And I hope you didn't believe it either..

That I would actually knit up a slew of small gifts for the other coders.  There just was not enough time.  But hey!  I did get some little presents knitted for the Plaid Patrol.  DiscoDame got a warm lace headband in bulky yarn, from the Blueleaf Headband pattern.  And the Plaidman got an Ear Warmer for Baseball Caps (Kraemer Yarns, free pattern).  Observe:

Doesn't she look thrilled?!?  This is a fun & quick pattern, also free.  And she was kind enough to display the Plaidman's ear warmer for the photo.

And then Plaidman had to model it, minus the ball cap....

Look, kids!  It's Santa during his hippie years!  He was such a rebel then, wearing all that plaid.
Now you're ready to see what I got for Christmas:

There she is, sitting in my parking spot.  She's a 2014 Chevy Malibu.  She makes me so happy!  I've always named my vehicles, and I've really been thinking hard about this one's name.  So far, I got nothing.  This car deserves a nice name, something that either has a lot of meaning to me or that just tickles the snot out of me.  The black car sitting next to my new beauty is our old Malibu, which went through a couple of name changes before I settled on one.  When we first brought it home, I told Disco that I would name it Barbie....Barbie Malibu.  She flipped out, which of course just made it funnier.  So I called it Barbie for many months, until she finally started calling it that too.  Then I said that as I am the pirate captain, I was renaming her the Black Purl.  And that she remains.
But back to my Christmas presents!  I got jewelry, both dressy & cute stuff.  Disco gave me some specifically "Christmassy" pieces, which she knows I collect:

I love the Rudolph earrings!  The others are less holiday & more just winter, so I'll probably wear them real soon.  The penguin is a pin, and I might wear that soon too.  Then both my roomies got to the pretty stuff, and each got me a dressy bit:

The necklace is from Disco, and earrings are from Plaidman.  As you can see, nothing terribly expensive here, but nice to add to the wardrobe.  I think I need to get Plaidman to hang another necklace holder on the wall, for the shorter necklaces -- they're getting rather crowded in the jewelry box.  The only ones that need to stay in there are the ones on silver chains; I keep a dessicant in there to combat tarnish.
Disco has a few days off, she did work thru the 26th so she's eligible for the completion bonus.  She's going to go in to work on Wednesday, which would be her next scheduled work day if she's still employed.  Now, she was hired as a seasonal worker, and they did say the 26th was the end of the season, so I don't know that they'll actually let her report to work!  But hey, if they do it's just gravy.

20% Done

One fifth of the 250 Workday Outfits Challenge is done.  I've updated the Challenge page with pics.  So, can we talk about something else?  You know how it is, your life is ok, nothing fantastic but ok and you're fine with that, then it seems like the wheels start falling off.  This week, that is literally what happened!  No, not on the car...on the dishwasher's top tray.  So all week we've only had half  a dishwasher, and that condition will continue until the new part arrives.  And it is such a trial!!  I couldn't get the roomies to load, run and unload the thing daily as it was,  To think we used to live completely without one for years & years; I'm so aggravated at the moaning & groaning over using the dishwasher!!
Now, I had car trouble too, but didn't lose any wheels.  I was actually leaving the house early, got in the Red Menace (aka the Dodge Neon) and took off for work.  I didn't even get to the end our street before the check engine light came on.  There's no way I'm going to try to "tough it out" and maybe break down somewhere on the way to work.  So I turn right around & head back to the house -- we've got another car.  When I got home, I realized I didn't have a key to the other car; that's on a separate key chain with the keys to the other house.  So I've got to go inside & get that key chain; only it wasn't where I swear I left it.  Now I'm digging around on the dresser & the nightstand and turning on lights and just generally getting frantic.  The Plaidman is not happy to be wakened by all this tizzy, so he pulls his key off his key chain and sends me away.  But not before informing me that his car has just about enough fuel to get to the closest gas pumps a half mile away.  Aaauuggghh!  I must fly away to the Kroger pumps, fuel up, and get out into much heavier rush hour traffic than I'm used to (now it's about 30 minutes later than I usually leave).  I got about 8 miles down the road and had about 2 minutes before I'd be late to work, with about 2.10 miles to go...and I had to call my boss & let her know I was running late.  Now, this is not normally a problem, but as I was going to leave work early for a dental appointment, I had really wanted to get in early -- you know, be the team player and hold up my end and all that motivational blather.  So I felt bad about coming in late and leaving early.  So bad, in fact, that after my crown was molded, crunched up and removed, and another mold was made, and the temporary crown placed, I went back to work.  For two hours.
Ugh.  
Oh, Plaidman's in heaven, the Titans are on the TV.  
Last weekend he & I went to Waly World, and bought two chromed industrial shelving units for the craft room, and a storage cabinet for the red room.  I'd had all I could take of the mishmash of recyclables storage, so now it's all under cover -- actually, behind cabinet doors.  We'll work on the shelving units this weekend.  I plan to put all the yarn and other crafty goods on these shelves, so I can use the closet for the rest of the tops I got in Texas (Thanks, SIS!).   

It's gotta end sometime.....

But winter is really hanging on!  March in Middle Tennessee is usually shirt-sleeve weather, with a sweater in the early a.m. or after dark.  I just tried to get into my car, which is encased in ice.  I beat on the door for almost 10 minutes without budging it.  So I'm back inside again.  I did get some work done on the Color Affection yesterday, when the snow was so deep.  It is nice to be warm, comfy on the couch, and knitting!  Or in Ravelry for hours....but I eventually feel the need to "do something"; yesterday I went to the craft room for CC2 (a tonal dark honey color), and stayed long enough to put some of my magazines on the bookcase.  I also tried to get to my large wooden swift, but there's just too much stuff in the way.  I did find the smaller swift, the one with the wonderful name of Almighty Reeling Machine.  That name just tickles the snot out of me.  Then I had to find somewhere to set it up, settling on the side of the drawer in the coffee table.  And wound the yarn cake by hand, off the hank placed on the swift.  I can wind a nice cake by hand. 
I've put the Gramps Cardigan in hibernation, after first frogging back to where the sleeves are joined to the body.  I've found the YouTube video tutorial for continuing the cabling while working simultaneous raglan and neckline decreases, but haven't actually sat down with a swatch in hand and followed along.  I really need to get back to that one.  Not sure I can even get in touch with the boy's grandma now, but it would be good to have it done in case she ever finds me again!

Shall we have another blog prompt, courtesy Rebecca Bee Designs?
6. Blogs that inspire you 
Number One with a bullet would have to be the Yarn Harlot's blog.  She writes so well, and is just so accessible and human.  I feel great affection for her and her whole family, because she allows them to be such a big part of her writing.  And I have a burning desire to knit Fox Paws!  Another favorite is The Panopticon, Franklin Habit's take on life, the universe and everything.  There are dozens of knitterly blogs out there, and often those bloggers have their favorite links listed.  I like to check 'em all out!  There's a Blog Hub group on Ravelry, which is a good source of inspiration too.

7. Your bad craft habits

I get startitis very easily, and take "finishitis" very rarely.  Must finish more craft work!  Knit fast, die warm!  I haven't a clue how to be "monogamous" to a project, except in the way I've been so for the Color Affection: it's the only project I can get to easily.  All my other projects are buried somewhere in the craft room.  It's a bit like having oatmeal for breakfast every day; I can only do that if there's nothing else available!  Truly, I've been known to have last night's dinner leftovers for breakfast, rather than oatmeal. 

My Dad was our breakfast short-order cook on the weekends.  One of his specialties was fried cornmeal mush, which of course had to be started the night before.  The cornmeal had to be mixed up with water or milk, poured into a bread pan, and refrigerated overnight.  The next morning, the solid cornmeal mush was sliced up, fried (preferably in bacon grease!), plated & covered in maple syrup.  YUM!!  Better than pancakes.  And now I'm hungry.  And it's almost time to go outside & try the car door again, since the sun's been shining for a couple of hours now.  One of the advantages of a black interior -- in winter -- is that the inside of the car gets warm.  Maybe even warm enough to thaw the door....I guess I'd better go check it.

Frogged!!!

A moment of silence, please, for the 2010 Knitting Olympics Challenge project....
Ok, times up. Yes I frogged it. I just wasn't happy with how the blocks of color were working out. But fear not, I'm still plugging away--it's been cast on & reknit to about 3", with a bit better planning. I just did not realize how hard it would be to make "random" blocks of color throughout the thing. The NEW & Improved design will have smaller blocks of color on the fronts only. I'll likely need another skein of the "natural" ("oatmeal"?), since the entire back will be just that one color. Pressing on....

I love my high-speed innerwebs. It used to take a couple of hours to upload a picture here, now it's less than a minute. I got so excited, I even signed up for a Pro account in Flickr (Yarnshuter), and joined Facebook.
In other news, I got stopped this morning because the Black Purl aka my car has no back bumper.

I didn't get a ticket, but the Plaidman has orders to arrange for the repair & give up his car for the duration of the repair work. Just what we need, another big bill while he's laid off. A bright spot: he says he knows his layoff is temporary because his bosses didn't ask him for the building & lot keys. I wonder if they forgot he has them. Anyway, we'll just hope for the best.

Two steps up, one. . .

Hoo,boy! I have been busy, worked the last two Fridays, & will probably work the next one. Can't complain about the $, just the fact that I don't get to spend most of Friday lazing on the futon & knitting.
****One week later: Yes, I had to work again today (8/14). I somehow managed to start a new project just after finishing one. I give you Dolly Blankie #1 (of 5!) that is completed & washed & ready to send to Princess T in Texas.
And of course, we have to have an artsy shot of it:

I can't decide if it reminds me of sherbet, or of an explosion at the cotton candy factory. It's a very simple feather & fan stitch pattern, in many colors of acrylic baby yarn, held 2 or more strands together. Some of the yarns were "pompadour" style, with a shiny nylon thread twisted around the rest of the yarn. I was combining one or two matte yarns with one shiny, so the whole thing has a little glitter & lots of pastel. As I mentioned, this is the first of five Dolly Blankies; I do have patterns picked for the other four, but lordy I need a break from pastel acrylic. So, I've started another project, just pour moi, a Classic Elite free pattern in their cotton bamboo. It's light blue, but not pastel, and thank you lord not acrylic. I had to go up a needle size to get gauge, and fiddled with the math (watch out world) to make it extra grande, and I hope I can wear it when it's done. No in progress pic just yet. I'm not sure I've even put this one on my projects page in Ravelry.
We still haven't put my car in the shop. I really think the insurance company should go after the guy that hit me! What a creep; he told me he wouldn't have a front-wheel drive car because when you go over 80 mph it pulls to the right, so you can't outrun cops. Kind of a red flag right there. The Redneckius Hillbillikin in the flesh.

Now with 15% more crafty-ness!

I have forgotten to mention the finished crochet project! All 5 new, super-size granny square stockings were delivered to Donna K, and I collected $30/each! I have pics in the camera, but haven't loaded them into the 'puter yet. Unfortunately, the pics were taken in the late evening, indoors--so they're pretty crappy. Justice is not done to the fabulousness of my granny square stockings. But Ms. Donna was pleased, and I had some fun making them. In fact, I had so much fun that it reminded me of why I like crochet, and I may wind up doing more of that in the future.


The Plaidmobile should (cross fingers, knock on wood!) be ready for pick up this afternoon, if the shop wasn't just blowing smoke up the Plaidman's arse. We took the rental car back last Monday (that wound up costing us as much as our deductible on the car insurance), and have gone an entire week with just one car. So no Sit'N Stitch this week, and very few extracurricular activities at all. And this is truly the BEST TIME OF YEAR to have massive added expenses... I was soooo happy to get paid for the crochet stockings, I told Donna that now I could go grocery shopping--I wasn't kidding! But I think she thought I was, or hoped I was.

I still haven't gotten the Wool Ease Thick N Quick I need for the Plaidman's hat; if I can get DiscoDame up & moving I'll head over to the Hobby Lobby. Yes, I know Angel Hair Yarns is going out of business & has a huge sale, but I don't think they carry Wool Ease. Speaking of the DD, she's been commenting on my blog--as if we don't speak regularly or something! I wouldn't mind seeing some other comments too--I have been making a point of commenting on some of the other blogs I read, so maybe someone will return the favor. But lordy, I only have time for surfing the innerwebs on the weekends! Somebody needs to bring high-speed access to Joelton, TN! Actually, I haven't checked for hi-speed in a while, so maybe someone did? Hope springs eternal.....

More fun than.....

My fingers are gonna fall off! I have been working on the Big Crochet Project, and it's just wearing me out. Current status: all squares made, & an extra round of half-double crochet worked on each (of 50!)square to bring them up to the same size as the model. Eight sides stitched up, 5 squares each. Six & a half sides have edging applied. So what's left to do? Stitch together the last two sides, and finish edging on 3.5, THEN WORK IN ENDS, then crochet the sides together to get 5 stockings, and make a topping for each. Whew! I have been seriously busy with this project, but did take the time to head downtown for the Veterans' Day Parade, with DiscoDame along for the ride. She was in charge of the camera, check it out:
And this one (we knew these guys were approaching...):

Lots of vehicles with lights & sirens, some marching bands (White's Creek was the sharpest group--GO COBRAS!!). It was fun, and patriotic. We stood on the sidewalk in front of the First Baptist Church, and the daycare was turned out to watch the parade--what cuties! We thought it might be best not to take their pictures, but enjoyed their reactions to all the fun.
Speaking of fun, guess what the Plaidman did on Wednesday? He hit a deer! He & DiscoDame were coming home from the library, it's already pitch dark, and a &*#^&$ buck jumps out of the ditch right in front of the Neon. Fortunately, neither of them are hurt; but the buck's hind legs are both broken. Poor thing tried to get up, tried to drag itself the rest of the way across the street. The lady in the car behind the Neon pulled over, got out & tried to guide the beastie back to the ditch. Some folks living near came out, then went back home & got a firearm to finish off the buck---and took it home for supper! I'm glad it didn't go to waste, but I kinda wish I knew how to butcher a deer. Anyway, we're down to one car and playing phone tag with the insurance estimator. Wish us luck.