Stitch N' Pitch 2007

Becky, Kristen, & Sarah from the Edgewater Stitch n' Bitch

Hey all! We had a ton of fun at our Stitch N' Pitch game this Saturday night. We had a few beers and enjoyed watching the Sox game in the heat.

Not to offend anyone but let me tell you, there is some SERIOUS white trash at that ball park! You just couldn't get enough of Billy Jo and Bobby Sue...and I thought I'd left the South!

The game was fun, although "the women" as we'll refer to ourselves, sat & talked while enjoying our stadium beer. There were probably about 6-8 rows of knitters in our area...fun, yet bizarre to watch.

Afterwards, we went to an art show at the home of a friend of a friend, and on the way I had an unfortunate accident and took a fairly large "chunk" out of my big toe. The words "chunk" and "flap" have been used quite frequently to describe different parts of the injury...I'm glad I'm off tomorrow as the "flap" had to be removed and now I just have a "hole". Nice...are you all grossed out now???

It's a wonder I can do this since I quit yoga back in March!

By the way, I now feel that paper towel, band-aids, and hot pink masking tape should be a part of every persons street triage kit :)

get your fiber

If you had told me 10 years ago that i would be shopping for yarn and trying to be a part of Chicago's knitting community I might have accused you of smoking the ganga...
I went to 2 amazing yarn stores on Wednesday afternoon. This pic is from one of their web sites.
Let me just clarify that it is a myth that knitting your own garments is cheaper than buying them....at least that is unless you drown yourself in acrylic yarn (a.k.a plastic) which is pretty darn cheap. Even then, the first sweater I made with acrylic ran about $50.
I was so flipping excited about this particular store, Loopy Yarns. I'll spare all of the details but let me just say, I could have easily spent a small fortune there...so if you ever want to know what to get me for a gift....
I've now got new yarn for 2 new projects & I'm currently working on my first pair of socks. I am just getting to the hard part which is making the heel...I think that might be what caused today's ever-lovin' migraine.
Anyway...I think I AM becoming part of a knitting community... I am still going to stitch n' bitch twice a month, I'm going to a White Sox game tomorrow which is a city wide "stitch n' pitch" group outing...a bunch of people knitting at a Major League Baseball game, and I'm going to a seminar in September that my SNB group leader is giving about making crocheted coral reefs for a collective project that is a homage to the disappearing Great Barrier Reef. (check out the site AND check out the main IFF site as well while you're there....both weird and strangely interesting http://www.theiff.org/reef/index.html )
I am officially an old lady...all I need now is box of Correctol in my nightstand drawer...."for gentle relief"...

I know, I know...

I haven't posted for a while....
I've been working my ass off the last 2 weeks. My store designer was out of town so I stepped into her place. I was working a bunch of hours & had lots & lots of display changes...which = a physical job I haven't done in a while.
It was nice being Mon-Fri again but I'm back to normal this week. I have to say, I kind of missed my Wed. off.
It's been in the mid 90's here & everyone is talking about how damn hot it is. I can only chuckle. I will admit, the humidity has been a bit high so it does feel like around 100, but again...I guess I'm used to it. Talk to me again about weather when it gets cold here!...THAT I am not used to!
I have Stitch n' Bitch tomorrow night and then this Saturday I am going to a Sox game for Stitch n' Pitch! A group of knitters from around Chicago is going to the game to enjoy the game & collectively knit :) What an old lady I am...all I need now is to go to an antique mall & eat lunch in the tea room...nasty.

Hell on wheels....

I just took Radar for a walk wearing my name tag. I was sitting on the couch reading my email before I realized I still had it on....I really need to get a job closer to home so my mind isn't so screwed up all of the time.
The entrance & exit ramps to my street are closed for construction now...I've been trying to find alternate routes to work with very little luck.
The last 2 nights it's taken me 2 1/2 hours to get home from work...that is insane. Tonight I think I found the one which only took an hour & 1/2 which is actually shorter than my original commute....that too is insane.
As much as I love the bug...I'm really tired of sitting in it.

Big city nights....

So last night I went out with my friend Mike for dinner & drinks. As we were leaving the Belmont/Clark area, we got on the El (elevated transit system) & began chatting. The announcement "next stop, Paulina" came over the intercom...I said, "oh shit, we're on the wrong line"!
For those of you who are not familiar with the El...there are multiple train lines that run throuout the city...red line, brown line, green line, blue line, purple line, etc... The mass transit system in this city is amazing! We needed to be on the red line & accidentally got on a brown line train. Not usually a big deal...

SO! We got off at the next stop & figured we'd have to take the next train back in the direction we came from so we could get back on the red line. There are several stops along the way where the lines merge & you can transfer lines...

Anyway, so it's like 2:20 am & completely dead quiet, not a soul around but us, and no train. The trains don't run every 2 seconds except during rush hour, so I walked over to the posted schedule to see when the next train ran...

I said, "uh oh"...."Houston, we have a problem"....

The last train came at 2:14 am & the next train wasn't going to be running until 4:09 am. So as all of you reading this are intellegent individuals, I'm sure you can see the problem...

Here's the great thing...I am NOT the local one, yet I am the one who remained calm & said, "you know what????? We are in CHICAGO...I am willing to bet that if we go downstairs (we were on the platform at this point), it won't take us 2 seconds to find a cab".

We walked downstairs, turned to the left and at the red light ahead, there were at least 4 cabs within my 20/80 line of sight. Once we got in the cab, I saw at least 5 more cabs pass us within a one block radius...

THIS CITY ROCKS!!!!!

....oh yeah, and I beat Mike at Galaga like I said I would when we stumbled upon an arcade...
I LIVE IN A CITY WHERE YOU CAN STUMBLE UPON AN ARCADE!!!!!! How awesome is that???

Dullsville...

Wow, I don't have much to report this week so far. It's actually been kind of quiet.
Well I'm not exactly sure why, but in the last 2 weeks I've finally become okay with the fact that I live alone. It has it's moments...simply because I get bored doing the same thing, but I'm starting to work out again and now that the friend thing seems like it's coming around, life has a better feel about it.
It's kind of rainy, gross, & humid this week...but I guess I'd better not mention the rain to my friends in Texas! It really doesn't feel like summer to me. Scary thing is, I know in only a couple of months, winter is going to set in like I haven't seen before! I'd better get my knitting needles flying a little faster!
That's all for now...Kristen's relationship with Chi-town is simply on the down-low for this week...more reports to come...

Knitta please....

Hey all...
I went to a knitting store that my friend Sarah works at...she organizes our stitch n' bitch meetings. There was a guy there named Franklin doing a photography project called "1000 knitters". He's photographing 1000 knitters for a book, gallery project, web log, etc... I had to sign a disclaimer, sit & knit the piece he had there, and simply chat with him for a few minutes while he took my picture....it was pretty cool. I'll let you know when I'm a star in a coffee table book!!!
I'm really itching to get back into my knitting. I just bid on some needles on Ebay, and now that I kind of know what my next 2 projects are going to be, I'm heading back to Ebay for what I hope is some discounted yarn.
For those of you who don't know this, knitting isn't really a less expensive substitute for purchasing clothes....that is unless you're one of those really crafty "diggers" who lucks upon yarn at thrift stores, estate sales, etc... Yarn ain't cheap. It's really all about the hobby and the enjoyment of it....unless of course you suck at it...then it's not so enjoyable :)
Radar went for his first nail trim in the big city. I found him this great place called the Bark Bark Club. Love it. He was stylin' walking down the city streets...he's too cool for his own good...then again, anyone who knows Radar already knows this.

Finally!!!!....a friend!!!

Well people, have no fear...I had something that actually resembled a social life tonight...finally.
There is a girl that worked at my store that I really liked. As Murphy's Law would have it, she got promoted last week to a position in our photo studio downtown...she was someone I felt like was "my people". Other than the stitch n' bitchers, I hadn't met too many of those thus far...
We met at a pub not too far from here...unfortunately it was a beating of a drive for her coming from downtown..sorry Christine!
Nothing terribly exciting to report other than the fact that I did something outside of my house that wasn't work, eating or shopping alone, and involved another human...
I can only express myself by saying...
Yipee...

Lonely...to be or not to be...that is the question

I just spent the last 24 hours in Michigan/the car for the 4th of July surrounded by about 13 other people...(12 1/2 if you consider that one of the humans was only about a week old).
As I'm sitting here at home once again, I'm pondering my big move decision. I absolutely love the city, but I'm ready to find some friends. Not that I want to force it like you did in jr. high school by bribing people or buying gifts for those who really weren't your friends, but the kind you stumble on accidentally and they become your friends for life.
I have to take into consideration that I've only been here a month. There are one or two people at work I would socialize with if they weren't so flippin' far away.
I made my bold move to go to Stitch N' Bitch twice a month which is great...but like I said, it's only twice a month....it's a start I guess.
Now I'm debating things like volunteering, church, finding another class to take, etc...I just got a flyer for a place around the corner that has yoga, tai chi, and belly dancing classes...
Mmmmmm....shaking my little jigglypouf belly around in circles...niiiiccceeee....I suppose that's one way to drop a lb. or two....

Never in Dallas...

...would I have two different neighbors dueling it out with music.

One apartment in my building has a guy who plays the banjo...quite well I might add. I've heard him a few times & occasionally he plays surf music which is why I've learned to love listening. One day a few weeks ago he was accompanied by a clarinet. There was a nice little free jamboree right here in my building.

Another apartment has a guy who signs opera. I haven't heard him much except for the past couple of days....he too is quite good.

Tonight they are both expressing themselves musically with their own personal genre....and with their windows open.

Occasionally one overshadows the other...

Needless to say, my windows are open & I'm enjoying the noise. Oh yeah, given that the last couple of days the high has been 80ish and the low about 55, I've been sleeping with my windows open and a blanket...

I love this place :)