Miss Dottie Knits

New Website official!

2006-02-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.goodcrafternoon.com

It's up and running and even has my Olympic sweater up there for review. Check it out!

And once I get myself together, I'll put one of those redirecting code-thingies in! Yeah!

New name for blog

2006-02-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong--I adore Miss Dottie Knits! Afterall my nickname is Dottie and I knit. But does it get to the essense of my completely crafty cheeze-whiz dipped soul? I don't think so.

So, my sweetie gave me a belated Valentine's day present and bought me the following site name:

Goodcrafternoon.com.

"Good Crafternoon" is a very silly name that I call my projects when they sometimes go a bit too crafty--too zany--too glue-gun-rific. I always wanted to do a comedy sketch featuring some lady who effused her delight over puff-painted sweater and peanut butter covered pinecones.

But part of me delights in crafting gone wild--bedazzled jean jackets, potholders a plenty--they all bring a smile to my face.

So, I'm going to embrace my inner craftiness and continue to write about it at www.goodcrafternoon.com starting this weekend.

Let me know your thoughts on the name.

Blockheads

2006-02-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

Well, the Domiknitrix came over and we had a blocking party!

Here are some pictures of D. blocking a piece that will be featured in her upcoming book. What is amazing about the coat is that although it is all done in garter stitch, it is curvy and sexy and just so wearable. She has this way of reinventing pattern design through innovatative stitch combinations to create thoughtfully sophisticated and hip knit pieces.

Check out her site at www.domiknitrix.com.

She inspired me to block my Olympic Apricot. Here it is in all of it's plummy beauty. To get the pieces to fit perfectly, I laid them on top of one another. Please note that the apricot holes are even matching.

But look at that arm! Holy crap--what the hell happened? The way it is right now will make me look like I have an arm goiter. Excuse me while I go re-block the sleeves. Does anyone have any tips on how to block something properly? Obviously I'm a total dolt at it.

After I block it I hope it will dry out by end of day. I fear I might have to take a blowdryer to it to help it along, because I need to stitch it up Friday to make my Olympic deadline. Oof!

FINALLY!

2006-02-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

These blasted sleeves are done and I'm off to block the heck out of all three pieces today. I think I completely mangled the tops of the sleeves so it will take a true Christmas miracle to get these demon things to fit.

In a rather crabby mood. Just can't seem to get anything done except eat possibly everything that is not nailed down in the house, It's a complete carb overload. Tomorrow I'm going to WW if it kills me. I will not waddle down the aisle come Nov. 18th. I will embrace 6:00AM kickboxing classes and weight training. I will love salads with light dressing and Lean Cuisines. I will write the great American food journal. But today, I can't eat enough crap. And really don't care.

No pictures today, but I promise glorious ones tomorrow. For tomorrow I have a visitor--the lovely Domiknitrix (www.domiknitrix.com) and will post pics tomorrow.

Interweave Magazine

2006-02-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

I got my Interweave Knits Magazine in the mail--I always get mine at least a week after everyone else does. Why is that?

Anyway, I didn't find a single thing I wanted to knit, which is absolutely OK by me, since I have enough projects to last me through the year.

Oh, and if anyone is reading this out there, please check out Chez Plum's site (http://www.chezplum.com) One of the few things I AM planning to knit is her Isabeau shrug. Fell in love with it the moment it was first posted. Slyvie did me the HUGE honor of adding me to her blog list. Hoorah! Don't you love the name of her site? Plums are my favorite fruit and I've been wanting a tatoo of a plum for a good four years. Also http://www.figandplum.com site is dreamy too. What is it about plums?

Blocking update later today.

Torn between two lovers

2006-02-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

When will these stupid sleeves EVER be done? I watched three episodes of Rollergirls with knitting in hand. The only thing I had after this TVtime was one inch of knitting done, a sore elbow and a desire to go out and buy some roller skates.

I think roller derby would be a fitting way to start my work-out regime when I'm off this medical leave, but there is something a touch daunting about a sport that offers you a chance to simultaneously lose pounds and teeth at the same time.

But imagine how cool it would be to have Miss Conduct on your side? She is five feet a fury coming at you!

Anyway, once I finish this Apricot jacket I'm want to knit Something Red from Knit and Tonic's site. It's such a pretty cardigan, isn't it?

Would it be too tragic to knit it in a cozy brown? I need a brown sweater desperately and the lines on this one would be so cute. Something Brown? But of course that is after I finish Apricot and of course the baby sweater, which I haven't even cast on for and need to finish by Feb. 27th. Gulp!

And what was that Mary Jane cardigan?

Olympic Update

2006-02-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

OK, this will be super quick because I need to get back to knitting, since I'm determined to finish the sleeves today on this apricot jacket. And then I'll just have to block and stitch it up! Whoo hoo!

I always knit my sleeves at the same time on one circular needle to ensure that I'm making increases at the same time on both sleeves. But man, they do seem to drag on when you do it that way, but when you are finished--you are FINISHED!

I would have pictures to show, but while flying back from Miami to SF, my suitcase went missing with the back and two front pieces of the sweater in it. I'm hoping to see it later today.

BTW, I finished Yarn Harlot's book and it was wonderful. If you haven't bought it already (but I'm sure you have because everyone else in the knitting world has finished it) go buy it now.

OK, off to knit.

And once I'm finished with this I can knock out that pink baby sweater for my friend, which needs to be finished by next Sunday. Yoinks! Wish me luck!

What is your stash like?

2006-02-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Well, since I'm rocking the Knitting Olympics, I decided to read Yarn Harlot's book--which was given to my by one of my dearest friends, Rosymare. And I just finished the chapter about yarn stash. I know every knitter out there has a stash problem right? Thank you Yarn Harlot for making me feel like mine wasn't soo awful!

I used to have an extreme stash problem to the point where I had a bookcase full of yarn. But I foisted a large grocery bag of chenille and mismatched acrylic yarns onto a friend who had a passing interest in knitting. But in less than two months I still had a crap load of yarn. How does this happen?

But since my surgery I have been on this amazing organization kick, which has led to a major re-haul of my stash. So here are pictures of it:

Please note the oh-so-shabby-chic placement of the big green pitcher “carelessly” filled with knitting needles and some vintage bakelite knitting goodies given to me by my sweetie.

And yes, I bagged bundles of matching yarns for uber-organization. And even tried to organize it by color, but only got halfway. As you can see, I have truly do have a crap-load of yarn. It seems I’m attracted to red and green yarns with little shots of plum and brown and gray mixed in. And a wee bit of blue to special blue-loving friends.

It’s very interesting to look through one’s yarn stash and remember all of the projects assigned to certain yarns. Such as thing lovely chunky tweedy blue and gray yarn from Rowan that I bought for Rosymare to knit her a sweater, but realized I didn’t have enough yarn. I’m now saving it to knit her baby a sweater when she gets pregnant. Or some leftover angora mix that I will one day be transformed into that heart scarf from Knitty. Dear sweet Yarn, I promise, I will knit every last inch of you.

Oh and an update on my Apricot sweater I'm knitting for the Olympics. Well, I am very near finishing the two side panels and hope to cast on tomorrow for the sleeves. I have definitely slowed down--so naughty! But hope to pick up a few hours of airplane knitting on the sleeves. My hope is to finish it early next week. Wish me luck!

Team Dotson!

2006-02-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

It’s official—the knitting Olympics has begun and I’m off to a running start.

Since I arrived in Florida Friday, I have made my swatch and already finished the BACK of the Apricot sweater. I even surprised myself with that. But alas, I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so we'll see if I can keep the pace up. I left that eevile Mary Jane bed jacket at home in SF. Bah!

And since I'll be in Florida, I will be taking pictures, but not posting them until I get back to the Bay area late next week, so you can see my progress on the Apricot jacket.

Now if I could only figure out how to get that little button thing on my site. As you can see, I’m not good at this compooter stuff, but with the help of my sweetie, I hope I can make it better soon.

And as soon as I finish the apricot sweater, I'm off to knock out an extremely lacy baby sweater.

Elizabeth Beeton

2006-02-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

And here it is in all of its uber finery. Elizabeth Beeton.

Last year, I bought one of those quilted short jackets from Old Navy in black. And I love it. It’s perfect for SF weather and I think I’ve worn it just about every day since I bought it. But it was rather austere in it’s blackness and needed something colorful and knitted to liven it up a bit.

Enter Elizabeth Beeton.

Yes, I took those lovely frilly wristlets called Mrs. Beeton from Knitty and then made a matching frilly neck warmer/scarflet/doodah/thingy called Elizabeth by the lovely and talented Kate Gilbert. http://kategilbert.com I’m assuming everyone in knitting Bloglandia knows about Kate. I’ve been reading her blog for more than a year and have watched her go from living in France about to be married to producing one of the cutest babies in Canada.

I knit all of the items out of Rowan DK Cashsoft and Rowan Kid Silk Haze. The greens aren’t all that close in color, but I think together they made a nice tweedy fabric. And they are sooo soft. It was an absolute joy to knit with. I didn’t want it to end.

Elizabeth was a dream to create. It only took one episode of Project Runway to knock it out! So easy and yet is looks totally fancy. I did make one change—I did knit the frill near the chin using both yarns, not just the kid silk haze which is what Ms. Gilbert wrote. I love it. In face I LURVE it!

Mrs. Beeton proved to be a bit of a let down tho. I don’t know if it was my fault or what, but the ended up being a bit big and the bell edging was well, kinda floofy! Like Seinfeld’s pirate shirt. I think perhaps a bit to twee for me. And I even went out of my not to do the beading. I’m not sure. But they are so very soft and really to give me a bit of warmth.

And and er, forgive the string hanging...

Knitting Olympics

2006-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

I haven’t even finished this sweater of doom, but I’m already dreaming about my next knit—the lovely Rebecca Apricot sweater that I’ve seen made my almost every other blogger out there. I do have a bit of fear, because every person that has knit this has been like a size negative two! And I am * ahem* a touch bigger. But not for long as I begin the uber wedding diet to end all diets. In fact I call it the lifestyle change—THAT is how uber it will be.

But enough about that—let’s get back to knitting!

I’ve already bought the yarn—I’m going big on this—Rowan calmer—in a lovely blueish-plum. I think it will be the perfect thing to knit next week in Florida. Nice cool cotton in such tropical climes. Ah lovely!

OH! I know—I’ll do it for the Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Olympics!http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html How cool would that be? It is supposed to be feisty knit—something that challenges you— yeah--I could do that! Whoo hoo!

2006-02-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

So, here is a little work in progress that has been something of an irksome project. The Sweet Mary Jane bed jacket. Or as I sweetly like to call it—“Total pain in my ass.”

Actually, it’s not that bad. The four row lace is very easy, but somehow I keep mucking it up and it seems to take FOREVER to get anywhere. I’ve been knitting so fast on my other projects that this seems like I only finish about an inch a day. But then again, I am using size 6 needles with the equivalent of hairy mint dental floss, so I’m going to give myself a bit of a break.

I started knitting it with Addis Turbos and wouldn’t you know it—they kept slipping off, so I changed to bamboo ones and it seems to be making a difference. I got that tip after reading some of the feedback on that gorgeous Fig and Plum site. Man, she takes the most beautiful

And what about poor Elizabeth Beeton, you ask? Ah, a most troublesome problem occurred. I can’t find the sweet buttons I just bought to finish off the project. How awful is that? I even have the needle threaded waiting to attach the buttons. But perhaps it’s a good thing—perhaps I’m meant to find different even more glamorous buttons at Jo-Anne’s fabric later this month. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Comfort knitting

2006-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

Knitting is very comforting when you are convalescing. Cozy wool around you and a cat curled up on my lap purring away.

My cat, Minnow has been so sweet since I came back from the hospital—she’s taken to sitting on my lap, purring away as I knit. She has never done this before. Don’t get me wrong—she’s always been a lovely cat…well to me at least... So what is she hisses at almost every other person? Or uses her poops as weapons? But to me, she’s a little puffball of goodness.

Even with all of her mommy love for me, she never sat on my lap for extended periods of time. But now, she is simply content to sit on my lap sending positive kitty energy to my lady bits. My Sweetie thinks Minnow random act of kindness is a ruse to get closer to my always present glass of water so she can knock it over and drink from it. We’ll see…

Anyway, I’m working on Elizabeth Beeton—a different twist on a scarf and mitten set that I’m creating out of Rowan DK Cashsoft and kid silk haze. Holy crap, is it soft! And I thought the Karabella merino wool was spectacular. It may ruin me from ever knitting with anything else. Hmmm… Would it be bad to ditch the wedding and spend all of my money on yummy yarn like this? Probably.

Finished Object--Viennese Shrug

2006-01-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I do knit—and finish things! And I pose in such completely uncharming ways. I always think I'm posing with a rueful mockery of Twyla Tharp dance moves, but instead I just look kinda lame. And what shows off my fabulous dance moves than than my delightful nightgown. Stand back Kate Moss--heroine chic is so 1994. The millenium fashion is all about grandma chic.

But more importantly, it is proof that I do finish objects. My delight Lanz nightgown in cream does show off the back lace pattern which hooked me into making this shrug in the first place. Check out the glamour here.

Oh and even included a shoulder shot. Very dramatic, no?

I must say that this is my first shrug and I initially wanted to have it finished before I went into the hospital so I could keep myself warm without getting bogged down by all of the extra fabric of a sweater in bed.

Nice thought, eh? Well, in reality I didn’t even finish one pattern repeat before I went in, but cranked on it to finish it afterwards in less than a week. I think I’ll bring it to work and hang it on my chair, and when people ask me about it, I can spin around innocently and bat my eyes at them as I tell them I made it—truly, I did!

I knit this clever shrug with 10 balls of Karabella dark green 100 percent merino wool and it only had INCHES left of yarn by the time I knit the last stitch. I'm sure it's just riddled with boo-boos aplenty, but I’ll just blame any mistakes I find in it on the Vicodine.

But alas that’s not all—I will be posting MORE finished objects this week. A little thing I like to call Elizabeth Beeton… You’ll see. I think it’s ravishing! And right now I’m working on that Sweet Mary Jane sweater that you see the picture of below and I knit an inch on before the holidays and then completely forgot about. And that’s not all—I will stitch up those baby devil pants this week too. I know—Too. Much. Excitement. For. One. Day!

OH the shame

2006-01-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

Of not posting in more than a month. But please hear me out during that month the following stuff happened:

- traveled to East Coast and celebrated a very jam-packed Christmas with my family
- came back to 12 hour days of work
- Spent 5 days in hospital having 25 fibroids removed and weaned myself off of morphine
- Dealing with my parents who moved in to take care of me for a month during my recup period-(I'm not suppose to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds, which means I can't even pick up my own cat, Minnow!)
- And became an engaged lady

Yup! My sweetie proposed. Long story involving my addiction to push-button puppets, tide charts, PMS, and the prettiest ring ever! I'll bore you with it some other time. 36 and a bride for the first time!

But I have been knitting--nothing like being bedridden to get the knitting going! And it's not for a baby or presents for other people--nope! This is something for me! The Viennese shrug from Interweave Knits. Man, I could have used that in the blasted hospital--so freaking cold at times... I'm elongating the sleeves, which means I may need to run out and get some more yarn. Hoping not tho'.

I'm knitting it in this gorgeous dark green yumminess. Will post pictures soon--I PROMISE!

Leaving on a jet plane

2005-12-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my Sweetie took me to a well-known knitting store in Berkeley about treated me to some lovely yarn and accessories. And then took me out to dinner at this yummy restaurant where I had the most divine gnocchi--little pillows--oooh so good!

Why the little celebration? Ah, you see, I'm leaving to go back East for the holidays--baking and cooking with my Mom while my father sets up the trains in the basement as we prepare for the onslaught of grandchildren/nieces that will desend upon the house Dec. 25th. It's going to be wonderful and I can hardly wait. Christmas on Cape Cod!

And of course the big questions is--what to pack? Not clothing--knitting supplies!

So far I've packed the makings for the lovely Mary Jane sweater from Knitpicks. I think it will be perfect for my little upcoming hospital stay. But I also am bringing the devil pants to finish for my friend's little baby boy, Dashiel--isn't that a fabulous name?

And I really REALLY wanted to bring the makings for Knitty's Mrs. Beeton and pair it with Kate Gilbert's Elizabeth --I even bought two balls of Rowan CashSoft for the project in a lovely springy green. I think it will be the perfect addition to my black quilted coat. We all need a little color now and then.

Ah, but then I think about bringing the Viennese shrug that I've been working on oh so slowly! I actually have to focus when I knit it, so I can't do it while watching TV and it's a nice cozy dark green. I really want to knit them both up before the hospital stay, but we'll see what I can manage.

This is hopefully the beginning of a new trend of knitting for me. The last thing I knit for myself was more than a year ago--a pink angora shawl that I do get a bit of wear out of, but I have bought the yarn for quite a few projects for me.

And I promise to take pictures. Absolutely! I just need to find my camera...

Crabby

2005-12-14T15:46:00.001-08:00

Have you ever just had one of those days when you are nothing but crabby? I'm having one right now. And yes, I think it is PMS-related, since my hormones are completely screwed up right now thanks to the fibroids and such. Blah!

I can't seem to get any work done and I only want to watch Project Runway tonight instead of packing for my trip back east and doing laundry. I fear Project Runway might win.

But I have been knitting--in fact I'm just finishing up the Devil Pants from SNB Nation for my friend Baby Doe--so CUTE. And I just sent off knits for babies yesterday--babies that are now six plus months old. Man, I hope that stuff will still fit those ever so precious time-consuming, expensive yarn sweaters. Gulp!

OK, that's enough for now. Bah! I'm so crabby I can only walk side-ways. Double BAH!

More later.

2005-12-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

It speaks the truth!

2005-10-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

45% General American English

40% Yankee

10% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Who would have thought that I would have this mishmash of a lexicon? I guess that Dixie part is due to my Mom saying she's from the South, although her accent is more of a mix of New York/New Jersey. And I was told at a cocktail party that I sounded like someone from the Main Line--a smart little suburb near Philadelphia. I guess that Upper Midwestern is from living in Boulder for awhile. And all those years and college living in New England bring out the Yankee in me.

I will post a picture one of these days... If I could find the blasted camera. But I have been knitting. I finished a scarf for Miss Jenny and pounded through the body of the little matinee coat for Lynnie's little niece. OK, soon! I promise photos!

Still slammed

2005-10-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

I know fans, please forgive me. I just plain ole busy.

Since the move, my life has been so crazy that I haven't spent more than 5 hours unpacking. I don't live in a house, I live in a maze of boxes. Not cute.

And I thought I was SO clever listing what room each box belonged to with a special color code (yellow tag means "kitchen"). But alas those 30 odd boxes don't tell me which one holds the roasting pan. So meals have been somewhat slapdash. Oh yeah, and the oven--runs a good 50 degrees below the temp that I set it for turning my delightful pork tenderloin into jerky. So not cute.

And I really crave knitting. When I'm completely stressed out of my gourd--like right now--a few rows of knitting will do wonders in unkinking my neck. Soon...Oh yes, soon. But right now, the lighting in the new house is only slightly sunnier than Batman's cave, so perhaps I'll run down to Joanne's and treat myself to one of those oh so fancy OTT lights. Tomorrow is pay day! Almost as good as having mojitos pumped through my veins. Almost.

Moving On Up!

2005-09-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my sweetie and I are picking up the keys to our new home in Alameda, a island suburb off of Oakland. After almost 10 years of living in SF city limits I'm moving to a house with a proper back yard where I can plant flowers and herbs for cooking.

The house is a three bedroom single story arts and crafts house. It does have a garage, but the driveway was built in 1911 between the houses when the only cars on the road were model Ts, so it is too small for modern day cars! Garage = gardening/bike shed. Good enough for us!

It even has a laundry room--no more dodging traffic as I run across the street with 30 lbs of black clothes stuffed into a garbage bag! The kitchen is huge with this strange box under one of the counters that you can put dirty dishes in and soap--then flick a switch and they magically clean themselves! Crazy!

And hard wood floors. And a fire place with built ins. I have to pinch myself to believe that I'm going to be living there.

For more pictures check out this site my sweetie created.

www.loupehole.com/alameda

We feel very lucky to have found this beautiful house and we look forward to turning it into our own dear home.

And I swear I'll get to more knitting stuff soon.

Good Stuff = No time

2005-09-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

My sweetie just started his new job. But he is still freelancing his old job and going to school. So he is busy. Too busy to help me post pictures and do all that stuff. I promise that in November I will be much better about posting pictures and making this blog look far more charming than it looks right now. Yeah, Maybe, I'll do that 100 things about me thing. And other stuff. Yeah!

But right now the next month is going to be painful for me because:

1.) We are moving from SF to Alameda into a classic California bungalow
2.) Devil-Ettes are putting on Tease-O-Rama, the only burlesque convention in the world!
3.) I'm going on a stressful business trip

All by Oct. 1st. So bring on the packing tape and fancy dance move. Sleep--that's so five minutes ago. I've been waking up at 4:00AM every morning thinking about stuff. It's driving me mad.

What STRESS-FREE knitting project can I do through all of this madness? SOCKS! Yeah. I'm going to knit socks! Yeah!

And I promise wonderful pictures of fun stuff tomorrow. I promise!

Top Ten Things I Loved About My Tomales Bay Vacation

2005-09-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Counting stars at night from the hot tub and breathing in the distinct scent of the ocean mixed with fresh herbs and apples hanging from the tree above us
Starting and completing all the knitting for my Kim Hargreaves sweater—with size 17 needles it was the fastest thing I’ve ever knit up!
Rediscovering the joys of reading while diving into The Historian (while sunning myself outside
Falling asleep to the sounds of water lapping outside our window (and sleeping on a properly firm mattress as opposed to the deadbeat one at my house)
Eating apple pancakes while watching jelly fish casually swim by the house—they are so graceful and beautiful—from a safe distance
Deciding to plant tons of mint in the backyard of our dream house we are hoping to rent in Alameda—after finishing our second round of mojitos, of course
Taking naps during the day because I can
Dining on the best BBQ oysters served at the Marshall General Store, which was a short 10 minute walk from our house
Not having access to a computer or even a telephone for five glorious days
Just being with my sweetie

Just in time

2005-09-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today I received not one, but TWO packages in the mail full of yarn today. Be still my heart! And just in time for my six day vacation on Tomales Bay, where I have nothing planned but knitting and hanging out in the hot-tub--well, not at the same time, but you get the drift.

The first package was the Kim Hargreaves sweater. Her presentation won over my marketing heart. A darling little card was tucked in between the sheets of tissue paper and ribbon wrapped around the yarn. I took an awful picture of the package with my phone at work, but have yet to figure out how to put it on the Web.

I can hardly wait to get my needles into that yummy Rowan yarn. And since the needles are HUGE--size 17--and the pattern is mostly garter stitch, I'm hoping to have some nice pictures of my progress to show when I get back Tuesday.

But the big news is that Sweetie and I looked at houses yesterday. One in Alameda, the sleepy island town just across the Bay. The house is darling on the inside--lots of space and a very sunny back room and a nice back yard too. After ten years of city apartment living, this little house looks like heaven. The outside could definitely use some help, but there is promise of paint. So, cross your fingers everyone--we send our applications in tomorrow. Let's cross our fingers that those few late payments on my Visa card don't keep me from my dream house!

When I’m not knitting I’m dancing

2005-08-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

You see, I’m a Devil-Ette (www.devilettes.com). The Devil-Ettes are a 15 girl synchronized go-go dance troupe based out of SF and we perform old dances from the sixties in ultra sassy fringed outfits and go-go boots. Great fun as you can imagine, but also a lot of work. Like mind boggling drive me to drink amounts of work at times. The group is something of an SF institution and been around for six plus glorious year creating its own dance dance revolution.

Every gal in the group has a nickname. And we all have the same first name “THE”. Like The Pixie, The Cherry Bomb, The Saucy One. I’m The Smarty Pants. I think is suits me well. I wish I could dance with my glasses to get more of that smarty vibe across, but we move around and sweat so much that my glasses would just go flying off my face and hit someone in the audience.

Although we put on San Francisco’s Burlesque convention, we don’t remove a stitch of clothing and are so PG, it’s funny. The moves might look easy, but holy canoli, try getting them all synchronized with more than a dozen of us. Woof! Hard work!

We are in the “Devil-Ette” performing season right now, which is taking away from my knitting, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I wanted to bring up the Devil-Ettes now, because they will be part of my blog entries for the next couple of months, since we are in the season. Just sort giving you the background plot, if you know what I mean.

But back to knitting. I just was very naughty and ordered a lot of yarn from eBay AND even naughtier, I bought one of Kim Hargreaves sweater kits. I’ve been wanting to knit a fitted blazer-like sweater for awhile and who could say no to Kim Hargreaves. Here’s the one I’m doing. Kim Hargreaves actually wrote me back—delightfully British and polite in her choice of words telling me that they were out of my first choice of color and would I mind picking another colour, etc.

Hoping it will come in the mail TODAY. We’ll see.

The Story of Dots

2005-08-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Dottie is a nickname. My last name is Dotson. My father and brothers have all had the nickname “Dot” and now it’s my turn to carry the “Dot” handle, but with a saucier girly groove. I’ve been told that “Dottie” suits me just dandy, thank you very much. But with a nickname like Dottie, well, you just have to love dots. And that means in the knitting realm too.

Such as these two lovely baby sweaters I made during a Seamless Sweater Workshop at Atelier, which is right downstairs from my apartment. Do you know how wonderful it is to literally live on the same block as your favorite yarn store? I assure you, it is sheer heaven, but a bit rough on the purse at times.

I bought the yarn during a little day trip down to Half Moon Bay with My Sweetie who let me loose in Fengari, this wonderful little knitting shop that was having a sidewalk sale. Both bags of yarn included six skeins of soft cotton yarn and were on sale for $15 for each color. Now, people, I couldn’t leave them at the store, could I?

I feel it’s my civic friend duty to knit sweaters for babies. They were addictive little sweaters to make. I had to mix the colors, they just begged for it. Nice bright colors for kids. One goes off to a family friend in Boulder, Colorado and the other to the owner of Manifesto, the best dress shop in SF.

Everyone made it look so easy

2005-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Boy, this blogging isn’t as easy as it seems. I read all of these charming witty women waxing on about knitting and their lives and thought, “hey, I could do that!” Every morning, as I brush my teeth I think of a million topics I could post about but as soon as I get in front of the computer my mind is completely blank and I scurry out of blogger.com and head to eBay to look for some low-priced Kid Silk Haze.

And I need to post some pictures, right? I mean, that’s what makes the blogs so much fun, right? Yeah…. Gotta get around to doing that… Yeah…

OK… Let me see what I got here on my computer that I could slap up here…

Wait for it…. Wait for it…. There

OK, so I like pink elephants. Look, isn't he cute.

But I promise tomorrow I will put post a knitting piece that will charm and delight. With pictures. You’ll see!

Testing

2005-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so this is my blog. Hmm... Well, I've been reading about other people's blogs for awhile--particularly in the knitting realm. And they make me so happy. I love knitting. Hmm... We'll see if I can do this.

I hope so, because I have so much buzzing around my head all the time. I think I'm first going to have to get over my shyness.

OK, I'll post again later.

And I promise, I'll make it more interesting. And glamorous. Who doesn't love glamour after all?