Stitchin' and Bitchin'...sort of .

Mostly stitchin', not so much bitchin', but loads o' fun anyway!  We hosted Creativity Day today, and 5 other women came over with their crafty things, and we just sat around talking and eating chips and laughing and crocheting/knitting/wiring/felting/sewing - FUN!!!  Looking forward to the next one on 4/18; if you're in the area and wanna join us, LMK.

Here is my latest neck warmer, made from a cotton/rayon/silk blend yarn I picked up on eBay awhile back.  The pattern is from Caron.com and is called Doris Scarf.

I'm not such a fan of the ruffle part - you can't see it in the picture, and prolly wouldn't notice it if you saw it on, but the corners of the ruffle stick out at an angle from the main wrap part of the scarf, and I don't like that - it looks awkward.  Next time, I would blend these into the rest of the scarf.  Anyway, now I'm off to my latest obsession, knitted flowers.  I've been making clematises, but have run out of one of my yarns. :(  Oh no, I guess that means another trip to the yarn store!  (Don't tell G....)

Dinner at Imperial Koi, Greensboro NC

Imperial Koi is a new Asian restaurant on New Garden Road.  From the road, it's hard to tell how to get into the place, 'cuz it's on the second floor of what looks like an office building.  If you go to the right of the building, there is a long, dark staircase up from the back parking lot, and if you to to the LEFT of the building, the drive swings up around the back of the building to the second floor offices and Imperial Koi.

I went to IK with two fellow teachers, just for night out, away from school.  The place is very swanky - really nice decor, price tags to match.  VERY good sushi.  All the food we had was good - we got the Angry Dragon roll, steamed edamame, vegetable udon noodles, mango chicken, Yuzu salmon with one blue prawn on top - why it is called "blue" I have no idea; it wasn't blue at all -- and chocolate lava cake for dessert.

The food was great, and portions reasonable, except for the dessert, which A. wasn't what was described in the menu, and B.  Was tiny, considering the price.

We had a couple of complaints - A.  The place was so dang dark it was hard to see the menus, B.  The service was NOT all that great.  Twice the waiter vanished and we had to get someone else to fill drink glasses; once one of the others was given the wrong  drink.  It took them a long time to seat us, even though the place wasn't anywhere near full when we got there, and after we were seated, we weren't greeted by the vanishing waiter for several minutes.  He said the place had been open 7 months; I hope the service will improve with time. 

Overall, I'll say I'd go back again, like when the tax return comes back, LOL.  My mother will roll over for me saying this out loud, but I was laughing out loud over my bill - a meal for ME, no alcohol, for the price I would have paid elsewhere for a meal for two.  Most of the entrees were $15 or more.  Reckon they've got to pay for that fancy lighting SOMEHOW...

One interesting thing I saw was, they had sushi variety plates for entrees, where there would be something like 5 pieces of sushi and 9 pieces of sashimi for what I thought looked like a reasonable price.  Might try that some other visit.

Latest Ravelings...

So maybe I mentioned that I'm currently obsessed with neck warmers?  Here are the two latest entries.  The first one is navy, with a split-rib "keyhole" on either end.  One end is poked through the keyhole on the other end, and it holds itself in place.  Please overlook the cat fur, .  This thing is about 7" wide, very loosely knit on size 10 needles.  It is very good at keeping my neck warm! 

Next is prolly the most frustrating pattern I've done yet.  It's a four-row pattern that makes the holes around the edges and the rib up the middle - which in turn makes the whole thing look pointy.  It's also a Berroco yarn, and it's ticked me off because the damn thing rolls in on itself - thus hiding the fancy edges.  Haven't worn this one out anywhere yet.  I discovered when I blocked it that I'd dropped a stitch and had to fix that first.

 

The pattern calls this one a "jabot", and it does have a keyhole, so it doesn't need a shawl pin to keep it closed.

Bestest Friend is in London, just when I spent a couple hours at Buns & Noodle, perusing the knitting and crochet book.  I found an awesome spring scarf that was just the thing I've had in mind for awhile; can't wait to try it out.  Stay tuned for flowers!  I got a book of how to make knitted flowers, and Bestest Friend has one about making crocheted flowers, so when we have Artsy Day on the 14th, we may be stitching up a garden.

Had dinner at Macaroni, and the first time EVER we did not order the chocolate cake.   Ever.  I got the new lamb skewer dish with broccoli, and man o man was it good!  I can't eat anywhere near all of it (or really, even a quarter of it) now, so have tons o' leftovers.  I'll be eating lamb all weekend, 'cuz Better Half won't touch it.   Mmmmmmmmmmm, garlic.  :)

I'm seein' red...

So I've never been one to wear artificial fibers - they're just too damn hot.  But this winter, having lost over 50lbs, I've been freezing!  Less insulation...  Anyway, somewhere along the way, I got this really nice, bright red acrylic chenille sweater.  I think it was supposed to be worn as an over-sweater, but I wore it as the only sweater a time or two, and as a cardigan, too.  It had a wide, flap collar, buttons, and big sleeves.  It was also a size 3x, which now flaps around like a tent on me. 

I have read an article or blog or two about recycling yarn from old sweaters, and decided I wanted to give it a try.  Bestest friend said it was too much trouble, but I really like the color of this yarn, so I said what the heck - I can't wear the sweater any more, if I don't remake the thing. 

Found a tutorial online of how to take apart a sweater, and started pulling strings night before last.  It's taken me three nights to do it, but it's done - Voila!  15.1 ounces (Lord knows how many yards...) of recycled chenille yarn.  I'd say it's about fingering weight or so.  I feel a scarf and hat, at the very least, in my future....

 

Remember I said I was seeing red?  Well, that was literal.  There is red fuzz EVERYWHERE, and I do mean everywhere.  When I went to take this photo, there was red fuzz in my EYELASHES - everything had a red haze around it, LOL.  There's a red fuzz trail everywhere I've walked around the place.  Where's my vacuum?

Dragonfly Parts

Ok, here are pictures of the dragonfly "pin" that is holding my latest neck warmer closed.  They aren't the best pix, because I was trying for the closeup, detail shot, but you get the idea.  Here's the "front" - wings are rhinestone crystals.

 

and here's the back - note the little spring between the wings, and the "claw" wire on either side.

Penis, Reincarnated

Yep, you read that right.  This yarn is Bernat Bamboo, and I can't remember if I posted a picture of its first incarnation as my VERY FIRST attempt at a neck warmer.  I had looked around on the net for a pattern after I saw my friend at school wearing one that had a keyhole on one end for the other end to poke through.  I had tried to make a similar one, but it looked really weird and was too long.  I took it over to Bestest Friend's to show her, and the first thing her husband said was, "Penis.  It looks like a big pink penis."  A double-headed one, at that.

I LOVE this yarn, but I hated the neck warmer, so day before yesterday I unraveled it.  The neck warmer had already been washed, so it was not easy to unravel, but I did it with only about a 3" loss of yarn at the end.  It also means the yarn is very kinky, because I didn't bother to try and straighten it before using it again.  I just balled it up and started knitting.  I used the Ida pattern (didn't use the split loop and don't see the point of ktbl, so it's a straight up k1, p1 rib using her method of increasing to get the shape on the ends) as a jumping off point and went from there.  Used less yarn than the crocheted one, too.  So, here 'tis.

 

 The dragonfly is an odd thing, and I don't really know the "official" name of it, but I think it was prolly used to hold the top sweater on a twinset closed at the neck, back when twinsets first were popular (i.e. before I was born).  There is no pin back on the piece, but there is a spring in the body and two very sharp wire grabbers back there, and to use it, you pinch the wings together, put it where you want two things held together, and let go.  The wire grabbers dig into the yarn and hold it in place.  Maybe I should just post a picture here so you can see what the heck I'm talking about...but Better Half is trying to get me to go feed the neighbor's horse, so that'll have to be later.  Buhbye for now!

Maggie is Two Years Old

Well, at this point she's two years and 4 days old.  :)  Here she is in all her radiant beauty.

 

And here she is dancing for a treat!  Happy Birthday MaggieWaggy!