Fricknits

7, Bottom to Top

I've been both specifically and generally tagged for the Seven R-Word Things meme.  Under more productive writing circumstances I might have dodged this particular blogging bullet, but dammit, I need a swift kick in the keyboard.  I blame Ravelry.  I blame report cards.  I blame the fact that I've made the end-of-year shift to teaching gender studies and have had to re-adjust my curriculum.  (See past gender studies highlight here.  Today's highlight- a female black belt in Tae Kwon Do broke some boards for my kids.  Jaws dropped.  Splinters flew.  Stereotypes were challenged.  A good time was had by all.)  In order to avoid total R-wordness, I had to choose a theme for these.  Enter my knits to do the work for me!  Top-down, toe-up, we're all about tops and bottoms here.  But mostly bottoms.

1.  Bottoms up!  I told you I was going to do this, right?  Here it is- my first-ever toe-up sock in STR Lightweight in the color G-Rocks.  I used Wendy's newest pattern to guide me into the toe-up world and it couldn't have been a more pleasant experience.  Now that I've finished one, I've started another in different yarn before I do the second.  Even so, I'm not feeling any second-sock-syndrome coming on at all.  Maybe it's those colors.  Toe-up is so darn satisfying. I just hate those leftover beautiful bits of sock yarn that you know could have added precious length if you had only known. 

2.  Once when I was eight I saw my sister across the pool, dove in, and swam underwater until I came up right beneath her and pinched her, with the kind of ferocity only a big sister can deliver, on the ass.  You know the end of this story.  I surfaced triumphant, gasping, inches from the sputtering, incredulous face of a total stranger.  Suffice it to say I was underwater again in a flash an didn't surface until maximum distance between me and my victim had been achieved.  Clearly, though, 24 years is not enough distance to keep my face from turning red when I think of it.

3.  The Biscuit has 8 toes.  That's because his second and third toes, on both feet, are fused.  A few hours after he was born, a nurse came in and said she needed all visitors to leave the room because she "needed to talk to the parents alone."  Can you imagine?  When we discovered that the cloak and dagger was about his freakin' toes, I didn't know  whether to hit her or hug her.  I think I would have chosen the former had I not been somewhat mobility-challenged at that moment.

4.  In sixth grade I plopped down on the beanbag chairs in our classroom's reading corner with the latest Choose Your Own Adventure (enter the spooky cave or dive into shark-infested waters?) and my rear encountered a newly sharpened pencil.  I think the lead's still in there.

5.  I have had two obgyns and one midwife tell me that, despite what every book and every website and every other person on this earth says, it's fine to have an occasional drink during pregnancy.   I do not subscribe to the Precious Vessel theory of motherhood.  I believe that there's a lot of anti-female stuff going on in the world of pregnancy and childbirth that masquerades as empowerment.  But that's for a longer post.  I'm just saying that if this summer at the beach, there's a lime and a Corona and a fish sandwich with grilled pineapple in front of me, I won't necessarily say no, and I definitely won't feel like less of a mother.  Bottoms up, indeed.

6.  And while we're on the topic of things that could get me flamed out of blogland, I might as well go for broke.  In addition to beliving in the occasional glass of wine during pregnancy, I do not (gulp) love Harry Potter.  In fact, the item at the very bottom of my knitting basket- the Davy Jones's Locker, be-barnacled knit of my nightmares, is a House Colors Scarf that I promised to knit for my school auction in, of course, Gryffindor colors (I was really hoping for Slytherin).  I do appreciate what Rowling's books have done for kids- encouraging so many of them to read and to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes from scaling the peak of a 700-odd page (cough*overlong*cough) book.  However, despite her stupendous imagination and inspiring personal story, I just think...I don't know...maybe she needs a better editor?  The adverbs.  Good lord, the adverbs. 

7.  And here's one from the top, to go with my Hello Yarn Top-Down bonnet.  On Saturday, May 12, my cousin graduated first in his class from Virginia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.  I couldn't be more proud, T-Man.

As usual, details on FO's can be found in the Knits '07 album in the sidebar!

Our Dirty Little Secret

Has this happened to you?  You're trying to explain to a non-blogger (much less a non-knitter) where you got your beautiful bootie yarn, or or about why you're suddenly so into camels, or the crazy coincidence of just having bought a new kind of ice cream for your sister and then later that same day reading about how it goes much better with biscuits...and you come up against that wall of a phrase, "This friend I met on the Internet."  And then they look at you and they imagine a seedy motel in Paducah, where that video store clerk you met online awaits with a bottle of cheap bubbly for you to leave your husband and children and Away With Him to a new and exciting life.  "This friend I met on the Internet."  Hello?  Lifetime Televison?  I've got a movie pitch for you.

My most recent encounter with this phenomenon came when I went to visit my sister in the hospital and brought her (as all new mothers should be brought) some fancy soap for her first postpartum shower.  Jess loved it and took in all its herby goodness and the sweet owl on the wrapper with appreciation as I hemmed and hawed away about how it was made by this woman I know, well, from the Internet, well, I met her through the blog, and she makes this incredible soap, and she's a knitter, but I've never really met her, just through the Internet, and well...  And finally it hit me.  Why the heck was I putting myself through all of this when I could just say, "A friend of mine made it"?  So that's what I did.

And my friend Maryse just gave me my new favorite word.  And my friend Cathi (a MILF indeed) sent me a link to Tori Amos's new video, because she knew how much I needed it.  And my friend Ashley introduced me to the phrase, "heteronormative gender fascists" which I think would make a great band name.  And the talented Maritza tagged me with a Thinking Blogger Award to pass on. And that's just to name a few. Friend, friend, friend.  Say it with me now, and drop the whole  "Internet" thing.  Don't it feel good?

And I really needed my friends this week- even if they didn't know it.  On top of the heartbreak in Blacksburg, we had difficult news from my doctor about the Fricklet, which resulted in some scary tests (needles as long as your arm!), much loss of sleep, and a wait that, had it been minutes instead of days, would still have been too long.  Yesterday we found out that all is well.  Just another case of modern medicine's commitment to giving every woman in the world an anxiety disorder.

Tonight I plan to retreat to the bath to soak off the tears and sighs and pains of this week and replace them with lavender and rose petals and skin-softening oatmealy goodness.  Megan, take me away!

Thanks, friends, for keeping me afloat.

Blogger's (Silent) Poetry Reading

Thought I'd throw out a curve ball on this one.  Feeling fiesty today.

“What Do Women Want?”

I want a red dress.

I want it flimsy and cheap,

I want it too tight, I want to wear it

until someone tears it off me.

I want it sleeveless and backless,

this dress, so no one has to guess

what’s underneath.  I want to walk down

the street past Thrifty’s and the hardware store

with all those keys glittering in the window,

past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old

donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers

slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,

hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.

I want to walk like I’m the only

woman on earth and I can have my pick.

I want that red dress bad.

I want it to confirm

your worst fears about me,

to show you how little I care about you

or anything except what

I want.  When I find it, I’ll pull that garment

from its hanger like I’m choosing a body

to carry me into this world, through

the birth-cries and the love-cries too,

and I’ll wear it like bones, like skin,

it’ll be the goddamned

dress they bury me in.

- Kim Addonizio, from Tell Me

G-Frick

The tissue paper's in the bin, the Play-Doh's crusty, the card table's back in the basement and the fancy plates are wiped and stored.  Who's up for a meme?  Daphne posted this one the other day, and I asked her to slip me a letter.  She did so, sneakily, in the comments on my last post.  And it's a doozy.  It's a letter I barely ever use.  In fact, it's a letter that does not appear at all in this paragr...oops.

Here's the thing of it: ten topics, truthinesses, themes, or thingamabobs that begin with the letter G. 

Germane:  No, not the Jackson.  Words like "germane" and "genuflect" and "gamine" are par for the course when it comes to conversation with me.  Some people find this off-putting.  It was murder on me in high school. 

Grammar:  As I've shared before, there are certain grammar rules for which I'm a stickler.  Misuse of adverbs such as "hopefully," for instance.  "Hopefully we'll open great gobs of gifts tomorrow" literally means that one will open great gobs of gifts in a hopeful manner.  Which I suppose one does, given the popularity of fruitcakes, seasonal mugs, and coffee table books.  Homophone errors are the proverbial nails on a chalkboard.  However, I am horrible, with commas.

 

Grouper:  I once shared the back of a Mexican pickup truck with one.  It's a very big fish.  (That was a good movie, wasn't it?  "Big Fish"?  Oh, right.  Not germane.)

Greens:  As in the kind the Biscuit is not eating.  At all.  Any mothers out there know whether or not I need to get some vitamins for this kid?  Because I think he is in danger of becoming a cheese.  This diet deficiency was driven home to me when we visited our friends at the farm whose son not only eats greens, but will SUCK HIS GREEN BEANS THROUGH A STRAW.  I mean, what good are kids if you can't train them to do tricks?

Gob:  If you only ever do one thing I tell you to, then please, please, please get your hands on a copy of "Arrested Development."  Ten out of ten Anns agree; it's the best show ever.  And when I look at what's going on over at Stephanie's today, it makes me want to cry.  With all this power, we knitters could have saved that show!  Le sigh.

George: I have a very fond memory of being a child and watching Looney Tunes- the episode where Bugs and Daffy are abducted by Marvin and brought to Mars as companions for Hugo, his pet, the Abominable Snowman.  (An interruption: Isn't it brilliant that this was a big "of course" according to our childhood logic?)  And the Snowman strokes Bugs' ears and ruffles Daffy's feathers and says, in this totally goofy voice, "And I will love him and hug him and pet him and squeeze him and I will pet him and pet him and I will take him home and call him George."  Now George puts his snowmen on plates and eats them!  Where's that Abominability when you need it, huh? 

God:  See definition in The Devil's Dictionary.  Lower-case and upper.

Gawain:  I had a bit of a crush on my Arthurian Lit professor in college.  So I took Medieval Lit as well.  I have read the Works of Sir Thomas Mallory twice.  Who could resist, what with all the smiting of helms and passages such as this one: "Then seyde his dwarff, 'Take me your rynge, that ye lose hit nat whyle that ye drynke.'"  Ah, how I wish for my own dwarf to lend me helpful reminders in such situations.

Green:  Something strange has been happening in terms of my recent yarn purchases.  I've always been a purple girl.  I can't remember a time when it wasn't my favorite color.  Then comes red, hands down.  But I've been buying green yarn up by the basketfull, and planning green projects.  Maybe it's the Newness of the coming year.  Who knows?  Still, I'm a purple girl at heart.

Going, Going, Gone!  We're off to the farm tomorrow morning, and we'll be back on New Year's Day.  So it's a big happy early birthday to Cara (and her gorgeous G) and a marvelous and champagne-y New Year to all of you!

Let me know in the comments if you'd like a letter of your very own.  I'll give you one with great and glorious glee.

My Life. My Blog.

It's raining, it's pouring, my photos are boring.  I went to bed and lost my head and couldn't blog in the morning.  Until.

So I cheated a bit on the self-portrait.  That's me on the left.  On the right, my beautiful Bird, who left me a pointed comment on the last post.  She's right.  If I have time to blog, I have time to call my pregnant sister.

Speaking of comments, I'm about to reach the quadruple digits!  Should you be, say, the quadruple-digit-and-first, I've got a little something for ya... 

Thanks, Cara.  Again.

She Asked for It

Sick and tired of these lists?  I will direct you, then, to Diana.  Because she asked for it (see comments for previous post).  Here are 10 more bloggy things, because I'm like the Big Box of lists over here.  Two for one!  Cleanup on aisle nine!  Buy American!  Or just dress like one!  Living wage for none! 

1.  There are four bloggers out there who, for varoius and sundry reasons ranging from mommy-bonding to strange coincidences, know Biscuit's given name.  However, I'm about 8.9 times more likely to call him Biscuit (or Bicketts, or Roo, or Hooterboots, or P.J. O'Pootertoots, or Crankenstein) than to use the name on his birth certificate. 

2.  Speaking of kids, I think Abi and Heather take amazing photos of kids in knits.  I want to squooze their children.  Is that so wrong?  I spend much of my time trying to figure out how to take photos of my students and their knitting without really taking photos of my students and their knitting.  Hence the classic "faceless knitter" shot.  This one is my favorite, and also perhaps the most worthwhile post I've ever written.

3.  This is one of my new favorite knit blog posts of all time.  (Warning/tantilizing tip: illicit drug use.)  Richard III is my Shakespeare of choice, which I know is a bit odd.  I'd love for the ladies of Blue Moon to forsake Midsummer and try out some new colorways: Winter of our Discontent, Grim-Visaged War, Naked Villany, My Kingdom for a Horse...is it just me, or would these be brilliant in sock form?

4.  I am an automated robot.  I must be.  It often takes me longer to get those strings of letters and numbers typed in correctly than it did to write the frickin' comment.

5.  The other day, to no fanfare, I removed the "Neighbors" heading on my sidebar.  This was supposed to be where I kept a list of favorite blogs, but I didn't keep up with it and it nowhere near represented my blogreading life.  Pointless, superfluous, it, like so many adjectives, adverbs, and "really's" peppering my students' writing, was cut.

6.  As a teacher and lover of the language arts, I almost always adhere to capitalization and punctuation rules in email.  I only resort to the use of punctuation-as-facial-expression in the rarest of circumstances.  I have no problem with other folks' use of these new "conventions," though.  ;-)

7.  I am desperately covetous of other people's crafts.  Visiting blogs like this one and this one is an act of self-flagellation.  I dearly long to make a Denyse Schmidt quilt and an Amy Butler bag.  But I need a fabric habit like I need a hole in the head.  (That doesn't mean I didn't buy the Schmidt book, though.  A girl can dream.) 

8.  I do not know how to use Photoshop.  Most of my photos are taken in my living room in front of the mirror (that's my Ouma's portrait in the background) or on the Biscuit's play table.  It has a lovely white laminate finish and sits in the sunniest room in the house.  I use a Kodak Easyshare camera and there are smudges on the lens.  I take dickety-eight pictures for every one posted.

9.  I know this has probably been said before, but as someone who teaches media studies, I am highly suspicious of what we've got going on here in blogland.  (Though doing very little to stop it.)  How many yarn, pattern, and book purchases have you made because of what you've seen being blogged?  Do you not think we're being studied and used as a demographic?  Do you see the writing on the wall?  Soylent green is people!  It's people!

10.  I am the worst Socktoberist ever, because not only have I not knit a pair of socks in the month of October, I have no plans to.  I just liked the button.  Can't a girl like a button?  But just for barefoot kicks, I've posted here photos of most of my sock yarn stash.  And because I so want to make a contribution (Sockvember, anyone?), here's a "contest" of sorts.  Post a link in the comments to your favorite FO ever, and I will put you into the hat to win some sock yarn from the stash- something good, I promise.  As you can see, I've got a bit of everything.

10 Bloggy Things

A while back, the Grumperina posted a new meme, "10 Knitterly Things." As I started composing my own in my head, I realized that most of what I wanted to tell you was not about my knitting, but about my blogging about my knitting.  And that's where we'll begin our list:

1.  I don't know which comes first in my heart, the writing or the knitting.  The knitting definitely came before blogging, but I've been writing longer than I've been knitting.  I once, in Grade 4, composed a poem spoofing Ann Bradstreet's "Upon the Burning of our House."  Mine was entitled, "Upon the Finding of a Louse."  You can tell what was taking up the school nurse's hours in those days.  (Remember sitting on that little chair while she ran the comb over your scalp?  Remember how nice it felt?)  In Grade 5, I kept a journal while my family was at the beach, and composed stories with shocking amounts of kissing in them.  Nobler literary pursuits followed, but the early poems and stories, they were thrilling.  (And may save me later on a slow blogging day.)

2.  The story of how I got started blogging is the usual one.  Girl reads blogs, girl yearns for blog, girl is finally spurred to blogging because a friend does it first.  My first loves were Cathi and Jen, and then I found Cara, as did so many, through the Jaywalker-along.  At the blogger meet-up at MDSW '06, I regressed to my middle school wannabe days.  And then Beth blogged.  And I was not about to be left behind.

3.  It took me an embarrasingly long time to discover what bloglines could do for me.  I used to click, and click, and click, and click, hungry for new posts.

4.  Until this September, I had no Internet at home.  All blogging was done at work or, over the summer, at my parents' house.  This meant schlepping the camera and the Biscuit, snacks, toys, and diapers, and hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't discover just how non-baby-proof this arrangement was while I was in mid-post.  Needless to day, there was a whole lot of "saving as draft."

5.  I believe firmly not only in replying to comments (even if it's days later-sorry), but also in visiting the blogs of those who leave comments here.  I suppose it's lucky, then, that I'm not the Harlot, with her dickety-billion commenters.

6.  The greatest number of comments I've ever received was on my latest post.  So I thought this would be a good time to finally show my face.  You made this goofy gal giggle!

7.  I've received many gifts from readers of this blog- most of them comments.  However, I must take time to give special thanks to Lorinda for some gorgeous blue stitch markers, one of which graced Shedir for a time, to Nikki the (once again) Blogless for vintage German glass bead stitch markers and a lovely playsilk for the Biscuit, and to Heather for the most wonderfully random act of blogging kindness ever.  After reading about Forecast's sad day at the library, she made certain that I'd never have to wait for Knitting without Tears to be returned ever again, because now I have one that's mine, all mine!  The "on hold" wars have ended! The townsfolk rejoice!  Pie for everyone!

8.  I add a new blog to my bloglines almost every other day.  I've only ever removed a few: when it seemed the blogger was gone and never to return, when I felt I'd never live up to the standards being presented and therefore decided to save myself by reading no more, or when s/he never ever, no matter what, answered a comment.  Here are my three newest favorite reads: The above-mentioned Heather, because she's a girl after my own heart- a reader, a smartie pants, and a generous soul; the ever-green Kelly, who lives where I wanna live and isn't smug about it, takes beautiful photos of flowers, and who isn't afraid to blog about laundry; and Megan- you had me at "philistine."

9.  While writing this entry, I received my 700th comment.

10.  A post I'll always remember: Thanks to Grumperina for this post, which has saved me countless diaper dollars.

*Above photos of WIPS- Mr. Frick's seamless hybrid (with special secret message inside!), Classic Elite Provence all wound up for a baby blanket, and a cashmere cowl for me, me, me!

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Julia

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My Ouma's first name was Julia, though everyone called her Fran.  My parents also had a good friend named Julie at the time of my birth.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? The Biscuit was born two days after the horror in Beslan. That was a powerful cocktail of pain and joy and thinking about parents and children and loss.  We think about that community a lot.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? A for effort, C+ for consistency.  Thank the skies for keyboards.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? The word lunchmeat gives me the skeeves. 

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, if only for the perks.  I'm very generous.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Having a bit of a meta moment here...

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep, and also my toes!!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Only if pushed.  By someone willing do endure a black eye, a knee to the groin, and a few thousand yanked hairs.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I am a Cornflake Girl.  (But I hang with the raisin girls.)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes, but the only tie-up shoes I wear are hiking boots.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I'm a mother.  Hell, yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? A really good mint chocolate chip does wonders for a foul Frick mood.  I even paid premium price for a couple of hanks of a special Lorna's mint chip sock yarn.

14. SHOE SIZE? 8 1/2

5. RED OR PINK? This question seems vaguely pornographic.  I only say that because I can't figure out why else it's being asked.  Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My social awkwardness and tendency to overthink everything.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I really miss the Bluths. 

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Not sure what this means, as it was never sent TO me.   If others want to post it, great!  Let me know and I'll come and check it out!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?  Grey pants, black sweater, black embroidered shoes.  It's Parent Conference Day, so I'm going with the neutrals.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A donut hole.  The upside to Parent Conference Day.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Planes flying into National Airport. (Just TRY to get me to call it Reagan National.  Go ahead.  Make my day.)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Eucalyptus.  The Biscuit's head.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Some guy at Boden. 

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Hands, eyes.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? So very, very much.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Margarita on the rocks with salt. 

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Knitting with two strands of mercerized cotton. 

29. EYE COLOR? Brown

30. HAT SIZE? Medium.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Mr. Frick makes a mean Pad Thai.  Can't beat a burrito, unless it's with a burrito that has more sour cream and guacamole than the first burrito.  That burrito kicks burrito booty.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Scary endings to happy movies.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer outside, winter inside.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Please.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? They don't call it a pie hole for nuthin'.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Was this originally an email?  This would explain #s 18, 38, and 39.

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? La, La, La, I can't hear you!

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (out loud to my class), just finished Autobiography of a Face and hope to start The Pox Party: (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing) soon, because the author and I go (a little) way back.  In knitting reading, I've got Knitting Without Tears at my side.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? My finger.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? We don't have television reception.  I watched "Go Fish," an episode from Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Mermen!

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The clunk of a package on the front step, crackling fires, the Biscuit "reading" In the Night Kitchen.  ("Milk!  Milk!  Milk for the morning cake!")

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Stoner

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? In miles, Prague.  In the "worlds away" sense, Haiti.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Levitation.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Portsmouth, VA

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Lifted from Cara.  See #26.

News from the Department of Irony- Finished photos of Forecast have been delayed by...wait for it...bad weater.  Stay tuned!

SP9, and I Feel Fine

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
First a question.  Why is "not" enclosed within asterisks?  I'm somewhat unsure about this usage of the asterisk, as usually it seems to be a little wink at the reader ("I am *so* thrilled with this box full of plastic yarn!)- the asterisk of irony, if you will.  But here, that makes no sense.  How exactly does one dislike with irony?  Here are yarns I've worked with and loved: Socks that Rock, Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb, Cascade 220, Rowan All Seasons Cotton, Manos, Malabrigo, Classic Elite Lush, Habu anything (see below), and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino anything.  I'd love to try some new yarns, and I'm developing a yen for tweedy ones, sea silk, and all things Sundara.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A big, disorganized basket and a Mason Jar.  I would LOVE a system for my circular needles.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for quite some time.  However, we're currently studying the Greeks in school, so I'm hyper-aware of the great sin of hubris.  Let's say I'm an intermedite plus.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, but it's ill-tended, so no.
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
Eucalyptus, rosemary- woody stuff.  Though I really don't dig scented candles.  Those stores with the giant candles with scents like "Grandma's 13-Flavor Poundcake" and "Ole Timey Logpile" give me nasal hives.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Not really.  I'm a savory kind of gal.  I do love the Ginger People candies.  Candied ginger would be a great colorway name.  (I have mixed feelings about the word "colorway," though.)
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I don't spin.  I used to collect stickers.  Scratch n' sniff, oilies...but I was nine then.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
The House of Frick rocks out to: Aimee Mann, Tori Amos, Beastie Boys, Madeline Peyroux, The Flaming Lips, They Might Be Giants, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Feist, Cat Power, Lucinda Williams, and The Sippy Cups, among many others.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I have a deep and abiding love for all things purple and red, but I enjoy just about all colors. 
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Mr. Frick, the Biscuit (see below) and I cohabitate with two unfriendly cats.  In my wildest dreams, my secret pal volunteers to take them off my hands.  They're beautiful on the outside, just like Tyra Banks.  Fierce!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes.  Though I prefer the terms "Isadora Duncans," "noggintoppers," and "wraps."
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I'm just getting into sweater mode, and it's been a blast so far.  I'm pretty much pleased as punch to knit whatever catches my fancy.  It's slow, and easy to catch.
13. What are you knitting right now?
Forecast and a seamless hybrid for Mr. Frick.  I always have a pair of baby socks on the needles, because I have very fertile friends.  Could you be one of them?
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Sure.  Do you make cheese?  Wine?  Time?
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I knit most everything on Addi Turbos.  I prefer circs to dpns in most cases, though dpns are handy when burglers, rogues, and pundits are afoot.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes!  There was great rejoicing in the land on the date of their purchase.
17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Older than most cheese, but younger than most wine.  (Bonus info: I love both wine and cheese.)
18. What is your favorite holiday?
Yell "fudge" at cobras day.  Thanksgiving is also pretty cool.
19. Is there anything that you collect?
I do collect nichos from the Cielito Lindo Studios in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  If you get me one, you are officially a rock star.  Officially.  I will make you a badge.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Interweave Knits.  I'm considering investing in Knitpicks Options, as I have a giant needle collection and still never have the size I need.  I've recently discovered the wonders of the library for knitting books, but would love to start an Elizabeth Zimmerman collection.
21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd like to learn the two-handed color technique so that I can knit Mr. Frick a We Call Them Pirates.
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes, 8 and a half. I'm jonesing for some knee socks.  Any takers?
23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)  August 11, Midnight, Sharp.  A birthday shared with Hulk Hogan and this man, whom I despise.  As I was born at midnight, I might also claim to share a birthday with Suzanne Vega, Mark Knopfler, and Sir Mix-a-Lot. 

Now that's better.

Two Truths and a Lie

The countdown is on- next week the meetings begin, and after Labor Day the kids arrive, so I'm starting to get my chalks in a row.  Yesterday I went through my closet and weeded out the ill-fitting and just plain ugly, took cold weather stuff and put it in the guest room closet so as to give everything room to breathe, and even wrote up a list of what I'll wear the first week of school.  (Did I mention daycare started yesterday?)  I had a meeting with the Bossman, unpacked some boxes in my classroom, sent postcards to my new students, and finished up my summer reading.  So now it's time to think about what we'll do on Day One.  And so I give you Two Truths and a Lie, a game I sometimes play with the kiddos to loosen them up (and to spot the good liars right off the bat- helpful info).

Behold three things about me. In this case all fall under the category of "wacky exploits."

1.  When I was nine, my best friend Conan and I formed a "Goonies" club inspired by the brilliant film by the same name.  In search of adventure, we climbed to the roof of Chief Justice Warren Berger's home, whereby I lowered Conan by means of a rope we found in his shed into one of the upper floor windows.  He emerged breathless from the front door claiming to have seen bullet holes in the Chief Justice's briefcase.  We had to disband the club when we were caught stealing tires out of a neighbor's backyard and painting them yellow with a green "Goonies" logo.

2.  I spent the summer of 1997 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  On my birthday, my rock band frontman Mexican boyfriend Paco took me to the bullfights, where I watched a 12 year-old blond sensation kneel in front of, put his elbow on the head of, and finally dispatch with an understandably angry bull named Campanero.  Maybe it was my rowdy cohorts who drew his attention, but it was somehow relayed that it was my birthday, and I was awarded with the coveted ear of Campanero.  Which I refused to touch.

3.  After three weeks spent studying whales in the Gulf of California, I took a bus across Baja to a small town called Todos Santos, known for its artists.  From there I hitchhiked out to the beach with an odd little man in an odd little car whose intentions were somewhat suspect.  He left me to find my own way back, and so I ended up in the back of a pickup truck with two fishermen, Carlos and Hector, and a giant grouper.  They were much better company than the odd little man- including the fish.

Can you spot the lie? 

I'd love to see what you all come up with, so if you're so inclined, try a TTAAL post on your blog and tell me about it so that I can come guess! 

But just to get this party started right, I'm going to tag Ann, Cara, and Cathi, because you KNOW those girls can bust a fib.