UrbanGypZ Blog

Somewhere between Crabby and Todd Oldham I had some Fab pix of the ice storm and the new kitty that I totally boneheaded erased. They were pretty cool so here is the Readers Digest version for those of you who missed it.

I did a bit of bitching about having to stay home from work during a really busy time. I also bitched about the speed of the server and the low priority that my street rates with the DOT when they are scraping ice. There were pix:

Then Heather said “I think I’m in love with your new baby! Oh, that face!”

I hit delet entry. Rampant cussing ensued.

Is it me? Or has this years Christmas colors become a hipper version of what I would call a normal color scheme. I was digging through the dollar bins at Target, grabbing some deals on Christmas wrap. The underlying theme seemed to be lime green. And the Christmasy candy apple reds? Replaced with hot pink and cherry. Oh so hip. So Ikea.

So Lee, when I packed Lillis’ gift (Lillis if by freak chance you are reading this go here now) it is not the traditional wrap, okay? Actually it kind of looks like a birthday present. And I forgot to include a tag, sorry. But I think her birthday is in May right? So, it will be without a doubt a Christmas present. And I did put your name on the return address…

I think Todd Oldham would approve.

I don’t know… Maybe it is because I could not get my work done trying to work from home. Mike seemed to think I was really just playing hooky until I bit his head off for not leaving me alone. I had so much to do, the server went down, all my files took forever to download I just could not crank like I knew I could if I was at my desk. I ended up going in for 2 hours once my street cleared. I live in town on one of those deciving little roads that takes forever to thaw. Less than a half a block from a major secondary road, they rarely bother to scrape my street. Of all days for me to not be able to get to the office, yesterday was the worst.

Knitting helped. Not because knitting is the new yoga, but because when you are too broke to do any real shopping thereapy, making new clothes is the next best thing.

Started a secong pair of fingerless gloves with a loop stitch edge. Check out Purl’s Loop Stitch Tutorial.. I am making them a little longer in the finger part. My knuckles get a little chilled in the other pair. My hands were getting cramped because it was cold out. My fingerless gloves kept my hands just wam enough to help the knitting go smoother.

But today I am still crabby. I did not sleep very good last night. I had to work on the last part of my book that I hate. And the pressure was on to finish it today and it is done. Thank God that is a load off, but I really do not feel better. But it is Friday. I have no pressing plans but to knit and wrap Christmas gifts. And knit.

10 days til My week of uninteruppted knitting and spinning bliss.

I am one of those knitter who are really good at starting projects, but lousy at finishing them.

I am currently trying to finish the Gerbera(from the knit along fall04!) I got stuck on a sleeve gone awry and put it down for about a year. I have completed on sleeve and am about 30% into the second sleeve(actually its the 3rd). I am dying to finish this puppy. I am using a yummy alpaca yarn from Elann. I am also still cranking on the denim shrug from the Interweave Spring 05 issue.

I love the knitting to be knitting, but my head fills with ideas and I want to start new stuff all the time. So I tend to forget about the knitting Zen. You know that blissful, into knitting EVERY stitch, occasionally stopping to admire the fabric as it falls from the needles in some yummy fiber and colorway you could not resist. {{{{purrrrrr}}}}}}And when I am not finishing old projects, I tend to be less into all those damn projects I start up (because truth be told, Knitting Zen is great, but new clothes are better!) I am probably about a month away from finishing a half dozen things. But I am not starting any new big sweaters until I finsh the dozen or more in my stash. Well okay, I started a sweater yesterday, but that is it. no really it is. I am however allowing myself to make some small things just to feel the satisfacton of finishing something! Besides all my big projects take WAY too much concentration, I need something to bring to Stitch and Bitch.

Since I have been spinning a lot, I have been thinking of patterns that will show off a hank or two of artfully spun yarns. My Sunday Morning girls are on a fingerless glove kick…and so am I. I whipped this pair out in a little under 3 hours.

Excuse the lousy pic, the company camera is a little far sighted

We really have lost our minds–we have a new kitty. I have never had a kitten before, all my babies have been full grown. I think her name is Trixie. I really call her Hell On Wheelsâ„¢. This week I am teaching her NEVER THE YARN. Her foster family taught her to play with the yarn. She loves to attack the knitting. She is learning that the knitting sometimes attacks back. Sweet Jesus, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not let her discover the wall o’stash before I can finish my UFOs.

What can I say? No posts–just tests. Who knows, maybe I will finally post some content of interest. I have been knitting really….pix to come.

You appear to be a Knitting Goddess.
You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with
reward, you simply want others to love knitting
as much as you do. If someone wants to knit
miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them.
If someone wants to learn short row shaping,
you can help. There are no taboos in knitting,
only opportunities to grow. Everyone should
have friend like you around if they want to
learn to knit, and there’s a good chance that
your passion has rubbed off on a few others.

http://marniemaclean.com

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are ‘Gregg shorthand’. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more.

You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Buy this yarn!——->click on my link

After a 3 week hiatus I have finally posted 7 of my 20 skeins for sale.

I just got back from doing som prop shopping at Target for a photo shoot I have this week. There was yarn and needles in the $1 bins! Holy crap! I thought I was dreaming. I made out like a bandit. But I have no intentions of making a pile of novelty yarn scarves. Nope, I am plying that stuff with some handspun.

My beach trip was so blissfull. I could not really tell you what I did. I know I did more spinning than knitting. I would get up make the coffee and grab a cup, my wheel and spin on the balcony watching the dolphins.

This is a veiw from the balcony. Ya’ll that black stuff is crude oil. A week after Katrina, and there was tons of that stuff. It feels like tar. But under foot it felt like sting ray skin…I was totally freaked. I am such a chicken about that and jellyfish. I could never be a surfer…although I want to be in my next life. There were a lot of evacuees in Destin. An affluent resort town, most of these folks were escaping their Garden District mansions to their beach homes. But they all had that shell shocked look reguardless. Folks uprooted not knowing how their homes faired. Thanks for asking about my family you guys…they are all fine. They are not home yet and will have to wait. They are scattered across Louisiana and Mississsippi. I get very sad to see how bad the devastation is. Don’t get me wrong, I know it is bad all over, but New Orleans is where my family history is. I had spent all but 3 Xmases there since I was a wee tot. But the thing that shreds me every time are the pets left behind. I cry alot. I have posted to Petfinder and ASPCAto foster a pet. I would want someone to do the same for all my babies. Mike and I went to the Asheville Humane Society yesterday to see if there was a way to help. Evidently this pet friendly town must be feeling the same way. Most of the cages were empty. I hope that in the wake of overcrowding at the shelters that AHS will be hosting some overflow…they definitely now have the room.

Mike and I came to the conclusion that we needed a king size bed after spend the week at the beach in one. We got a new matress the day after we returned. The afghan is one from the sisters Rahman who wrote Gorgeous Knitted Afghans as a thank you for working on the book (I design and art directed). The bedding is a deal I found at the Springmaid outlet…a Trading Spaces brand Bed-in-a-Bag irregular for $60!

That along with my wheat-free diet, I have been finally averaging 7-8 hours of sleep for a change. I am not missing the wheat at all. Thank God I live in a town with so many resources. I cruised Bruno’s (a popular chain based in Birmingham that I used to shop) while in Destin. They had what they called the “New Age” section. It consisted of soy milk, Atkins diet stuff and Cliff bars. That is it. Even the Wal mart here sells soy flour. Local organic pizza joint down the street has a spelt pizza.

As for the knitting, I have a few WIPs I am working on.

I decided to hang on to some of the handspun and make a shawl.

I am almost finished with the half linen stitch shrug.

I whipped out a pair os handspun socks at the beach.

I have pulled out an old WIP that has been in the basket for 4 years!

I think the cool weather is feeding that knitting love. About F***ing time.

When in doubt (or have not downloaded those vacation pix for the blog) post a quiz.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com