Dorkus Malorkus

Yes, here I am. An utter dork. Trying not to look devastated. Trying to put on a brave face.

I knew that I needed new glasses. I knew that I picked out my own frames. I knew that I liked the blue Vera Bradley style frames. I knew that my vision was pretty bad. I thought that if I knew all these things that I would be LESS shocked when I tried them on.

HOLY SH*T...they are like mini magnifying glasses on my eyes. I'm serious. (Lora, you know what I mean, right?) It's like I grabbed baby sized microscopes from Ben's toy collection and glued them into fancy ass frames. (whoops)

Ian will put them up to his eyes and say, "I can see through TIME! Cool!" and then, after a minute of trying to look into them and looking confused...then slightly pained, "Damn, how do you see through these things?"

To distract you from my hideousness (I do have contact lenses to wear during the day....thank god!), I will show you a couple things I am working on.

DISTRACTION # 1



Here is my Sahara in it's upper chest stage...up to the armpits....well, 2 inches below the armpits going down to the middle of the chest. I'm lurving this yarn (Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple) and could knit with it forever. The colorway, Ruby Wine, is sooo luscious and it's a semisolid colorway....creating a very nice varigation throughout the tank. mmmmmmm.......

So far, the instructions have been clear and easy to understand. I'm about done with 3 out of the 4 sides of the booklet (very nicely made....hard cardstock and full color) and looking forward to adding that lovely Disco Lights (silk with sequins) trim. Double mmmmmmm.......

DISTRACTION # 2



I'm creating a new lace pattern and this is the Sleepy Eyes Hand Dyed Yarn that I'll be using for it. Laceweight merino, 2 ply....super nice yarn. I dyed another skein (880 yards) for Melissa in a very similar colorway....hers is more lilac and less blue.

I have another skein of this same colorway (the one pictured above) to sell once I get my lazy butt going and post it in my store. If you like it, please email me before I post it....it's $20 with free shipping and, once the pattern is done, the pattern will be sent to you free of charge as well.

I'm calling it "Tanzanite", after the gemstone used in one of my favorite gifts from Ian, a tanzanite, teardrop pendant. I think it was a gift for our 10th wedding anniversary. (Can you believe we just had our 14th anniversary last month???? Whoa.)

DISTRACTION #3

I went scrapbooking with my long time friend, Tammy, on Monday night. We went to the fantastic store, Scrapbook Island and made Birthday Books.

This is my birthday book...



It's got 12 heavy, cardstock pages with a vertical calendar of each month, leaving the facing pages for pics of the birthday guy or gal. It's so cute. We had a lot of fun making it and it was inexpensive, too. Once I grab my book back from Donna (I threw my book in her knitting bag last night to "keep it safe" and forgot to get it from her when she left. Well, at least it's safe, right?

I'd show more pics, but...you know...Donna's got it. LOL!

Okay, so I'm looking for reassurances about my dorkishness vs. contact lensed self and feedback on the tank and yarn. Who's first?

Too Eager

This is Ben when he is looking very eager. Eager to play, eager to eat "chips with green sprinkles" (Sour Cream and Onion), and eager to do new things.

With me, I am usually very eager over one thing. (well...one other thing as well...TMI, right?...LOL!)

Yes, you guessed it.

Buying Yarn



Before entering into the TKGA Knit and Crochet Show last Saturday, I said to Laurin, "Please don't let me buy a lot of yarn. I don't need it." After snorting loudly, she says in a tone I know only too well, "Ha!"

And, you know what happened?

Yes, you guessed right again. (You know me SO well!)

I bought more yarn than I meant to...or at least price wise. (Ian, don't read any further)

As soon as I found this Judith (I think) yarn, Reflections, at the first booth, I bought it. Oh, is it sparkly and gorgeous!



Then, I saw some hand knitted holiday stockings and just HAD to get the patterns for them. They are very unique and fun....



Then, I went to the Yarn and Fiber Co. booth and saw this shawl:

I just HAD to get it...the pattern is from the new book by Cheryl Potter of Cherry Tree Hill yarns, "Special Knits Using Only One Skein"...or something close to that. Isn't it beautiful???



Here is a closeup of the figure 8 design in it:



And, of course, I needed the laceweight yarn to go with it...



At the same booth, I got some of Heather's new hand carded batts: Coral Reef and Smouldering Embers...you can see them in her shop HERE. They're not only super soft, but the colors are LUSCIOUS!



(Heather also surprised me with this fantastic sock bag, too. I am in LOVE with it! I wish I hadn't already finished Ben's socks. Will just have to knit more, I guess!)



The other fiber I got (I cannot remember at all what the company was...I WILL find it...somewhere...) is, I believe, a super sparkly (golden) mohair/wool blend roving in the colorway "Autumn Leaves with Glitz". You can't tell how sparkly and lush the colors are from this photo, though. It's so nice.



Hmmm...what else did I get? Oh, a pattern (and yarn) to make the kids a soft as hell Teddy Bear.



It was a great day (despite my headache) and we all got to sit in the vendor area "cafe" to have lunch. They had nice, big tables and our group all fit at one. Some other shoppers sat there with us as well. I think it was Heather who asked the woman (sitting two seats down from me) what she was here for and she said, "Oh, I'm signing books for the Elegant Ewe." (That's a LYS around here.) And we said, "Which one???" She says, "I wrote, 'Never Knit Your Man a Sweater'." and we almost fell over. ( I MAY have squealed.)



We were so excited to be eating lunch with Judith Durant!!! She was sweet and friendly as can be. I'll just have to find a sweater Ian likes from her book so I can knit it up! That book is GREAT! (please go buy it and support Judith!)

After lunch and much laughter, Jackie, Laurin and I were knitting at the table. Jackie and I happened to see (aka drool over, stare at and envy) a woman from the Dream Weavers Yarns table wearing the sweater we've both wanted to make.



It's the Sahara by the very, very talented Wendy Bernard. I always knew it was the most beautiful and flattering sweater pattern I'd seen, but it was even BETTER in person. Oh, I was weak. Very, very weak.

I ended up buying the pattern and the yarn...actually only 4 skeins of yarn total....3 of Pure and Simple and 1 of the Disco Lights in Ruby Wine. 100% silk. YUMMY! LOOK....



Actually, that was a huge mistake. Not because the pattern isn't fabulous...or the yarn...but for the fact that I am a.....

YARN BULEMIC

(This is not in ANY WAY belittling the people who have the very real condition of bulemia nervosa.)

The wise and witty Ericka came up with this phrase the other night and we couldn't stop laughing because it totally fits me to a T.

I get so super, overly excited about some yarn, I buy it impulsively and then have buyer's remorse the next day. I do love, love the Sahara...but, although I've never knit myself a sweater or tank top or anything, I did overspend on this. Yikes.

So, the Manchvegas Knitters came to the rescue. I sent out a "Yarn Distress Signal" and they came running. I brought some of my most luxury stash yarns to knitting group and sold them all to my friends so I could go back and put the money back for the Sahara "kit" I bought. All even and much, much less guilt. Whew!

Speaking of knitted luxury items....while we were at the show, Jackie almost bought the Mermaid Jacket kit. Look at how beautiful she looks!



The most fabulous Donna (our overseas yarn connection) told Jackie that she could find that kit for $100 less overseas and Jackie was thrilled. Woo-hoo for Donna! And Jackie!

Last, I have to show you this photo of our "Crochet Master" of the group, GiGi. She is holding a kit called, "Knitting with Gigi" and I knew I couldn't leave without taking her pic holding it.



Am I caught up now??

Not sure.

(I'm almost done with Ben's sweater, but have done nothing on my lace trim. I have to get motivated, dammit!)

Hope you're having a good weekend!