Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

Good riddance to bad yarn. The calla lily will be gone in a few days folks, just a few more days. I finally found the yarn needed to finish this monstrosity online and finished it up on Wednesday night when I finally grew so tired of looking at the little package of doom sitting there that I finished it up in about 20 minutes (this is excluding the 10 minutes it took to find the stupid pattern that had managed to wander off). So here it is in all its spread eagle glory:
And rolled up like (I assume) it will appear when final construction has commenced:
Rolled up it doesn't look too bad but that's about the nicest thing I can say about it. I really hated knitting this. It wasn't the pattern (which was well written) or the color (which was ok) it was a combo of bad yarn, a vague plan, and not a whole lot of interest in the project to begin with. But you'll be able to find it at Stitches South on some table display I have no doubt. I'll be the one trying to climb the stalk and beat the flower to the ground.

In case you were wondering the yarn I needed was Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick. Every yarn store in a 50 mile radius of my home had sold out of it so I finally had to break down and order it online. I paid $7 plus shipping and handling for one stupid skein and then I knit about 15 rows with it. This is what I have left:
I never plan to use this stuff again. In fact, I'll pay someone to take it off my hands. My friend BK, who has been knitting for about 5 months, came over last night and even she agreed with me that this yarn would be terrible to knit with. And she hasn't fully been exposed to the wonders of luscious yarn yet! We are planning a small bonfire in the parking lot of my apartment building next week to burn bits of this project in sacrifice to the knitting muses in the hopes that no one ever have to suffer like I have.

My traveling knitting has been going well though. I have my Space Monkey that I have turned the heel on but not done a whole lot else. Since this requires a chart and I can only sometimes remember what I'm doing I choose to knit on this sporadically.
I have added another, easier traveling project to my bag. It will be the mate to this fingerless glove that I designed myself.
I finished this glove a few months ago but hadn't really been motivated to start the second. However I did cast on (three times) for the second one yesterday.
I plan to use these when I visit Seattle next month. That's right, I'm going to Seattle!!! Can you tell I'm excited beyond belief? I can't wait to be there. I'm hoping I will love it as much as I think I will. I've never been but I've read my Frommer's and looked on Knit Map so I'm planning my course. It should be warm enough there to wear short sleeves with a light jacket but when I'm out walking around I tend to get too hot in a jacket. I hope these gloves will be the perfect alternative; just enough coverage to keep me warm without making me break a sweat.

My Mystery Sweater for Warm Woolies is almost done.
I finished the first sleeve and started the second last night during my Friday night knit night. I just have the second sleeve and the collar to do. I'm so close that I'll probably spend a lot of today working on it. I love how the hem of the sleeves matches the hem on the body.
I'm off to knit more on the sweater and then it will be time for a friend's birthday party and maybe more knitting and dinner with a friend from Wednesday's knitting group.

P.S. If you live in Massachusetts and are able, you should visit the Peabody Institute Library next Saturday for a charity knitting event. Read about it here.

:::Sniff:::

For only the second time in almost 4 years of teaching I find myself laid up on my couch resting from not feeling well. I realized last night that the more I keep dragging myself into work the less good I'm doing myself. Especially at this job. When I taught middle school band I never worked as closely (literally) to the kids. I was a bit emotionally and physically unattached to them. Teaching 1st grade I spend everyday in close proximity to children. They climb on me, squeeze me, and call my name all day long. I'm very much a physical and emotional epicenter for them. When I don't feel well continuing to try and tough it out just doesn't work like it used to. There's no chance for a nap during lunch time any more. I know that I need to take good care of myself. I tell the kids all the time not to come to school if they are sick, why should I? So, here I am, just now waking up from a nice long nap. I can tell I'm getting better: my cough isn't as frequent and I've used some Zycam to dry up my sinuses. I had to go to work for about 4 hours this morning because I had 2 conferences before school and I couldn't find the sub hot line number (note to self: find before next fall). I'll be back tomorrow because it's only a half day and then I have conferences after school. Thursday is another half day with less conferences (thankfully) and Friday is a full day but hey, it's a Friday, and the day before Valentine's Day, I can make it through one more day. Valentine's Day I'd already claimed for myself so I'll be sleeping late and probably dyeing more yarn for the shop.

Sadly, I have no real knitting to show you. The last time I made any significant headway on a project was last Thursday at the Atlanta Guild Meeting when I finished the body of a charity sweater. I've done a few rounds on a secret project that I started in December but other than that I've been looking for Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in antique white to finish the Calla Lily and looking for size 10 DPNs to make sleeves for the sweater. I'm also gearing up for a Mystery Sweater Knit-a-long being held my LISMI on Ravelry. She's designing a sweater for the Warm Woolies 10 for 10 by 2010 contest and revealing parts of it in a knit-a-long. I do a fan girl sqwee! every time I think about. I'm ready to get started, have the yarn and everything, but the official kick off is the 20th.

For now I'm off to pay some bills and read a chapter for a book club that starts tonight.

MYA

Attention Knitters:

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading for an important announcement. An APB has been issued in the form of a Missing Yarn Announcement (MYA). The suspect is pictured below:
Do not be fooled by the artistic and innocent nature of this picture. This yarn is considered frayed and dangerous. Witnesses who have actually knit with this yarn have said that it causes hand cramping and perpetual UFOs. One knitter even claimed that this yarn caused abnormal and unpleasant shedding. Originally thought to be made of chenille, upon closer inspection, it appears the yarn may actually be made of terrycloth washrags torn into extremely thin strips. Approach this yarn with caution and US size 10 needle or larger. The last known whereabouts of the offensive, I mean offending, yarn was Joann's and/or Hobby Lobby. The Yarn Police (because we know there are no Knitting Police) have searched the aforementioned sites to no avail. It seems the yarn absconded from the premises early last week leaving a wake of empty shelves and pointless price tags. If you should see a skein of this bizarre and highly volatile yarn please notify the authorities as this yarn is needed in the finishing of one rather large Calla Lily centerpiece.

Thank you.

Flowers Are Blooming

I blogged awhile back about knitting a Calla Lily for Stitches South. I finally picked it back up tonight hoping that I would finish it. I was trucking along, only about 10 or 15 rows from being finished and then...
the white chenille yarn that I'm supposed to carry through out, ran out. I wanted this to be done by Thursday when I go to the next Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting. I guess I'll be making a stop by Joann's tomorrow after work to see if I can find some more yarn.

On a lighter note, I found this in a box of little toys (usually from McDonalds or some place similar) that I let my students choose from if they've behaved during the week:
It works too! It's about the only thing that's working for Michael Vick these days.