And we're back!

So, as promised, I come to you bearing photos and other goodies...little nuggets of delicious knitting-ness. On a random side note, the word "nuggets" just reminded me of these amazing corn nuggets you can get at this bar on Ft.Myers beach. They are crunchy and delicious and covered in powered sugar. Mmmmm....corn nuggets. Anyway.

Knitting:

• My papa was kind enough to con my niece into taking photos of him in his scarf. I absolutely love how stern he looks in this photo. He's not really as stern...more like a live Buddha figure, very peaceful, very chill, and knows what's up with life. I learn more about him and respect him more with each passing year. When I pointed out he is wearing shorts with his scarf, he told me it was because he wanted to demonstrate the fact that the scarf was an all-weather scarf. God, I love my papa.
• I finished the body of the Shortie Jacket! Now I just have to do collar and sleeves, install a zipper, weave in ends, and block. I block EVERYTHING. Cross your knitting needles and toes for me that I have enough yarn to finish it. If I don't, I'll be on the hunt for another ball of Ornaghi Filati: Red Dune color: 002 Lot: 70954.
• I recast-on the MAN socks. I am, yet again, attempting to do the double-knitting, two socks at once, thingie. Hence the REcast-on. The first and second attempts did not work out. I have high hopes for this pair. Here is a close-up of the cast-on, should you feel like attempting it yourself... It looks a little wonky in the photo but that will iron itself out when I start knitting away at them later on today. And because it's hilarious, I have included a photo of one of the balls of yarn I am using for the socks. It's an unholy mess but not tangled, yet... And the close-up gives a nice representation of the colors of the yarn, which I love.
  
• That brings me to my Project Spectrum 2.0 April/May project. I've decided to make myself a pair of socks (Yes, something for me!). I have more Plymouth Sockotta in shades of pink (fuschia, bubblegum, and straight-up pink), orange, and a bit of yellow. I might even do a lacy, patterned pair, if I can screw up the courage to do it. I want to make 'em nice and long because I love love love long socks.
  
• The outcome of the project for my last knit-along, on Get Stitchy, was going along swimmingly. I was right excited because I had "finished" the mitts I made for my cyber chica, who goes by Emily B. I was getting ready to block them and make them smell nice (aka not like my sweaty hands, cat, etc.) when I realized that one of these things is EXACTLY like the other.... which is just no good if you are trying to make a pair of anatomically correct mitts. Unless the esteemed Emily B. has two left hands, I have to make a right mitt, well two right mitts, actually, in order for them to be a pair. I've done this same thing (made two left mitts) on two other occasions while making mitts. Needless to say, I laughed my tookas off when I realized it because such a mistake is such a me thing to do. I am just one step closer to being a certifiable lunatic. I will be casting on for the right-handed mitts here later on today despite the fact that she will now have to wait a whole year to use them (when it gets cold again). *Insert big, sad, apologetic face here* Commence laughter.
• I think I'm done with knit-alongs. I get all stressed out and I don't enjoy what I'm knitting because of the whole deadline thing. I don't mind a deadline if it's for something work related, like the lingerie line I'm working on, but if it's for fun, then I want to poke my eyes out with my knitting needles, especially when I read about everyone's progress on the forums. It makes me feel like such a slacker and I don't like that feeling. So no more knit-alongs for me.
• For my April 2007 UFO project, I will be frogging my sister's pedicure socks and making her something else with the yarn, probably something felted, like a cosmetics bag. The socks are just waaaaaay too stiff and crunchy looking. I learned a lot while making them so I'm chalking them up to a learning experience and leaving it at that. I just realized that I am going to have to get some zippers as quite a few of my projects require zippers. Hmmm....

Tales from the tattoo shop:

• So this couple comes in last night and She is asking for a cursive name on her neck or something. Travis quotes her a reasonable price ($80) for it and She commences to ask if it would be cheaper if she put it somewhere else or uses a different style of lettering. Travis explains to her the shop minimum ($40) and that it gets you 1" squared worth of tattoo, something simple, like a kanji. She thinks about this for a millisecond and then starts sighing and asking more questions about the name tattoo. Travis stops her and asks her if She is looking for the cheapest tattoo She can get. She acts all put off. In the meantime, her boyfriend starts laughing at her when Travis asks her that. She shoots her boyfriend a mean-ass look and he immediately straight-faces it. It was classic comedy at its finest, completely unscripted.
  

Partaking in culture:

• I am still loving The Russian Debutante's Handbook. I read a chapter or two every evening before I go have sleepy-time. Good, funny, interesting stuff.
• I am nearly finished with The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes on www.JollyRoger.com. If you haven't checked out their site, I recommend you do so immediately after reading my blog. They have a ton of classic books available for free online and they are great to read while you knit, etc. No page flipping, no trying to figure out how to make a book stay open, just a bit of scrolling every now and again. Did I mention it's free?
• We watched "Fast Food Nation" and "The Curse of the Yellow Flower" (I think that's the name of that film) on DVD the other night. I had read Fast Food Nation and they did a good job of humanizing a non-fiction book in the film. The final scenes are disturbing and may put you off of beef for a while. "The Curse of the Yellow Flower" was visually stimulating but rather boring. The plot was hackneyed and the action was condensed into about three minutes towards the end of the film. It's a suitable film to have on in the background while you are doing other things.

Well, my dear bloglings and blogettes, there you have it. A full and complete update on my knitting life and darn near everything else. Pee-nah-lope is going into heat, which sucks because she meows really loud, and we really really have to have her fixed (because, at present, she's broken). I think it's even annoying the Poogar. They got into some crazy fight the other night, right around sleepy-time, of course. I think it might be lunch-time. I'll see y'all soon, my friends.

Transmission Ended