Page 468 – Bonne Marie Burns : Designer : Portland : Oregon

December 4, 2004

Saturday, December 4, 2004

ChicKnits New Threads Weekend Edition
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It is with great excitement, I present to you,
this ravishing RIBBY CARDI!!!

This wonderful sweater was knit by Teresa (from One More Row & Another Latte) from Cascade 220, size 38/39, 6 skeins of beautiful #2401 Burgundy…

Several months ago, I asked for help test knitting the Ribby and the marvelous Teresa stepped up for what I hope she will remember as a FUN HOUSE RIDE! (YEAH! It was kinda scary, but thrilling all the same…)

To Quote Ms. Teresa’s Motto: “In her magic world a knitted garment is not just an article of clothing. It is an organic growth compounded of warmth, love and fun. It’s also intellectually stimulating.” This project tasked this IDEAL to the MAX and I can only say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Teresa!

From beginning to end, Teresa’s insight, patience and skill helped me hurdle the process. The Ribby is a deceptively simple looking garment, but has several subtle things going on. The ribbing change-ups, the proportions, the idea of stretch and fit all gave me fits! Teresa took the Beta version and helped me through a multitude of changes – I think you could say the final is actually a Zeta version :) – and it is with eternal gratitude that I TIP MY NEEDLES towards OHIO; sip some coffee in your HONOR and SHOut into the day: “I am not worthy!”

RIBBY oN!!!

December 2, 2004

Thursday, December 2, 2004

Keep the Dream ALIVE!!!

In a town with an almost double fisted number of Sports Franchises, it’s pretty painful to budget your Sports Wardrobe $$$$$’s…

The Solution: GROW Your OWN!

Here is my entry in the gratuitous Team Logo Sweepstakes,
honoring, but of course, da Cubs.

I can’t go to the 2005 Cubs Convention, happening on January 21-23, 2005 because it is already SOLD OUT! I did get to shoot it last year and noticed LOTS of Home Grown goodies on Sports Heads & Bodies…

My Favorite was the Baby Cub! This is the one where the baby is on his back with all four feet in the air and he looks like he’s being tickled. (To me…)

I am too lame to attempt this in duplicate stitch or embroidery and the fans who were wearing it told me they had it made by a badge company. Oh, how I begged! Now the guy I was begging from would’ve had to rip it off his shirt because it was securely sewn on, but did that slow me down?! Ahem, I am what I am…

When I was on my Honeymoon in Cancun, my hubbie and I were snacking in a cantina in the non-tourist side of town. We’d taken a bus away from the tourist/resort area and went exploring. The Bus Driver tried to discourage us after we reached a certain point, but we were determined to see the real deal. He was really thinkin’ it was very dangerous and we’d get our tourist selfs in a world of hurt if we went off the beaten path.

But we ignored him and wandered around to our hearts content, finaly stopping in an open front restaurant to get some tacos. What should we hear, in the quiet of the afternoon, but the dulcet tones of one Harry Caray, coming from an interior bar. So we dragged our Coronas and food back there and had a rousing good time with our favorite team – how safe is that? The only FOUL thing that happened later was a bad case of Montezuma’s Revenge! (The Bus Driver was RIGHT after all…)

TO try and get some of that MAGIC back, out comes the blue yarn and on goes a bucket. Out comes the Magic Cord Machine, got with a half-off coupon from, I think Michaels a couple of years ago. I couldn’t get it to work back then so I’ve been giving it a time-out in a cabinet in hopes it would come to it’s senses. In the meantime, I’ve lost the manual but found it here online (it’s now called the Cool Corder).

It seems in my earlier attempts I was using yarn that was too heavy for the little Magic Cord. This time I came to my senses and used sock yarn for the deed…

VOILA!

Instant Gratification with no Pocketbook Regret!

December 1, 2004

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

Missy Right Front meets Mr. Left Front

It appears everything I’m making lately is in the Red Zone – a dark burgundy cabled cardi; a cordovan Ribby; a scarlet poncho – WHO has the Christmas Spirit over here in ChicLand? FALAh lala la…

I’ve heard that we use Red & Green at Christmas because the English used to “deck the halls” with boughs of holly – a dark green glossy leafed plant with RED berries. OR, that we use so much RED because of the Coca Cola ads from around the 40’s or thereabouts.

I can’t wear true RED but am quite happy to wear any of her sister colors. I can’t wait to get this burgundy number done – the weather has turned frosty and we even got a few inches of snow last night. I wore my black down vest to work yesterday with a turtleneck and heavy grey wool cardi and it was just right when sealed off with a wool cap and gloves. The Shazam would be even better – it is dense and I’ll bet, almost windproof.

Yesterday, it poured and poured icy rain before it snowed. I threw on a rain Parka (what else?!!!) over the whole thing to work outside and even when I was soaked, I was still warm. While waiting 20 minutes for the #66, I was standing in the rainy wind, dreaming I was on a boat deck somewhere on the North Seas, and realized, YES, it could be done – you could be wet and still untroubled. FREEDOM! WHew… Pass me the Fish & CHips matey…

Yeah, LoTech rules but HiTech amuses!

I’ve been carrying my notes for Shazam around on a ripped piece of paper – just general laziness and chronic lateness. When I got home last night, I pulled out my Palm Pilot and resurrected and searched its apps and VOILA! I found I had a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader on it! My little buddy could carry my notes in style:

Now I’ve got the Bucket Hat right when I need it!

Here’s the Shazam Pattern – no more scrambling in the bag for soggy paper…

Adobe has it for you HERE…

It’s a free download. Then, after you install it to your big computer, you just drag and drop all your files onto it’s icon and it makes a list that will transfer the next time you HotSync.

OK – Geeks Who’ve been Doing This for Years – MOCK ME Now!!! :)