Knitting for Boozehags

I added 2 new patterns to the free patterns page, Sarah and Sheila directions are in there now!
I ALSO added a reader's gallery (Sorry to Libby Baker for borrowing her idea, I couldn't think of a better name for the album!) Speaking of Libby Baker, who is without a doubt one of the most fabulous designers ever, as well as a super sweet gal, she has FINALLY revealed the Niece's Surprise! 2 BEAUTIFUL, and I mean GORGEOUS dresses! I am SOOOOO buying the pattern and making her one! And you all with lil' gal's in your life should as well! Support the knitters!!! The blue one is smocked AND beaded! Just beautiful, I tell you!
This one is named after my pal Sheila in portland. I miss her soooo much!!! She's the coolest and so my coolest capelet thusfar shall bear her name!
Here she is in all of her airy, splendid, fluffy, soft and delicate beauty...

I am currently typing in the pattern for Sarah which will go to the free patterns album on the right-hand side bar!
Once I finish the blue capelet, I'll post those up too!

Okay, so here's the haps..
Last night I finally took apart Helena's crib. I have OFFICIALLY given up any and all hope that she will ever sleep in it. I am going to have to wait untill she is old enough to want her own one, I will sway her by buying her a really cool bed that she'll want to sleep in. Which means that I have to wait to buy a new bed for Anthony and me. But it'll work out. We are going to move back to portland, Or!!!!!!!!! YES! Of course it won't be for at least another year or 2, we are saving money to buy a house. I can't wait!!! I hate it here! Point being, I'll just wait untill we move before buying any new beds.
I stayed up untill 5 am knitting last night. The night before it was 4 am. I don't know what's going on with that. I get really tired around midnight and then it's like the window of sleep opportunity closes and I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed watching the X-files re-runs and clacking the needles. So Helena got up at 6 am! But we just napped till noon. My daughter I think has inherited my delicate internal clock. The slightest thing will throw us both off schedule. I'm thouroughly annoyed with myself.
So I am going to get cracking on sarah and take photo's while there is still good light out.
In other news Jess has moved to Blog Spirit. I am an official Blog Spirit spokeswoman/sales rep now. I think they should pay me. Do you hear that Phillipe? Wink wink.
Tonight we are going to go and get Anthony's new/used car. Which means that I will have to go and get a license now that I'll be driving regularly. I should have remembered this before I got all froggy at the lys, the DMV is going to whack me a mint because I had a wee problem with speeding in the past. So I got a leadfoot and my husband calls me Shirley Muldowney, so sue me! I truly am terrified of speeding in my explorer, I have gotten more used to it, but I still don't trust the damned thing.
Okay! Enough chitter chatter, I've got things to do! I'll be back later with the goods! (and link to Jess's new blog, and replies to a few of you, as well as a Lelah update (andrea finished!)

Okay, I know I've been slacking on the questions, and I feel I could have done a better job, but my mind is blank tonight ladies! I did wrangle a few of them, I hope they aren't too boring!
Also, I hate to torture Sarah, but I still haven't blocked the Sarah tank! I did however finish a mohair capelet and will be starting another tonight, I don't know what else to do with it! It wasn't a very "practical" purchase I guess!
Besides, it was another bleak day here, and we all now about how much I hate my camera and it's flash.. Tomorrow, I PROMISE, PINKY SWEAR!!!
Here's some mind probing questions for SANDRA, JESS, and MELISSA
Sandra
1) I love the new look on your blog! Explain the craftster forest friends for a sec and the fox!
2) You are an amazing knitter, where did you learn how and what got you into it?
3) What other crafts are you into?
4) What is a typical weekend like for you? (I know I asked natasha this, but I have no life, therefore must live vicariously thru others!)
5) What is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Melissa
1) Why did you move from the east coast and do you like it in San Diego better?
2) One of the neatest things is that you are going to be an acupuncturist! How in the hell did you decide on that???
3) How did you meet your fiance'? Tell us the one thing about him that you love most!
4) Who is your most favorite person in the whole world and why?
5) How did you get the name "slimmissa"?

Jess
1) You remind me of me when I was your age! How did you get into punk?
2) Why are you straight edge? And don't say minor threat!
3) You are still a babe in the woods, yet very mature. How do you explain to folk's who say you have an old soul?
4) What are your plans for your future? What do you want to do?
5) You are beyond your years in knitting, how did you become so knowledgeable?

To match the gloomy weather outside, I have a gloomy announcement to make. Okay, scratch that, I think a silver lining just appeared by the name of Mary-Margaret..
Apparantly, they sent the Bevin top to some guy in Texas of all places!!! I got an email today from Mary-Margaret saying they had not received it, so I called DHL and they were like "Uhhhhhhhh........Ummmmmmmm.....Hmmmmmmm, welllll, uh, we don't know"
I am sooo relieved, there IS hope of recovering Bevin! And she told me not to worry because they are committed to having it in this issue, BIG SIGH OF RELIEF because I was madly dashing through my stash going NO NO NO NO This just CAN't BE happening!!! I emailed MM a million times going "Well, I've got alot of mohair! How about cotton? Can I re-knit it and send it overnight?!!" I was trying to calculate how many Latte's from Dunkin Donuts (I know, yuck) would be needed in order to finish it in time, and then I was thinking that I would need lemons because this is a crisis that needed a very large, strong, stiff cocktail (followed by mass quantites of caffeine).
So they are either going to knit it or they can retrieve it from the dude in Texas perhaps..
Now I can conduct my own interviews, I was going to have to be all "Sorry ladies, but I'll be putting your pots down to simmer on the back burner for a bit"
Okay all that overly dramatical took ten years off of my life scare-slash-rant, I must announce a sunnier declaration.....
MARY-MARGARET, YOU "FUCKING" RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you soo much for EVERYTHING, the kind words, the encouragement, and aside from that just generally being the coolest kick-"ass" mama around!!! You are the best! Thank you Thank you thank you, especially for the chance and opportunity to submit Bevin, as doomed as I thought she was!

EDIT: My husband just came home, with, I shit you not.. A LATTE AND A BAG OF LEMONS!!!!!!!!!!! I always KNEW he was "the one" but this is just further proof of how amazing he truly is!!!!

Oh, I nearly forgot. The new Sarah is 98% done!!!! I have to do the I-cord straps and block it ! Pics and pattern tomorrow (hopefully there will be SUN so I can take a decent shot of it). I gotta tell ya, I loved the yarn, the color, the sheen, but it's like trying to knit with loosely twirled embroidery thread! It just wants to split, like there are the rebels threads in there trying to break out of yarn conformity.... But I think it's a pretty tank all in all..

Sarah's
Sarah's
1) Aside from your fabulous blog STITCH!, you also are involved in an amazing circle of crafty ladies, the hat city scissor squad. Tell us a little about it, how it got started and what you all are currently up to!
2) You have a tight-knit relationship with your family, tell us one thing about each member that you love them for.
3) Who taught you to knit and what got you into knitting in the first place?
4) Where did you meet your man, what are his "intentions" (haha, sorry just had to use that phrase) and what is the number one reason you love him so? (That's a hard question! You can only pick ONE!)
5) Have you ever been to a pyschic?
Natasha, I'll have yours up later.
Kisses!

Natasha's.
1) You are a variable cornucopia of talent and interests. Aside from knitting, tell us about your other creative endeavors.
2) What is it like where you live.... do you love it or hate it, did you grow up there, what is there to do there, or rather describe a typical weekend for you..
3) How did you meet your husband and what was your wedding like?
4) How did you get into the "tat" business and will you give me one someday? I want a big band of swirling stars with poppies intertwined, ala Mucha. Can you give me great rate? (tee hee, I'm actually kind of serious, but I'll pay full price)
5) I had rheumatic fever, which they thought was Lupus at first. You have Lupus. How do you deal with this, when did you find out and how are you healthwise with it?

Heide from Heideknit has been conducting interviews! Here's my answers:
1. You design cool-cool-cool patterns and post them for free on your blog, which is very sassy of you. When you name designs after friends, do you design something and then think of who the best person to name it for is, or do you think of a friend you want to name a piece for and then use her style/personality as your design inspiration?
A) Thanks! I actually design them and somewhere in the process of knitting them I name them after friends or people who have inspired me. I felt with Lelah that I never would have gotten the idea if it weren't for Lelah from Woolgathered's neckwarmer of loooove/Love Bite. The Bevin one came from my friend Bevin, because once it was done it was totally "her" color and I think would look really good on her. My new top (almost finished I named after Sarah from Stitch! because she's rad and she has an infectous energy, is my knitting confidant and always gives me encouragement when I need it most! I usually design things that I would wear, so even if it's not in their "style" I will continue to name them after people in a kind of homage to them!
2. Have you ever gotten into an honest-to-goodness, all-out girl fight?
A) Yes, a couple times, but I was protecting my friends. One time, this girl thought my friend Jessica was glaring at her. When I told her it was because her contacts were messed up she got all froggy and mouthy on me and demanded a fight, so I had to take her down in the video arcade (we were like 14 years old at the time!) Being 5'11" I never had too many problems in the ass kicking area and no one really messed with me.
3. Out of the 24 hours in a day, how many of them do you spend sober?
A) I'm actually a fairly sober gal. I used to be wild and crazy but since I had Helena, things are very "normal". Friday night I drank a bottle of champagne, but I didn't get drunk. I kind of named this blog tongue in cheek. Me and Bevin were the original boozehags, but the older you get the emphasis turns from the BOOZE part to the HAG part!
4. Your daughter is beautiful, and her name, Helena, is beautiful. How did you pick her name?
A) Thanks again! Helena stems from my grandmother, Helen. She was probably the single most important and influencial person in my. She died of cancer when I was about 11. When we were thinking of baby names we just couldn't decide and all of a sudden Helena popped in my head and I knew that was the one. It's pronounced Hel-lay-nah, alot of people think it's hel-eee-nah. The weirdest thing was her original due date was actually a day before my grandmother's birthday, which would have been really trippy. Her middle name is Jane, the same as me. Only because we had a problem finding one that "rolled" easily off the tongue.
5. Does your husband or do any other close friends/family read your blog, and does that influence what you write about online? (My husband reads my blog religiously, so I can't write about my yarn-hoarding fantasies and my secret hiding places for yarn and various goodies that I don't want him to know I'm spending our $$ on.)
A) Anthony thinks my blog is "cute" and he won't read it unless I actually force him! I know Bevin reads it sometimes and also her mother Jan, aside from that, I know some friends will "lurk" but not post because they don't knit. But I wouldn't really want to know that a ton of people read it, because then it might alter HOW I write. I honestly can't believe as many folks read it as it is! But then again, I'm totally blog-obsessed and religiously check/read/post on all the blogs I have linked too!

So here's the deal, it's my turn to interview some of you guys! Here's the "rules".
1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones above.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

I think I'm going to throw up. I just spent 356.44 at my lys! Okay, Anthony just bought a 900 dollar guitar, too. Here's the damage I just did, excuse me while I have a mini coronary.

I'm totally NUTS! But I just HAD to get the marvelous mohair (14 bucks a hank, 120 yards each) from Steadfast Fibers. The colors are so amazing!!!!!!! I don't even know what I am going to do with it yet! I just bought and bought because I couldn't pick a favorite color! And then Gina (lys owner) pointed out how they have the MATCHING wonderful wool (think a higher grade MANOS). I bought more of the Trendsetter Yarns "jupiter", a bunch of cotton for whatever, something spring-y, and I'm in love with trendsetter's Dune, which I will do a scarf out of because she only had the one skein in red.
I also got a bunch off do-dads, the usual's: stitch markers because they always dissapear, more needles, point protector's (so helena won't -hopefully- pull out any more of my wip's).
I was planning on not telling Anthony, but it was hard to conceal the evidence of my lil' spree with the 2 big humongus paper bags. So he asked what I spent and I said "I don't even want to say, I am horrified!" And being the coolest husband in the world (as well as having no place to talk with his recent purchase) said to me, "That's okay, you love yarn. But, now you know how I feel and you can't bitch about me buying the guitar" I love him sooooo much! I did however round it off when telling him the total sum, I deducted about 56 bucks off of it!
So I am currently re-knitting Sarah. I'm about 4 rows in. I was going to do it in cotton, but when I saw the Berroco Softwist, I knew it was the one! I'll die poor, but at least I'll be warm, right?

Oooooh! I just got a post from ANDREA, who is more than 3/4's done with Lelah!!!! Finally, to start seeing more lelah's!! They are all coming out so gorgeous!!! Stop thanking ME for the pattern, I'm thanking YOU for knitting it! It makes me SOOOOO INCREDIBLY HAPPY! I'm on cloud nine! I'm all sally field "they like it! they really, really like it!" Check out Andrea's here , she's using cotton tots in white and it looks fabulous!! I love you Andrea! Thanks for sharing!! You rule! Getting feedback from y'all seriously keeps me going!

Okay, I am ashamed to even post some of these up, but I figured I needed to document this as I am trying desperately to get organized!!!!!!!!!! I went and spent 50 bucks the other day @ Staples. I'm thinking I have way too much yarn that I probably will never even use! I have even more that you can't see in there!
Anyways, here goes!

Helena is going to help!
Forgot I even had these. That makes 8 pairs of size 8 circulars, 24".....
GREAT IDEA!





I tried the unbiased bag a few times which ended up looking more like a big bra, I'll rip that out. I do love the black and purple yarn, it's destined to be something else.
The hippie shawl is made of leftover's. It'll be fab once I block and finish the edges. It reminds me of something free people would carry.
So I am trying to get myself amped up on coffee so I can tackle this! I may have a small coronary.
I found a great tip somewhere on the net saying that a good way to keep all of your circulars is in an accordian file folder!!!!!!!!! YES, IT IS!!! BRILLIANT!!! Those thingamajigs are such a pain in the arse-ah!
Here is 50 bucks semi-well spent:
tabbed dividers
stapler
new pens
more graph paper
small working notebook
accordian folder
Big orange binder
I am wondering now how this could all amount to 50 bucks! Unless I forgot a couple items or the store overcharged me, hmmmmmm. I'm sure the receipt is gone! DRAG!

OH, ONE more thing, thanks to Collette for making me an honarary member of the BOOZEHAG CLUB!!!! It's a really neato FUN site, check it here or on my FUN LINKS thingy on the right hand side there. She's going to do a small article about my blog too! WOWEE ZOWEE! She's so mcuh fun that I wish she didn't live in New Zealand! No, strike that- She's so much fun that I wish I lived in new zealand. I hear New Zealand is like a cooler Australia! PLUS, there is some great ART!

AND because I am procrastinating, I took a couple more horrid shots of sarah, which I fudged around with trying to make it so you can actually see the lace details.. My favorite color is black, but I am seriously considering never knitting with it again, due to the inability to "capture" it on digital!!! If it's a BRIGHT sunny day out, it'll work, but today is very dreary my dearies.

p.s. never mind the kitty hairs all over it!

Okay, poor lighting and a shitty camera (the flash is sooooooo bright, I wanna throw it against a wall!) So here are 2 photos. I will have to wait untill tomorrow to take better shots. These do NO JUSTICE whatsoever. I think it came out so great and then to be betrayed by my camera! Et tu HP photosmart! ET TU!???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh sweet sassy molassy! Keri finished Lelah and (finally! -I've been checking her blog like every other hour hoping she had put up a pic!) it's beautiful!!!!!!! What I think I love most about Lelah is that everyone is doing different interpretations of it!!! So go and look at the fabulous miss Keri's blog and check her out!!! I am soo happy, she's made me so proud...... *whispering in a cracked about to cry voice* proud!
I would have posted a pic myself but to do so would steal her bandwith, so just click on THIS