Cleaning out my closet

I have a confession to make. I've been hiding FOs.

And I'm also trying to distract you from the absence of the Titty Baby recipe. My "notes" were simply awful, so it may take awhile for me to figure out how to decipher the jumble for you. Your comments were all so sweet that I'd actually like to try to get this semi-sorted out before I post something. Soon, I promise.

Now sometime back in the fall, I found the time to start knitting River from Rowan 38 with some yarn in the stash. I finished knitting it in early December and was sooooo in love with the softness and yumminess of the scarf that I decided to put off blocking for another day.

Well, kids, that day has come, and River came out much better for the effort.




PATTERN: River stole, Rowan 38 magYARN: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud (mist)MODS: Pretty much copied Diana because I loved how hers came out so much. I kinda wished I had "splurged" on some blocking wires, but I guess it's okay that I spent the money on food instead.




I totally totally love this scarf. So soft and looks incredibly kick ass with my black leather jacket. And for those of you who have been supportive through my ordeal with Frisco, I'm happy to say that he's made a full recovery and has been released from the doctor's care. Yay! He was actually such a "good patient" that they made me promise to bring him back to visit. Aw.

This year has been pretty chaotic for me, as you all know, with the quitting of the real job, going back to school, having a new crappy job, and going from engaged to be married to the single girl again. Recently, things have slowed down enough for me to ponder these changes a bit, and it's made me realize that what was once good has become bad. Or what was always bad is now unacceptable. So in keeping with the "cleaning up" theme of this post, I've finally decided to part with some of the truly awful things in my life in order to make way for better stuff. And yes kiddies, this means that Tara is finally tossing some of that horrific yarn acquired early on in my knitting career. Acrylic crap and furry crap, to the trash with you!

Have any of you had friends who became someone you never thought they would? People you don't even recognize anymore as the people they once were? Well, to the trash with them too because life is too short to keep any shit in it.
  ¶ 19:28

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  Recipie for Confusion

Okay, so here's the deal. You all know I'm poor. So while y'all are buying fabulous, luxurious, new yarns, Tara is forced to dive into the old stashola for comfort. Plus, I had also run out of room in my "yarn cabinet", and I'd be too embarassed to have a cabinet that won't close b/c it's so jam packed. Anywho, one of the biggest space hoggers in the Cabinet was some Bernat Soft Boucle that I'd bought at Michael's eons ago. I'm talking pre-blog, pre-yarn-conessieur days. Yes, it's 100% acrylic. Yes, I know it is garbage and will pill like the Microspun or do something else that's completely horrid.

But it's so damn soft, and while peaking at some of my commercially bought sweaters, I noticed (as I'm sure you all have) that lots of them are acrylic or at least an acrylic blend. Or maybe I'm just a cheapass when it comes to buying sweaters.

No fear. I'd had a design in my mind for awhile now. Once I realized that it could be knit from the neck down and therefore tried on so that I could see if I was knitting a monstrosity or not I decided to give it a go.



I LOVES this sweater. So comfy and anything that makes me appear to have boobies gets a star in my book! It's exactly what I had in mind, and the fact that it turned out to be such was a pleasant surprise.

Do you want to know the best part? This baby only took 2 balls of yarn (so I have one left over, grrrr), and since I got them on sale, this sucker only cost me $4! A starving student I may be, but I'm still gonna look fab!

As some of you can guess, this sweater was inspired by Stefanie's famous Mini Sweater, and it's pretty simple. There is one teeny tiny catch though...The designing and knitting of this sweater is what you may call an "organic" process. I kept some notes, but nothing that I would feel comfortable calling a "pattern". Plus, I had to go back and tweak the shoulders once it was all done because it just wasn't fitting right.


See? It was way too "off-the-shoulder", so I went back and added little sleeve caps. I'd really like to figure out how to correct this at the start, but kiddies, I just don't have time.

So consider this a warning. I'll post the "recipe" soon.  ¶ 16:26

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  football and knitting and pics.....oh my!

I've finally managed to come up for air in the Sea of Black and Gold that I've been living in. Wow, you guys, this has been more insane than I could ever have imagined, and I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that not every sports victory gets this kind of attention in every city. Picksburghers do love their Stillers. In 'at. (P.S. That's Big Ben and Charlie Batch at the parade!)


I have one more football rant and then I SWEAR I am done until next fall.

**deep breath***

Going into this game, I really had no feelings about Seattle as a team. Now, they and lots of their fans have changed my opinion. Mike Holmgren (their coach) is a poor excuse for a leader. Trust me, if Seattle had won and Bill Cowher had blamed it on poor officiating on not his bad coaching skills, the people of Pittsburgh would have lynched him. Our fans are hardcore, and one of the reasons we love the Steelers are that they are tough on the field and on themselves. It's no coincidence that we don't have players like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss on our team. They wouldn't be tollerated by the coaching staff or the fans.

Seattle's kicker missed not one, but TWO field goals during the Superbowl. That's his job......to kick the pointy ball through the 2 posts. Their tight end, who traded trash talk all week, CHOKED, and Mr. Holmgren showed piss-poor time management and god-awful play calling. But aside from his job during the game, Mr. Holmgren is also supposed to represent his team, win or lose. What a poor job he's doing. I've never seen more unsportsman-like conduct from a COACH. Yes, some (not all) of the calls were questionable but so was his performance as head coach. Maybe Seattle will pick up T.O. in the off season so Mike Holmgren won't be the only asshole on the team.

**exhale**

So now, I present you with my tribute to Mike Holmgren and all the ridiculous people like him.

Introducing ........ Titty Baby.



This pattern is mine, and I've been contemplating what to call it for weeks now. Oddly enough, inspiration for knitting struck in the wake of a football game.

More to come.....  ¶ 08:18

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  I'm with Stupid

I know I said I'd be MIA until after the big game, but I had a big WTF knitting moment last night that I feel compelled to share with you, oh might knitting gurus.

Okay, so I finally broke down and started knitting the Lace Leaf Pullover. I finished the bottom and was flying through the top when I realized my stitch count was off. Fueled by a few glasses of wine (you know where this is going, right?), I frogged the sucker back to the ribbing and reread the instructions.

After binding off for the buttonband, I'm left with 50 stitches. Now, for the first increase row, it reads as follows:

"k5, pm for left Back shoulder, inc, k18 for Back neck, inc, pm for right Back shoulder, k5, pm for right Front shoulder, inc, k6, pm, work row 1 of Chart (only 12 stitches will remain....)"

Being that I'm going to be a math teacher and that I'm also not a novice knitter, I feel like a big ol' boob that I'm stumped with this. Call me crazy, but doesn't 50 - (k5 + k18 + the 2 stitches you increase into + k5 + k6 + the stitch you increase into) leave you with 13 stitches?????

Really, am I completely dumb/blind/still drunk? There are oodles of knitters out there who've finished this project and I couldn't find one mention of this sentence that is befuddling me. I'm thinking I should just k7 instead of k6 because that won't mess up the proportions, but a little help would be much obliged!



Oy.  ¶ 17:42

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  The Steeler Nation

First off, Frisco and I would like to thank you for all of the kind words. He's healing well, but he's definitely regained all his piss and vinegar. Thanks again for all of the wonderful compliments. It's nice to have a supportive bunch like you guys around when things are tough.

Now, I know this is a knitting blog, but today's post is all about the only thing that matters right now -- football. Check back after February 5th for actual knitting chat.

The following was sent to me as a forward. It was written by one of the DJs for a local radio station. For those of you who already bleed Black and Gold, this will really hit home, and for the rest of you who've ever been curious about the "draw" of football or the obsession with football in Pittsburgh, this is a great explanation.

In the 1980's, as the steel mills and their supporting factories shut down from Homestead to Midland, Pittsburghers, faced for the first time in their lives with the specter of unemployment, were forced to pick up their families, leave their home towns and move to more profitable parts of the country. The steel workers were not ready for this. They had planned to stay in the 'burgh their entire lives. It was home. Everyone I know can tell the same story about how Dad, Uncle Bob or their brother-in-law packed a U-Haul and headed down to Tampa to build houses or up to Boston for an office job or out to California to star in pornographic videos.

All right. Maybe that last one just happened in my family.

At this same time, during the early to mid-eighties, the Pittsburgh Steelers were at the peak of their popularity. Following the Super Bowl dynasty years, the power of the Steelers was strong. Every man, woman, boy and girl from parts of four states were Pittsburgh faithful, living and breathing day to day on the news of their favorite team. Then, as now, it seemed to be all anyone talked about.......Who do you think the Steelers will take in the draft this year?..........Is Bradshaw done?...............Can you believe they won't give Franco the money ? What's he doing going to Seattle?

The last memories most unemployed steel workers had of their towns had a black and gold tinge. The good times remembered all seemed to revolve, somehow, around a football game. Sneaking away from your sister's wedding reception to go downstairs to the bar and watch the game against Earl Campbell and the Oilers - going to midnight mass, still half in the bag after Pittsburgh beat Oakland - you and your grandfather, both crying at the sight of The Chief, finally holding his Vince Lombardi Trophy.

And then, the mills closed. Damn the mills.

One of the unseen benefits of the collapse of the value systems our families believed in, that the mill would look after you through thick and thin, was that now, decades later, there is not a town in America where a Pittsburgher cannot feel at home. Nearly every city in the United States has a designated "Black and Gold" establishment. From Bangor, Maine to Honolulu, Hawaii, and every town in between can be found an oasis of Iron City, chipped ham and yinzers. It's great to know that no matter what happened in the lives of our Steel City refugees, they never forgot the things that held us together as a city - families, food, and Steelers football. It's what we call the Steeler Nation. You see it every football season. And when the Steelers have a great year, as they have had this season, the power of the Steeler Nation rises to show itself stronger than ever. This week, as the Pittsburgh team of Roethlisberger, Polamalu, Bettis and Porter head to Denver, the fans of Greenwood, Lambert, Bleier and Blount, the generation who followed Lloyd, Thigpen, Woodson and Kirkland will be watching from Dallas to Chicago, from an Air Force base in Minot, North Dakota, to a tent stuck in the sand near Fallujah, Iraq. I have received more email from displaced Pittsburgh Steelers fans this week than Christmas cards this holiday season.

They're everywhere. We're everywhere. We are the Steeler Nation.

And now, it's passing from one generation to the next. The children of displaced Pittsburghers, who have never lived in the Steel City, are growing up Steelers fans. When they come back to their parents' hometowns to visit the grandparents, they hope, above all, to be blessed enough to get to see the Steelers in person. Heinz Field is their football Mecca. And if a ticket isn't available, that's okay, too. There's nothing better than sitting in Grandpa's living room, just like Dad did, eating Grandma's cooking and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just like Dad did.

So, to you, Steeler Nation, I send best wishes and a fond wave of the Terrible Towel. To Tom, who emailed from Massachusetts to say how great it was to watch the Patriots lose and the Steelers win in one glorious weekend. To Michelle, from Milwaukee, who wrote to let me know it was she who hexed Mike Vanderjagt last Sunday by chanting "boogity, boogity, boogity" and giving him the "maloik" (scroll down to near the bottom of the page. or just imagine the sign you make at a rock concert). To Jack, who will somehow pull himself away from the beach bar he tends in Hilo, Hawaii, to once again root for the black and gold in the middle of the night (his time), I say, thanks for giving power to the great Steeler Nation. All around the NFL, the word is out that the Pittsburgh Steeler fans "travel well", meaning they will fly or drive from Pittsburgh to anywhere the Steelers play, just to see their team. The one aspect about that situation the rest of the NFL fails to grasp is that, sometimes, the Steeler Nation does not have to travel. Sometimes, we're already there.

Yes, the short sighted steel mills screwed our families over. But they did, in a completely unintended way, create something new and perhaps more powerful than an industry. They helped create a nation. A Steeler Nation.  ¶ 10:27

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