WatchME: Epi2- What a Weird Week

WatchME: Epi1- CraftyME Welcomes You

CraftyME: Oh Baby I'm a RockStar....

Yeah so I may have Rihanna "Rockstar 101" playing on repeat right now. "To be what you is you gotta be what you are. The only thing I'm missing is a black guitar. I'm a RockStar!"  Why? you may wonder....I'll tell ya...

So like I have said or maybe not (don't know if I really posted about it) But I have been feeling very WoeIsME as of late. Without going into a bunch of whiny specifics WorkME(shh) had a couple of setbacks and the rest of life has been trying to drive me crazy as well.  That's mostly why I've been SlackerME and not posting. Hell I hadn't even really been on OCS believe it or not.

Now after feeling this way for a couple of weeks, CraftyME was like "Yo, so what if other people are being craptacular right now. Show 'em how awesome you are. You have talents you are CRAFTY." So CraftyME picked up hooks and needles and got to crafting. So here's a little sampling of what I've done in the past 2 wks.

First up is one that I can't really go into a whole lot of specifics about yet. Let's just say I'm helping an artist out on a project that involved me making a 6 ft long by 9 inches wide ruffle. Once He gives me the okay I'll post more pics. But for right now just know that yes on a day when temps were 107 degrees, in a house with no air conditioning, I did my part. lol.

Next my WorkME (shh) wonder twin commissioned a Walk of Fame inspired star blanket for a "star is born" baby shower. Not bad for a weeks worth of work.

I'm gonna skip to yesterday's rainy Saturday project. A couple of dishcloths and a scrubbie. Yeah so what I was supposed to be actually washing the dishes....It was more fun to lay on the couch and watch trashy movies & knit.

"I told ya, I told ya" Back to the reason I'm a Rockstar......



I made my first knit garment. My RockStar Coachella!!!

This is another Knitty pattern, Coachella. One that I had sitting in my queue forevah. Just before MDSW I heard an older episode of The Knitmore Girls and Jasmin mentioned she had made it in some kind of ribbon yarn. Well at MDSW I was browsing at the Tess's yarn booth while waiting for the podcastor meet&greet. I saw some pretty ribbon yarn and was like oh I've gotta ask Jasmin if this was the kind she used. Of course I got all fangirly and forgot to ask her. But after the M&G I went back to the booth to buy some sox yarn. So I get to the front of the line finally to check out and the girl working the register has on this beautiful gray top. So I'm admiring it when I had a light bulb moment. ME:" OMG is that the coachella?" Her: "why yes it is" ME: " is that made out of the ribbon yarn?" Her: "yep." I looked at the long ass line behind me and then back at her shirt and back at the line.... Her: " if you want to run and grab it I won't make you stand in the line again." ME: " thank you thank you!" Total impulse splurge. Totally worth it.

Fast forward to July4th weekend. WoeIsME running rampant. CraftyME feeling the crafting urge. I got up on whim and said I need something to make me feel better.  I'm gonna make that Coachella this week for my birthday. This yarn and this project were the perfect antidote. I so F'LUV em both. They flowed together seamlessly.

 And now I feel like such a RockStar because yeah...I'm kinda awesome. Rock on my friends, rock on!

TouristyME: Maryland Sheep & Wool Fesitival 2010

Once again OnlineCrackSpot has ME into something I would have never known about it. Now I'm sure my non crafty friends are thinking the same thing I was...Seriously a sheep and wool festival?!? You're gonna walk around a farm looking at sheep all day? Yeah there will be a couple of vendors selling food and handspun/ handdyed yarns. But, Really?!?

 I waffled back and forth all week on whether I should go, especially with the chance of a rainy week. Then 2 things happened to make me change my mind. First the forecast changed from showers all week to a super sunny 87 degrees. Second, a couple of my fav podcasters (see InterestME: Podcasts for links) were organizing a meet & greet. Now I don't know if you read my last posts (which you should by the way;) ) but I have been listening to podcasts pretty much nonstop lately. So there was really no good reason to miss a chance to let my inner FanGirl miss an opportunity to meet KIPing it Real's Jackie and The Knitmore Girls themselves, Jasmin & Gigi.
 So I lurked the boards on Rav and found that a LYS Rosie's Yarn Cellar was running a bus down to Maryland. TouristyME was gonna venture out on her own on another touristy adventure. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

 This little farm turned out to be a hugemongus amount of acreage. And that couple of vendors...try over 250! Oh the food! Oh the yarn!  Oh the heat! Did I mention the 87 degrees & super sunniness? Poor TouristyME was so busy trying to shuffle water bottles, maps, note-taking, and sweat wiping, that I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked. But I did get to meet Jackie, Jasmin and Gigi.

I even managed to control my Fangirl-ness long enough to give Jasmin my hastily thrown together card, asking her to pleasepleaseplease check out this here little blog. I told her about my entry on them inspiring me to blog and maybe one day trying to podcast. Get this Jasmin said if I do it, to send her a promo and she'd play it on their show. How cool is that?

 Both WannaME and CraftyME were in heaven. There were so many different types and colors of yarn that I didn't really know where to begin. But trust, WannaME found a way to lose her mind and tried to put us in the poor house. I went with vendors whose names I've heard mentioned before, such as Tess' Designer Yarns, Miss Babs and Creatively Dyed Yarn.  Look at all the pretty:

I'm happy to report that I was able to calm WannaME down a bit. I just knew early in the day that I was gonna leave MDSW with a drop spindle & some roving and call myself a new spinner.

Yeah after sitting in on a mass spinning demo.... 

...eh not so much. Maybe next year.
   All in all, it was a wonderful Touristy experience. I met some awesome people, learned some new stuff, and ate some great food. It was just the perfect starter course for the fiber festival world.  Next stop Stitches East 2010, in my hometown of Hartford CT! I'm saving up now.....

InterestME: KnitCroBlo3 & knitCroBlo4

One Great Knitter
Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way. TAGGING CODE: knitcroblo3

A New Skill
Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe  you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork. TAGGING CODE: knitcroblo4

 I've already written about being inspired by the wonderful Woolly Thoughts Curve of Pursuit blanket and next attempting to tackle cables wilth the twisty Quinn bag. So I was gonna skip these 2 days because I didn't really know what else to write about.  Not to mention I'm good for not quite following through.  But whilst sitting here being good little WorkME, my ears tuned in and the lightbulb lit up. So in an effort of stickingtoitness, I bring you days 3&4 combined.
So thanks to OnlineCrackSpot I no longer listen to music when I work. I listen to podcasts. And more specifically, I listen to crafty podcasts.  If I can't knit, then I can learn more about knitting. There are several that I have subscribed to that I enjoy. You can find them over there in the right column, InterestME: podcasts.  One in particular that I really really like is The Knitmore Girls.
 For those who aren't familiar with them, The Knitmore Girls are a mother-daughter knitting team who chat about their knitting adventures. Jasmin & Gigi are like knitting goddesses. They are constantly churning out beautiful intricate sweaters, shawls, and socks. They've even developed their own oft-referenced sock pattern Vanilla Socks. I'm learning to do magic loop just so that I can make my first pair one of these days. TKG is full of handy tips and tricks, product reviews, and proof that even knitting goddesses can make mistakes and be attacked by knitting too.  Every now and again their advance skills and topics can be a little overwhelming for a newer knitter, but its not usually for long.
  TKG and the other podcasts that I enjoy give you the feeling your having a nice little convo over coffee.  Most of these are what continue to spur my interest in blogging. And one day maybe even attempting to start podcasting myself. Heck I already pretend I'm doing just that whenever I type a new post.  Although since I can barely get a handful of people to checkout this here blog, I'd probably just be talking to myself. And Lord, I can't imagine people being soothed by my Muppet-on-helium sounding voice. But still I can see WannaME whining about wanting to have my own show.  Who knows, maybe one day.......

CraftyME/WannaME:check it out...

So I just wanted to take a quick second to point out that one of my fav podcasts, NevernotKnitting is doing an AMAZING!!!!!!1111 giveaway. Let me tell you WannaME's mouth is watering. I've been watching this book on Ebay and Amazon. Now Alanna is giving it away along w/a bunch of yarn. Check it out.