"Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case

It is the end of the month and I've come full circle. In the May 1 entry, I said that I would probably get to Neko Case at some point during this month and I never did so today I bring you my favorite Neko Case song.

She is an accomplished solo musician as well as a member of the Canadian band the New Pornographers. I wish I could have a tenth of her talent.

This ends the month of music. I might still do this occasionally but I think the actual knitting content may return next week. Thanks for bearing with my odd musical tastes for 31 days.

"Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes

I'm not a big Violent Femmes fan by any means but for some reason I used to put this song on almost every mix CD I ever made.

There's just something about this song that screams "dance party!" Come on, you know you want to get up and dance right now. I'm doing my tiny little "dance in my chair and hope no one walks by my cubicle" thing. It's Friday, let's have some fun.

"LDN" by Lily Allen

Oh, Lily Allen. Let's look how much better you look with brown hair.

And could you go back to wearing the cute sundresses? That was an awesome phase.

"Robots"/"The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room"/"Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros" by Flight of the Conchords

Hurray for Flight of the Conchords. They are a band from New Zealand that also have an HBO show of the same name which is unfortunately not returning until 2009 due to residual writers strike effects. Bonus, I have a thing for puns. I couldn't decide on one song, so you get three.

Binary solo!



"You could be an air hostess in the 60s"



This one is just for the motherflippin' dance moves.

"Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend

Both on her blog and in person when she was in person when she spoke in St. Paul this past spring, the Yarn Harlot spoke about her dislike of the serial, or Harvard, comma. Another name for it is the Oxford comma. It's the comma before the word "and" in the sentence, "Those shoes belong to John, Suzie, and Jack." In many cases, the serial comma is unnecessary but it can provide extra clarification. As a former journalism major and current analytical chemist, I'm a fan. Apparently Vampire Weekend agrees with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

Warning: a few uses of the f-word that are not edited out in this video.

I like Vampire Weekend. They suffered a little from too much online hype before their album was released but overall it is a pretty good album. You can definitely hear that Paul Simon's Graceland was a major influence of theirs along with the South African pop that was that album's influence. The band formed at Columbia University and considering the fact that most groups coming out of my own school were a cappella, this would have been a welcome change.

When Knitting and Television Collide

Dude. These Monkey socks were on Jeopardy! today. The contestant's name is Heather and her name on Ravelry is BlackberryTea. She was ahead going into Final Jeopardy but ultimately was defeated by the returning champion. Doesn't matter, though, because I think she might be my new hero.

"Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knights and the Pips

I was in the mood for some soul today.

Gladys is working some wicked earrings in this vid. The Pips are dancing smoothly. Couldn't ask for much more.

"Peaceful Easy Feeling" by The Eagles

I have a feeling that Lisa, much like myself, took a classic rock song and changed one of the words to knit(ting) for the title of her blog Peaceful Easy Knitting.

This song makes me want to find a tree to spread a blanket under so I can sit outside and knit or read for the afternoon. This weekend has been so lovely and I'm glad that we get an extra day to enjoy it, even if we are currently in a tornado watch.

"See Emily Play" by Pink Floyd

It was only right that I get to this at some point during the month.

And now you know the reason for the name of the blog. Knitting, hallucinogenic drugs, and me, all tied together in a Pink Floyd song. I knew a few people that would bring this song up in reference to me a few times. Not that I've ever been known for a drug habit, but it's almost too fitting for those moments that I come off as such a blonde stereotype.

"Adia" by Sarah McLachlan

Phew. Almost missed posting today. Less than two hours to spare.

I was walking home from work today when I found myself humming this to myself. No reason why. I did have my iPod on, but I was listening to an NPR podcast, no Sarah McLachlan playing. For whatever reason, my mom cannot stand this song. I don't think it's that she's against Sarah McLachlan, either, because I'm pretty sure she was cool with "Angel." This song, along with a lot of Tori Amos, played heavily into my teen angst years. A lot of flinging myself onto my bed with the full agony of living was done to Surfacing. I do not think I could have been more of a cliche had I tried.

"Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer

I'll admit that a spinning record isn't the most exciting video out there.

But as far as audio quality for a YouTube video goes, this is pretty damned awesome. This choice was definitely influenced by the appearance of Ms. Summer on American Idol last night but it calls to mind another television show, one from simpler times. A time when you could stay at home on a Friday night, turn the TV to ABC, and bask in the glory of TGIF.

Work it, Mr. Feeny! Cory + Topanga 4eva!!!!!!! (Those exclamation points are for you, Erin).

"It's a Hit" by Rilo Kiley

Warning: Today's selection has a bit of questionable language (it's all censored in the video) and also alludes to certain political values.

This is one of my favorite songs by my favorite band but I had never seen the video for it until today. It's kind of weird but features some pretty kick-ass Lite Brite effects. I've discussed Rilo Kiley on this blog before when I had tickets to see them back in September. It was a great concert, one that really made me appreciate tracks off their newest album which I wasn't completely enjoying until then.

"Closing Time" by Semisonic

Today's entry is pretty much going to be a love story to Dan Wilson, a former member of Trip Shakespeare and frontman of Semisonic. Besides being a pretty awesome musician himself, he's also extremely active behind the scenes. In his Minneapolis studio, he has produced both albums by Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty, who I mention in the post introducing this month's theme. He also won a 2007 Grammy for song of the year for co-writing "Not Ready to Make Nice" with the Dixie Chicks.

"Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan

I know, he's hardly the world's greatest singer and listening to him can be quite painful, but you have to give Bob Dylan his due.

Yes, I chose the infamous night he went electric.

He's a great songwriter and since he's Duluth born and Hibbing bred, he's pretty much one of my people. Trust me, the people of the Iron Range are quite proud of Bobby Zimmerman even if he doesn't really lay much claim to the state of Minnesota anymore.

No matter what you say about his vocal talents or drug use, the man is a genius songwriter. The Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" is a classic. I'll be the first to admit that when I think of "Knocking on Heaven's Door," it's totally the voice of Axl Rose singing in my head. I could have done without Jason Castro's performance of "Mr. Tambourine Man" on American Idol, though.

"When Doves Cry" by Prince

I could hardly cover Minnesota artists without talking about Prince. Sure, he's a crazy little dude with a seemingly unnatural obsession with the color purple but he's also a fantastic musician. His skill on the guitar alone is enough for him to be remembered by. Prince has sued YouTube to keep his videos off of there but he was OK with Last.fm providing the full track of "When Doves Cry." I was trying to decide between this, "Raspberry Beret," and "Let's Go Crazy," but since this is the only one that had the full track available this is what you get.

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters

In honor of the sesquicentennial, I thought I'd focus on Minnesota artists for the next few days.

I think I might have gotten to the Andrews Sisters eventually, anyways. Their influence on music over most of the twentieth century and still occasionally today is enormous. Unfortunately, I think their influence sometimes is to make parents think that their children should all sing harmony together. Or at least my mom. My sister and I tend not to discuss those occasions.

"Groove is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite

In honor of the gorgeous weather Minnesota is experiencing today, I thought it was time to haul out fun one hit wonder pop songs.

Careful! I think this video might be able to create a Pokemon-like seizure. You have been warned. Now dance! Full-length body suits definitely not a requirement.

"I've Got a Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together" by Buffy the Vampire Slayer

It's time to dig deep into the cult favorites today.

Even my sister, who can probably count on one hand the number of Buffy episodes she has seen, loves "Once More, With Feeling." This is my favorite song in this episode (Bunnies!) with "Rest in Peach" coming in close second (dude, it's Spike with character development). With all this Whedon musical reminiscence, I can't help but be excited for Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. It's going to be legendary.

"In My Room" by The Beach Boys

I had a bad day at work. This helps.

The Beach Boys was the first concert I ever went to. I was with my parents and my sister at the Minnesota State Fair and America was the opening band. I'm not sure if my parents were trying to create some of the geekiest children ever, but I think that at least when it comes to music they succeeded. A little too well. I'm going to go hug a pillow and pet some yarn now. Mmm, alpaca.

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper

Sometimes I'm such a child of the 80s that it's scary.

I've even seen the movie although probably not until the 90s. Early Sarah Jessica Parker brilliance with Solid Gold-style dancing. That's almost Xanadu level of camp. Definitely not something to miss out on. Even if SJP does annoy the crap out of me 80% of the time.

Emily Deschanel sang it on Bones last night. It was all good times until somebody got shot.

"Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes

This song is a pain in the ass to sing. It's got close harmony and you have to sing "bum bum bum" a lot. It's lovely if kind of sad and desperate when you think about the lyrics.

I actually had a dream that had my ex-boyfriend from high school in it last night. I'm sure it was spurred by my recent visit home, especially since we went to the grocery store he used work at yesterday. It wasn't much, just ran into him at said grocery store. It was just weird because I barely think about him these days.

When I sang this song, I was in fact still dating him. I was a senior in high school and the theme of our high school Pops concert was the 50s. Back when I could still sing more than five notes in a row and stay in tune. Overall, I'm happy with the direction my life has taken since then, minus a small bit of job dissatisfaction as of late.

On a cheerier note, here's the Golden Girls' rendition.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

Yes, it's Queen again but last time I was technically talking about a cover. This one is in honor of Dr. Brian May.

That's right, Dr. Brian May. I heard this NPR story that last year, Brian May, legendary Queen guitarist, got his doctorate in astrophysics. As someone that is interested in science and music, this is some of the best news I could ever hear. He's coauthored a book called Bang! The Complete History of the Universe that I think I might check out. I'm still a little wary of "creation of the universe" theories because they make my Lutheran-raised head want to explode but I always mean to inform myself more.

It could be said that I'm only reading it because it's by a rock star but I don't know that that's necessarily true. This is a man that had a completely successful career, that could have been perfectly satisfied having never finished the degree he started before Queen hit it big but he wasn't. He seems passionate about astronomy to such a great degree that something that he, along with two cowriters, has written has the opportunity to be brilliant.

"Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond

I'm at my parents' house this weekend for Mother's Day/my grandma's birthday, which is today. My sister, my mom, and I went shopping today which often leads to us singing along to the oldies station.

This is probably my favorite Neil Diamond song and it was definitely one we were all singing in "full voice." I often wonder what we must look like to people in the other cars that go by us. Or our dad.

"Milkshake" by Kelis

I would like to blame Sarah for what I've inflicted upon you today.

This song came up at knitting last night and we were the only ones that remembered it. I think everyone else might be the smart ones in this situation.

I know too much about this song. My junior year we kept a radio in the bathroom in my dorm and that was when this song was still played on the radio quite a bit. I do some of my best thinking in the bathroom but that is not always the case. I figured out once and for all that the "ding" sound that seems to occur randomly throughout the song actually occurs alternately on every twelfth and twentieth beat.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, ding.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, ding.

I don't know what I'm more embarrassed to have shared with you, my knowledge of "Milkshake" or my bathroom habits.

"It's My Party"/"Judy's Turn to Cry"/"You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore

Today's selection is actually a trilogy. We start off with "It's My Party."

It's totally Lesley's birthday and yet her beau, Johnny, goes off to mack on Judy and then gives her his ring. Not cool, Judy! You totally broke some arbitrary girl code there. It's OK, though because Lesley gets her revenge.

Lesley makes Johnny jealous and all it takes is a display of testosterone-driven violence for him to realize that he still totally digs Lesley. She takes him back because clearly it was all that evil Judy's fault. She does, however, set her own terms this time around.

You go, Lesley!

Weren't the 60s fun?

"Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple

I'm still in the mood for covers and today I was listening to Fiona Apple's rendition of "Across the Universe" from the Pleasantville soundtrack.

I love this movie (it just went into my Netflix queue) so much and this cover, and Fiona Apple in general, was a big part of my angsty teenage years. Hold your surprise at the revelation that my teen years were angsty.

This song is how I first heard of Sanskrit. Jai Guru Deva om roughly translates to "I give thanks to the Guru Dev, om."

In other news, it is freezing in my office. I'm very glad that I get to leave in ten minutes.

"Good Old-Fashioned Loverboy" by Jason Mraz

Yes, it's a cover. A cover by Jason Mraz. Bear with me, here. I've been on a bit of a Queen kick lately as it is and one of my favorite podcasts is Coverville. I've been catching up with it as of late and this was on an all-request episode from a couple of weeks ago. It's from a 2005 tribute album called Killer Queen. I still prefer Freddie Mercury and I think it helped that I didn't know that it was Jason Mraz until after the song was over. It's a little toned down but this isn't exactly the headbanger that Bohemian Rhapsody can be anyways.

All I could find of the Jason Mraz version were videos people made themselves and those scare me sometimes, so you get this version of Queen performing it on Top of the Pops.

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet

I was humming this to myself as I walked out of work today.

Someone I know, who shall remain nameless, always mangled the words of the "big black boots, long brown hair" into "big round boobs." It's actually kind of endearing in a Kiss This Guy sort of way and considering the things that I personally do and don't have, I can't say I'm against this version. I know that this song is generally better known for its ability to sell iPods and motor vehicles and that's probably why it was in my subconscious today but it still makes me happy.

"Great DJ" by The Ting Tings

"Great DJ" is the iTunes free single of the week right now (I don't know when the "week" is switched over but as of Sunday morning in the Central time zone it is still available).

It's good clean Europop fun. The lead singer kind of reminds me of that one chick from Rock of Love only British and a hot mess as far as I can tell.

I first heard this song last month during NPR's coverage of South by Southwest. SXSW is one of the many reasons that I think it would be awesome to live in Austin, TX. It's this total anomaly, a liberal Mecca in the middle of Texas. I'm sure that actually trying to live and work in Austin during SXSW and Austin City Limits could be a big pain in the ass but the accessibility to so much new music would probably be worth it. Plus, it's in Texas and right now I'm so over Minnesota weather.

"I Touch Myself" by Divinyls

Today's song is brought to you by the two gay guys that sang it during karaoke at the bar I was at last night.

Songs about masturbation are always pure class. Say what you will about this song, it did spawn a classic Buffy line.

It was terrible. I moped over you for months, sitting in my room, listening to that Divinyls song "I Touch Myself"...of course, I had no idea what it was about.

And it's sentiment like that that make this song awesome. I love when people sing songs having no idea what they're singing about. Clearly the guys last night knew what was going on but this is not always the case. Arrested Development picked up on this perfectly by having an uncle and his teenage neice sing what, in their heads, was a cheery, happy song together. Once they started singing, they soon realized that "Afternoon Delight" was not an appropriate choice.

"Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones

Today is a rainy day in the Twin Cities and I love it. It sounds horribly corny when I try to describe why I like the rain. I'm not exactly the world's most sunshiny happy person but it makes me light up. I like rain when it's soft and rhythmic but I also adore a blasting thunderstorm (which we had last night).

My morning drive was to the Oldies station this morning even though I finally got my iPod out from my recliner. My iPod had fallen into the arm of my recliner and I finally heard it in there by tipping the chair upside down and back up again (thanks Sarah for telling me to do that last night). I couldn't get my fingers into where it was so I pulled a few staples out of the fabric at the bottom of the arm and got it out. I now need to ask my dad if I can borrow his staple gun the next time I go home.

So, I was listening to KOOL 108 this morning and Paint it Black came on. The link goes to a 30 second clip of the album version and this video is from a concert in Belgium last year.

It seems like such a perfect rainy day song and was probably the best part of my day so far. Work is a tense atmosphere lately the way it is and very few people are put in a good mood by a rainy day. I don't know if I have much more to stay. I've always been more of a Beatles girl than a Stones fan. I have an aunt and uncle that still go to see them every time they come to the Cities but mother instilled in me a love of the Beatles and Broadway musicals and that love has stayed firm.

While looking for this on YouTube, I also found The Animals performing it at the Monterey Pop festival.

The sound quality isn't the greatest but watching the violinist is pretty amazing.

"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

It's May 1, so it's time to get this thing going. On the way to work this morning, I was listening to The Current which is actually an odd occurrence. I don't always like the music played during their morning show and usually opt to either plug in my iPod or put on the Oldies station. This morning though, as soon as I was about to change the station, Neko Case was on. Neko Case is also an exception to the rule for me because she's a self-described country performer (she doesn't like the term alt-country despite the fact that that's what she's often classified as). I'll probably get to her later in the month but today we're going to talk about Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová.

Starting off with this year's Oscar winner for Best Original Song may seem like an obvious choice but it won for a reason. I'm actually really bad at identifying songs I like by their opening notes. It's probably due to my fairly crappy hearing. Much like my eyesight is much worse than it should be due to all that reading by flashlight I used to do under the covers until two in the morning when I was only nine, my hearing is probably worse than it should be due to the number of hours I log with headphones on my ears. See above re: hatred of country music and then take into consideration that my freshman and sophomore year roommate listened almost exclusively to nothing else.

Despite my bad hearing (at age 24), I know this song instantly. It's really calming and I can kind of sing along to it and pretend I still know how to harmonize. It builds and it's gorgeous. It's simple with minimal amount of instrumentation. And if you don't find Hansard and Irglová absolutely charming then there's not much I can do for you.

If any of you didn't watch the Oscars, know that their winning this award was spectacular. They were mainly up against the Disney juggernaut, Enchanted, which fortunately seemed to have its vote split by having three songs nominated. The other song nominated probably didn't stand a chance, even if the little girl in it was as cute as a button (The Current morning show made me a bit folksy this morning). Hansard, in a nervous way, rambled off his acceptance speech and then Irglová stood up to the microphone to deliver her own only to be cut off before she could utter a word.

Nothing to worry about though, because my TV boyfriend Jon Stewart saved the day. I think the man has a soft spot for Best Original Song winners (he felt more people should celebrate their win like Three 6 Mafia did in 2006 for "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp"). After a commercial break, Stewart brought Irglová back on stage to properly accept her award. In a situation that was certainly daunting and in a language that is not native to her, she delivered the following:

Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just the proof that no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.

And it was beautiful.

Excuses, Excuses

I'll be the first to admit that posting has been rather lax on this blog as of late. I've decided that I need a little encouragement so I'm turning to NaBloPoMo next month. The theme for May is "Voices". I think I'm going to take a bit of a twisted approach to this, inspired by songs I heard in my car after work on Thursday and Friday.

I frequently listen to either The Current or KOOL 108, especially since the latter seems to have returned to oldies instead of "Superhits", which I found to a particularly horrible descriptor for "we were oldies but decided to replace most of the 60s with the 80s because people seem to have an obsession with reliving the 80s right now for some reason." Much like most people have finally neglected the leggings (unfortunately "most" does not equal "all" - I'm looking at you, Lohan!), KOOL 108 threw the 80s away like a moldy loaf of bread.

On Thursday, I had spent a horrible afternoon cleaning out a lab at work. Nothing says disgusting more than striping away years of drawer labels and chemical buildup from cabinet fronts and bench tops with razors and methanol. Then I got in my car and the most awesome thing ever came on the radio. Yes, awesome. The 80s revival still has a stronghold on my vocabulary. The Current was playing "Jump Around" by House of Pain. As a child of the 90s, all middle school dances ended with this song. It gave you an excuse to dance in the only way you knew how to other than forming a conga line or doing the Macarena. I opened my sun roof and bobbed my head along like the dorky white girl that I am.

On Friday, I ended up having to go buy a new cell phone as I had managed to loose mine and kept getting emails from my mother asking why my phone kept going straight to voicemail when she called. On my way to Woodbury, the Current had a news story on discussing electronic beeps, how annoying some people find them, and why almost all devices seem to have them these days. As a sort of tongue-in-cheek move, at the end of the story they played "I Hear the Bells" by Mike Doughty. As if the cheery melody isn't enough, this is a song that includes the lyric, "You snooze, you lose/Well I have snost and lost." This song usually grabs my attention no matter what I'm doing. Bonus: The album this is on, Haughty Melodic, was produced by Dan Wilson (of Semisonic fame) and recorded in the studio in his Minneapolis home so it's got local ties, too.

Mainly what I'm planning to do is a lot of music blogging. It will probably always be about some song I hear throughout the day and will probably make me come off as a pretentious music snob with bad taste and a tendency towards the nostalgic. When possible, I will provide links to the songs I'm talking about, most likely to the song's last.fm entry. In the case of these two tracks, the full tracks are available but in most cases it will be a 30 second clip. Knit blogging has lost some of it's thrill for me so I'm going to try music blogging for a bit. Feel free to tune out if this isn't your thing. I'll probably still knit blog some during the month. I just need a break and I'd like to treat this a bit like a writing exercise. Yes, I am that big of a dork. You should probably just run away now before I infect you all.

Weird Rant Time

So, I watched American Idol last night. Yes, I watch American Idol, it has great snark value. Last night I paid a little more attention than usual because it was Andrew Lloyd Webber night and I am unabashedly a musical theater freak. Right off the bat I had my hopes dashed as I had really been wishing that just because Andrew Lloyd Webber was the mentor didn't mean it was going to be all ALW songs. I was hoping for the broader theme of Broadway. Instead, not only was it ALW, but the pothead dreadlock kid had to go and sing "Memory" and I cannot stand Cats. It is one of the most horribly over-hyped musicals ever.

Another thing, if you're going to do ALW, can't you just have someone that's been in a lot of ALW shows be the mentor? You know who has done a lot of ALW stuff? John Barrowman.


I think we can all agree that that would have been much prettier to look at than ALW. Get on it, Fox. I realize that he's on like every second of British television that he can possibly be on right now but I have faith. You bring him in next season and I'll watch. It wouldn't even be for the snark value, my mouth would be too busy drooling over the pretty.

In conclusion: Next season do Broadway and bring in John Barrowman. He won't be all awesome in the vintage RAF gear but it will still be gorgeous.

On Demand

I'm posting again since Lisa demanded an update and I am nothing if not a people pleaser (90% of my job is being a brown-nosing sycophant these days). I am out of Sock Madness as I was only finishing up the cuff of the second sock of the second round when my division was full up. It's kind of nice being done with it but I wish it had started now instead of when I was working 52+ hour weeks. Maybe I'll try again next year.

I'm on the second sock of a pair I started for my sister last week out of Fleece Artist and I also started a pair of Endpaper Mitts for myself as I was in the mood for stranding. Rogue would be finished if I hadn't realized a mistake I had made in the cap shaping of the first sleeve when I was completing the second sleeve. I just need to go back to the beginning of the shaping on the first sleeve and then it's time to block. Yes, I'm finishing a wool sweater right as they're starting to predict highs in the 60s and 70s. My common sense astounds me.

Finally, since I've now seen this on Lisa, Sarah, and Courtney's blogs, I thought I'd do it to.

Empire Magazine has revealed its list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows" ever. Below is the list and here be the rules:

1. Bold the shows you've watched every episode of
2. Italic the shows you've seen at least one episode of
3. Post your answers


50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

I watch entirely too much television.

Yes, I am Still Alive

I've been working crazy overtime shifts some more. I didn't think that I was going to be able to go to knitting this Thursday but my Midnight to 6 Friday morning shift got canceled so I can go knit and drink coffee instead of going to bed by 5 like I have to tonight. Fourteen to fifteen hour days are kind of killer. Fortunately, next week is supposed to be the end of the overtime for awhile.

Last night, I finally got back to work on the first sleeve for Rogue. I got all of the cable chart done on it and am now knitting straight stockinette with occasional increases. I might actually manage to finish the whole thing within the next week or so; however, I seem to go in big bursts of activity followed by long breaks of distraction/overtime/Sock Madness, so don't be surprised if I don't finish this sweater until it's highly inappropriate to wear like in June or July.

Speaking of Sock Madness, looks like the first round only ended up weeding out people that signed up and then didn't participate at all so it was kind of a practice round in speed knitting. The next pattern isn't set to be released until April 1 so it should only minimally interfere with the end of overtime. Yes, the pattern is being released on April Fools' Day, which makes me feel like the participants are going to be messed with in some way.

It's Like I'm Living in a Dream World

A world where this will exist is a world worth living in.

Sweater Progress and Sock Madness

I had a moment of insanity and signed up for Sock Madness. I don't think I'll get past the first round because quite a few people already have finished pairs and I have this:



The rules are that you have to knit it exactly to pattern. No switching a top down sock to a toe up or vice versa. You must use the heel in the pattern. It's an eye of partridge heel which I've done before but it's got a garter stitch edge instead of slipped stitches. I had to fight the urge to slip the first stitch of each row of the heel flap really hard but in the end I got it.



In Rogue news, the "sweater vest" has now progressed to "hooded sweater vest." I could be knitting sleeves right now but instead I am in a sock knitting race.



Note how the profile view accentuates my roly-polyness.

I'm Still Alive!

I may have spent the past few days (since Saturday) with various stages of a cold but it has not managed to finish me off. I still haven't gotten much further on Rogue (I've got ~1/6 of the hood left) and I need to get motivated to work on it again. I'm going to take it with me tonight so hopefully I can at least finish the hood. I might even get to cast on a sleeve if I'm really lucky.

I don't know that anyone that reads this blog would be interested in this clip but I've decided to post it anyway. I told my sister about it and she wants to see it so I figured this was as good a way as any to get the link to her. I have a long standing adoration of Carol Burnett and a newfound one of John Barrowman which is why I love this. The "good part" happens about midway through.

Anyone For a Sweater Vest?

I've seamed the shoulders of my Rogue and now it's time to put the stitches on the waste yarn back onto the needles and also pick up along the neck, shoulders, and back, for the hood. I'm getting more excited about this the further I get. It looks a little more like a sweater now and a little less like an amorphous green blob.

My First Sweater

I've been working away on Rogue and it's going pretty well. The large expanses of stockinette with just the smallest bit of cabling make it a fairly easy knit that still holds my interest.



My goal for the weekend was to get the top of the kangaroo pocket knit into the body because it was kind of annoying having it hang off of the sweater. I got that far and it's back to really easy knitting until I divide for the front and back and have to do more shaping and start the hood.



Overall, I'm liking this sweater and I'm excited to finish it one of these days, weeks, months.

When Knitters Get Bored

They knit a hat in two days.

It's the Koolhaas Hat by Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed) from the 2007 Holiday IK and I stumbled upon some worsted alpaca I forgot I had (I know, good quality alpaca sitting there all lonely). It's a lovely pattern and I would really suggest learning how to cable without a cable needle before doing it. Juggling a cable needle when you cable every stitch on about a fourth of the rounds and half of the stitches on another fourth of the rounds would be a bit of a pain. I like this tutorial from Wendy Knits. I cast it on because, despite the fact that my KnitPicks order for my sweater has been in the metro area since about 4:00 yesterday morning (Brooklyn Park) I still don't have it. It got to the Eastern Heights Post Office at 9:30 this morning so I'd better have it when I get home tomorrow, United States Postal Service! I mean it.

Other things I've talked about recently are Buffy Monkeys (there are two but I was too lazy to take a picture of both, yeah)

and NHM #3 from Selbuvotter by Terry Shea in Brown Sheep Nature Spun. I really have to thank Sarah from suggesting getting the book cut and spiral bound and also for marking the part about thumbs so I wasn't pulling my hair out when I got to that part.

Note a color theme? Yeah, definitely time to take a break from the purple. Hopefully, I will be seeing lots of forest green as of tomorrow. It's going to be my first sweater. I'm going to actually swatch.

Bad Blogger, No Cookie

I've been rather lax about posting since the juggernaut that was NaBloPoMo so even though I don't have pictures to accompany this entry I'm going to post anyways. Since I've last posted, I've finished a pair of Monkey socks for myself out of yarn in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer colorway by an indie dyer and NHM #3 from Selbuvotter in cream and purple yarn.

Next on the needles will be my very first sweater. I'm going to make Rogue in Wool of the Andes in Forest Heather. The shipment was in Brooklyn Park at about 4 AM today so hopefully it will be there when I get home from work tonight. I won't really be able to jump right in because I'm going to go caucus but I'm really excited to get going on it. I'll probably end up finishing it when it's too warm to even wear a wool sweater but I'm still happy that I'm finally going to attempt a sweater.

As If I Didn't Love David Tennant Enough

I've watched all of the 2005 Doctor Who revival episodes in the past couple of weeks and have enjoyed them a lot. I adored Christopher Eccleston but I knew his time wasn't long going into it. David Tennant has been amazing, though, and I'm glad that there's more episodes with him. Until then, I can look at awesome things like this (Tennant doesn't show up until about the last 30 seconds).




On the knitting front, I've finished my second pair of Monkeys but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures. Considering the current weather, more wool socks are in order.

Combining My Love of Mythbusters and Lolcats

moar funny pictures

Are they testing the SPF of sunscreen?

First Finished Projects of '08

This week I finished some socks out of Duet Sock Yarn that I received in the SP11 exchange. It was my first attempt at a short row heel and it didn't go half bad. I'll probably continue to do a heel flap and turn the heel most of the time, but it's good to have a new skill. I like socks with contrasting heels and toes so I'll at least use it for that style in the

I also made a pair of Saartje's Bootees (opens pdf) for my manager's baby that's supposed to be born on Monday. I was stupid when I bought the buttons and only bought enough for one bootee (two per bootee) but I wanted to get them done before the baby was born so I changed the pattern a bit. I have no idea if it'll work. Right now I'm just hoping that the baby actually is a girl like she's supposed to be.

License Plate Fun

I don't have Crazy Aunt Purl's mad traffic-photography skills (or the LA traffic that allows her the time to take such shots), but I saw this on a WI plate on my way to IKEA on Saturday:

C VU PLAY

I'm also posting to gush over the impending return of Stewart and Colbert tonight. I'm conditionally excited as I hope that they do OK without their writers. Come on, AMPTP, make them a good deal. Letterman's production company was able to find their demands reasonable, why can't the rest of you?

Edited to Add (ETA): I also hope that Stewart and Colbert have not grown strike beards a la Conan and Letterman. I saw two screencaps of the bearded ones side by side today and all I could think was that it was Santa and his elf.

Finished Items

I think NaBloPoMo actually did cause me to burn out on blogging. I'm back to posting again and for once I also have finished items. The first one I forgot to get a picture of before returning from my parents' house. I made my sister a Fake Isle Hat and it turned out well. I had to frog it once because the gray I was using for the coordinating color didn't pop enough against the SWS I used for the main color and it was too small. The final version now has black as the coordinating color. I may get a picture one of these days.

I also finished the pair of socks out of Tofutsies I was going to give my grandma for Christmas. Because I didn't even have one sock done in time and my mom had already had a gift ready for her, I'll either give them to her as a Mother's Day/birthday gift (her birthday's May 10) or save them for next Christmas.

Babies, Babies Everywhere

I thought Liz in particular might appreciate the observation about Discovery Health on Television Without Pity's Going Through the Channels.

You Gotta Have A Gimmick: Discovery Health, also known as The [Blank]tuplets Channel, brings you Conjoined Twins: Erin And Jade. Wait, their parents only had two? Slackers. (Discovery Health, 12 AM)

Christmas Fast Approaching

1) I have a little less than half of the third and final Acrylic Hat of Death left to knit. My hands feel like they are counting down the inches.

2) Tomorrow is my department pot luck. I've got a carrot cake in the oven right now and the cream cheese is out so it can soften for the frosting. I'm bringing it in a disposable pan so I don't have to worry about being stuck with any leftovers or forgetting my pan. Also, the only 9x13 I have is a Pyrex without a cover. Yea Pyrex, boo aluminum foil that would smoosh into the frosting.

3) I am officially done holiday shopping. Holiday knitting, no. Shopping among the crazies, absolutely.

4) I found out today that our holiday party for my contract company will be at a bowling alley this year. This has the potential for crazy awesome klutzy chemists. Wee!

5) I leave for my parents' Saturday morning. I'm really excited for a few days off.

Last Package

My very awesome secret pal (whose blog can be found at javagibber.blogspot.com) has sent me my final package.



I got a copy of Happy Hooker (I just might become a crocheter yet), a sock blocker keychain that I've wanted for awhile, more chocolate (mmm, chocolate), a package of soak (wool wash!), a skein of cotton from Honeysuckle Yarns, a skein of Smooshy sock yarn from Dream in Color (it's so much prettier than the photo conveys, cute little kitty magnetic clips (I've already got one marking the carrot cake recipe I'm using for my work pot luck on Tuesday), and a bar of soap with little crowns in it. It's been a great exchange and I couldn't have asked for a better pal. Now I need to finish my Christmas knitting so I can finally get around to using all of the lovely yarn she's sent me throughout the exchange.

Hello!

Look at this! New Yarn Harlot in April? Hurray!

Snow Day!

Even though it looked like this when I woke up

I went and got this done.

I'm blonde again! I went in mid-afternoon when pretty much everything had been plowed and it actually wasn't that bad. I also did this

It's a Fake Isle Hat for my lovely sister that sent me this. I especially appreciate the fact that the picture she used for our mom and her faces was from when they were in a play so they have way more makeup on than they usually do.

Emily 1, NaBloPoMo 0

Mwahahaha! I have taken on the great NaBloPoMo challenge and I have emerged victorious. In 30 days I have made 31 posts with only a little bit of 11:50 rushing and a little bit of posting just to post.

Today my arm hurts a little from the flu shot I got yesterday and I have a headache but I am surviving. Tonight, I'm planning to hit the Maplewood Mall to attend the Debbie Stoller book signing. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can find a place quick to get my hair cut because the length is starting to get annoying. I'd also like to get highlights again but I'll see where I can get in before committing to that. I'm looking more brunette than blonde these days.

My One Concession To Christmas Decorating

I put together this wreath last year when I was home for Thanksgiving from my mom's large stock of craft supplies.



I had just moved here and wasn't in the mood to get a bunch of Christmas decorations when I was still bringing stuff back from my parents' house every time I went home. I probably won't do much more this year, either. I might get some lights to put up in the window but that'll probably be it. I'll do some baking which I far prefer to hauling a bunch of stuff out that hardly anyone else will look at only to have to pack it up again.

Snow!

Tonight as I left work there were nice, big, fluffy flakes falling from the sky. These were the real first sign that winter is on its way. I've seen snow falling a few times this season but that was wimpy, wannabe snow. This is the kind of snow that I can look out my window at and see floating down past the street lights and feel like I live in a snow globe. Granted, most snow globes don't contain gas stations next to Mormon book and gift shops, but I'll take what I can get. This is the idealized version of winter I have in my mind instead of the reality of having to clean off the car and freeze my feet off in the morning.

I can has grammer analyzes?

I thought Lisa in particular might enjoy this link, analyzing the common themes in lolcat images. It's not completely in depth and only really addresses lolcats, so no missing bucket discussion.

Link courtesy of passiveaggressivenotes.com, which is also an interesting read since everyone has seen notes like this a few times in their lives. There's one in my work cafeteria I wish I could submit but I can't bring a camera in.

Hat Factory

I started the first hat last night.



I've decided to knit them on magic loop. This one it plain black and the other two I'm making will be mainly black with some sort of teal striping pattern on them (not identical). It's going pretty quickly but I think I'm going to get really sick of 2x2 ribbing.

In the background of the picture you can see my new bedspread. Yes, I often take photos of knitwear on the bed. Don't judge.

Home Again!

I've made it safely back to my apartment with more clothing, food, various household items, and probably more weight than I had when I left. I also have more yarn. It's all acrylic as I have been commandeered into my grandmother's Christmas sweatshop. After agreeing with my sister that we would buy our parents gifts together I was down to only one pair of socks for my grandma for Christmas knitting. Then my grandma said that she wished she would have asked my mom and I earlier to knit caps for my six male cousins and my one cousin's foreign exchange student and we stupidly agreed that we could do it. Six of the seven of them have adult sized heads. I've taken three adult sized ones and my mom has the other three larger ones and the one child sized one. My grandma may be getting one finished sock and the yarn for the other one under the tree.

Introducing Barney

I've had my car for almost five months. He's a 2007 Ford Fusion and his name is Barney. Not after the dinosaur or Mr. Fife of Mayberry as my aunt thought. I never named my old car (a 1995 Chrysler Concorde) but I do know that it was female, because she was a cold-hearted bitch.

No, my car's named after Barney Stinson, Neil Patrick Harris's character on How I Met Your Mother, because I feel that I have "suited up" from my old vehicle. So far he has served me well and I figured it was time he was named since I will be spending a lot more time with him now that I'll be driving to my parents' house for the various holiday events coming up in the next month or so.

Black Friday

I wasn't one of the crazies out at 4 in the morning, but my mom, sister, and I did hit Albertville and St. Cloud today but didn't get their until 11, right when quite a few people were leaving the outlet mall. The two bedding/linen stores at the outlet mall are going out of business so between the two I got a new comforter/pillow sham set, sheets, and a blanket for about $75. I was also able to get a good deal on a purse at Wilson's Leather and got a few other things (including clothes and a DVD). It was a great, if cold day, with my mom and sister and it went better than we could have expected.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was taken this morning on my way out to my car so I could pick up my grandma. Today was a great day filled with lots of family, food, stories, and minimal crazy violent antics by my male cousins. It's almost like we're grown up now. I've missed my holiday screaming quota.

Conversation With My Mother

I got home this afternoon and my mom was crocheting a sweater for her friend that designs and also puts together the items for the photo for the magazine/book/etc. for other designers. My mom generally helps with a share of this work.

Me: Whatcha making now?

Mom: An argyle sweater. It's by someone called Drew Emborsky. He also goes by . . .

Me: The Crochet Dude? You're making something by the Crochet Dude?

Mom: . . .

I think my mom may finally know about blogs. Do I introduce her to Ravelry or run away scared?

Shut Up, Fox!

I'm watching Bones right now and there was a commercial for American Idol. Now I have every intention of watching American Idol this season. I'm not even going to try to deny that. It's beyond a guilty pleasure show and more like a requirement to be able to keep up with pop culture. That being said, there is no need to advertise a month and a half a head of time. It already gets the highest ratings when its on and since the writers strike is still going on chances are that come January a lot of scripted shows still won't be back on track so reality shows will be all over the place anyways. Seriously Fox, I felt the same as when I already saw the Coke Santa cans the day before Halloween. We know it's going to happen, no need to advertise already.

Cop Out

I'm going to have to make a post for the sake of posting without trying to disguise it as much else. I didn't leave work tonight until 7:50. The good news is that I'll be able to head for home early on Wednesday. The bad news is that my coworkers and I all kind of suck. We all did various small things that culminated in me staying so late and tomorrow is going to be another great day since I'll have been away for all of 11 hours. Don't think I'll be doing any knitting tonight because it'll either be tight angry knitting or tired knitting with lots of mistakes.

Link Fun

I thought that since my earlier post was short and whiny I'd add another short one. I know that there are quite a few Project Runway fans out there so I thought I'd share a link to my favorite commentary blog about it, Project Rungay. They provide hilarious in-depth commentary, plus they sometimes call the readers kittens. I heard about it part way through last season but then I forgot about it until I saw a link to it after the premier last week.

And Now Begins the Week of Crazy

Tomorrow morning I intend to be at work by 6:30 so that I can put in a 10 hour day and still get out of there at a somewhat decent time (5:00 when accounting for lunch). Then I want to do this again on Tuesday. This means I can get out of work on Wednesday by lunch time and hopefully not have to sit on 94 like it's a parking lot again this year. Then it's four days of family excitement. Church on Wednesday night (I didn't get back until about 15 minutes after it started last year), Thanksgiving at my parents' with most of my mom's side of the extended family, shopping on Friday, maybe lefse making on Saturday, church again on Sunday and then back here again. I'm hoping this isn't the least relaxing four day weekend ever. I really need to get some knitting done on some of those days. And studying, because I think it's time to take the GRE again if I want to apply for grad school by March.

Eep, Eep, Eep, Eep

They're done!



I started them on Sunday so not only did I finish two projects this week, I finished this project in one week total which is some kind of awesome for me. This is the first thing I've knit in Fleece Artist and I am really loving the colors and the pattern's great. More interesting than a basic sock but simple enough that the lace pattern is still visible with a multi-colored yarn like this.

Bohus = Complete!

I found the extra yarn while I was gathering my stuff together before knit night last night.

Instead of working on the Monkey Socks last night I finished the hat and then, under the urging of Sarah, I wove in all of the ends and now it's done.

I did get a little bit of work done on the socks and now I've got the gussets decreased and have just over half of the foot left before I can decrease the toe. They should be completely done by the end of tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

During a work presentation today, it was said that something "looks uglier than the Dickens." I know Hard Times didn't really paint a rosy picture of Victorian Britain but I didn't think that Dickens was on par with the truly hideous. I learn something every day.

Yarn 1, Knitter 0

I went to the Yarnery tonight to get back my German Stockings and to pick up extra yarn for my Bohus hat which currently looks like this



I had every intention of finishing it tonight but then I managed to lose the small ball of yarn they very nicely gave me. Now I'm not quite sure what to do. I'm going to keep an eye out for it but if I can't find it I'm going to have to go back an see if I can get more. I' be more than willing to pay a small amount for it at this point because I'm so close to being done. It's just so frustrating to be this close and to have so much of most of the other colors from the hat left over yet not having enough for the last 5 or 6 decrease rounds.

Still Knitting Away

I got one Monkey Sock done.



And got this far on the second one.



Picture of them together to prove that I'm not just showing you an earlier picture of the first one.



My dad called me on Sunday night and said that he was sending me lefsa from my grandma this week. Mmm, Grandma's lefse. As long as I can ignore the lutefisk I'm proud to be almost half Norwegian right now.

Butter Sculptures

There are butter sculptures on Yarn Harlot today! At least the Canadians are smart enough to carve them when it's colder outside instead of making a bunch of dairy princesses sit in a refrigerated display case with their winter coats on in August.

I Swear, I also Grocery Shopped and Cleaned Today

This weekend was pretty low key, so I got a lot of sock knitting done today.

I don't think I'm knitting any faster than I normally do, I think it's that because it's a fairly quick lace repeat (11 rows) that it's pretty easy to tell myself, "One more repeat, just one more." That, and I had the last disk of Six Feet Under from Netflix this weekend and I really wanted to finish it. I just did and it was brilliant. One of the most well-resolved series finales I've ever seen. Now I'm watching The Amazing Race which was only delayed by about 7 or 8 minutes due to football this week so I didn't end up watching almost half of 60 Minutes waiting for it to start.

And yes, I'm already starting to feel a posting burn out at the beginning of the second third of the month. That's why you get a post about the same sock two days in a row.

The Continuing Saga of My Knitting ADD

I started a Monkey sock tonight.

I'm through three of the six lace repeats already. These go a lot faster than Pomatomus. I think I'm now required to be working on a Cookie A pattern at all times. They're out of Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 and they're going to be a gift.

Last Minute Quiz

I finished a project; however, I couldn't find my camera because I shouldn't be trusted with nice things. Because of this, you all get the first quiz that came up when I searched for "knit quiz." Enjoy! I might be back with a real post tomorrow. Which starts in a few minutes.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

A little of this, a little of that

Fall Knitty surprises are up. The hat in Intarsia Fun is kind of cute. I like Juno Regina. I don't know if I'll ever make it but it's nice to see that the popularity of lace knitting is sticking around. My main complaint with Oblique is that they never show it with all three buttons done up. Either open or with one button. It'd be a little easier to make out some kind of shape if it were shown buttoned up.

In Bohus news, I was almost done with the decreases (about 5 or 6 rounds left) when I ran out of yarn. I know that if I contact the Yarnery they'll give me more since it just means the wrong amount was included in my kit, but I really wanted it done today. Excuse me while I go to my corner and pout.

Ravelry Stuff Has Arrived

When I got home from work today there was a lovely plastic envelope in my mailbox. It contained my Ravelry beta shirt and buttons.

Now everyone can know that I'm a knitter that likes to know how to say "no" in a lot of different languages.

Tonight was the last night of the bohus class. I'm done with all of the colorwork and am now decreasing the top. Picture of completed project should be up tomorrow unless I wimp out on weaving in the ends.

My Favorite Non-Knitting Podcasts

I listen to a lot of podcasts. I'm listening to one right now. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite, non-knitting ones.

• Broadway Bullet. This one covers Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre. There are a lot of good interviews from various actors, writers, and directors. They did an entire month covering Spring Awakening, preemptively landing a musical that landed 8 Tony awards this year. May only interest drama freaks.
• Coverville. This one puts out about two or three shows a week and is put together really planned. It's all cover songs (songs by someone other than the original artists). There are request shows, shows that cover an entire album, and other theme shows like a cappella and ska.
• MPR: The Current Song of the Day. Every Monday through Friday, the Current gives you a free song. It's a really good way to collect some new music mainly by indie performers and groups. I believe it is every Friday that the song is by a Minnesota artist.
• NPR: Wait Wait. . . Don't Tell Me! Wait Wait is the weekly news quiz from NPR and they release it in podcast format. Panelists answer questions and people call in to play for the prize of having announcer Carl Kassel record their voicemail message. Yes, people actually want this prize.
• The 10th Wonder. This is a Heroes podcast. They break down the episodes into topics and are pretty helpful in being able to keep track of multi-episode arcs. Much like Broadway Bullet, this one is only going to appeal to certain people.
• This American Life. Another podcast release of a weekly radio show. This American Life produces essays, field recordings, interviews and other journalistic stories. Well known contributors include host Ira Glass, Sarah Vowell, and David Sedaris.

These aren't all of the non-knitting podcasts I listen to but they are definitely among my favorites.

More Bohus History

To answer Lisa's question from the comments yesterday, I'm going to try to explain more about Bohus Stickning. Pretty much all of this info comes from Poems of Color by Wendy Keele. Bohuslän is the province of Sweden that the industry began in. Some women approached Emma Jacobsson, wife of the province's governor, to create a product that women could produce in the home to be able to generate income during the depression of the 1930s while caring for their families. Eventually knitting was settled upon, with plain, sturdy garments being produced.

Jacobsson commissioned a few women to assist her in creating the designs that are most associated with Bohus knitting. There are a few things that distinguish Bohus designs from Fair Isle patterns. One thing is the inclusion of purl stitches to add texture to the design. In some places on the pattern there are more than two colors used in the same round which is avoided in Fair Isle knitting. Although the hat I am knitting is knit in the round, the yoke on Bohus sweaters is traditionally knit back and forth whereas Fair Isle is exclusively in the round.

While Bohus Stickning began as a way for women to generate extra income many women began knitting for the company in order to be able to knit the intricate designs. The Bohus patterns were highly protected and Emma Jacobsson stipulated that they not be published for the public until 40 years after her death. They were high fashion by the 50s and 60s worn by no lesser icon than Jackie O. It is possibly one of the most beautiful examples of unintentional female empowerment I have seen.

P.S. - I'll bring the book to knitting on Thursday. It explains it way better than I have here. I really just wanted an entry for the day.

Bohus Class

I've been taking a class to make a Bohus hat at the Yarnery for the past few weeks. This Wednesday is the last class and I'm almost done with the colorwork portion.

We're using Poems of Color by Wendy Keele for the patterns which is an interesting read all on its own. It gives the history of Bohus Stickening which began as a way for women to earn money from their homes during the depression of the 1930s and lasted as a cottage industry through the 60s. Someday I may even get up the nerve to get a kit for a sweater but until then I'm really enjoying the hat class.

Winter Interweave Preview

The preview of the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits is up and there are a few things that I like without seeing the pattern. The Refined Aran Jacket (on the cover) and the Henley Perfected stand out the most to me in what is mainly a sweater issue. I don't see as much in this one as I did in the Fall and Holiday issues but it still looks pretty good.

Remembering Bertie

This post may have been more appropriate yesterday but reading Sarah's post from yesterday made me think of it today. Last December, my grandma Bertie died. She wasn't my biological grandmother but I consider myself lucky to have gotten the most awesome third grandmother a girl could have. She never married or had children and over the years she was enveloped into the large Johnson clan. Myself, my sister, and our cousins called her Grandma Bertie and she always had great stories.

Last Thanksgiving, shortly after I had moved into the St. Paul area she had to explain where she used to live. She had worked at First Grand National Bank and lived near Lake Phalen. Once, when there was a bank robber, she dropped the key to her cash drawer down the front of her dress. Having got the height gene from my dad's side, she was the only person over the age of ten that was shorter than me at family gatherings, even if I was the oldest grandchild.

From Bertie, I have a throw pillow from her old house, a savings bond, an egg timer that hung on the wall in her kitchen that I'd play with every year when we had Easter at her house, and a small collection of old books that had belonged to her, her sister, and her brother-in-law. She passed away at the age of 94 shortly before Christmas and her 95th birthday that would have been in January and we miss her dearly. Whenever a family gathering got a little chaotic you could always count on finding a quiet space near Bertie to sit down and talk for awhile. After only a few family gatherings since she passed away I already miss that.

I'm Building a Log Cabin

Or at least knitting one.



I've mentioned this before so I figured I'd better show photographic evidence that it really does exist. I started this almost three weeks ago and it's going quicker than I thought it would considering that I've spent most of my knitting time lately on the German Stockings or taking a Bohus Hat class (which is really fun). The garter stitch makes great TV/movie knitting and I actually think it's a pretty good exercise in increasing my knitting speed since I don't have to think ab out what I'm doing and also good practice in picking up stitches.

I'm making the afghan out of six colors of Caron Simply Soft that I got on sale at Michael's on an impromptu side trip from grocery shopping at Cub. I'd been wanting to make one for awhile and glance at the pictures of them in Mason-Dixon Knitting occasionally. I figured a discount on one of my yarns of choice for it was as good of a reason as any other. I wanted it to be washable and not too expensive and Simply Soft isn't bad, especially for an acrylic (Red Heart Super Saver, I'm looking at you).

I'm trying to avoid just posting for the sake of posting for NaBloPoMo so expect lots of knitting updates for the next month. Good luck to all of the other bloggers that have undertaken posting every day for the month of November. I predict a bit of a problem in the days surrounding Thanksgiving.