We are going to the World Series!

I will say that the Sox love to give you a hell of an ending, and the entire time the ALCS was going on I was knitting my Rocky Horror Picture Sock Show to distract me from throwing things at my TV. I tend to get very involved in watching the Sox play and this entire series gave me an ulcer (and I still have some from 2004) my stomach can't really take a World Series (nerves and stomach be damned, bring it on Colorado!)

So last night after watching the Sox and the Tribe battle it out in a very good game 7 (sorry Tribe, if it was anyone but the Sox I would have been pulling for you). I finished my sock 2 hours after the Sox won the American League Pennant. I really can't tell you much about it, actually I don't remember knitting most of it at all, the top of the first sock I remember and the middle of heel flap and turning the heel of the second one, but really I don't remember much of anything else because the game was on. I'm sorta nervous about playing the Rockies, they have a combined ERA of 2.08 . . . yes 2.08. Well hopefully Beckett will get us off to a good start come Wednesday.

Here are some pictures of the finished sock:




And in honor of the Sox going to the World Series I'm making pair of Red Sox out of Louet Gem because (being the good baseball fan that I am) I know that I knitted a pair of socks in the last series and we won so I have to knit a pair of socks this time too (supersition has its place, I don't want to make the Baseball Gods angry).

What's that Wally? You want to see my sock?

This post is in honor of the Red Sox play-of game tonight at 7pm (EST), go Sox!

For those in the know you will recognize the celebrity posing with the two socks, for those that don't know this is Wally the Green Monster. Wally the Green Monsta (properly pronounced with a Boston accent) is posing with his new friends Lefty and Righty, who are mascot versions of the famous Boston Red Sox. And as a knitter and a sock knitter you gotta to love a team that has mascots that are socks, really it couldn't be better.

So here is my version of the picture above, this is my Wally the Green Monster only available from the Boston Build-a-Bear location (loving made for me by my friend and shipped across the country to me in the original box, you have to love that) with my Rocky Horror Picture Sock Show (in progress).

And I will close with a quote from Bull Durham "Hit 'em where they ain't boys!" GO SOX!

Stitch This!

But in a slightly different way, ever since I have finished my Cables and Os I needed a bit of a knitting break, trust me after working 7+ hours a day for 4 days straight you'd need a break too. So this is what I have been stitching on, handmade pillowcases with hand embroidered messages for each recipient. I love to personalize gifts and this is no exception, each one will have a personalized message for the person that it will be given to, Christmas isn't that far away. The first one was going to be for me as practice to see it I was any good at it and to see if I liked freestyle embroidery (as opposed to cross-stitch, which I know I don't like, no offense to those that do, more power to you!). I knew I wanted to make it car-themed since oh so many of our car events start before 6 am and I always bring my pillow so I can attempt to catch a bit more sleep. So I found old-school pin stripping flames fabric at JoAnn's and decided it would say "Dreaming of more Horsepower" since the main focus has always been more horsepower. I was excited to start a new craft and told Big A all about it, after I explained it he said "I want one!", so the pillow became his and I had to find something else for me. Here is his:

And so I found new-school "fire" fabric for me and I came up with "Dreaming of a 6.4 liter Challenger" and this is how it came out:

So after a little practice I think I have a basic understanding of what to do. I want to add different kinds of stitches to my repertoire, but hopefully it will all work out. And it's so much faster than knitting, amazing what happens when you don't have to make the fabric. There are many more "dreaming" pillowcases to come, perhaps it will be the first in the series.

And on the knitting front, since my skein of Vesper Sock Yarn is here I might have to cast on for another pair of Jaywalkers. I know there are a ton of other things in my queue, but I just need a fix before I tackle Big A's sweater for the final time (damn that sweater). I knew that if I could ever get my hand on some Vesper that Jaywalkers were what I wanted to make with them since the stripe would be awesome. The colorway is Strange Little Mama, but it always reminds me of Rocky Horror (which I have always loved, and love to see "live") so that's what I'm calling them The Rocky Horror Picture Sock Show.

Happy Anniversary!

(Photo Credit Suzanne Camarata)

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary, and this is what Big A got me! I'm so excited I asked for a nice camera but I wanted a small one that I could take with me without adding a lot of bulk or weight, and as always he did a super good job. Big A is really good at shopping for electronics and since he knows all about photography and cameras it was a match made in heaven.



I love it, it's so small and light, here is picture of it next to my Lantern Moon Sheep Tape Measure for scale (since most knitters know how big the tape measure is). It's great and it has a really big screen, and it's so slim. Now I won't have to take the big gigantic, super expensive, single lens reflex digital camera (that Big A got for his Doctorate graduation, which I'm always afraid I will break). I can't wait to take it to Wicked so I can take pictures of ItShe and I this weekend.

I have been stalking a certain sock yarn for over a year now, and this week I finally had the correct planetary alignment. I have been checking this website for over a year and I'm always 2 or 3 days late and there is never any left, but on Tuesday I finally got me a skein and it came in the mail today. Here it is, Vesper Sock Yarn, in Strange Little Mama, I love all her colorways, check it out here.




I few last pictures, here is one with the camera and my cupcake pincushion from Betz White. and one last picture of our wedding cake, I wish I was in Boston so I could got buy a slice (it was from Konditor Meister in Braintree) it was delicious as it was gorgeous!

Finished Cables and Os

Pattern: Cables and Os, by Brooke Snow, No Sheep for You

Yarn: Queensland Collection Cotolino in Fuchsia

Yardage: About 1500

Needles: Knit Picks Options US size 2 and 4

Estimated Time: 6 months

Notes: I shortened the ribbing on the sleeves by an inch but besides that I did exactly what the pattern said

Finally! I loved this sweater pattern and I loved the yarn and I'm still not sick of it, but I didn't know if I was ever going to finish this sweater in time to wear it to Wicked next weekend, but I finished it a week early! I really enjoyed this sweater it was a very good pattern and the finished sweater it really cute.



I didn't change much of anything, all I did was shorten the ribbing on the sleeves by an inch. The only thing that I would say to anyone that is knitting this currently is when you count stitches make sure that if you are on a yarn over row that you don't count the yarn overs (it might be very obvious to some but hints never hurt).

Cancer Benefit, Yarn, A Piece of Home and LUSH-iousness

Last weekend Big A and I went up to L.A. for a very cool car event called Cruise 'n for a Cure, it's the biggest one day car show and every single cent (no money is taken for administration fees) from the entry fee ($40 a car, and there were over 3,500 cars this year), the gate fees ($12 a person), and the t-shirt sales go to the UCLA Jonsson Conprehensive Cancer Center. We had a great time there were about 50 cars from Big A's car group so it was nice to see everyone, but I wished the weather would have been dryer.

And since we were in L.A. I (successfully) tried to get Big A to take me to Wildfiber in Santa Monica. It's one of my favorite yarn shops to visit (it was my second time) here is what it looks like (click to make bigger) The next time I go I would love to stay a while and knit. Wildfiber use to be owned by Mel Clark (author of Knit2) but she has sold it and move back to New Zealand. The store was just as wonderful as I remembered, light, lovely, and I love the way that the store is laid out. I saw on their website that they were carrying Socks that Rock I wanted to see what they had and was planning on picking up a several skeins. The knitting gods did not shine upon me, they only had medium weight, and I was looking for lightweight. So in order to appease the sock yarn craving I got this.
It's Ranco Multy by Araucania, it was hand-dyed in Chile and it really reminds me of Monet's Waterlilies, you can't see the green to well in the pictures but it's very similar to the painting, I'm glad I picked it up.

When you miss Boston there are a few places around town that you can go to to get your fix and one of them is Sonny McLean's in Santa Monica. If you are an ex-pat the minute you walk in you know exactly what this place is about; it's dark, there are multiply levels to the place, there is a no-frills attitude (wires hanging all over the place), there is a good sturdy bar that runs the length from front to back, the bathroom is old and has a strange tiny useless extra room with a small mirror (at least the women's did), there are pictures and references to all Boston Sports teams, and they served DUNKIN' DONUTS coffee (swear). It was a little slice of home, and the food was great Big A had fish and chips (of course) and I had a big bowl of clam chowdah it was one of the best I ever tasted. And of course the most prized possession of the day this
it's a t-shirt that's the front and the back says could it be any better?

The other place I got Big A to take me was LUSH. I fell in love with LUSH when I lived in Boston. It is a company that makes handmade cosmetics (not make-up, but more lotion/soap/shampoo etc) with a lot of organic/and or natural ingredients. This is a blurb from their website "We hand-make our cosmetics in UK, Italy, Canada, South America and Japan, in our own production facilities, so that every product available in our shops or sent to you by mail is as fresh as it can possibly be because fresh products work better and use fewer preservatives. Our aim is to have the youngest, freshest products in the history of cosmetics." They never do any animals testing and they sell their products, both in store and web, with as little packaging as possible. I love all of their products and the company's philosophy and mission, good all around!

I HEART Ravelry!

I just got my Ravelry invitation yesterday, I was so excited, and for those who haven't gotten it yet don't worry it's totally worth the wait, and they are getting through the list. I know I wasn't one of the first ones, and I'm sure that there are many people who have said how wonderful the site it, but I would like to say that it is SO wonderful. It is also a sense of "hometown pride" because the two very caring and wonderful people, and one super-cute Boston Terrier (my alma mater's mascot) of Ravelry are based in Charlestown, MA! And since I'm an alumna of Boston University and lived in Beantown for 11 years and are hopefully moving back next year, I'm so proud! As soon as I saw the background in one of the pictures of the aforementioned super-cute dog I told my husband "that looks like a Boston apartment" and I was correct.

M first 24 hours with Ravelry has been awesome, I have added a few finished projects and transfered all my pictures from Photobucket to Flickr (which was a pain). One of things I really liked was adding all my books to virtual library, so now I know what I have an I can keep track of what I want (I can hear Borders thanking me now). But with all good things comes the (not really) bad, there is a place on Ravelry that is dedicated to keeping track of your Stash, that's right I said the "S" word. I have never ever taken out my entire stash and cataloged it, never. I know that my stash has grown over the years (I have been knitting for about 7 years now) both from an increase from starving college student income (I could only ever afford 1 skein) and because my interests in different kinds of knitting has expanded as my skills have gotten better. But today my friends not only did I take a picture of my ENTIRE stash in one place, but I took a picture of each and every ball of yarn in the stash so I can add each one to my little heavenly slice of Ravelry.

I know that for every knitter out there, there is a different kind of stash, and I believe that no one is right or wrong (and I know that this is a hotly debated topic). I do however strongly believe that you should "own it". I have always believed in honesty, if you are going to be a bitch, should should know it and own it. I may not always get along with every person but I respect them if they own it. So this is my "own it" moment. Here is the picture of my stash:

Now I don't know where everyone stands on the Stash topic, but there is mine . . . out in the open for everyone to see (and yes that is a corner of alpaca), and I'm owning it!