temptation's the name

For the bakers among us

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:34:02 -0700

Saw this on Early Word and am now craving cupcakes:

Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make

Alan Richardson

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Yarn in 2008 - June

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:57:41 -0700

Honestly, if it weren't for my trip to California and my visits with the Guppy, I would have had my lowest money spent on yarn month next to the one where I didn't spend any at all. However, the purpose of visits to yarn stores on road trips is to pick up yarn that you don't regularly see in your neck of the woods.

Number of yarn transactions: 5

Locations where yarn was purchased:
The Yarn Shoppe - Davenport, IA
Alamitos Bay Yarn Company - Long Beach, CA
A Mano Yarn Center - Los Angeles, CA

Number of skeins purchased: 35
Range of price per skein: $1.48 to $44.25
Range of total prices: $24.26 to $112.15
Total: $271.90
Average price per skein: $7.77

Yarn purchased:
Plymouth Yarns Suri Merino (burgundy) - For use with Crystal Palace Fling (in Berry) for a shawl.
Crystal Palace Fling (berry) - For use with Suri Merino for a shawl.
Crystal Palace Party (lacquer) - Have no clue what I'll use it for. It's a bright red and it was on sale. Plus, the only ball left.
Crystal Palace Party (lilac) - Additional ball for previously mentioned "Sam's Scarf"
Crystal Palace Glam (purple-silver) - See previous.
Crystal Palace Glam (lapis-violet) - No clue again. Liked the color, on sale and only ball left.
Rowan Summer Tweed (spring green) - I think I'm going to do the Aileen Celtic Cable Purse (Ravel It) with it.
Stacy Charles Ritratto (red rainbow) - Picked a ball up to (kind of) match another ball in the same colorway I had bought last year. Will probably do a lacy scarf with the two now.
Classic Elite Yarns Provence (pure peri) - No clue. Loved the color. All cotton. Maybe a bag?
Lana Knits Hemp for Knitting (grass green) - Again no clue. Liked the color and wanted to try some hemp.
Blue Heron Yarns Rayon Metallic (deep space) - No clue yet again. Loved the color name and the yardage was great considering the price.
Malabrigo Worsted (seleccion privada o) - I think I'm going to use this to make a shawl I saw at knit group last night. Yardage should be about perfect. Plus, the colorway really caught my eye.
Kraemer Yarns Fountain Hills Brushed Mohair - No clue, but probably a shawl or afghan thanks to the yardage. And man, was the yardage *abso-fabulous* for the price.
Kollage Yarns Cornucopia - (chorus) No clue. Liked the color and the material (corn) was not something I'd seen much of before.

Ravelry contribution to date: $10.29 (This breaks the $10 minimum threshold I set for this year's Ravelry donation)

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Vox Hunt: Lucky Number 7

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:24:46 -0700

For the 7th day of the 7th month, show us 7 of something - OR - something lucky.

Devillibrarian

Different glasses, different haircut, but still the same lucky sumbitch.

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In my past life...

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:26:16 -0700

Gakked from uncagedbird and like her, completely unexpected:

What Animal Were You In Your Past Life?

You were tiger. You were fierce and ferocious and it still shows. Your temper and attitude is unpredictable and not well understood. You're a product of nature's beauty, but you're also a short-tempered beast.

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QotD: Why I Blog

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:44:01 -0700

Why do you blog?
Submitted by littleduckling.

To stay connected to friends who don't live close to me.

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I love the mail

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:41:25 -0700

Because it gives me happy things such as the title to my car. That's right, I now have the title to my car in my hot little hands. Now, to figure out where to store it for at least the next four years.

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Yarn in 2008 - May

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:05:03 -0700

This was a fairly quiet month for me, yarn purchasing-wise. Which was a good thing as I had the trip down to Alabama for my cousin's wedding. Remember that near-insane amount of Crystal Palace Shimmer I bought to make a shawl? First, I made it too fricking wide and not long enough. I had a feeling it was going to be wider than my 6 feet wingspan, but I didn't expect it to be TWELVE feet wide. Twelve. I was giving some great thought as to steeking it in half and then grafting the two halves together, but decided it wouldn't be worth the effort and potential stress as I finished it a couple of days before the wedding and I don't own a sewing machine in which to sew safety lines up the sides of the steek point. I was just going to double it up and let it cover what it would. You know what I did? I left the stupid dress it matched in my apartment. In. My. Apartment. A two and one half hour drive away from my parents' in Chicago where I realized I had forgotten the dress. I had even turned around 5 minutes into my drive and came back to the apartment because I had also forgotten my camera. I walked right past the open closet where the dress was hanging. Aaarrrrgggghhhh. So, the amount of time I'd spent knitting the shawl was pretty much a bust on numerous levels. Yeah, so that's my story for the month. Probably the year, too. I'm planning on staying out yarn shops this month with one potential exception. When I head to L.A. for the American Library Association conference, the Guppy may be taking me on a field trip to her LYS. I will need to find some way to restrain myself if that's the case ;)

Number of yarn transactions: 3

Locations where yarn was purchased:
The Yarn Shoppe - Davenport, IA
Home Ec Workshop - Iowa City, IA

Number of skeins purchased: 7
Range of price per skein: $7.95 to $9.50
Range of total prices: $7.95 to $47.50
Total: $63.40
Average price per skein: $9.06

Yarn purchased:
Cascade 220 Quatro - I got one skein each during two transactions. The first skein is for use experimenting with Kitchen-Aid felting since my mom picked up a second bowl and flat beater for me at the Kitchen-Aid outlet. I ended up agreeing to a trade with a friend where she's going to crochet me a shawl and I'll knit her a tea cozy, and her favorite colors are orange and green. Well, the first skein I got is color #5019 which is a mix of lime greens, so I got a second skein of #5011 which is oranges. So, I'm going to use the orange for the body of the Kureyon Kozy and the lime greens for the false bottom and I-cord.
Malabrigo Silky Merino - Do I need a plan for these skeins beyond petting? I think not. Three skeins in Indiecita (which has yellow I did not expect in it) and two skeins of Azul Azul. I'm glad I was able to get my hands on these finally as the Malabrigo factory suffered from a fire last week. Good luck to them.

Ravelry contribution to date: $6.47

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Packing for trips

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:23:12 -0700

My Memorial Day weekend plans are to go down to Tuscaloosa, AL for my cousin's wedding. I'm leaving Thursday afternoon and have knit night tomorrow night, so I really should be packing up tonight. Of course, I haven't. Part of it is that I don't feel like packing up stuff I may need tomorrow or Thursday morning. Plus, it took me about two hours tonight to bind off on the Big Ass Shawl and steam block it. I still need to weave in the ends, however I can do that tomorrow night. And damn, apparently gauge matters when you're knitting a shawl side-to-side. Instead of being a little over 6 feet wide, the Big Ass Shawl is truly Big Ass at around 12 feet. And because it's so frakking wide, it's not as long as I would have liked it it. Bah. Good to know if I ever plan on knitting another ever again.

Next up on the needles, a first birthday present for one of my nephews. I have a little over three weeks to do two, which is very unlikely to happen, but I figure if I get one done and include a note promising the second one by my birthday, three weeks later, I'll be good to go. I also figure I can work on it while waiting for planes and on the planes this weekend while I'm listening to audiobooks...providing my sibs and in-laws don't want to talk to me too much...which probably won't be the case :) Plus, I need to finish a tea cozy by ALA Annual to swap with a friend of mine. This will be my first tea cozy, and I plan on doing the Kureyon Kozy pattern from Knitty with sachet option, but using Cascade 220 Quatro #5019 (lime greens) for the bottom and I-cord and #5011 (oranges) for the false bottom and body. It should be a lot of fun, and I hope quick!

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QC SnB field trip

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:44:19 -0700

I finally uploaded pictures from the knitting field trip I took to Chicago with two of my knitting buddies last month. Not a lot, but fun ones :)

Brenda & Susan in downtown Chicago

Susan & Brenda at Loopy Yarns

Susan's haul

Nana's Knitting

Waiting for the Harlot

Brenda @ IKEA

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Vox Hunt: Wedding Bells

nobody@vox.com(devillibrarian) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:46:00 -0700

Show us a photograph from a wedding.
Submitted by Connie.

IMG_1439

An oldie, but a goodie.

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