PSA

That's right- I want to remind all of you to get out there and check out the new fangled EEE-lek-tronik voting machines. I know this is a new blog and the chances of anyone reading this is slim-to-none, but on the off chance that it might influence someone I feel obligated to remind you to vote. Yup. That is how important it is. Remember, you can't bitch if you don't vote (although plenty of folks do).

And by the by, what is it with the big freakout over electronic voting machines? We bank electronically, et cetera with nary a second thought (even if you eschew on-line banking an ATM is a form of electronic banking and who doesn't use those?) No system is perfect. People could probably rig the old mechanical machines if they wanted to, I guess it just sounds scarier when people talk about "hacking."

Regardless, vote. Vote. VOTE.

To my fellow Seattlites, the weather is no excuse- you won't melt. If your polling place has been closed due to flooding you can find your alternative place on-line, most of the local news station websites have links to the info. Going the extra mile or two won't kill ya'.

Any known allergies?

Just a few observations:

It is a bad idea to start a blog the week you plan to move.

You'd think this was obvious but somehow this little nugget of wisdom completely passed me by. Until now. Have spent the last week and a half trying to get all of our accumulated stuff from one house to the other. In a quest to simplify my husband and I are on a first name basis with the receiver at Goodwill. I think we are up to truckload number five (and we aren't talking about a compact truck either). Where did all the crap come from? But I digress, the upshot is that I have been so distracted by the moving ordeal that despite my promises to myself that I would blog regularly I haven't. (Not having internet access for several days didn't help the situation either)

Knitting goes slowly when you move.

Again, an obvious oservation but given that my role is this move has mostly been hanging out with my daughter attempting to keep her out of trouble while Hubby packs like a man possessed I thought I might get more accomplished. Oh, well. What have I accomplished? Are you ready? Sitting down? Eight rows on a MDK Ball Band washcloth. That's right folks. Eight whole rows. Considerably less than a row a day since my last post. A mere 360 stitches. Sad. Oh, did I mention that the eight rows were all knit in the past two nights?


Moving when you expect company is a stress inducing proposition.

Let me just say that our move was not planned. It was rather spontaneous. Our plan had been to remodel the house we were living in to accomodate our growing family. Ah, the best laid plans and all that. Suffice to say we found a new house (brand new, just built) that we really liked and the prospect of moving seemed more appealing than contracters traipsing through our house for the next 6-9 months. (Construction zone + nine month old = bad idea) And so, we bought the new house two weeks ago. Seemed like a good plan. Except we have my parents, my middle sister and fiance, Hubby's mom, Hubby's dad and his new wife, and Hubby's brother all converging on Seattle two weeks from tomorrow!!!!! ACCCKKKKK!!!! Did I mention we have no furniture? Did I mention that my kitchen is in multiple bins and boxes? Did I mention I am not only hosting/cooking for Thanksgiving but I am also hosting/cooking for a Baptism party for Pumpkin the Sunday after Thanksgiving? Did I mention I am a glutton for punishment?

Halloween has changed since I was a kid.

I'm not going to talk about the loss of neighborhood trick or treating in favor of retail trick or treating or any of a number of things I could touch on. I am just going to relate an experience I had:

Doorbells rings
I open the door.

Trick or Treator: "TRICK OR TREAT! I'm allergic to nuts and eggs."


I kid you not.

Places everyone, places...

Well, here goes... my first post. I almost have stage fright- but not quite, I doubt the entire knitblog community is beating down my door to read what I'm writing, so this is more like a dress rehearsal... or maybe just a regular rehearsal... at the start of the season... when its just you and the choreographer and no one watching. So really, I could post complete drivel and no one would care... well, maybe my mom would.

At any rate, I've been lurking, reading bunches of blogs by knitters everywhere and I just had to jump in and add my two cents to the blogosphere.

I've been knitting for a year (sort of, I actually didn't pick up my needles for seven and half months after my daugther was born- I was just a tad busy). I took a class last October when I was pregnant... I swear the urge to knit must be hard-wired into our DNA... If, for some reason, you haven't caught the knitting bug before you become pregnant the urge becomes unbearable once the hormones kick in. Anyway, I was five months pregnant and couldn't really dance any more (well, to be honest, I could but it was getting frustrating, trying to balance with protruding growth in front) so I needed something to keep me occupied so knitting took hold and the stash was born.

A bit about me, I'll try to be brief and not too boring: I'm an early thirty-something with an nine month old daughter (Pooh Bear for the sake of this blog) that I am lucky enough to stay at home with, at least for now. Hubby and I have been married for *gasp* ten years - totally unbelievable, where does the time go? While I wasn't born in the south I grew up in North Carolina and consider myself a southern girl at heart even if I've been living in the fabulous Pacific Northwest for the last eight years. I've always been crafty- I learned to cross-stitch when I was eight years old and I've been doing it ever since though it gets harder and harder to find good cross-stitch stores. I admit it is odd that I never learned to knit until last year especially given that my mom is a fantastic knitter who even used to teach knitting (and crochet, cross-stitch, and candlewicking- does anybody even do that anymore?). I am a voracious reader and struggle to divide my free time between reading and knitting. I also dance - ballet and modern so that takes up a good chunk of my free time as well.

I think that is enough for now, I really don't want to bore you (if there are any of you) with the dry details, but before I leave...

A FINISHED OBJECT!!!! Because really, what is a knitting blog without a finished object?

And so, I present to you, my candy corn hat.



I purchased a cute Halloween outfit for Pooh Bear and on a trip to Hilltop Yarn recently Betsy pointed out that she needed a matching Halloween hat and the candy corn hat was born (the pants to the outfit have candy corn on them which is why I went this direction instead of the de rigeuer pumpkin hat).



The details: Pattern: I don't need no stinking pattern (actually, I'm a bit full of myself on this point considering that I am really a beginning knitter and I managed to get the hat to come out almost exactly like I wanted it). Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton in Poppy, Lemonade and Tulip on size 7 Addi Turbo circulars.

And so it ends, my first blog entry.