Monday Morning Mirth

        BigFoot on a Picnic...

It's that time of year! Not only are you getting an unbelievable amount of junk e-mail in your life but your friends and relatives add to the fun by bringing back small reminders of the FUN YOU MISSED!

I've gotten a few postcards - the best being the vacationeer sitting in a chaise lounge under a palm tree with the clearest blue sparkling ocean behind - ENVY X 3!

Then there's this lovely brochure my mumsie brought back from a recent jaunt to Minnesota. She LOVES Minnesota and keeps finding things that make it more lovable.

I believe this is the same place the adorable Dangerous Chunky visited on her way to the Great Pacific NW!

Worst of all, Mom didn't even bring me a Can of Spam to enjoy - only this brochure...

SPAM Museum
1937 Spam Blvd
Austin, MN 55912

 

. . . . . . . . . .

 

From Slidell, Louisiana: "With e-mail, I can guarantee you 80 million people," says Ronnie Scelson, a self-taught computer repairman turned professional bulk e-mailer. "I can touch more people in a day's time than the Super Bowl can.

Lunchtime finds the 29-year-old Scelson sitting cross-legged on the floor of his storefront TV repair shop while he munches on a takeout meal of boiled crawfish and spiced shrimp.

At one point last year, Scelson claims, he was sending more bulk e-mail than anyone in America: tens of millions of messages a day to his carefully nurtured list of working e-mail addresses.

Scelson won't say precisely how much money he has made from bulk e-mailing, but he claims it's lucrative. Enough to support a five-bedroom house in Slidell, complete with a game room, a home office and an in-ground pool. Enough, too, for the canary-yellow 2001 Corvette he drives.

Not bad for a guy who says he only made it through the 8th grade and worked his way out of a trailer park by teaching himself about computers."

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (4)

Hey, how HOT is it?

Just hot enough
to almost ditch
those pesky straps...

EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING / OZONE ACTION DAY: Gusty southwest winds override lakeshore cooling and bring a third straight day in the 90s. Hot, humid, some haze. Abundant(!) sunshine, only a few clouds. Peak heat index readings: 95-100€.
Please drink LOTS of WATER!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (5)

All the honeys making money
Throw your hands up in the air

From our Very Generous Friends at Elann Yarns

While webbing around yesterday, I found these FREE PATTERNS at the Elann Yarn Co. website. I am making the Yellow Shell and it is too chic for words!

Elann has great deals and some of the most wonderful customer service I've ever dealt with. And Thanks for sharing these cool patterns!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (6)

Let Freedom Ring!!!

Happy 4th of July!

The Hills are Alive...

Ah yes, I have reached my urban saturation point and have decided to escape the City for a vacation...

I am going mountain-biking up North in Michigan where the geography is breathtaking and the people are not rude...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Since I won't be online AT ALL (!!!)
I will leave you with this challenge:

Free Patterns from Garn Studio in Norway

These are superb - but most need to be translated into English.

There are 25 pages of Women's Garments alone!!!

Scroll down to the bottom of Page 1 and
get out the smelling salts, baby...



Zoom In
Pattern

BUT I know You Can Use These Because:
the wonderful Garn Folk have provided this
HandyDandy to help you on your creative way:

Multi-Lingual Knitting Terms

AND here are some patterns ALREADY
translated into English for you!

Anglo Patterns

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HUGE THANKS! to the Stickliesl KnitList
from Germany where this linkage was found
by a most wonderful ChicKnits reader!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (10)

Monday Morning Mirth

They say all good things must come to an end
but don't you believe it!!!

Re-entry back into the Urban THang is always a bit startling, but I seem to have been coated with a Vacation Bliss that has an SPF of at least 45...

How can I be so sure? When I took the wrong exit merging from the Skyway to the Dan Ryan Expressway because of weird construction barriers, I did not explode.

When I got stuck in a Gaper's Block around the Loop because of a guy changing a tire, I just turned up the radio because "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was on and I flirted with a guy who was also driving a White Jeep. I mean what are the odds of that???

And the Number One Reason I know I've been Healed (drumroll please...):) After UnPacking the Jeep loaded with cool Deck Flowers and a fab Sweet Million Cherry Tomato Plant, I lost my Cell Phone somewhere...

Did I go into the usual vulgar tirade ladies & gentlemen???

No! I gave the potted plants and myself a drink of fresh cool water, grabbed the cordless phone from the living room and called myself.

After wandering around the estate (all 25' X 125' of a typical Chicago Lot), where did I land?

At the beginning and end of all Chicago Car Vacations, The ALLey... (Now don't get jealous New Yorkers.) The delightful ringing tones coming from the Garbage Can under the trip crap I threw out hid the runaway phone and VOILA!

She lived happily ever after...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Share My Bounty!

the History of Mr. Smiley

Nature's Own Mr. Smiley

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (3)

CanCan

A little Petticoat Cami

Unlike our fabulous Southern Neighbors with their Tropical Sun, the North has about 6 weeks of brilliant sunshine.

You know, the kind that makes your eyes just bloom with color and makes you want to wear shocking pink to a wedding(!)...

Colors that would make you look like a cartoon in January suddenly make you ZING in July.

So join me in a toast to summer in the Midwest and wear your brightest colors while you can!

I'll be wearing this little number with some red short shorts! (And NO my CanCan is NOT perfect but in this weather a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RU2 Svitzy to Knit?
(yes, it can happen...)

Go to the library to poach their AC and read these:

Hint

Nylon

Sleaze Nation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (6)

Speaking of Svitz

Because a lady never says Sw**t...

This Chicago Heat Wave
besides browning my lawn is
causing my brain to brownout as well.

I was freshing myself for S'nB last night by dabbing myself with a lemon scented Baby-Wipe and just became entranced with the idea of past ladies wear in hot climes. I put on a clean lightweight shirt and some sandals and was off...

When I came home I found this:

Gaaack! Imagine having to go out wearing a sleek dress that required you to be as smooth as possible with the help of this rubberized contraption!

Or one of these:

UNDER layers of heavy fabric outer and underwear. OH, I forgot, they let you use a fan...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

rU2 Svitzy to Knit Day 2
(yes, it can happen...)

Go to the library
poach their AC
and read these:

Eras of Elegance

Victorian Costumes

A Salon Essay on Corsets

eBay Auctions: Corsets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (2)

Heat - Pwaa - Good Gawd Y'll
What is it Good For?

I have 3 Cherry Tomatoes! This little self-seeded plant was growing besides a drain pipe near my Mom's garden and I dug it up and put it out on the deck. I didn't think it would make it because of the Oven That is Chicago. I gave it lots of water and VOILA, it's a save...

I love gardening! I've been working on our postage-stamp size front yard and my favorite things that went in this year are a little stepping stone path (saw a kittenish cat sitting on one preening yesterday morning) and 3 Burgundy Leaf Coral Bell plants that fringe a curve of Bi-Color Hostas. Silver fuzzy leaved Lamb's Ears joined the party as well - someday I want to plant a garden just for foliage effect - the variety of leaf colors fascinates and beckons...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cool Down Under a Tree

Some of My Dream Trips

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (0)

la dolce vita

Usually I hate leftovers... Especially yarn. Little bits and balls of this and that with no particular purpose but to take up space in my tiny apartment. (No closet peaking please...)

Inspired by Terri Royea's (from KnitFiend Blog fame) FABULOUS Stash Explosion Sweater, I've been trying to clean out ye olde stash bag. (That's where all the partials end up from foot long pieces to small or slightly used balls of yarn.)

Terri's sweater is so beautiful with it's variations! Makes me want to knit some socks just to get the leftovers!

I've tried some stripes, which for some reason I always avoid unless they're "built-into" the yarn, like hand-painted stuff or variegated yarn like the Rabanne I used on the Boat-Neck Shell. (I've read that type of yarn is machine "printed" to make exact color repeats on the strand...)

I also learned earlier this year in my Kool-Aid Dyeing Class how to make row repeating yarns - it's kind of the same process - to be used on a sock that has a certain predictable width. A Lot of Labor for Hand-painting that smells like cold weather activity to me...

My cami just started in the round, bottom-up, and kept going until the yarn ran out. I tried to keep the stripes in odd number repetitons, just like the number of plants you mass together when you plant a garden. 1 - 3 - 5 are my favorites.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Truly My Dream Trip

I've started a Slush Fund to go to Milan (& Florence)
to just expand my range...

Missoni

DolceVita

More Patterns to Translate

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (4)

I. Diatribe Excessive de Vacances�

When the going gets tough the tough go biking...

Well, mostly, because you can only ride during the day! I know, I know there are headlights, reflectors, etc. BUT, even on familiar ground I am reluctant to try it too much because I fear drivers won't see ME.

Up in the North Woods, life kind of grinds to a halt after sunset, and unless you're lucky enough to have a beach near-by, there are few bonfires and weinie roasts. I'm not one to hangout in small town taverns so GUESS WHAT I DID?

Not too hard - what I usually do when it gets dark - KNIT!!!

I brought the little white cotton sweater I started during the first Chicago Heat Wave and finished the back and one front. Then I started and ripped, started and ripped, started and frogged, started and cursed, started and buried in my suitcase this:

YEAH, it's really fine and it's the biggest PITA I've ever attempted. One of the Ladies in S'nB made one last year which I admired and I decided since my shawl project went belly up, I'd make a net Cardie. WITH 3/4 BELL BOTTOM SLEEVES!!!

WAAAWhineWAAAAaaaa... I keep missing the count on this trellis lace! I thought what was happening to me might be like writer's block so I found some links and was encouraged to keep going...

My favorite link recommended "working on the project everyday for a little while" and "keep several projects going at the same time". (Like I needed ANY encouragement to do that.)

It also said get up and move your bootie, so see you later!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ChicKnits Little Helpers

Coping with Writing Anxiety

Advice from the Prolific

Just Walk Away

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (2)

Pour votre plaisir,
permettez-moi de recommander�

No Vacation is complete without a Souvenir

And I'll take Yarn, s'il vous pla²t! One of the nicest shops I've been in in a long time is the Knitter's Nest, just outside of Cadillac.

Pam Walker's yarn paradise could leave no one unhappy! She's made selections that are what I'll call "best of breed" for want of a better phrase. From High to Lower end yarns, the variety and volume is really impressive! The Basics are covered nicely by Plymouth and Brown Sheep and there is a great selection of Rowan and other imports. Those fancy "NOVELTY" (who thought that up, hmmm?) yarns are there too - but instead of shouting you down they just sing because Pam's selective taste is right on line...

What I really liked, is that she carries enough stock to actually make the garment - my pet peeve with yarn shops is sometimes they don't get it. They don't bother to find out that a sweater would take 14 skeins and they will have 10 and then tell you they will order more. I know, I know , overhead and space constraints notwithstanding, I say, carry less variety and more volume. My Grandfather said that about gardening as well - find something you can grow and grow a lot of it...

Pam also has a % off offer punchcard system that let's you have a discount the more you buy! Perfect fit for me - I wish this shop was right around the corner - she has a great sun-porch where people were sitting and knitting away leisurely. And if you need some more freshening, her daughter has a wonderful flower shop right next door!

Comments (2)

Monday Morning Mirth

Comments (3)

Start Your Engines!

You might be a RedNeck if you think
a Volvo is part of a woman's anatomy...

(joke told by announcer
at the LaPorte Co. Fair)

Have U ever been to a County Fair? Every July, my two best friends and I go to one down in LaPorte Co. Indiana. We started going in 1993 just for something to do while staying out at someone's beach house in the Lake Michigan Mediterranean area by the Indiana Border.

I LOVE COUNTY FAIRS!!!

You get to eat a great dinner made by, in this case, the wonderful people of the United Methodist Church. I had Mashed Potatoes covered with Beef&Noodle Gravy. Yum... Corndogs! Ferris Wheels (Double & Single)! The Guess Your Age Man that you secretly bribe for a dollar to add 10 years to your vainest friend's age! The Goat Barn where the 4H kids have animals that could be ET's pony if he ever comes back! The Goats are my favorite - you cannot imagine the varieties!

But the very best is the Demolition Derby! The first time we went we did not know it is always a sell-out so I egged on my friends to hop a short wall in a horse barn to get to the infield of the race track. I was wearing Black Cowboy boots with Denim ShortShorts that year and a white tank top. My friends had mocked me for hours about this outfit while going to the event but when we got the invitation to stand on top of one of the cars that had been dragged off the field right by the pit, oh their little tune changed yes it did...

These are really exciting deals at a small race track. If you sit in the front rows, you have to bring sheet plastic because the cars throw up all sorts of dirt and debris and you have to duck like lightening... There was a stupendous thunderstorm about 2 hours before the event so the infield was a pig sty! Mud was flying like comets - even though we were in a top row in the bleachers (15 rows total), I got hit in the head with a big clod of mud!

Cars start on fire right in front of you, bumpers and parts are flying everywhere and all that road rage you've been carrying around as a Big City Driver just disappears as you shout for your Demo Derby HeeRow as you imagine taking the same revenge on some moron in Chicago! That yuppie suit that just cut you off in his Beemer? GONE! That gangster slouched so low in the seat you can barely tell there's a driver except for the hand you see on the steering wheel who passes you on the right at a stop sign? HISTORY!!! AND that taxi that races into your lane Downtown with no turn signal then flips you off? FLAMED BUTTERED TOAST!!!

PEOPLE! I am healed...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Let's all go to the Derby...

UpComing Event!

ChicKnits Matchmaker

You Might be...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (2)

L'excitation de cr,er l',l,gance...

The grand feeling of accomplishing something difficult is one of human nature's little brain parties. It's one of those things that nobody else can do for you. It's a feeling no one else can feel quite like you do but it sort of rubs off on them all the same.

This cardigan back is not Mt. Everest to be sure, but it certainly feels like a hole in one to me! Even with the two rather obvious mistakes...

Would you rip or leave it???

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Great advice from Anne:

"If you concentrate on "seeing" the pattern rather than memorizing the pattern sequence, it will begin to make sense and you will quickly be able to tell if you've gone wrong. That means occasionally ripping out a few stitches rather than rows."

This really helped me - once I "knew" the basic pattern (and believe me after about 6 frogs you KNOW...) and just "stitched" looking and feeling the piece, I really understood what was going on and just started to sail through!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (20)

RU a Professional
Frog Princess?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How to Frog like a Professional

1. Visualize the final winning goal...

2. Visualize yourself wearing the goal...

3. Gird Your Loins! In this case with your Darth Vader boxer shorts...

4. Frog the bast**d using your awesome yarn winder!

5. Cheer!!! when you pass the last mistake! (One of double digits you actually didn't see until you photographed it...)

6. Go to Paypal and set up an account for your friends to make donations so you can receive the psychiatric care you so obviously deserve...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (10)

ChicKnits ArmChair Global

Is it just me
or does this terrifically
HOT WEATHER
drive you indoors?

I haven't been biking but to keep
myself in shape, I've been SURFING!

I am obsessed with International Patterns
ever since the Garn Extravaganza of July 5th.

=======  ChicKnits presents  =======

Initiative Handarbeit

(the Handwork Initiative of Germany)

a very Cool Crafting Site!

There are over 40 free patterns in the DOWNLOADS sections...

Things to Knit, Sew, Bead; something for the Urban Captive who just can't sit still but doesn't want to expire from Heat Exhasution....

Get them translated by opening the item's pattern, copying the URL, pasting it into the find box on Google, pick translate as an option and go to it!!!

Or you can use Systran's page HERE... (If anyone has a better translator, let me know, thanks!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For Example...

Picture: Multi-Color Pullover!
Pattern

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (2)

=======  ChicKnits presents  =======

the Usual Caffeine Induced Rant

Going to the mailbox is usually a delightful experience in the ChicKnits Universe. Since my name and address have been sold far and wide, I get all sorts of catalogs and graphic design magazines and web stuff that I didn't sign up for; just what I think is the greatest junk mail around...

Yesterday, (and enjoy your Saturday delivery because it won't be around much longer) I skipped down to the lockup and got my mail. YAY! The sale page for the grocery store and blueberries are CHEAP. My crystal ball fortells servings of cornflakes w/berries galore; frozen yogurt with blueberry yogurt and fresh blueberries on top; smoothies!!! Such an optimist probably deserves to crash back to earth occasionally, but really, people did it have to be the following???

Vogue Knitting Fall 2002! Arrived in the mailbox, shiny and smiling and I was so excited my heart was actually pounding! Fall is the Knitter's Nirvana and late summer is when you start fantasizing all the fashionable creations that might grace your frame the rest of the year if you get started now.

BUT it only took a couple of minutes for me to realize that I was going to get kicked to the curb with this one...

Here we are living in a time when more people are interested in knitting than ever. More young people knitting. More parents with people they'd like to knit "wardrobe" for. Guys knitting...

Knitting is Moving Forward at the Speed of Several Thousand Needles Clicking Around the World!!!

So what does Vogue do? THEY GO BACKWARDS! They publish a 20th Anniversay Issue that is just a cheap-a** re-cycling project of many (some sorta nice, I admit) of the designs from the last two decades.

I don't know about you, but personally, I'd rather forget most of the designs of the last two decades. Especially the 80's with those boxy huge-sleeved croppy nasty pullovers. Hey, Kaffe, please sit down! We are living in the body conscious New Century. Fit is Fabulous!

Instead of giving us Hungry Fashionistas something to chew on for months, they give us pre-digested throw-backs. Out of expensive yarns! There are over 44 patterns and the only one I'd consider making is #28.

After visiting Italian, French, German Knitting Sites, it just makes me wonder why the magazine isn't more inclusive as well. It says it is Vogue International... Well I say, get hip and get global! It doesn't take much to go to the runway shows, eh? Especially when your offices are in NY?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The above rant represents my personal opinion
only and I sincerely apologize
if it offends you in any way...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (18)

Monday Morning Mirth

Meet my friend, E.T.'s Pony aka the Nubian Goat!

I met a few of these wonderful creatures last Monday at the LaPorte Co. Fair. One of them tried to eat my friend's jacket...

Comments (1)

Fall Global Preview 2002

Katia (Spain)

Phildar (France)

Berroco (USA)

Rowan (England)

Jaeger (England)

Colinette (Wales)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comments (14)

Summertime and the Living is Lacey...

I'm finally making progress on the "HeatWave Cardie" I started on during an unexpected temp rise in April.

I have the Back and both Fronts done and need to speed knit the sleeves and VOILA! the perfect late night topper!

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Much excitement when S'n'B entertained our wonderful Northern Neighbor, none other than the fabulous SquibNocket from Toronto who made our meeting even more fun than usual last night!

After a fine Mexican dinner at Hacienda Tecalitlan (Amy/Tamales; Bonne/Relleno), we went up the scenic route of Damen St to the Perfect Cup, where we have S'n'B every Tuesday night.

Since Amy is so adorable, it wasn't long before she had the whole group twisted around her little finger. Pictures to follow on Squiblog...

Can anybody say Toronto Road Trip??!




Comments (3)