KnittyOtter

FO: Branching Out in Alpaca & Silk

I LOVE this scarf on George!! :D

It really makes his eyes and gaping mouth pop. *L*

Speaking of George, check out Walter Greatshell's blog! In this post he featured George. Isn't that sweet. Zombie Love for everyone! :D

Last March I started Branching Out. This past February I got around to finishing it. The sad thing was that it only took about two weeks to knit. One week last March and one week this February. This was a very simple project that I'm sure would have gone a lot faster had I used the chart. *hangs head in shame*

Instead I used the written lace pattern. The year long stand off to complete this came from my lack of keeping track of which row I was on. Then I started a bunch of other projects...

I, KnittyOtter, had an addiction with casting on to new things. I've never been very good at that whole project monogamy thing. I blame that bad relationship with that RockStar back when I first started knitting. Boring Bastard ruined me and now I'm always looking for the next big high.

This year I have decided to make a change. I will try to work on only one or two projects at a time rather than 5 or 7. But first I have to finish up all those projects waiting around for my attention. So in order for me to start Madli on time I wanted to make sure I had one of my lace projects completed. I also completed a pair of socks figuring before I start any new project this year I will need to complete two or more that are unfinished.

Here's the detail shot:

Started: March 11 2008

Completed: February 18 2009
Pattern: Branching Out
Size: 6' 11" long and 6.5" wide
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk - Peacock
Yardage: 2 skeins = 292.0 yards - I had just a yard or so left over.
Needles: Bryspun US 7 16" Circs now a pale shade of peacock...
For: Me!
Purchased at: Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada

This really is a great beginning lace pattern. After having completed this I felt way more comfortable starting something with lace weight yarn and a more complicated pattern such as Madli. Although somehow Madli seem's even easier than Branching Out, but that may just be some weird perspective I have now after Rachel talked to me about reading my lace. :D She also gave me a tip about adding a Yarn Over without ripping back if you forget to add one. I've done that twice now and what a relief not having to frog back over nupps! *L*

The yarn was also a dream to knit with, Mmmm Alpaca and Silk.... So Soft!

Here's one last modeled shot with George. This one shows the color best as it truly is.

Madli Update: Last night I finished the 5th pattern repeat of the center chart… after having to rip back a few rows because I lost a stitch somewhere and got off balance. I think I K2tog'd when I shouldn't have.  But Madli and I are back on track again. Woo!

That makes me think of: Self Centered Twat Monkey Edition

You all know the "That makes me think of" game right? No? Well it's sort of a stream of conscious type thing. Or rather how my brain is ALL the time. o.0

ALL. THE. TIME.

So this morning as I was knitting a row or two on my shawl before getting to work (not a normal occurrence, btw but I got up super extra early so thought why not.) I was thinking about my needles and gauge. I'm knitting Madli with my US 4 / 3.5 mm Metal Knit Pick Option Needles. I would be using my wooden ones as I think they have a bit more grip and make nupps and those sorts of things a bit easier BUT I seem to have misplaced my US 4 & my US 5 wooden tips. I have torn my house apart looking for them. I see now that I will have to order another set of tips to replace them. I've also started putting notes in my needle binder that says which project the tips in use are in. Now I just have to be good about putting the needle tips & cords back once I'm finished with them. Novel concept eh? :P

So anyway... as I was pondering my lost needles it made me think of how my gauge has relaxed a great deal in the last year. Used to be I could knit a pair of socks on a US 2.5 or even 3 and still get gauge. Now I'm knitting my sock on US 1.5 and getting the gauge I want for my socks. If I knit on the US 2.5 they are freakishly big. Which sucks as I have several lovely sets of DPN's in US 2.5 that aren't getting any action.

That made me think of how back when I first started knitting this asshat once put me down for having such tight gauge and bragged about how she had to knit with size US 1 needles to get the gauge that most people get when they knit with a size US 8.

Well La De Fucking Da, you Self Centered Twat Monkey.

First of all why should I even care about some strangers gauge. Why did she feel the need to share that and put me down for being a tight knitter. As if having freakishly loose gauge was any better than being a tight knitter?! o.0 Cause it's not. It just is. Just as being a tight knitter just is. Not good or bad, just whatever each knitter should know about themselves so they know how to proceed when they start a project.

So this morning as I was knitting my shawl and thinking about needles and gauge it occurred to me why that person had done that. Granted this was before there were as many online outlets for attention whores to get their "look at me fix", it's because she was a Self Centered Twat Monkey. *L*

That made me think of the most recent atrocities of selfishness this person has committed lately which made me at that time proclaim, "What a Cunt!" to the person who was wronged by the SCTM. Twat Monkey or Cunt Monkey it's all the same. Those people should be avoid at all costs.

Of course this morning as I was knitting it made me think about how much I love the phrase Self Centered Twat Monkey. :D

Sadly I feel like I know wayyyyy too many SCTM's right now. It's pissing me off and making me grumpy. Yet recognizing I have a problem with SCTM's is the first step to solving the problem. The next step will be to remove them from my realm of existence. :D I did that with a group of Self Centered Twat Monkeys last year and I have been soooooo happy not to deal with them.

So if you find you are dealing with Stupid People or Self Centered Twat Monkeys and it's pissing you off the only advice I have for you is to eliminate them from your life.

Or go on a killing spree, depending on the time of month and your tolerance level for such worthless creatures. ;)

Of course you will need to secure bail money, a good lawyer and an alibi if you are forced into the latter option.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!

Now that brings me back to the original thought which makes me think and question why my gauge has relaxed so much in the last year. Especially considering how stressed I've been.

Historically during times of stress my gauge has tightened up. My stress hasn't decreased any, though perhaps my knitting style has become more confident. That makes me think of the major change in my knitting in the last year. That would be Cookie showing me her fool proof and most awesome toe up short row toes and heels. That sort of clicked a switch in my head and I have a lot more confidence as a knitter. Even though now the Cookie Cutter Short Row Method is second nature and totally obvious at first I wasn't sure and it was a bit like flying blind. I had to have trust and blind faith it was going to work because my brain could not comprehend how it could work. Even if you were to fail though, it's just knitting. *L*

Now all of that makes me think how even though I'm more stressed I can always count on My Best Friend to be there for me. Even when I suck. That makes me less stressed. Throw in The Honey and Rendog and a few other people who have been added to my solid rocks of stability in the storm of life and you have more relaxed gauge in my knitting even though the world is in chaos. *L*

That makes me think how lucky I am to have the people I love in my life and how those few Self Centered Twat Monkeys don't really matter or bother me too much in the big picture.

But it's still really fun to say SELF CENTERED TWAT MONKEY!! :D

Edit: Damn this is a long post. I should give a virtual chocolate chip cookie to anyone who actually reads the whole self indulgent thing. *L*

The start of something beautiful...

And more than a little fun and satisfying. :D

I'm doing a Madli's Lace Shawl Knit Along with Cookie, Joan and Carrie.

I cast on way too early in the morning on a flight back east on March 1st. (midwest?, but way further east than I am, so it's back east to me. o.0)

Lemme tell ya, casting on to lace in flight is not as fun as you might think. Thankfully I didn't poke anyone's eye out. Though the Flight Attendant serving me the white wine may have thought I was a bit off my rocker. Granted the wine came on the second flight and I was well into the edge chart by then. :P (It was free, as that is the only reason to drink while flying...)

The yarn is Madeline Tosh Silk Lace Weight in the colorway Tourmaline from the Magnolia Society Club last year. Yummy Stuff!

I am loving this project!!

Oh and here's a photo I took when I was out with my brother Rendog on Saturday. I think we were at our third stop of the day... It was a delightful 73 so we were sitting outside enjoying the fair weather. Granted I only completed one pattern row and one purl row, but still without any mistakes. *L*

I've never given up on Resolution # 10, though I have been letting it slack for the most part. Unless I'm hanging out with Rendog that is. I'm going to see him again next week in Los Angeles so let's hope my liver is up to it. :P

I'm wondering which yarn shops to visit while I'm in LA... *giggles madly as my pocket book tries to hide from me*

George Wants To Hug Walter Greatshell!

Congratulations on your FOUR book deal with Berkley!!

Early today while I reviewing blogs and whatnot George let out a giddy girlie scream of delight. Now I'm used to him making comments over my shoulder as I go about my various activities online through out the day, but this was something different. Plus he normally only has snarky things to say about badly knit items, people who can't use Google to save their lives or the hordes of stupid humans who irritate the crap monkeys out of him. It's hard being a forward thinking Zombie in these crazy times. heh.

Yet when his shriek of delight nearly burst my eardrums I too had to take a closer look to see what had ignited him so.

First I noticed in Walter's post of yesterday that he had acquired out of the blue a FOUR book deal with Berkley. *Happy Otter Dance*

Finally! The honey and I have been waiting eons and eons for more of his books to get published. Well at least since 2005, which in Ottertime is wayyyyyyy too long to wait.

You'll notice in the photo that George is hugging two copies of Xombies. Yeah... so the honey found the book at the bookstore and thought it looked good. He'd never heard of Walter Greatshell before but given our love of Zombies decided to give it a try. When he started reading the book he was overcome with excitement and had to tell me all about it. He left out the bits that would have spoiled the twists and turns for me but gave me just enough that I was left impatiently waiting my turn to read it.

Once The Honey had finished reading the book he looked up the Author to see what else he had written. Sadly there wasn't anything else published at that time AND you couldn't get another copy of it anywhere. o.0 Frightening indeed!

This made The Honey extra protective of the one copy of Xombies we had in our possession.

There were RULES to reading the book. We could't take it with us during travels, especially any kind of air travel. (Just the thought of loosing this in some crappy airport or a hotel makes my skin crawl!) We could not read it while soaking in the bathtub. (granted this rule was aimed at me, even though I've never dropped a book in the bathtub ever. *sigh*) We also couldn't read it outside on very windy days. (It's Reno, the wind can rip the pages or even whole books from your hands without any notice.)

One day I was doing a random search through Amazon to see if anything new had been published by Walter Greatshell when they had some "alternative seller" copies of Xombies for sale. I snatched up one pristine copy along with the book The Undead: Flesh Feast (Zombie Anthology) featuring a forward by Walter Greatshell. I wrapped them both up and gave them to my honey. It was one of the best Birthday gifts I have ever given him. :D

Naturally he loved it, but questioned if perhaps we shouldn't just go ahead and get another copy, ya know just in case something happened to the two we now have. *L*

With two copies I still haven't risked breaking any of the rules. It is THE BEST Zombie / Apocalypse book EVER!

It's not just the compelling storyline that makes this book so memorable, but the actual writing skill. I know, a rarity these days for certain. But damn-it these books are wonderfully written with stylish turns of phrase that make you stop and think... and if you're a dork like me, think what a great quote that would make. *L*

The second best Zombie / Apocalypse book ever would be Stephen King's Cell. Great book, but still second best.

So you can see how excited George was at seeing his favorite Zombie Author finally getting the publishing love he deserves. :D

But that wasn't all!

At the end of Walter's post he mentions how he would like to Hug My George! *L* Priceless!

George being all dramatic, as anyone named after the Great Zombie Film Legend George A. Romero can expected to be, then insisted we take a special photo to post on the blog today.

Xombie George!

Now of course we have before us the long task of waiting for the books to come out. o.0

Chances are I'll knit a lot of socks before then. Maybe even some lace. *L*

Hell if I'm real lucky I'll finish the five pairs I have going right now. :P

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Dreaming of Autumn Scarf: Final FO of 2008

Goodness I just looked through my 2008 Completed Projects Thingy and I really didn't finish much last year. I did start an awful lot of new things. Many have been frogged, live and learn and more are just waiting to be finished. A few things were completed but never made it to the blog due to lack of photo taking. Opps.

Here is the scarf I finished last November as modeled by the ever lovely George.

Pattern  : Drop Stitch Scarf by Christine Vogel

Made for : ME!

Size : 8 feet long & 4 inches wide (Crazy Ass Long!)

Needle s: US 7 / 4.5 mm

Yarn : Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend - 2 skeins

Colorway  3109

Purchased at: Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada

Notes: Cast On 8/3/08 @ 9:00 pm

The color reminded me of late summer/early autumn when the mums are all out and it’s time to go play in a maize maze and pick your pumpkins. :D

The yarn tends to fuzz up FAST and lose its wonderful shine and luster, still pretty but a bit of a shame. :/

If I made this pattern again I would make it wider and shorter.

Here's a better view of the gorgeous colors.

Now for a bit of random... I love William Shatner.

I was just listening to a William Shatner & Ben Folds song a bit ago. The song is called "In Love".

In general it's a damn funny song, but this bit caught me just right.

"I don't feel enough of anything
to harbor the kind of disdain
that you'll maintain

you painted me into what you
wanted to see,
and that's fine,

but you will never know me"

The bit about the being sworn to secrecy by the international brotherhood of lying fickle males tickles me pink also. *L*

If you haven't heard it yet give it a listen here. ;)

P.S. Every time I come to TypePad everything is freaking different. o.0

Yes…no…I… this is

I'm just a girl who can't say no... *L*

I saw this on Carole's blog a while back.

YES/NO GAME RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

You can only say yes or no. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments and asks what the dealio is.

Over 18? Yes
Danced in front of your mirror naked? Yes
Ever told a lie? Yes
Been arrested? No
Kissed a picture? Yes
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Held an actual snake? Yes
Have YOU Ever run a red light? Yes
Ever drink and drive? Yes
Been suspended from school? Yes
Ever been fired from a job? No
Totaled a car/motorbike in an accident? Yes
Sang karaoke? Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Ever laughed until you wet yourself? No
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? Yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Thought about your past with regret? Yes
Been pushed in the pool with your clothes on? No
Shaved your head? No
Blacked out from drinking? Yes
Had a gym membership? Yes
Been in a band? No
Shot a gun? Yes
Liked someone with nobody else knowing about it? Yes
Played strip poker? Yes
Been to a strip joint? Yes
Donated Blood? Yes
Liked someone you shouldn’t? Yes
Have a tattoo? No
Have or had any piercings besides ears? No
Made out with a complete stranger? Yes (but we've been together 10.5 years now so it's okay!)
Caught someone cheating on you? No
Skinny dipped? No
Regret any of your ex’s? Yesssssssssss
Been to a rodeo? No
Been to a NASCAR race? No
Been in Love? Yes

Yes I broke the rules on that one, but as it was the only time it happened and the love at first sight stuff I figured I should speak up. :P

Oh and the title of this post is a quote from ButtMonkeyW. Go figure. It's also a line from a catchy song I enjoy. :P

*Happy Dance*

YAY!!! So yesterday ended up being a very good day.

Hope, I has it! :D

I wasn't planning on watching the results come in. But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Glad I stayed to watch.

I even made Obama Brownies. :D They are the best brownies ever and if I can get my act together I'll post the recipe. It's a Truffle brownie, if'n you know what I mean.

Yesterday as I went through the range of emotions finally ending in tears of sweet sweet relief I thought about what today would be like.

I was either going to cry for a solid week in angst or cry off and on in relief and joy.

Thank goodness Joy won out.

You know maybe people aren't so bad. Maybe they aren't so stupid. Maybe there is hope for the damn humans afterall. (still hate them though :P)

Thank goodness the stick of stupidity and selfishness has been pulled out of the behinds of most of the people who voted yesterday. :D

I will be most thankful to have a president I don't feel like my cat is smarter than. Or the rocks in my backyard for that matter.

It will be nice to listen to a presidential speech and not see the sneers of a mentally challenged person who thinks he got away with stealing cookies from the jar. (in his case that may be what he did since it was obvious his unkie dick was making the decisions...)

It will be nice to have a leader who can lead and use his brain and chooses to do so on a regular bases.

I don't want a President I can have a beer with, I want one that I can look up to. (Actually the only person I drink beer with I deeply respect and is a very intelligent grad student.) I'm sick of thinking of the current douche monkey when I see the Strangers with Candy opening. I always think, "a boozer, a user, and a two term loser".

I don't want a president that will take more vacations at the worst time ever in my living history, I want one who will take his job seriously. (Actually it may be a good thing this asshat took so much time off, think of all the damage he could have done if he were on the job more. o.0)

It'll be weird believing in our President. I never really thought it was possible.

75 more days to go though. May the pass in peace.

I is a Happy Otter and I has a Happy Otter Dance.

And my cat won't stop meowing at me today. o.0 (What you needz fuzzbut?)

In other news I got the Toddler Flu of Doom. This poor little tiny kid in a Monkey costume was dragged to my door by his cruel mother. He looked miserable and had a slug like stream of yellow slime running from his eye down his cheek. Like a freaking roll of infected quarters, that's how big it was. o.0 48 hours later I am sneezing and coughing and today when I looked in the mirror it was to see my right eye barely open. (without the slime slug thank goodness!) If I knew which house that kids mom lived in I'd track her down and spit on her. Or sneeze on her as would more likely happen. The poor kid was too young to even know what was going on with the candy and costumes so why did his fool ass mother drag him out of the house so sick to infect the rest of us. Meh. Maybe the humans are just that stupid. But that was before the election. I have to hope people wise up sooner or later. Maybe anything is possible. ;)

Knitting Content Soon!

The longest wait ever...

I voted on October 18th. I wanted to make sure I got my vote in so I went on the first possible day that I could.

Since then I've been waiting. Today has been a rollercoaster of emotions. For that matter so has the last year. Just another long wait.

For the last year when things started to really rev up I have been in this anxious cycle of hope and despair. Maybe things will change... nah they haven't before, why should they now... but maybe they will...

In part the election has been why I haven't blogged as much the last year. I've been biting my tongue... About the current group of assholes mucking things up and about the future assholes who could muck it up. I've deleted sooooo many drafts of posts about politics and how the world is so farking fucked up.

After looking at how things are so fucked up with our government and how things have just gone so so wrong it's hard to even be able to understand what the point of anything is. They are gonna mess it all up so why bother trying anything.

Can a person become depressed by too much news coverage of a war we should have never been involved with, citizens getting screwed over hand over first and a planet ready to kick us off if we don't make some changes soon?

Yes, yes you can.

My feelings of despair have gotten worse as the time has drawn closer to the big day.

Hell for the last few months since what's her ass was named what's his asses running mate I've been wondering if maybe the country hasn't been punk'd or being put on candid camera. We were supposed to buy THAT? What an insult. I've read that she was selected to get the female vote that was ready to follow Hilary anywhere. What an insult to Clinton. o.0 Oddly this nonsense has made me respect Clinton a great deal more. What an insult to the voters who would have voted for Clinton to pick some folksy ass dipshit to try to lure them over. Shows you how messed up the 'Pubs are thinking they can get that vote based on a vagina and not brains. *head desk*

So I voted for the candidate that I hope will be able to pull this country up from the muck this last asshole got us into.

I'm assuming you can tell who I voted for considering I didn't want the crazy old white guy or his failed beauty queen and all the bullshit, lies and continued fuckery that we would have gotten with them.

If he gets it he'll have a long ass way to go and a lot of crap to clean up. I'm not sure that can even be done in four or eight years, but at least it's more likely that if McNut got in.

For the first time since I started voting I have hope that something will be different. The last few times it was fear that things would only get worse, and boy was that feeling spot on. o.0

I've had people recently tell me I'm too emotional about this. What the hell?! Why shouldn't I be emotional about the fate of the fucking country and how we interact with the rest of the world?

I'd be concerned with anyone who wasn't emotional about this. o.0

I'm glad I voted early. Waiting until today this year would have made me feel like my skin was on fire.

As it is, it's gonna be a long night.

So far Kentucky has gone to McNut and Vermont has gone to Obama.

My everything is crossed that Obama will get in. I don't think I can take another term of fucking crazy and stupid.

I think I need some chocolate to cope with the wait this evening. Good thing we have some leftover candy from Halloween night. ;)

My Halloween Personality Hates Your Halloween Personality

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. Sneaky and devious, people should really watch out for you. You are usually underestimated and forgotten. Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope. You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Some of that is freakishly spot on... some not so much. Considering I hate people, why would I want to make anyones day. :P

In other news the honey has headed my plea to go humane on the mystery kitty poo offender. He placed some TKK poo in the backyard and that has scared the mystery poo-er away!! :D YAY!!! (That or the coyotes got it. o.0 You can never be too sure out here.)

He tried to get TKK to go out there but she was having none of that so we had to retrieve from the box, but it still worked. I'm muchly relieved. 

Tomorrow is Halloween. Maybe I'll have time to take some pics of my Socktoberfest Socks even though they aren't completed. It's been a busy month. o.0