Knitters are Generous People

Today was the day from hell- was unable to return some rather expensive beads to a store because they had "no proof" other than my receipt that I had actually bought them, had to give up the Yarn Harlot tickets, stomach flu, I went to 4 places trying to ship out this week's handspun but none had "delivery confirmation", the landlord put a random notice on the door that we need to pay to have the appartment steam cleaned by friday (new management BLOWS), I also slammed my hair in the car door and have a bald spot. So not my day.

But then I get back, check Ravelry, and there is a lady who has offered me her skien of discontinued Kureyon for my lizard ridge- for free. It's amazing how kindness like that can cancel out the shit hitting the fan.

maybe...maybe.

So...my fairy knitting Godmother (different from the Knitting Fairy that works on your projects when you leave them sitting in their bags after hours of knitting and not a single inch of growth by your own hand) has offered me two tickets to Yarn Harlot this Friday in Chicago, the land of yarn shops.

Trouble is...all my knitting friends have already seen the Harlot, and Chicago is a big scary drive (for someone who gets nervous getting on an interstate-me). I would buy an Amtrak ticket but last time I took Amtrak we were 6 hours late- we could have walked to Chicago and gotten there faster. I called my mom, who for those of you who remember, promised to go to the Harlot in Indy in my place while I took the math final. Janet made my mom's day and went for her.

Things I would miss if I went to see the Yarn Harlot in Chicago:

My postcolonial literature class (I'm okay with that)

Tango (poo)

The sexy Peruvian in my Tango class (I need to do some serious thinking-he's really sexy)

Things I would miss if I didn't see the Yarn Harlot in Chicago.

The Yarn Harlot

Chicago

Shit. Anyone else want to see the Harlot in Chicago? I call not driving!!!!

Oh- and my hoodie now has BOTH sleeves....oh yeah. Now just miles and miles of stockinette to make up for my abnormally long torso.

And to make up for not having a progress picture, I give you Jing Jing the olympic mascot at the Forbidden City in Beijing.

hurrah!

So...lots of stuff today.

Knitting Content:
Yesterday I had a bit of an experiment. Could I use Paint Box with Noro Kureyon for my lizard ridge? Turns out that I can, but the Paint box square are about half an inch longer, but the colors are so cool, it totally makes up for it. Since I plan on dry cleaning this blanket anyway, I'm not too worried about one yarn felting and the other not. I dig Paint Box. (btw, Paint box is the one with the oranges, pinks and purples, Kureyon is the green and purple one) I now have 11 squares completed, which is a little dissapointing. I could have sworn I had 13 done.

I also completed the first sleeve on the hoodie I am now calling PoCo, because it gets worked on during my postcolonial literature class. I would like another name, so if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments or ravel me with it. Please.....

Since it is international Knit in Public Day (!!!!) I will probably take a study break and the hoodie and I will venture down to Starbucks and enjoy a tall chai latte together. I need a chai fix, it needs the remaining 1/4 sleeve. If I am doing really well, I may go to River Knits (make that a very likely actually) to take a peek at what they have. I have a 20% off card that I plan on using at the latest possible moment in hopes that I have accumulated a bit of money before then. *hoping very hard*

Here is the stash I never flashed after the fiber festival in Franklin. It's alarming how much of it is already spun into yarn. Seriously- I have a problem. I've currently got some periwinkles BFL on the wheel for last semester's Jane Austen prof, an avid knitter who recognized me on ravelry. She isn't a spinner but we frequently talked about it. So her periwinkle wool titled "Dashwood" is a third of the way done. I really hope she likes it.

Non-knitting Content:

Last night, after nearly chopping off my g**-damn hair (I spent 2 hours trying to put it in an updo only to have it fall out as soon as I finally got it up there. I was entirely too close to pulling a Britney. Bad....) I went to tango. My hair did look like shit, honestly, because it was sprayed and curled and shaped like I had just taken it down after prom. Bad. But I went anyway because I would have done something drastic if I hadn't.

So I get there and I'm a little nervous because...I really suck at Tango. Yeah this is a beginner's class, but I've always been more intermediate than that in all the other latin dances. So I'm feeling a little incompetent. Then, Alfredo Tuesta, the most beautiful Peruvian man in exsistance (like Antonio Banderas + Goatee - 20 years) came right up to me (ME!!!) and asked if I had a partner for the evening. (Turns out I was actually better at the Tango than him, which was a little dissapointing. I was quite sure Latin Americans came out of the womb with a rose in their mouths) So we switched off partners a few times and I danced with the instructor (from Argentina- also a sexy beast) and he was such a good leader, I looked like really good...and Alfredo was watching the whole time! Score: Paige 1, Tango girls:0.

Back to Skewl

So I'm back at Purdue for one more English class before I jump across the pond to live in England for a year. So I'm studying literature that displays the atrocities of English colonization on the Middle East and India. Good stuff. Not really.

But my prof said it was totally cool with him if I got my knit on during class provided that I a) sit in the back and b) participate. Check and Check.

So...since summer classes are hella long, I knitted about 10 inches of sleeve yesterday. I'm guestimating the same progress today. Here's a pic of the sweater after yesterday's class. Thanks to my lovely model, Sir Oatmeal, who is older than I am- which is really old in Teddy years.

Today's China picture (chose at random) is of the great stone tiger at the Beijing Zoo. So was the last post's panda.

Have a great day and happy knitting!

My blog is fixed!

So...apparently blogging in China is kinda illegal. So my account got shut down for a few weeks. But after paperwork and a few phone calls- I'm back! And to make up for not blogging in China, I'll post a China picture everytime I blog for a while.

Today was something especially blog worthy....I went to the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival with Mandie and Janet! Driving there was terrifying. There were flash floods, stranded cars and water up past my Jeep's tires. It was a wonder we weren't swept off the road by all the flood water. It took way longer than it should have, but we finally got there. I'll post pics of my findings next time I blog, I'm just too lazy to load them into the computer right now. I figured I'd go big or go home, so I went big. I think I spent around $140ish, which for me in a fiber festival, isn't all that bad.

Because of all the storms lately, my dog hasn't been sleeping. And when the dog has a bad night, I do too. So..I'm going to bed. Here is my China trip picture, selected at random.

Ahhh!

So...the countdown begins. In 12 hours, I will be on the long and turbulent road to China...or flight. Whatever.

What did I do to prepare today?

I finished the "Poison Apple" socks. Then I got my hair dyed to match them! (seriously...it's pretty kick-ass) I gave the dog a bath and have the bitemarks to prove it. I'm probably going to go to Janet's next and drop off the wheel for Janet to babysit. I can't wait to read up on her fibertastic adventures with the wheel.

**Random Story** I went to the Pack and Mail place down the street to send out my handspun to the lady who buys it and they asked what was in the package...(boring bits...yada yada...$12? Are you serious? more boring...) and then the lady who owns the place said "People still use spinning wheels?"

Debbie, you have noooooo idea.

The next post will be from China, so hello new readers and don't worry...I won't talk about knitting-related things until May 25...at least not too much.

Ravelry!!!

Hey all you readers (I know there's only like 3 of you but oh well) I wrote an article and a poem for TWIR issue 13...so if you're a raveler go check it out! I'm so excited it's finally up!