Blog #20, or Bettie ain't Blogged in postively ages!

Hmmm, what to talk about. Still obsessed with Ravelry. I keep thinking that at some point the novelty will wear off. Not so far. Was supposed to have knitting group today, but got discouraged by booku piles of snow that fell overnight. But then it turned sunny, would have gone except by the time the sun came out, I was trapped to my apartment by my Pain de Mie, aka, Pullman Loaf. It raises THREE times. And my kitchen was drafty, so I had to put it on the bathroom radiator to raise. Which just feels downright wrong to me. I miss my 1956 Universal range. That stove totally ROCKED!!! I swear to whatever that everything turned out way better baking-wise. I needs to find me a man that 'preciates these kinds of things and will buy them for me. :) You can have your big, shiny diamonds, I just want a vintage stove. And to not have to work so I can dye things all day long.


I swear that I will be posting pictures and talking about projects after the holidays are over! It's just, well almost Christmas. What if I talk about and post pictures of something and it's recipient sees the post? BAM! No Christmas for you!

But in the meantime, here we have a festive cat picture.

Blog #19 In Which Bettie Posts Several More Pigchurs, 'Cause She Knows How To Do That Now.....

Another satisfied Needle for Hire customer! Not one of my cats by the way. This is a Simplicity pattern, no clue what number and we will not be hunting down the number just so that we can post it here. It was, however, MY idea to make the absurd cat tepee thing out of an old chenille bedspread. I am thinking that the Stinkiecat needs one of these. Bad. Real bad. Though he may end up wrastlin' Alex for it. I have a lovely jade green chenille spread that has no particular purpose in life.

The curtain project will be up soon. In the condo of their owner and here. I had texted their owner and well, her texts go to her work email. She tends to not read the work email.

I am hemming a wedding gown for the sister of a friend. It's the sister that she had always said I reminded her of. Too bad she is moving away after the wedding, we do have a lot in common. It was funny. She walked into my apartment, and the first thing she said was, "you knit!" The second was, "I've never seen so much Panda Cotton in one place in my whole life!" I had just been to Loopy Yarns for the first time and 6 ball of Panda Cotton, 4 skeins of Soxx Appeal, some new Addi's to try out that whole knitting-a-sock-on-two-circulars, some new cable needles and a wee bit of Fixation was the result. Oh. And two new books. 'cause I have no knitting books. Teeheehee. I made a pair of socks this week. Out of yarn from the Dagmar Klos dye workshop I went to in April? May? Something like that. I just have to Kitchner the toes together. I still have yarn left. I don't what else to make. Maybe some lil' footie socks.....

I must sleep. Big brunch plans for tomorrow and am wanting to do some sewing before going to eat brunch and drink many, many Bloody Marys.

Blog #18, HA!!!

I am not dumb! I FINALLY figured out how to post the damned picture!!!!! Ha! HAHA! HAHAHA!

Now I can proudly tell everyone I know to read my blog without feeling like a lame-o-dumbass who can't figure out how to post pictures. Much more inspiring. In which I mean that it will be much more inspiring to blog more now that I am capable of illustrating all of my excellent points with photos. heeheehee.

Blog #17, Am I Counting Okay Now?

Can I just say how much I adore seeing HRHMFWP every time I come here? HRHMFWP stands for His-Royal-Highness-Mr.-Fluffie-Wuffie-Pants. That would be Alex. And if you think I am a dork for calling him that, then you are CLEARLY not a person who has EVER shared their life with a pet and should be banned from the planet. No, universe. And speaking of the universe, when is someone going to make some new totally kick-ass science fiction movies? Seriously, is there an X-Men #4 in the works or anything? Perhaps I will have to accept The Golden Compass as good enough. Which you should go and read before the movie comes out. It's amazing. The book, I have no clue what the movie will be like. Dare I say it? Better than Harry Potter..... just my humble opinion.

What the fuck? Did I switch this from sewing/knitting chatter to movies and not tell myself?

I am hemming a wedding gown and making a wrappie-stole type thing for one bride, a whole more casual wedding frock for another. ( Think cocktail frock, but in white.)

I am waiting to hear when I can go and hang curtains. Which are done. Which have been done for a week now.

I am working on several other sewing projects of which I cannot speak. It is almost Christmas you know.

I do have two pairs of severely fashionable pants cut out for Jameseykins. Okay, okay, I know, he moves to Engalund on Friday. (booHOO) But I figure that I can fit them next time I see him and then mail them off when they are finished. I am knitting myself new socks to make myself feel better about him leaving. If that makes any sense at all......

I am doing much better with not spending all of my free time on Ravelry. I do still get sucked into the occasional thread on the forums, but it is much better. I do still check it before my email though. I was chosen as partner of the quarter at the Starbucks. Got a shirt, dress code, woohoo!, and a $50 gift card. I think it's time to buy me some KnitPicks Options needle. Maybe not the whole set, but the smaller ones that aren't interchangable. Then I knit socks on the train without having to worry about loosing my DPN's on the train.

Blog #16, In Which Bettie Realizes That She Ain't Not So Clever As She Thought

Which means that I realized that I figured out how to post pictures to the blog, not to the individual post. Still working on that one. So ya'll will have to wait to see the picture of Dad in his snazzy new shirt. Instead you get the perpetual cuteness of Alex, being a complete whore on the couch. Photo of Stinkiecat soon to come.

You know what else I realized? I have TWO Blog #10's. And no one bothered to tell me. Nice. It's like when I go to the bathroom at Starbucks and realize that I have had coffee ground on my cheek for the last 3 hours. Was no one going to tell me this? Sheesh.

Got a postcard from the gay ex-husband. It's got his new Engle-ish address on it. He's going to be living on Petworth Dr. I don't know why, but this amuses me greatly. Now I have to go and spend a small fortune on Engle-ish stamps. bah.

Short post. Got nothing to say. Must go sew a wedding frock bodice muslin.

#15, In Which Bettie Figures Out How To Post Photos!!!

And in doing so, shows off Emmet, in a shirt that actually fits! Mom says this shirt fits him better than any he's ever had. Which made me think about sizing. See, the Emmet is a rather rotund, elven,(elf?) shaped man, or a taller version of a Hobbit, take your pick, and all of his extra around-ness is in the front. Across the back, shoot, he's probably a medium even. Same in the arms. So realizing this, I cut the shirt out accordingly. Hence, the best fitting shirt Emmet has even owned. According to his wife anyways. Perhaps I should actually ask him....

On to things completely textile unrelated....

I've been listening to the ipod all afternoon, whilst sewing away. (oh, see? can't say nuthin' without managing to mention textiles.) Listening to all kinds of music that makes me think of JPT. We started out with "Everything but the Girl", album of the same name. Which to this day is one of my favorites. I first heard it when we were roommates, back in 1988. Oh god. I'm OLD. And then we went into some early-ish Indigo Girls, or more specifically, the song "Ghost". Which always, always makes me thing of him. That album came out when we worked at the painted fabric place. We would listen to it, really loud, so that we could hear it over the fans, and sing along. Yeah well, the day we had to leave work early to go to Bill's funeral, Bill would have been a friend from fashion school who died from complications due to AIDS, "Ghost" came on and we both kind of lost it a little. So I tend to think of him when I hear it.

Didn't see that coming did 'ya?

Haven't been posting much lately, been busy with actual sewing jobs. Go figure. It's enough stuff to have me coming home from 8 hours of coffee to 4 hours of sewing. And then falling into bed. I say that like I haven't been on Ravelry at all. It's like crack for knitters. I think I may need an intervention and some sort of 12 step program. No really. I had to forcefully remove myself the yarn sale forum. I can't say no to Noro at 30%-40% off. It's just not possible. I am a weak person. Very weak. Don't ask about the sale linen I got two weeks ago.

Christ, this post is all over the place isn't it?

I am almost done with some curtains. They are going to look faaaabulouse! I will take pictures and post. 'cause I can do that now. There will be many, many really cute cat photos soon.

Blog #15 RavelryRavelryRavelryRavelry

I's love's me some Ravelry!!!

There is one woman on there with whos' stash is nearing 1000 KINDS of yarn. Not skeins, but DIFFERENT KINDS. She has 13 skeins of some of those nearly 1000 yarns. I am in awe. Gay Ex-husband thought I had a lot of yarn. HA! I HAVE NOTHING!!!!!! Must. Catch. Up.

I bet I have more fabric than her though. ( oh dear, I think I just turned 6 again. )

I will going to Engalund sometime ( hopefully ) next year. That should do very pretty things to my yarn stash.

I am going to go pet some reeeeeaaaalllllly pretty fabric now to make myself feel better.

Blog #14, In Which Bettie Realizes That She Is Now Addicted to Ravelry and Is Getting Nothing Done

It's a dangerous place. I've been taking pictures of yarn in late afternoon when the light is better. I am hoping to get a bunch of photos downloaded into flickr and maybe, just maybe, I will be able to get them to post from flickr to here. Pictures for my blog! What an idea! It looks like the knitting group at the Starbucks is a go too. There really isn't one a decent commute from any of the neighborhoods along the lakefront. There is one at Uncommon Ground, but that's not really so close to Rogers Park. It ends up that there are enough knitters in Uptown, Rogers Park and everywhere in between to make it work. We'll see how may actually show up. If only I could bring a fluffy kittie or two.....

Caleb's blue sweater has been mailed off. And another Christmasy thing is done. I can't even talk about what I am doing next, for fear that I will figure out how to post pictures and actually tell people I know about my blog. I have only told James and my mom so far. Dumb, eh? It just seems kinda lame with no pictures.

I do have an awful lot of yarn though. I haven't even unearthed it all yet. I haven't even begun with the roving and fleeces and whatnot.

I did get all of James' shirts done. I got two pairs of pants cut out also. I haven't made it over to measure windows for my current curtain job, so have been cutting and sewing for the gay ex-husband instead.


Okay, short post. Stinkiecat has asked for nothing from me all day. Now he is asking. So I gotta go love on the Stinkiecat for a bit.....while I knit on my EZ Baby Sweater on Two Needles. This would be for baby Vesta. Vesta is going to get a lot of goodies from her FFG. One, 'cause her momma is one of my top 5 favorite people of all time, and two, because her momma is so prompt and effusive with the thank you notes it just makes me want to offer to make her entire wardrobe. It's really nice to send stuff to someone who recognizes that you MADE this just for them, or their child as the case may be, and genuinely appreciates it.

#12, Or, Bettie Realizes That 12 Comes Before 13, Not After

Wow. So I got my Ravelry invite two weeks ago. Wow. And did I mention???? wow. Seriously the best thing that ever happened to knitting. If you don't knit, or have any sort of crafty obsession, you will not understand. But other knitters understand. And are jealous that they have not gotten their invitations. Soon, very soon. Word on the street is that the invites are going out really fast and thick now. What I am wondering is if there is a way I can put all of my sewing projects on there too. God, that really would be amazing!

Subject of todays' rant, Why the F#$% can't the Gap manage to sell knit clothes with properly stitched hems? You are supposed to be able to S_T_R_E_T_C_H the hem AFTER it has been sewn. Without ripping the hell out of the hem that is. It's not rocket science people! Just strectch the damn knits while they are being sewn! This is, by the way, basic knits sewing 101. Stupid damn Gap. I always end up just cutting the hem off and leaving the raw edge. Which stretches. Unbelieveable.

Even more unbelieveable is the fact that I am managing to type after an hour of open bar at a bar.

Must sleep now, must sew many things tomorrow. I have a lead on a possible solution to the photo issue, will try to resolve this week if possible. Nightie night!

Blog #13, or Bettie Blows Off Blogging,

'cause she got bunches and bunches of sewing gigs! Suh-weet!

The boat cushions, done.

The blue baby sweater, done.

MY PINK SOCKS, done. ( and THOSE were on size 0 needles, thankyouverymuch. )

Mom's cashmere Christmas socks, done. Hope she don't read this 'tween now and then....

I am doing a bunch 'o' curtains for someone. Was there Sunday measuring things and then we went to Vogue fabrics on Monday. GORGEOUS fabrics, I can't wait to get it all done so that I can take pictures that I won't be able to figure out how to post on here.

Oooooo, big news to incite jealousy in any knitter who hasn't been invited to join yet.. I got my Ravelry invite Saturday. Very cool. I am very excited to get a bunch of pictures taken and posted on there. Perhaps that will actually work.

I am still getting little bits of stuff for the gay EX-husband done between other things. Am hoping like mad that I will get to fit him for some stuff before he flits off to Engla-lund. Yes, it's true. I, am now divorced. I am, the GAY divorcee, get it? GAY divorcee.

Oh. I haven't gone into that whole story on the blog, have I?

I'll do the short version. I married the best gay boyfriend on June 16th, of 2003. He is HIV + and was on COBRA, which is a huge ripoff and way too expensive. Being married and on my health insurance was half the cost. HA. Stupid country with no stupid national health care, stupid, stupid, stupid. It's not like I didn't know him, we've known each other since,,, uh, crap. If I get this wrong he will give me such shit about this....1989? Anywhoo. We got a divorce 'cause he met a cute British dude who, in fact, text-messaged him a marriage proposal as soon as he heard our divorce was final. See, gay marriage is legal there. Maybe I should move there too. Not that I want a gay marriage, but I just think it should be legal. And if I have to pay me some taxes to some government or another, I would much rather it be to a government that doesn't suck. I mean really, I think our marriage pretty much proves what a fucking sham it is. Who really gives a rats's ass if some homos wanna git hitched?

Rant over.

I gotta go, stuff to do afore the Bionic Woman comes on.

Blog #11, or Color Me Silly For That Last Blog

It wasn't more than 3 days later that the LYS called to tell me that my Jo Sharp Knit #3 was in. I almost feel like I should delete last post....except that I still stand by every bit of what I said about the yarn sales and my 40% off Jo Sharp yarn. HA. I will give the LYS a chance, I hereby swear to go in and drool over pretty yarn at the LYS and buy yarn for small projects ONLY. Yeah right. That would work, were it not for The Stash. See, part of the problem is that I really have enough yarn to keep my busy for a least a year or two. That is assuming that I maintain more or less the same KRPW, or, Knitting Rate Per Week. Have I mentioned the alpaca poncho that I want to have done by fall that I haven't even started yet? Little Ms. Pink Sweater is not any closer to being done either. But I am getting within spitting distance of finishing one of the baby sweaters. And my pink socks. Then I can start Christmas. ( there were more words...but in the interest of keeping at least a wee bit of secrecy 'bout presents, I have decided to say no more. unless of course, the interested party wants to buy me my Tacsew sewing machine....)

Knitty.com had a "Sex and The Knitty" issue a while back. It was wonderful. If you haven't seen knitty.com, you really must. Unless of course, you don't knit. Then what would be the point? Anyways, they have a pattern for a men's thong. I think I need to knit one. The scary thing is that there is a pattern for a women's halte-rie kind of bra top-ie thing, which is basically two of the men's thongs, one for each breast, with a band and whatnot to make it into a women's top. And it's a cute top too.

I am wanting to get together some kind of knitting group to meet at the Starbucks I work at. We are trying to up our sales and when I suggested a knitting group, my manager not only offered the employee discount to any and all knitters who would show up, but said he would learn how to knit if it would help. I am thinking Sunday afternoons during the fall and winter. Sunday is our slowest day of the week, so it seems a likely candidate for the knitting. Plus we are not so far from a yarn shop.


Oh yes, and the boat cushions are progressing very nicely, thanks for asking! Oh, except I realized that I managed to NOT order enough damn zippers. At least it is a length that I can get from Hancock Fabrics on my way to Sunday Brunch tomorrow. Which will be at Wishbone. Jealous? Oh trust me baby, you should be!

Blog #10, or, I Didn't Actually Want To Post Picures On My Damn Blog Anyways

No really, it's true. The previous posts regarding my frustration in my seeming lack 'puter-picture-posting abilities was a ruse. I really MEANT to have no pictures and thought it would be fun to rant about it like I really DID want pictures. Ha.

You know what is grossly overrated in the knitting world? ( if the knitting world ever actually gets around to reading my blog...heeeelllllooooooo out there!!!- this will get me kicked out of the club for sure.) The LYS. LYS stands for local knitting shop or store. It means we should all flit about to our local stores and pay full retail for every scrap of yarn we buy. It is the place we go to for our knitting help and questions. We hang about there, knitting and chatting....or at least this is what I imagine. The reality is that they never have the good shit on sale, and when they do, there is never enough to make a whole damn sweater anyways. I have the weirdest little bits and bobs of yarn, how many fabulouse hats does one girl need? And really, I can only justify so many pairs of cashmere mitts. I tend to buy most of my yarn online. Oh god, it's getting dark, clouds are gathering, oh, I think I see a lightning bolt headed my way.......

I know, I know, "but I like to TOUCH the yarn!" You know what honey? I've been doing the whole textiles thing for, mmmm, my whole life. I have also been knitting long enough to know which yarn companies suck. Add the two together and chances are pretty good I am going to really like what I buy online. Just ask me about the most recent Patternworks sale. Your LYS won't be selling Jo Sharp ANYTHING for 40% anytime soon. And guess what? Got enough for a sweater. HA!

I did try to give the LYS a chance, I thought, " You know, I SHOULD be trying to buy more local yarn. I could even be one of the gals that hangs out knitting in the shop all day!" So when I found out that Jo Sharp had come out with a KNIT #2, for summer/spring, following the release of KNIT #1, for fall/winter, I went to the Jo Sharp website to find my LYS that might be carrying said book. ( not really, I really didn't want to wait for shipping.....) So I go in. I poke about a bit....am asked if I need help. Ask about book. Say website says you carry Jo Sharp. They don't have it, but can order it. Tell me it might take a bit..... it's been two months. I could have ordered this book from Woodland Woolworks and had it within 2 weeks at the most. Whatever. They could have at least given me a call and let me know it wasn't coming. I would think that my LYS would be a little bit more mindful of creating a postive experience for a new customer. I can understand you not being able to get the book, but you know, you should call. I am fighting the urge to call and be all snarky about it. Am... resisiting.... urge.... to snark. And no, I am not going to tell you what shop it is.

This is why working at Starbucks is bad for you. You get so used to the level of customer service that you, yourself are expected to give, and then expect it everywhere you shop. I have had zero bad experiences shopping online. Jesus, when I was trying to get some yarn from Knitpicks, they let me exchange my yarn 3 times 'cause I kept not quite liking the color! They never once said, " Gee bitch, whydontcha spend the $'s on the frigging sample chart already?" Nope. Everytime, my new selection arrived quickly with no nasty comments. Purl Soho has quite the lovely selection of sale yarns, and they tend to put lovely things on sale quite regularly.

Blog #10 or, Why The F**k Can I Not Post Any Effing Pictures On Here!!!

So annoying. And now my font seems to have gone all wonky and whatnot. argh. And now some dumbass spell check bull is telling me argh ain't a word. Bite me. I have tried every single thing I have found on here to try regarding photo posting. I even downloaded a new browser, I had absolutely no problem with the old one, it just seemed like with a Mac, the Firefox would supposedly work better. Whatever. I dint wanna have no damn pictures on here anyways. My prose is so poetic, me don't need no stinking pigchurs anyhows. Now it's a game, how many words can I spell incorrectly and still have people know what I am talking about.....

Okay, at least the font is only wonky whilst I am typing the post...it don't seem to be staying that way at all. It is using the same font I had before. Thank god.

I think it's time to step away from the 'puter and go downtown and file for the divorce.

Blog #9 or Fall Has Arrived in Chicago and I Sure Wish It Would Stay

Okay, that was a little lame as far as sub-titles go, but hey, I got nuthin'!

So we are making magnificent progress on the baby sweater front. All of the pieces for my cousins' baby's sweater are done and drying after blocking. Later today I will be sewing them together and picking up stitches for the hood. Must, find, buttons. I also have half of a pair of baby socks for afghans4Afghans done. They have a due date in late September and I am, as usual, obsessed with getting as many little goodies knit for them as possible.

I found a pile of fabric that was meant to become stuff for the soon-to-be-ex-gay-husband. I started cutting. It's all easy stuff and the cushions project is on hold while we wait for fabric. Though the client did pick up what was done so far. He was thrilled. I rock. Going back to clothes for the gayhusband. I am thinking that I need to root around in the stash and see if I have more wool that would make fab pants for him. I have one Vogue pattern that makes a fairly skinny pant that looks great on him. I make him a test pair of these pants, but out of a funky vintage barkcloth. They are soooo funny! I must get a picture of them on here. I must get a LOT of pictures on here. Anyways, I am thinking that he could use some of these pants in more subtle wools and whatnot. So I will root around later and find some. I have to dig around and see what I can come up with for a slipcover for an ottoman for a friend.

Onto the Starbucks! I was going to avoid mentioning the day job by name, but then when discussing blogs with the roommate, came to realize that if I mention Starbucks by name, I am more likely to get random people seeing my blog due to the googling of Starbucks. So I will be mentioning them by name in a shameless attempt to gain readers.

After many, many years at the same store, I have, just this week, transferred to a new store. The old store just keeps getting busier and busier. Don't get me wrong, I love staying busy, but within reason. And the old store was TINY too. When I was first at that store, it was all gayboys. Being the quintessential faghag, this seemed like a match made in heaven. But so many of the boys have moved out of the neighborhood and been replaced by...... My new store is easier and faster to get to from home, and so far I loves it!

Blog #8, or Boat Cushion Madness and Why One Should Never Try to Re-use a 20 Year Old Zipper....

So while I am all about recycling, reusing and all of that warm-fuzzy-good-for-the-planet-and-keeping-all-kinds-potentially-still-useful-crap-out-of-landfills, I will never again attempt to re-use any kind of cushion or pillow ziper again. You see, I am in the midst of a rather large job, making new covers for a whole bunch of cushions for a boat of some kind. When first told of the project, I was imagining about 6-8 cushions, about 2"-3" thick, 'bout 16" or less square....then they brought the cushions over. The client had told me one the phone that the cushions were pretty much filling the whole car. He wasn't exaggerating one tiny bit! The largest is rather a triangle, 77" along the bottom by about 3 -4 feet high. There are 3 smaller, but still rather large cushions, and then 5 that I am guessing go along the back of ... something. They are all about 18' x 30". Then there are about 6 more in assorted sizes. I ordered the zippers first. I order all of my zippers and thread and whatnot from Atlanta Thread and Supply Co. They rock, but lack zippers that are 102" long. So I figured that it would just be faster to rip out the old one and re-use it. True enough, I could not have tracked one down on-line any faster than I ripped out the old one. Fast forward a few days. I am finished with the gigantic cover and am ready to put it on. It's going much better than I imgined, the cushion is big, and the foam thin for the size of it, making it incredibly floppy, not helpful when trying to wrestle said chunk of floppy foam into it's cover. But it's going really, really well. I get about a foot from the end and the zipper pull pops off. I panic, decide I can probably get it back onto the teeth. Until I flip the pull over and realize that the pull, the METAL pull, is broken. The metal broke. WTF!?! I thought metal was pretty much indestructible. So much for that theory. So now I have to 1) find new super-longass zipper, and 2) install it into the already completed and sewn-up cushion cover. argh. Well I have now completed both. Thank fuzzykitties! Not that they were really any help, just much needed moral support.

The above is the only really major sewing thing I having going on right now. Knitting is outta hand! Still haven't gotten a single baby sweater completed, though the one for my cousin's baby is getting really close. I have also been managing to get more baby hats than expected churned out for afghans4Afghans. I have about 5 done so far. They go pretty quick. I really can't stand the thought of not sending anything in time for the due date. My pink sweater has completely fallen by the wayside. This with yarn for about 4 other things for me in the wings. I have some chocolate brown alpaca that wants to be a poncho, some buttery-beige Jo Sharp that wants to be the classic V-neck in her Knit 1 book, some pea-green silk/wool that doesn't quite know what it wants to be yet, and some purple that feels the same way. Should I list the Christmas projects I've got listed in my head? It's a little bit scary. I haven't replaced the DVD player yet. Don't want to spent the money right now. I've just gotten better at knitting in bed.

Oh yeah, and the picture posting, I am having no luck with this at all. argh. When, when will the 'puter gods ( or godesses) smile on me and make it all happen by magic?! ( makes scowling face while shaking fist at sky )

'kay, gotta go knit now.

Blog #7, or This Learning How to Post Pictures Thing is going nowhere...

That pretty much sums up where we are at with that. I tried, several times after typing the last post. Got nothing to work. Does anyone know of a remedial blogging class I could take? Blogging for Dummies?

My other crisis is that the DVD player died. Which would be no big deal, cause I have a TV/DVD thingey in the bedroom. Ecept all of the knitting happens in front of the TV. And while I have actually figured out how to knit lying in bed, it just isn't as comfortable. I am guessing it will lead to even more wrist issues in the long-term. This would best be avoided. So, we are looking for cheapass DVD player reccomendations. I am all for getting shit fixed instead of replacing it, but Target has a DVD player for $50. You just know that DVD repair guy won't even TOUCH it for that little. sheesh.

This is why we don't post everyday. I have nothing else to say.

Blog #6 or, This week's goal is to figure out how to post pictures on here...

Wow, that final paragraph of my last entry is a wee tiny bit incoherent. Welcome to the slightly tipsy world of Bettie. Bettie, in case we are wondering, is my alter-ego. This stemming from me saying, years ago, that were I in burlesque, my stage name would be 'Bettiebubbles'. I must have told a few too many people this, as the nickname of 'Bettie' seems to be sticking. This would have been about 1992 or so, before burlesque made a bit of a come-back. For those of you who were unaware of burlesques' return to popularity, well it has. At least somewhat. I would be doing it, if I hadn't gained ridiculous amounts of weight working at a certain huge chain coffee shop that shall remain unknown. I say unknown because I am unsure of the spelling of anonymous. See? That looks totally wrong. But then, I've found that if I stare at any word long enough, it starts to look misspelled.

I have managed to finish up quite a few little bits in the sewing room. I have even gotten all of the cushions that I need to recover measured so that I can figure out how much more fabric the client needs to order. I have made quite a bit of progress on one of the baby sweaters, and gotten everything that has been sewn shipped of to the happy parents. No one else that I know is allowed to have a baby this year! Okay, fine, but if you do, you get nothing! I got an email from afghans 4 Afghans the other day. They need baby stuff. Seeing as to how I still have more wool, I am now feeling extremely guilty because I have no time to knit wee baby sized chapeaus to send off to them.

Really, someone simply MUST think of a way that I can sit at home and do nothing but knit and sew....oh wait! Rich husband is that answer. Shit, being a 39 year-old, overweight woman puts me WAY out of contention for anything anywhere near that reality. Crap.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering. after my last entry, I feel asleep for 3 hours, woke up with a huge headache, read a little bit more of Harry Potter, head still hurt, watched a Netflix movie, still had a headache, gave up and went to sleep. I did finish Harry Potter by about 2pm on Sunday though. No, I will tell NOTHING!

BLog #5, or, I took the day off of work to read the new Harry Potter book, but really I'm only at chapter 6 or so and went out to a big, drunken,

gay brunch with the best gay boyfriends. My plan was to drink very little, come home, finish reading Harry Potter, sew.

Reality, Gay brunch, too many moitos, come home, eat something hope like mad that the alcohol burns off, eat some potatoes, watch cooking shows on PBS, THINK about reading Harry Potter, squint at 'puter screen, wait for boring cooking show to be over....think about reading some more, afraid of falling asleep, blogging instead. Typing and spelling are hard when you have had too many drinkies.

am...trying....very...hard....to.....make.....mildly....coherrent...blog entry.....

I have a huge project right now, sewing. The problem is that I was told I had 10 yards each of the two fabrics, in reality5 yards of each. I wasn't even sure that 10 would be enough. Now I have to call and say, "your interior designer friend was really off, we need way more fabric. " Oh fun. I am also knitting like mad, not now, tension would be too loose. I swear to god, everyone I know who could have possibly had a baby, has, All in the last 4 months. So I am backed up with sewing baby outfits for right now, and making WAY too many promises for knit baby sweaters. egad.

I still have to finish my pink sweater.

I think I am going to SIdetracks tomorrow, it's sing along with music from musicals night and I found out that one of my dearest friends goes every Sunday night.

Blog #4 or, Love Sucks and why didn't I just stick to dating girls? Lord knows they are a hell of a lot prettier, even the butchest ones....

And the title pretty much sums up my feelings on that.

Onto sewing!

I have been getting lots of little bits and bobs done up. I actually finished up a pair of pants, ( lies! I have yet to sew the button at the waist..) that I cut out something like 3 months ago. Pants that took me all of about 2 hours to sew up. The 2 hours includes kittie petting breaks. I managed to order about 15 new Hot Patterns, which I highly recommend. Very cute, very sassy. And they have the back crotch seam that curves quite unlike any other I've seen. Guess what? They fit better. Amazing. I've been seeing the same back butt seam curve in every pattern I've ever used and BAM! Hot Patterns comes along and re-invents the wheel. Did I mention how highly I recommmend them? This would probably mean more if someone was actually reading this, and could go and order some patterns and stuff. The other really, truly great thing about them is that they have the patterns in 3 size ranges. Slinky Girl, Glamour Girl and Curvy Girl. The different ranges are designed to accomodate different bust sizes. Thank god! Did you know that almost all pattern/clothing manufacturers design EVERYTHING for a B cup? I don't think I was ever a B. Oh wait, maybe my first bra...in 1979.

Onto the knitting. Am busy like mad with the baby sweater. My cousin Matt and his wife Janet just got a lovely little baby boy through an open adoption. He is adorable. He is getting a little cotton cardigan. Seed stitch. Buttons up the front and a hood. A darker sort of periwinkle/biue kind of colour. I also have to knit a little girl sweater. The owners of the pet store I frequent had her just about 2 weeks ago. And then there is the sweater I am knitting for myself. It is pink, Shine Worsted from Knitpicks. It is my very first venture into the wide, wide world of cables. It is a pattern I ripped out of Interweave Knits. I actually did swatches for it and all of that good junk. My mom pointed out that relatively new fondness for swatching is probably all due to reading all of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's books. I think she is onto something with that. Both Stepanie and my mom that is. Anyways, the sweater is looking very promising, well, okay, the back of it is looking very promising. The front is only about an inch long at this point.

Blog #3, or my obsession with Harold's Chicken Shack

Yeah, about that. You see, they just put a Harold's Chicken Shack about 4 blocks from my house. I ain't never seen one this far onto the north side. When I was a kid, living in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, there were a couple of Harold's Chicken Shacks. They always had this neon image of a guy in a chef's hat chasing a chicken with a cleaver. Pretty cool I thought. Then my brother and I ended up in a YMCA day camp one summer. The camp counselors would go and get lunch from Harold's, often getting lunches for some of the kids also. It always smelled so damn good! I should also explain that my mom, was the kind of mom who, while being an excellent cook, never made anything nearly so decadent as FRIED chicken. Fried chicken is bad for you, it still has the skin on it....we never got to have any kind of fast food, least of all fried chicken. Hence, my apparent obssesion with Harold's. I haven't caved in and gone yet. I am scared that once I start, there will be no end to the reasons I will be finding to frequent the place. By the way, the one near me does not have the neon of the chicken being chased with a cleaver.

So I suppose since this is supposed to be about the sewing stuff, I should mention some sewing stuff. I have been trying to finish up a lot of little loose ends in the sewing room. Getting little half-done and almost done projects finished and outta here!
I did finish many, many hats for afghans4Afgahns, but only the one blanket. I took pictures, but have yet to figure out how to post them.

On the knitting front, we have socks almost done for mom, which would be good, since I am seeing her tomorrow. I am hoping to finish them yet tonight so I can fork them over tomorrow. These would be her bribe for handing over her yarn stash for the afghan project. I had told her I would knit her socks if she gave me all of her yarn. I thought it was a pretty good deal. I am hoping she thinks so too. I am also working on a sweater for myself. I haven't knit a sweater for ages. I am doing it the right way this time, you know, swatches and gauge and all of that jolly crap. I am hoping like mad that it works out. I am also finding that my knitting speed had increased quite a bit. I hadn't really realized, must be due to all of the hats I've been knitting.

oh god. Yeah, so all of the mail order sources I like to use for yarn buying.....bastards are all having sales!!! Irresistible sales I might add. Patternworks had gobs and gobs of Jo Sharp yarn on sale. There are about 5 sweaters in Jo Sharp's KNIT #1 that I want to make, for myself. They had the exact yarn for two of them on sale. So Bettie did a little bit of shopping......KnitPicks is also having a sale, but I already bought some chocolate brown alpaca for a poncho from them so managed to resist. I am completely effed if Purl Soho decides to have a huge sale..... I need a higher paying job or rich boyfriend or something. Is it wrong to whore oneself out for the benefit of stash expansion?

Blog #2

I am so thrilled! The local PBS station here in Chicago has put Dr. Who back on the air! I have not watched Dr. Who since high school. Which was the mid-80's. Crap I'm old. I am a bit of a science fiction nerd, not inclined to go to conventions and all of that, but close. When I found re-runs of the original Star Trek on one of the channels here, I found myself not leaving the house when it was on so that I could watch.

Which sounds a little bit lame. Except I don't watch TV without knitting in hand and right now the knitting project of choice is hats for afghans4Afghans. There is a deadline on Mother's day and the goal is hats, mittens and socks for children 0-7. That and baby blankets. I don't usually knit quite so many items for them, but my mother just recently realized she was never going to get around to tapestry weaving, or the random kind of knitting that uses up little dribs and drabs of yarn. She had been buying odd bits of yarn for awhile and had it all divided by color in her quilting studio. It made me jealous everytime I saw it. I wanted it all. I kept telling her how much stuff I could knit for the people of Afghanistan if she would only fork over the stash. After she got back from her last quilting retreat, she decided I was right. Heehee. I burned bits of it all, it's about half wool and half acrylic. They don't want acrylic items for Afghanistan, so I will knit animal blankets for Project Snuggle with that. I am completely addicted to making blankets using the log cabin technique in Mason-Dixon Knitting.

Blog #1

First, let me start this all out by saying right here and now, that I am not super great with the whole technical side of the 'puters. So we will just apologize right now for any 'puter glitches due to the bloggers' ignorance of said issues. This will be my excuse for anything that appears to be upsidedown, sideways or otherwise missplaced on said blog. Yes, I am a clever woman, I am quite confident that I could figure it all out, but frankly, I'd rather be knitting, sewing, spinning or dyeing something another color. So there. Or petting the cats. Or hell, really, I'd rather clean the apartment than figure out the magic that is 'puters.

So you may be wondering what this 'needlforhire' thing is all about. After all, that is my code name. I put that on everything. It is the name of my business, ha! I say ha, 'cause I don't even have a tax id number or license or anything. It's just what it sounds like. I will sew pretty much anything. Clothes, cushions, slipcovers, pet beds, drapes, curtains, I could go on and on. I will be adding pictures shortly. As soon as I figure out how and take some. The goal is more sewing, less making coffee. Yes, it's true, I have the other job which is how I really pay my rent. Costume work, I have done costume work. I have made corsets, though they are extremely overdone as of about 2 years ago.

Dang, this is kinda fun! I get to babble on about whatever I want!