Ain't no Mountain High Enough

Sunday in Chicago just begged for a HUGE cup of coffee and the paper in bed. It rained all night with some superduper Thunder and LIghtening (which my new little plantings out front loved!). It was still totally foggy and drizzley when the alarm clock woke me at 6am.

What would be BIG enough and Powerful enough to get me out of the house on a day like this?

the Y-Me Race Against Breast Cancer

Here's some of my intrepid krewe ready to start. We walked 3 miles - some of us ran 5. Almost 25,000 people showed up for the event in spite of the weather and it was very exciting! And we raised over $2 Million !!!

People with a common purpose in America in large gatherings are uncommon.

In the US, we have:
the 4th of July
Thanksgiving
SuperBowl Sunday

Anytime we as a people can support as worthy a cause as the Y-Me Folks, I'm ready to roll...

These are the marvelous volunteers and workers who work the phones during a potential cancer victim's most terrifying and panicky moments - the days when they first find out there is a huge problem. I''ve listened to the workers first hand on assignment and their calm and compassion was phenomenal!

Three Cheers for Y-Me !!!

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One of my friends has lost all of her hair during treatment for breast cancer. She's been wearing a scarf under a baseball cap for a couple of weeks. She's 36 years old and beautiful.

I thought I'd try and make her a hat out of this:

One Ball Easy Cap

 

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Ironic that today's Friday Five is about hair, but my very positive friend would say - Hey LIFE goes on...

1. What shampoo do you use? I like Tresemme Hydrology.

2. Do you use conditioner? What kind? Ditto.

3. When was the last time you got your hair cut? About a month ago - I have the best HairWizard by the name of Yasmine at Mario Triocci at 900 N Michigan Ave.

4. What styling products do you use? I use a dime size blob of VO5 STRAIGHT HAIR and the same amount of VO5 MEND & DEFEND. Rub briskly together and apply to mostly the top hair and comb through then style. I work outside a lot and this protects me fine...

5. What's your worst hair-related experience? Since I work outside, I thought if I got my hair cut really short it would be easier to take care of in Chicago's schizophrenic weather. Instead, I had to style it every day, left the house lookin good, and as soon as I got to the bus stop (1.5 blocks away) I looked a lot like Bozo the CLown!

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It's almost finished

Or should I say, it's almost knit up to the last couple inches before I join it!!! It's the fabulously funky lavender Ribbie Cardie. And the weather is staying cool this Spring so I'm gonna look cool longer. I think I'll be joining all the pieces tomorrow and will take some pictures with the digi-cam and post. I also got some way cool LARGE white hook and eyes at Hancock Fabrics to use for closing. I bought 8.

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If you're like me, Saturday Mirth is almost as fun as Monday Mirth: Check out these rockin' Maine Spinners.

Be sure to click on the Calendar link for the Full Monty or whatever they call it in Maine... (Clara?)

Should we do one of these with the Knitting Bloggers? OOOh Ladies!!!

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Would you believe I was silly enough to volunteer to work today??? I couldn't help myself; besides being a knitting junkie, I am a News Junkie. The police have found two suspects responsible for the Browns Chicken Massacre that happened in Palatine, Illinois on January 8th 1993. Seven people were killed at the restaurant on NW Highway. The suspects will be charged today around noon. I hope I am there.

I was at the scene right after it happened in about zero degree weather when the police brought out stretcher after stretcher. Unreal. Heartbreaking. Everyone thought it would NEVER be solved. I am thrilled they've found these people - one of the men's girlfriend's friends dropped a dime... I was with the reporter who was tipped and broke the story - on days like this, my job is first kiss good. I feel kind of like Lenny on L'nO. Naah, I'll never be THAT Righteous...

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Monday Morning Mirth

Here's a portrait of me as
Polly Boffin of Needlehole

go HERE to See what
YOU look like made out of Leggos...

This is a slow load so go get a cup of coffee or brush your teeth or something...

Go check out Sarah's Leggo Grrl where I found this funkay generator! (Hi Sarah! Where were you standing for that picture???)

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You can run but you can't hide...

In the multiple WIP (Works in Progress) reality of ChicKnits, a new "explanation=excuse" has been developing.

I have simply been preparing for the WARM WEATHER that normally follows April 30th. I have been denied. The few days it was above 70 degrees here, the high was preceeded by lows in the 40's ramping up 30 degrees over a two hour span accompanied by high winds. This is the kind of twist that makes your wardrobe run for its life.

I've become very adept at layering (I also lived in San Francisco for a decade where just crossing the city from Oceanside to Bayside can call for three changes of clothing... It's kind of the Farm League in preparation for true schizophrenic areas). But the longing for the calendar wear just won't go away!

I want to wear Tank Tops under my jacket! I want to wear Cotton Sweaters! I want to see COLOR instead of Black (Leather is really everywhere right now) and by golly I'm going to goad Mother Nature into it.

In my faithful attempt to command She Who Will Not Be Moved (sorta like washing your car and it rains), I have FOUR sleeveless creations on the needle. They are all about half done. When I get even the slightest bit bored with one, I start another. I am a glutton. I offer this confession to you as a release of guilt for all others out there who might be in the same boat.

I figure Build It and She will come...

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Wrap It up Baby...

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Baby Bonne Marie's Personal Yarns

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• Where were you born? What do you know about your own birth? (time, circumstance, etc...)
  I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan at around 2 minutes to midnight, Thursday, February 12.
  
  My Busia was very upset that I might be born on Friday the 13th, and thus be haunted by bad luck forever, or be handicapped, or have 6 toes or something. My Busia (Grandmother) is Polish and very superstitious. My other Grandmother is Irish and was completely annoyed with her because it upset my mother to the point where they gave Mom some kind of dose that made her very silly. Supposedly when it came time for me to make my appearance, they wheeled her into the delivery room while she was singing "Beautiful Dreamer, wake unto me..." an old sentimental favorite she learned as a kid or something...

• Do you have a baby picture you can put onto your weblog?
  

  

• What kind of a baby or toddler were you according to the people who were around when you were young?
  I was a shy little flower, very girly girl, my mom dressed me in fluffiness like a little doll at all times. Little lace edged socks - little velvet dresses on Sunday with lace collars in the winter that she'd make herself. Often times, we were dressed alike when we went to Mass.
  
  I was named after Rhett and Scarlett's baby in "Gone with The Wind", little Bonnie Blue. My mom is a huge fan of this movie, in fact, she just gave me the DVD version of it for my birthday this year. I've gone on to read the book 5 times and went and visited the writer's home when I was in Atlanta a couple of years ago. Indeedy, the apple does not fall far from the tree, although in my case it might've rolled a few feet away...
  
  As you can see in the picture, I had a very big round head. My aunt told me last summer at a family party that the joke was if my head fell off it would just keep a rollin'. I actually think I grew into my head. Usually a kid's head is about 2/3 of the size it will be as an adult or something, but I think I was born fully loaded. (I offer an apology to my mother at this point and thank God she had the epidural...)

• Know any cute baby-related quotes? Our family had a tradition on the baby's first birthday:
  
  You were put in the high chair and offered several objects: a piece of bread, a book, a dollar bill, a rosary, etc. The first thing you picked up would indicate what you would grow up to be in the future as an adult. I picked up the money, then I ate the bread. They told me that most babies just eat the bread first! This makes me wonder just how scientific this test is. ANSWER: not very - since I'm still working my girly B**T off getting enough scratch to replace my 11 yo car. Guess I'll have to stop eating out so often...

  
  
  
  
  This is the only quote about babies I know:
  

  Monday's Child is fair of face
  Tuesday's Child is full of grace
  Wednesday's Child is full of woe
  Thursday's Child has far to go
  Friday's Child is loving and giving
  Saturday's Child must work hard for a living
  But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
  Good and kind and fair and fey!

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Monday Morning Mirth

Take the What High School
Stereotype Are You? quiz, by Angel.

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Get on            Go by

Tales from the #66: Rules of the Road, Part II

Rush Hour. Mush Hour. People stacked like an upright cord of wood. Sardines. A friend of mine says it is like being in Basic Training where the Sargeant tunes you up by shouting, "OK ladies, nuts to butts!!! Move it up!"

This means that maybe you should leave the supersize Knapsack for those overnight camping trips at home. That heavy briefcase witha laptop in it? Don't hang from the upper bars with it hanging about 2 inches from my face tempting a bludgeoning every time the bus lurches. Gentlemen... please. If you're going to carry a purse, learn the proper way to control it. I almost had my eye poked out the other day by the inattention of a fellow squeezing himself between other folks on a SRO bus.

A very young mother got on last night with a stroller so full of stuff she couldn't fold it up. She just plowed through the crowd to the back of the bus where there was an empty and plopped down next to me. She just left the stroller right in front of us which sent 3 people careening out of the way. Then she played with the baby tickling it which made him kick wildly in all directions. I was due south and just got pummelled.

All of sudden, Mom decided to change Jr's diaper and went to it right there on her lap. Mouths dropped by the second like the wave at a ball game. It was so crowded there was no where left to go. Mom sticks the wet diydie on the top of the stroller right next to an open can of Vienna sausages. (How I missed those sausages I do not know???) Then she fell asleep. Right out.

The baby reaches over, grabs the diaper, which sends the sausages like torpedoes right in my face THEN RIGHT ON MY KNITTING...

He starts briskly shaking the diaper while his mother starts snoring...

I'm yelling "Oh My Gawd!!!" and somebody starts saying "Oh Lady" just like Jerry Lewis and she wakes up for about 3 seconds and throws the diaper on the floor and drops right back off.

Now if those were my sausages, I would've eaten 'em before I changed the diaper...

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How to Remove Sausage Gravy from Your Knitting: Hold piece in hand until you get home so you don't get any on the rest of the stuff in your bag. Put it on a washable counter and RIP OUT 8 ROWS & CUT THE !*%$#@!@*
yarn right out of there!

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the Never Ending Story...

Sharon wrote a few days ago, " ...hey, whatever happened to that tencel wool stole??"

I started it on April 9, 2002. It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would - I've never knitted anything that just went on and on and on. I tip my entire set of circulars to all of the bloggers who have been crafting baby blankets for the BOOM that's going on right now. Wow, what discipline to make such a huge piece of fabric!

I saw Gwen's groovy cotton shawl (and beautiful new tank top) and I realize I wish I would've made mine out of cotton. Mine does not lay flat (must block MUST). And I think it might be a little heavy.

I even thought it might be too wide until I was at the Bus Stop at Chicago Ave & Michigan Ave watching some of our many visitors cross one of the most popular intersections in Chicago. MANY quite chic ladies were wearing shawls and I realized that mine was GOING TO BE OKAY...

I am making it 22" x 72" out of Cleckheation Tencel/Wool, which I love but am intimidated as to how to block. The tencel is synthetic, so I'll probably just wet block it with no steam and see how it goes.

I have done 39" so far and it's become my TV project. I NEED William Peterson and L&O to get it on... You Could Call this the Channel Shawl!

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BONUS TV KNIT SPOTTING: I actually watched "Judging Amy" last night (mostly makes me go EEwww!) and noticed Tyne Daly had on a very cool light pumpkin colored cardie that was handknitted. I've heard she knits soooo I bet she made it!! Then she had a grey cabled looong cardie and was knitting a little blue hat

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Urban Me This...

the little bad muse sez
"Put some sass in your class!"

click on picture for details...

The future arrives on ChicKnits doorstep with an urban BANG! This little shell was started about this time last year and has been 99% done for months (entry March 13th). Why the stall? B-O-R-I-N-G...

I love the color; the fit is oh-so-fine; the yarn divine. But the Muse just abandoned me with this one. I wrote a few weeks ago: "I have a Linen Drape Shell in a beautiful Lilac that is almost finished - Spinning Ginn helped me sew it at S'nB - and there it sits... But you can be sure the first fine warm day we have, I'll be seaming and picking-up and knitting on the finishing edges. It's like shopping and I'm an addict. "Hi, my name is Bonne Marie..." ("Hello, Bonne... welcome to Knitter's Anonymous!")"

The temperature here in Chicago is running in the mid-80s and last night was the day the Little Bad Muse returned and implanted my brain with the missing ingredient...

Contrast. Color. Boring is not Chic. Texture and an unexpected turn are!

I had some of the same yarn in a different color (Rowan calls it "Pewter" but it has a purple cast - especially next to the lilac). I wasn't sure I had enough of the original anyway so off we go!

Viva la difference!

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BONUS RADIO IRELAND: Remember Ronan Kelly from RTE Dublin that visited Stitch 'n Bitch Chicago awhile back? Click HERE to listen to the Real Audio broadcast of the program Morning Glory - time stamp is approximately 15:40. The Link is at the top by the date = "Listen to the Programme".

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HAhaHAHaha...

I knit not one stitch last night!

That's because my hut was so hot that even two rotating fans could not tame the sweat bots rummaging around under my hair like tiny animals, glazing my neck with their clammy paws. I do not know how anyone stands it in Vegas or Arizona, where it's routinely over 100 degrees. And Marg Helgenberger on CSI always looks so cool too...

I really liked her flippy do from last year and don't know why they've straightened it out so much. Too High Maintenance... However, if you have a Make-up Man and Hair Guy doing your look you can continue knitting and still have a glamour puss.

Is it wrong to long to have the life of an actress? You are forced to be really skinny and usually look good, even to the point of defying Mother Nature with things like waxing and lip injections. I saw Tracy Uhlman on Letterman once and she said to him, "I just don't understand you Americans - you take the fat out of your Ar** and inject it in your lips..."

So true, and I see it all over the place these days - always that telltale upper lip line give-away. Yes, I am shallow. Yes, I while away time in traffic jams on North Michigan Avenue picking out the especially interesting plastique fantastique some of the Chicago citizens are buying with somebody's hard earned money. I routinely make penny bets with a co-worker on "does/Not Nosejob" speculations. And the winner is just whoever's turn it is to hold the pennies... Shallow AND lame, yes.

I did get in some dayside knitting on the Magenta Eyelet Camisole I have cookin'. This will go with some perfectly (through no planning of mine) matched magenta polished cotton capri's and a pair of

Light Blue High-heeled Mules
from HowKewl.com

Except I'd probably have to get breast implants
to wear them
so maybe I better wear these
from NineWest

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