It’s been quite a year. At times it has been difficult to see the upside of certain events but, as we approach Thanksgiving and I reflect upon what I am grateful for, the upside sort of bobs up to the surface, which, it seems, does much for my outlook on life and my mood in general. 

I am overwhelmingly grateful for the friends I’ve been fortunate to make.  It seems that the collective complaint of those of us who fall into the 30+ category is “It’s SO HARD to meet people and make friends.” I’ve found this as true as anyone.  My parents have consistently warned me over the years that I’m at work to work and not to make friends…that I shouldn’t get too friendly with my fellow cube farmers.  There are times when they’ve been right, I’ll begrudgingly admit, but, on the whole following their advice would have denied me the distinct pleasure of counting some truly awesome people among my friends: Amanda, Cathy, Christine, Pier, C-Dub, the Legen – wait for it – dary Mr.Lang, Diego, Shot…I could go on and on.  At times all of these folks have been the only reason I’ve been able to make it through a work day – and in Cathy’s case, any day.  You guys rock hard.

Then, of course, there are my knitting friends – I won’t name names because there are just so many of you! These are the ladies who brighten my week immeasurably.  You make me smile and laugh and accept all my craziness and neuroses, give me a good talking to when I need it.  I absolutely adore all of you, even when I go MIA for a bit. Thank you all for being your fabulous selves.

Now, my Laura falls in a category all her own.  My dearest, most beloved friend since we were awkward pre-teens with LL Bean backpacks in the halls of the MKA middle school.  I can’t adequately express my gratitude, my joy that I am lucky enough to have you as my sister.  I can’t go much farther than that because I’ll be a sobby mess instantly…I love you that much.  Thank you for always being there for me and letting me be there for you.  I also have to thank you for giving me an awesome brother-in-law and an angel of a niece. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention I got the MOST EXCELLENT set of surrogate parents I could ever ask for in the deal. Honestly, I’m blessed.

My own family, source of 110% of my neuroses, has also been an extraordinary gift.  My parents have been incredibly generous and loving.  I can’t be appreciative enough of all they’ve done for me (and continue to do for me).  I love you both.  My brother Paul, obviously swimming in the better part of the gene pool, who is brilliant, funny, and looks like a frigging Calvin Klein model…well, I resent him deeply.  I’m working on that with my therapist (Dr. Jose Cuervo).  In all seriousness, I love you bro and our talks…can’t wait to see you over the holidays.

Last, but assuredly not least, is Joe.  I just want to say, damn, I’m lucky.  For those of you who have known me long enough to be familiar with my various fantasies about one of my History teachers or English professors – this man is total wish fulfillment for me.  I’m not sure who got paid off or how exactly I got lucky enough to love and be loved in return by a handsome, intelligent, talented, funny, caring man (and yes girls, he’s a reader too) who is not only a wonderful boyfriend but an amazing friend.  Wow.  Ok, the truth is that in this case my dogged persistence paid off…I just wore him down…frankly, I’ve been studying cults and mind control and if we ever break up he’s going to have to be de-programmed.  Kidding. Sort of. I love you the most honey.

So, you may ask at this juncture, “Lis, what’s with the Susie Cream Cheese thing?”  Well, my mom always warns me not to become Susie Cream Cheese as I become…well, domesticated (there’s some potential cohabitation on the horizon for those who are unaware). I’ve given this a great deal of thought.  At certain points in my life I’ve been a pretty fierce feminista – ask Chris Giampapa who at one point called me Ms. ERA – and I’m proud of that.  I’m proud that my parents raised me to think critically, feel deserving of the same rights, education, status, etc. as my male counterparts and that’s a big part of who I am.  Fundamentally, this is all about the right to make choices – to have options open to women and my biggest criticism of certain strains of feminism has been the horrendous backlash against women who choose a more traditional role, want to stay home with their children, etc. My feeling is that the goal of all this activism is to create options and allow people (regardless of gender, race, national origin, sexual preference, etc.) to be what they want to be – to craft their own identity and not to be denied opportunity.  I’m sure I could wax far more intellectually on this if it wasn’t Sunday morning and I wasn’t in my PJs and overtired but you get the gist.

I have realized at 33 that I am an amalgam of my experiences and influences and that my grandmother Yetta who stayed home and raised her kids, cooked meals, knitted, etc. is as much a part of me as her son the lawyer.  The simple fact is, I love what I do for a living and I’m getting better at it all the time – that gives me great satisfaction – but I also really love making a nice meal for my boyfriend, decorating my apartment, fantasizing about a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. That’s all good.  Those are my choices.  Now, Joe is never going to be the type of man who demands domestic servitude.  He’s completely self-sufficient, does his own laundry, folds his own shirts, and is a damn good cook.  This isn’t about anything he requires of me, it’s about me expressing love and care for him the way it was expressed to me my whole life by my grandmother and mother.

At great length, what I’m saying is “Hellooo Susie Cream Cheese!”  I’ve always been a little bit Susie and I’m really ok with that.  So I’m tying this entry up and going back to knitting a Christmas gift for Joe’s mom that I hope carries with it the gratitude I feel towards her for not only her incredible thoughtfulness and generosity but for producing a really spectacular son.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and I hope your own reflections yield as much to be thankful for as mine have.  If not, give me a holler and I’ll bake you some cookies or knit you some socks.

Always the same...

I have word that they have arrived in Portland and will be opened tomorrow, so hopefully I will have pics of Miss H. in them. 

I’m currently in 2 awesome swaps: The Knitters’ Coffeeswap with my very cool partner Rhonda (welcome Rhonda!) and The Loopy Ewe swap which is a big ol’ secret! So, in addition to trying to finally finish my Monkey Socks, I need to get movin’ on my Loopy Swap present which is all planned out and I have yarn for it.  I have about a million projects I’m thinking about so I really need some FOCUS.  Very difficult for me. 

I’m not Joe’s favorite person this week so I have to head home and prepare to grovel on the phone.  Til after 5 tomorrow kids!

1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean is great – I’ve got a grinder – but if there’s something cool pre-ground I’m game!

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? High octane all the way!

3. Regular or flavored? Either

4. How do you drink your coffee? Light and sweet – like me.  I go full-fat on the dairy whether it’s cream or milk – the only way to go.

5. Favorite coffee ever? Real Kona coffee but I also really love Pumpkin Spice.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? There is a time and place for Chock Full o’ Nuts…I just haven’t found that time and place yet.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Snickerdoodles… I love Snickerdoodles…or peanut butter cookies….or oatmeal cookies….or a good scone… I’m obviously not picky.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I prefer…a lot of it.

9. Yarn/fiber you love? I’m a sock yarn girl all the way.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Ummm…100% acrylic?11. What’s on your needles? A Baby Surprise Jacket made out of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, my 2^nd Monkey Sock and just last night a baby hat (to coordinate with the Baby Surprise) came off the needles.

12. Favorite colors? Can’t think of one I don’t like.  At the moment I’m loving autumn colors and good, deep greens.   

13. Allergies? Nope!

14. Anything you really love, really don’t like, or just need to get off your chest? Other than about a million pounds of boobage? I love my tiara, cocktails, all things handmade, socks, my wonderful boyfriend (oops, shoulda put him up front – sorry Joe!) and yarn…lots of yarn…and coffee…mmmmm… yarn and coffee *drool*

As I reported last post, I was crocheting the fugly lapkin.  As promised, it was finished by the end of the weekend.  I have determined that it is way too fugly to foist upon anyone… even my beloved Joe.  It appears to be curling in in an odd way — I think if I put a large button on it it would qualify as a capelet…albeit a fugly one.  For the moment it remains at Chez Gittlemeyer (my apartment, christened thus by Dina with the mashup of Joe’s last name – Meyer – and mine – Gittleman – I need a sign to hang on the door to that effect).

The Monkey Socks, that were progressing so nicely experienced some stalling, due not only to the repurposing of the Fugly Poncho, but also to the fact that I appeared, once again, to be knitting into the black hole.  I’m pleased to report that I have found my way out and am about to close the toe on the first sock.  I plan to do so tonight and cast on sock number 2.  I love these socks so much that I’ve been able to resist the yarny call of my new stash acquisitions and new patterns.  It hasn’t even been that difficult.  Although I am in love with them, I am still considering gifting them to Joe’s mom…however, each time I drop a stitch because I’m tired and not paying attention and pick it up somewhat sloppily my inner perfectionist feels that the socks are no longer good enough to give away.  We’ll see what happens.  I also must note that I was afraid I was short on yardage for these socks and ordered another skein only to discover upon its arrival that 1 skein per sock was just fine and I now have extra…sooo, the question is: shall I return? shall I exchange?  What’s a girl to do?

Speaking of stash acquisition, I was a very bad girl!

This skein of Alpaca Sox jumped into my arms at Stix-n-Stitches on Sheila’s command…which sounded an awful lot like “Lisa, have you seen the Alpaca Sox?”

 You can’t see the colors because my camera phone sucks (promise I’ll borrow my parents’ digital camera and take better pics of my stash which will naturally be on Ravelry) but it’s just gorgeous – light blue, pink, gray, tan and just so soft!!!  If I don’t give Joe’s mom the Monkeys you can bet she’ll be getting Alpaca Sox which I’m sure will make her propose to me on her son’s behalf… don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll call him and tell him about it shortly thereafter…he does need to be informed of these things.  He’ll be fine with it…roight!

2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepard Sock in Purple Iris and 2 skeins of Interlacements Tiny Toes in Fireplace Embers…all from The Loopy Ewe.  I take it all out and fondle it frequently…can’t wait to knit it up!  Of course, as I mentioned earlier, I didn’t stop at yarn… I had to buy miscellaneous goodies as well…what happiness!

The following represents a combination of orders from The Loopy Ewe and Knit Picks as well as a POS purchase at Stix -n- Stitches. 

Pictured are jeweled stitch markers from Stix -n- Stitches, the Soak sample package from The Loopy Ewe and Harmony DPNs, nickle plated DPNs and a Chibi from Knit Picks.  I am so happy I can barely control myself.  I was coveting the Harmony Options set from Knit Picks but it wasn’t in the budget at the moment….that’s headed straight for the Xmas list!

 My other item of knitting p0rn is really my favorite….

A beauteous new knitting bag made for me by the fabulous Jo Ellen! I actually have to take a better pic because this one doesn’t do it justice.  It’s an incredible crazy quilt messenger bag with inside pockets made to hold knitting needles, crochet hooks, pencils and the like… I am so in love with it!!!  Jo Ellen is a lifelong quilter and does amazing work.  Her full sized quilts boggle my mind completely.  She’s happy to take commissioned work and, I believe has some finished quilts she’d be willing to sell.  If you’d like to get in touch with her, drop me a line or leave a comment.  If my Stix-n-Stitches ladies are reading, she will be accompanying me to SnB tomorrow night and you can see the bag in person.

In addition to all the previously mentioned knitting goodness, I’ve also joined the Art Walk Sock Yarn Club, The Loopy Ewe Swap and The Knitters’ Coffee Swap 3.  This should keeping me swimming in Yarn P0rn for months to come… JOY! I was trying to wait for Christmas for a swift and ball winder but I have the distinct feeling that I’ll be purchasing this weekend…hey, with all the yarn coming my way it’s the right thing to do!

Speaking of Christmas, I’m working very hard on my list for the Santa Clauses in my life.  Generally I am terrible at telling people what I want but I’m learning that it’s necessary.  Ladies, Mr. Meyer needs to know… one of you needs to take him in hand and explain that I need a girl present. Sock yarn fits nicely in a stocking…as do needles, bottles of soak, stitch markers and basically anything under “Accessories” on most knitting sites but the main event needs to be a girl present. If it’s sparkly, even better.

To close, Hadley chatting with me on the phone….

This time last year Joe and I were not speaking.  It was a very sad time and I was trying to make myself scarce but I was sick of sitting home alone all the time.  One day I was sitting at work and it occurred to me that going to a Stitch and Bitch was a banner idea.  I was online desperate to find one and on the verge of tears when I saw that my LYS had one on Thursday nights.  I bolted to AC Moore after work, because the LYS is not open after 5, insistent on finding something to knit that minute. Semi-hysterical and obviously not thinking clearly I grabbed a pattern for a poncho and some hideous chunky Lion Brand yarn.

I started knitting the poncho that night and it got uglier and uglier as I worked on it.  I went to the Stitch and Bitch with this disaster in tow, met some lovely women, told them about my horrific break up and had a really great time.  It really helped me get through this dark period.

When Joe and I reconciled I abandoned the fugly poncho in the UFO basket and never thought about it again… til last night.  After a long absence I returned to the SnB and had an absolute blast!!  I met great people, spent a couple hours knitting and came home very happy.  So happy, in fact, that I pulled the fugly poncho out and, for a reason that still elludes me, frogged the whole thing and immediately started crocheting it into a blanket.  The result?

It’s heavy and still pretty fugly but it will be a blanket by the end of the weekend for sure.  I think I’m going to give it to Joe and cast off (no pun intended) all of the bad karma of the fugly poncho.

I have tons o’ new pics and much to tell but it’s Friday and 5pm so I’m heading out.  I promise I’ll write a good post on Monday.

I don’t have much in the way of time this second – have much work to do and few minutes to do it – but I must update on the projectoids.  The Monkey Socks, my friends, are cruising!  Check this out…a complete leg!!!

I am so loving these puppies… I mean, Monkeys and they’re just knitting up incredibly quickly.  Cookie A. is a total genius and one of the things that I love, love, love is that she has the lace pattern both written out and charted.  I swore many moons ago I would never knit anything that required a chart, which really just amounts to a phobia, and thanks to Miss Cookie I have finally overcome it and have been happily knitting from her chart.  The pattern is perfection and I am stoked beyond belief.

My weekend ended up being amazing despite a rocky start.  I joined Herr Meyer in Connecticut which provided a ton of knitting time, a haven from the crack whore and plenty of quality time with Joe.   One of the highlights of the weekend was Sunday morning. Joe got out of bed early and I just snuggled under the covers listening to what he was doing (smoking, reading, putting away dishes, showering) feeling slightly groggy.  I heard the shower turn off and the sound of his footsteps heading for the dresser in the bedroom.  As he entered, I surreptitiously opened one eye… I have to interject here that it really shows how fantastic and healthy our relationship is that after 2 years I still peek when he’s naked in the vicinity…and checked out his cute bum as he went dresser diving.  I quickly feigned sleep and moments later I heard “Hi honey…do you want coffee?” Thinking only of the instant stowed in his cabinet for emergencies I unenthusiastically assented. And then I heard the magic words, “What do you want from Starbucks?” 

I shot straight up in bed, looked at him and spouted, “Did you just say Starbucks to me??”  He hates Starbucks on principle but to me – coffee sex in my mouth.  He not only said I could have whatever I wanted but that I should also stay in bed. I couldn’t say pumpkinspicelatte fast enough.  He not only got me my PSL and The New York Times but then made an AMAZING breakfast.  How in God’s name did I get so lucky?  I did ply him with “Spanky Chicken” and matzoh ball soup but this was just beyond the pale… I cannot adequately express my love for him at this moment.  He’s the best (to quote the email I got from Miss Violet today — double SQUEEEEE!) “boyfriend-type-unit” ever.  More tomorrow kiddies…great pate but I gotta motor.

What I really cannot comprehend is why nobody seems to know when the parts will arrive…seems simple to me…. 1) Has the part actually been shipped? 2) Assuming the answer to #1 is yes, carriers (UPS, USPS, DHL, FedEx) give you a tracking number so you should be able to track the shipment.  THERE SHOULD BE NO QUESTION ABOUT WHEN THE PARTS WILL ARRIVE!!  Obviously I’m about to lose my ever loving mind.  It is 4:25pm on Friday as I write this.  It seems fairly unlikely to me that anything will be accomplished until next week at this point.  I’m livid.

To make myself feel better I placed three orders online today – from The Loopy Ewe, KnitPicks and The Craftster Spreadshirt Shop.  From lovely Sheri at The Loopy Ewe I ordered Lorna’s Laces Shepard Sock in Purple Iris, Interlacements in Fireplace Embers and the Soak wash sample kit.  From KnitPicks I ordered DPN’s — one set of nickle, one of the new, gorgeous Harmony birch — as Lime & Violet noted that they were very pointy and fast for socks, and finally from The Crafster shirt shop I got a little custom t-shirt with the skull and crossed knitting needles that says “Knit Fast, Die Warm” on the front and “Sox, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll *Anita Cocktail *” on the back.  I’m such a glutton when I’m upset!

To add insult to injury, Joe was called back to the office so he won’t be here with me this weekend.  I offered to head up to his neck of the woods but that’s on hold til he sees what needs to be done at the office.  Arrgh!

Ok, so the Monkey socks are on the needles and the lovely pattern is starting to emerge…I fully intend to give them the majority of my attention this weekend.  A funny thing happened to the Monkey socks…. I was cleaning the apartment in preparation for the King’s arrival and as I was vacuuming the living room in a flash the Monkeys leapt off my arm chair and right at the Dirt Devil.  It all happened so fast I can’t testify under oath about anything that occurred, but when the dust settled the Monkey sock was still on 4 DPNs but the ball of yarn was missing and there was only a fuzzy stub of a yarn tail hanging off the sock.  I searched under the furniture, frantic to find the yarn.  When it was nowhere to be found I turned the Devil over and found yarn wrapped around the roller.  I started pulling it out wondering if it was possible that the damn vacuum had swallowed an entire ball of yarn.  Once I had extracted the yarn from the roller I began to disassemble the whole vacuum trying to figure out where the ball was lodged.  It was only after the thing started to look like an engineering assignment gone wrong that I glimpsed the ball…. on the other side of the room.  Yes, I’m a moron.  At any rate, one nice spit splice later I’m back in business.

Anyway boys and girls, pray for your old pal Lisa G. that the heat gets fixed and that the crackhead ex girlfriend doesn’t come a callin’.  Have a great weekend, knit plenty and keep pimpin’ the blog to your friends… I’m seeing a lovely little spike in readership thanks to you folks!

Much love and rock on with your bad selves!

The Crack Whore returns to Verona this week — rumors indicate tomorrow — and I am clean out of firearms and disinfectant! I could quite easily hide in my tropical apartment until Monday to avoid it all, BUT my beloved boyfriend will be home.  I had made peace with the fact that we might run into her and was, in fact, thinking that there might be some revenge value in her having to see Joe and I together but then Joe reminded me that it’s Jamie’s birthday this weekend and we’ll be partying like it’s 1999 – which, I need not explain, expotentially increases the odds that we will be in proximity to said Crack Whore and her delightful scent — a combination of B.O. and Chanel.

To top things off, I came into work this morning to find that I had been forwarded an email exchange between Jamie and Bruce that does not bode well.  The boys seem to be having a spat that may or may not resolve itself.  This is going to be a fabulous weekend!

On to happier things! I haven’t had any UFO and FO pics in a while because I usually take them on my phone (explains the lack of quality, eh?) and my phone was maimed.  Fear not, the replacement has arrived and I have both an FO and a UFO for you! The UFO picture is blurry – sorry – you’ll have to use your imagination!

The FO is one sock.  Yes, one.  I first reasoned that I had only made one because the socks are for me which makes me less motivated, but I think I was just not having a good time with it.  I love Fleece Artist but I found myself wishing for a bit more elasticity in the yarn… it was a long haul! Just the same, I really dig the sock and HAVE TO make another one so I can wear ’em!  Note how lovely this one looks on the sock blocker… it’s an Ann Budd standard sock.

The UFO is, strangely enough, also a sock.  I was cruising Knitty yesterday and got a good look at the Monkey sock pattern… suddenly I knew the destiny of the gorgeous Freesia Claudia Hand Painted I bought from the Loopy Ewe last month.  I whipped it out and started winding – unfortunately finding a break in the yarn not too far into the hank – argh!  I’ll deal with it when I get there I guess.  So, this is the cuff in progress.  Working with this yarn I truly understand what Lime & Violet are talking about when they say that the yarn is lickable.  This looks like rainbow sherbert or something — I cannot wait to have lickable socks!

Speaking of Lime & Violet, I’m completely obsessed.  Thanks are due to the Yarn Harlot for tipping me off.  The long of it (fuck the short – I’m not into the whole brevity thing) is that I currently hate most of the guys in my section of the cube farm at work because they’re too fucking loud talking about hockey and how small their penises are so I needed to find a way to drown them out so I downloaded all the Lime & Violet podcasts.  At first I happily sat doing my work and listening to these fantastic chicks who make me feel like the thoughts I have on a daily basis are perfectly normal…next thing I knew I was listening in the car to and from work…and sitting on the couch knitting…and on my walk…and in bed.  I feel so dirty but I like it.  Ok, maybe I need help.  Maybe – ha!

Finally, the Alan Parsons Project has been received and here it is… modeled by the lovely Miss Hadley! Yes, it’s a Bella Knits Baby Viking Helmet!  Miss Hadley has been wearing it all over Portland and she looks cute as a button! I have oodles of fabu pics of her in it which I’m sure I’ll post over the next couple days!  I’m so happy everyone is enjoying the hat and I’m working on a bunch more goodies for Miss H!

I’d post a picture of one finished Jester sock but I seem to have mortally wounded my cell phone last night after I sang at the Verona Inn.  Yes, I sang last night…in public… and I do have photographic evidence….

Jake and I sang a couple of songs during Bruce’s Acoustic Jam at the Verona Inn last night.  Here’s the 3 of us before we started:

Don’t we look happy? Nice that my bra also seems to be glowing through my shirt!! 

It was too much fun! I’m so looking forward to the next show in 2 weeks!!  I’m only sorry that nobody took a picture of Jake, Bruce, me and the bar manager Blake singing Satisfaction at the end!

I think that about sums it up.

I wish I had great UFO pictures for you but nothing has been moving particularly quickly.  I had to frog part of the Baby Surprise Jacket because I f’ed it up which is pretty hard to do.  That will teach me to knit while fighting with Joe.

I haven’t touched the sock in about a week.  I think its time.  I promise that tomorrow there will be progress…but for now, this is what I felt like saying to several people last night: