HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!
I'm happy to say that this was an eventful UFO week!
I finished the Hallowig and passed it off to Katy for the Children's Theatre production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

and I finished the 2 - yes two wigs for last ngihts Halloween costume of Archie and Betty! YEAH! Here we see demure Betty shocked by Count Flashula.



It was a great party -- Thanks Diva hostesses!

I plan to finish up Clapotis this week! I've too many new things I want to start! MUST FIND MORE TIME TO KNIT!

It's Thursday! I've begun work on my Halloween Costume... where will I find the time...

Anyway - today Kara sent out an email inviting folks over for a "Knitting-and-a-movie" night next week...and asked for knitting movie suggestions. So...I scanned IMDB and came across "UGLY".



"Writer/Director Moon Unit Zappa's "Ugly" may be short, but it's time well spent in this beautiful dark comedy. Gwen is a young woman with an unnatural passion for knitting. From her own clothes to cozies for her several prescription pill bottles, Gwen is following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother's knack for the yarn arts.

After being discovered knitting in a park, Gwen and her new friend Kirk return to her apartment to work on Kirk's photography class project. Kirk, though, has ulterior motives, which Gwen finds out about when she overhears Kirk on the phone to a classmate. With the help of her daughter, Lola (*wink wink*), Gwen manages to make Kirk a little more than just a stranger off the street looking to take a few photographs for kicks. But heads up, there's a twist at the end."

If you go to the above link and scroll all the way to the bottom, you can order a copy for yourself in exchaneg for a donation to the American Film Institute.
Cool. Very Cool.

So - it shall arrive 4-6 weeks after my check clears...I'll let you know how it is!

YEAH! Finished the Hallowig last night! I need to weave in the ends and I'll post a photo soon! I began work on my own wig for Halloween this morning on the Subway. Tick tick tick!

Back in the Saddle Again...
Back from my whirlwind tour of Bermuda. My friends wedding was fabulous and the yachting trip the next day was just lovely. And yes...of course...I brought along my knitting. My, sunbathing in a bathing suit, sarong and hat while knitting and looking at the blue water vistas and chatting with friends, old and new! It doesn't get much better than that!
Got the god news from Katy this morning that it's OK for me to simply use another color green yarn to finish the wig for her project. Apparently I'm not the only one who ran into this and the option of a two-tone wig is a fun one for the kids!
Back to work I go -- can't belive it's been a month since i was in this office! Too much!

Hellooooo!
I'm HOME! Yeah! Got in last night and have battled the sleep demon since then! Hoping to get a first god sleep by tonight! Arrived home to a very MEOWY cat - Loco - my 27lb all muscle siamese who rules the roost, and just in time to water the plants in my garden - a few of them looked as though one more day would have met deaths door...I think my house/cat-sitting friend forgot to give them a good last water before leaving...and possibly not more than 2x during her 3 week stay.

My Mums have mostly got to be dead-headed, but most everything else it OK. I need to harvest the last of the basil into pesto to be frozen for a mid-winter "I wish it was summer" night.

Loco, currently sitting on my lap and banging my chin with his head - thoroughly marking me as his human since I've had the nerve to be gone so long (keeping him in house and cat food!) is definately glad to have me home. He usually follows me for a few days upon my return to make sure I'm not packing another suitcase.

Today the workmen come to begin the demolition. The gutter on the brownstone I live in got backed up by a rouge flower pot in the roof furing hurricane Ivan, and when it finally let loose -- all of the water flooded my garden...and poured down into my downstairs (second bedroom turned work room!) flooding it with 3+" of water.
Today they get to work on the removal and replacement of the west wall, the hardwood floors and the bathroom tiles. Ugh.

I had to throw away (took photos) my desk and my new futon won't be far behind.
Ahhhh -- just in time for a houseful of guests all journeying to NYC for Thanksgiving.

Loco took up residence upon th etail end of Clapotis when I worked on it last night -- the lambswool apparently to his liking.
And now it's time to do a bit of work in preporation for the workmen. Wish me luck!

Here's the updated photo on Clapotis -- 46" on the long side and 26" on the shorter.
Of course it's not blocked yet either! :-) For other photos from earlier on, see older posts. :-) I appologize for the tiny photos - suddenly they are coming up so small...and I haven't changed my methods from the earlier posts --- I'll deal with it when I return home from this long trip.

Also - Here are some photos from my favorite yarn shops in Canton, China.

Above Mag is bargoning with the ribbon yarn lady for my ribbon yarn - I took home the black - it's yummy!

King of yarn shops! Beware to always ask for a new hank since those on display are always a little icky.

This yarn is always there in the open air --- rain or shine.

Yarn winding!

Hello hello!
The good news is that I WAS able to get some new green yarn to start the Hallowig AGAIN. I'll post a photo as soon as I think the internet will be up long enough for that process... access has been iffy here as of late. But - it is China, the land where electricity can be iffy. Lights are flickering as I type - better get my online work done.

DISCO...DONGGUAN STYLE
After a lovely dinner with the team I work with at my favorite factory in Asia, we went to the SUNDAY club (disco). Arrived at 10pm and it was near empty.
They seated us at two tables for 6 that were next to one another. The stools we sat upon were a short pile leopard print fur with a slight butt ridge at the back -- so even if you were drunk you could know where the back of the stool was. The tables were long and not too wide (2 feet?) and they came out from the wall. One end was against the wall, the other was rounded.
We ordered cocktails and beers and watched the girl who was singing. The music was slow and was all dedications between lovers apparently.
The place was massive. The singer was on a stage that was probably 15-20ft long and 15 feet deep, and it looked fairly small in the room.
The ceilings went up 3 stories tall, and you could see the private rooms - some with pool tables etc - all glassed in overlooking the disco below.
It was decorated in all chrome and black with the leopard accents. The private rooms glowed magenta.
The music finally switched to a DJ who played a mix of Hong Kong techno and some remakes of techno-ized 80s tunes ala Chinese flair. (Yep - they did a bang-up job with Debbie Gibson.)
This comment proves I'm getting gold --- DAMN IT WAS LOUD! (My ears rang all the way home later!...OK got that out of the way.) And 6 hours later I'm just starting to feel normal in the hearing department...next time I bring earplugs!
The sound system was good - you could actually hear the words to the songs even though the base was coming at you and shaking the ground.
We hit the dance floor - there was 14 of us - 12 dancing, 2 sitting. And it was fairly empty - we ruled the floor with plenty of room. We danced until we needed a drink and went back to our tables. Beers and cocktails (they made a decent Pina Colada!) for all. Within 5 minutes - no joke - the dance floor and club was PACKED. P-A-C-K-E-D!

Sitting at the table you were raised above the dance floor - almost eye level with the dancers now on the stage. 4 emaciated women and one man (i think) standing mostly in place and dancing semi provocatively. It's hard for me to say it was attractive as these ladies had zero shape - they looked ill to me. My 25 year old (NYC club hopping) assistant thought they looked "sleek". Icky. They looked sickly. I wanted to take photos but they wouldn't allow it. They wore interesting black Outfits - all different and well done- cut up and skin baring. Some with silver studs - one girl had a mask on -- looked a bit creepy... but that was more so her movements than her outfit. They danced to one or two songs and then would vacate the stage to return later. The light show was pretty good against the black walls -- but it was pretty dark over all. They even had a security guy in a black suit, white shirt and black tie (or two) at every at every stairwell with a flashlight to shine on the stairs when you'd need to use them. But the waiters outfits looked like something you'd see in that old SNL skit with Dieter... too funny!

I DID learn how to play Liars Dice - a Chinese (POPULAR!) drinking game -- and I'm quite good at it! Perhaps I'll find a set of the shakers you use and bring them home for the next party! They had enough of these shakers all over so you could play this game at your table and drink away the night when you weren't dancing...since you can't talk due to the loud music. And since you use hand signals -- it is perfect!

So - we fought our way back to dance on the outer edges of the dance floor and played rounds of Liars Dice. I do find it interesting that most girls were sloppily dressed in oversized t-shirts and 80's style tshirts while the men were all in nicely pressed trousers and nice shirts.

Left just after 2:30am so we could get my Asst. back to the hotel to unwind before she left for her flight at 5am. And I began my day at the factory again at 9:30am.
I certainly had a blast and look forward to my return trip in January.
Perhaps I'll try to fit in a foot massage tonight? Hey -- I certainly can't get a $5 foot massage like the ones they have here at home!
Depends on how much work I finish today -- I guess I should get back to it!

I'm in southern China now. Spent yesterday at the fabrics market in the Canton Region researching fun linings for the new line. It was a success! Just wait until the AW05 line! :-)

Argh - After switching over to make the Hallowig (since it has to be mailed out to the costume dept of the Children's theatre when I return to the US)...and after spending a few days on it -- I find out that the yarn I was given is not enough! I'm short about 15 rows. S0 - I've a 90% finished Hallowig in cheap acrylic yarn!

I was able to buy some similar yarn here in China and will start again tonight. OY! :-) Back to work I go!
The new line is coming together well! Yeah!

Clapotis is getting LONG --- and it no longer fits in the smaller purse that I have with me on this trip, hmph. Now I carry the Hallowig with me to work on when I have that "night-time" purse in hand. Brought it under the harbour last night to Hong Kong Island and back for some subway knitting before and after dinner at Indochine in the Lan Kwai Fung region. Delicious Vietnamese food - highly reccomend it! (The soft shelled crab, pomello salad and beef with tomatoes! YUM!)

After a long meeting today (in a room with no AC - since the buildings turn it off on holidays and today is National Day here in Hong Kong), I'll sit covered by Clapotis as I knit away on the driving journey to China this afternoon. I'm hoping to finish Clapotis and the Hallowig on this trip... I guess it depends on how bad traffic is on the way to the factory each day these next 11 days! :-) Days at the factory end up being 14-18 hours long...so knitting time on the way to the office and a few moments before bed to unwind are the two openings I'll get.
Off to breakfast! Ciao ciao!