Tuesday's Meme

Well I got tagged, I can't remember the last time I played tag but here it goes. I was tagged by Angelia today.

Here are the ten songs that popped up on my Ipod when I did the shuffle function. 2130 plus songs and these are the ones that come up .. go figure

Here goes nothing:

1. Rapture - Blondie
2. The night is still young - Billy Joel
3. Pastime Paradise - Stevie Wonder
4. Middle of the Road - The Pretenders
5. Monkey - George Michael
6. Tu Amor Me Hace Bien - Marc Anthony
7. Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks
8. Live Wire - Motley Crue
9. Calle Luna, Calle Sol - Hector LaVoe
10. All I wanna do is make love to you - Heart

Well off I go to work on my scarf and I did finish the socks. Pictures will be posted very soon.

Congrats to my best friend and her GOLD MEDAL. Next Olympics ... Spring Board Diving.

Titi ... what ya doing ?

On Sunday morning I got beckoned to my mami's apartment.

My brother would have babysitting duty of his 2 and half year old granddaughter Nyrie. She is beautiful but a handful. Since I don't get to see her as often as I use to, I have to find ways to con her into coming to me or even letting me hold her. She loves her grandpa and she spent the first 20 mins hiding behind him until I pulled out the cheetos. Nyrie is a talking machine now and has a question for everything. So while I was cooking ( did I mention my mami is out of town and my brother hates cooking) I pulled out my yarn and started to work on my scarf. I got two great skeins of Lorna's Laces bulky at the Point last week on sale last week. It is a mix of the best colors of chocolate, grey and a dark yellow. I LOVE IT.

But Nyrie loves playing with my yarn and taking it for a spin on the living room floor. She has a fondness for my Clover Flexi needles too! She thinks they were pencils and wanted to color with them.
Titi ... what are you doing? I'm Knitting ... What's that? ... Its yarn Nyrie... oh Yarn...
Titi ... what are you doing? I'm Knitting ... What's that? ... Its yarn Nyrie... oh Yarn...
Titi ... what are you doing?
So this went on for about 5 minutes.

I was more than willing to sacrifce the two feet of scarf ( and I wasn't crazy about the pattern) to have Nyrie spend some time with me .. her Titi.

For the love of knitting

Happy Weekend to all my new friends !

I have a love for knitting socks, I am still on the learning curve, the right yarn, the right gauge and different techniques - but I enjoy them so much. I did make about six pair of bulky socks for holiday gifts for some friends and I made a pair of stripped ones for a co-worker Anita who feeds my knitting obsession by taping Knitty Gritty for me ( I don't get the DIY network). If you are still seeking help with turning that heel, there is an episode of Knitty Gritty that did socks alone, and I followed it step by step.

So recently I started a pair of socks for the mother of one of the best friends any girl could have ...Minnie opps..Minerva to the rest of the world. She saw the pair that I made for my mami and she asked me to make a pair for her mami in Puerto Rico. Of course I would make them, her mom is amazing and I would love her to have a pair of hand knit socks made by me. So Minnie picked the yarn from the Knit Picks catalog and I ordered it and casted on the same day the yarn arrived - hey they have to be done by the 3rd of Feb before her trip to the motherland but

I HATE THE YARN !

Well maybe not hate but I dislike it so much. It's a sock yarn with elastic, and I didn't realize it had elastic before ordering it, and its driving me crazy. It has a elastic pull to it so when you are knitting it stretches and when you are going dpn to dpn it creates a gap, so you have to tug at it to keep it seamless. So I am rushing through these socks as fast as I can. Knitting on the train to and from work, before my shift and during my break. Of course they will be a perfect as possible, but I can honestly say I will NEVER EVER use that yarn again.


Here is how they look so far, and I am about to start the heel flap on the second sock, so I will be knitting all weekend to finish them. The first one does look good and I am happy with my patience level in knitting them up.

And to everyone finishing up before the Knitting Olympics are over tomorrow CONGRATULATIONS on a great effort and wonderful team spirit.

Who needs Fed Ex !

Today after a long day at work, I went to my knitting class at Seaport Yarn with Nan. It was the last one, and I will be going to the intermediate classes starting next week ( cables, instaria, fair isle and lace) . Nancy is a pro already... the bi**h... but anyway. I came home to find a Fed Ex slip on the floor in front of my mailbox. This is the package that was supposed to be delivered in 6-9 days.

I needed a new 20 inch television for my bedroom, nothing too fancy and affordable. I don't watch much t.v. in my bedroom but you know those days when you just do not want to get out of bed or can't fall asleep. I went to Circuit City with my brother yesterday and got this for a good deal and free delivery. Did I ever mention that I live in a walk up .... FIFTH FLOOR. Deliverymen are my heroes. But this one came the next day, I wasn't home and he left it with my first floor super.
So I could:

• Leave it there and wait for my future husband to carry it upstairs for me ...NOT
• Go down to my supers apt when I can't sleep and watch a little tv
• Throw some rope out the window and haul it up the outside of the building or
• Carry it up myself.

Thats what I did.. step by step and stair by stair but I did it. Its already in use ! There have been many a bookcase and computer bought up these stairs in ten years but I usually had help.

So needless to say .. no knitting tonight, no writing in my knitting journal. It has become an two advil kind of night.

Thank God for Advil !!!

Oh my gosh...it's a shrug !!!

So here she is. Miss BN 2006 ! No really this is one of my fantastic booksellers Jennifer. She asked me if I could make her a shrug. So I showed her the one from the most recent cover of KNIT IT. She wanted the heavy thick and quick yarn, and the goldenrod color, she is is very much into earth tones.

I have read that many are having problems with this shrug. I don't know if it's a conversion issue or a gauge problem, but I had no problems except my laziness in finishing it. I finished it right on time too, it was freezing this weekend and Jennifer wore it at work telling everyone that I made it for her but then she was scared that it would get snagged. I had no problem in seaming it considering that Nan and I have been taking a series of classes at Seaport Yarns http://seaportyarn.com one of which seamless simple seaming and putting your garment together.

I hope that eveyone else completes their shrugs without too many headaches, or too much frogging.

Smooches !

Didn't I tell you they would make fun of me !!

Hello everyone !

I had an early shift at my store, and I had a surprise waiting for me on my office door, but I didn't notice it at all until my head cashier Stephanie showed it to me.

Over the past few years depending on my shift at work I sometimes get to work anywhere from 15-30 minutes early. Hey its quality knitting time. My Ipod, coffee and my yarn. My booksellers know not to bother me until my shift begins. Leave Maribel alone ... "she's knitting !"

<----- This is Stephanie, one of my head cashiers and one of the booksellers who have taken up the pointy sticks because of me. She is currently working on a Vogue Knitting Pattern - a cute bag for her mom. Everyone at work thinks I am starting a cult, there are now about five knitters at my store because of me. Bookselling is stressful! So last night while on her dinner break, someone said that she was morphing into me. She has my needles (size 17's) reading the same book I recently finished - The Fiery Cross ( love love love the Outlander Series ) and she had her gladwear for lunch. So they got her a pair of glasses, a cup of coffee and some water and she put her earphones on to mimic my ipod earphones.
WHERE IS THE LOVE??? Everyone was cracking up, they thought it was me ... but I'm chubbier and I have curly short hair. I'm I upset that they see me as this crazy manager who knits all the time and spends too much time with her needles, or the manager who runs the knitting group, or someone who is way too obsessed with her yarn. NO.. im not upset, it's all so true. But there is one thing I know for sure. I am the one who has taught them something so special and pure. The love of knitting and that there is nothing wrong with fondling a skein of merino wool in public.

This post was supposed to be about the shrug I finished... but this was so much more important to share. I promise tomorrow all the pics !

It's my blog ...and I will bring you to your knees if I want to !!

Okay so this entry has nothing and I will say it again nothing to do with knitting or any fiber craft.
After work today I had plans with one of my best friends. In this blog you will get to know that I have some of the best friends in the world. Some local and one in Lakeland, Florida :-)

Today was dinner with Mark .. the poet in my life. I have known Mark for over 14 years and he has been a rock in my life in so many ways. So it was dinner at a Peruvian place and a movie.
It was freezing today, and the wind was whippin' my butt like I was a naughty girl.
So on the way to the movie, we stopped at Radio Shack. You see Mark needs perfect sound and enough bass to move an elephant.
We walked by this window of a massage place with this horrible video in the window of someone getting a massage. Some people should not be wearing pink and purple latex in high definition on First Avenue.
I mentioned to him that I had a full body massage about two weeks ago. I wonderful birthday gift from Nan last year ( she knows me so well).

He asked in a shocked voice " you let someone put their hands all over you". I said yeah and dammit someone should put their hands on me! ... DID I MENTION I AM SINGLE !!!

Mark .. my friend my poetic hero fell to his knees !!! Everyone at Radio Shack started to laugh.
I had him on his knees ... go figure at Radio Shack. But all this because he was shocked that I would say that to him.

After all these years he was shock and surprised..but thats one of the reasons I love him so....

Smooches

The cube spilleth

Everyone has heard the story of why I named this blog "the knitting cube". It helps me hide a lot of the stash that I have been spending my money on lately in some of the great stores in Westchester County. One of the hardest things to do was to go to Goldman's Yarns in Hartsdale to stock up knowing that they are closing their doors after 60+ years. They are finally retiring and boy do they do deserve it. I have bought enough to get through some projects for a few babies and some kitchen stuff for my mami.

The cube spilleth over ....

And what you all don't know is that I have a lot more. I know I am not the only one- come on we all are yarn addicted. Has everyone heard the stash horror story on Brenda Dayne's Cast On Podcast this week, it is hilarious.

But what about the projects on my needles. I am not officially doing the Knitting Olympics, I didn't sign up in time and I was somewhat daunted on what to complete. I had just finished knitting a hat and 70 inch scarf in three days for one of my favorite managers (and I sprained my finger) and I had started a shrug and this rag doll was the the brain.

So I have started the doll and the shrug is almost there, and a new scarf will be started tomorrow. So where does this leave me .

NO MEDALS FOR ME :-(

But I have decided to take the knitting journal that I bought last year and write down as many projects that I can remember, the yarn used and to whom I gave it to. Keep a record for my future and to see how far I have come.
So maybe I will just get an honorable mention.

Keep the pointy sticks moving.

What a beautiful welcome !!!

WOW. I want to thank everyone who has commented on my new blog and has made me feel welcome to the world of blogging. I have a lot of ideas for this but for now I just want to show everyone my neighborhood - the day after. The snow hit record marks here in NYC ... I was home until I had to leave for work at this afternoon. I had the closing shift at my bookstore ( and it was hell !!!) The first pic is my walk to the train station, and since im very petite that was a lot of fun...not

This is my street, I love the way it looks in the snow, all the kids that played hookie from school were already having a ball in the park.

I am almost finished with the shrug from the KNIT IT, the winter issue. Its for a co-worker and I hope to have it finished by this weekend. Of course you will see it complete and looking so pretty on her.

Thanks again for all the great comments.... GRACIAS

Why the Knitting Cube?

When deciding as to whether to "blog or not to blog", I had the same decision to make as all the other knitting bloggers.

What do I name this online journal and would it sound interesting to a total stranger?

I did know a few things before starting this new creation:

• I am a proud knitter
• My best friend Nancy would stop answering my phone calls by the end of the week, not being able to stand my dumb questions anymore
• I would have to dedicate myself to this blog as I have to my knitting
• And if my staff would laugh at me if they knew I was blogging about knitting too!

But then it hit me, I had the perfect name. Something that would have knitting in the title and would make someone special to me smile when she heard it.

The Knitting Cube... and here it is !

Since I live in a small one bedroom apartment in the Norwood area of the Bronx (that is about 15 mins from Yankee Stadium) I really don't have the space for a coffee table and my stash, but trust me I do find some hiding places.
Nancy, the Bronx Girl http://bronxgirlknits.blogspot.com surprised me for Christmas with this great cube from IKEA. Nan knows my space issues and this cube serves as a place for my yarn stash, my make-shift coffee table for my cup of tea or hot chocolate and where my mom puts her feet up while at my apartment as I serve her lunch.
I love it is so much since now it helps me hide my mess ... lol, but now I have all my needles handy and categorized in the cube in ziplock bags.

So it was perfect for the name of my knitting blog.

I did get some pressure from a few other bloogers http://angeliasknitting.blogspot.com to start my own. Before this I was just sending Nan my stuff and I was part of hers, and I loved doing that and might still continue to do so, but now I have my things to talk about and share with everyone.

Hello Everyone ... I am finally here! Don't be too shocked, all the hints and all the pushing worked.
So instead of being in my small apartment watching the snow starting to fall and working on some much needed knitting, I am sitting on Nancy's couch watching her put my brand new blog together. Hey that's what best friends are for.
So why the blog, well to quote the champion of blogging herself, the Yarn Harlot herself. Simple its pure jealously and envy. Don't we all need new friends and new ways of expressing ourselves. Of course there is that closet writer in me and until I write that amazing Hispanic novel or get discovered as the chubbier petite plus size model, I am doing this and I hope that everyone continues this ride with me.