitich and Bitch without having to reknit everything I f**ked up that evening. I have not been doing any knitting at home lately, so nothing has been accomplished on any of my other WIPS. They just require too much concentration. The upside is the kimono is knitting up very fast. Maybe I’ll get it finished by Thanksgiving. Hopefully well before then. SnB tonight. Got some show and tell to bring if I can remember to put it in the knitting basket.

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) was this weekend. Instead of spending $$$ on yarn and fibery goodness. I bought these instead. Quick take my temperature. I do not know what is up with the pink shoe kick. I only know that I love these boots like crazy and have pretty much worn them all weekend. I may take them off tomorrow to wear the other shoes.
This is the only thing I got at SAFF.

A beautiful roving of merino and tencel. The white stuff are the shiny tencel fibers. I know if I was a good knit blogger I would have brough my camera and document the event half as well as I did LEAF last week. But I was rushing through the show as fast as I could to avoid lingering over all the stash enhanciment possiblities that were not going to happen. It was an excellent show. A lot more venders than last year. A good turn out by the West Asheville Stitch and Bitch. Can’t wait to see everyones purchases on Wednesday.
I did manage to finish the body of Gerbera/PetMe?. A lady at BeanStreets Actually recognized the pattern as a Dale of Norway. She has a friend knitting one as well. HMMM wonder if it is a friend of the Gerbera Knit-a-long?

I finished the neck Sunday morning. It took forever because I was sleepy and distracted (No handsome stud this time just the ususal suspects who would not let me count a row with out trying to speak to me). Had to knit and unknit the first row of the neck decrease in front 5 times. I still was short a stitch on either side. Only working on the sleeve at home (that is when I have been knitting at home). Way to much concentration involved. The increases and decreases of the lace pattern are balanced. I have to really keep track of that balance as I increase for the sleeve shape, working StSt to maintain the increase/decrease balance wherever neccessary. OY! But that is even going pretty slow. Have not been doing a lot of knitting at home. So I will be getting a lot cranked on the kimono sweater in public. Working that one as I go without a pattern. Just my sketch. But so far so good.

I managed to get 9hrs of sleep plus a cat nap last night. Got the big coffee to help shake off the melatonin that I took just in case. I am wearing my girl shoes. They make me want to change my name to Kitten and knit an angora sweater set. Its bagel day at the office. Nothing like free breakfast to inspire me to chain myself to my desk with the headphones and scroll through typefaces for my next book. I will listen to classic Elvis Costello and the Pretenders. But really all I want to do is parade downtown and listen to my fabu shoes clip clop on the sidewalk. I am so wearing them to Stitch and Bitch tonight. I promise Bob and the Girls I would show them off last Sunday, but was too sleepy to remember. They go with nothing in my closet so I opted for a homemeade bluejean skirt and my favorite sweater. I think if I owned anything that went with said shoes I would be twelve. Off to start my day.

All I can say is wow, what an great weekend I had at the The Lake Eden Arts Festival. Where do I begin blogging about it. I apologize for the slow loading pics. For some reason some of them turned out HiRes. So read on, but be forewarned this entry is picture heavy…

more…

And hour left in my work day, and it is going so slow I can’t stand it. In an hour I will start my 4 day weekend. I have been so sleepy lately. And the work I have to do is not helping any. I am culling through our typefaces to work my next book in–all 1225 of them. Scrolling through them is utterly mind numbing. I have nobbed off no less than a dozen times. It does not help that I am back on an insomniac schedule of about 5 hours of sleep at night. Hope to sleep in a little tomorrow to try and catch up. Not a lot of knitting to talk about. Cranked three rows on Gerbera/PetMe? sweater and cleaned my knitting bag. WHEEEEE. I did get the opportunity to take a customer service call today. A sweet lady from Omaha had a pattern question and I walked her through it until she got it and answered some gauge questions for another pattern in that same book. Kind of cool. So it is to the Pub tonight and the beginning of my 4 day weekend. If 4:30 will EVER get here.

I had this great entry that I lost when I had to restart. damn. Too sleepy to retype (yep insomnia has kicked back in) So here is a progress pic. I am about to cast off and start on the front panels.