Feeling terribly terribly British today for some reason

And in honor of that feeling (for whatever reasons it may have arisen, ahem), and also because I'm somewhat too sick to think clearly at the moment, I present you all with the following:

A new form of hiphop called ChapHop:

And Jersey Shore done in the Style of Oscar Wilde (thank you, Tom, for the heads up, old chap):

Somebunny in Texas Wuvs Me!

The exceedingly awesome Kael read all about my whining regarding knitting socks (prior to actually knitting some, and probably my whining during the knitting process) and made me a pair.

Well, to tell the truth she's technically made me two pair, but she gave the first pair to somebody who is VASTLY more deserving than I, a friend of hers who got quite ill. Which is really really awesome of her.  For the second pair of socks she asked me what color I might like, and I said the louder the better. You know, speak softly, wear loud socks. Or something like that.

So she made these:

FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They came in the mail today. I am happily wearing some truly amazing socks on my feet. They fit perfectly, by the way. :)

She also sent me this book, due to my whining about having to knit a second sock:

Because, as I mentioned, she is amazing. AMAZING, I tell you. Thank you, Kael, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

It's truly amazing how everytime I manage to have a really crappy week and feel completely overwhelmed and horrible, I get these amazing little packages from knitters that really brighten things up.

I think maybe I have a wee bit of a karmic debt at the moment. Best get knitting. :)

Arr... I am a yarn pirate.

And I've captured me some Australian booty.

Miss Fee posted about some really AWESOME Folca boxes that she picked up in her hometown in Australia, and I commented back with utmost lust. So she said she'd pick me up some. Because she is AMAZING. So I offered to send her some stuff back in exchange, and it turned into something a bit more than just Folca boxes and coil-less safety pin stitch markers. We are knitters. Knitters are a little bit insane wonderful.

First off are the stamps. Georgia and I had a moment in the Post Office where we were squealing over the really cool stamps, and that I got a package from Australia (it's a first for me!) and all of a sudden we'd gathered a small crowd of people who were all exclaiming about the stamps and the general coolness of getting a package from Australia. One person said "That's a real motherf$#!ing platypus, yo." Yup. Gotta love the Bronx.

Platypus stamp is on the far right.

Miss Fee also sent me some yarn:

Fibreworks Laceweight. Sooooooo pretty. And about 100 yards!

Ms. Gusset Sock Yarn (proudly grown, spun and dyed in Australia!)

Knitabulous Sock Yarn in the Impossiblue colorway.

Patons Sock Yarn. I think maybe Miss Fee is trying to tell me something?

A kookaburra postcard. Georgia has claimed it.

And lastly, the Folca boxes. These are so awesome. I was completely right in lusting after them. Also, when I pulled them out Georgia said "can I have them?" and I wasall "HECK NO" and she said "Ok, I'll just wait until you die." Um. Thanks. Always nice to have your five-year-old wishing for your imminent death so that she can get her hands on your jewelry collection and your Folca boxes.

Stitch marker organization, HERE I COME! I'm so excited. These boxes are so flippin cool.

Thank you, Miss Fee. 

Lame. And Then Some.

Sorry for not posting.

Life. (somewhat overwhelmingly). Got in the way. Again.

Anyway, I finished Bruce's socks, as I know you all were dying to hear about them. They are nice. Used a different toe on the second sock and it is much less square. No, I will not be ripping out the first toe.

I'm currently in the middle of knitting approximately 50 billion flowers for Ella's wedding. I have 22 done.

Yowza.

And, Ella also requested the new Jared Flood shawl, which is gorgeous. So I will be casting on for that.

The shawl:

Rock Island

Ella's will be in bright red. Then, honestly, she is probably off my knitting list for the rest of the year as she ended up with the Vine Loop cowl that I will not wear.

I may be absent from the blog again for a bit. We'll see.

Doesn't mean that I don't love you.

Absolutely nothing new to report.

With regards to knitting, anyway. Arm/shoulder pain kinda prevented it, and then we took a trip this weekend which afforded absolutely no knitting time, AND involved lots of driving, which contributed to the aforementioned arm/shoulder pain.

Our trip was to DC to attend the wedding of a former student of Bruce's. Was nice. The drive down was interesting, as we kind of got to watch spring happen. As we drove further south the trees got progressively greener and fluffier, and the cherry blossoms were in bloom in DC.

Also, Bruce landed a literary agent who has super big plans for his book. Which ROCKS. I'm incredibly excited about that. I'm sure you all will be hearing more about this as the book process progresses. Very proud of my lovely husband!

Latest (and Cheapest) Obsessions

I discovered the magazine Ready Made (amazon link. only $6.99 for a one year subscription!?!?) last issue and I am deeply deeply obsessed. The rag is all about stuff you can make at home like furniture and food and planters and AWESOMENESS.

Here's the last issue's cover:

It has a gypsy car! Homemade! On the cover! I want. I've wanted a gypsy caravan wagon ever since I was a little girl. And you can do it with a crappy 90s hatchback? SOLD.

So I got the magazine and immediately fell in love. This month's issue has 100 projects from readers that are awesome, AND it includes directions for all the projects. Which are things like deck chairs made with beautifully woven ropes. And lamps made from old books. And bookcases that are also stairs. And televisions that have been converted into bookcases (book storage is a problem in our apartment, if you haven't noticed my theme already).

Anyway, yeah. Totally obsessed. TOTALLY.

Also, I've been listening to a British genius named Ellie Goulding (also amazon link. $5.99 for the album!) lately. She makes kind of poppy electronic music and sounds like a more commercially viable version of Bjork (not all the time. Just sometimes). She's amazing. And upbeat. And fun to dance around to. Here's the cover of her latest album:

So yes. I'm totally into the cheap right now. Two awesome things for under $7? HECK YEAH. They make me so very very happy. I am going to go fondle my new issue of Ready Made now. While listening to Ellie Goulding. Unfortunately I have not mastered the art of knitting and reading yet. Otherwise the above scenario might be somewhat close to heaven on Earth.

A sock for Bruce.

I don't have anything brilliant to say about this sock. I knitted it. Knitted the toe twice. Still not really thrilled about having to knit ANOTHER sock after I've finished the first one.

Pattern: So Simple Silk Garden
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock
Needle: US 2 (2.75mm)

Here it is:

Bruce may still be wearing this sock.

I'm not really thrillled with the toe. There's a squareiness that I'm not loving.

So far conclusions on sock knitting: I love knitting. Knitting socks involves knitting. Therefore I enjoy knitting socks. However, thus far not loving sock knitting more than any other kind of knitting, such as sweater knitting. And honestly, I really really love lace knitting. I am going to tackle a complicated lace project (or two. Or three) soon. WOO!