Spazzmanda

I’ve been coveting this yarn. It is so very, very sexy. I think that Malibrigo may be my new best friend. So,  I’m making THIS for the spring, in the same color and everything, not because I lack imagination, but because I often bend like a reed to the power of suggestion. Says the shawl “You know you want me….” and I’m all ” yes I do, for you will make my  life complete.”   And then “Faithfully” by Journey plays in my head.  Isn’t that how it goes for you? No? Just me then?

I’ve fallen hard for this yarn and this project, a love I haven’t experienced in a while and I can’t wait to get to work on it in earnest. Uninterrupted. Alone.  Just me and my yarn and my Journey.  But before I’d even let myself cast on, I made myself finished the Palindrome scarf.

Now, don’t get me wrong, knitting with cashmere, and special, special Christmas gifted cashmere is fantastic. And we have a cold pop here in Georgia and I knew it would come in handy this weekend, but I was so damn bored with this pattern I wanted to scream. There’s simple and then there’s a snooze fest and this was that other thing. But I do love the finished product, perfect color, length and the cables are reversible, so that’s pretty cool, not to mention that the cables really enhance the yumminess of the yarn. Overall, I’m pleased with the result (and pleased to be done!) And speaking of reversible cables, if you hate when shawls or scarves have an obvious ‘wrong’ side (which I do) I think the whole reversible concept is really very brilliant. So, one of these days I’m going to make Jeanie (reversible cable and drop stitch shawl.) Because that’s how I roll.

Stay toasty warm this weekend knitting fiends.

Ok, I may have teased a bit. Not MY dress, but my mother’s dress will have to serve as your eyecandy for the day.

My mother, angel, saint, and hot lady that she is was married at the age of 20. The year was 1972 1974. She was fresh as a daisy and it was the 70’s. Gotta love the 70’s. This was wedding number 1 (of 2) and she was so very, very young. Very VERY young. With a teensy ribcage. TEENSIE TINY. Following her wedding, she promptly packed her dress away for the day, YES, that glorious day that her 32 year old daughter would decide to put it on:

and laugh.

I do apologize, it is actually very, very lovely. Abundant with lace (which you know I like;)  and beading. Lots of Lace. LOTS of fabric. Poufy sleeves. And buttons too? I can’t breathe in this thing. Not to mention that it leaves absolutely, positively EVERYTHING to the imagination. I can’t lift my arms and is it hot in here? I feel dizzy. It is oh, so 1972.

You know what? I cherished this day in my grandmother’s home. Because not only was I with my most special of ladies sharing this special memory, it was right after this very moment that I tried on MY dress. There was a moment.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

For more pictures from the “trying on of Mrs. Rebecca’s dress” you can go see my flickr stuff HERE.

I can’t believe I’ve never told this story before. Probably because I didn’t want to change the names to protect the guilty.

Well, once upon a time I worked for someone that provided a service that rhymes with art restoration as an apprentice/assistant. I won’t delve into that too deeply, it was a year of my life I’ll never get back but ultimately great real world experience that has brought me to the place that I am today… hmmm. Food for later thought.

Anyways, Ms. Harmon had an object d’arte that required the services of my employer. He took a very,very long time before finally shopped it out. (This, I was to find out, was most typical of the way he did things, hence the me leaving after a year.) Meanwhile, I’m answering email and doing other assistant-like things for near minimum wage and she emails me. I think, oh -my-god-Angie-Harmon’s-emailing-me! But ultimately I end up having to stall for more time. I remember specifically saying to her that the object would be shipped “presently.” (Who talks like that? I must have thought it sounded professional and confident.)

Then the unthinkable happened and the subcontractor broke the damn thing in delivery.

Smacks forehead. We were at square one again. And I just couldn’t tell Angie Harmon what had happened. Damn.

Angie was displeased. Angie chewed me out. Angie wanted to know on what planet “presently” meant another month.

Ultimately, she did get her item. She was pleased with the work.

But every time I see her on television, I remember that she’s out there and she hates me.

That’s all.

This is one of the funniest sites I’ve seen in a while.

www.engrish.com

Enjoy today and have a laugh, keep warm tonight a blizzard is apparently heading to North Georgia.

No?

It’s not a blizzard?

Then why, exactly, is everyone FREAKING OUT?

It’s cooooold here. Very very cold. Time to load up on knitwear, which I do, but I still don’t like it.

I’m knitting again, not much of interest, a lot of boring cables. But all will be fabulous in the end I’m sure!

First up, Palindrome. I admired a scarf made by the lovely Daye, hers with sparkles, and decided to make one of my own. This yarn was a Christmas gift from my mother, cashmere. I’ve never knitted with cashmere and lord help me, I may never be the same.

Here is a crappy photo:

It is sort of seafoam green. And very soft. The best part is that this scarf is reversible, so no ‘wrong’ sides and it seems to be idiotproof, so I like it. Not very challenging, but good to have on hand if you’re knitting and talking, or knitting and drinking, or knitting and drinking and talking.

Next up: Cable Lace Kimono from sweaterbabe.com I bought this pattern three years ago (?) maybe from this site and haven’t had the guts to start it until now. Cables. Lace. AND a Kimono? Craziness, right?  I bought some “Fine Wool Silk” from Brooks Farm at SAFF this year that had this sweater written all over it. So I dove in. I have to chart each row since there is so much going on so far on the back, two panels of lace, and three different cables, it is enough to drive you crazy if you aren’t careful.

So far, so good. Another crappy photo:

It will look better when blocked, I’m sure.

Stay warm, friends.

Name that movie:

“Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam. And wove, twue wove, wiww fowwow you fowevah and evah… So tweasuwe youw wove”

Name this movie: Somebody’s Getting Married

Now, explain to me the relevance, to me, today, in particular.

More to follow.

So I bought myself a present for Christmas.

A brand new concert flute.

You may naturally be asking why.  I will attempt to formulate an adequate response for such an odd impulse purchase. You may not know that the  Spazz played the flute from grade school through high school. And I didn’t totally suck either, my junior year I made it all the way to fourth chair before I started losing interest and nearing the finish line of my high school career. I maintained a not too shabby front line of the second string, but alas, my instrument was stolen during my senior year over 14 years ago. (I know, who would steal a flute, right?)  I stumbled upon a moderately priced concert flute this weekend at Tuesday Morning of all places. (Don’t you just LOVE Tuesday Morning?)

Long story long, I snapped it up after very little persuasion from mom. Turns out, much to my surprise and the amusement of both Jeff and my mother, I can play a B flat scale AND arpeggio.

Thaaaaaat’s about all folks.  But I look forward to practicing and re-learning what I can so I can bust out  some wicked “rock flute” at a future gathering. I’m thinking some “Smoke on the Water” or “Stairway to Heaven” or even “Enter Sandman” would be nice to add to my repertoire.

I need to work on my posture. And clean some junk off the fridge while I’m at it. (Yes I voted for Obama and yes, I’m currently a little disappointed even though I didn’t like that other guy much either.)

In other news, I finished a cupcake hat. Well, actually, I finished five cupcake hats. There are too many delicious little girls that needed warm heads this winter. Because I am wildly impatient and couldn’t wait until official gifting time, not to mention the fact that this little nugget was hat less on Saturday evening (shame, shame Ole) I have already gifted one hat.

I’ve got it baaaaaaaad for this little one. She’s both my weakness and endless delight. In short, she’s my pwecssssssousssssesssss. Yes, she has red eyebrows .  RED eyebrows I tell you. Be still my beating heart I almost can’t stand it and want to gobble her up every time I see her. The empty womb is apparently knocking. (Don’t worry, I’ve hit snooze.)

Meet Black Santa.  Actually, Black Santa #2. To fully understand why I have a plastic Santa and see it fit to blog about it, I really must go back to the beginning.

Years ago, grandmother obtained a Santa that was a party favor from a church luncheon. There were Santas of all ethnicities, white, red, yellow and african american- the dollar store was cleared out of all to make sure there were enough for each centerpiece. She came home with black Santa. We immediately loved him.  Somehow, mom and I started “hiding” black santa at one another’s house. Over the past ten or so years,some of the better hiding places have included, her underwear drawer, the bottom of a large Sam’s-sized box of laundry detergent or entombed in a can of soup (not the best, she knows the contents of her pantry far too well.) My favorite hiding place from her was when she hid him in a bag of spinach in my freezer.

I feel I have to explain why there are two. Somewhere along the way Black Santa #1 got lost. Or rather, she hid him too well and I never found him.  Well, back this summer I was cleaning out a closet for a garage sale and squeeeeeeee! I found Black Santa #1 in a box of pictures she had  refused to store any longer for returned to me in 2004.

So it was ON. The funny part really is that on the day of said garage sale, Jeff actually helped mom hide Black Santa #2 in my yarn stash all the while (unbeknownst to both of us) working with me to hide Black Santa #1 in the center console of her car.

Neither Black Santa was found until this fall.  Sometimes that is the problem with the game. If it goes on too long you can forget where he be. And you know, Santa can really be anywhere all the time so watch out! This time I wrote a note on the bottom of Black Santa #1, where he was  found and when he was found and then I TOTALLY hid it while at her house during the tea party last month (bwahahahaha.) Oh, and my stepfather was a witness and knows where it is hidden.  (I think it is good to have accomplices/witnesses in this game, makes it that much more fun.)

Merry merry, y’all. More with today’s theme of Santa, here is a site that a friend sent my way: http://www.sketchysantas.com/

We waited in line at the Borders in Atlanta for four hours, but it was totally worth it to meet the Pioneer Woman, sister Betsy, and best friend Hyacinth. If you are not “in the know” about P-Dub, please familiarize yourself with one of the best blogs I’ve ever read over at www.thepioneerwoman.com. She writes amazing recipes (and I mean amazing) and about her life as an “Accidental Country Girl”, her “Marlboro Man” and four beautiful children and her adorable basset hound Charlie.  Oh, and get her book while you’re at it. You know you want to.

I don’t know why we’re all leaning over like this, but whatever.  I was just happy to meet the lady. And she was delightful. She was signing and smiling for hours. What a trooper.

Oh and kniters, I totally geeked out and made her a gift. (I have a strange compulsion to give objects I’ve knat to complete strangers.) I made a very practical headband that will keep  ears warm without messing up the ‘do’. I took no photos of the thing, I just gifted it. It was a fun night.

Me and my two favorite ladies went to see the Rockettes this past weekend, it was awesome. I took but one photo. Luckily it turned out.