Amended. Ponchos are more Spanish than French.
Pon Gato or Ponch Gato... tbd.

I have decided to make Maestro a poncho.
I will call it the Pon Chat.

Maybe I should get one like Jemaine's

Things I miss about having a cell phone:
1. always knowing what time it is
2. text messaging
3. being able to call people for answers to silly questions
4. alarm clock, calculator, and calender.

Things I do not miss about having a cell phone:
1. always knowing what time it is
2. getting psycho text messages
3. being able to call people for answers to silly questions when I'm drunk

I think I will get a new one, since I'm not feeling the whole people-calling-me-at-home thing. I like to be able to send people to voice mail myself. Plus, Macy's sent me a refund check today! Apparently I've been over-paying my bill... for a year! Automatic bill payment is super handy, but I guess I should still open the bills when they come. Duh. The new phone will not be as super sexy and shiny as the missing one unfortunately, and I will miss my pictures :( I am not looking forward to getting used to all new ring tones, either. I have almost finished my apron! Too bad I'm going to rip out the entire top, since I have too many decreases and they're way too close together. I also want to change the waist tie and extend the lace pattern up a bit further. No pics yet, but I suppose I'll take a few before fixing it so I can someday look back and laugh at how I ever could've been so silly. So I wrote out a pattern last night. I'm sure it's going to go better than fully winging it, which is how I ended up with a bib that doesn't even cover both of my nipples at the same time. Considering that I have a slight frame and small boobs, the apron wasn't looking good as a "one size fits all" item. Let's cross our fingers for a better outcome the second time around.

I finished the cowl last week. It now sits in my mom's office, waiting. I asked her to take a picture for me of it on the happy recipient's neck, but just in case it doesn't fit, (heaven forbid!), I took a few of it on the counter. The pictures of it are on mom's camera, which is right now somewhere in the Caribbean. I have no idea how much memory they have with them, and I'm nervous they'll be completely out of character and take lots of pictures. Hopefully my 3 will make the final cut! I really liked the colors of the yarn, but it is so freakin' hairy I am actually relieved to be rid of it. I do like the pattern, though, and I think I will get another ball of less irritating yarn and do it again. Won't be as light and airy looking, but that's probably OK. More masculine I suppose. I wrote that pattern down somewhere... where is that? I will put up both patterns soon.

Monday I am going to Brooklyn General and I am so excited! Finally I can get something to make the totally boring ribbed man scarf. The woman at WoolWorks suggested I use a slip-stitch rib pattern and I think I will take her advice. It not only creates a finished product that looks more interesting, it is more interesting. It was a sad moment when "What can I make for you?" was answered with "A hat and ribbed scarf". Yawn! I was all set to make something serious. I thought about making Henry from the Fall '07 issue of Knitty since it's so handsome, but then decided that I should just give the man what he wants... well, something closer to what he wants. I will call it John O'Scarf. I am thinking grey, since he looks good in grey, and it goes with navy blue, black, and army green, which is what he primarily wears. And it's the new black. I am stumped on the hat, though. I have never had success with hats for some reason. I will have to ask for a few different head measurements.

Take a deep, cleansing breath...

I've finally been invited to join Ravelry and I am pumped. I would be more excited about having my stash and projects organized so neatly if I could figure out the whole "adding photos" thing, but I'm sure its my problem, not flickr's!
So, if I can figure this out, I will be putting up pictures from my friend and I's first attempt at felting. (How's my grammar?) Jackie made the Fat Bottom Bag from Stitch N Bitch The Happy Hooker using Patons SWS, and although it was beautiful before felting, (sorry no pics pre-felt), it was a little floppy and needed lining to be functional. So we decided to try felting.
It was an experiment of dual proportion:
1. Neither of us had felted anything before
2. Patons SWS is a blend of wool and soy
Needless to say, we were nervous, since everything we've read about felting led us to believe there was a possibility of unevenness or failure with a blended yarn, not to mention the possibility of over felting it since we were both virgins! The fact that one of Patons pattern books specifically for the SWS yarn had a pattern for a felted bag eased our minds... a little. I mean really, who wants to risk destroying an already perfect FO? So in it went, handles and all! (J deemed them too much of a pain to take off, since they are worked in to the last few rows of crochet and she would've had to re-do a couple of inches)
Now let me tell you a little something about myself. I hate laundry. It is one of the banes of my existence, for the simple reason that it is never really done. Made more tedious as I get older, (more line/lay flat drying due to actually following the mfr instructions), it doesn't help that for the life of me, I can't keep track of it unless I carry the kitchen timer around with me all day. 3 loads will take me at least a day and a half, and a load will inevitably be left in the washer or dryer until I realize I can't find my favorite jeans or that all of my panties are missing. I have secretly accused friends and family members of borrowing - and not returning! - the sweater that has been drying in the basement for a month.
Knowing this about myself, I figured that if anyone has the ability to over-felt, it's totally me. Even with Jackie in the house with me - someone who knows my attention span and definitely had more to lose from this going wrong - we managed to get distracted by another experiment and lost track of time.
To our surprise and delight, it came out looking super! Okay, maybe we could've taken it out earlier, but at least it wasn't a wallet!

Way more functional this way - now nothing will poke through or snag those precious stitches!

Okay, still need to work on picture placement. I'm honestly just relieved they are on the page at all.

Remember that cleansing breath?
We have made it through the first post and added pictures - You may exhale.