Just finished:

I just finished these lovely socks.

I used the padded sweet tomato heel by Cat Bordhi. I don't remember what the yarn was sadly, but I can look it up. I hung out in the yarn shop all day today, just so that I would finish them. I didn't bring any other projects with me, so I had no choice but to work on them. Even wove in my ends as soon as I bound off. This year is off to a great knitterly start. I just have to MAKE myself do ends as soon as I bind-off. Otherwise I have projects that sit around in a finished but not status for years.

Dusty!

198 Yards of Heaven
Used a different edging than the pattern, and a beaded picot bind-off.

Wow, it's been YEARS since I've posted anything. What insanity! Thought I'd dust off this old blog and post on occasion this year. I'm going to shoot for a couple times a month. After all I can't deny the reality that I'm not good at journals and never have been.

So, updates:
I'm still knitting. Way more addicted than I've ever been to yarn. I plan on knitting at least 12 shawls this year. A few toys, which I have never done before. A sweater for my mother. A couple sweaters for me. LOTS of socks! I love knitting socks.
I'm single. I like it. I'm lonely sometimes, but isn't everyone. I shouldn't really need a man in my life to be happy, and I resent anyone thinking I do. I've been going to a regular knitting group on Thursdays for about the last 1.5 years. The ladies are very nice, sometimes querky, and all around lovely. It seems like most of them are outside of my age group however.

Knitting resolutions for the year:

• Treat my yarn and knit items with the delicacy they merit rather than the sloppiness I tend towards.
• Finish more projects and frog anything and everything I’ve become too bored with to finish. Remember that "finishing" does include blocking!
• Make shawls for me, rather than ALL of them.
• DESTASH!!! Not necessarily from buying no yarn at all, such a thing is impossible since I LOVE new yarn. I have enough yarn to last me a decade of knitting at the moment. So I'd like to try not to buy more than I have used. Which is why I'm adding a yarn meter to my usual online activities.
  

Devistation

Today I found out that my divorce was final.

After over four years I am a free woman, but the price is too high.

When I originally filed for divorce back in '03 the person in charge of the divorce class informed all of us that the papers only stayed on file for 3 years. Procrastinator that I am this was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was too much time to force me into action, and not enough time for me not to be a dumbass. I have been seeing Andre since '04 so one would think that I would take care of it but I am a true procrastinator.

It means that tonight I am spending the night without my son. That I can only show him how much I love him 3 weekends a month. The pain in my chest whenever I think of it. Well, I have been galvanized! I must win this battle. I must have my son back with me before his father can do him more emotional harm. He won the first most important battle, but he had to cheat and misdirect the court to do it. Today when I found out the terrible news he asked me, "You didn't change your address with the court did you?" He knew that I hadn't, because I would have been in court on the appointed day if I had.

I was not there, I never received any notifications and as far as I knew my paperwork had expired. So, my last name has changed, I am sure Andre must be pleased about that. It hurts so much that I can't spend the day helping my son with his homework, or going to the park, or to Shawna's, or just seeing his beautiful freckle covered face. We have all this weekend, but then I have to give him up again. It is like a knife twisting around in my throat, not enough to kill me but it hurts like hell.

Tomorrow I am going the to courthouse first thing in the morning to get copies of all of their paperwork.

Tonight Andre asked me if I would be willing to sell my knitting. Apparently the wrist warmers I made for her have garnered a lot of attention. http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/60159A.html
I wish I had a picture of them, but she never sent me one. They turned out pretty fabulous though! I have only knit for money once. Shortly after I first learned Andre's mother asked me to make something for a co-worker. The lady had commented on the items I had made for Xmas. Since she was retiring soon Andre's mother wanted to give her a gift, what better than something hand made that actually looks nice, right? Well I hated it so much it is a wonder that I am still knitting at all. Maybe it was because I was still a new knitter that the deadline sucked so bad, but I am inclined to think not.

I don't think I want to knit for strangers. So much goes into each one of my projects. I can't help but put a little piece of me inside each one. The simplest project could take me hours to complete. It isn't worth it to knit for money if the item takes more than a few hours. Most of the time people are too cheap to pay what it would be worth for the time alone, before one even considers the materials. I love knitting for the people I care about. For strangers it is only a chore. I would rather do house-work.

Drop Stitch Tam

I made this tam to go with the Clapotis for my mother for Xmas. I used KnitPicks Shimmer, on size 3 needles. The tam is 20 inches around unstretched. I do still need to weave in elastic to the brim, alpaca doesn't take ribbing too well. I don't want the thing to fall off moms head every few minutes.

Basic Pattern: Check gauge before deciding how many cast-on stitches you need. I used a lace weight yarn, so I had about 8 stitches to an inch. I also found it easier not to use a bunch of stitch markers so I purled the stitches that were to be dropped.

Cast-on 162 stitches. Join without twisting. Place marker at the beginning of round and carry it through out project. Work 1 inch worth of 1x1 ribbing. Next Rnd: *k2tog, yo, k4* all the way around. For 5 inches *k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* each round.
Next Rnd: *k1tbl, drop next st, let it drop down several rows, pick up top bar with left needle to form a new st (make sure this st isn't twisted), k this and the next stitch tbl, k3, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round.

[Each of my decrease sections started with 18 stitches. I decreased 9 times every other row. 18x9=162 and 27x6=162 decide how many decrease sections you will want depending on your gauge. For instance if you are using a worsted weight yarn you will probably cast on something around 96 stitches. Which would mean you would have 8 decrease sections that are 12 stitches wide.]

Decreases: Rnd1:*k2togtbl, k1tbl, k3, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [17 sts/section]
Rnd2: *k2tbl, k3, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [17 sts/section]
Rnd3: *k2togtbl, k3, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [16 sts/section]
Rnd4: *k1tbl, k3, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [16 sts/section]
Rnd5: *k2togtbl, k2, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [15 sts/section]
Rnd6: *k1tbl, k2, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [15 sts/section]
Rnd7: *k2togtbl, k1, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [14 sts/section]
Rnd8: *k1tbl, k1, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [14 sts/section]
Rnd9: *k2togtbl, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [13 sts/section]
Rnd10: *k1tbl, (k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3)twice* to end of round. [13 sts/section]
Rnd11: *k2togtbl, p1, k1tbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [12 sts/section]
Rnd12: k1tbl, drop next st, let it drop down several rows, pick up top bar with left needle to form a new st (make sure this st isn't twisted), k this and the next stitch tbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [12 sts/section]
Rnd13: *k2togtbl, k1tbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [11 sts/section]
Rnd14: * k2tbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [11 sts/section]
Rnd15: *k2togtbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [10 sts/section]
Rnd16: *k1tbl, k3, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [10 sts/section]
Rnd17: *k2togtbl, k2, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [9 sts/section]
Rnd18: *k1tbl, k2, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [9 sts/section]
Rnd19: *k2togtbl, k1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [8 sts/section]
Rnd20: *k1tbl, k1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [8 sts/section]
Rnd21: *k2togtbl, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [7 sts/section]
Rnd22: *k2tbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [7 sts/section]
Rnd23: *k2togtbl, p1, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [6 sts/section]
Rnd24: *k1tbl, drop next st, let it drop down several rows, pick up top bar with left needle to form a new st (make sure this st isn't twisted), k this and the next stitch tbl, k3* to end of round. [6 sts/section]
Rnd25: *k2togtbl, k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [5 sts/section]
Rnd26: *k2tbl, k3* to end of round. [5 sts/section]
Rnd27: *k2togtbl, k3* to end of round. [4 sts/section]
Rnd28: *k1tbl, k3* to end of round. [4 sts/section]
Rnd29: *k2togtbl, k2* to end of round. [3 sts/section]
Rnd30: *k1tbl, k2* to end of round. [3 sts/section]
Rnd31: *k2togtbl, k1* to end of round. [2 sts/section]
Rnd32: *k1tbl, k1* to end of round. [2 sts/section]
Rnd33: *k2togtbl* to end of round. [1 sts/section]
Bind-off and sew hole closed.

Name Change...

Well, I decided to change the name of my blog. For years now I have used the name Corseted Pirate. Yet when I made a knitting blog I wanted to make sure people knew it was about knitting. So I called it Knittin' Pirate. I didn't bother to check if that name or a similar name was taken. I since have, and it was taken, so I decided to go with the handle I use everywhere! After all, most of the hits when I searched it were either mine, art, or Ren Faire stuff. You can even tell what video games I play by searching it, lol! Not a person using the name. I can still talk about knitting, it doesn't have to be all about corsets, hehe!

I am glad that I decided to make the change.

The people I Love

My best friend who I have known for 13 years now recently lost a loved one. Just days after our car accident her father-in-law had a bad fall. He went to the hospital on Sunday, his beloved dog died the day after on Monday, and he died on Tuesday never knowing that his dog had passed on. I guess little Pandora knew that her pet human would never be coming home. They were inseparable those 2, even in death. His absence makes the house feel so empty. He loved to argue with anyone that would give him just a moment to get started. Every time I called he would always yell "that lady is on the phone" knowing full well that I hated being "that lady". He did love to get a rise out of people, because he could.

A week later, this Tuesday my boyfriend called me to tell me that his Grandfather was in the hospital, dying. I really like his Grandpa, he was a very nice man. I didn't know him too well, but he always came over to watch the important boxing matches. He must have been a really special man to win the heart of the nicest woman I have ever met. I am so worried about his Grandma now, the lady has never paid her own bills before, they were married for 50 some odd years. She is so nice the world will be a little less bright without her. I do not want these people I love to feel so much pain. I wanted him to make it, just because he needed to damn it! They need him! He didn't make it though. He passed away, into the night on Wednesday in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day my boyfriend went over to feed his dog, Kaya. He has had this dog since he was 14, but she can't be at his new place with him. So she stays at his moms, and he visits her. He brought her treats and wanted to play with her to cheer himself up. She had passed away Wednesday morning too. Before he came, when his Grandpa was dying. He went over to play with his childhood friend, only to find that she had died.

It hurts me that those so close to me are in such pain. I love them so much. My heart aches for them.