Liver Chick Hearts Kindle

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Kindle owners rejoice! My blog, Liver Chick Knits, is now available for you to download! That's right, you can now follow me on the beach while you sip on cute drinks with umbrellas and get sand stuck in your 'no-no' regions. *giggle* wherever you take your Kindle, you can now take me along for the ride. Like an overbearing mother, I will now live vicariously through each and every one of you, so you better be having a good time out there!

[caption id="attachment_903" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kindle Me Baby!"][/caption]

I only cost $0.99 a month, (see, I'm not only easy, I'm cheap too!). Your monthly subscription includes a 14-day free trial and automatic wireless delivery.
You can go to the Kindle store and find me under 'Liver Chick Knits', or you can just click on this freaking long link here: http://www.amazon.com/Liver-Chick-Knits/dp/B0058B8NP0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1310543834&sr=1-1

 

Socks Before Husbands

After all the celebration from yesterday, it was time to settle down and get back to work. I'm still working on that pair of men's socks that I mentioned to you before. I want to make sure I get them in well before the Knitty.com deadline.

My Boy Toy will reluctantly be my model for the socks.

Boy Toy: "Do I need to shave my legs?"

Liver Chick: "No, you can just stay all natural."

Boy Toy: "But my legs are so white! Maybe I should go get one of those fake tans or something."

Liver Chick: "Yes and have your legs look like a pair of over-baked french loaves?"

Boy Toy: "Better than them looking like the first stage of rigamortis."

Liver Chick: "Your legs are fine."

Boy Toy: "Wait, what if someone recognizes me?"

Liver Chick: "I'm not taking a full picture of you. It's just your feet and legs."

Boy Toy: "But someone could still recognize me."

Liver Chick: "Yes, because you have done oh so many fashion spreads that your legs are now as recognizable as J-Lo's butt."

Boy Toy: "What, you didn't know I was a leg model in my youth? Seriously, what if one of my ex-girlfriends see the picture and realize its me."

Liver Chick: "So, you're saying your ex-girlfriends were on their knees so much that they would be able to recognize your knees and feet?"

Boy Toy: "Well...."

Liver Chick: "Or will they have to turn the picture upside down because they're more use to your legs being up in the air?"

Boy Toy: "Okay, that's just nasty! I don't even want to think about where you're going with that one."

Liver Chick: "Hey, you were the one talking about ex-lovers recognizing your legs."

Boy Toy: "I was just saying. Maybe I should shave."

Liver Chick: "No shaving!"

Boy Toy: "But I'm so hairy. I have freaking bear legs."

Liver Chick: "No shaving. No tanning. And if some ex-girlfriend recognizes your legs, we'll deal with it on Jerry Springer! I just want to take a cute picture of you wearing my socks, that's all."

Boy Toy: "This is not going to be one of those pictures that some jaded knitter is going to try to blackmail me with later when I run for president?"

Liver Chick: "Yes, forget that you balanced the country's budget and ended poverty in America. Your entire presidency will crumble and fall all due to this one picture of you wearing my socks."

Boy Toy: "It could happen. Besides, you women are evil like that. Walking around with two sharp pointy things in your purse and a ball of yarn. At any moment you could drop a stitch, snap under the pressure, then stab someone to death with your needles in frustration and then use your yarn to wrap them like a mummy."

Liver Chick: "And that is why you can never divorce me."

Boy Toy: "No. I'll just leave the country and then serve you divorce papers."

Liver Chick: "You do remember, they allow knitting needles on planes again."

Boy Toy: "Crap!"

Liver Chick: "I love you too, honey. Now try on this sock."

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

It is time to celebrate. I checked my emails last night and what did I find? Why this adorable note sent to me by the good people over at Sanguine Gryphon:

Michelle,
We are very interested in publishing your sock design, and I would like to have the opportunity to discuss the design process with you.

 
Please call when you can, xxx-xxx-xxxx.  
Cheers,

Jamie

 Sqeels of excitement along with lots of childish jumping around followed the reading of this email. My  first sock design accepted. I shall frame this email and I will love it and squeeze it and hug it and call it George.

I called dear beautiful Jamie who talked to me about the details of the project. Now I wait for the contract and yarn to arrive. *Liver Chick gets up from laptop and does a happy dance once around the room"

Oh, by the way, my sock design I submitted for Clotheshorse was rejected the very same day. Go figure!

 

An Affair With Crochet Gloves

I love crocheted gloves. I grew up seeing the older girls wearing their white gloves every Sunday on their way to church.

I remember when my mom bought me my first pair of gloves. there is just something about gloves, especially white crochet gloves that just bring to mind thoughts and images of proper ladies and gentlemen.

During my time as a costume designer, our theatre department decided to a production of "Crimes of the Heart". The director really wanted a dainty pair of white gloves for one of the characters to wear. But after much searching, I couldn't find a pair that really fit the character. So, I did what any multi-talented costumer would do- I crocheted my own. It was one of those wonderful challenges that make you step back and really admire your work. I adored those gloves and enjoyed seeing them on the actress' hands every night of the show.

I above gloves are a pair ai found in a thrift store a few years back. I gave them to my mom, who likes to display them laying casually on top of her writing desk.

If anyone is interested in reviving the art of crochet / knit glove making and wearing, please let me know. You have my full support.

Sock Design Sunday: Absinthe

Absinthe, also known as the 'green fairy', is an alcoholic drink famously portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. It is also the name of a really cool sock design by Sara Morris.

Make sure to click on th picture below to go to the pattern for this sock.

[caption id="attachment_825" align="aligncenter" width="260" caption="Absinthe Sock By Sara Morris"][/caption]

Fiber Arts Highlights Yarn As Art

Have you seen the Spring 2011 issue of Fiber Arts magazine? There is an article about handspun art-as-yarn.

[caption id="attachment_810" align="aligncenter" width="180" caption="Fiber Arts Spring 2011 Issue"][/caption]

The interviews show the depth of emotion, curiosity and discovery behind the artist who spin these works of art. Art yarn is an area of art that is growing rapidly- especially with the help of online spinning groups and Ravelry.com.

[caption id="attachment_811" align="aligncenter" width="215" caption="Art Yarn By Linda Scharf"][/caption]

The article in the magazine continues online with bonus pictures of art yarn made by the artist who were interviewed.

Art Yarn By Laura Mayotte

This is a great article for those who create art yarn and for those who admire such creative art.

Has The Dust Cleared Yet?

Well, I don't want to jinks myself, but it would seem that life has finally settled down for the time being.

I am more than happy to be seeing the month of May's ass walking away from me. It was a bad time and we are much better off parting ways with each other.

June seems to hold a bit more promise. I got an early gift from June in the form of my very first ever Jury Duty Summon!

Socking as it may seem, yes it is my very first time up for jury duty. You think that's strange, my mom is 63 years old and has never been called for jury duty! She has even called and asked to be put on the list and still no luck.

I've been serious about turning in my sock designs for consideration into various knitting magazines, hence th lack of patterns being posted as I am waiting to see if any of my designs have been accepted.

I've only let one deadline slip through my fingers, mainly due to poor time management and that whole little bit of moving from one state to the other.

Now all my stash is finally in one place and my life- though not taking the shape I had hoped- is starting to take on something that could pass for normal.

So, what's on my needles now?

I'm working on something wooly that i hope to turn in to Knitty.com for consideration. Sorry, must continue with the secrets. But I can tell you that I'm halfway through spinning that baby poo green fiber and when it's all spun I plan to knit a pair of socks knitting it straight from the spindle. Yup, I'm going to knit it without washing the yarn and relaxing the twist. I want those twist to be alive and wirery. It should be fun.

Goodbye Mountain View

Today I say so long to Mountain View, California. Here are just a few things I will truly miss about this great little city and the surrounding area:

The Wine & Art Festival

The restaurants that line Castro Street

Mountain View Library

Hot chocolate at Red Brick

Damn good sushi

Day trips to Napa

Airship Ventures

Night trips to San Francisco

China Town

The long ass walk from the last gate to baggage loving dubbed, 'the green mile', at San Jose airport

The Comedy Club

Stanford Hospital

The secret government conspiracies surrounding Lockheed Martin and NASA AMES

Just Call Me Last Minute Linda

I just pressed the 'send' button for my design submission for Sanguine Gryphon. The deadline is May 10th and here I am on May 9th scrabbling to get my submission done.

I really have not excuse for the last-minute entry. I gave myself plenty of time to work on the swatch and draw out my sketch. However, I still found myself racing to get things done. I didn't even have time to contemplate the consequences of pressing the 'send' button. I just pressed it and then freaked out.

This is my third of what will hopefully be at least eight submissions this year. My other submissions are not due until later this month, so I have some time to breath and refocus.

So, question to all you knitwear designers out there- How do you keep yourself organized so that you can meet the submission deadlines for various knitting/crochet publications? I would love to share some of your ideas and tips with other aspiring knitwear designers like myself.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there.

Giving a ton of thanks to my mommy, Carol, who taught me that being poor is not a social condition but a humble blessing. It is only when our resources are limited that our inspiration becomes limitless! 

"Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Or do without."

The Move

Soon, there will be yet another move for me. I'm not looking forward to this move as it will mean that most of my home will be sitting in storage for a few months. I'm use to living out of boxes- I've been doing it for the past year. But I do hope this year will bring with it the chance for everything to be set right and my life to look a little more normal.

Cheap Thrills

Having made yet another swatch for an upcoming submission, I am now realizing the benefit of the cheap thrills one can get from submitting designs. This may turn out to be a profitable addiction.

Socks Fit For A Duchess

Surprisingly, I managed to stay up and watch the whole royal wedding. It was an awesome sight. I'm a huge fan of the Queen, so while everyone else was wondering what the bride was wearing, I got all giddy seeing the Queen in her elegant spring time yellow attire.

However, the day was not about the Queen, but instead it was about the future of the monarchy the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

I, like so many women (and some well figured men), will now be on the hunt for that form-fitting gown worn, not by the bride, but by Pippa, the bridesmaid. As soon as I saw the dress I text my Boy Toy, "Pippa's Dress, I Want It!"

Surprisingly, through the last night to early morning hours of watching the ceremony, the drugged feeling from my pain killers, and the pain of my sickle cell crisis, I managed to finish the royal sock that I promised you.

The sock is made with size 10 crochet cotton held doubled and knitted on two straight needles. (of course!) The jewelry used was 4mm pink beads and an antique button. Very danity and elegant. I was really hoping to make one dripping in diamonds and gold, but the bank laughed at me when I asked them for a loan for that very purpose.

So, now it is with great pleasure that I present to you my tribute to Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, the Royal Wedding Sock:

Happy Cinco De Mayo

[caption id="attachment_785" align="aligncenter" width="266" caption="Cinco De Mayo Is For Dancing"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_789" align="aligncenter" width="260" caption="Cinco De Mayo Is a Great Excuse To Go Shopping!"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_788" align="aligncenter" width="288" caption="Cinco De Mayo Is A Day To Remember The Strength Of A Great People"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_787" align="aligncenter" width="259" caption="Cinco De Mayo Is A Great Excuse To PARTY!!!!!!!!!"][/caption]

I Have Returned

Hello Everyone!

Did you miss me? Sorry for my unexpected absence these last few days. I've been in a percocet induced haze for the last few days due to my Sickle Cell Anemia. I did attempt to blog during my episode and was so thankful in taking the advice from my Boy Toy of saving all my entries as drafts instead of posting them. Now that my mind is clear I've read over all my entries and deleted them all. Why? Well, lets just say that percocet and blogging do not mix!

So, I've decided that instead of trying to back-post in order to meet my post-day challenge, I would just forgive myself for those few days missed and continue from here.

Thank you for those who continued to visit my blog everyday while I was alway. It's always nice to know that you've been missed.

Sock Yarn Saturday

These two sock/fingering yarns are the work of Lena Brown of Lena Brown Designs. These yummy yarns are made with Angora fibers that are sure to give your socks that warm and fuzzy feeling every time you slip your feet into them. Just click on either picture to learn more about the yarn and the many others she has for sale at her Etsy store.

[caption id="attachment_744" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="Carmel Delight Handpainted Angora Alpaca Wool"][/caption]

Pixie Handpainted Angora Superwash Merino

 

By Any Other Name

Hubby: So, you still blogging about your knitting?

Liver Chick: Yup.

Hubby: Is that all you talk about is just you and your knitting?

Liver Chick: Well, no. I do mention a little bit of my personal life too.

Hubby: So you talk about me? You're not using my real name are you?

Liver Chick: No, I don't use any real names. My name is Liver Chick and I refer to you as 'Hubby'.

Hubby: 'Hubby'. That's very generic.

Liver Chick: Well, I know that some bloggers use fancier names or nicknames  for their husbands, but I really didn't know what to call you, so I just went with 'Hubby'. Is there another name you would like me to use?

Hubby: How about 'Well-Hung' or 'My Pimp Daddy'?

Liver Chick: I am not going to refer to you as 'Well-Hung' on my blog.

Hubby: Oh, so you're saying that I'm not well-hung?

Liver Chick: No! I'm saying that I'm not going to mention that to thousands of complete strangers online. The last thing I need is a whole bunch of women and men emailing me asking how long you are and what price you charge for your services.

Hubby: Well, that would depend on how much they're willing to pay me for my services.

Liver Chick: I'm not about to pimp out my husband on my knitting blog. It's not that kind of blog.

Hubby: Yes it is! I've read some of your stuff. I know what you knitters talk about. Sitting there discussing long stiff rods.

Liver Chick: They are called knitting needles.

Hubby: Oh, is that the new slag word you use for it now, (making quotation sign with his fingers), 'Needles'? (Talking in a high-pitch sound to mimic women talking): "I like six inches. It gets the job done." "Girlfriend, you should try eight inches, there's nothing like it." "Honey, once you get your hands on a twelve-inch, you never want to go back."

Liver Chick: (laughing out loud) Okay, our conversations, to some outsiders, may sound a bit perverted. But that's beside the point. You have to come up with a better name then 'Well-Hung' or I'm just going to keep calling you 'Hubby' on my blog.

Hubby: Just call me 'Whitie' of 'Cracker', then.

Liver Chick: Yes, and get my ass kicked by people thinking I'm a racist. The last thing I need is the freakin' KKK after me.

Hubby: What's the KKK going to do, text you images of a burning cross?

Liver Chick: They would probably send me a computer virus that as soon as I opened it would show my blog going up in flames and little men dressed in sheets dancing around it.

Hubby: (laughing)

Liver Chick: Don't laugh, it's probably true. So, no. I'm not calling you 'cracker' or any other racial name. I'm just going to stick with 'Hubby'.

Hubby: No, I want something else. Okay, what about Ramon, the Latin lover or Antonio, the pool boy?

Liver Chick: Hummm. Pool Boy sounds good. Or maybe Boy Toy or Trophy Husband.

Hubby: I could be a Boy Toy. After all, you are older then me.

Liver Chick: Please, I'm not that old. I'm barely one year older then you.  

Hubby: Yes, but that still means you'll turn 40 before I do. Wow, can you believe that? In a few years I'll still be in my 30's dating a 40 year old. You'll be like my cougar wife.

Liver Chick: You know, you're about one more remark away from being refered to as Asshole on my blog.

Hubby: I'm just messing with you. I love you, my little cougar-in-training.

Liver Chick: Maybe I'll call you my S.O.B. instead?

Hubby: I think I'd like  Boy Toy instead.

Liver Chick: Okay, then Boy Toy it is.

Boy Toy: Liver Chick and Boy Toy. Sounds like a bad porn movie title.

Liver Chick: Or a very funny blog.

The Good and The Bad

Spent the weekend in Monterey with my hubby- Good.

Missed my little one- Bad.

Got free drinks at the bar- Good.

Got buzzed off the first drink- Bad.

Got free Shirley Temples all weekend- Good.

Maintained a sugar high all weekend- Bad????

Got dressed up and went to a fancy ball- Good.

The DJ refused to play 'YMCA' or 'In the Navy'- Bad.

My hubby and I danced to 'The Electric Slide'- Wonderfully Good!

Had a sickel cell crisis halfway through the evening- Bad.

Remembered to bring my  Percocet- Good.

Woke up the next day with a post-percocet hangover- Bad.

Had a great breakfast at the First Awakenings- Good.

The Paris Bakery of Monterey didn't have my coconut macroons that I love- Bad!

Brought some of my yarn stash back with me- Good.

Had to leave the rest of the stash behind- Bad. Very Bad!

Blogged every day- Good.

Forgot to publish each blog on time.- Oops! My Bad.

Sock Inspiration Sunday

Time to bust out that hook, Honey. This crochet pattern is a moster to work on!

[caption id="attachment_715" align="aligncenter" width="311" caption="Monster Eye Slippers"][/caption]

 

The Moster Eye Slippers were designed by Vicki Blizzard and is avalible as a free PDF download here. The moment I saw these slippers, I just knew I had to share them with you. They would make a great gift or a cute element to a Halloween costume.

Sock Yarn Saturday

[caption id="attachment_711" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="Eilis Yarn By Three Irish Girls"][/caption]

Shown above is Eilis from Three Irish Girls. This luscious yarn comes with its own warning:

"Fair warning: add Eilis (eye-lish) to your stash only if you want to forsake all other knitting projects and immediately cast on with it."

You know you just have to add this yarn to your collection, so order it here.