I am in the process of learning Photoshop so I can start youthening retouching my photos.  I am all for reality, but reality through a filter of my choosing.  ha ha ha!  Somebody needs to haul their ass out onto the porch and knock those cobwebs down, too.  Maybe when I finally get the painting done this fall?

Anyway, the only changes I made were adding a half and inch to the body length, changed the decreases and crocheted around the neck and armholes.  I am glad I made the crochet choice.  It helps to make the neckline and armholes lay flat.

                                              
I am left handed so that is how I learned to crochet.  That’s probably why I throw when I knit, because I have always held the yarn in my right hand.  I want to learn how to knit Continental but my left hand does not want to cooperate – I am pretty right dominant.  Eventually I’ll get it.  I just have to force myself I guess.  So, that’s why my crochet is “backwards”.

You know, I know that Stephanie is Canadian so she would of course have that accent but it was still a little strange to hear it coming out of her. Too, we are in the deep south which makes the accent stand out even more, eh? I was so accustomed to it in Michigan but it dawned on me last night that the only time I hear a Canadian accent anymore is usually when I am traveling outside of the country. Those Canadians go EVERYWHERE! I have seen that maple leaf pasted in some strange places.

Mr. tooks pics of the finished Fitted Tank and put them on my desktop for me. Problem is they all need to be rotated and imported, or is it exported, again to my desktop so when I upload them they will be right side up instead of reverting back to the original position. You still with me? Boils down to this: I can’t get the pics right so will have to post them later.

I do have a pic of my new ride:

Mr. surprised me with it on Monday. It’s the new Electra Amsterdam and it’s totally totally awesome! It’s 3 speed with coaster brakes and everything is enclosed so I could ride it in the rain with a skirt on and not get back-splashed. That is if I ever wear a skirt and ride my bike. Or, actually, okay, bought a skirt and wore it on my bike. I like having options. And gears are nice. After riding my fixed gear for so long I forgot how nice coasting could be. Oh yeah, the Amsterdam also has the old school generator to make the headlight go. Totally bangin’! The child in the pic with me? That would be The Girl, throwing her gang signs like she knows what she’s doing. That series of pics is actually hilarious because I stay basically the same while she is doing all this signaling. Sometimes I wonder if she wasn’t switched at birth. lol

Oh, and could someone explain to me why, why why why a motorcycle helmet – the brain bucket style – would cause Dude to go crazy? He was in the back snarling and jumping around so I went looking to see what the deal was. I was hoping it wasn’t mice when I realized it was the helmet. I picked it up and he about lost his shit. Of course Fat Beagle goes by and doesn’t even give it a sniff. It’s got to be having a brain the size of a pea that makes Dude so nutso.

I’ve been working away on the Fitted Tank. I knit the whole front but then decided I am not as big as I think I am, frogged the whole thing and reknit in the medium size. I swear, in my head I am 200 pounds. I spent all of last night finishing off the neck and armholes. The neck shaping on this sweater is just plain ugly. You get lots of steps and after trying the recommended purl bind-off finish I ripped it out. It just didn’t smooth things out enough. So I went with a single crochet edging for everything. I looks pretty good and lays pretty flat. Once I got the neck done I did slip it over my head to make sure I could get it on. One thing that isn’t imaginary is that I do have a big melon. I like to think it’s because I have an unusually large brain but I seem to be the only one to go with that theory, but I digress. It went over my head. Because I am freaky anal about getting things just right, I crocheted and tinked and crocheted again until I was satisfied with my stitches and the spacing and all of that. Hopefully later on I’ll have pics of the finished product, but right now I have this:

that’s it waiting for sewing up. The color is nowhere near accurate as Mr. fucked with enhanced the picture. It’s less garish than that in real life. Trust.

I’ve also got a pic of the lace RSC socks I finished a while back

they turned out pretty well actually. When I can I’ll get pics up of the latest RSC shipment. Really cool colors this time. Of course, I still have to finish up the last shipment. No excuse. I’ve only got like, four rows to go but spent a lot of my time catching up on MS3 which still isn’t finished but there isn’t any rush on that. Eventually.

I was knitting happily along on the stole this afternoon when the mail came. In it was the new issue of Interweave Knits. I started to flip through real quick before I set it aside but I got completely sidetracked. This issue is full of patterns that I would knit and that doesn’t usually happen. I typically see a pattern or two that I would think about knitting but this issue seriously has me thinking about which yarns and in what colors to use. I promptly decided that when this stole is done I will do no more such knitting until I’ve got my fill of winter knitting out of the way. But first I gotta get a cotton sweater out of the way. The yarn and pattern arrived while I was on vacation and I am itching to get started. I haven’t yet knitted a sweater so I want to start with something easy and this looks like it’ll fit the bill nicely. It also looks quick which appeals to me too for a first time sweater. I should be able to wear it non-stop, too. So that’s the list: catch-up MS3, finish RSC Solstice Slip, get Mr.’s socks on the needles and start the cotton sweater. I might have to quit my day job.