Black Olive Is: In The Loop

Another Knitting Holiday Under My Knitted Belt

Another Mother's Day under the proverbial belt. Phew!

This Mother's Day did not go as I expected at ALL. I expected the usual pickiness and nuttiness from my Mother, with the regular martyr response from my Granny and the usual happy-to-get-anything attitude from my Stepmom.

I was completely off-base!

The Cabled Purse was a hit with everyone except the recipient -- my Stepmother. It turns out I misjudged her tastes. She thought the purse was more appropriate for a younger person. So, the Cabled Purse (sans Electra) will live with my Stepniece (can someone please tell me if there should be a hyphen, a space, or no space between "step" and "fill-in-blank"?). My Stepmother claims to be a creature of habit, not wanting to give up her current purse for anything new -- and especially for something she considers out of her age-range. I tried explaining this was more of a party purse, but...

Oh well.

No more gifted items for her unless she specifically requests something. Which she did. She requested a nice pair of socks, so it's back to the drawing board!

In any case, Rosie The Dog was not amused at all the camera action. This is the only clear shot I was able to get of her:

I have some videos I may share as well, as soon as I can figure out how to compress them.

Here are some more formal shots of my poor Cabled Purse (It's a little twisted in these photos, but it was fixed before gifting, so no worries):

All was not lost, however. Mom loved her socks and other assorted goodies and Granny was also pleased with her stash and my Mother's socks. So much so, she actually requested a pair for herself. This was HUGE. Granny NEVER asks for anything (see martyr comment above)! She is one of those self-less people who gets uncomfortable with anyone exerting any effort or expense over her -- often trying to persuade us to "take it back" because "its's too expensive." This normally drives me nuts because I love her and want to shower her with things she deserves...so, when she asked me for a pair of socks, I knew she must REALLY want them. So now, of course, I must make her several pairs for Winter!

And I am goofy-excited about it. There is no better feeling than when someone appreciates a hand-knitted gift to that degree. It makes you just want to knit them a boatload of stuff. :-)

Last night, after all the festivities, I was craving my long-neglected Boogie Vest and plowed through the back panel. I'm hoping to start and possibly finish the front panel today. It would be nice to be able to wear it at least once before the nice weather settles in. IF it EVER settles in!

Don't Mess With My Cabled Purse!

I've decided that from now on, I'm going to include as many action figures as I can in my progress shots, because let's face it, progress shots can be tedious. And, really, who doesn't like a good action *cough*doll*cough* figure?

What brought this on?

I've been Spring Cleaning this past week -- going through old boxes of stuff I packed away after The Breakup ^TM -- and I unearthed about three large piles of action figures from way back when I was very much into the whole "graphic novel" thing (most of them were gifts from my ex). I still read a few graphic novels within the course of a year, but nowhere as much as I used to and not with the same verve.

BUT, I do have all these great little figures and it makes me sad that they're all just sitting there, alone, in those boxes, with nothing to do...

Above, you see Elektra guarding my Cabled Purse (check out her maniacal crossed eyes -- who was in charge of painting THAT? hehe). I've made quite a bit of progress in one day and am about half-way through the chart -- only 25 more rows to go! I'm digging the little cables. They almost look like bobbles. And, it really is a fairly quick knit. The title of this book does not lie!

Here's a Detail With Fist:

And one without:

Tonight I plan to watch Garden State while working the purse and stuffing my face with salsa and chips -- and hopefully I can actually finish this by tomorrow.