A new member of the lamb family

But first, a better FO picture:

complete with dog in the background!


My second pink sock is doing some pooling. It's subtle in the picture, but seems much more noticeable in real life. It's bugging me a little, but only because I don't understand how the same yarn, same number of stitches, same needles, same pattern can do two different things. Regardless, I'm not ripping!
I'm up to the gusset on the second sock, but there's no way it'll be done by midnight to count for the Sock-a-month KAL. And I'm such an idiot - I rushed to finish my Trekking socks last month, I should have waited and let them count for March! Duh!

I was trying to fight starteritis last night, and then I realized - why? I think I'd rather have "too many" things on the needles that I want to work on, than only have a few that I'm bored with, and thus not knitting. I plan to fully embrace the starteritis this weekend.

I have a question for all y'all out there: I'm planning on going by a local quilt shop that carries yarn, but isn't really a knitting shop yet, and asking for a job. I'd like to help the owner decide what to carry and to teach some classes. Any advice from those of you who've taught classes/worked in a yarn store? Thanks so much!

And finally, the newest member of my lamb collection. We were at Target last night (my last trip for a while!) buying dog and cat food, when this guy caught my eye in the dollar section. He seems a bit nuts (the wide spread eyes!), but I think he's really cute. He reminds me a bit of Lambchop (anyone else watch this show?). And he needs a name. Any suggestions?

Enjoy your Friday!

Sheep, a FO and a KAL update

Let's lead with our FO, shall we?

The husband really needs to understand that the entire knitted object needs to appear in the picture, not just my boobs! I'll take a better picture for the FO gallery tonight.

Pattern: Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie.
Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Chocolate and Mulled Wine. I used 4 balls of chocolate for the sleeves and neckline (I didn't touch that extra one I ordered and I ended up with about 1 yard left!), and (I think) 6 balls of Mulled Wine (I had one left over).
Needles: Susan Bates Circs, sz 6 and 7. I actually switched to my clover straight sz 7's at one point because I wanted a change in the knitting and it almost killed me to knit on straights!
Dates: Started first week of January, finished (with zipper) Tuesday March 28.
Mods: I lenghthen the body and sleeves by a few inches, and I'm really glad I did as the body is still almost too short for my liking. But I'm very happy with where it falls now.
Thoughts: Love it. Want to wear it all the time. Want to go around and tell strangers that I made my sweater. Very pleased with the color combination.
The zipper installation didn't go as well as I'd liked, and I need to get a zipper foot for my sewing machine, as it's not sewn down as close to the teeth as I would like, but it is wearable! Also, either my knitting is off somehow, or I pulled too much during the zipper installation, as one front seems longer than the other. I'm trying not to stress over this, and figure that I'll re-install the zipper when I get a zipper foot.
The wool of the andes is a bit scratchy, but after a few mintues I don't notice it at all.

I'm making The Husband a green one (all over rib) for his birthday. Shhhh, don't tell!

The job interviews went OK yesterday, thanks for all your good wishes. It's funny how some places come to these things really looking to get some serious candidates, and others seem to be there just to take up space. I had three really good interviews, with three places I'd love to be, so now I just wait until they know what positions they'll have available. I hate waiting.

And, because I've been very remiss in discussing any KAL's lately, a brief update:

Ribby Cardi KAL: Done!
Sock-a-month: Not going to make it - can't knit half a sock in two days.
200Socks: I've knit 7 (individual) socks this year!
Count Your Socks: I'm at 7 pairs of socks total.
Evelyn A. Clark: I'm still working on the Leaf Lace Shawl, everyone else has moved on to Flower Basket. I'll catch up (maybe).
Branching Out: Someday
Handknit Holidays: Next up are Log Cabin Socks, but I'm thinking those will wait a few months as it's almost too hot to wear socks at all.
Scarf Style: Really want to do Ene's Scarf - maybe after Flower Basket
Knit the Classics: Already read Life of Pi, no time for a project this month.
Sockapaloooza: No progress since my last picture. This will be top priority starting Saturday.
40 Days for Others: Nothing. I'm horrible.
Sew? I Knit!: Skirt awaiting remedy. Have some ideas for next month.

And finally today, some sheepy pictures!

These are a few sheep that have recently come to live with me - the cute wooden one I picked up at JoAnn's in the easter stuff, and the card came from the Eric Carle Museum. The stamp is just for fun!

And yesterday sweet Jen got me a sheepy cookie! It was good!

Stayed tuned tomorrow for the Mystery of the Pooling Socks!

What do you do when there's no knitting to show?

Hey, it's Random Wednesday!

1. Not much going on over here, sorry to disappoint. The sock grows bit by bit, the sleeve not so much. I did put in the zipper for ribby, but I have no pictures yet. I'll try to get some for tomorrow.

2. I'm trying to psych myself up for the crazy day of interviews I have ahead - I have a job fair through my university. 10 interviews, 30 minutes each. It's like speed dating. I feel like I should be nervous, but I'm not. Is that a bad thing? I sure don't feel confident either though.

3. I really really really really really really want to cast on for a new project since Ribby is done. It's taking everything in me not to, which may be why there is a decided lack of excitement toward my knitting recently. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to cast on a new project.....but I really want my socks done by Saturday......and my sweater......hmmmmmm.....

4. I've decided to join Flash Your Stash for Saturday and I've been busy taking pictures. Yikes.

5. Also, faced with our lack of income and the mountain of yarn I found when I started taking pictures of the stash, I decided to join the "Use What You Have" group - but I'm taking it further than my knitting/crafting. I can't buy anything that isn't a household necessity in April. That means dog food/people food/toilet paper is OK. Cute "thing" at Target? Not so much. Of course, I may have placed a Knitpicks order this week....Hey, I sold one of my old textbooks - that's free money baby!

6. I haven't mentioned it yet, but I joined the "Booty Swap" organized by Nipper Jenn, and I'm putting together the final items in my package. So fun!

7. Finally, I must go shower and find freakin' pantyhose to wear to this thing (I hate pantyhose more than almost anything else, but they look "professional." Blech). I leave you with some pictures of my flowers from last year. They didn't do well this year between the 80-30 degree weather and the torrential rains. But they were pretty last year!




8. Oh, and the bag? Yup, still there.

Distractions

Sadly, the cardi remains zipperless - too much going on yesterday to make it to JoAnn's. We'll see if I get there today.

I was distracted from the second sleeve of Chrysalis by this nagging feeling.....what was I missing from my current knitting? Why a sock of course! I had been going all sleeves all the time since last week and the sock part of my knitter brain was crying out to be fed. So I appeased it by casting on for my second project spectrum pink sock.

I only got through the cuff last night, but I plan to work on it some tonight. I don't think I can get it and the sweater done by Friday though. We'll see.

I was also distracted by some mail that came yesterday.

By some miracle of God (and my credit card does not thank you for this miracle!) I was the lucky "winner" of Friday's offering of Vesper sock yarn. Wowee! Also, while I was lurking waiting for the yarn to go up, I threw this in my basket as well. I love the construction of this sweater, can't wait to knit it up!

So, quickly, before I am distracted again by kpixie's website, the reason I didn't get to knit much last night is because The Girl won second place from her school in a city-wide art contest! (for more details, go here, but it's not great because they haven't updated this site in a few years!). We thought it was a little reception for the kiddos, but it was a big deal! The mayor and the superintendent and the chief of police were all there and all of the winners from k-12 were there, and while the grade school kids were just recognized by standing, the middle and high school kids had their artwork displayed and received a certificate, a medal and a check! Two kids won trips to Disney World! We told The Girl she better be winning us that trip soon!

Finally today, some info on the Spring-a-long:

I've heard from a few of you that you'd like to do this spring knit-a-long, so here goes,

We'll start on Satruday, April 1 and continue through May 31.
You can join at any time, whenever you feel springy!
You can knit whatever you want, as long as it makes you feel springy!
Leave a comment or email me if you'd like to join and I'll add you to the sidebar.
I haven't decided what day I'll do updates, but I'll let you know!
If anyone has those button skills, feel free to whip one up!
Let me know if you have any questions too!
Spring on!


For you inquiring minds - the bag is still in the chair. Yup.

All over but the zipper

It's hard to believe (for me) that this is done except for the zipper - I purchased one last night but it's about 3 inches too short. Way to measure! I'll run back to JoAnn's tonight and exchange it. But for now......so close to a FO!


FYI: The Husband's suitcase/bag is still residing on the chair. Entries for the contest are now closed, but I'll keep you updated!

The Girl's party went pretty well. The staff at JoAnn's didn't seem to quite know what to do with themselves - the space wasn't decorated when we got there, they didn't have a large trash can for our use, and they kept asking me what I wanted to do. Um, I'm paying you so that I don't have to be in charge! But the kids had fun even though I thought the activity was a bit lame (they just colored a mask). Not sure it's worth the price though.

I still owe entries for "E" and "F" for the ABC Along and I've got tons of other information to share with y'all - bits and pieces!

Off to finish up sleeve #2 for sweater #2!

Have a great Monday!

You know we're halfway there

I picked up and knit the front edges for the zipper and sewed the side seams. I would have more completed, but I had to redo one of the seams three times as I kept putting the "bulky" part on the outside - not very attractive.


I was also distracted by some sleeves. What? More sleeves? Yup, one sleeve down and one started for Chrysalis. Is it possible that I could have two finished sweaters by April 1? Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud.....

Going to JoAnn's today for The Girl's birthday party and plan to look for a zipper again (they got in a whole bunch), and get another ball of yarn for Chrysalis - since I'm knitting at a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for I'm afraid I'll run out. And I can always return it!

Maybe a completed sweater by tonight? Don't hold your breath!

Excuse me

Can't you see I'm blocking here?




Do you think I used enough pins?



I pinned all my pieces out last night - it took me just over an hour to do it. I sprayed them well, turned the fan on and left. About 2 hours later they were dry, so I sprayed them again. Right before bed I sprayed them again.

I just unpinned them all - read to seam baby! Blocking is pretty cool - the areas of the cardi that are 2x2 rib stayed pretty open, the 3x1 areas pulled back in some, but I think it'll be fine. Hopefully more progress tomorrow!

Low on excitement

First - thanks for all your entries in the contest! I'll take entries until Sunday night at 11pm EST. However, he could (by some freak occurence) put them away earlier, so get them in ASAP!

Second, I didn't have enough picture space to show you the beginnings of Em's shawl, so here it is. Not much excitement, just the bottom border and the first few pattern rows.

I stayed up way too late last night trying to finish the second ribby sleeve so I could block it last night, as the girl was at her mom's and will be there tonight too - a free bed! I did come to my senses and go to sleep around 11 - I can block it just as well tonight. In keeping with Project Spectrum, here is her room. It's like pink threw up in here - pink walls, pink carpet, pink bedspread. Now, I like pink, but this is a bit too much. She really wanted hot pink walls, but I had to draw the line somewhere! They are a good basic pink color and what I like best about them is that they make her room look so sunny! She has three windows, and when the sun is shining in her room it looks like she's left the bedroom lights on.



However, this leads me to an important question. How do you block your sweaters? I've blocked small pieces before (socks, lace, blanket, scarves) and immersed them before blocking. However, with something of this size (and the fact that it's been getting pretty cold here at night) I'm worried that it might take forever to dry if I do that. Could I pin it out and spray it? What is your favorite sweater blocking method?

And finally, in keeping with our low on excitement mentality, some of my favorite pink and red items - couldn't make it through the day without them!

What I did on my spring vacation

OK - this is the non-knitting post, for those of you who want to skip ahead to your next bloglines feed!

Mom and I drove into Boston on Sunday morning (I flew into Hartford and she drove in and met me there - we drove into Boston after) and stayed at the Holiday Inn at the end of the D Green Line (in Riverside), which, much to my amusement, is where we stayed about 15 years ago when I went to Boston the first time - crazy! We walked to the T station every morning and didn't have to pay to park! I enjoyed some quality knitting time on the train, though I didn't see but one subway knitter (and I couldn't see what she was knitting, just her motions), and no, it wasn't THE subway knitter!

We saw the Boston Ballet which was very nice - lovely dancers and we had great seats - thanks mom!

We also walked around Boston (and yes, we had dinner at Legal Sea Food for mom!), and went to a place that I really wanted to visit, from one of my favorite books!

Sadly, we saw them before they were decked out in their new holiday finery. We also got to pet some cute puppies on the common - made us miss our babies less!

Monday we shopped - hit the yarn stores and Filene's, Macy's and a few others. And then did the wait from hell for my sister to arrive. Blech.

Tuesday was more yarn shopping (after we finally woke up!) and a visit to the JFK Memorial Library and Museum which was very cool for the nerd in me - though wicked cold with the wind blowing off the water!

Wednesday we drove into "western" MA - with stops at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art which was cool, though small. One highlight was the car out front painted to look like it belonged in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. And look - snow! It snowed on and off all day Wednesday - I wanted to take a picture of the sock in the snow, but didn't get a chance.

We also went to WEBS Wednesday and Thursday (yipes!), and shopped some more on Thursday and Friday (in the nature of full disclosure, I did have to buy another duffle bag to drag back all my crap!) in some great outlet mall sales. Now if it would just be warm enough here to wear them! It's supposed to snow tonight!

Saturday we headed into The Big Apple and got to see The Producers which was great! Thanks again mom!

That's pretty much it. Aside from the tons of yarn stores in NYC I didn't have time to see, and the many others in Boston, the only thing I wanted to do was go to the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield. Perhaps I have a bit of an obsession with picture books......

Whew!


Yesterday was The Girl's 8th birthday - we kept it low-key, but she was very excited by her new Chuck's - brown and pink! Her feet are almost big enough for me to steal her shoes. Can't wait! She got some gift cards that she had to go spend today - one to JoAnn's where she got yarn to knit some "sweaters" for her half sister and brother and mom - all out of one skein of yarn! When she decides she's going to do something, she doesn't pull any punches! I'll keep you posted!

Oh, and The Husband brought me back a gift from his ski trip - I love it!


Finally, my first contest! My lovely husband is somewhat notorious for taking forever to unpack his suitcase. After our honeymoon it took him 2 weeks to unpack it. And he only did so because he ran out of underwear. He got home from his ski trip on Sunday evening. He put his bags down in this chair. He has not touched them since.

So, to win a small prize, leave your guesses in the comments or email me (knitnlit AT hotmail DOT com) - with date and time you think he'll unpack. For my part, I will say NOTHING to him about the presence of his suitcases, or that I won't do laundry until he unpacks them. Also, to keep the playing field even, he has to work his second, evening, job for the next four days. If you leave your guess in the comments and you don't have a blogger profile, leave your email address too so I can contact you!

And one last note - I think I'm at my breaking point with blogger so I've started to research my options. Anyone who has a non-blogger blog, could you let me know what you like/dislike about your platform? Thanks so much!

What I knit on my spring vacation

ETA: Now with pictures!

Now onto the thing y'all care about most (well, after stash enhancement really!) - the knitting!

I knit a bunch on my "Meredith's Little Lace Socks" on the flight out to Hartford. And when I was almost at the heel I tried them on. They fit fine, but y'all who say varigated doesn't work with lace - well, some day I'll listen. (But why do I love my Leaf Lace Shawl which is varigated too?).

Sock on needles (see, pretty! You can see the pattern!


Sock on foot (blech. What is that mess?)

So I ripped it back to the cuff (because after the gusset, the cuff is my least favorite part), and brainstormed what to do now. I had no pattern books with me. I had some pattern possibilities, but all were really "for" my sockpal socks. I decided to do a 3x1 rib on the 60 stitches I had already in the cuff (sz 2 needles for the curious). I LOVE this sock! It is so soft, and I love the stretchiness of the rib and the way the colors "stripe" up. I even like the big pink pool across the gusset. Love them.

Of course, because I love them, they're going away. Being discontinued by Knitpicks. Boo Hoo. And, because it's Murphy's Law, I've had this marinating in the stash for almost a year. Figures. It was too pretty to use! (Of course, I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that it would be pretty on my feet too!) I do this all the time - buy something I love (now it's mostly yarn and bath stuff/candles) and never use them, as I don't want to "waste" them. I've learned my lesson - waste away!


I also thought long and hard about my sockpal socks, and decided (as I sat in the Hartford airport for 3 hours) that I would try Pomatomus. It is slow going so far (probably because I got very sleepy on the plane), but I'm really enjoying the combination of yarn and pattern. And it's pretty easy to remember where to decrease and yo, so not too much pattern reading which is nice. It'll make a good TV project. Must knit faster.


I also finished up the body of Chrysallis tonight - I was almost done on the trip but I couldn't face any more 1x1 ribbing. I'm hoping to cast on for a sleeve soon so I can get this done! I'm still loving the way the yarn knits up - so nice!

And, because I was going to see my sister, I decided to take along the pattern and yarn she picked out for her wedding shawl so I could swatch it up to see if it met with her approval before I knit the whole thing. So far, so good, though this will now be on hold for a month or so while I work on other things. Hey, I have until September! (The pattern is the Baltic Sea Stole from Fiber Trends and the yarn is Knitpicks Merino Style, I think the colorway is winter night - something like that.)

I started my second ribby sleeve before the trip and I worked on it a bit more tonight at knitting - it is my priority knitting this week as I'd like to have ribby blocked and start seaming by the weekend - still have to resolve that zipper issue though. JoAnn's has some new stock in, and they have one that may be close - I'll take my yarn up tomorrow to match it up - wish me luck!

Tomorrow - what I did on my spring vacation when I wasn't knitting!

There's no place like home

First, thanks for all your concerns - I am alive and well, I just had spotty internet access and was very busy the past few days. However, after extensive flight delays due to storms at home, I managed to make it home at 1 am today. Sleepy girl!

But I came home to goodies! Woot!



From the lovely Theresa - a thank you gift for hosting the "It's NOT a Gift KAL." How sweet! We had hoped to meet up in Boston to knit, but some last minute plans on my part made that impossible. :( She sent a lovely washcloth (which I LOVE!), and some wonderful Rhode Island goodies - two oh-so-yummy soaps and some "Lip Stuff." All are so tasty! The yellow soap is lemony and I want to carry it around with me all day to smell it! and the lip stuff rocks - coconut and lemon - such a great combination! My lips are super chapped after the winds in the NE last week! Such a sweetie!

I also got my project spectrum postcard from Tara - so cute! Love the flowers!



And I had a package waiting at the post office from a destash sale - some yummy Rowanspun Aran - hopefully it will grow up someday soon and become Rogue!





Oh, did you want to know if I bought any more yarn on my trip? Um, yeah. I sure did.

The pastel Trekking and the Sockatta you've already seen. The blue trekking and the Mar La came from Webs. I also got the Inox needles and the wool wash there. I've heard such good things about the Inox, and as much as I love my Susan Bates, these are supposedly pointier, which would be nice for lacy socks. We'll see! I've never had "real" wool wash before either - just used woolite and it worked fine, but I wanted to try this out. Webs was nice, just what I expected. A huge wall and a half of needles and notions - everything from Susan Bates to Addi, and a TON of yarn! It was arranged by fiber content and weight, which I love! I wish all stores arranged this way. So nice to be able to see your substitution options. As I was checking out on our second trip (yes, two trips!), I saw some Lorna's Laces behind the counter. Turns out they were putting it out the next day - they don't have it up on the web yet, but they also don't have many of their sock yarns listed either. The employees were very nice and helping many customers with their projects and on their yarn hunts. I did explore the warehouse - a ton of stuff but nothing I *had* to have except the Mar La. I'm hoping that I have enough to make a sweater - we'll see!

I found the Interweave's at Northampton Wools which is a cute little store. Not very helpful, but the employee/owner who rang me up gave me 20% off the magazines. They had a bunch of issues, but these two had a few projects that jumped right out at me, so they came home.

That's it. Nothing too exciting. I am itching to knit up the pastel Trekking. Perhaps it's because today is the first day of spring? Or because Easter stuff is everywhere?

I've also been really wanting to knit up a bunny for The Girl for Easter this year, but I found this pattern at Wee Wonderfuls and now I'm considering sewing one up - it's so cute! Anyone else in for a Bunny KAL? Oh - I just found this - I may have to join! There is an oh-so-cute bunny pattern in both Last Minute Knitted Gifts and one of my Debbie Bliss books and Jess Hutch's bunny - anyone else have suggestions for bunnies? I do love the bunny from Knitty Gritty (available here) too.

Hmmm, since there's already a Bunny KAL, maybe we should do a spring KAL? Knit yourself something springy - whatever it is. Short sleeved sweater, pastel socks, tank top.....hmmmm.....

What did I knit on my trip? What else did we do? Stay tuned - I can only hold y'all's attention for so long each day! It's good to be back!

Boston LYS review

Sorry for the blog absence yesterday - we had a bit of a crazy day - my sister was supposed to come into CT yesterday around 5. She sat on the ground at Denver for almost 4 hours and then sat in the airport while they fooled around trying to fix her plane. She ended up getting to Chicago around 7:30 CST, left Chicago around 11 pm, and go into CT just after 2 AM. We had to drive back to our hotel outside of Boston. We got in at 4:45 AM. We were a little tired today.

I've managed to squeeze in a few yarn store visits, and I'd like to share them with y'all in case you visit Boston soon. Remember, these are MY opinions and I understand that you may not agree with me. That's OK.

Yesterday we visited Windsor Button. They had a very good selection of yarn, for being a "craft store." I liked that they had a wide range of yarn, from Lion Brand to Noro, Debbie Bliss, Manos, etc. I did think the Lion Brand was a bit expensive, but I was glad to see yarn for every price range and type of knitter. I didn't buy anything, as none of the sock yarn grabbed me, and I'm just not in the market to spend enough $$ for a sweater's worth of yarn right now. Of the five stores I visited, this one ranked #2.

Later yesterday afternoon we walked down Newbury Street and popped into Mary Jo Cole's Knit and Needlepoint Store. This is a very nice needlepoint store that seems to have recently added a knitting section to capitalize on the recent popularity. The employees were nice, but more interested in the reality TV program they were watching than in helping us. Rank #5 of 5.

We continued down Newbury Street and popped into Newbury Yarns. Very nice small store. The employee was very helpful, though not familiar with all of the stock. They had a wonderful selection of Mountain Colors, and a bit of Koigu, Lorna's Laces and Trekking. They also had a large overall selection of the "standard" lines. One ball of sock yarn had to come home with me. It is very pastel-y, hard to photograph in bad hotel room lighting. Rank: #3 of 5.

Today I headed out alone to two stores - the first was A Good Yarn in Brookline Village. GREAT STORE! Small, but great selection, super helpful and friendly. I restrained myself to just one ball of sock yarn, though it was terribly difficult! A lovely young lady helped me, and I thought she looked familiar, but I didn't put it together until tonight - It was Johanna! Hi Johanna! Rank: #1 of 5.

I also went to Circles way out on the orange line. I was a little disappointed. The employee, while nice, wasn't terribly helpful and followed me around the whole time I was in there. Perhaps they have a theft problem! They didn't have too much variety and I was pooped after traveling all the way out there and back. Rank #4 of 5.

I wish I had another chance to go back to A Good Yarn. One of the best yarn stores I've been to, if not the best as far as the combo of selection and helpfulness/friendliness. Go there if you can only get to one yarn store in Boston!

We're off to Webs tomorrow - more excitement then!

Even more

Yes, there is more red and pink in my house, I'm sure The Husband is embarassed by all this "girly" colored stuff, but c'est la vie.






Mom and I had a good day wandering around Boston - we saw the Boston Ballet perform and had dinner at Legal Sea Food - a good day! We plan to hit Windsor Button in the morning and a few other stores Tuesday. I have been knitting - hopefully pictures tomorrow.

I like pink

Just a little bit. The Husband likes to mock my like of pink. It's funny, a few years ago right before I bought my first pink t-shirt, I wasn't sure if I should buy something so "girly." I wore a lot of dark colors in high school (my parents used to call me Jenny Cash) and continued to wear much of the same in college. I did lighten up the wardrobe a bit later in college, but still no pink. I think I've gotten over it.




This is just a small fraction of the pink items in my house.

And because I HAVE been knitting this week:

These are all the pieces of Ribby minus one sleeve. I cast on for the second sleeve yesterday morning in the orthodontist's office, but sadly, it stayed at home today. I decided that I didn't want to drag the first sleeve with me, and I would need to in order for my obsessive-compulsive self to be satisified with it being the correct length. So, when I get back next week I'll finish it up, have a blocking party and seam it up. Then I'll sit around and try to find a zipper to match - I'm thinking I'll have to order one, anyone have any experience ordering zippers online? I've heard of zipperstop, but have no idea how long that will take. Of course, it was 83 yesterday - too hot for sweaters soon. Oh, and go see Chris' finished Ribby - it looks great!

Oh, and Jillian did my research for me - it turns out NOW really did say that we shouldn't be knitting. Glad I don't have any extra cash to give them. I can't believe they are that out of touch with today's women. Maybe they need to hear from us.

Hoping to think pink soon....

A title I know I've used before, but it fits today.

I had planned this lovely pink post, but it was delayed by the unfortunate circumstances of the past few days, and now blogger won't let me upload pictures. Consider this an appetizer.

Pink is one of my favorite colors. If this is not obvious by my knitting, I'm not sure if anything can convince you!

There is much much more pink to come. I shall share the rest in bits and pieces over the next few days. I also found this great info on Wikipedia. Very interesting!

I've got head to bed now, I think everything is packed - yes the knitting is packed! I loved Wendy's post about leaving your stash behind. I totally get it. I think y'all do too!

Finally, this is what I heard from Yahoo today:
Hello,

Thank you for providing us with this update. We have verified that the
allegedly infringing
material appears to be removed from your Group FWKnits. As such, no
further
action will be taken against your Group FWKnits due to this report.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.


I have to say that I am impressed with Yahoo - it looks like they may be taking us seriously, and not SFSE - I love the "allegedly" in their note! I will keep the focus of the group on both Yahoo and the FWKnits blog to keep everyone informed. Thanks for all your words of support - I really appreciate them! And to anonymous who commented yesterday that "I am sorry to hear of your troubles seeing that we went through it also. You just have to change your name and remove the terms stitch "&" or "and" or "N" from your site and its description.
Honestly thought, this is the law they are following. NOW recently issued a statement on why women should not be taking up knitting and focusing on politics in the next election. I am sure it is because of stuff like this."

First, I shouldn't have to remove a word that is an accurate description of what my group does. Second, shouldn't I remove the word bitch too? Or are you afraid to type it? Thirdly, they are only following the law if we are on infringing upon their trademark. They DO NOT have a trademark on the words "Stitch and/&/n Bitch."

And finally, if NOW really is saying that, remind me to never give them any money. I can chew gum and walk, I can rub my stomach and pat my head, I think I can knit and discuss politics. Honestly. What a load of crap.

I promise ACTUAL KNITTING CONTENT tomorrow, providing I can find an internet connection. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Get your gloves on

Here's where we stand today.
From Yahoo:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to us. Sew Fast/Sew Easy, Inc., has notified
Yahoo! that the Group FWKnits has posted material which infringes
trademarks proprietary to Sew Fast/Sew Easy, Inc. Sew Fast/Sew Easy,
Inc., has further notified Yahoo! that Group FWKnits is not authorized
to use the "Stitch N' Bitch" mark on the front page.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, you may contact Sew
Fast/Sew Easy, Inc., directly at:

Email: info@sewfastseweasy.com
Phone: (212) 268-4321

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Regards,

Copyright Agent, Yahoo! Inc.
copyright@yahoo-inc.com
****************************
c/o Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

My response:
Our group does not use the words "Stitch N' Bitch" on the front page. The only place the words "Stich & Bitch" appear is on our calendar - only viewable by members and NOT under their trademark. As I previously noted, they only hold a trademark for the words "Stitch & Bitch Cafe," and you cannot say that you have a trademark on part of a phrase you have trademarked.
For example, McDonald's holds a trademark on the term "I'm lovin' it." They cannot attack my group were we to use the words "lovin' it."
Additionally, as I noted, they have an application to trademark the words Stitch & Bitch PENDING. They cannot stop people from using those words until the trademark application has been approved. AND, when and if it is approved, they can only stop people from using that EXACT combination of words, not any derivation of - ie: stitch n' bitch.

Regardless, we've changed the name of our group meetings on the calendar. I still expect that you will shut us down without further investigation of this claim. Please prove me wrong. Otherwise, my service with Yahoo will most likely end. And I will encourage others to end their service.


From So Fast So Sleazy:
Due to trademark infringement, your group has been removed because of content and graphics on your site. We request that you remove the term Stitch & Bitch from your website to avoid �confusion� with our Stitch & Bitch Caf�. We will continue to police our mark.

In order to preserve your group and communication with others, we strongly urge you to use our Stitch and Bitch Caf� under the classification of Stitch and Bitch Groups. If you do this, you will be able to build, expand and communicate with other sewing, knitting, and crochet groups. This is a free service. You will not be charged to use it. However, if you make any derogatory comments or any malicious slams you will be banned and your email and/or your IP address will be blocked.


If you had a trademark, you would do the same. We have noticed that people are doing this now. If for any reason you feel that your site does not fit within these parameters, please respond as soon as possible. We appreciate your cooperation.

visit us at www.sewfastseweasy.com and buy the best beginner sewing book, "Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew" by Elissa Meyrich, sewing patterns, Stitch & BitchTM sewing and knitting products, and classes.

My response:
What content and graphics? Because we use the term "Stitch & Bitch" on our calendar, which is viewable only to members you think that infringes? You DO NOT hold a trademark on those words. You hold a trademark on the words "Stitch & Bitch CAFE." You cannot police words that are in the public domain. I understand that you have a trademark application PENDING for that term, but UNTIL THAT TRADEMARK IS GRANTED YOU CANNOT STOP OTHERS FROM USING THAT TERM. If you could, Debbie Stoller would not be allowed to sell her books.

Additionally, I'd like to note that you couldn't pay me to list my group on your free website where you feel free to block users and IP addresses at will if they disagree with your company. Way to be inclusive.

When I was attempting to explain to my 7 year old why I was upset last night upon this news of my imminent group shut down, my husband compared it to Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight during the civil rights movement. While I realize that this is not anywhere near the same scale as his work, I do want to try to stop tyranny and injustice in ANY form.

We've changed the name of our group meeting on our Yahoo group. However, I'm certain that you will still shut us down. When that happens, you can rest assured that you will be innundated with mail, both electronic and paper. I'm happy to spend the time and money attacking a group that feels free to attack non-profit sewing circles.

I wonder if Random House will start attacking book groups that advertise that they read their titles. Hmmmmmmmm.

And what my mom sent to them today:
Guess this isn't a free country anymore. No freedom of speech. better quit saying stitch n bitch to my friends before i GET ARRESTED.

Why don't you mind your BUSINESS while you have one, because you are intentionally alienating your BEST POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS. obviously, your brain power is indicative of why most proprietorships GO BANKRUPT. get off the bloggers cases. what is your problem.

Sincerely, I hope Debbie Stoller cleans you out. you don't deserve to participate in american capitalism. go back under your rock. I don't know her, but I've read her books. She has a brain.

I know y'all'd like more excitement but I have a killer headache and I'm leaving town in about 30 hours and I have not packed a sock, knitted or in-progress. I'm starting to panic.

I'll let you know if our group is still alive tomorrow. And I'm glad that it's not just us, as bad as that sounds. Thanks for all your well-wishes!

Oh, and for Traci Sue - the timeline is here.

Grumpy

I had a wonderful post planned today, full of pink and red goodness, lots of pictures, etc. And then I got home from school and checked my email.

RE: Fwknits

Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc. has notified Yahoo! Inc. ("Yahoo!") that service and/or trademark(s) proprietary to Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc. were used in connection with the

Yahoo!® Group Fwknits. Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc. has further notified Yahoo! that the Fwknits group is not authorized to use the mark(s) in question at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fwknits

Yahoo! respects the rights of both its users and the owners and rights holders of intellectual property. Accordingly, Yahoo! intends to expeditiously remove or disable access to the mark(s) in question. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT UNLESS THE MARK(S) IN QUESTION ARE REMOVED FROM THE GROUP AND GROUP TITLE, OR ACCESS TO THE MARK(S) IN THE GROUP AND GROUP TITLE ARE DISABLED, WITHIN FORTY-EIGHT (48) HOURS, YAHOO! INTENDS TO DISABLE ACCESS TO YOUR GROUP.

In order to change your Yahoo! Group Title, please follow the instructions below:
1. In the control panel on the left side, click on the Management link.
2. Under the Group Settings, click the Description & Appearance link.
3. Under the Description heading, click edit to update the Title.
4. Click the Save Changes button when you are done.

Through your participation in Yahoo!® Groups you agree to abide by the Yahoo! Terms of Service, as well as any additional Terms of Service applicable to you. The current Yahoo! Terms of Service may be reviewed at: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms. Pursuant to Section 6 of the Terms of Service, Member Conduct, the use of Yahoo!® services to "upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights ("Rights") of any party" is prohibited.

As you know, Yahoo! may terminate any and/or all services and accounts without notice. This notice is provided to you as a courtesy. Without waiving or limiting any rights or remedies Yahoo! has or may have, as the listed owner of the Fwknits group you are hereby advised that our receipt of another notification of infringement alleging the infringement of another party's intellectual property in connection with the Fwknits group may result in not only the suspension of the Fwknits group, but the termination of all of your Yahoo! services as well as the deactivation of your Yahoo! ID.

If you believe that the Fwknits group was designated by Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc. by mistake or misidentification, or if you believe that the group has not infringed upon Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc.'s service or trademark rights, you may contact Sew Fast/Sew Easy Inc. directly at:

Address: Sew Fast/Sew Easy, Inc
237 West 35th Street, Suite 603
New York, NY 10001

Phone: (212) 268-4321
Email: info@sewfastseweasy.com
Fax: (212) 268-4329

We wish to thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

Regards,

Copyright Agent, Yahoo! Inc.
copyright@yahoo-inc.com

I'm sure this looks familiar to many of you. I guess I should be grateful that they at least notified me before shutting down the group, unlike last time.

I am having quite a head-scratcher though - what exactly infringes on their trademark here? Fort Worth Knits is the name of our group and the words stitch and bitch don't appear in the description either, unlike the other 183 groups still in existence on Yahoo that do. Why aren't they shut down?

I have a sneaky feeling, and I hope this is my overactive imagination at work. I checked my stats yesterday (I only check them about once a week) and saw that I got a hit from someone googling "Ms. Stole-it." (If you missed it, here is that post.) Then today I get this shut down message? Coindence? Isn't it nice that that post also links to our yahoo group? Hmmmm, did they look for people who were against them and now are personally attacking them? Because I know I might be all Conspiracy Theory on you, but seriously! All this happening in 24 hours? All these other yahoo groups being left alone? And our group having no mention of the words stitch or bitch anywhere on it?

I'm more than a bit pissed off and I let Yahoo know it:

To whom it may concern.
I'd like to know exactly what trademark I am infringing upon with my group titled Fort Worth Knits. Last I checked, no one could trademark any of these words, and they are not trademarked in this combination.

This will mark the second time this company has shut down my group. The name of our original group was SNBFW. No mention of anything they had trademarked. They have an application to trademark the term "Stitch and Bitch" but no trademark has been granted.

I will most likely be ending my service with Yahoo if/when my second group is shut down. This is harassment and I can find another provider for this free service. I will also be asking all of my friends, family and local craft community to boycott both the group attacking my 8 member knitting group and Yahoo for not following through with researching this claim.

A reply to this letter is appreciated.

I also sent basically the same letter to SFSE with this addition:

I am uncertain as to why you would alienate the very community you are trying to encourage to use your services. I am also concerned that only certain groups are being targeted, for if you look on yahoo, there are 183 groups that come up when you search those two words that you seem to think you own a trademark for.

Gee, I hope my 8 member knitting group doesn't cause people to do whatever it is SFSE is afraid they'll do! Wouldn't you be worried about the 1,381 member NYC group?

And I guess it really makes me mad because almost no one is coming to S&B night anymore, and I'm sure it's because the group disappeared and they can't find the new group, and I don't have anyone's old info as I wasn't notified of the previous shut down. Whew. Please come back! We're still stitching and bitching! Oh, and I have saved all my current member's info - won't get caught with my pants down again!

I moved us out of Yahoo to blogger. I'm not wild about the change, but I haven't heard (yet) of a blogger blog being shut down. Set your watches.....

So, short story long, we're here now. C'mon down!

More cheery goodness tomorrow, I hope!

ETA: Apparently they are going after any "snb" group too - but still, why us!?

Odds and Ends

I've been working on things in bits and pieces the past few days and I have some small progress to show you.

Yesterday, while I had the sewing machine out, and after the skirt debacle (and I still haven't decided what to do yet), I spied the bags Lauren sent me. I hadn't sewn in the lining on the Vogue bag or the handles on Suki yet, so I grabbed them up and got busy.




I'm so excited to have these "finished!" Suki is sitting next to me holding yarn for WIPs. And the Vogue bag will be going with me for the next few days (until I get the urge to switch bags!) to school. Thanks again Lauren!


Tonight I finished one of the fronts for Ribby. Here she is being modeled by my legs.

I could have cranked this out all last night, but I got bit by the cleaning bug and spent two hours cleaning my house. Really cleaning. Picking up every pile and finding a home for it. Toilets. Tables. And I'm not a cleaner. I mean, we don't live in filth or anything, but some dirt on the floor, some dust on the TV, some (OK, more than some) piles on the tables, I can live with that.

I'm hoping to crank out front #2 tomorrow night. I'm very upset that I can't find a suitable zipper - if I worked exclusively on this for the next few days I might have it done in time to wear in Boston. But I can't find a zipper anywhere close to the right color. Perhaps I'll seam it up and wear it sans zipper. We'll see.

And finally, before we head off to dreamland, I was gifted! We kept Jen's puppies this weekend, and she brought us prezzies!

They found two yarn stores in tiny towns in Colorado, and one of the store owners raises her own alpacas and sells yarn she spins from them! One of her friends dyes it too - how cool is it to have completely "homemade" yarn?! Could make me want to take up spinning! It's worsted weight, 250 yards - what to make with it? Something special, but I'm really not in the market for another hat. Perhaps I'll have to see if the library has One Skein in yet.....