So Much Hooking I Need A Red Light.

There has been much excitement at Casa de la Stalker recently. I've been getting reservations made for the Dallas weekend and Chris found some rogue knitters for a yarn shop crawl and it's all just. Too. Much. I'm not sure I was this excited about the cruise. There has been much squealing and happy puppy butt wiggles on my part and much rolling of the eyes and finger ticking on T's part. At this point I'm not sure who all I get to meet. My head spins with the possibilities! This also means I will probably have to make future trips to Dallas to keep in touch. Oh. Darn. Hee!

In crocheting news:

Yes, you read that right. I've been crocheting. Have too. Like hooking it up until 1 am "just to finish this row" crocheting. Yeah baby. Stalker found her groove back. See, here's the deal. For about the oh...hhmmm....last YEAR I have had an issue with getting inspired or caring. I have started umpteen projects and either cast them aside or ripped them right the fuck out because I just couldn't stand it. Crochet was making me angry. The yarn stash has been making me angry. Where is my muse???? Where is my inspiration? Where is the excitement of finding a new pattern and knowing just the yarn for it? Hasn't happened.

Well, about a month ago I was in the local Barnes and Nobles and happened to see the Stitch N' Bitch Happy Hooker book. I didn't get all excited. I just thumbed through it then tucked it under my arm in the slim hope there might be something in there worthwhile. Then it sat in my back seat for weeks. So terrible when you can't even get excited enough to look at new patterns.

So a couple of weeks ago, I went to Mom's and took the book in to show her because she collects patterns the way I collect dust. So she goes through the book and gets all excited at how new and wonderful the patterns are blah blah blah....then she smacks me and asks me if I have even really looked at it. Well.....define look, woman. *Smack* Never get a smart mouth with anyone you call Mom. They take smacking privileges. So I look through the book. "Oh wow...this shawl is what I have been looking for for 2 years! Oooh check out the cute potholders with skulls on them! EEEEE an anarchy pattern!!" My butt starts the wiggling and Mom announces "You have neglected cool patterns. In punishment, the book will stay here with me for a while." *Whimper*

No big deal. I've done without this long, right? Yeah. So about the same time as said visit and book confiscation I decide that part of the problem is the gaming. I play both Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. I am addicted to both. I am trying to advance in both. This does not leave much time for anything else. Executive Decision Time!! From now on Tuesdays and Thursdays are non-gamin nights. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for getting my house back in order and crocheting/knitting/reading/movie watching. So far it's been about the cleaning and the reading. Cuz the project I wanna do is in the book Mom thugged from me. Finally I can't stand it anymore and Tuesday I called her and begged her to scan the pattern and send it to me by email. She laughed at me. She said she knew if she denied me the book I would want to crochet so bad it would hurt. Sneaky bitch. I love her.

Tuesday I get home and there, in my inbox is the pattern. Oh sweet yumminess. If any of you have the book, it's the Sweet Pea Shawl here.

The pink kinda grosses me out cuz it's too bright but the pattern! It's sooo sweet. I started it Tuesday night. Chained 202. Got almost to the end of row one with all the shell goodness and realized I was doing the shells ALL WRONG.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppppppp! *Curse snarl foam rage hate*

So I chained the 202 again and set it aside for the night. Stalker needed sleep to deal. Wednesday? Could not stand it. I kept looking at the pattern off and on alllll day and making sure I had the instructions and understood in my head how it needed to be worked because I want to see this shawl take shape. I'm using this yarn and it's been so fun watching the colors emerge as they are being worked. When you knit with a variegated you get some really cool stripes or pools of color. When you crochet with it, it will at times twist the colors around each other forming a striping in the stitch itself or causing a candy cane effect in a double crochet or, in this case, a double treble crochet. It looks pretty awesome.

Picture huh? No cuz I suck. I got 3 rows of the shell done last night and was exhausted but happy. I will have more done by the time I get home cuz I hate putting it down. If you wanna check back this evening, I'll have a picture posted of the current progress. Although, at this point, it will just look like a jumble of yarn. This thing is gonna need some serious blocking and y'all, this is gonna be a first for me. Never blocked before cuz afghans? Yeah, big and heavy with not so much blocking involved. Ack!

Update! Shawl Progress pictures! Wheeeeee!

Tada!!!


Ok, kidding! Hehe

Here's a picture of the pattern emerging (so freakin cool and I wanna run around with it going "Lookie lookie it's awesome! Squeeeee!")



And here's a close up of some of the stitches that have the really cool color twisty thing kickin'.

And y'all, seriously? This thing stretches across my bed and down the sides a bit. It needs to be blocked. It's going to be huge. Guage what? Where the hell am I going to block this thing? Wonder if the neighbors have an open floor.....I don't think I have one that big! Do I know anyone with a king size bed?? It's going to be sooooo cool when it's done. *Happy puppy butt wiggles*