All of my knitting needles have a very simple story. I see a project, I go to Michael's/ Jo-Ann's, and I buy needles. Simple easy and boring. Except this one time, last year when I first started to knit, I began a pair of striped socks. I went to Jo-Ann's and got four, eight inch 3.00mm DPNs. And I knitted up the first sock in no time(my very first sock!) . I began the second just as we embarked on a family trip to California. 
I knitted my way through Wyoming and and most of Utah easy. I knitted to stay awake during the night terrified that
someone was going to fall asleep and drive into oncoming traffic, and I knitted through a crunchy hundred miles of Mormon crickets. I knitted mostly to stave off the boredom and restlessness of a car trip. It was wonderful, especially during a particularity horrid stretch in Utah where I had to wait to pee for 45min while the road zigzagged back and forth through farmland. The only civilization was just barely visible twenty miles away as the crow flies, but out of reach of the highway until you had driven along two sides of every farm for seventy miles. That sock really helped kept my mind off of my bursting badder.
Eventually we reached a small town in Nevada, just 10 miles from the California boarder. Hungry and cramped we went to a Jack-in-the-Box for tacos and a bathroom break. I put down my nearly finished sock, and scarfed down a hamburger while we drove on to our destination. And that's when I experienced every knitters worst nightmare. Finishing my meal, and hoped up on caffeine in a very small space, I reached for my knitting to calm down, and found only three needles.
I looked on the floor on the rental van. No needle.
In my seat. Nope.
Under a pile of luggage at my feet. Nu-uh.
In my shoes, under my brother, in the cooler, behind my ears. Zip, Zero, Nada, Nilch.
I spent the rest of the trip
Spasticly jamming my hand into random crevasses every five seconds, and flipping myself over to search under the seats.
Long story short, we pulled every movable object out of that damn van looking for the needle, and came to the sad but logical conclusion that it had fallen into the parking lot of Jack-in-the-box never to be seen of heard from again. Of course no one in our Californian family was a knitter, and they couldn't help me. Half-hearted suggestions of Walmart were made, but they were of course lacking in everything but boring mainstream basics, the DPNs had a pathetic selection. Then, out of the blue, a stroke of luck! In my mom's box of San Fransisco walking tours, there was a mention of a knit shop in the Castro. Hazah! I was saved!
I waited three agonizing days for out detour to SF, listlessly trying to finish the sock with only three needles, but the large number of stitches, cheep acrylic yarn, tight stitches, and my beginning skills weren't up to the challenge. So instead, I read books, went swimming, and reverted to my anti-social ways.
Finally, we went to SF. Along the way we passed an Ikea, drove over some famous bridge, and listened to my mother reminisce about her childhood. My brother, cousin, and I were turned loose upon arrival, while my mother and father went to see Uncle Jess. Us kids wandered through China Town, the Levi store, and Mission St. I slowly and bluntly led us toward the knitting shop through the Bart, and a unnecessarily long walk up Mission St and through the Castro. We stopped at and art supply store, where I bought a book of graph paper for intarsia, a Comic book store where I bought my very first comic book(my other vice) and an S&M store where we traumatized my cousin. Eventuality we arrived at
imagiknit and I bought my wonderful new needles.
After that I took less than a day to finish the socks, lose my temper, frog them, and start all over again. My relatives were mildly impressed with my new skill, and my parents were pleased to see me become suddenly social(because everyone knows that kitting is good for hiding awkward silences, all you have to do is start counting stitches at random)
.......................
And that is the tail of my very favorite needles. Why did I suddenly rehash this?
Witch you have to know to share my pain to the fullest extent. Because today, I went to Boulder, to
Shuttles, Spindles, and Skins, for a new drop spindle, and found a DPN point protector that held all my needles together perfectly. So perfectly in fact, that I managed to LOSE THEM ALL!!! At the same time!!!! Somewhere between getting in the car, and getting dropped off, all four needles and holder dropped off the face of the planet! There not in the car, on the curb, in the gutter, on the sidewalk, in Fancy Tiger, my bag or my pocket. I had them in the car and now they're gone! I walked into craft night, realized that I didn't have them as soon as I sat down, and called Alex to come back to drop them off. But they weren't in the car! Or any where I looked! Gah! This is impossible!! I'm going nuts! I've looked everywhere!
Seriously! WTF is going on with me and loseing needles lately! That was all my last post was about too! I'm going nuts! I don't think my poor heart can take it anymore! My favorite needles! Do you know how many socks and gloves, and tiny bags I've made with them? I want them back!!(sobs pathetically)
I am holding out hope that I just didn't see them in my frustration, and that some kindly person will find them, recognize them for what they are, and bring them in to FT where they will be happily reunited with me. But I'm also having this idea where Felix(the car) ate them for spare parts or maybe dropped them through some hole in his floor.
In the end I wanted to start my next pair of socks so bad, I bought a set of green casein needles(milk protein). They're kinda fun, but I still want my gray metal ones back...
and hey look I got some spinning done. And look at my shiny new drop spindle (the small one on the left) . It can make lace weight yarn!
and here is my one pathetic finished project. A little bag to hold my dice. The dice are for
10,000(AKA Farkle), a game where you try to roll 10,000 points. It's like 500, poker, and yatzee but super simple.
After a very sickly November, in which I posted absolutely nothing, I return, just in time for the Holidays, when no one has time to read blogs. Above is our tree, and my first successful needle felting project Fuzzy the Woolman. Fuzzy was inspired by the marshmallow men the girls made last week when they were complaining about how fast the snow melts.
Also I started a new pair of socks, one of which is done sorta... I have to redo the heal. That's It for now, although I did finish some other stuff...I just can't remember what it was, and I don't have photos. Hopefully stuff will start getting done after I finish my finals. Also theres a minor blizzard going on now- they've closed the highway, so thats another excuse to craft away.
