new knitty, daisys & the power of om

well, the new knitty fall issue is up and i'm chompin' at the bit for those fall surprises! soon i will find out if my photo of the latifah scarf will be published in the knitty 2006 calendar. it's been two long months of waiting. keep your fingers crossed. i wouldn't mind being ms. october or something. i really think the "tree hugger" pose of the scarf wrapped jauntily around a beautiful mossy tree at muir woods captured what they were looking for, but a spin of the troll doll for luck can't hurt!

daisys.... my favorite flower. be it white marguerites (which maggie was named after), shastas, or the ne plus ultra... gerbers. i am now fully ensconced in daisys. the daisy variety i speak of is girl scouts kindergarten level. they ask for a leader volunteer and i waited. my friends were proud of me for not jumping right away.. but after a week with no leader, i couldn't take the pressure any longer and my hand flew up. so, i will have 8 little girls in two straight lines in my charge. it will be really fun and rewarding watching the lil gals grow, make bonds, learn their capabilities and empower them as they hurtle toward their bright futures. DAISYS ROCK!

lastly, i have taken steps to a stronger mind and body. i'm back in betsy's gentle care and restoring my body and mind with wednesday morning yoga. it is so refreshing and wonderful.

namaste

bags, skulls & knickers - oh my!

i wanna rock ... ROCK! for my dear friend andrew i created a pattern to make an intarsia hat with skull & crossbones. special touches thanks to red eyes, so help me god.. red eyes. no, andrew is not scott farkus, but he's a hep cat living nor'east of sunny california. hopefully this will keep his melon warm once the harsh new england winter rears it's ugly heed. now mags wants a hat just like this. i think she may end up being a sk8r girl or mild goth. i'll take that to a bratz worshipping mini ho any day. happy birthday andrew!

memo to self, not good to throw knitted items for felting into longest wash cycle unattended......twice. turned out just fine, i have a smashing little bag that is like my version of the mary poppins carpet bag. it's deceptively demure on the outside, but you can pack alot of crap into it. viola! it's just like the great big afro'd painter bob ross says....there are no mistakes, just happy accidents! now, where did i put my thalo blue?

now, i am one of those birds that didn't care much for barbie's as a kid. as an adult i liked them even less. well, one day maggie comes in and is completely excited about the fact that our neighbor gave her a bunch of her granddaughter's dolls. while it was a lovely gesture (could we have been pawning junk off on unsuspecting children?) i can't help but wonder why she didn't ask myself or chris first. if i give anything to a kid i always ask one or both parents first.

well, amongst the rabble i find a thousand tiny polly pocket sized dolls and accessories (argh) and worse yet, a barbie (gasp), but wait..... even more horrifying.. "my scene" barbie dolls!!! bless my corns i nearly had a case of the vapors. now i am no prude, believe me, but these dolls are not an image i want mags to view as "normal". while not as horrendously slutty as the bratz dolls, mattell tried to make hip, urban slighly ho-ey dolls. i don't want my daughter playing with hookah dolls.

i let mags play with them for a few days but i couldn't take it any longer and told her they had to go. to make nice i explained that barbie's would be okay and we'd find a new barbie. enter disneyland and their fab little "then and now" 50th anniversary barbie doll. so, now we have a few barbie dolls. and compared to what else is out there, i have to say bab's isn't all that bad. the poor girl didn't come with skivs - i certainly wouldn't let her sit her pristine bum on the seats of the BART! i searched and found this fab little pattern by sarah bradberry http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/toys/undies.htm and alas babs is no longer going commando.

i can't stop cabling!!!!!

i think there may be something seriously wrong with me. i cannot stop cabling! ever since i designed this pattern it's like my "go to comfort knit". now everyone says, "you should TOTALLY sell those" but let's be real. the minute it becomes a "have to" it will lose it's sex appeal. this is a sunshiney yellow version for my sweet friend heather. honestly she is the nicest person on the face of the earth and as i always tell her she is so kind, she makes princess diana and mother teresa look like harlots. how many vegan PETA members do you know that will cook a steak for their hubby. she's a grand example of staying true to one's convictions without foisting it on others or making them feel guilty. see? told ya she's wonderful.... mother teresa who?

heather loved her sunshiney yellow cabled clutch. it helped that the fine people of brown sheep yarn co keep their nebraska sheep so happy. i wasn't about to knit a wool clutch for heather from abused overfed new zealand sheep. i have another one of these little babies in persian peacock turquoise just waiting to be finished for my adoptive mom. i've been waiting to surprise her.

i just finished knitting a yoga mat bag and felted. i fear as the pattern described it may take longer to dry than to knit. at least i used up four skeins out of my embarrassingly enormous yarn stash. i knew it was out of hand, but then one day chris went to retrieve some tp from the annex and when he opened the door several balls fell upon his beautiful shaved head. i happened by at the time and was trying to make a surreptitious retreat, but he spotted me. he just glanced at me from the side as the yarn kept falling and said "andiiiiiiieeeee...." in that sweet "oh honey, you're hopeless" way. i marched my arse down to target that same week and got a little tote to shove some in neatly. at least he wasn't concussed!