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I suck. I do, I know I do. I am a bad blogger. And a bad knitter. And a bad person in general. I forgot my dad’s 65th birthday on Wednesday! How crappy is THAT?! I mean, as far as birthdays go, 65 is right up there with 1, 21, 30, and 80. It’s a big one. And I forgot. Luckily, my father is a lovely and forgiving man. And good-looking, to boot (yes, he reads my blog). So I’m hoping he’s not too disappointed in me. He said that he’s had so many birthdays already that he’s stopped counting, but I think he was just being nice. I’d be annoyed if my ungrateful daughter forgot mine. I did my best to make it up to him by sending him some filet mignon and stuffed potatoes from Omaha steaks. Plying him with meat and taters may be the only way to fix this. (*just wanted to add that as of posting, he received his steaks and all is well. Yay!)

Have you ever looked down for a second, only to look up and find that it’s a month later? Freaky, man. It’s been that kind of month. I think all of the non-stop rain and grayness was really affecting me adversely. I was feeling pretty crappy and bummed out. Not depressed, really, just sort of like a lump of boneless chicken with no motivation. Even if I had felt like blogging, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to read it. I was actually too much of a slug to even knit. Bad. Bad. Bad. But the sun is out, the sidewalk is dry, and it’s all good.

Thanks for all the great feedback about the quilters! I’m going to put together all the links into a post and link to it on my sidebar. It’ll be easy to keep tack of and update that way. And no, I still have no plans to take up quilting. But I do want to just sit in the middle of a room cutting out little shapes with a shiny pair of razor sharp shears. That’s the part that most appeals to me. But since most of those little pieces would go missing in a matter of minutes, I’ll hold off.

Also, I just want to give a shout out to my girl, Bookish Wendy, for hosting a swell Taste of Yarn party. It was a great break from being crabby! All that amazing food and lovely knitters and tasty yarn were just what I needed. There are lots of accounts written by different bloggers who were in attendance, so all I’ll say is that I’m in love with Future Man (pictured very provocatively in the linked post) and leave it at that. At the party, the ever-delightful Melanie gave this gorgeous wool for spinnin’. She got it at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival. I think I would have picked this very thing out of everything they surely had there. The colors are spot on. She’s trying to suck me into that whole world of spinning. It may work.

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And lest you think I haven’t been knitting at all, I have been. A little. I started a Flower Basket Shawl with some red Koigu I had lying around (I know! Koigu. Lying around. I told you I’m a bad knitter). But I just can’t concentrate on a chart right now, so I’ve packed it up for a while. I need to fix my botched Branching Out scarf before embarking on another lace project, anyway.

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So because I’m having a tough time focusing lately, I’ve been doing simple stuff. The two projects I’ve almost finished are both felting projects. The knitting part is done, I just need to toss them into the machine. The first is a cute little rose from Two Old Bags’ booklet “Wooly Embellishments”. There are lots of cute flowers and vines in here that are silly and fun. They’d be good for felted bags or hats or any number of things around the house that need wooly embellishment.

The other thing I’m almost done with is a purple felted bag. Pretty straightforward. It started as a Booga Bag , but it’s a lot smaller than it should be, so it’s more of a Booga purse. The yarn is something extra scratchy I got for 5 bucks at Rhinebeck. I can’t remember what it is. Let’s hope it felts . . .

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Oh, and I need to thank Maryse for sending me some great pattern books recently. I think she has a fetish for knitted bathroom paraphernalia, since two of the books have an entire ensemble du toilette within. I sent one of the booklets to Marnie as part of her prize package, so she should be making a toilet cozy real soon. Merci, Maryse! mwah!

Ok, I feel better now that you all don’t think I’m dead or have ditched you. Bear with me and we’ll have a new MOKS in no time!

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OK. Stop what you’re doing and think about quilts for a minute. Stick with the first image that pops into your head. What did you see when you thought about a quilt? Was it tumbling blocks or calico squares? Was there a 1950’s style grandma with a perfect bun and sensible shoes standing near the quilt? Did you think of the quilt providing warmth on a cold night? Or of church craft fairs?

Me, too. But not any more. In the past few months, I realized that my image of quilting was the same as some people’s image of knitting. My first realization came when I ran across Melody at Fibermania. It turns out that quilts can be as complex and artistic as paintings. I don’t know why I never realized this. I guess it had just never occurred to me. But check out some of her amazing work.

And even more recently, I learned of PaMdora. She took part in the Special Guest Edition of the MOKS. Her quilts are more like illustrations. They’re funny and full of action. Imagine that. Action/comedy quilts.

Do yourself a favor and check out the links on these two ladies’ websites. Enjoy a whole other species of fiber addict. They’re not too different from us knitters, actually. They use all kinds of different types and textures of fabrics, they dye their own, and their houses are crammed to the gills with creatively placed stash. And they also have the pleasure of knowing that quilts from the 70’s were freaking awful, just like knitting! They’re sisters in obsession and we love them!

Of anyone wants to share a link to their favorite quilter, or if you are a quilter, please post a link in the comments. I’ll gather them up and make a section on the sidebar. I don’t know why, but I’m just taken by them lately. And no, I have no plans to start quilting. I don’t have the space and I don’t need another obsession. And that’s that.

On another note, Dot’s clothing labels finally came, so I will be sewing it into Marnie’s shirt tonight and will be sending it off in the mail tomorrow, along with the other booty she won. I also need to scan in something I’m adding to the prize package, I got it from Maryse at Bags n Trash and to see it is to want to poke your own eyes out with a size 3 dpn. Awesome! Merci beaucoup, Maryse!!!

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OK, I finally got the camera taken care of, so now I can show Marie’s prize for the MOKS contest.

First, we have some cute lil’ yarn flowers that I have been distracted by since I got a Crazy Daisy flower loom from the 30’s or 40’s. I should have taken a picture of it. It looks more like an ancient weapon than a flower loom. It’s a flat, brass circle, maybe 2 inches in diameter. There’s a small knob in the middle. When you turn the knob, 12 short metal spikes stick out evenly around the edge of the circle. This is where you wrap the yarn. Once it’s sewn up in the center, you turn the knob to retract the spikes and off pops the flower. Neat! I think they came out with a plastic version in the 70’s, but I like the one that looks like you could lop someone’s head off with it if you threw it hard enough. It’s a Chinese Crafting Star!

So anyway, here are the flowers. I put them on some bobby pins, but they aren’t glued on, so Marnie can do with them as she pleases. She has long hair, and I think they’d look cute pinned in by the elastic. If anyone can pull it off, I think she can. If not, they’d be cute stuck on a computer monitor or in a trash can. They’re pretty versatile.

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There are also some vintage pattern books. It’s a good assortment of silly crocheted pot holders, some men’s sweaters, a knitting primer with some classic stitch patterns, and a couple of ladies magazines.

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There’s also some yarn! It’s Plymouth Outhback Mohair and it’s gorgeous stuff. I’ve made two simple garter-stitch shawls out of it, one for me and one for my mom. I have mine at work and wear it all the time. Very cuddly and soft, but it sheds a fair amount. Luckily, I’m already coated in cat hair, so you can’t really notice. Hopefully, Panda takes care of that for her.

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And last, but certainly not least: A Dot Original. This used to be one of my favorite shirts. Then Dot decided it was boring and needed reconstruction. It’s now the first release from her new line of spring fashions. Remember, if it doesn’t have a hole, it’s not a Dot! I ordered some labels that say “A Dot Original” to sew inside, so as soon as those show up next week, I’ll ship the whole package out. Yes, I ordered Dot some labels for the clothing she ruins. Does that seem wrong?

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Congratulations Marnie! I hope you enjoy your prize!

And now, some proof of knitting. I started making Branching Out from Knitty. I’m using GGH Soft Kid and it was coming along very nicely, if I may say so.

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And then. Well, last week, do you remember hearing a far off, otherwordly shrieking? It was from a mysteriously long distance and made deer stop in their tracks. Flocks of birds took flight at the sound of it. Children all over the world were crying from the blood curding horror of the ungodly noise.

Yeah. That was me.

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I messed up one row and then tried to tink it. Because of the yarn-overs, I got all screwed up, so I tried to tink that, then reknit as best I could. Then I screwed up again and ended up tinking about 5 or 6 rows, maybe more. My memory of the affair gets hazy right around here and I can’t be responsible for what I did to anyone nearby. No court would convict me once they took into consideration that this is very fuzzy stuff and hard to knit, never mind unknit. I thought I had gotten back on track, but did almost an entire repeat of the pattern before I realized that I had started with the wrong row. Now it’s all wonky and I want to set it on fire. I have almost 3 feet done, but had to put it away. I’ll revisit the thing when I’m not feeling so violent at the sight of it. It’s safer for everyone that way. It may end up in Dot’s food bowl as I would almost rather see it embedded in poop at this point.

At least I had something to look forward to. A fantastic evening with the Yarn Harlot at Circles in JP. I met up with a bunch of amazing bloggers, some I had met before and some I was delighted to meet for the first time. I didn’t have a camera, but a lot of these ladies did and they did a great job documenting the evening. The place was packed, there was a great energy and it was really nice to be in a huge crowd of people that understand this whole knitting ting. Stephanie was hilarious and there’s a quality to her voice that I love. I can’t describe it very well, but she kind of speaks with a smile. You can actually hear it. Nice. She was very gracious and spent time with everyone she met at the signing. I’m entirely flattered that she remembered Dot. I felt a little bad that she lives in complete fear of her. But to know Dot is to love her, so maybe I’ll ship her off to Canada to live with Auntie Harlot for a week. We all must face our fears, no matter how Orwellian they are.

Afterwards, a group of us went to Doyle’s and had a great time. In attendance were:

My OKB (Origial Knitting Buddy), Melanie
Jackie, who I saw riding her bike to Circles, and had to keep myself from yelling “Hey, JKC!”
Kellee. She loves pumpkin, so I love her.
Colleen, who because her blog name, I imagine spends her entire day riding around on the T so she can knit and knit and knit.
Amy, who created the adorable tampon case for Knitty’s sexy issue.
Wonder Claudia, Knitter of Steel!
Rosemary, who dwells in a land I dare not enter. The land of spinning. If I don’t start, I won’t get obsessed, right?
Johanna, who couldn’t make it to the signing, but I was so glad she could meet us afterwards.

There is one thing that’s driving me crazy about the evening. When we got there, most of the seats were taken. There were a couple of stools left, so we plopped ourselves right down. It turns out I was in Stephanie’s seat. To my right was Melanie, who moved further right and onto the floor and gave me her stool. She insisted and it was really sweet. And then I realized what was going to happen. I was going to be sitting next to the Yarn Harlot. At first, this seemed like a pleasant thing. And then I realized that everyone would be taking pictures of her. And because I was sitting next to her, I’d end up in a bunch of those pictures! Crap! I was totally having a bad face day! And my suspicions have been confirmed. There I am in a bunch of Harlot-related posts. Damn. But Melanie is in a bunch, too, so she didn’t escape unphotographed. Heh.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that we just got back from seeing The Hitchikers Guide to the Galazy and I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it, but all knitters must go just for one scene where they activate the Improbablilty Drive. Fan-friggin-tastic! I don’t want to ruin it, but they experience a world in which we could all live happily ever after. The movie in it’s entirely was pretty good considering they had to fit everything into a couple of hours. I still prefer the BBC miniseries in all it’s “Dr. Who”-ish goodness.

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OK, I finally got the camera taken care of, so now I can show Marie’s prize for the MOKS contest.

First, we have some cute lil’ yarn flowers that I have been distracted by since I got a Crazy Daisy flower loom from the 30’s or 40’s. I should have taken a picture of it. It looks more like an ancient weapon than a flower loom. It’s a flat, brass circle, maybe 2 inches in diameter. There’s a small knob in the middle. When you turn the knob, 12 short metal spikes stick out evenly around the edge of the circle. This is where you wrap the yarn. Once it’s sewn up in the center, you turn the knob to retract the spikes and off pops the flower. Neat! I think they came out with a plastic version in the 70’s, but I like the one that looks like you could lop someone’s head off with it if you threw it hard enough. It’s a Chinese Crafting Star!

So anyway, here are the flowers. I put them on some bobby pins, but they aren’t glued on, so Marnie can do with them as she pleases. She has long hair, and I think they’d look cute pinned in by the elastic. If anyone can pull it off, I think she can. If not, they’d be cute stuck on a computer monitor or in a trash can. They’re pretty versatile.

‚ 

There are also some vintage pattern books. It’s a good assortment of silly crocheted pot holders, some men’s sweaters, a knitting primer with some classic stitch patterns, and a couple of ladies magazines.

‚ 

There’s also some yarn! It’s Plymouth Outhback Mohair and it’s gorgeous stuff. I’ve made two simple garter-stitch shawls out of it, one for me and one for my mom. I have mine at work and wear it all the time. Very cuddly and soft, but it sheds a fair amount. Luckily, I’m already coated in cat hair, so you can’t really notice. Hopefully, Panda takes care of that for her.

‚ 

And last, but certainly not least: A Dot Original. This used to be one of my favorite shirts. Then Dot decided it was boring and needed reconstruction. It’s now the first release from her new line of spring fashions. Remember, if it doesn’t have a hole, it’s not a Dot! I ordered some labels that say “A Dot Original” to sew inside, so as soon as those show up next week, I’ll ship the whole package out. Yes, I ordered Dot some labels for the clothing she ruins. Does that seem wrong?

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Congratulations Marnie! I hope you enjoy your prize!

And now, some proof of knitting. I started making Branching Out from Knitty. I’m using GGH Soft Kid and it was coming along very nicely, if I may say so.

‚ 

And then. Well, last week, do you remember hearing a far off, otherwordly shrieking? It was from a mysteriously long distance and made deer stop in their tracks. Flocks of birds took flight at the sound of it. Children all over the world were crying from the blood curding horror of the ungodly noise.

Yeah. That was me.

‚ 

I messed up one row and then tried to tink it. Because of the yarn-overs, I got all screwed up, so I tried to tink that, then reknit as best I could. Then I screwed up again and ended up tinking about 5 or 6 rows, maybe more. My memory of the affair gets hazy right around here and I can’t be responsible for what I did to anyone nearby. No court would convict me once they took into consideration that this is very fuzzy stuff and hard to knit, never mind unknit. I thought I had gotten back on track, but did almost an entire repeat of the pattern before I realized that I had started with the wrong row. Now it’s all wonky and I want to set it on fire. I have almost 3 feet done, but had to put it away. I’ll revisit the thing when I’m not feeling so violent at the sight of it. It’s safer for everyone that way. It may end up in Dot’s food bowl as I would almost rather see it embedded in poop at this point.

At least I had something to look forward to. A fantastic evening with the Yarn Harlot at Circles in JP. I met up with a bunch of amazing bloggers, some I had met before and some I was delighted to meet for the first time. I didn’t have a camera, but a lot of these ladies did and they did a great job documenting the evening. The place was packed, there was a great energy and it was really nice to be in a huge crowd of people that understand this whole knitting ting. Stephanie was hilarious and there’s a quality to her voice that I love. I can’t describe it very well, but she kind of speaks with a smile. You can actually hear it. Nice. She was very gracious and spent time with everyone she met at the signing. I’m entirely flattered that she remembered Dot. I felt a little bad that she lives in complete fear of her. But to know Dot is to love her, so maybe I’ll ship her off to Canada to live with Auntie Harlot for a week. We all must face our fears, no matter how Orwellian they are.

Afterwards, a group of us went to Doyle’s and had a great time. In attendance were:

My OKB (Origial Knitting Buddy), Melanie
Jackie, who I saw riding her bike to Circles, and had to keep myself from yelling “Hey, JKC!”
Kellee. She loves pumpkin, so I love her.
Colleen, who because her blog name, I imagine spends her entire day riding around on the T so she can knit and knit and knit.
Amy, who created the adorable tampon case for Knitty’s sexy issue.
Wonder Claudia, Knitter of Steel!
Rosemary, who dwells in a land I dare not enter. The land of spinning. If I don’t start, I won’t get obsessed, right?
Johanna, who couldn’t make it to the signing, but I was so glad she could meet us afterwards.

There is one thing that’s driving me crazy about the evening. When we got there, most of the seats were taken. There were a couple of stools left, so we plopped ourselves right down. It turns out I was in Stephanie’s seat. To my right was Melanie, who moved further right and onto the floor and gave me her stool. She insisted and it was really sweet. And then I realized what was going to happen. I was going to be sitting next to the Yarn Harlot. At first, this seemed like a pleasant thing. And then I realized that everyone would be taking pictures of her. And because I was sitting next to her, I’d end up in a bunch of those pictures! Crap! I was totally having a bad face day! And my suspicions have been confirmed. There I am in a bunch of Harlot-related posts. Damn. But Melanie is in a bunch, too, so she didn’t escape unphotographed. Heh.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that we just got back from seeing The Hitchikers Guide to the Galazy and I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it, but all knitters must go just for one scene where they activate the Improbablilty Drive. Fan-friggin-tastic! I don’t want to ruin it, but they experience a world in which we could all live happily ever after. The movie in it’s entirely was pretty good considering they had to fit everything into a couple of hours. I still prefer the BBC miniseries in all it’s “Dr. Who”-ish goodness.

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Wow. Did I totally miss yesterday? Huh. I promised you a winner and a winner you shall have.

But first, let me tell you about this funny thing my cat did . . .

Alright, alright! I’ll tell you. The randomly selected and ever adorable winner of the grant from the Museum of Kitschy Stitches is . . . .

Marnie MacLean from MarnieTalks! YAY! If you don’t know Marnie, please make her a regular stop on your Blogtown trolley. She’s got some amazing designs, an interesting blog, and also possesses what could be the cutest dog in the world, Panda.

And what does Marnie’s grant consist of? Well, it ain’t a scholarship, sister. It’s actually a few things, but we’re having technical difficulties with the camera, and I’d rather photograph everything rather than just say what it is. It’s more fun that, way, doncha think? By the way, Marnie, does your apartment allow large reptiles? Just askin’. We should have the camera issues resolved soon, like tonight soon (our memory card got corrupted. Aren’t you dying to know what kind of pictures we took to corrupt it? rrrowr Mom, I’m just kidding.)

There will also be knitting pictures, because I still knit, you know. Just not as much as I’d like.

Thanks to everyone who played, it was really fun to see what you all came up with. You gals crack me up.