Or not. Usually, it boils down to customer service, at which my provider does not excel! Last week, I noticed that Virgin Mobile had charged me $20 three times, and I thought to myself, “well, this isn’t quite right”. I checked my account at the library and discovered that I was paying by the message, and honey, with no internet at home, I am all about the texts! I’d burned through about 40 bucks worth at ten cents per in 8 days, except that I had purchased a messaging pack. Or so I thought. Apparently, it didn’t go through, and the website says only press the button once, so I pressed it….once.

So, I called them. I wanted credit for all those texts! Since I thought I bought the messaging pack, and I followed the instructions online, I thought that it would be fair if they reversed the individual charges and just billed me for the pack I thought I had purchased. Let me tell you, it took 2 representatives and over an hour of my time to gain any ground, and even then, they only gave me one month of free unlimited texts. If I had one of those unlocked cell phones, I would so be on my parent’s plan now, because I totally threatened promised to leave them if they did not make this right.

So I am texting my little heart out, and so are all my kids. And I am still so very in love with the Kyocera Wildcard I bought last year. Too bad it only works with VM, because I cannot give up my qwerty keyboard.

So, when I got ready to review this book, my first thought was…what exactly is an It Girl? Can I be one? Do I know one? Do I know a someone who isn’t an It Girl, but could be? Well, according to the cover, the designs are for the young and fabulous. Hmm, well. I’m not old yet, and I like to think I’m fabulous, so let’s see what’s in here! Oh, one more thing. The It Girl, Phoenix Bess? The one who write the book? She’s 16, ya’ll. Sixteen. When I was 16, I was still writing bad poetry and being mooney. Just sayin’. And I certainly didn’t have anything nearly as cool as It Girl Knits up my teen-aged sleeve.

Now then, the patterns. There is actually cool stuff in here that I would make and wear! There’s a handkerchief hem skirt in bamboo, and a short jacket. I’d put these two pieces together with a stretchy, skinny tee-shirt in 2 beats. I’m thinking a bright solid skirt, a white tee, and a variegated jacket that would pick up the skirt color.

There are several bottom patterns in here, too: pants, capris, leggings and shorts, all customizable in length, and with short row bums. If you’ve seen one of my soakers or bought my pattern, you know I am all about the short row bum! Now I have to wonder if I still have the legs for knitted pants!

Seriously, I liked most of the patterns in this book, though I would not wear all of them. I’d wear several as written, and there are a few more I’d wear if I altered them just a bit to cover more skin. But that’s just age and wisdom talking; part of looking great at any age is knowing which parts of you it might be better to keep hidden. I’m pretty sure that any teen girl on your knitting list would like most anything out of this book, and ………….. hey, she just took my book! (j/k)

Good morning boys and girls! It sure is nice to see you today. I’m posting from Mama’s again, so I can upload pics to show you what I have been working on! I remembered the old lesson plans that I need to make new lesson plans. I remembered the phone numbers of the people I need to call. I remembered to take pictures of all my projects AND to bring the camera. I even remembered to bring the sweater I knew she would want to see. Wanna a guess what I forgot? The Linksys router. I’m planning to set it up here so I can use my machine here, when I get it back. Then I can do wild and crazy stuff like use Windows Live Writer to make blog posts, and upload them quickly once I have wi-fi. Exciting times, right? Let’s get to the crafting, shall we?

This week, I have done some serious stitching, among other things. I took pictures of all my in progress stuff to show you. And also this:

I know Ang. is anxious to see it 😉 This is the Laura colorway that I custom dyed for her.

This is one finished sock. It needs a mate.

Stuntman’s Wallaby. I think I might have shown it to you recently.

Hocks! Isn’t is gorgeous? I am always so surprised when I see the whole thing in a picture. Since I work on one square at a time, that’s what I “see”, ykwim?

And here is a sweater I started Tuesday afternoon. It’s a size 4-ish, and I took the picture last night. I’ve got half of the first sleeve finished now. It’s a custom order. Oh, I guess I neglected to mention that I am doing custom knitting again, huh? Yeah, that too.

Now, I shown and told, so it’s your turn.

Take a picture of your current project, whatever that happens to be. Or maybe one you recently finished. Or the materials for the one you are about to start. Let’s say materials for a project in whatever state it happens to be in at the time you snap it. On Friday, post the picture and tell us about your project. What you did, or what you are going to do. How much you are enjoying it, or hating it. You know–show and tell.

Just copy & paste the code below the graphic and get crafty with me!

<a href=”http://www.cassknits.com/category/online-craft-club/”><img src=”http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff136/cassknits/online-craft-club-sidebar-sized.jpg” alt=”” /></a>

Be sure to come back and leave a comment so we know where to find you!

[tags]Online Craft Club[/tags]

Are you one of those moms who thinks about making Gingerbread houses and then makes regualr cookies instead, because it just looks so difficult? I am. I’ve even toyed with the idea of making one with graham crackers, just so I can say I’ve done it, ykwim? But I still haven’t done it. Nope, nope, nope. Until this year. THIS YEAR, I am in charge of making a Ginger Bread Hose with my extended family. *Gulp* It’s not just my kids, this time– it’s the cousins’ kids, too. I’m a wee bit nervous, but… I’m also the little crafter that could, right? I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, and here’s why:

That’s right, ya’ll. Muhahahahahahah! I have re-in-force-ments! I am ready. The houses in this book are based on actual houses! There is an adobe Pueblo house, a Cape Cod and several others. There are templates and blueprints and very detailed instructions. And pictures, lots of pictures and diagrams. There’s even an Antebellum Plantation in here! Yes, seriously!

Now, the creation and decoration of these houses take a while. The authors suggest up to a week from shopping to finished, unless you want to kick your family out while you do it. Since that’s not possible for me, I’ll probably tone it down quite a bit. I don’t want the younger kids to get frustrated (or the older ones to feel like they have to do things perfectly), but I do want the fun to last more than 30 minutes, and for there to be enough to do so that everyone who wants to help can do so.. The Cape Cod looks like it would make a great “first house”, and there will still be plenty of small pieces to go around. And also, the roof, it is made of mostly black licorice. Black licorice is my favorite.

However, if you have the time and inclination, some of these houses are just amazing It’s hard to believe from the pictures that they are made of gingerbread. See that house on the cover? That’s the Victorian Farmhouse. There’s also a Carpenter Gothic, and made from sugar and spice, that might be worth kicking the fam out for, at least long enough for them to go caroling.

My isolation continues. Well, if one can consider only using the internet away from home and relying on text messages to communicate with her bff isolation, I suppose. I find myself watching more tv now that I have 4,976 fewer channels to choose from, and also more movies with the kids.

And also, knitting. Hocks is continuing to grow, and I hope to share a picture of it for craft club on Friday. My mind is spinning with ideas for what to knit next. I do have a custom piece to knit as soon as I can get to town for the yarn. Yeah, can you believe that someone wants something made in a color I don’t already have? I mean, how crazy is that?

I want to thank you for your patience here as I try to develop a good off-line blogging routine. It will get easier when I have my system back, since I can write on it and just upload when I have internet access. Too bad I didn’t invest in a system with plenty of memory. I’ve been eyeballing machines wuth 320 GB hard drives as I walk by them. Heh. Maybe next decade. I’m liable to leave the internet off at home for quite a while as I work on catching other stuff up, so I’m really getting better at focusing when I do get online. Of course, the kids still need it for school, so this translates into pretty much daily trips to the library. We are all heart-broken. Not.

ok, so a week or two ago, I had decided that I was never going to let jewelry for sale slide across this front page again. In fact, I was planning to move everything not yarn related over to etsy, and just talk about the craft of beading in general. However, things change. Sometimes, they change pretty drastically, and so, tada– beaded things right on the front page. I’m needing to raise some funds, and by need to raise some funds, I mean now, today, yesterday would have been ever so much better, k thanks. So, I have made these stitch markers, and I would really appreciate it if you’d take a look. At least they are fiber related, right? I’m trying to keep the prices low, because I know times are tight all over, and I haven’t even checked to see what the going rate is on other sites. Christmas is coming, and maybe you have a knitter on your list. Or maybe you are involved in a holiday swap. Or, whatever. Maybe you want them for you. I’m ok with that.

You can click these pictures to embiggen. I’ll ship the markers first class in a padded envelope, and shipping is included in the price. If you try to buy something that is sold out, I have told paypal to send you back to the jewelry page. I’m just letting you know, because I hate getting redirected myself without knowing why. I’ll be editing the page myself as often as I can.

These markers are made with wire wrapped beads. They will fit up to a size 11 needles. They are $2 each, and I have 28 of them. Just type how many you’d like in the cart, and it will do the math for you.

These markers are made for crocheters. I believe in spreading the fun! The lobster claw closure on these allows you to attach them right to the yarn. A great option for keeping track of your rows! This set is $10 for the five markers.

More crochet markers, this time in purple. There are six in this set, and the price is $12.

This set of six stitch markers will fit up to a size 9 needle. I think these are so cute, but then again, you know I have that pink fetish thing going on, right? The set is $12.

I have eight of these wrapped bead makers that will fit up to a size 9 needle. They are $2 each.

These four markers will fit up to a size 13 needle. The flowers remind me of spring, and so I chose bright colored ebeads to accent the main bead. The set is $10.

This set of five markers will fit up to a 10.5 needle. The set is $12.50.

I just love the words on these markers: Dream, Hope, Peace, Believe and Love. Oh, I guess you can read that. But I did want to type it, so I did 😉 They will fit up to a size 9 needle, and the set is $12.

So, what if you don’t see just what you want? Well, I do plan to make more stitch markers, but I can also do a custom order for you. You can reserve your slot for $10. It may take me a day to get back to you, so please be patient. You can also email me your specifics by clicking the button under my picture in the sidebar OR, using the notes at paypal.

When I had my meetup this past weekend, TripletMom showed me her stitch markers. have you ever just looked at something and said, “oh, duh!”? I know you have, and that is exactly what I did. Because, folks, it never occurred to me to make stitch markers. No, not even as I sat knitting at the craft fair.

So, I have the tools, I have the findings, I have the beads. And soon, I will have stitch markers, too! I’ll show you when I get back online. Of course, my house also needs cleaning, and I do have that reading pile to tackle, but…. you know any time I can think of an excuse to sit and create, that’s what I am going to do. I can’t help it. Whether the medium is words or yarn or beads or musics, it is all creating to me. You know that point in labor when you just have to push, you can’t make yourself not do it anymore? That’s where I am creatively right now.

I can’t decide if that’s a good place or a bad place to be.

Ok, this really is my last post before my unwanted break. Other people may google hotels las vegas to start their off time, but I am scurrying to get the stuff that absolutely-has-to-be-done finished instead. I want to be the “Queen of the Empty Inbox” once again, and I have fallen way behind in that. And several other things as well, LOL!

Ahem. This book is subtitled “30 Designs for Sumptuous Knitting”. After double checking that this particular book was really for me, since I am about as far from what I presume to be sumptuous living as it is possible to get and still live, I cracked it open. And inside, I discovered lots of stuff that even plainer Janes like me can enjoy knitting and wearing. I do have to tell you that Twinkle loves her some chunky knits. It is her signature. Now, you know me, and you know I am just not that in to chunky. It’s ok now and again, but not for my every day, all the time knitting. Nonetheless, I have teenage daughters who knit/might knit if they could find cool projects to make, and ya’ll, Twinkle’s Town and Country Knits fits the bill easily.

And after all that, I did find something I’d like to make. It’s the BookBrowser’s Sweater. Three guesses what color it is! And also, maybe the Stockholm Sweater, even though it’s not that same color 😉 All jests aside, this book is full of trendy designs that quick to knit and intricate at the same time. That’s a difficult combination to pull off, but Wenlan Chia does it, and she does it well. Again!