Finished Items
pullover for DD#1
socks for me
5 buttonhole bags
dulaan hat
altered shorts
soaker

Total: 10 items
Balls Out: 24

Not a bad month, I think.

I did indeed work on [tag]Sonnet[/tag] yesterday. I enjoyed it so much that I think I will work on it today, too. I am ready to bind off the edge for the first sleeve. I just love the [tag]svale yarn[/tag]. It’s so soft!

I think this will be a great sweater to take to Vegas, since the finer content will provide some warmth, without being overly heavy. It would not be suitable for Villas in Italy, but Vegas in November?? Definitely. I’ll need some super-cool buttons for it, and if I have enough yarn left, I may make a tee to wear under it, too.

True to what I said, I started my socks. I did not do it outside, because it was late by the time I got to knit. Here they are with the beginning 6 rows of garter, and 6 rounds of feather and fan. I have to say that it makes my hands hurt to do this. It may be that the needles are too short, so I’ll be transferring them to longer ones when I work on them again. But I may pick up Sonnet today, just to give my hands a rest.

For a few days, while I was getting used to being free of network cables, I tended to move into the living room and knit, after I was through computing. Now I find I am sitting here at the desk again. I’m not quite sure why, but I do find that I knit much slower here. Rather, I knit less, because I get distracted by the surfing possibilities. I guess I’m not as good at multi-tasking as I used to be.

And then, after all that knitting, I decided I’d had enough of pink, yellow and green and that it was time to re-pack my knitting basket. The new Project Spectrum colors are black, red and metallics, so I have gathered those up. You’ll see several sock yarns here that contain those colors, and I have just remembered that I could also pull the solid red and the black/white to make myself that pair of socks I’ve been planning for a couple of years, too: The ones like I made my sock pal forever ago. There is also a ball in there to represent finishing the sweater for DS#2 and one for my Sonnet. Finally there is a ball of black feathery stuff to make DD#2 a hat.

So, fresh yarn, fresh ideas, fresh air–I may sit outside and knit this afternoon, lack of teak outdoor furniture not withstanding. I’m thinking the first thing I want to do is a pair of feather and fan socks from that black/brown/white you see in the middle, but you know as well as I do that I won’t make up my mind until I am actually ready to knit.

I know that’s shocking, but it’s true. I’ve completed three more small items.
Possibly the world’s ugliest hat, vying with one I made last year. But being crocheted from doubled yarn, it may also be the world’s warmest, so I guess that evens things out. It’s going in the Dulaan box.

I extended the ribbing on these shorts, so they can be used again.

And I made this soaker. The waistband and leg cuffs are washable wool, and I am actually intending to felt this just a bit, so it will be a great night-time soaker. It’s worth noting that DD#4 HAD to wear it before I put the cuffs on it. let me just say that it’s much more pleasant to knit on a fresh, unworn soaker than to grab on that’s been used overnight and put cuffs on it while it’s damp. Just sayin’

[tags]ugly hat, Dulaan, soaker[/tags]

There’s something I want to have, and in order to win it, I need to convince the folks who are giving it away that I deserve it. The thing I want is the new Police cd, and I think my story will be pretty compelling.

Back in the day, when the Police were all the rage, I was in high school. I went skating every weekend, and man, I knew all their songs. I’d be spinning, and shuffling and singing. It was Synchronicity. Law, I was the hottest thing on 8 wheels. Roxanne had nothing on me. Wheels, because I live here in coastal North Carolina, and the concept of ICE skating as entertainment was totally foreign to this area way back then. Every Breath You Take has that slight salt tang, and ice just doesn’t fair too well here.

Fast forward to today: I am held hostage in a house with either Kelly Clarkson or Kenny Chesney constantly coming from one set of speakers or another. Occasionally, I get to listen to both at once, and let me tell ya, that will totally put Voices Inside My Head and I am often Driven to Tears. I want that Police cd so that I can turn the tables, create a little musical Fallout of my own. Muhahahahahah. I could be the one blasting my tunes and annoying the rest of the family. And that would make me very happy. Even yarn ho’s deserve a bit of happiness right?

The fact is that there is a real Hole in My Life without this cd set, and now that The Police are going on a new worldwide tour, I’m telling folks Don’t Stand So Close to Me, because you might get hit while I’m dancing to….

Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can’t Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara

So, did you notice blogging had been pretty light the past couple of days? I’ve been knitting at warp speed, and have made 5 buttonhole bags since Wednesday. These were made from assorted wools (d’uh), and I had a lot of fun with them. I used triple strand for all but the reddish one, and it was doubled, because the yarn was thicker. I used size 17 needles on all of them.

They belong to: (back row) DD#3, DD#2, MEMEME (front row)Pastor’s Wife, DD#3′ friend

Here are a couple of before and after pics of the camo bag, just to show the change that felting brings. This just always amazes me, LOL!

I’ve made no secret that I get paid to blog. One of the companies that I have had great success with is PayPerPost. There was a major rollout this week, and we finally found out what the fangenschwiddle was. We’ve been hearing that something really cool was coming, and it had been referred to with names like that, you see.

Well, I like the fangenschwiddle. I like it a lot. And that button you see to the is what makes the fangenschwiddle work. (There’s also one in my sidebar.) If you read this blog, and you’d like me to talk about you or your product, you can click that button, and ask me to do so. I’ve set the minimum fee at $20. The button makes a form pop up where you put in the details, and then I get to review your offer and accept it, reject it, or negotiate. And if I want to negotiate, you can negotiate right back. We can also ask each other questions to make sure we are perfectly clear on what’s expected.

So what makes PPP Direct (that’s the real name for the fangenschwiddle) better than the other services that offer the ability to hand pick bloggers to do your reviews? Well, a couple of things. PPP Direct is the only one that allows bloggers and advertisers to actually communicate with one another, so that both parties end up satisfied. And then there’s the money. When I charge $20 bucks through PPP Direct, you get charged $22. For that 10%, PPP acts as an escrow service. The funds are not released to me until I’ve satisfied your post requirements. You don’t have to worry that I’ll take your money and not deliver (though I would never do that), and I don’t have to worry that I’ll do the work and you won’t pay (though you would never do that). As a comparison, for me to get $20 with ReviewMe, it would cost an advertiser $40, and at Sponsored Reviews, it would be $30.77. Why would you pay more for the same review?

And what makes it better from the bloggers perspective? $20 is $20, right? Well, with PPP Direct, once you approve the post, I get paid. Immediately. No waiting, like with the competition. That makes me on happy blogger!