I knew it all along

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti


I saw a link to this on Jen's site and had to try it. I always knew in my heart that I was Wesley.

Living la Vida Loca

Okay I am still alive. I have been running around like crazy doing stuff for the dissertation data which has left me little time to blog. However, I have still been knitting. So here is an update on my progress on the ongoing projects.

Zach's Blankie


Zach's blankie is an aran knit pattern found in Knit Baby Blankets! from the Knit! series of books. I am using cotton (cotton tots) rather than the prescribed wool. I was a little nervous at first, however, I have made a lot of progress on this and am pretty happy with it. I am a mere 12 repetitions left from finishing it and hope to have it done by this weekend! Zach seems to like it as he chews on it every time I pull it out. I will have him model it when it is done so stay tuned.

Amazing lace shawl:
Okay so I fired my pattern. This is not the moment in my life when I need a pattern with 162 non repeating rows (not counting fringe). After about a dozen attempts at six inches that were supposed to look like flowers but instead looked like a unrelated series of loops I caved and gently packed the pattern away to be taken up at a later date (and I think with a heavier yarn). After browsing the net I have chosen to use the pattern I found on Yarn Harlot's website. The pattern is called snowdrop shawl and can be found here . I will take up the lacey charge once again soon!

Trekk with me socks:

The sad poor socks still sit in their cast on state waiting for attention....... I hope that they will get the attention they deserve soon :(

In other news:

Okay so I am bad. I said I would not start any more projects. MUST COMPLETE CURRENT PROJECTS. However, I was strolling through Wal-mart and found several things of abandoned $1.00 flannel. SOOOOO 42 yards of flannel later I have this



I will have this random pile of flannel (as well as 12 more yards not currently pictured) turned into

16 large blankets and 16 small blankets. Yep, yep I will

Dissertation (the final project). The good news of this month is that I have gotten my dissertation off the ground and I am 10% done with data collection! I think I am going to make myself a little progress bar for the side of my blog

Happy knitting and margaritas for all if you have read this far!

Cast on cast off..... the caster

That title works nicely if you add in the tune from the "The Clapper" commercial.

This post requires a bit of a back story. It all begins when Jamie and I snuck away from work to a local coffee house for some Bubble Tea (essentially a fruit smoothie with chewy tapioca balls.... don't judge it till you've tried it!) and some knitting. We were knitting (and purling) away discussing future projects we may do. Particularly, things in the Harry Potter realm. The conversation went a little something like this.....


Jamie: "I think I may try a Harry Potter sweater soon"

Me: "I cast one of those on"

Jamie: "and I still have that yarn for my Harry Potter scarf, I should make that"

Me: "I recently cast on a Harry Potter scarf"

Jamie: "Exactly how many things do you have cast on?"

Me: "ummmm..... a few"

(the above conversation was edited significantly in order to make it fit in this post. In truth our conversations are never this linear nor this boring). Suffice it to say that I admitted to having at least 7 things cast on. By the end of this conversation Jamie was chuckling anytime I said the words "cast on". She instructed me to go home and take a picture of all the things I had cast on currently. I told her I would do it after I got my shawl yarn so that I could cast on the one stitch it takes to start my shawl (which isn't exactly true now that I have switched patterns. However, I digress). So here it is, the obligatory post with picture of all the things I have currently cast on




In actuality I have 10 things cast on at the moment in this picture. They are (starting at the 12:00 position with the hot pink yarn and going clock wise)

1. Mittens for warm woolies (hot pink)
2. My second square for Papa's quilt (dark green wool in between hot pink and turquoise)
3. Fuzzy Feet (turquoise)
4. Felted bag (red next to turquoise)
5. Sweater for baby zach (Olive)
6. Baby blanket for baby Zach (beige and the only one that looks worked on)
7. Harry Potter sweater (dark brown)
8. Socks for Trek along with me (in between the dark brown and the yellow)
9. Harry Potter scarf in hufflepuff colors (yellow)
10. In the middle is the shawl with one cast on stitch (blue, and just for you Jamie!)

So there you have it. I am addicted to casting on it appears the only things I actually finish are things for the preemie project. Jamie asked me why I did this during our knitting adventure last week and I think that it is the promise of a new project. I love buying yarn and the optimism that comes with the cast on. It is the sweet moment before the crying, cursing, frogging, and frustration to come. Call me crazy. However, it is impossible to keep going on so many projects. Therefore I am currently limiting myself to 3 (Trek with me socks, amazing lace shawl, and blanket for baby Zach). I should probably also work on Papa's second square but I can't bring myself to do that right now.

I got 99 problems and my stash is one

I have bought a LOT of yarn in the last month....... below is a picture of part of what I have purchased.



My husband kindly informed me that marital distress would follow if I continued to keep my new yarn in the bags they came home in stashed precariously in the communal downstairs closet. Therefore in order to maintain some happiness in the home I took myself to the local discount store and purchased storage apparati (I think that should be the proper plural of apparatus). When all was said and done I think it turned out quite nicely.



The bag on the left is for my acrylic yarns that I use for the preemie project. It turns out that this was the bulk of my yarn. However, as it is also the bulk of my knitting it seemed appropriate. The shelves harness the stuff for my other projects and a few of my books (usually the ones that I have yarn at the ready to complete a project). Now I have a shiny happy hubby and a shiny happy knitting corner.

Confessions of an underage knitter

Okay no pictures today guys (although now that my scarf yarn is here I will get that post done for Jamie

I am not a child. In fact in a few short months I will be 28 and while I am not quite ready for the retirement home I am still NOT A CHILD. For the most part I tend to play well with others and am a polite person in public. So, how does this flagrant self-promotion fit into a post..... Let me tell you.

Today was an incredibly boring day spent in the public records office copying birth records. After completing my task I promised myself a side trip to my LYS. I pull up and bound in the door. First I stop to pet the Addi's (Addi's are a high maintenance needle they need lots of love) before moving on the the wool/alpacas for the petting and sniffing. While staring at the needles the proprietor comes up and asks me if I need help. I smile and say nope as a grab a cable needle from the wall (I am always loosing my cable needle). Another lady approaches the wall I move over and look for a size 10.5 circular, she looks at the Brittany straight cable holders and comments that her mother loves these. I laugh and say that I am far to clumsy to use them.... that I need a good hook or else my stitches are lost forever (slight dramatization done for comedic effect). The lady sitting at the table behind me knitting laughs and says "well maybe when you are a more experienced knitter like me you will be able to use them."

At this point I am intrigued. I have a friend who remarks that she hates it when people ask her what project she is working on and I think the feeling is very much the same visceral reaction I have to someone assuming that I am a novice because my hair is in a ponytail. I sit down and ask her how long she has been knitting. The answer: over ten years. So now I am angry. Yep, been there done that....... preffered crocheting when younger however as it was easier to manage in a car.
I didn't argue or fuss, rather I complimented her on her sweater and got up from the table. She then proceeded to tell me it was Alpaca and that some day when I was older I would be able to afford to work with luxury yarns and natural fibers. I excused myself and quickly left to pay. However, while in line I heard her raz the proprietor (who quietly confessed that she also needs a good hook) about her yarn selection.

There is no moral to this story. However, this happens to me relatively frequently. It is as if upon meeting me knitters must "put me through the paces" like a horse.

For those who know me you know that there must be an upside to this story and here it is. I met a person who knits for the preemie project. Her name was Catherine and she was nice and lovely! We talked hawkeye hats!!!!!!! Say it with me now people GO HAWKS!

And She is Off

In the nick of time my team arrived for The Amazing Lace KAL !
It also appears that Frankly Knit has gone to the frills. Ignore the sounds of shrieking and the man who is crying "Oh the humanity!" in the background. Yes, you have heard it here first. The woman who prides herself on serviceable knit wear that never resembles the tea cozy you see at your crazy Aunt Edna's is making......... none other than a lacy shawl.



First a brief introduction to the team members. They posed for their photo by the keyboard where it all began. Together they will travel to the ends of the state of Iowa and beyond collecting dissertation data!

The knitter (aka mastermind): Ms Frankly Knit, known to people outside computer land as Christina has a slight arrogant propensity to making functional knitwear. She has been seen outside many a local coffee house talking about how form follows function. For those not interested in design this sounds like rabble and an excessive number of F words which may illicit the F bomb. Suffice it to say that art (and design) must have first, a purpose, and that it's design must fit that purpose. So what led to a shawl (possibly the least functional item of clothing) you may ask? It could be stress, it could be temporary insanity, it could be an extreme form of bereavement. Who knows? Will her current commitment to this project hold once it starts yielding it's flowery pattern? Will she make it through the somewhat complicated and as yet completely baffling chart while driving all over the state (and perhaps a few others) to collect dissertation data?

The yarn (aka the travel journal): The yarn is knitpicks Shimmer in the color Morning Mist. 70% Baby Alpaca 30% silk and lace weight. Four skeins arrived at the last minute and are currently getting wound and ready to go!

The Pattern (aka the map): The pattern is Field of flowers designed by Evelyn Clark for Fiber Trends. Theoretically it will yield a shawl that is a 57" square (if one knits to gauge!)

The needles (aka the vehicle): Trusty addi turbos size 6 40 cms long. Let's hope these babies have enough torque for the uphill driving!

Tune in next week for pictures of team shawl at my prospectus defense (aka the starting line!)