Thursday, March 30, 2006

This is how a stash is born

Honestly. I just stopped into my LYS for size 13 knitting needles. That was it. But. They were having a sale. I had to look (really, how could I not look?). A 50% off sale. That's HALF OFF, peeps! So, I walked out of the store with this:



Five balls of Rowan Cotton Rope. I have no intended project for this. But it was $3.50 a ball ~ normally $7. Honestly... I would have been losing money by not buying it.

At least, that is what I told my husband.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Bits and bobs

Besides having fun with blocking, I have been getting a fair amount of non-yarn-ish things done lately. I finished not one, but TWO books over the last two weeks. The first was The History of Love for my book club. As I have commented before, our club has been in a bit of a rut lately (read: our choices have stunk!). But this book finally broke that pattern. The characters were so real that I wanted to call the author and ask who they were modeled on (I actually did read a few interviews with her and she stated that one of the younger characters, Alma, was based on herself as a 14-year-old in a lot of ways. I believe it. ) History deals with many of the same issues as Krauss’ husband’s book, Everything is Illuminated, but in a less absurdist fashion. There are comic, unreal moments... but there is a big dollop of humanity and kindness, too. I liked it. The other book I read was The Killer Dolphin, which I bought in the Friends of the Library sale last December. This is the third book I have read by Marsh. She wrote in the same time period as Christie and Carr and her books have many similarities to the two, though they are not as well crafted (I almost always figure out some major plot point in hers). However, they are very atmospheric and capture early 20th century English life very nicely. So I enjoyed this one, too.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was asked to nominate myself for Shronehood. So I did... and was accepted! Here are The Shrone’s reasons for accepting me:

You have an abiding love for Ireland.(The City of Shrone is your native soil!)
You know what it is like to live with a chronic illness.
Most importantly, you love cats!
You know the enjoyment and pleasure of Talisman, the best board game of all time!
Something about you says when you get old and withered, you just might go out cruising for penis!
You are unknowable.
You have good tastes in books.
You acknowledge the spiritual side of people and believe there is some greater force in the universe.
You're one groovy chick and I think you are super cool!
You haven't killed your inner child and you freely allow it out to play.


And you can all see, I have added my official button to the sidebar! :-)

Yesterday, I hinted that a yarn order could be arriving today, but I checked the tracking today... and it hasn’t even shipped yet. Gack! So I doubt I will get in and be able to start my shrug before next week. Very disappointing. However, in the mean time (uh-oh), I think I will start a knit purse... and because I am insane, I might try a cabled one. I don’t know. Do you think I would be biting off more than I could chew on this?

Sunday, March 26, 2006

The beauty of blocking: a picture story

I think my little picture-story tells the whole tale on this one:




Now, I do wish this scarf could be a little longer... but I ran out of yarn! And since I bought it in CT... the best I could do was block the heck out of it and hope for the best. The positive: I will now be able to wear this. The negative: it was intended for my husband... and there is no WAY this bad boy would go around his neck. Ah well. At least it will be worn (and it will... I LOVE the colors and the pattern. I am almost glad it ended up being mine! LOL!)

I have many more important updates ("Books read! Shrone-ness proclaimed! All on your 11 o'clock news!"), but I am pooped so it will have to wait until tomorrow. When I will hopefully have my new yarn order... mmm.. yarn...

Monday, March 20, 2006

Honestly, I have been yarning!** (edited again***)

Here's the proof (even if they are NOT finished):


The blue scarf is my first non-dishcloth knit project. I love the yarn's colors and like the pattern (which is really easy to remember: k1, yo, k2tog). But, I am just a slow newbie knitter, so I have been working on this forever!

The bottom brown crocheted bit is the very beginning of a Garnstudio sweater pattern. Actually, their pattern is for a dress... but I am hoping to modify it into a sweater! We'll see if my math skills actually exist... or if this will be heading to the frogpond! :-)

Finally, I have been accorded quite an honor. The Shrone has asked that I nominate myself for honorary Shrone status! How cool is that? I have yet to fill out the form (I want to give it the thought and attention it deserves) but I have been feeling very hip all weekend because of it! LOL

** Blogger and Photobucket have gone insane. My photo was first huge and blurry and now it is tiny and unviewable. I will try and edit this again when the internet is not out to get me.
***Ok, I think I have fixed it? Blogger seems to be non-insane now. Keep your fingers crossed....

Friday, March 17, 2006

Luck of the Irish Meme

Swiped from The Shrone in honor of St. Patty’s Day....

1. Are you Irish?
Was I born and raised in Ireland? No. Does my family claim an Irish background? Yes. Although I am really a “mutt” (with a little Irish, English, Italian, and Swedish) I have always identified the most with the Irish part of my heritage. Perhaps it is my last name (McCready) which I kept in hyphenated form when I got married, or maybe the four (yes four) trips I have made to Ireland... I love the place.
2. Are you by any chance wearing green today?
Actually, no. I tend to be in too much of a haze in the morning to remember something like wearing green for St. Pats. I did eat a green-frosted cupcake at 9:00 am, though, which I feel covers me in terms of green-ness for the day (my innards are green now, right?)
3. What kinds of special things do you do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?
Like most of the country, I will be heading out for a drink after work. No green beer for me, though. Jameson’s all the way!
4. Do you believe in luck? How about fate?
Luck? Maybe. Fate? No way. I am too grounded in practicalities for that.
5. What would you do if you found a pot of gold?
Run like heck, so those quirky little leprechauns wouldn’t beat the stuffing out of me! And then I would spend it on something truly decadent... like diamond knitting needles and 1000 pounds of Aran tweed yarn. Just because I could. :-)

Monday, March 13, 2006

A Michigan heat wave

Can it be? Is it really... a post? GASP! I know, shocking. Do you ever do the thing where you are like, "I should update my blog... but I want to wait until X happens" and then X doesn't happen, so you keep delaying and delaying? And suddenly it is like two weeks later and you realize what a slacker you are? :-) In my case, X is completed objects. I have had a big, fat zero lately. I have also lost the motivation to actually finish anything (which may explain the lack of FOs). I blame it on the weather. Michigan in the winter is a dreary, grey, dark and cold place. Now, don't get me wrong, I love it. I wouldn't move to Florida or anything. I am just explaining that it fosters perfect conditions for lots of inside and cozy activities ~ like crocheting. But then, at the first hint of spring, Michiganders go a little nuts. We're like, "Holy heck! Is that blue sky? And sun? It is 55 freaking degrees out ~ a heat wave! We must spend this precious time outside before winter strikes again!!!" and then we drop everything that we are doing and hike and frolic in the steamy outdoors. So, as you can guess, it was sunny and warm here this weekend and I behaved like a true Michigander and went hiking for 5 hours on Saturday and took a long walk around my neighborhood yesterday and didn't touch a lick of crocheting. It's a good thing, too, because it is storming today and the temperature is supposed to drop again tomorrow. So I did the right thing (or so I tell myself).

However, just because I haven't been crocheting, doesn't mean that I haven't been buying yarn! Cari at Dogs Steal Yarn was de-stashing and I bought the Wild Apple Hill Farm Wool. It is about half way down on the post. It is a beautiful bronze-y, brown and I have it earmarked for a sweater. Some day. I also bought a pair of circular knitting needles from her, but I haven't done more than look at them in awe at this point. It is nice to know that when I am ready for them, I have them, though!

I also finished The Book from the last post. For those who were curious about it, I would give it a conditional thumbs up. The condition is that you read it bearing in mind that you will probably be slightly disappointed in the last 50 pages. The author did a superb job of building suspense and mystery through the entire story... and then sorta ran out of steam in her explanations. I was a little disappointed, but still enjoyed it.

Ok, this is long enough. Hopefully, the next time I post there will be a finished object or two!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Bear with me, people...

Crocheting content: none
Why: I have been sucked into this book, all 650 pages of it. As I was telling my husband, any book that features undead librarians is a must read and I simply cannot put it down.
When will the hook, needles, and yarn return?: As soon as I finish devouring The Book. I am thinking I have another two or three days on it. That is, if I don’t stay up all night to finish it, which I was tempted to do last night. The hubby talked me out of it (like talking a jumper down from a ledge... cuz, ya know, I have work and dishes and life to attend to today), but I’m not sure how successful he will be tonight.
Amount of guilt over unfinished yarn projects: It was high, but it is waning. Because, The Book, people. It will not let me go!

Must...finish... book....

Friday, March 03, 2006

Quiz-a-licious

You like blue sock yarn. You are a fellow. You don't like bars, you prefer pubs.
You like blue sock yarn. You are a fellow. You
don't like bars, you prefer pubs.

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?


Blue is more my hubby's color than mine, but I would agree to the pubs bit! Especially if they are serving Irish whiskey.... :-)