I got quite a bit finished on the shell. I am almost finished with the back. The pattern I am working from is in multiples of 11 stitches which means each size is separated by 22 stitches (11 on each side). When your gauge is 5 stitches per inch, that makes over 4 inches of difference between sizes. I started the back in the large size and thought it looked huge. So I frogged it and worked it in the smaller size. Now I am thinking that the small size may be a smidge too small. What I am thinking of doing is making the front in the larger size. Before I do that, do I need to rework the pattern? The length will be the same. The shoulders have the same number of stitches for each size. It's a shell, so I don't have to worry about any other discrepencies, right???

Mom is working really hard in getting me commissioned knitting work. Between her and MJ, I will never be without a project! I am all about bringing in a profit for my little hobby.

Other than That, I will defer to the Friday Five

When was the last time you...

1. ...sent a handwritten letter?
I have no idea when I last wrote a letter. I am so much better at electronic correspandence.

2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
I have baked anything in a while but I made a pasta and vegetable concoction on Sunday (which I have been eating all week long). It isn't often that I make things from scratch since my kitchen is SOOOOO small. How small, you ask. My refrigerator does not fit in my kitchen, you can only fit 1 adult human and 1 cat in there at a time, the window sill is the biggest shelf I havein the open (more space tan my counter).

3. ...camped in a tent?
Don't have a clue on that one.

4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
Last Friday. No, I donated blood last night. I am an active participant in New York Cares. I try to sign up for projects at least 2 or 3 times a month.

5. ...helped a stranger?
Well, the time that sticks in my mind was about 3 or 4 weeks ago when I was waiting for Jackie at Benny's Burritos. There was a woman at the bar who was carrying all of her worldly possessionsand was fidgiting a bit. Clearly a bit strung out. She saw me answer my phone and asked if she could page someone on my phone. Being the sucker that I am, I said fine. She was able to get in contact with whoever she needed to with no harm to the rest of society. Jackie thought I was crazy for helping a junkie. Maybe I am.

Last night I got through another ball on my shell. I have a feeling that 10 balls may not be enough. By my calculations, I should need 3 (and a little) balls to get to the arm hole and another 2 for the top, for each side. Maybe I will grab another ball next Tuesday just to be on the safe side. I really like the way it is coming out. The color is so pretty and it is soft without being fuzzy. The one thing I worry about is the weight. I know how much the 10 balls weigh and it won't be too much but for a summer shell, it seems a bit heavy. I would still wear it, though. Hopefully my sister would, too.

I have decided that I would rather go home to my un-air conditioned apartment and knit than sit here in this cool office and not knit. I know it is summer and I should not want to work with anything that makes me hot. But, as I told my mom yesterday, everything in my life is easier when I am knitting. I think it is good for blood pressure, stress level, and anxiety. The total opposite of work!

Regarding the sale at Downtown Yarns, it is going on until they sell their entire stock of Debbie Bliss Cotton/Silk Aran. They are trying to make room for winter (yes, winter) yarns. For more information, give them a call at (212) 995-5991.

I updated my Gallery page with new pictures.

As I walked into the S-n-B last night, I had decided to start a shell for my sister's birthday from the Vogue Knitting on the Go: Vintage Knits book. The problem was, I didn't have any yarn with the right gauge. So, I strolled over to Downtown Yarns accross the street. What do I find there but Debbie Bliss Cotton/Silk Aran on sale. I picked out this beautiful smoky purple. It is really pretty. The picture does not do the color justice. I am very happy to have an adult sized project going right now.

Well, I did get a couple of pictures last night that I will post on my gallery page later today.

My mom is trying to hook me up with buyers for my Fruit Caps. As you can see, the collection seems to keep growing! I will try to get some matching Fruity Bootie and Cap sets together. They are such fun to make. Maybe I can go into knitted fruit business and give up all the rest of this corporate world. I'll let you know when I get out of that pipe dream.

Here are the latest Personal Yarns

Moving on to high school:

Who was your best friend in high school?
That is a tough one. I hung out with a collective, The Group. I did everything with them. Judy, Kim, Jen, Cindy, Jenise, Christy, Jill, Dan, Scott, Phil, Terry, Matt, Todd. In fact, The Group went to Senior Year Homecoming together as a group.

What was it about them that made you feel close?
We did everything together. Most of us hod known each other since elementary school. We all liked the same knids of things. We never pressured anyone to do stuff that we didn't want to do. They were the best friends I could have had in high school.

What is the silliest/craziest/most outrageous thing you did together?
I think I would need to have an entire page dedicated to this question. Let me just say that both Oregon and New York send thank you letters to Judy, Jen and me for not living in the same places. The world is a little safer for it.

Are you still in touch? If not, how long did you keep in touch? Would you like to get reacquainted?
I still keep in touch with some of them. Judy, Terry, Scott and I see each other as regularly as we can. Terry and Scott have visited me repeatedly. I try to see all of them when I go back west. I would love to catch up with the rest. I missed my 10 year high school reunion last September (for obvious reasons) which I had hoped to be the place to catch up. Maybe in another 10 years...

Enter a City or US Zip:

Not much to chat about today. It's too hot to think about anything but the heat. I hate it when you get out of a nice refreshing shower and start to sweat immediately. That is the weather situation these days. As you can see, the weather is not as hot as it can be, but the humidity more than makes up for everything. Yesterday we were in the 90s with humidity to match. This is the time of the year that I hope for thunderstorms so the humidity will die down at least for a little while. We can only hope.

Hey, Betsy! I brought my booties with me to share at S-n-B. I still need to weave some af the ends in on one of them. Maybe I'll do that when I get there.

Well, I am going to sit in front of a fan and hope that the air in this office actually kicks in sooner or later.

What A Weekend!

Friday night was quite an experience. There were about 2000 people at Yankee stadium as extras. Some of them signed up through beinamovie.com. I think they were the least tolerable people there. Ayelet and I were about to go postal if we heard one more person complain about not getting fed. The best part of the evening was when we were told to "mime" through the scene. Of course, this was at about 2AM when all of us were either falling asleep or punch drunk. I can't wait to see how that translates on the screen. I did bring my knitting along for the shoot. I don't think it made it into the movie but you never know. If you see a red head working on another fruit cap (this one was an apple), that would be me.

Saturday, I think I angered the Transit Gods. Ayelet and I planned to meet up in a subway stop in order to go out to Brooklyn for the Mermaid Parade. The MTA decided to make the trains not stop there. The bad part about that is it was too late for either of us to contact the other and cell phones do not work underground. By some miracle that neither of us can explain, we found each other an hour later at another station waiting for a different train. This is 2 years in a row that we have been stuck in the HOT subway platforms for an extended amount of time on our way to the Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade.

Yesterday was all about doing nothing. With the weather so hot and humid, I couldn't even imagine going outside. It's bad enough that I had to come to work today in this weather. I did try out my newest acquisition yesterday. I invested in the Knits for BarbieÆ Doll pattern book. Right now, I am in the middle of a Barbie Pashmina. You have got to love that!

Here's this week's the friday five. I think this means that I have caught up.

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo? I have a nice cozy studio apartment.

2. Do you rent or own? I rent. I can't quite afford to buy an apartment in my neighborhood. Not only that, but I like not having to do maintenance stuff myself.

3. Does anyone else live with you? Three feline friends, Nekko, Koshka and George. I have pictures of them trapped on my crashed Hard Drive. I'll get them someday....

4. How many times have you moved in your life? It seems like I was moving a lot during college. I have lived in 5 homes, not including the temporary places I stay in while I was getting dorm space settled.

5. What are your plans for this weekend? I am going to Yankee Stadium tonight. Saturday, I will be volunteering in the morning and going out to Jackie's 'hood, Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade. Sunday, I will try to clean my apartment, read (I am WAY behind for the book club), knit and catch up on sleep that I will be missing. Not necessarily in that order.

I finally got to read my e-mails last night. Man, they run a tight ship at the The New York Public Library. You get 30 minutes to use their computers and only 10 sheets of paper (don't even think about bringing your own). I barely was able to get through my 176 unread e-mails in that time. Although as I was waiting for the pages to load, I started reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. There are advantages to waiting for slow connections at the library.

I have been working on my puckering problem. I think I may have an idea of what I need, thanks to the suggestion in part by Ivete. Instead of just slipping a stitch in the designated pucker stitch, I think I need to bring the yarn to the front, slip the stitch and bring the yarn back. Just slipping a stitch every other row gives a raised stripe.

Tonight, I am off to be a movie extra. This should be fun. I will be trekking out to Yankee Stadium fro the filming of Anger Management with Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler and Marissa Tomei. What a fun way to spend a Friday night!

I am taking a break from work to post last week's the friday five.

1. How often do you do laundry? Every other week, usually. Sometimes more frequently, sometimes less frequently, depending on the week.

2. What's in a typical wash load? Whatever needs washing.

3. Front or top loader? Powder or liquid detergent? The machines at the laundromat are front loading. I generally use Arm & Hammer Liquid Detergent.

4. Do you use fabric softener in the rinse cycle? No. I use Bounce in the dryer.

5. Dryer or clothesline? Maybe I should put up a clothesline through my lightwell outside. Knowing me, I would forget about it and my clothes would end up covered in pigeon crap. I think I'll stick with the dryer. Although, my non-dryer articles hang from the latticework in my apartment until dry.

Aren't you glad you asked????

Last night, with some friends, I went to a screening of a new movie, Lovely and Amazing. It stars Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener and Dermot Mulroney. I enjoyed this rather dysfunctional family. It's not often you see a family that is comprised of a mother, two insecure twenty- to thirty-something daughters and an adopted African-American 8-year-old girl.

After the movie, we went to a party held at Remedy on East 20th Street. When we left, we found out that this restaurant and lounge is not yet open to the public. I'm sure it will be another "hot spot" for the trendy. If you go, watch out for the stinky bus boy. I mean that in the most literal sense.

I finally have some potentially good news! After speaking to Song at E-knitting, she is sending another shipment of my lost order TO MY WORK ADDRESS. Thank you, Song!

She also suggested that I check out a little site to help with my frustrations with the US Postal Service. I would like to share the Dammit Doll with all of you.

There is a bit of interest in my fruity booties. I have posted the pattern for you all. I don't have any pictures of them as I am lacking photographic abilities these days. You will have to take my word on it that they are cute.

For anyone that has ever attended a NYC S-n-B session at the Des Moines, you know that the music played adds a strange ambiance that usually does not really mix naturally with knitting. Also, there tends to be single artists playing for the duration. We have had quite a few Nirvana and Aerosmith nights. Occasionally, Guns n' Roses. Last night started in those veins but ended much differently. When I arrived (an hour early like the kniting psycho that I am), the artist of choice was Jane's Addiction. As people started filtering in, the music changed to Dolly Parton. We heard "Islands in the Stream" 5 times last night. Three times in a row before we left! I think they are trying to get rid of us!

I worked on my 9th fruit cap last night. It's a pumpkin. I tried to get the bulges in the hat like pumpkins have to no avail. Instead, I decided to have 8 black stripes to segment it. As I was starting, I realized that it looked like I was knitting a basketball. After I got the stem and leaves, it became more of a pumpkin. I had Debbie and Betsy brainstorming about puckering as we walked past Downtown Yarns. They had successful pumpkin puckers that we were trying to dissect through the window. I think we agreed that it was a slip stitch something or other. If anyone knows the secret, please pass it on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

First, I would like to apologize to Mom for not getting your present to you on time. I forgot to bring it in yesterday to send it out. You should be getting it tomorrow. Enjoy!

Last night, I finished yet another fruit cap. Right now I have 4 newborn sized caps in my stash. Between Mom and MJ, I think I should probably be able to find homes for these hats. Mom would be my West Coast Sales Manager and MJ is Sales Manager for the East Coast. Unfortunately, minimal profits, there are no commissions involved. They just do it because they are good to me! (MJ - I have started a pumpkin for you, as well.)

Some of the people in my office are going bowling tonight to raise money for Junior Achievement. It's too bad that it had to be on a Tuesday night. Bowling for charity is not a good enough reason for me to miss S-n-B. (Mostly because I am not a very good bowler.) I did donate money, though. Have fun tonight, guys!

Alas, I am facing bad news about my poor computer. I just got word that there are additional, although unnamed, repairs needed for my electronic baby. That means that I will be without it for a bit longer and I will have to shell out more cash for it. This is not turning out to bo a good month!

Well, on a brighter note, to answer Eliot's question on the comments, the S-n-B starts at 7PM every Tuesday at the Des Moines Cafe on Avenue A and 3rd Street. Come on down. I may be starting up a collection for my computer!

I am really at a loss for interesting things to talk about this morning. After Friday's intesive Access initiation, and a few other episodes at work, my weekend was pretty much shot. Today is going to be another one of those days. I think I am going to need a vacation soon.

The good news is my computer should be ready for me to pick up sometime this week. I can't wait. It has been 6 months since I could use my computer.It will be nice to get my e-mail again. According to the site I can no longer get to at work, I have 131 unread e-mails. If yous is one of them, I am sorry. I'll get to it very soon.

Well, I am now off to the land of Access. Wish me luck!

I finally have a chance to hit the net today. This Mac Chick was getting a crash course in Microsoft Access all day long. I think my head is still creating macros and linking tables.

Last night, I finished another raspberry cap. My mom is becoming my business manager these days. She is trying to sell my "wears" to her co-workers. Not such a bad gig, really. Maybe I can develope this into a part time business....

Well, have a good weekend, everyone!

Sock is complete! That makes a pair. I was very impressed that the pattern was exactly the same for both socks. Some day I will get pictures up. As I am in a slight technological holding pattern, I'm lucky I can post at all. Very soon, I will be up to my full capacity.

My E-Knitting/US Postal Service drama is still mounting. After talking to Song at e-knitting, I discovered my order was "delivered" May 18th. Alas, I still don't have it. Her suggestion was to talk to someone at my post office. After work last night, I buckled down to get information from the wasteland that is our postal system. By my tone, can you tell the outcome? That's right. The man I spoke to was very nice but had absolutely no information. He gave me an phone number to call and ask for a supervisor. They MAY be able to give me more information. I have a very strong feeling that either this box is living in eternal limbo somewhere or someone thought they were me and just took it. Remind me not to use the post office again!

I got a lot finished on the sock last night. I had finished the ribbing before I went to S-n-B. By the time I left, I had turned the heel and was halfway to the toe. Who would have thought that I could throw together a pair of socks in 4 days???

I have to deal with my problematic e-knitting order today. I will have to have the package tracked. Apparently, the US Postal Service believes that packages do not have to get to their destinations. And they wonder why more people are using more reliable communications and shipping services these days, like e-mail and overnight carriers. I will bet that the postal rate increase at the end of this month will not affect me! The most ironic thing I have seen regarding the snail mail vs. e-mail dichotomy is the numerous US Postal Trucks roaming around the city that have ads plastered on the side for MSN as an ISP and e-mail service. Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? No wonder Postal Sales are very low these days.

I finished the second strawberry bootie last night. They came out so adorable! Of course, they have no home to go to, so they will end up in a pile of finished objects. I guess it could be worse!

I am very excited that my sweet, little laptop is going through some major surgery at Tekserve. There is a lot of hope for recovery. That means that I will soon be able to get my e-mail again. (If you have sent me any e-mail in the past couple of days, I apologize for not returning it. I can no longer access it from work. I'll respond as soon as I can.)

More exciting news! Last night, what was waiting for me in my mailbox? No, not my E-Knitting order. (Grumble, grumble) My replacement Brittany needles! I broke 2 of my #2 double pointed needles a couple of months ago. Brittany replaces all broken needles. Well, I don't know if it was because I waited so long or because I was a bit of a squeaky wheel, but there were 4 needles in the package. I no longer have to use the stumpy needle that had to be sharpened in the pencil sharpener. Yea!!!

Tonight is the S-n-B. I always get very excited about going. Plenty of time to work on the second holiday gift sock.

Weekly Personal Yarns

Desert isle keepers

With all essentials being taken care of, what ...

(non-knitting) book
I can never decide on one book. I need a library. If I had to choose, Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.

movie
Either Better Off Dead...or Airplane!

music
Webster. They were a local band that I followed throughout college. Not only do I like the music, but it brings back a lot of memories.

food
Lots of veggies. I would probably plant a garden. (And some ice cream!)

knitting book, yarn & needles
Although I don't have it now, Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I would need to have a lot of yarn and plenty of needles. I finish my projects WAY too fast.

...would you take along to a deserted island for the nourishment of your soul?

So after I was complaining about net having a current project, I found myself knitting up a storm. I decided to try Strawberry booties to match the caps I have been making. I added "seeds" to the top of the instep and made the cuff "leaves." I also threw together a couple af washcloths. The biggest excitement was starting my holiday gifts for my nieces. I have one sock finished and another started. I broke down and bought some Regia Mini Ringel. The stripes are navy blue, red, green, cyan and yellew. For the yellow stripes, I also included that infamous Glow-In-The-Dark yarn. Very cute.

Jackie and I have also decided to try to knit in every park in the City this Summer. I don't know if it is possible but I am going to try. So far, I have been in Central Park, Hudson River Park, Thompson Square Park and Roosevelt Park. Not bad since June just started!

Oh, Jackie and I also discovered a very YUMMY place to get Ices down in the East Village. On Avenue B and 2nd Street, there is a storefront called NYC Icy. They have a couple dozen flavors of their homemade ices. Definitely worth a trip over there tro try out.

Thank you Jackie and Betsy for inquiring about my growing stash. I put together a little list of what I could remember that I have lying around the house.

If you click here you can see what I have. Again, I am happy to take suggestions.

I finished my blue shell last night. I used a slate blue cotton yarn called "Bolivia" that I got from Smiley's last month. I started out with the Rowan Flame cowl neck pattern. Well, I didn't want the cowl neck but more of a scoop neck. So I tweeked.

The problem I face now is a lack of any specific project. I have some stash that I can use, but I don't know what I want to make. I really don't think it would be advisable for me to go out and spend more money on yarn right now. So, the goal is to see if I can find projects to match what I have. I am taking suggestions.

On a brighter note, I am taking my sick computer in to be fixed today. I have been without a functional computer at home since December. Thank goodness for computers at work! In any case, I should be connected again at home very soon. My poor little Mac G3 Laptop! Well, it has had this surgery before. I'm sure it will pull through.

Last night was the first edition of the Book Club that MJ and I organized. I think it went rather well. We read The Archivist by Martha Cooley. I think we all had similar thoughts about this book but it was a rather lively discussion.

It looks like the folks Down Under have found a new way to Fleece Sheep. As reported on ABCNews.com, they are injecting a naturally occuring protein into the sheep to cause the fleece to fall off. Of course, that means the sheep have to wear netting for 4 months to collect it. I can see it now, designer fleece gathering nets that harken to the dog sweaters that are so prevalent in the Urban world...

(As you can see, I have too much time on my hands and too little sanity.)

I heard on the news this morning that Verizon will be instituting a mandatory 10-digit phone number dialing policy for all phone numbers in the New York area within the next 7 months. If I understand correctly, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires all people to be equally inconvenienced if there are many area codes in a confined area. I guess that having 5 different area codes for the 5 boroughs probably qualifies. That's right, by February, we will all have to dial area codes, even within our own area code.

I finally got some pictures back of my finished works. I will post them later. I couldn't resist the fruit caps going into a bowl of mixed fruit! I finished a blueberry last night at the S-n-B. Sonya (a fellow S-n-Ber) put a little thought in my head about possibly selling these hats at a craft fair later on this summer. Maybe I could make this nervous energy work in my financial favor....

I will post more later....

I have found myself behind on my reading. Tomorrow is the first edition of a book club that I helped to organize. We are reading The Archivist by Martha Cooley. I have another 100 pages to get through before tomorrow night. Now if I can only figure out when I can get that in.... It all takes me back to my college days of reading 3 novels a week, simultaneously. I managed to do it then, somehow. The problem I have now is so much of my time is spent knitting instead.

I am going to pose a question to all of you knitters out there. I have found myself knitting in some rather less-than-usual places of late. Most recently, I knit through the showing of Spiderman last week. That's right, in the dark, with a theatre full of strangers. On top of that, I have been known to knit as I walk along subway platforms and as I walk down the street. So my question is, where is the most unusual place you have knit? Don't hold back.

WEEKENDNEWS

Where to start? Friday night, I went to see Spiderman with Jackie (who was my date for the entire weekend). I gave Hollywood one last chance to win me over to their Summer Blockbusters. I have to admit that it was better than Star Wars and watching Tobey Maguire in tights was not a hardship but I had issues with continuity and location. The jury is still out as to whether Hollywood has been redeemed.

Saturday, I met up with fellow bloggers Jackie, Betsy and Shetha for lunch. Shethat was visiting from my home town of Vancouver, WA. She brought along a new recruit for the NYC S-n-B, Susan. We're looking forward to Stitching and Bitching with her.

After lunch, Betsy, Jackie and I got adventurous and headed uptown to the The Yarn Company. I was able to get some Cotton Classic to make more fruit caps. That's right, I now have a Strawberry, Peach and Raspberry that have been completed and a Blueberry on the way. I took pictures of them but have to wait for my old technology - you know, get the film developed. They will be posted this week.

Last night was the pinnacle of my weekend. My former employers, Dodger Theatricals, Inc. threw a blow out party for the Tony Awards. They won awards for both of their nominated shows, Into the Woods and Urinetown, The Musical!. So on top of the revelry of the wins, I got caught up in seeing so many of my long lost friends. Matt came up from North Carolina; Jose flew in from Germany; and my favorite dancing partner, Jerry, came back from Chicago. I am happy to say that signs point toward some af these expatriots moving back home.

As I meandered back home last night, I had a very unusual experience. My cab driver actually waited at the light for me to get into my building safely. Maybe it was the 30% tip or maybe it was because it was 3 AM. In any case, it was something that had never happened to me before. Friends and family do that, but never a cab driver!

My last thought for this morning goes out to Betsy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!