C'e Il Grande Cocomero, Charlie Brown!

For those not versed in italian, the title above says "It's The Great Watermelon, Charlie Brown!" I'm pretty sure they have pumpkins in Italy so I am not sure why it was translated this way unless it's just for the fact that "il grande cocomero" is just so much fun to say. Repeat it a few times you'll see what I mean.

I wish I could blame the following on some sort of drug-induced state but I can't unless too many candy corn can be considered mind-altering I have no excuse. It started last week when I saw the pattern for these really cute felted pumpkins. And since I seem to have a strong affinity for small stuffed toys and they are such a simple, quick knit - I made one, then another and somehow ended up with four. Really it's all just a blur. But does the insanity stop there? Um, no.

The Great Pumpkin was on last night and since I had my own pumpkin patch at this point it only seemed fitting to re-create it. But who to fill the role of Linus Van Pelt? (Always a favorite of mine probably due to blankie issues). So below are my casting sessions.

Yeah, I've lost it. And right now my sister is giving me that look. But if I can't be kooky on Halloween.....ah crap I'm kooky every day.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Mini Sock Monkey


Boober the Fraggle


Bunny Peep

I destroyed a UFO!!!

This is not really as exciting as the title suggests but I've learned from my local news stations that it's all about an inticing promo to get you to tune it. My favorites being "Balloons. Why are they so deadly?" and "The Hidden Dangers of Wearing Crocs" - story at 10 on Fox 25!

Whew, back from that tangent....for the non-knitters out there who read my blog (Meg) a UFO is an Unfinished Object. For some reason, my longest UFO ever has been this Brea Bag. It knit up really quickly last November and I loved the way it turned out. And then it sat and sat. It sat while I tried to find a handle for it. And it sat as I tried to find the perfect button. And then is sat for a hell of a long time waiting for me to sewing the lining. Apparently there was a very localized earthquake that seemed to bury only my sewing machine.

I never found a leather handle I liked that didn't cost 2x more that the yarn itself - so I went with a braid of I-cord and there is no perfect button, I decided simple- so as not to distract from the pattern. And it in a fit of neat freak I unearthed my sewing machine. So 11 months after casting on I present my bag.

Happy Birthday Marsy!!!!

Today is my sister's birthday and while I may (or may not) have made her something pretty I can't post pictures yet since she hasn't actually received it. So to fill up this space I'll share a few reasons why she's a cool big sister.

1. She will always be older than me, a bummer at age 12 but looking pretty good now.

2. She doesn't complain when I call her waaaaaaay too many times at work.

3. She gives me 2,000 googly eyes as a gift because she knows I will love it.

4. She is amazingly creative , far more than I could ever be.

5. She proves that there's someone normal who came out of our gene pool. The rest of us are playing Marco Polo in the deep end until we are all pruny.

6. She has put up with my request for a pony far longer than most people would.

7. She knows the difference between icing and frosting (well, now she does).

8. She is a great mom raising a truly amazing kid.

9. It's pretty easy to make her laugh hard enough for beverages to go up her nose. Every smartass (me) needs someone to crack up at family dinners.

10. She know she has to be nice to me or else I teach her daughter the bumblebee song.

I gave her a copy of this picture a few years back but it is really one of my favorite photos ever and damn, aren't we adorable?

Is It Fall Yet?

I was forced to miss Stitch n'Bitch last week because of a business trip to Philadelphia. Trust me as the bumper stickers say "I'd rather be knitting".

It wasn't really that bad, I would to have liked to see the city itself but there really was no time for sightseeing. And my boss was far more interested in watching baseball in the hotel sports bar than venture downtown for a decent meal. My boss is not one to understand that I would much rather be in my hotel room reading Crazy Aunt Purl's book and ordering room service than in a amazingly loud sports bar watching a team I care nothing about. So I feigned a headache and escaped to enjoy my book. I really liked CAP's book but I also find a lot of my neurotic-self in her blog so I am not surprised. Not so much a knitting book as a memoir but very moving and inspiring and hilarious.

I finished up my Danica scarf last week but as it's been either freakishly 85 degrees or raining (neither a good thing for wool)I have not had a chance to wear it outside yet. I love the way it turned out, the Patons SWS seemed to know to change colors perfectly aligned with the squares. And how kick-ass does my first try at entrelac look? Okay, I'm bragging, but I've been around Grandma "Look at my beautiful sweaters!" Harriet this weekend.

Note to self: next project less picking up stitches. I am not a fan of having to pick up many, many stitches.

Finally!!!

Yay! I finally got my invite to ravelry!!!! Just in time for the weekend. Maybe this will give me a good excuse to organize me stash!!! I think I should remember the mantra, if I'm too embarassed to post it on ravelry maybe it should not be taking up room in my apartment. Yeah, I'm taking to you tutti-frutti boucle!

Must go do work instead of play online. Really!

Crazed Knitting Girl

So my folks picked up this poster for a french yarn company at a recent auction. And instantly I had an connection with her. She has brown frizzy hair, chubby cheeks, speaks french, is knitting and is just a wee bit possessed. And I know under that cute dress and she has short stubby legs. Stick a giant bow on my head and we could be twins!

Forgive the not so great picture, I was eager to make her into an avatar (yeah, I'm a geek) and since my mom had not gotten around to taking her picture for their site yet and my dad went out and snagged the photo the auction place used. Trust me Mom's photo would have been much better!

Since I don't have my french-english dictionary handy I am currently using the internet to figure out exactly what it says. (My huge dictionary is at home, the remnants of being a french major). Oddly enough what I thought was a poster for a brand of wool seems to be for scottish(as in the nationality) wool. Maybe that is the name of the wool. The phrase on the diagonal means "non-shrinking wool", so I guess it's superwash? Then along the bottom it says "Ask for our wool in fine stores".

My parents had bought the poster to sell but my mom has offered to give her to me (I do have a birthday coming up...) but I am not sure if I would want to see her crazed eyes staring at me every day. I have to think about it.

Playing Giant

This is a quick and silly post but this project makes me smile and since I have had a crap-tastic day so far anything anything that makes me smile is a good thing.

Saturday was freakishly hot here. What's it doing being mid-90s in September when earlier in the week it was like 60? It was clearly too hot to work on a wool scarf which is my current project while watching a Netflix movie.

So last week, I came across a too cute pattern and I remembered I had a really small ball of Koigu as a remainder from a project 2 years ago. Not enough to do anything real with but just enough to do this. Yes, it's technically a Christmas ornament but it was also just too cute! I just had to make a teeny hanger too!