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Well, well, well . . . what have we here? Could it be knitting?? Holy cow, it is! It’s an actual finished object. Will wonders never cease? It’s Jon’s grandmother’s birthday scarf. (and before you ask, yes, I used it in the photo for the “Finished Object Gallery” button before it was‚ actually finished. Whaddaya gonna do about it? Huh?!‚ I’ve got a fork and I’m not afraid to use it!)

I used about three and a half skeins of Berger du Nord “Charmant” (that means “charming” in French, doncha know). I think I used size 8 needles. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the Clapotis pattern. It’s easy enough to memorize and dropping that stitch never gets old. And the finished object is the perfect showcase for yarn. I love the way the dropped bars look up close.

So lately, I’ve been trying to get back in to some semblance of a shape other than that of a BarbaMama. We’ve got a kick-ass treadmill in the basement. It’s not just some wobbly, squeaky hunk of junk that you hang your clothes on, you can actually run on this thing. And there are weights, a bench, and even a fitness ball that you sit on to do various exercises. I’ve been working out regularly for the past month, I even started the “Couch to 5k” running plan from Cool Running‚ and have had weekly outings with Charlene and Kellee! I like that they leave the word “potato” out of the title. Sure, I’d rather slather myself with sour cream and bacon, but you can only do that for so long and frankly,‚ I don’t need the constant reminder about my tatery goodness.

People often say that working out gives them energy. Vim and vigor, even. Yeah. I don’t have that. I’m tired all the time. And hurty.‚ But it’s that good kind of hurty. I’m up to week three of the plan, and so far the pain and exhaustion and stinkiness seem to be worth it. I know working out works, I have the honeymoon capri pants to prove it. They haven’t seen daylight since the summer of 2003, but who knows, maybe this will be their big comeback year. It would help if the fine folks at Pepperidge Farm would quit making double-chocolate Milano cookies. Just sayin’.

Oh, also, my apologies to Amysue. I totally didn’t realize she spelled her name that way. I’ve been using the Waltonian spelling. I went and fixed it in the last post, too. Sorry about that!

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Little Aynnie Rand saw no humor in the distasteful shenanigans of those three little pigs. Horrid, filthy, wasteful animals. A house made of straw? It makes no sense! Neither, however, does this sweater. Expanding bust pleats for a seven-year-old? A pair of drumsticks where arms should be?  No, this will not do. Objectively speaking, this is the worst. Sweater. Ever.

*psssst

. . . and so, Bear-Proof Sweaters Inc. was forced to cease production and close it’s doors forever.

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That was quite a move, but I’m happy with my new home. My favorite bit is the “Email Me” button. I can’t stop rolling my mouse over and over her. I’m very easily amused.

I feel like I’m starting this blog from scratch. It’s a second chance, of sorts. Maybe this is the year I make JenLa proud! This is going to be a crazy year, what with the whole book thing and a brand new blog to play with. I have a lot of fun ideas to spring on you, not the least of which is my plan to have you all crocheting cans with reckless abandon by the end of the summer. heh heh. I just finished my San Pellegrino soda can tote bag and brought it with me to the Yarn Harlot’s book signing last night.‚ A few people seemed to really like it and said they actually might like to make one. The pattern will be up in a few days and I can’t recommend that soda enough. Very tasty, especially with a nip of gin. Plus, the cans themselves are really cute.

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And speaking of the signing, what a blast! Stephanie was her usual hilarious self and gave a great talk before scribbling in all our books. The place was packed and since I got there with just a few minutes to spare, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to mingle before Stephanie got to it. I did get to talk to Monica, who continually knocks my socks off with her socks. We agreed that we were both resisting the urge to start quilting because it turns out that fabric stores are crack dens much in the same way that yarn stores are. But I think I may have convinced her to give needle felting a try. Despite all the bleeding, it really is fun! I also talked to some women who really liked my new tote bag, but I forgot to ask if they had blogs. If you’re one of those women – Hi, it was nice to meet you!

A bunch of us headed over to a restaurant afterwards and I had the pleasure of being seated next to Mamacate, Kat with a K (and her killer red shoes), and Amysue, whom I have never met. I’ve never gotten to spend much time with this particular array of ladies and I was so glad I did. Funny, brilliant, charming women, one and all. And Amysue was carrying a bag she’d made from this awesome fabric festooned with busy 1950’s ladies doing busy 1950’s ladies things in a busy 1950’s kitchen. Seriously, there were at least eight women in that one kitchen, doing everything from getting peas out of the freezer to decorating a wedding cake! Of course, I was partial to the one twirling around aimlessly with a chocolate cake. All were properly attired in full skirts and heels. This makes me love Amysue instantly.

I also left last night with a Finished Object! I made a visor from Bud cans. Carole’s brilliant husband, Dale, came up with the perfect name for it. A Budvisor! HA! I hope I didn’t offend anyone at the table by whipping out the trifecta of kitsch – Red heart yarn, a crochet hook, and pieces of beer can with holes punched in them! I’m still tweaking it a bit, but the pattern for that should be up soon. As Jackie noted, it would be perfect on the golf course.

I had a great time seeing everyone yesterday. Thanks for all the kind words and congratulations about the book, both in person and in comments. As dorky as it sounds, I really did do it for you guys.

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It. Is. Adorable!

This is Madison. She just turned 10 and she’s a knitter. Her mom taught her when she was 8 and she’s made a number of scarves for friends and grandparents. Her current WIP is a light green wool scarf. When it’s finished, she’s going to put pink pom-poms at the ends to jazz it up.

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Now, when I say she’s a knitter, I don’t just mean that she happens to know how to knit. Heck, you can teach a monkey how to knit, but you can’t convince it that starting a knitted sweater for it’s cage mate two weeks before Christmas is anything but a bad idea. Nope, Maddy is one of us (one of us, one of us!). I was showing her parents something in the kitchen and as she waited patiently for the boring grown-ups to finish their boring grown-up conversation, she stood there with her little knitting bag hanging on her wrist and was KNITTING! She’s a standing knitter, people!

She also confided to me that it’s totally annoying that when you give handknits to people, they don’t understand that they have to hand wash it and never put it in the dryer. They need to take special care of this stuff. It’s exasperating for us all, to be sure.

And so what else could I do but drag her up to my apartment and help her on her way to SABLE status. Seeing as how she’s only 10, she’s going to need a HUGE stash, and I did what I could. I let her pick some stuff out and I also gave her some special things I had tucked away. I’ll admit there’s some candy-colored Berroco Plush in there, but there’s also some undyed alpaca.

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When it was time for them to go, I’ll give you one guess what she said. All together now . . . “One more row!!”

Maddy’s dad is Scott, my brother’s college roommate. Because I’m in such a ridiculous state of denial about being 36, I still remember hanging out with Scotty and my brother at the dorms like it was yesterday. It’s like no time has passed and the only difference is that people just don’t think Howard Jones is da bomb any more. Sometimes I’m still taken aback by the fact that he has three little girls (and a female cat, and he’s just assuming that the guinea pig and the parakeet are girls. He also works in an office of 16 people and he’s the only guy. Scott is the very definition of a ladies’ man.)

Maddy’s mom is Shanna, a fellow knitter and real peach! I don’t know her nearly as well as I do Scott and I don’t get a chance to see their family as much as I’d like to. But as soon as I saw Shanna the other night, I forewent the traditional “Hello, nice to see you.” and went with a finger pointing exclamation of “Clapotis!” It’s the customary greeting of knitters in the wild, is it not? It just so happened that Shanna was wearing a gorgeous Clapotis made with this incredible silk/merino that I failed to photograph. It had the perfect texture for that scarf with just enough unevenness in its single ply. You’ll recognize one of her other daughters, Emma, from this photo from Jon’s and my wedding. She’s the short one. Perhaps Camryn (I’m pretty sure it’s “Camryn” and not “Cameron”, but I’ll need a judgment on that. Shanna??) will model something for us someday so you can see her. They really are the sweetest little girls ever, always with the pleases and thanks yous.

Here’s the thing, Shanna is an avid blog reader and yet I can’t link you to hers. Know why? Ain’t got one. That’s right. Can you stand it? All in favor of Shanna and Maddy starting a blog together, say Aye! (and maybe give them at least one good reason as to why they should join us (join us, join uussssss))

Aye! One of the best reasons I can think of to start a blog are all the amazing people you’ll meet. It really is a wonderland of delightful people out here.

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