Crafty Pancakes

What a week it's been

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Did you spend the holiday jealous of my big plans? You should have been. It was like no other Thanksgiving I can imagine. Dinner with 80 cranky snowbirds is what I had been looking forward to all year. I sat next to this old dude...

Pink shirt.. check! Old man nipple showing.. check! Can of Bud.. check! Now that's a Thanksgiving!  And don't forget the entertainment...

Yeah, it's an 8-track player. It wasn't actually used.. but just having it there was unsettling enough. 8-tracks?!

As if Thanksgiving day was eventful enough.. we were driving on a desert road the next day and as I'm cruising down the road enjoying the desert landscape I ran over a tarantula!!  Thinking it was cool, scary and sad all at the same time I admit that I was a bit shaken up. If I would have seen it in time I would have stopped to take a picture.. that was what I was probably most upset about. But along I went on our drive. I told the hubs to keep an eye open for more tarantulas playing chicken with The Ho. OK.. time for some explanation before I go on. The Ho is my car. I named my husband's grocery getting wife mobile Gertie (which he HATES).. and I usually call it Dirty Gertie since he doesn't wash it. Well, when I bought my new TaHOe I told him he could name it. Bad idea! So anyway.. we were cruising in The Ho. OK.. one more pause. I don't wash mine much either so he calls it The Dirty White Ho. Yeah, nice. Sooo.. as I was driving along thinking that Mr. Eagle Eye was watching for ginormous spiders I spotted one right in front of us, tried to swerve to miss it and SQUASH! Damn it!!  I of course didn't ever see a third. I'm pretty sure the word got out that there was a tarantula killing Ho on the loose and the rest of them ran for cover.

While driving to 8-track heaven I realized that there was something that could really make things much more fun... I would like the OnStar voice that talks and gives great directions to sound like Cartman...

That would be sooo great! Who can I talk to about that?

I didn't work on the Shifting Sands scarf with my new Malabrigo while I was in tarantula town because I brilliantly forgot to wind it before I left.. and forgot that little tidbit until I pulled a skein out so I could start. I did however finish another pair of No-Purl-Monkey socks...

Pattern: Monkey modified and knit the purls.

Yarn: STR Firebird

I have that pattern out of my system for the time being but can't decide on which one to do next.

As if the last week wasn't filled with enough thrills and chills to satisfy me.. I went to my son's band concert last night. It was all I could do to not stand up and yell "GUESS WHAT? I'VE GOT A FEVER AND THE ONLY PRESCRIPTION IS MORE COWBELL!!"

At least the mailman brought some yarn so help numb the pain.

Save me

So does everyone have great Thanksgiving plans? Anyone going to an RV park in the middle of nowhere to have Thanksgiving dinner with their dad in a recreation hall full of elderly snowbirds? NO?! Just me?! Damn.

When I think about the upcoming holiday I make myself feel better by looking at some more new yarn that showed up yesterday. I was very good. Two are from sock clubs and one I scored off of Ravelry. I'm on a yarn diet. Club yarns can still come in but I'm limiting my other purchases for awhile. I'm feeling like a yarn hoarder. A lot of people would find that to be a great feeling... but I am starting to feel wasteful and greedy. I can't be buried with the stuff, ya know? Actually, I would consider it if I was surrounded by this..

Midnight Rose...

It's such a great purple that even the DH was gushing about it.. and he normally wouldn't pay two seconds of attention to sock yarn. He always nods and says "yeah, that's a nice one"..but you know he's not really listening. This time he actually held it and said it was really pretty. That seriously says something about Roxanne and her talent for dyeing some seriously gorgeous squishy yarn. I renewed for six more months. It's just too good to give up. 

This next one is from another keeper sock club. Stacey always cranks out some bad ass yarn to send out for her club too..

Autumn Sun...

 

She perfectly translated the fall and turkey day into yarn! Incredible. 

Next I managed to get some Woolly Boully from someone who was nuts enough to sell it on Ravelry. I shouldn't say she's nuts. I'm glad she wanted to sell it.. to me. But I just can't imagine parting with any of Jenny's yarn. I shudder at the thought.

Moon Flowers...

Some  Yarn Pirate should be showing up any day now so that is exciting. I saw the spoiler pic on Ravelry and it's a goodie. Much better than Killer Bees from last month.

Ever get tired of hearing about sock yarn on here? I'm either babbling about my life or sock yarn so get ahold of this.. I'll be working on a scarf while in hell at the RV park. A scarf for myself, no less. I fell in love with Shifting Sands on.. guess where?.. yes, the amazing time suck Ravelry.. and I bought some to die for Malabrigo to use for it. I am goo goo for green these days...

It's going to be gorgeous and so soft. I will be adjusting the number of CO stitches since I'm using worsted weight instead of dk. I can't wait to have it done.. now if we could just have some "cold" weather so I can wear it without sweating.

So if you don't hear from me by early next week it means that the old people sucked away all my youth so they could live to see another Thanksgiving at the RV park. This will be the third time we've gone there for this so I guess I can't complain. I certainly know what I'm in for. Is it too late to suffocate in a mountain of sock yarn? I'm already tired of turkey by now. We've been eating it since Saturday. I'm not sure if I can choke down one more piece. I'm sure I still have room for more pie though. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Four things

I would like to just mention a couple of things today that are on my mind.

First, I can't believe I watched Combover: The Movie on the Sundance channel Saturday afternoon. Who would have thought there was a documentary on such a horrendous "hairstyle". Do you know there is a young guy who actually shaves the top of his head and does a combover on purpose?? He also goes to the skatepark with a cane as an accessory. I will be much more careful who I dub crazy from now on. That guy just took it to a whole other level.

Second, I can cook. Really.. I can. On Saturday (after the combover movie) I managed to put a fabulous meal on the table. An early Thanksgiving to be exact. The turkey was fabulous. I also did some great mashed potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, stuffing and pumpkin pie. That is a BIG DEAL around here. Not one single thing went wrong. It's almost bizarre. So I have a new found confidence in the kitchen.. but we'll see how long it lasts. 

Third, I think when you get things in the mail that make your heart race it should count as a cardio workout. This was my new found workout on Wednesday...

I bet your heart even sped up a bit at the sight of the Wollmeise package. Opening it was the equivalent to hitting the treadmill at 6 mph on an incline.

Lowenzahn...

Amazonas...

And Pfauenauge...

The follower in me needed it since everyone was clamoring for it on Ravelry. Now I understand what the fuss was all about.

Fourth, I can't believe you want to see The Sock! Don't say I didn't warn you. The Sock has since been frogged and the yarn balled up. I doubt it will ever see the light of day again. The skeins were so cute and held so much promise. Then this happened...

 

Umm.. eww. I felt bad even putting it in my Knitzi. So I've moved on to a different sock. I even have one done and am starting the second one today. Let's just say I'm not tired of the No-Purl Monkeys yet. Knit on with the pretty yarn!

Ding ding ding

If you are new to my blabbering then you might want to read this and get familiar with my last poultry incident. Last night was the rematch. In this corner.. fresh from Albertsons. A free range chicken who can't wait to KO me once again...

Notice the new roasting method. My friend Lindy gave me a belated b-day gift on Monday at the knitting guild meeting. I am now the proud owner of a Spanek Vertical Roaster. Of course I was a little leery of letting a whole chicken get the best of me again... but I can't live in fear! It was a little creepy to see it standing up in the pan. I felt like it was going start taunting me with some sort of chicken dance. I tried to not let that distract me and  even remembered to season it and put beer in the dish...

Look at that super cool Pyrex dish. Well, it's cool to me. I collect Pyrex from the 50's and 60's. I hate to admit that my addiction to Pyrex is as bad, and almost worse, than my addiction to indie dyed sock yarn. Really, it's true. I have fifteen full boxes of it in the garage and even more in my kitchen. There's no quicker way to my heart than a set of vintage Pyrex nested mixing bowls. Not that I don't already have at least two or three sets of each pattern already. OK, on with the chicken.

So do you have a feeling who won the chicken match? Did you think I could really screw up twice in a row?! I was victorious...

   

No smoke, no fireball, no nothing, just a roasted chicken! It's really sad that I was so proud of myself for doing the most simple of cooking tasks. But it's a step in the right direction. So a big thanks to Lindy for saving me and my family from a possible house fire. Let's just hope we don't get salmonella. Who knows if I really cooked it long enough. You'll hear about it if I didn't. But it was absolutely delicious!

Now that the big news is out of the way.. I cast on a pair of socks Monday afternoon during a KIP outing at Fashion Island. It was so much fun. The group of us sat in the shade knitting, talking, eating/drinking and watching the beautiful Christmas tree start to get decorated for the holiday season...

The tree is HUGE! I can't wait to go back and see what it looks like all lit up. Sock knitting by a Christmas tree is a great way to spend the day. The sock ended up being frogged though. Thankfully I only had the ribbing and two leg rows done. I have since started it over and plan to do the Garter Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is really busy so I needed something very simple but not boring stockinette. Honestly, I'm not sure what I think about the yarn. The colorway is umm.. interesting. It's the Christmas sock kit from WoolGirl. Has anyone else started them? I LOVE the story as to why the yarn is the colors that it is... but not so in love with the look so far. You'll have to just wonder about them until the pair is done. You need the shock factor with no WIP pics. It will be so much better that way.

I almost forgot.. I need to spread some Knitzi love. I don't know how I lived without it. It's probably the best knitting gadget out there right now. It's genius!

Here's to interesting sock knitting while on a chicken roasting high! Woohoo!

The 13 Ravens

The Raven Clan are the hardest yarns to get accurate pictures of! The black wants to show up blue and the subtle shading is VERY hard to capture. I spent two hours trying to get the best pictures I could. Drum roll please......

Corbie: Black with shades of very dark blue, very dark yellow/green and a brownish charcoal...

Corvid: (stunning) Black with shades of deep purple, maroon, purple and dark forest green...

Grock: Black with shades of charcoal, medium/dark purple and charcoal-y dark yellow...

Haida: Black with hints of dark blue and purple...

Korppi: Black with shades of dark purple, medium purple and hints of dark green...

Pallas Athena: Black with shades of brown, dark purple and dark charcoal...

Raven: (my favorite) Black with shades of brown, maroon and charcoal...

Ravenscroft: Black with shades of very dark yellow/green, dark green and charcoal...

Rook-y:  Black with shades of charcoal, dark purple and hints of purple and dark teal...

Shadow: Black with subtle shades of charcoal...

Thraven: Black with shades of very dark teal and charcoal-y brown...

Tlingit: Black with shades of dark/medium purple, dark charcoal/yellow, dark charcoal and hints of gray/blue...

Valkyrie:  Black with shades of maroon, dark purple and very light hints of a rusty/charcoal...

There you have them. I can't stress enough that I didn't even come close to capturing the beauty of the yarns. If you like dark yarn you won't be disappointed! When I look at them the first word that comes to mind is moody. No wonder I was so drawn to them!

They're here!

I give you the Raven Clan...

(I also threw in the Raven sock club yarn that I forgot to post... Lenore)

I did indeed buy all 13 of them in lightweight. The pictures are more than a tad off color. It was impossible to capture the depth and richness of the colors at this time of the day with my camera. They are really nothing short of incredible and amazing. I'm going to roll around on the floor with them stare at them and love them and squeeze them until my husband starts calling me crazy.. which are fighting words around here. He just doesn't understand. Poor man. His life must be empty without sock yarn. When I'm done spinning with joy I'll try to take better pictures and give descriptions of each one. Enough typing.. more Raven squeezing.

Best socks ever

I finished my modified No-Purl-Monkey socks!...

Important info:

Pattern - Monkey by Cookie A. (modified to knit the purls)

Yarn - Flower Power STR club yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts

Needles - Knit Picks Harmony DPNS size 2.5mm

I love them so much I'm actually wearing them! For those of you who know me.. that is a very big deal. I usually just knit them and put them in a drawer. I have a thing about modeling socks. Usually sock modeling = cankles. I'm hoping that my angle lessened that. I don't know what it is about hand knit socks. You could have ankles and calves the size of a toddler and they would still be all cankle-y in the sock shot. I know it's of absolutely no real concern to the real world. Yes, I'm now over it.

In the last post I was counting the minutes until the Raven Clan series came out. The second it was up I had my coupon, gift certificate and credit card in hand. I bought all 13. I really don't know how much different each one will be and I'm excited to check them out when they arrive. That's a lot of dark yarn though. Maybe the Goth couple from The Amazing Race need some socks. Go Goths.. I hope you win!

In addition to the Ravens I also bought some other great yarns recently. First is the yarn from the 'A Christmas Story' sock kit from WoolGirl...

 

The kit was so fantastic! Along with the yarn that was dyed by Jana (who does the most fun and funky colorways) were four incredible Christmas cards (which you must check out), a beautiful stitch marker by See Jayne Knit and the cutest snowman bell ornament that Jen took the time to personalize. I'm so ready for the holidays now. What a perfect way to kick off the season.

The next was a fabulous Etsy find. What's really fun about the yarn is that Heather used a song for the inspiration and named the yarn accordingly. How cool is that? Here's Into The Hollow (song by Queens Of The Stone Age)...

 

It's G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S and so squishy and soft. I will definitely buy from her again.

My last show and tell was a destash yarn from Ravelry. Can you believe someone wanted to sell their Madelinetosh?! Here's beautiful Vermillion...

So let's see.. I knit one skein and bought sixteen. Hmm.. that ratio could be a problem pretty soon.

Is it 6:00 yet?

I've been sucked into the Raven Series vortex and I can't get out until all 13 colors have been ordered. I'm not even sure I need that much dark sock yarn but if everyone else has it.. I want it! Isn't that how life works in many areas? I'm not a "keep up with the Joneses" kinda chick normally... but yarn is a different story. I am a follower. I need the newest and coolest sock yarn out there!  Just a few hours to go......

Anyone watch The Amazing Race last night? I am loving the goth couple. I need to know what kind of make up they wear because that stuff stayed on perfectly. I can do my mascara and eyeliner and within an hour I look like I've slept with it on and just didn't care what I looked like when I left the house. If you have a great black eyeliner you want to share with me, my neck of the woods would be very happy to see me with it on.

I had to share The Amazing Race with the finishing of my favorite sock on the planet...

I love it so much that I cast on for the second one as soon as the Kitchener Bitch was done. With as much TV as I watch you would think I'd knit a sock a day. We have three DVRs to keep up with the chaos. I have to say that my absolute favorite show, if I had to pick one, is Nip/Tuck. I wish it was on every day like a soap opera. I think they should do an episode about someone who needs plastic surgery because they were stabbed with a knitting needle. Wait, that wouldn't do too much cosmetic damage... I'll keep working on it.

Two things I love as much as Nip/Tuck are sales and sock clubs. The Thanksgiving shipment from the Chewy Spaghetti Holiday Club arrived...

I don't like sport weight yarn so this will eventually get swapped. The colorway is pretty though. It reminds me of a rooster for some reason. A punk rock rooster with blue feathers apparently.

My fondness for sales landed me another Namaste bag. This time I got the Executive in raspberry...

 

I don't really ever use my Jetsetter bag because the design sucks. The Executive on the other hand is FABULOUS! I got it here and used a coupon I had gotten in the mail. I think I ended up paying $35 for it. Go buy one before they are all gone. You will thank me later.

Now this next sale purchase today got out of control.. fast. Let me remind you that there was not one piece of candy handed out at my dark house on Halloween. Now I have more candy than I have handed out in the past five years put together. Target has their bags of sugary goodness on sale for 75% off. I will be slowly working through this until the time comes when I will feel no guilt for handing the stale crap out to the costumed trolls next Halloween...

   

19 regular sized bags, 5 jumbo bags and a box of peanut butter cups. What was I thinking? I'm going to put up a sign in my yard declaring another Halloween this weekend.. and this time I'm ready. The alternative is my husband finding me on the couch, melted chocolate all over my face, hands, yarn.. wrappers everywhere. It wouldn't be a pretty picture.

I'm going to have just one and get to working on my second sock. Can anyone eat just one?.. I mean really. Just as long as I don't go into a sugar coma before 6:00 it's all good. Then I can't make any promises.

A knitters Halloween

I have absolutely no knitting content... but I have knitters! Last night Bree had our knitting group over for a potluck and yarn swap. It was a lot of fun. There was great food, yarn and friends. Fabulous combo...

From left to right: me, Debbie, Jerry, Gaby, Bree & Amanda.

I obviously didn't put in much effort in the costume department. Striped tights, black lipstick and a swimsuit cover-up as a dress. Classy, I know.

Take a better look our hostess, Bree. She was a magnificient Mad Hatter...

 

She made her costume. As in bought the fabric and sewed it. She really went all out and looked fantastic!

Jerry and Debbie had me laughing as soon as they walked through the door as an old lady and a moth from the yarn stash. It's almost frightening how well Jerry pulled it off...

Amanda deserves a standing ovation for rocking the mullet and being the perfect hockey player...

Gaby and I weren't in costume but at least we tried in our own way...

It's always fun when we all get together. I'm lucky to have a great group of knitting friends. Hope you all had a great Halloween too!