Posted on

New Yahoo group

 I started a new Yahoo group, Santa Barbara Knitters,  since the santa barbara stitch n’ bitch group is no longer available. Please spread the word, we’ll use it just like we used the old one to keep in touch & find new members.

Here is the html code for the group. I will have it on the side bar also.

<center>
<a href=”http://groups.yahoo.com/group/santabarbaraknitters/join”>
<img src=”http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/yg/img/i/us/ui/join.gif” border=”0″
  alt=”Click here to join santabarbaraknitters”><br>Click to join santabarbaraknitters</a>
</center>

Posted on

self portrait tuesday with explanation

This months spt topic is described below

February Challenge “all of me”

“all of me” embrace your mistakes, love the ugly bits.
I want this to be a challenging month – we have had it easy over christmas and the holidays but now it is time to look deep inside ourselves and embrace and face our whole selves. I don’t want to see any perfect images, any pretty studio like images, no perfect hair or makeup, get rid of the masks you use to face the world.
I was inspired for this challenge by reading a recent Keri Smith post.

“For my whole life I have had difficulty looking at photos of myself. It was as if that person could never be enough for me, I did not want to see any of my flaws (or the things I percieved as imperfect).”

“How to love that image flaws and all. Yeah it looks like I have a double chin and a huge nose, and I don’t know why I ever thought that skirt looked good on me. fuck it. that is all of me. Yes I can love me when the situation is favourable and flattering, and everything is just so, but can I love me when things are messy?” Keri Smith from Wish jar journal
Technical tips:

  • use old photos of yourself that you hate but could never throw away – that dreadful high school photo with braces and a bad perm and horrible acne.
  • take new photos – showing those bits you always try to hide – the hairy nostrels, the stretch marks, the cracked feet, the greasy hair, the saggy bits.
  • take photos of yourself on a bad day, don’t smile, be in a mad mood, look grim, look angry, look sad, cry and be fragile – embrace your emotions as part of your self.
  • set up something if you like – sit in a pile of dirty laundry, be surrounded by clutter and mess, show the stains on the walls and the crumpled sheets – don’t clean up.
  • dress up in your worst outfit – that too tight, lime green midriff top that you bought in a rash moment hoping to lose weight, those old, cut off faded jeans with a hole in the arse and showing too much celulite covered thigh that you always wear when cleaning the house.
  • be free to show the dark side, the ugly side, the raw and dirty and clumsy side, the grim the grimy and saggy side.
Posted on

Today is the day for an actual post, not just a pic

Sorry about no actual wordy posts but my blog server has been all screwed up & everytime I get a big ol’ long post done it gobbles it up & sends it to no-man’s land! I even tried to select all then copy & paste, yeah, that didn’t work either!

Life in general has been good, knitting group last week was really fun! We had 2 new ladies, Betsy & Cristy. That reminds me, does anyone know if Erin (the newer Erin, not yarnscapades Erin) has a blog? I will try to remember to ask her tomorrow night at the Java Station.

On the knitting front, Tracy’s blanket is coming along swimmingly. I made myself a pair of gauntlet style wristwarmers out of a random ball of koigu kppm I had sitting around hollering at me. ( I just broke into song in my head…I ain’t no hollaback girl!) I used the chevron garter stitch pattern out of the vogue fall 2005 for the wristwarmers/legwarmers. I just altered it a bit & didn’t make them so long. Although i am totally making myself a pair of the legwarmers, I just haven’t decided what yarn to do them out of. Hmmm…..decisions, decisions!

I would also like to welcome Cristy to the knit blog addiction! We brought her full force into the knitting world last week, mostly Tracy’s doing. But at least we got another one hooked!

I thought it would be fun to make another pair of socks but this time I wanted to go all out & see how many different techniques I could use to construct one pair of socks. SO I started out with a 2 needle, 2 sock, toe-up construction on size 0’s with some dk weight tangerine colored sock yarn. Just stockinette for the toe but now I am thinking I may do some fun pattern for the rest of the sock. It’s got a heel that I have not constructed before so that will be a fun little twist! It’s funny how when you are knitting 2 of something (sleeves, both socks) at a time that you feel like you are getting nothing accomplished! Frustrating but then you realize when I am done, I am done! No second sock to procrastinate over!

Of course there are a dozen projects that have been put away since I started Tracy’s blanket. It will be fun to pull out the Leaf Pullover from Loop-d-loop, the eyelet pullover from vogue fall 2005 and of course the camping sweater. Those are my 3 goals to have complete by the end of September. That way I can focus on the debbie bliss fair isle and the new rowan 38 mag Brocade sweater.  the yarn is ordered & shippped, it should arrive shortly!! Woohoo!

The gift knitting is kind of here & there. The only two items I am concerned with are my mom & dad’s christmas gifts. They are long, detailed knits. So I best work on them a bit at a time! I haven’t even cast on my dad’s. That will be something that happens as soon as Tracy’s blanket is completed. Promise!! I may even hold off on some of my sweaters to make sure that theirs get done on time. So sad! I can’t always be selfish in my knitting?? What?? So not fair!

Oh & of course there is a baby on the way for a close friend. That I am excited about, I love knitting for babes & moms! It’s just so damn fun to make little things! For the mom I was thinking a feather and fan shawl would be nice to cover up with. Kind of a baby & mom gift. I have some great tan/white cotton slubby yarn that I think it will look nice out of. I only have until November for that though. Hope she doesn’t read this! Whoops, I don’t think she does though. Oh well! <shrug>

Off to get something accomplished today!