Foul. Just foul.

So, this morning, I decided to clean up my new office a little bit. I had a few towers of boxes from the people who had this job before me. Well, these people were so kind as to leave me a little envelope full of paper clips, binder clips, and rubber bands...so, I'm sorting through the pile, and found one of THESE:




What's that, you ask? Oh, it's just a flosser. That's right...a dental floss holder!! AND IT WAS USED.

I'm gonna go wash my hands.

The Nashville Knitting Meetup

I'm happy to report that this night's meeting of The Nashville Knitting Meetup was another success! In my opinion, here were the highlights:

1. We had a new member with us! Mari rescues parrots! Thankfully for us, she had pictures with her to share with all of us.
2. Laura made fun of my cankles, as she gracefully tried on her nearly finished sock with the double-pointed needles still on it.
3. Catherine brought along some of her fabulously hand-dyed sock yarn. Of course, I bought two skeins. I couldn't resist. The stuff is absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to start knitting with it!
4. Bonnie stumped Catherine and I, as we tried to help her figure out what row she was on as she was knitting her Wavy scarf.
5. Barb told us a hilarious story about how she had one time considered purchasing a trampoline that she could place next to her bed, which would aid in her getting into her high bed, and then out.
6. Some dude sat with his laptop, right in the middle of our circle for most of the time...we all knew full well that he was listening to all of our stories and was enjoying every minute of it. After a while, his girlfriend (or, some girl that was his friend) showed up, and said, "What's going on here? Do you have something you want to tell me?" Priceless.
7. Kim showed us her completed Oktoberfest sock and a swatch knit out of the Monsoon colorway from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I am extremely jealous that she is a member of the Rockin' Sock Club.
8. Catherine's daughter, Alicia, joined us, and although she wasn't knitting, had with her a completed purse that she carries. It had a gorgeous lining, and we were all in awe.
9. Eli started a hat, tried on the ribbing, and then decided she didn't like it and could start over and have another whole hat done in about an hour anyway. ;)
10. There was plenty of bitching, as it should be.
11. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all.

Viva la Revolution!

I've wanted to become a member of the Nashville Craft Mafia for some time now, but tomorrow, I'll have a chance to check it out at The Revolution of Craft at the Cannery Ballroom from noon-5. I can't wait! Is anyone else going??

Lots of...

...socks. That's right. I've finished 3 more pairs since I last posted. That's right...pairs, not single socks, though, there are some of those, too. I probably should take some pictures and post them, but I've been having a lot of issues with my laziness. You understand.

Thank you for enjoying this post,
Erin

Woah.

Wow. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this:



Very creative? Hahahha...check it out and get yours on etsy.

Make sure you check out his other items for sale, including his kind of totally awesome Jake Gyllenhaal knits.

iPhone

I don't know what my problem is, but I really want one of these when they come out:



Apparently, Cingular will make you sign on for another 2 years to get it, but DAMN - look at this thing!!!!

My birthday.

I had an absolutely fabulous birthday. It was possibly the best one I've ever had, to tell you the truth. Jake planned a dinner for me at the Gerst Haus, and it was just fantastic. From start to finish. Oh, yes, there was plenty of sausage eating, don't you worry:

That's my friend, Brooke, who made me the best birthday cake I'd ever had:



I mean, really! Take a look at this thing!! Just awesome. The yarn ball is made of rice krispie treats and covered in delicious yarn frosting. Of course, this was as close as I'd ever get to eating yarn (oh, the joy), so I had to dive in:





The needles weren't as tasty, but I ate them anyway:



Good Lord, what was up with that eye makeup? Never again. Anyway, Jake ate some of the yarn ball, too, and then sat there with it in his mustache for a while:



He slow danced with me to the polka music after pretty much everyone had left, though, so he's still #1 in my book.

Thank you for enjoying this post,
Erin

Flash your stash!

Oh, you didn't mean that kind? Sorry.

I know I'm terribly far behind, and Socktoberfest was on October, but really, in life, it's better late than never. So, I'm gonna flash my stash. Here's the first part:

That would be last bit of the reds, moving into the pinks, moving into the oranges, moving into the yellows, moving into the greens. Yes, it is organized by color. Just like my closet. And the pantry. Just kidding about the pantry. Here's the next part:

Here we have the blues, moving to the purples, moving to the purple-pinks. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the whites, moving to the tans, moving back to the whites, turning into the pinks and reds. Someday, I'll rememdy that.

I have all of my yarny bidness in these lovely shelves:

Of course, this picture was taken right after the room was painted and the shelves were assembed (more details here).

More to come...thank you for enjoying this post,

Erin

The Nashville Knitting Meetup

I am happy to report that the first meeting of The Nashville Knitting Meetup was a success!! For those of you who don't know about what I'm talking about, check it out:

http://knitting.meetup.com/1180/

Here's the calendar:

http://knitting.meetup.com/1180/calendar/

We will be meeting weekly on Tuesday nights. Last night, we were at Portland Brew, which was a touch small, so I am now considering what our options are as far as a different venue. Any ideas are welcome!!

Seriously.

What is up with all the stars posing with fish lips? Seriously, enough is enough. This doesn't make anyone look sexier, it just makes them look like dorks. Prime exampe:



And another:



Totally unnecessary.

And I'm fairly sure this is natural, but still. How can anyone really find these crazy lips all that attractive?:



Put those lips away, I say!

I mean, does it make this average woman look sexier?:



I didn't think so.

Okay, I think I'm done.

Thank you for enjoying this post,
Erin

Lord, give me strength...

...and please help me resist the urge to click "Buy now" and purchase this:



Like I said...I have problems.

More Christmas, because I like it.

My rockin' sister, Emily, sent me the Christmas pictures she had from her digital camera, so I'd like to share. Every year, we go over to my Aunt Nina's house for Christmas Eve to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. I have a very knitterly family. Did you know that? Here's the evidence:



That's my Aunt Nina on the left, modeling the fair isle sweater she just finished, my mom (who knits a lot but wasn't showing off that day), and my Aunt Laura on the right, modeling her fabulous yellow sweater she knit for a Christmas party she was going to. FABULOUS!! Here's my Aunt 9 in action:



You can't really tell it here, but she knits...FAST. Almost too fast. It's quite amazing.


Also, there were a lot of babies:



Aunt Laura is holding ZaeAnna, my cousin, Brenda's youngest, and her other two, Alex, and X'Zavier are playing on the floor. My cousin, Adam, is holding Wyatt (and Jessie and Brenda are hanging on the floor). Baby-tastic.

I messed with Wyatt for a while:




I don't like to hold babies that often (I'm afraid I'll break them or worse), but I couldn't resist.

On Christmas day, we had my dad's side of the family over at our house. My cousin Valerie just had a baby girl...here's my mom holding Kaelyn Paige (and me sitting behind her holding a pop):





So cute. Good times were had by all.


My cousin Natalie and her boyfriend Ryan were there. They're too pretty:




Emily also snapped some more pictures of Fluffy with my mom (I can't resist posting them all):









That's all for now. Maybe one day, I'll have a digital camera again, and I can, say, post pictures of knitted socks.

Thank you for enjoying this post,
Erin

I LOVE it.

Hole E. Shit. This issue looks absolutely AMAZING.

There's going to be a pattern from Ann Bud that calls for a new yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts called Seduction, which is apparently 50% merino and 50% tencel.



Oh, boy. So much to look forward to! My mom got me a subscription about a month ago, too...just because.

Also, Carol at Black Bunny Fibers just let me know she dyed another batch of her FIERCE colorway, as I requested:



Maybe I'll join the HOPALONG once it arrives!!

Catching up.

I don't really have a digital camera right now, which would be unfortunate for any blogger, but right now I'm really feeling the loss. Fortunately enough for me, my mom has a digital camera, and I was able to snap a few pictures using hers, including a few of my favorite Christmas present, Fluffy L. Jackson (like Samuel L. Jackson, except a cat):



Jake surprised me and took me to Love at First Sight, which is actually where I got my other cat, Nona, and he let me pick out any kitten I wanted. Of course, I had been begging him to agree to getting a second cat for at least six months, but whatever. Anyway, Fluffy was certainly the cutest one in there, and I couldn't resist. He is one of he sweetest, most friendly kittens I've ever seen, which is marvelous, since Nona, as many of you well know, is kind of a bitch. Here's the Fluff lounging with my dad:



Also, Christmas was pretty much totally awesome this year. I think everyone may have gone slightly overboard, what do you think?:





I got many, many other wonderful knitting-related gifts from my parents and Jake, as well, including one of these:



And one of these in brown/light blue:



And some of these in size small:



Needless to say, I had to exchange them for a size large for my size 11 socks...that was very flattering Jacob, but f'reals. ;)

So, Christmas was some good times. After going to Cleveland, I spent a few days in Fort Wayne with Jake and his family, which was also fun. I got to see where he grew up, and got to meet some of his friends from home.

Thank you for enjoying this post,
Erin

I can't wait...

...for the following two books to come out:



(comes out March 26, 2007)



(comes out April 1, 2007)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

I've been following The Heathen Housewife's journey as she knits a very marvelous blankie out of leftover sock yarn she has mostly received from very generous knitbloggers all around the world. Her blankie is absolutely gorgeous, as you can see, and Shelly's blog is hilarious. I have been considering attempting this project, but I wasn't sure I loved the mitered garter look so much.

Thanks to the marvelous Ann, I have finally found possibly THE COOLEST WAY to use up my sock yarn leftovers.

There's a knitalong for charity and some possibility of your square being included in a book (?), which I may join...I better decide quick, though. Apparently, the deadline is January 20th.



(image from the flickr pool)

Desktop art.

One of my favorite things to do while I'm supposed to be working or doing something else is finding really cool images for my Windows Desktop. I found out today that Purl's fabric site is a goldmine. Check it out.

The image I've currently got on my desktop came from there:



I'm sure this is all very interesting. Whatever, just sharing the wealth. ;)

More (single) socks. Oh, boy.

People, I have a major problem. Last night I finished another sock. Another SINGLE sock, and I have no desire to do another one. Oh, it's beautiful, and I'd like to wear it someday, but not if it's going to take me another week and a half to finish the other one and I have this Wool in the Woods yarn I just bought that would look so nice on my size 3s.

Seriously. This is how I think. It's a problem.

I just finished two other socks, and it's the same situation. In the one instance, I decided I was going to knit a sock out of Interlacements Tiny Toes using some dpns I got for Christmas. I don't normally knit with dpns, but they were a there...you know, a set of needles that could have a bunch of really cool yarn on them. I'm just not very motivated to start the other one using these needles, although I should, in order to make sure it comes out the same as the first one. Ugh. The other one is a marvelous orange sock knit using some Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and I have the cuff done on the second sock, but for whatever reason don't want to start the heel.

I don't know what my problem is. I don't really have a problem. I'm just pouring out all of my sock turmoil. I'm sure this is all very interesting. Also, Jake's mom is going to be sending us a digital camera, so hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon!

YESSSSSSSS!!

It's back!:



Lion Brand has answered the call of knitters worldwide. This was (and now IS) one of my favorite yarns to knit. It's very easy to take care of, and I loved the choice of colors, which used to be a bunch of primary colors. Check out the new colors. I hope they intend to bring back the classic colors as well as these new ones. I'm really only digging the lime, charcoal, and terracotta. Oh, boy.

New Knitty!

The new Knitty is up!

Just a little Christmas present for y'all...or is it?? Sorry, but there are some weird patterns this time. I guess, to each his own. I personally love Cookie's monkey pattern, and not surprisingly, it's probably the only one I'll ever attempt from this issue.