My So Called Life

I can't knit anything that requires:
1. Concentration
2. Counting
3. Thinking
4. Logic
5. Skills
6. Speed
7. Accuracy
8. Gauge
9. Stitch Uniformity
10.No Drool

So...hence, Scarves. Ridiculous, but true. Right now, 8 days after the Massacre, I can only knit scarves. (Disgusted look on face). But I can not cry anymore. To quote wise Penny, "There are only so many tears in a person's body" ( I paraphrase ). So, since I cannot cry anymore, without seeming like a lunatic, the fire has been lit under me to act. And act fast. Everyone wants and needs to help the Hokie Community. So many people and organizations need to feel like they are doing something productive and contributing to the healing process. But what to do? Hokie Healing, for one, with over 15 Yarn Venders donating yarn for us to give out to students to knit squares. All the wonderful folks who have decided to knit squares for the blankets for the victim's families,and next, shhhhhhh, it's a secret. Please don't breathe a word of this to anyone... Hokie Knitta Please!
In the dark of night, we will wrap our town in hokie colored knitted stuff...around lamp posts, benches, signs...I think we will get in trouble. But I can't wait.



I'd like to wrap up Blacksburg in Hokie Knitted stuff instead of it being wrapped in yellow police tape. I'll be knitting long into the night tonight. Scarves, of course. Peace out.

Araucania Complete Dog Sweater Kit

Congrats, Jody!...for sweeping the competition! It was a fierce group of contenters you fought with. Who almost won?

1. Jknitter's Purl Jam'd
2. Champagne's Damn Sale Hounds!
3. Aunt Chrissy's Pet Sitting While You Shop
4. Lauren's The Purlfect Colorway

Thanks to all who played! Jody, get your arse in the shop to get your Debbie Bliss! Stop being so dang clever! ; ) I won't be in the shop today until after 12...I'm still sleeping!

Obama: One Voice

Here is how I view what happened yesterday after the Penn. Primary. Hillary won the votes from the uneducated, older, blue collar, poorer Pennsylvanians. Obama got the vote from the young, the affluent... the educated. I don't know about you, but I'd rather that educated people decide who my next president is. Thank you very much. So now in the coming weeks, it is the job of McCain and Hillary to destroy Obama. Hillary will then get the nomination, and promptly lose in the general election. 100 more years of the Iraq war. 4 more years of business as usual in Washington. Craptastic. I'm moving to London. Goodbye.

My Mother and my baby have the same exact hair. W...

My Mother and my baby have the same exact hair. Wierd.

Trust Me...

Trust me when I tell you that the look on my face is not a happy one. A Grimace. A look of sheer terror and misery and exhaustion and fear. That's what I look like when I want to get off the train of life...why you may ask? More tomorrow.

Mary Capani Bonomo january 16th, 1915 - june 27th, 2008 My

Mary Capani Bonomo
january 16th, 1915 - june 27th, 2008

My Paternal Grandmother (left in photo) taught me to knit and crochet. She left school after 5th grade and never learned to drive a car. But she showed me unconditional love my entire life. We all know how very rare that type of love really is, how perfect and flawless. She had the natural intellectual capacity to know what really was important in this life. I love you, Nanny. Sweet dreams.

The Top 10 Not Haute List

In a hopefully, respectful fashion, I must also tell you what yarns I abhore to knit with. I'd rather throw these yarns down a well, drag them behind my car, flush down the toilet, throw in the dumpster, you get the idea...

1. Crystal Palace Splash...almost anything they make right now...
2. Rowan Summer tweed
3. Muench Touch Me, or any chenille, actually.
4. Reynolds Lopi
5. Swedish Yarn's Funny, Happy, Kitten, etc.etc.
6. Noro's Daria Multi
7. Cascade 220
8. Katia Sevilla
9. Red Heart Supersaver (A.C. Moore's #1 best selling yarn)
10.Lion Brand Homespun


Hope I didn't offend anyone...but if I did, get in line. Most of the yarns on this list have made the shop alot of money over the past 5 years, but still I hate them. I know, Bratty. Besides, they're completely worthless now in this yarn climate (with the exception of Lopi , Daria Multi, and I guess for A.C. Moore, Red Heart). I've tried knitting with Red Heart before. My hands break out in these huge bleeding ulcers and then they burst into flames. Not worth it.



Cover your ears, Tivo darling...Volvo's Navigational System, I love you too.

Easy Being Green

Artyarns came into the shop today and I grabbed the first green skein I set my eyes on. I'm going to try to knit the Icarus Shawl one more time. I'm insane, clearly. Why green cashmere yarn, you ask? Oh, it's the opposite color and texture of my front yard, which happens to be hard and brown. When is the heat going to break and give us a chance to breathe? The heat is kicking my arse! Won't knitting be more pleasurable when it's not 104 degrees?



My Son turns 2 at 5am tomorrow...he is growing up.

Mammothian Surprise Group Wedding Reception Dance

Lyric Excerpt From New Manilow CD

MALABRIGO

Looking at the skein
I can see knitting memories
I never realized
how happy you make me...
Oh, Malabrigo
you came and gave
without taking.
I'll never send you away-
Oh, Malabrigo
you let me knit you,
it stops me from shaking-
and I need you today...

-Barry Manilow's new single 2008

Upside Down. Boy, You Turn Me...Inside Out...And

I've finally arrived home after 4 days in NYC with Phyl. We took the Metroliner from DC to NYC on Sunday. Here is what we did in 4 days...hold onto your hat...

1. Saw the broadway musical "Spring awakening". Amazing!
2. Went to the " Radical Lace and Subversive knitting" Sucked, I have more radical and subversive knitting in my own knitting bag.
3. Went to Seaport Yarns, Purl, School House yarns, Habu Textiles
4. Had appointments with Lord & Taylor, Henri Bendel, Saks Fifth Ave., Macy's, Barney's, Bloomies, Bergdoff Goodman
5. Bought a Prada messenger bag
6. Got haircut at Ouidad
7. Saw the "Bodies" Exhibit
8. Ate enormous amounts of cheese and salami (Adkin's)
9. Bought 5 new knitting projects
10. Cried alot.



When I heard the news on Tuesday, I was at Habu Textiles...my legs could barely hold me up. I haven't been able to think straight ever since. I have the sensation of falling down a rabbit hole.



This entire massacre experience has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life.



Blacksburg looks different to me. Wierd.

So Purdy

This finished scarf is sooooo long it can wrap around Bfriend's neck 4 times. I just enjoyed knitting it so much I couldn't stop. 6 skeins of 6 different colors of Noro Silk Garden. I alternated between 2 different colors every 2 rows using size 6 needles. It's 1x1 rib. I'll leave it in the shop till it gets cold enough to wear if ya'll want to come by and see this masterpiece (if I do say so my narcissistic self).

Mini Koohaas

Forgetting to do the final round in this hat, has created the mini version of Jared's Koolhaas. Unfortunately, it's a tad too small on Boo's head, and since it's spring...I think I'll have to give this away and knit another one for an adult. Crapola.



ps. Dear Reader, if the political commentary on this blog is bothering you, please accept my sincere apologies. This is the first election that I've ever been interested in my entire life, so excuse the over infatuation with it. Soon, it will all be over. If Obama doesn't get the nomination, I won't care anymore. It will be back to business as usual.

I Feel Better now.

Here are the shoes. Notice the crochet flowers and leaves. Only problem? They are 4" heels...so I need to wear them out to dinner during a martini night (vodka to kill the sole/soul pain). Oh, to be able to go out on the town in my new shoes with my best friend, Carrie. We'd eat pizza, drink Cosmos, flirt with Aiden and Big, and knit...Hey, Julia, you can hang with us to, if you stay cool, man. You can bring your Passed-on harp playing spun Kitty hair yarn with ya to knit with us.

It's Like Finding Needles in a Yarnstack!

We have a Winner! Marianne, congratulations! Email me at pug@hokie.com with your address so I can mail you your yummy yarn prize! This was a difficult picture to name but I got some great responses! Here are some honorable mentions...

Bonnie A's "World's Best Playground!"
Jan's "Legos Are for sissy's"
Double's "Where are the wheels?". Double didn't win because I know he doesn't want any yarn! He is Baby's Granddad and doesn't knit!

Thanks to all for playing and making us all laugh alot! A new contest is just around the corner with a yarn prize that will knock your socks off! Pun intended! Tips for next time...keep it short and sweet...if the title of the photo is too long, it's more of a caption and I'm looking for short and clever! Ciao, Knitters!

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same?

This entry is all about the past. I've been reminiscing about my friends and my hair. And my hairy friends. As time marches on, you change, you mature, you grow, you decay. Take me for instance. I used to wear a wig when I hated my hair. I used to love cats. I wore makeup and didn't wash it off at night. Imagine my pillowcase! I never plucked my eyebrows. I thought I was prettier when I wasn't smiling. I was sure I knew everything...



I used to live in clutter mania...just throwing everything on the floor when I was done with it...I would leave dishes by the bed to grow mold. I skipped most of my college classes. I drove without my seatbelt on. I taught aerobics everyday, twice on Wednesdays. My favorite movie was "Total Recall" with Arnold S.. I wasted alot of time and was frequently bored. Bored! Imagine being bored now! Whoot! Oh, to be bored once again. What does it feel like?



I used to have a Best Friend who I talked to on the phone every night before I went to sleep for hours at a time. Sometimes, one of us would fall asleep on the other end. The other wouldn't notice and would continue talking for an hour or so. Of course, until one needed to scream into the phone to wake up the other because there wasnt a grunt, not a peep. Some nights, the phone had slipped from our faces and we were connected all night thru the phone line. Both of us asleep, the phones slipped from our faces, our hands, our necks and landed silently on the pillows.



But now here he is. He actually fell on my foot tonight when I was reaching for a book off the bookshelf. I cursed him. But then remembered the times we had together and how we would joke that when I died, he would pile my ashes on his mantle and a pony tail of my hair on top of the mound, and my two front bonded teeth stuck on the top for good measure.



I don't really know how to end this entry except to say that, when you're young, you're fixated on your appearance and how people perceive you and how many credit cards you've got to use...but as life goes on, friends die, careers come and go, you have money, you don't have money, children are born, everything...including the way you look and look at life, changes. Completely. Totally.Gentle reader, you already know all this. Essentially, I'm just writing out loud. The welt growing on my foot from the fallen urn made me feel introspective...



You won't catch me wearing earrings or Panty Hose ever again in my life! Glitter on the cheek bones? Hair spray? Never!

Forget Chocolate & Flowers...We Want Yarn.

I Always Like To Think Ahead

Here It Is...

I've realized since seeing this new's broadcast that I need a full face lift, get my teeth fixed , and dye the grey out of my hair. Thank God, I had an Eileen Fisher jacket to throw over my pug-haired Target t-shirt. Enjoy...

Holy Crap!

I must have this phone. Thanks, Mac.

Schaefer Yarn's Martha

I think I love you
but what am I so afraid of? ($40/skein)
I'm afraid that I'm not so sure of (wool, cashmere, dehaired angora),
a love there is no cure for...