My SP5 has already contacted me ... you rock, SP5!  And thanks to you, SP5 pal, and all the other nice people who have left nice comments about my finally-finished-ribbed-cardigan!  

Anyhow, regarding the SP5 questions ... I guess that since I still feel a need to update those questions, and a need to see if anything has changed in 5 months, let me first refer all of my kind readers and my SP5 pal to the last questionnaire ...

And then let me add on these puppies:

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None, although I religiously buy IWK whenever I can.  I do not have ANY Rowan or Rebecca magazines in case you happen to have some you'd like me to take off your hands. :) 

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Gosh, not really ... though if you happened across any good home-decor-knitting books, those are sadly lacking in my knitting library.  I especially am fond of The Knitted Rug, Handknits for the Home, and Gorgeous Knitted Afghans. 

I think that I might add that I love chocolate, anything to do with coffee, and I also have an unexplicable love/obsession for dalmatians.  (I just go crazy over dalmatians.)

Okay, I think that about does it for the SP5 questions ... feel free to email me if you'd like me to answer more! 

Speaking of my new SP5, I'm so excited to get going on some goodies to send her way ...

But changing the topic, I thought that I'd detail the List of Yucky Things In My Life That Are About To End ...  how do I know that they're about to end? I just have a feeling.

#1.  I had some moles removed from my face this week.  This isn't really good or bad, it just is what it is ... I did it for mostly cosmetic, selfish purposes, and there was just one mole in particular right next to my eye that was really gross and was growing.  The dermatologist told me that my pregnancy hormones definitely influenced it (yet one more body-changing remnant left over from my pregnancies), but it wasn't a big deal.  Except that it was gross, and growing!  So, I'm left with some really leperous-looking scabs on my face that will luckily just heal in a week.

(Can I add:  It's really amazing that they didn't show in my goofy photo-shot of the ribbed cardigan.)

However, because I'm more or less stuck in my home away from seeing people this week, I have to share how great a person Cathi is ...  knowing that I was holed up, she came by with her kids for a playdate, snacks and lattès in hand.  She even offered to pick up needed groceries for me.  Cathi is definitely one of those people who regularly goes out of her way to make someone else's life a little better, which is why she has such a fan club, which you should join if you're not part of it already.  And, if we needed to know case #2 of why Cathi is so great and generous, let's review that while I was selfish enough to horde all the discontinued Cotton-Ease that I could before I let the cat out of the bag about Hancock's 30% off deal, Cathi put the offer out into blogland to go buy some for people who are Hancock-less.  (Is that even an adjective that I can use here?)  Go visit her and tell her how great she is if you have a moment.  

(Cathi, can I add that my husband later said that it was so funny to walk in our house and see someone else knitting away just like me, and he added, "Wow, there really are people like you out there!" Ha.)

Meanwhile, Cathi does slightly figure into #2 of the List of Yucky Things In My Life That Are About To End ... 

#2.  Because about a month ago I went to Cathi's house for another fun playdate at her house.  Well, hopefully Cathi's horde of fans won't track her down if I say that she lives near a certain toll road that goes from my house to hers ... a toll road which I am a notoriously terrible user of, because I just can't seem to get those darn toll pay booths down.  Once, I drove through one thinking that I was on the correct side to pay, only I was on the opposite "Express" side, and I got nailed with a ticket.  A ticket for $7.00, with a warning that I'd face a heavier penalty if I were to do it again.

Back to the story ... a month ago, I was driving on said toll road to Cathi's, late as usual, and when exiting the toll road, I passed the booth -- but only by a little bit!  I mean, I really just didn't stop in time.  So, what is a good, conscientious driver to do?  I just backed up a few (thirty) feet, and I threw my coins in!  I paid!

So, imagine my surprise when last week, on the same day as the run-in with the parking garage at the Denver Zoo, I got a notice in the mail ... and this time it showed a photo of my license plate listed next to the fine of $47.50!  For a $1.25 toll!  Really!!  I'm not sure if I should go to the court date, in August, to argue it or not. 

What is the morale of all of my tales of woe, however??

I think that everything that's happened to me has been either through my own choice, or at least through a consequence of my own actions.  So, hopefully, how that I've figured out my morale and will try to do better, I think that my woes are ending.

(And, because I believe in coincidences and feel that all of these things have been going on during the work of said finished A-line ribbed cardigan, I feel that it was somehow karmically tied to my misfortunes... and now that it's done, the misfortunes will end as well, right?)

Just a quick news update if you're in the area ... and sorry I'm getting the news to you so late ...

Are you a fan of Fresh Produce clothing?  I am.  I just thought you might want to know that Fresh Produce is having a gigundo outlet sale this weekend ...

I can't tell you what a great deal these outlet bonanzas are ... and direct from my postcard, here is the info: 

Kid's Dresses for $10.00!
Kid's other stuff for $5.00!
Women's tops and bottoms $10.00!  (I could live in their t-shirts alone.)
Women's dresses $15.00!  (Yes, they retail for like $80.00 in boutiques.)

Saturday through Monday, open 10AM - 5PM (4PM Mon.)

1684 38th St. (off Arapahoe, in the old Exabyte location.)
Boulder, CO 80302  (303) 544-3271
call for directions if you need them.

(I'll be there with my hair down and sunglasses on ... more on the reason for my disguise later.)

FO Report:  A Line Ribbed Cardigan
Designer: Debbie Bliss
Pattern Source: Pattern available Cathay pattern book
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cathay, 15 balls, color teal
Needle Size: US 3, 6
Gauge:  22 sts = 4"
Date Completed: May 2005
Recipient:  me

Here we are, a finished object (finally)!  This is the Sweater Which Taught Me Humility, the Sweater That Wanted To Be Naughty, etc. etc.  (Excuse the dorky photo of me posing as if I were the DB model ... this is obviously why DB employs other people as models instead of myself! I can't seem to manage "sultry" or "pouty.")

Some notes:

1.  I loved this yarn!  It was really beautiful to work with, knit up extremely fast despite being a dk-weight yarn and despite my mishaps along the way.  I highly recommend getting your hands on some of this if the opportunity arises.

2.  I loved knitting this pattern.  There's something about ribbing that holds my interest.  With not too much shaping (only on the shoulders), including on the sleeves which were worked straight with the same matching decrease row as the body, this was an easy take-along knit (key to me gettting projects done with the kiddos around).

3.  Jury is out on the fit of this sweater.  I knit the size for a 36" bust which was an actual finished size of 37.5".  It seems a little large ... and I think that I keep knitting large sweaters because I'm nervous that a sweater might be too small.  But check out the sleeves!  I did the copycat-pose of the model so that you could see the sweater contrasted with the actual model here:

What's up, Debbie, with my sleeves?  I followed the pattern to the T and I feel like the sleeves are obviously about two inches too long.  If you're making this sweater, make note of this and you may wish to alter the length of your sleeves.

4.  I made two kind of big mistakes on this sweater ... thank goodness for Cate for a previous ingenious comment about the Persians, who when knitting their rugs always insert a mistake because only Allah is allowed to make something that is perfect.  Well, this isn't perfect, but that's okay.  I guess that I'm still not one of those knitters who rips out every single mistake.  (And I'm not showing them, either, here!)

5.  I give this sweater a big overall LIKE.  Time will tell how much I wear this sweater, but I'm going to proceed for sure with the capped sleeved top in order to have the matching set.  Again, I just love how this yarn knits up. I'll leave you with one more photo:

And updates on the Triada soon!

Okay, my computer is on the fritz this week, so I'm updating this entry from a really cool and fun internet coffeeshop here in Louisville (the Dragonfly, if you're wondering, on S. Boulder Road, which oddly enough for being an internet coffeeshop doesn't have a website of its own).  The story, if you're curious, is that I've been uploading so many CDs onto our computer that we've run out of space on our meager hardrive.  The Big Sweetie, ever the wonderful husband, went to Best Buy to get a new 120 GB hard drive, but is having issues installing it ... which means we'll be paying some lucky tech guy to help us out.  Luckily, there are toys in the corner here at the coffeeshop which are (partially) occupying my kids while I do a quickie update.

I'm having issues with the Triada scarf.  I just updated on the Triada-scarf-along page about all my issues, so I won't copy and paste the whole thing here.  But, do you know how to "pick up and p the st on the row below" in a fisherman's rib pattern?  If you do, I'd much appreciate your assistance.  (Not like I'll see it right away, being in my cyberless state right now, but still.) 

Meanwhile, I finished my A-Line Ribbed Jacket, and sewed the sleeves onto the body, and she's drying in that state on my bed.  I'll finish sewing her today or tomorrow, so upon my return I should (finally!!) have an FO to report.

The capped sleeved top is in a perpetual state of unfinishedness.

But I did finish the back to my Grace Cardigan, and I'm working on the left front now. 

So that's it for now!  I'll be back soon.

Okay, if you've already seen the entry from down below of what happens when frantic mommies meet tight corners and cars coming at them, let me elaborate on that story ...

You've probably seen these, but I'm sharing nontheless ...

I happen to have Star Wars fans living in my house.  Now we have something in common to talk about!

And in case you think that knitting isn't hitting Hollywood hard, go check out "Knit Club."  Too hilarious! ...

And, I really want to make this bag some day.

Happy knitting this weekend!

I keep coming up with the most interesting blog titles this week, but trust me ... I really need a Friday.

Update on the chapter of my life entitled "In Which There Are Ups And Downs In The Farrell Household" ... (and just to warn you, there aren't really many Ups here.)

I missed the mommy knitting group on Tuesday.  Not because I couldn't make it, but because I made it late, and because of the crazy changing weather for which Colorado is famous.  When Cathi and Amy* arrived at the mall, the weather was yucky and nasty and gloomy and windy.  By the time I got there, it was sunny and a little windy, but we stuck it out in the sandbox rather than going inside to the "mesozoic corner".  Girls, next time I promise I won't diss the dino area and I'll look for you there!  Oh well, not the end of the world, as I still accomplished a fair amount on the infamous Cathay cap sleeved top while the kids ran around pouring sand on each other.

Next, when realizing that I didn't have the correct length of needle to actually cast on for my Triada scarf (for which I'm the host of the Triada-along, for which I just kind of thought would make me get my butt in gear to get it done ... wrong.), I went to a LYS that usually has a most excellent selection of needles.  Surely they would have a pair of cheapie bamboos, right?  Well, obviously the 24" circular, size 17, needles aren't in huge demand as the only ones that they had were the Addi-Turbos, of Michaele's famous Haiku challenge. 

Boy, I could write a haiku about these ...

twenty three dollars
over the next forty years
50 cents per year

... right?

At least, that's what I'm telling myself over and over again to justify the price on these puppies.  When what I really need are a pair of size 8's ... and I thought this would be the month.  Size 8's, you'll have to wait until next month, I guess.  (This is really my own darn fault for going overboard on all that Cotton-Ease at Hancocks for 30% off ... does anyone know, by the way, if they still have any more?  Never mind, I don't really need to know.)

Then, as if one surgery only a week ago weren't enough, my Big Sweetie (yes, that's the DH of the household) had another surgery scheduled this Wednesday. (He's the kind of man who thinks that two surgeries in a week is a breeze.)  This one was supposedly not going to be a big deal, just taking off a little bit of Basal Cell Carcinoma off the top of his head (remember, he was diagnosed several weeks ago).  He had one other spot taken off, which required only a tiny office visit and a few stitches.  Obviously (we know this now) when skin is taken off the scalp, a longer incision is required.  The little tiny appointment turned into a three-hour saga (kids in tow) and twenty stitches.  The Big Sweetie then looked like this by Wednesday night:

I could seriously just cable all day long, and be a happy knitter.  The Lion Cotton-Ease is obviously not Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora, but for $21.00 for the sweater, who can complain?  It's turning out well, I think.

I'm also making steady but slow progress on the A Line Ribbed Cardigan, as I'm onto the "Collar Which Takes One Whole Ball Of Yarn" and the sweater is heavy enough now that I can't carry it around with me.

But at least I'm using my new stitch markers there, right?

Just when I thought that I'd outrun a few tags, Cathi tagged me, too!  Here it is ...

1) Total number of books in your house: I don't know exactly, but I know that my  house is overflowing with them and we're always trying to sort a few out.  Maybe 600?  800?  We're a bookish family, so I think a lot.  Between just my kids, we probably have 150.

2)  The last book you bought was- well, because of the massive overpopulating of the books in our house, I'm not sure I can answer that.  I'm a regular patron of my local library, and once I figured out that "Search Prospector" will bring any book from any library in my state to my library's front desk to me for free, this has been the source of most books.  But I can tell you that I bought Debbie Bliss's Special Knits recently.  As well as the Yarn Harlot's new book. 

3) What was the last book you read before reading this?  Boy, Cathi, you were embarrassed about chick lit?  Check out my most recently completed work of fiction:  La fiancée du pirate. (Just the title so cracks me up.)

Yes, at my most favorite local library there's always a book bin of "free books."  I recently picked these up -- for free!! -- and I just couldn't resist some good cheap harlequin romance novels (but I'm practicing my French, really!). 

(Don't think less of me because I love a good cheap romance novel here and there ... but this stuff does make chick lit look so literary, I have to say.)

4) List 5 (or 6) books that you read often or that mean a lot to you.

Don Quixote, volumes I and II.  Mainly because it's been on my mind lately and I've blogged about it a ton, but I do have to say that this is my most favorite "literary fiction" book that I've read as an adult.  Cervantes is amazing.  The book is hilarious, while at the time incredibly thought-provoking about issues that are still incredibly modern considering that the book is 400 years old.  (I recommend trying it in Spanish if you can!  There's a lot of bilingual editions out there.)

100 Years of Solitude.  Mostly for the same reasons as above, except that it's not nearly as old.  But Garcia Marquez is a genius, and the genre of "magical realism" is my favorite kind of fiction.  (Again, I recommend trying it in Spanish if you can!)

The Chronicles of Narnia.  Because these were the books that I read over and over again as a child, and please don't laugh, I actually thought that I might wander into an enchanted wardrobe one day when I was ten years old (it doesn't matter that I didn't really know what a wardrobe was).  I credit these books for my love of books.  (I see that Heidi just found this on audio book ... I. Must. Get. Those. Now.)

Anything by Bill Bryson, but namely English: The Mother Tongue or A Walk In The Woods.  Both of these books are about completely different subjects (the first, about the English language and how wacky it is; the second, about the author's adventures while attempting to walk the Appalachian Trail) but he is my favorite author that is alive today, and one that I would treasure being able to meet one day.  I read his books and re-read them all the time.  In a Sunburnt Country, about Australia, is also good, as is A Short History of Nearly Everything.  (I know I'm cheating by listing all these books as one.  Hey, it's my meme.)

Body-for-Life, by Bill Phillips, which I list because I happen to refer back to it all the time, and it's the book that I credit for putting me on the right track for eating well and exercising well.  It's an incredibly simple fitness concept, but if you can follow it, you'll be in the best shape ever.

I wish I could choose one favorite feminist book, but I can't, so let me just give a few favorites as maybe one will pique your interest: 
     1) Gyn/Ecology, by Mary Daly, which is a really crazy feminist must-read.  That's all I'll say there ... the author has a really amazing world perspective which, while being completely crazy, makes sense in a way.  Highly recommend you checking it out, but be forewarned that, again, it's rather crazy. 
     2)  This Sex Which Is Not One, by Luce Irigaray, which I find really fascinating if you can also get some good articles or other books to help explain her philosophy ... this is the theory that I used to analyze a coupla books in my MA Thesis, and it's the kind of theory that will completely warp the sense of reality that you grew up with and make you see things in a whole new light. (I just love that.)
     3) Anything by Judith Butler, and in particular Gender Trouble.  A very influential book in postmodern feminism.
     4) And let's not forget anything by Barbara G. Walker, especially the amazing book Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (yes, it's the same Barbara Walker), which I can't believe that I still don't own! ...
and I'll stop myself before I could go on and on here ...

6) Who are you going to pass this onto and why?  Let's go with a few more Colorado bloggers here ... let's ask Amanda (if she hasn't done this meme yet) because she's going to be starting her MA at CU in English next fall ... Kirsten, because a girl with a yarn-eating cat has to have some good reads as well ... and Michaele, because don't we all want to know what real professors read? And, because I'm hoping that Michaele will update me on my feminist thoery. (Will you share a few good books, Michaele?)  As always, at your own leisure and feel free to ignore the tag if you wish. :)

Such an interested blog entry title, right? 

Well, today is a Monday.  The Big Sweetie had shoulder surgery last week, and has spent the better part of the last 5 days recovering, in addition to having somewhat of a nauseous reaction to the drugs that he was on.  Not much fun.  Meanwhile, my little boy came down with a double-ear infection on Thursday, so we've been coping with that as well.  Again, not much fun.  Add in a willful 2-year-old, and it's just been a barrel of laughs around here.

I'll be ready for some knitting at the beach tomorrow.

Just a reminder, or a note if you haven't heard ...