I know.

I have missed you so, little bloggy. OK, not THAT bad, or I would update you more often.

I've gotten back into yarn, I was kind of off it for awhile, I tried REALLY hard on something that simply refused to come together so I just got mad and quit for a few months but now I'm back at it and I have missed it more than I thought.

I'm going to try a new knitting project from an old book. It calls for a bulky yarn discontinued in 2005 so I have to try to substitute something else. I think the search might be fun if I go somewhere with helpful staff and not Michael's or something.

I also got to meet someone at a yardsale Sunday who added me on Ravelry (woo!) and I got a stack of yarn on the cheap so I am looking forward to figuring out what I can do with Cotton Cashmere. It's lovely to touch and a nice color to boot. Oooh, can I make boots?

Anyway. I just finished something but it's a present so I can't talk about it here. But I'll post about it in the future.

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Star Trek Dishcloth Pattern

While I am not generally a knitter, I have discovered this pattern and actually knit several dishcloths from it. I have a hard time reading the page (black links on dark gray), and every time I Google the pattern I have a hard time finding it so I am pasting it here to keep it handy. This pattern was written up by Samantha and it is NOT mine. I claim NO credit or anything else. I made a couple of edits to the pattern but no changes to the actual knitting-I just added each row because when I print it off I like to mark what row I'm on and with all the even numbered rows missing I can't keep track of where I am. I will point out here that I have used plain old kitchen cotton and a pair of size 8 circulars and done well with this. Here goes!

Star Trek Dishcloth

Materials

Worsted weight dishcloth or baby cotton – I used Lily Sugar Babies cotton, which has been discontinued, but Lily Sugar n’ Cream or Bernat Cottontots would work well too.
4.5mm knitting needles.
Tapestry needle.

Instructions
Cast on 34 stitches.

1. Knit          2. Knit          3. Knit          4. Knit
5. k4, p26, k4          6. Knit
7. k4, p5, k1, p20, k4          8. Knit
9. k4, p5, k1, p20, k4          10. Knit
11. k4, p5, k2, p19, k4          12. Knit
13. k4, p5, k3, p12, k1, p5, k4          14. Knit
15. k4, p5, k4, p11, k1, p5, k4          16. Knit
17. k4, p5, k6, p8, k2, p5, k4          18. Knit
19. k4, p5, k7, p6, k3, p5, k4          20. Knit
21. k4, p5, k9, p3, k4, p5, k4          22. Knit
23. k4, p6, k14, p6, k4          24. Knit
25. k4, p6, k14, p6, k4          26. Knit
27. k4, p7, k12, p7, k4          28. Knit
29. k4, p7, k12, p7, k4          30. Knit
31. k4, p7, k12, p7, k4          32. Knit
33. k4, p8, k10, p8, k4          34. Knit
35. k4, p8, k10, p8, k4          36. Knit
37. k4,  p9, k8,  p9, k4          38. Knit
39. k4, p10, k6, p10, k4          40. Knit
41. k4, p10, k6, p10, k4          42. Knit
43. k4, p11,  k4, p11, k4          44. Knit
45. k4, p12, k2, p12, k4          46. Knit
47. k4, p12, k1, p13, k4          48. Knit
49. k4, p26, K4          50. Knit
51. Knit          52. Knit          53. Knit          54. Knit
Bind off.

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Remember Me?

I'm trying to pick up the crafty piece of my life again, so I want to make sure I'm documenting properly. This is the blog I linked to from Ravelry so I want to come back to it and make it interesting and up to date. You know, like posting at least once yearly. I'm keeping expectations low for now. I have actually done well with knitting, completing a few more desperately geeky dishcloths, and if I can spend a little time with my photos, I have some nice pictures of crafty bits that I can show you. If I update again in 2009, I have exceeded expectation and beyond that everything else is bonus, right? (:

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Knitting Newbie Revolution!

OK, so I'm not the greatest of knitters. I do small things and I have a very hard time with purl, it just makes me miserable and I hate it. I've made a couple of dishcloths for people and basically that's been it. Well I made most of a Gryffindor scarf because it was a thousand yards of yarn in the same stitch but I can't bear to fringe it for some reason because then I could get it out of my bag and on my neck but whatever… ANYWAY! This is not a post about my dramatic and short knitting career, it is about one of the coolest things I've found on the internets, and yes I mean all of them. Seriously! Knitting back!! (It's the video at the bottom of the page). This is going to change my life! Every one of those blasted dishcloths started from a place of love and ended with venge and bitterness in every bloody buggery purl stitch because I am not very good at them. There is some secret to purling that has completely eluded me until now and the knit back. OMG the knit back! I'd make some Justin Timberlake joke here if I could. So there you have it. I'm off to go knit back some more! Thanks Knitting Help dot com!!!

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I am officially a crocheter!

OK, I kind of have been for awhile now, but now I feel like a REAL crocheter because I can make a GRANNY SQUARE! I know that sounds dumb, and it is my secret shame, but yesterday I was able to successfully make one thanks to Kim from CrochetMe. She was here teaching a class and it was brilliant. I was totally able to make a square. I still don't know why this was so hard, but I could NOT figure it out and now I am able to make them.

Kim was fun and smart and I had the BEST time. I got a hug too! I stayed after the class in the morning and got to see some of the finished objects from the book so it was LOTS of fun. I'll get the photos up and you can see for yourself. I had a super good time and it was so nice to be in a room with people who are all about crochet and not looking down on me because I have one stick with yarn on it instead of two. So now I am using my newfound skill to make the hat that was eluding me. I am glad I went and I had SUCH a good time! So did Kim, according to her. We did our best to lure her here on a permanent basis. We told her to let us know what class she wanted to to take and we'd have it, we have great food, and Portland is a crafty effin place so she'd be right at home. I don't know how well it worked, though, so we'll have to see. We told her we'd love to have her on a permanent basis though and it isn't that different from Vancouver BC where she lives now. So we'll see. I need to get a photo of my granny square and then go to bed or I'll never get to sleep. I truly am pleased with my new skill and with meeting Kim. She rocks and I kinda feel like I made a friend. Now i just need to find the other awesome crocheters who will not mock my mad geekery and hang out with them!

PS: My mom is currently in the last week of her MONTH trip to Australia. I told her to bring me back some yarn. We shall see what she gets me. I hope it's neat, I would love to have some cool foreign yarn to make something cool with. And when I get to the last bits, it can go into a granny square! (:

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Tomorrow and Yarn!

Tomorrow, as it happens, Kim from CrochetMe will be here in town! She'll be at the Yarn Garden but what it says on her site and what it says on theirs don't match, so I am going to have to check and see for sure later today.

I'm excited, because the class she's doing is granny squares and that has been a source of endless frustration for me. So yay!

I'll update if I find out anything interesting.

UPDATE: Well. You would think if someone was showing up TOMORROW you could be bothered to get the right info to your employees! Nobody there seemed to really know what I was talking about (the person who answered sort of covered the phone and said "is there supposed to be someone here for an event tomorrow?") and then didn't realize they had the wrong info! Thank you to KIM for having things correct on her site. I wouldn't go because I'm not a big fan of the Yarn Garden BUT maybe if enough people jam in there for Kim they will stop being snobby to crocheters (which is why I don't go there and my first choice of yarn joints is actually further away). Anyway. If you want to get into the class make sure you are ready.

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QotD: Culinary Celebrity

Who's the coolest culinary celebrity?

Alton Brown. There is NO question. Here's why:

* His show is not just about cooking A thing, it's about cooking THINGS. He explains why tweaking the recipe gives you different results, and knowing that kind of stuff is what makes me a better cook. I can learn to follow instructions, or I can learn why those instructions work and springboard off into something else.

* His show is funny. Waffleman, crazy french chefs, his evil twin, the chili cowboys…he tries to be funny and succeeds a lot. I like the goofy aside stuff as much as I like the learning part. I think it's the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine (learning stuff) go down.

* He's a Mac nerd. It has nothing to do with the show, but it ups his cool factor by quite a bit. What more do I need to say?

* His other show is him riding around on a motorcycle eating food and hanging out. That rules!

* He only has ONE other show. So far he has yet to become the Food Network Goodwill Ambassador, getting his face on Wheat Thins or his own line of steak sauce. He does not suffer from overexposure, which also pleases me. (Yeah he hosts Iron Chef America, but it's a small piece, he isn't the chef or anything.)

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QotD: Sorry, You Can’t Wear That Anymore

What clothing item do you wish could be banned?
Submitted by Mike E.

I guess it would have to be a theme more than an item. I want to ban anything (pants/shorts/skirts/jeans) that exposes either your crack or your underwear.

If I had to pick an item, it would be socks-if you are wearing them with sandals. Who are you kidding? Wear SHOES or embrace your naked toes. PICK ONE! That still sort of seems to be a theme but there you go.

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QotD: Fascinating Class

What is the most interesting class you have ever taken? 
Submitted by Melissa. 

Believe it or not, I took a class called "The Social Relevance of Star Trek". We had a department in my college called "In-Tact" and it stood for something about students teaching classes, basically. A friend of mine taught it, and in order to get to teach one five people and a prof of record have to sign your form. I signed it for him and then thought hey, it's a Humanities credit, why not?

So I took The Social Relevance of Star Trek. We watched an episode and then discussed it. It was fascinating to see how the show reflected the current events of the time. Plus I'm a geek, (though generally a Star Wars one) so helLO, Star Trek for credit!

My friend did a really good job on the class. Seriously, it was by far the most interesting class I've ever taken.

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QotD: The History of S

What sites show up if you type "S" into your browser's address bar?

Sanrio.com
Sourceforge.net
seibertron.com
SamTheRecordMan.com
ShoppersDrugMart.com

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