Having found my sub-niche

Thanks to everyone for your sympathy in my last two posts. I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to all of you directly -- Blogger doesn't give me your email addresses all the time. Grr.

This week has gone better (dark chocolate and Merlot have kept me just out-of-it enough), and is ten times more better because I have tomorrow (Friday) off. And though that means I have to work Saturday, I'll be all alone in the basement of the library and can play music through the computer's speakers instead of my headphones. !!! That's just the kind of rebel that I am.

And for the record, I did totally kick winter's ass and send it packing. For about three days. Now it's cold and grey and rainy and entirely non-glorious today, and winter just sits out there, begging to come back into my life and telling me it's the only season that could make me happy, that spring doesn't love me like it does, and that summer's just a flash-in-the-pan.

Whatever. Winter, you suck.

And I suck for not having a photo of anything WIP-ish, but I am in a bit of a snit with most of my projects just now, and we're not speaking.

This, however, does not suck:



Yes, it's the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Knit Along. I'm a fan of Buffy, I'm a fan of knitting, it all works out beautifully. It's the whole pointy stick/pointy stick affinity. The sweet thing about this KAL, aside from the obvious BtVS-ness, is that there are no time limits, no mandated patterns. Just hang out and knit and discuss. Plus you get to pick which category you want to be in -- Slayers, Vamps, Witches, Scoobies, Watchers, Demons. It's awesome. If you love Buffy (or Angel), you should join. (I'm talking to you. You know who you are.)

I embrace the weird, and it embraces me back.

I Am With My People

My day started all virtuous-like. I went to the chiropractor (where I heard, again, that I'm running sideways, and to stretch ALL THE TIME), went to the gym, then stopped at various stores for those necessities I mentioned.

And then apparently I made a vow to devote my writing time equally between normal writing and parenthetical writing (I think it's working out pretty well so far).

So, I ate lunch, thought about what I was going to pack in my knitting bag, showered, and then had like 3 more hours until I wanted to leave for Oak Brook (I wanted to get there early, but 6 hours before the reading started sounded a little nuts, even to me).

What did I do with all that time?
I made the bed (a rare occurance Chez HookOn, unless I've just changed the sheets)...


... I washed most of the dishes and cleaned the counters and (though you can't see it from here) I even swept and sort-of-mopped the floor (I used a wet paper towel to get all the leftover crumbs)...


... and I cleaned the stove (it was truly horrific. The bowls and protective rims that sit under the burners? I'm not sure if I have ever cleaned them, and I've lived in this apartment for three years. They are soaking in the sink.)


At this point I was feeling quite virtuous, and very deserving of a trip to see my most favorite author. I selected projects to take along to the reading, two of which you've already seen...

the grey bag ends (heh) for the to-be-felted bag,


and the second pair of socks (STR Fred Flintstone, lightweight, 2.5mm needles).

(make note of how much shorter the top sock is than the bottom sock... this will come into play later on.*)
The third project is a headband (the same one that Femiknitter made a while back) that I just started yesterday as I waited to leave for Oak Brook. I'll talk more about it later, because right now it is just i-cord, and you know what that looks like.

I left my house about 4:00pm with my knitting, necessities, water, and camp chairs. Why camp chairs? Because I heard that Borders in Oak Brook was only putting out 75 chairs. Then I heard it was 100 chairs. Foolish muggles -- when will they learn?

Laugh at me if you will, but I get a little nervous driving into the suburbs when I'm going somewhere for the first time. I don't get nervous about the actual driving, but I worry that I'll miss my exit and accidentally drive to Indiana (almost happened once).

I arrived without mishap at 5:10pm. Here's the view I had (from the fourth row... yes!!!!)


I walked in and saw the tell-tale signs that I was not the only knitter there. Shawls on shoulders, knit-or-die t-shirts(no actual picture, I was walking out of the bathroom and, strangely, didn't have my camera ready), felted bags... it was great. I bought some books and while I was in line I saw a woman wearing this great pink cabled sweater (do I have a picture? No, of course not) and I asked her if she made it and if I could touch it AND SHE DIDN'T BACK AWAY! She was a knitter and she understood!



I don't know if this applies to anyone else, but I've gotten the feeling that people (muggles) think I'm working a few beers shy of a six-pack when I walk up to them and ask to examine their sweaters. This is off-putting (to me) and makes me feel like my knitting is this highly un-understandable weird anomaly, and therefore, you know, so am I.



But this! This room full of knitters! I felt completely at home and comfortable. If you know me personally, you might snicker at this, but generally I feel kind of shy and awkward with people I don't know. Especially groups. However, this appears to apply only to muggles. I was all over the place, talking... (turns out my one-seat-away neighbor Renae [Hi Renae!] used to live in DeKalb and demonstrated how to use 2 circular needles to make an in-the-round item [a new-to-me concept]) ...and ogling yarn across the aisle and getting up to talk to the knitter about where she got it and what was it, and having a grand old time. Everyone was saying things like "I love that, what is it?" and "What are you working on" and eventually a wise woman stepped up to the microphone and said "While we're waiting, who wants to have a show-and-tell?" So we all showed off what we were working on. It was amazing. It was like this huge stitch-n-bitch full of happy energy. During the show-and-tell (I think), Nick sent me a text message saying he hoped I was having fun. My return text message said "I am with my people!"

Anna (who has written about all this already) and Heather were there by this point, and we were just looking at each other grinning. Grinning like fools.

Then Stephanie appeared. She blogged us blogging her blogging us (one of those infinite cat things... infinite blogger?),

(the Bohus? freaking stunning in person)
and she spoke. And she was hilarious and encouraging and unifying and hilarious and smart and strong and ohmygod was she funny. I saw her two years ago (or thereabouts (I just said "thereabouts." I am my father.)) and I loved that experience, but I had just learned to knit and didn't feel comfortable doing any work while I was trying to listen to her. This time, I had no trouble knitting while she was talking (I knit on the socks only, by the way), and could even look up from my knitting when I got to the stockinette parts! I felt like a real, live, grown-up knitter!

After she was done speaking and taking questions (during which she introduced a seven-year-old knitter to the word "harlot" and some of its meaning, and almost fell over laughing while doing so), we all got in a line to get our books signed (knitters with children first!). Strangely, the three of us all had socks on the needles. A lovely fellow knitter took our picture:


and then I took hers -- blog, meet Rachel. Hi Rachel!

Her sock (that of her second pair ever) matched her knitting bag and her top and jacket ENTIRELY BY COINCIDENCE. She may be the most coincidentally well-put-together knitter I've ever met. (it was great to wait in line with you!)

Then we got to the signing table and I gave Stephanie some wee gifties (from the three of us DeKalb knitters) and I got to hold the sock (!!!)

and of course, we're blurry.

I had the best time.

*(And the socks that were wildly different lengths when I began my tale?...

... I can't tell them apart now!)

We Interrupt This Blog!

For a special News Update! [important newscaster voice]

There's a new community knitting project in the Knitblogville! Every knitter knows that Barbara Walker's Treasuries are indispensable. We use them constantly for designing, for help with a difficult pattern, and for pure inspiration. Sometimes, though, the mostly black-and-white and small pictures keep us from seeing the full potential of a pattern. That's where the Walker Treasury Project comes in. We're gathering high-quality, color photos of all the patterns in all the Treasury books and putting them on the internet as a visual aide to this wonderful collection. Help your fellow knitter by choosing a pattern from a particular book, working up a nice big swatch in a light-colored yarn, and posting it to our blog. We can help you label and categorize everything. Also, keep in mind that we're not posting the pattern (no violations of copyright here), just the picture!



This was all Nicole's idea (kudos, girl!), but it's up to the rest of the commuknitty (ha! that has never been used before!) to make it work. Nicole, Alison, and I are moderators (and we could use a few more if anyone is interested) and we can steer you through the process if you should need steering. Check out the About page and the FAQ page and help knitters 'round the world get a better look at the Walker Treasuries.

Want to contact us? Email walkertreasuryproject ATTYatATTY gmail DOTTYdotDOTTY com.

(Next time: Birthday present run-down!)

A Series of Interconnected Links...

... to keep you entertained while I am busy elsewhere. Doing things that aren't knitting. They mostly involve hot chocolate and schnapps (peppermint). And some rather brilliant conversation, in my opinion.

In the Knitting Blog category:
If you don't already read Mad Hair Day, and I'm guessing you don't, go run away and check it out. This delightful lady discusses knitting, life, and (just recently) making chutney. All from New Zealand, where there are like 50,000 sheep for every one person (I may be making up the numbers, as I don't remember the actual figure. But they do have a lot of sheep.)

And In The Pink is discussing Santa Clams and holiday knitting just now, among other things. I like to watch others get knitty this holiday season, as I'm taking a break from it. [ETA: "it" being holiday knitting and deadline knitting, not knitting in general. No, never that.]

For the knitting librarians and/or readers, let me recommed to you Penguin Girl, who blogs, knits, reads, and is very smart and is also good at writing (much, much better than I am). There is learning and fun aplenty over there.

And I swear I am going to gain 10 pounds just by reading The Knitting Cook's blog/podcast site. She's got a whack of holiday recipes listed, and I'm so very tempted to go make everything she's talking about. Eeeeeevil. But in a good way.

In the Non-knitting Blog category:
My sister has started up a blog based on answering life's little reference questions. She's doing this as part of a library-school class assignment, but I hope she keeps it up because I learn a hell of a lot every time I visit her blog. Did you know that female marsupials develop an extra vagina in order to give birth? I didn't either, until I read her blog. Run away and read The Actress and the Bishop, and absorb knowledge.

Part of me is ashamed to admit to reading gossip rags in any form and sniffs derisively when it sees a photo spread of Stars! They're Just Like Us! But another part of me embraces gossip rags and their weird voyuerism (I'm probably spelling that wrong) and just giggle at the inane shit that goes on in that alternate reality peopled by the rich and famous. And that is why I have been reading The Superficial, and why you should too. Because you don't want to be the last one in your office to know that Britney has flashed her poon again.

(Special thanks to Femiknitter, who introduced me to this site. That's right, I outed you. Just be thankful I didn't post the tie-on-the-head picture. You know.)

In the Non-blog, Non-knitting category:
My pet cause, as well you know, is the annual exam and the prevention or early detection of gynecological cancers. This site has a very detailed and clear explanation of what to expect from an annual exam. It's run by Cornell's health service, so it's aimed at Cornell students, but the overall information is stellar. So go schedule your annual. Sing a silly song out loud while you're being poked and prodded to relieve the tension. Try to get your midwife/doctor/nurse practitioner to join in. And then tell me all about it!

The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation is a great place to find out what is going on in the fight against these cancers, and they have an 800 number (1-800-444-4441) for doctor referrals, in case you don't have a midwife/doctor/nurse practicioner of your very own. Interestingly, I just found out from their site that September is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. My Gram's birthday was in September.

Check Your Boobies, a site dedicated to preventing breast cancer by making sure women are informed about how to do a breast self exam, when to do it, and how it's not a scary or shameful thing. Rock. You can even sign up to get a montly email that will gently remind you to get to know your boobies. I signed up for the reminder, because I never remember to do it on my own. I should get one of those hanging things in the shower. (You and I can both get a free one from the American Cancer Society by calling 1-800-ACS-2345)

*Smack!*

In the swirling madness that was my wedding preparation, I forgot that Sunday the 23rd of July was my blogiversary.

*

Way to go, little blog!

*

I started this bloggyblog in the hopes that it would take the place of the monthly newsletter I was sending out to all my past crochet students who expressed interest in getting updates & new info between class sessions. It didn't really work out that way. Very few people cared enough to check in with a website--a quality that astonished me, as I had just discovered crocheting and knitting blogs and loved that everyone was sharing their progress (struggles and all), and couldn't wait to read what everyone was going to say next. I also started wanted to write more for myself and less as a font of information for a group of stitchers who were not nearly as rabid as I was about the idea of staying up-to-the-minute current on the latest stitch-type news, or learning every possible technique all at once (or at least were not as vocal about it as I was). I also wanted to write better (after 3 years of writing mosly APA-style lab papers, my skills were honed to a sponge-like dullness).

And thus was born the blog you see today.

*

When I named it "get your hook on", of course, I was a crocheter with absolutely no knitting aspriations. Now that I have a foot planted firmly in either camp (but with a definite leaning toward knitting), I'm considering a name change but have no real plans for that. I don't know how it would go over or what I would change it to.

(Yes, I just ended a sentence--nay, a paragraph!--with a preposition. Having just read The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson, I learned that the injunction against ending sentences with a preposition began with some dude's opinion that it doesn't look nice, and got put into some Great English Rulebook and is now official and stuff. While I'm usually a stickler for grammar and rules, it makes me chuckle to know that the rules sprouted from some random guy's mildly expressed opinion, and that they have led to sentence constructions such as "That is something up with which we will not put!" [a true story... one of Nick's law school professors said it. Jokingly, one presumes] There's probably some rule against massive and constant use of parentheticals, but you can see how well I adhere to that one.)

*

Anyway. So yes, blogiversary number one has come and gone, and I am done with wedding planning for the rest of my life (so help me, if I have a daughter I will run away to Azerbaijan if she wants a big wedding and just show up the day of. So very supportive.), and I hope to make some changes around here in the housekeeping department. You know, keep up with my projects on the sidebar, join a swap or two, start a weekly something that makes me think (as you can see, any sort of kick in the pants in that direction will be welcome). We'll see what happens.

*(All the pictures? They're projects that I started over the past year and have not yet finished. I hope to better myself this year.)

Carmen Miranda-izing the Babies of California

We have been challenged!

Stephanie mentioned an effort by a lovely woman named Jeanne in California, all about bringing breastfeeding education and support to low-income families in her area. Part of her plan includes handing out adorable knitted fruit and/or vegetable hats to the wee ones in the hopes of instilling smart nutritional values for life. (My own personal take-away lesson: always put your food on your head, because Mom's face is just so much more fun when you do.)

Jeanne's plan seems to be a pretty large one, and she could use the help of cheerful knitters to send some hats to simultaneously warm the noggins of babies and make them look like Carmen Miranda's littlest fanclub. I totally dig breastfeeding (been on the receiveing end, but not yet on the dispensing end), and I think Jeanne's effort is amazing. All the more so because who doesn't love babies wearing fruit-shaped hats? It's bound to succeed.

Because I'm so all over this, I've made a list of links to free patterns of baby hats that look like fruits and veggies for you to peruse and use. (I know you have the ability to head over to Knitting Pattern Central and check it out yourself--I don't think you're dumb in any way--I just like to be helpful and to pretend that I'm organized) (Hello 23 days until my wedding!)

And even though I found the bunny, squid, egg & kitty hats to be adorable, I'm vegan/vegetarian and don't want kids to think that it's okay to eat the squid, so I didn't include them in this list.

Warning: the pictures with actual babies in them may cause you to flip out from cute.

Apple Hat (I must make one of these)


Tart Hat (it wants to be a raspberry, though! Can you see it?)


Pineapple Hat


Pumpkin Hat


Tomato (or perhaps Strawberry) Beanie (so very cute!)


Watermelon Hat Pseudo-Pattern (by none other than Harlot Herself)

At press-time (ha! I find myself endlessly amusing!), Stephanie said folks could email her to find out where to send the knitted adorableness. So go do it. And leave me a comment if you're joining in the foodie fun. Hooray!