Monday, January 31, 2005

The Heel Has Turned

Well, I never made it to skating. We had a plumbing emergency that required my presence here at the house. I did manage to turn the heel on the sock while waiting for the Roto-Rooter man to show up, but I don't have a pic of that to show you yet so you will just have to take my word that the experimental sock has a heel.
I'm home from work today due to a migraine that kept me up half the night and is still threatening to come back this morning. Everything is kind of foggy and weird from lack of sleep plus the migraine meds. I'll be surprised if this even makes any sense to me later. haha
I'm going to go take a nap now.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

SNB & SP4

This is a pic of the people who come to Stitch N Bitch with me on Tuesdays:

It's kind of dark because that room we meet in at the coffee place has track lighting all pointed at the walls and straight down at the chairs. It makes for a nice cozy atmosphere, but it doesn't photograph well. L-R that's Candy, Sarah, Miranda, Zack, Angie, and Teresa there in front. I'm not in the pic because I'm operating the camera. We had another boy show up last week, and he used my camera to take a pic with me in it but it came out all blurry. (goofy boy!)

Secret Pal 4
I got the name of the person I'm the secret pal of today. YAY! I already have a few ideas what to get for her, but she hasn't posted her questionaire yet.
Hi to whoever my pal is :)

Etc...
Tonight Candy and I are taking the kids skating. We're going to sit in the snack bar area and knit while they roll around in circles. I'll take the camera and maybe get some sock progress pics.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

CRAP!

My spinning workshop for tomorrow got rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5th because the weather forecast for up there is saying possible icy road conditions. feh. I guess I'll be at my house all day since I have the day off work. crap crap crap crap. Stupid weather. :(

Monday, January 24, 2005

Secret Pal 4 Questions

Since I probably won't post again till the weekend or so, here is my SP4 question dealie:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I wouldn't say I'm a snob. I do try to avoid anything overly scratchy like Red Heart and Reynolds Lopi. I think acrylics and blends have their place as long as they aren't too scratchy and plastic feeling.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
Yes, both.
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Avon perfumes and really, most commercial perfumes make me a little stuffy unless they're essential oils or all natural type stuff like what Lush sells.
4. How long have you been knitting?
Since April of 2004. Spinning since very recently, (I have a Babe Fiberstarter)and crocheting since I was 5, but I can't follow a crochet pattern to save my life.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yep. I have an Amazon wishlist.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Vanilla, Sandalwood, and Karma from Lush
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Yep.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I can pretty much do anything if I have a book with instructions.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I don't know if the car stereo does or not..I don't play music on the computer. I like a little bit of everything except I'm not too fond of rap or country.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
I like black, gray, earth tones, and pink.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a husband,(Steve) a 12-year-old son,(Ian) and two cats (Miss Kitty Fantastico & Bungee)
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
I don't know...that's a really corny question. haha I suppose my life dream is to be able to stay home and be a housewifey person instead of working for "the man" every day while thinking about all the stuff I could be getting done if I was at home.
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Noro anything, and anything soft, pretty, and nifty.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I'm not a big fan of the 100% mohair. It's ok if it is blended with something else and not so foofy though.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I've been making a lot of hats, but I wouldn't call it an obsession.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Things that involve learning something new or that the intended recipient is really going to appreciate.
17. What are you knitting right now?
Klaralund, an Irish Hiking Scarf, a couple other scarves, an experimental sock (my first), a feather & fan afghan (cheap fab), and a kittyville hat for a friend. Those are all being worked on at one time or another. I also have a shawl and a Dr. Who scarf on hiatus in the closet.
18. What do you think about ponchos?
It's a Christmas Tree Skirt for your head! I'm amused by them. I might wear one. I don't know. I enjoy pointing at people who are wearing them and saying "PONCHO!"
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Addis or interesting, pretty straight needles for scarves. I'm really loving these little 5in Bryspun sock needles.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
yes please.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
I'm working on my first one. I can see how addictive this gets.
22. How did you learn to knit?
I tried for YEARS to figure it out from books with no luck. Eventually I found some little videos on the craft yarn council's site and figured it out from there.
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
That Dr. Who Scarf was started when I first learned to knit so 9 months-ish.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Sheep! and GNOMES..like the garden gnome kind.
25. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween
26. Is there anything that you collect?
I have a bunch of glass paperweights and crystal balls.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Pictures From Yesterday


That's Angus McYarn at String!

This is the front counter and entryway area of String. That's Miranda there looking at needles and patterns.


The wall of yarn at String:

That's all they have...just the one wall, but it's nice stuff and worth a trip.

The Badass light fixture and tin ceiling:


Here is what I bought (minus those Bryspun 5in DPN's, which are in the sock now)

I got the Mexican Wave sock yarn & the DPN's at Stitchworks, the 12 inch Addi's at Naturally Needlepoint & Knitting, and the other sock yarn plus the awesome Cherry Tree Hill Merino & Silk DK at String.
I kind of doubt I'll go back to Naturally Needlepoint. Their stock was all jumbled up as usual, and though the grouchy German lady wasn't there...this time it was worse. The lady who WAS there had a really huge gross open sore on her chin/lip area and kept coughing into her hand, touching the sore, then touching my stuff.ewwww! No thanks.

Tulsa & Stuff

So today was the big Tulsa thing.
I really really liked the atomosphere at String. The owner was super nice. I brought my gnomad gnome, (Angus McYarn) and was taking pictures of him. She was just all "Oh, is that your yarn gnome?" like 30-something women bring yarn gnomes in there all the damn time. haha The yarns she had were different from what the other stores in the city had, and there were really comfy/swanky looking couches and chairs to sit on. The drinks were good too. The only improvment she could possibly make is to have more yarn, but that will probably come in time. I'll be back there for sure. I wish there was a place like that here.
So what did I end up buying? Well, you'll have to wait to see that. I haven't taken pics of it all yet. I will tell you I got some 5in Bryspun DPN's for socks and they rock so fucking hard I just can't tell you. I ordered them in three other sizes from Elann as soon as I got home.
The other exciting thing today was that I signed up for an all day spinning workshop this Friday from 9am-6pm at Morning Glory Yarn & Fiber in Bentonville. I'm taking a personal day from work to go. I'm just not getting this spinning thing down by myself. I need guidance. I do ok till I have to add more fiber on, then I get a nasty lump and the yarn usually changes size abruptly. This is not good. The class covers fiber prep things as well as spinning techniques so I'm really excited to get to play with the drum carder, meet 5 other sort of local people who spin, and maybe get some decent yarn out of it. She said I could bring my wheel too, which was a surprise since she doesn't sell Babe wheels. I figured she wouldn't want the cheaper competition around. She brought it up though so cool.
I'm way happy.
Pictures to come tomorrow because I'm also way tired.

Friday, January 21, 2005

I Can Knit Again

I haven't knit any at all for two whole days. GAH!
My pointer/mouse clicking/knitting needle manipulation finger knuckle feels much much better now. Maybe it was just tired from the knitting and getting cranky from the crazy weather we've been having here lately. Today the high will be in the upper 60's and tomorrow we'll be lucky if it gets above 35 or 40. It's like the weather can't make up it's mind if it wants to be winter or early spring.
So anyway that's all better and I can start back to work on Cheap-fab tonight. If I knit on it all day Sunday I just might finish in time. The sister's birthday is Tuesday, but I won't see her till next weekend so I have the entire week to work on it and it's over half finished so if I just work on nothing but it all week I will be ok. (shhh....don't bring logic into this)
Tomorrow's trip to Tulsa is still on schedule. I found mention of another new yarn store there called "Loophole". (Isn't that just the best yarn store name you've ever heard?) I hope it has already opened. Since I only see it mentioned in one place, I'm afraid it hasn't but we will drive by the address and check to see anyway. It looks like we'll be visiting 4 stores. How can Tulsa have 4 yarn stores and Ft. Smith doesn't even have ONE??
I'm not planning on buying anything unless I find something Noro on sale that is just too crazy good a deal to pass up, I find something good that would be Secret Pal Giftable, one of the stores has cascade 220, plymouth classic merino, or some other solid color worsted weight non-itchy wool on sale for cheaper than I can get it online, or I find good cheap sock yarn. This is more a see-what-they-have and check out the new places trip than a lets-load-up on yarn trip for me. The other participants of course are free to load up at will.

UPS is showing my camera package as "out for delivery" so YAY! there will be probably more pictures than you want to look at here by Saturday night.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Second Thoughts...

I am having second thoughts about knitting Mariah since I've been reading all the problems people are having with the pattern. I don't want a headache, just a nice zip front sweater with cables up the arms. I also don't think I'm willing to wear it as tight as it needs to be worn to look ok, and I doubt I'd ever have it zipped up all the way, which is going to make the ribbing on the bottom pucker up all the time and the body foof out so what the heck am I thinking? I guess I will drop out of the Mariah-along. I do now have a sweaters worth of black patons classic wool and a sweaters worth of also mostly black lana d'oro tweed, so when I find a pattern or get hit upside the head with a better idea I'm totally ready in that deptartment.
The old camera did indeed bite the dust soon after I was complaining about it. There will be no new pictures of anything here until The Brown Man shows up with the replacment. The new camera is a super fabulous 4 megapixel number with 3x optical and 4x digital zoom and a macro setting for closeups though so look out when that baby gets here. There will be much rejoicing and snapping of shots.
Sadly, the hot new camera probably won't be here in time for Saturday's road trip to Tulsa. (This is the trip that was postponed two weeks ago due to lack of funding) I really wanted to take pictures of my gnome at the yarn stores too. Oh well. As far as I know the trip is still on with Miranda and Candy. I will find out for sure tonight at SNB. Hopefully we can leave kind of early and have time to visit all three yarn stores there ending with the new Yarn/Coffee place for a snack and then home.
So what am I knitting? Well, mostly the same old stuff. My right pointer finger (also mouse clicking finger and knitting needle manipulation finger) knuckle is hating me right now so I've been trying to give it a rest the last couple of days. Otherwise I've been working on Cheap-Fab, Klaralund, and the sock mostly. The sock has made very little progress so I'll probably bring it to SNB with me tonight.
I also started yet another hat. This is a kitty-ears hat for Julia. I told her I'd make it back before xmas and I feel bad that I haven't done it yet. Oh, and last night I was messing around doing a crochet Jessica Simpson type Stitchdiva shawl because it makes my knuckle hurt less when I crochet. I don't know if anything will ultimately come of that or not because I frogged the whole thing when I got done playing around with it. I was using ugly yarn..not worth the effort for that.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Ohhh Pictures!

Ok, here is my new hat:

I had it up in the window so the colors are pretty much true except that light stripe is more prupley.

Here is my Nephew Kelton in his crazy Red Heart Camo hat:

I like how the color pattern came out, but man...no way would I want to wear that scratchy thing. He doesn't seem to notice though. He put it on and wore it all day... even inside my Mom's stuffy, hot house while he was watching cartoons.

This is what the sock looks like so far:

It isn't much, and it's kind of blurry because I couldn't get the stupid camera to not focus on the ledge outside the window. That camera just hasn't been the same since I accidently wacked it on a rock during a hiking expidetion back in the summer. I need a new one.
Tonight I think I'll just relax and maybe work on Klaralund. I spent two hours this afternoon going to see Elektra with Ian and our friend Geoff. It was pretty good as comic book movies go, but watching Jennifer Garner not jiggleing at all while kicking people's asses always makes me feel kind of lazy and slug-like...not that I don't still enjoy watching her kick the asses, but yeah if evil ninjas came after me I'd totally be dead even if I was holding big metal knitting needles at the time. I need to exercise more. haha

Friday, January 14, 2005

Is This On?

Just out of curiosity, who reads this thing?
I have 12 subscribers at bloglines. 1 is me so I can check to see if the feed is ok, two are public, and the rest of you are aparently ashamed to be seen with me. LOL

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures or even do any knitting last night. I was too tired, getting some kind of sinus thing, and just wanted to lay around on the couch watching tv, reading blogs, and talking to people on AIM.

~WARNING. Here ends the knitting content so if you're just here for the knitting then turn back now!~

Have you seen this show Wickedly Perfect?
#1 I'm vaguely annoyed that this team is calling themselves "The Crafty Beavers" with no mention of Amy Sedaris as inspiration. Hello! That's totally her thing. I do maintain a Livejournal Community called that, but it gives her credit where credit is due and is sort of a combo Amy fan/crafty showing off place.
#2 David Evangelista, what a rude and snotty man you are! I can't imagine anyone really wants to be your friend, David. If you act like that at real dinner parties I doubt you're invited to many. I realize you're being a judge, but damn....it's pretty sad when Bobby Flay displays more manners and grace than you do.
#3 Candice Bushnell, you need to put on some better clothes. Sarah Jessica Parker could carry off that "Carrie Bradshaw" look, but I'm sorry Candice it just looks sad on you. Call Stacy and Clinton from What Not To Wear...you need help.
#4 Yeah, I'll keep watching just to see who wins. I hope its that cute artist girl and not that big goony guy who blames everyone else for everything.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

I'm Gonna Get A Sock Monkey On My Back Now...

I finished another hat. (no pics yet) This makes 4 hats so far in 2005. YAY for quick things! This is the Noro Big Keruyon one out of the yarn I was going to make a scarf from but changed my mind and frogged it. I think the yarn is glad I finally made up my mind. haha.
The Cheap-Fab throw is getting big enough it makes me tired to work on it and I feel like I'm folding laundry every time I turn it around for a new row. That's a good sign I might get finished before the sister's birthday in 2 weeks isn't it? I can only do about two color repeats at a time till it makes my hand hurt and I have to switch over to something else. I've been switching to hats, but since this last one is done I started back to work on Klaralund last night. I think I could finish it in a weekend now if I really worked on it, but it's kind of boring to knit and I keep having reoccuring thoughts of socks. Just about every blog I look at lately has a sock on it, and since that is one of the things I said I wanted to do in 2005...
Last night I cast on for some socks. So far so good, but it's just about half an inch of ribbing. Last time I thought I'd try to make a sock I ended up really frustrated trying to get things going on the dpn's without ending up with ladders at all 4 corners. This time I'm not having that problem. I might actually finish them. I'm using the sock pattern off the Lion Brand Magic Stripes ball band, but I'm using some dk weight Plymouth Encore instead of the magic stripes yarn. I think the size 3 needles and the wiggly little yarn were my problems last time.
Oh, a boy showed up to SNB on Tuesday. That was different, and I hope he comes back, but I didn't catch his name. We had 7 people there again... I really like it when we have lots show up, but then too when that happens I don't get to check in with everyone because little conversations break out around the room and while I'm a really good eavesdropper I just can't follow them all at once.
Angie said she will come over and help me figure out what I'm doing wrong with the Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine I got recently. I can't get the stupid thing to quit dropping stitches and to glide back and forth like it's supposed to. It wants to hang up a lot and the needles just aren't sliding like they should. I need to find a spare board to clamp it to before I try again. The thing made an ugly scratch on my coffee table.
Hat and Sock-In-Progress pics are comming soon..maybe tonight!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

100 Things About Me

Since SP4 is about to start up I thought I'd go ahead and do this in the interest of putting more of myself out here for people who didn't already know me from LiveJournal before they started reading this blog.

1. I've done a list like this in the past. I think it was 2002, but I can't find it in the livejournal's archives so this is a whole new list.
2. I've had a blog at livejournal and before that at Diaryland since about 1999 or so. I opened my blogger account back then and never used it until this past year when I rediscovered it and decided to put all the knitting here.
3. I'm from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Growing up I always thought I'd move away from here and from the South in general as fast as humanly possible never to return. I was wrong...after traveling around a bit I figured out it's kind of nice here.
4. I love the low cost of living here and the fact that it's within driving distance of big city tyle bussle should I want that. At times I do wish we had a decent yarn store though.
5. I had my son Ian when I was just barely 20. He's 12 now. His father and I were never married, had only dated 6 months, and had just recently broken up when I found out I was pregnant. The first couple of years we had a hard time figureing out how this whole parenting thing would work. There was a lot of frustration and yelling etc. We've got it totally nailed down now. The relationships that my son and I have with him and my son's extended family is something I consider one of my greatests accomplishments in life.
6. I look way younger than I am and I don't really try too hard on the skin care front. I just wash my face and put moisturizer on the dry areas. Sometimes not even that much...I often fall asleep with makeup on.
7. I am frequently carded when buying cold medication because clerks think I might be under 18.
8. My husband is 43. (11 years my senior) He has been mistaken by hotel and store clerks for my Father. haha He hates that.
9. My Dad died in March 2001 from lung cancer. Both my parents have smoked for as long as I can remember. Mom still smokes, which I find amazing after watching her husband suffer and die, but whatever.
10. I'm relatively healthy for a girl who gets almost no exercise, but I am trying to make more of an effort to eat right and move around more this year.
11. I get a migraine headache about every 4-6 weeks. This is not something I can function through. I have to take meds and lay down in a dark room and sleep till it goes away. I get "halo" things that block out about 90% of my vision and it is considered a serious health condition for which I get to use Family Medical Leave time at work otherwise I'd be so fired.
12. I own a really awesome treadmill I bought last year, used for three months till I was relatively fit and then abandoned.
13. I gained 30 lbs since I quit walking and started eating chocolate every day, drinking regular cokes, and sitting on my ass. oops.
14. I own two houses.
15. The one I don't live in is next door to my Mom's house and is still full of junk I left there when I moved.
16. This year I plan on fixing up the extra house and renting it out to someone. This is kind of scary to me.
17. I was an art major in college but never finished after I got knocked up.
18. I work in a factory. It's really boring and not fun in any way but it pays ok.
19. My dream in life right now is that the husband will get a fabulous job which pays enough to take care of all our bills so I can stay home to take care of the house/sell junk on ebay then eventually open a nice yarn store here if nobody else has done it by then.
20. I've lived in my house for a year and still haven't painted any walls. They're all white and boring. I've only hung about three things on the walls too so they are also pretty bare.
21. I like mid-century modern stuff, but I tend towards a jumble of styles with probably too much clutter for anything to look realy modern once I've had a crack at it.
22. I've had lots and lots of different hair colors. It used to change almost weekly. Green, Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow etc etc
23. I have a lot of gray in my hair because when I was 18 my head was shaved and got sunburnt pretty badly.
24. I once hitchhiked with a friend from Reno to SanFrancisco, down to Santa Cruz, and back over the course of about two months. We mostly slept outside in parks and under bushes on freeway medians in our tent or under tarps in sleeping bags. This voluntarily homeless trek was really really fun and I don't regret it at all.
25. After that experience I have very little sympathy for most of the homeless. A LOT of the people we met along the way were there by choice (though they wouldn't tell you this), working the system, and had a ton of advice on how to get free stuff, avoid getting a job, and how to collect welfare in multiple states. It really was just a different lifestyle to them.
26. I am a libertarian.
27. I tried to learn to knit for about 7 years off and on before I finally figured it out in April 2004 with the help of videos I found online.
28. I love trashy tv stuff.
29. I used to wear a lot of black, but recently I just wear t-shirts and jeans or dresses and jeans all the time.
30. When I was growing up someone gave me a big stack of Teen and Seventeen magazines from the early-mid 70's. This was the early-mid 80's. I learned how to put on makeup and fashion stuff and about lots of no longer popular bands/actors from those magazines. I think that is why I was always just bit wacky with my fashion and tatstes later on.
31. I haven't painted in about ten years, but I recently bought supplies in an effort to have something to hang on my walls.
32. Art is about salesmanship. Its all kind of a scam, but I like it.
33. I know way too much about Andy Warhol and his hangers-on due to an obsession I had in high school/early college.
34. I also know way too much about beatniks and beat poets/writers due to another obsession I had.
35. Currently the obsessive nature is focused on knitting.
36. Since I started knitting I don't read many non-knitting related books. weird.
37. My current husband is husband #3...he's a keeper.
38. I've always wanted to have a nice garden like my Grandparents used to have. I buy seeds, plan, and then usually never plant it.
39. My bedroom is really really really disorganized. You don't even know...
40. I can make vegan versions of almost all traditionally non-vegan southern food including chicken fried steak made from chickpeas and oats and sausage made from blackeyed peas.
41. I am not vegan or even vegetarian.
42. I used to look pretty goth and still do sometimes even though I've never really identified myself as such. I just like black clothes.
43. I took a second job at a bookstore coffee shop mostly so I could learn about the different coffee drinks and not feel like such a dork when trying to order fancy coffee. I ended up meeting my current husband there.
44. The older I get the less I care what other people think of me.
45. I never really cared all that much to begin with so #44 is kind of scary to my family and friends.
46. I tell you what I think if you ask, so don't ask me if you don't want to know.
47. I'm not very attached to my material posessions...all that shit can be replaced.
48. When I was 13 I got braces and had them till I was 16..headgear, rubber bands, and all. I had really scary bad teeth before then.
49. I have a small collection of glass orbs...crystal balls and paperweights.
50. I have two cats. Miss Kitty Fantastico and Bungee
51. I like to go hiking and camping and do outdoorsy stuff, but I don't really identify myself as outdoorsy.
52. I sunburn super easily.
53. I can't swim.
54. I see dead people. For real. I'm not a flake about it though.
55. I sometimes just know stuff. I'm not a flake about that either.
56. I live right next to a cemetery. It starts on the other side of my back fence.
57. When I was a kid we had the ghost of a mute black man who liked to hang out at our house and play fun tricks on my Mom like hiding the last of the coffee. He once woke her up at night when I had a sudden high fever and I was rushed to the ER. The doctor said if they had let me go much longer I'd have bain damage. I remember seeing him in the hall when I'd get up to go to the bathroom at night. We called him "Ghost John" and I didn't realize this shit wasn't normal till I started kindergarten and made the mistake of talking to some other kids about him.
58. When I was 13-14 plastic items would fly across the room and hit me for no reason. It got very tiresome. The biggest was a penny bank shaped like a clown that flew about ten feet to smack me in the leg.
59. All that plastic stuff flying and hitting me freaked out some of my "friends". They stopped coming over and stopped having me come over to their houses. They would still see me at school, but kept their distance. This sucked.
60. The lady who was part of the scott peterson jury who has the bright cherry red hair makes me happy for some reason. Just seeing her hair cheers me.
61. I have one small tattoo.
62. I have two larger tattoos planned but I haven't gotten them yet...maybe I'll get one after I climb that mountain this summer.
63. I have to lose 30lbs and get in good enough shape by July or I'm not going to be able to climb that mountain.
64. I don't mind getting old.
65. Damn, I'm running out of stuff about me to tell you.
66. I like tea. Mostly black teas, but not earl grey. It tastes like shaving lotion.
67. I like caffeine. I refuse to give it up.
68. I don't think people should be trying to blame others for them being obese. If I'm fat it's my own fault for putting that crappy food in my mouth to begin with.
69. I'm a Certified Quality Technician.
70. I don't hold many grudges.
71. I'm not really a music person. I like music but it's not my life...I mostly only listen in the car or if I'm cleaning the house or something.
72. My favorite movie EVER is Harold And Maude.
73. I used to work as a Pre-Board Screener at the airport. I got paid minimum wage and the job itself sucked, but there was a lot of down-time during which I got to read many many books.
74. I found two guns in the three years I worked at the airport.
75. I have one sister. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three kids in a trailer on a bunch of land. They have horses and cows and stuff.
76. I'm the oldest, but people always think my sister is older because she wears a lot of makeup and still has 80's hair.
77. I'm Irish, Scottish, English, and Cherokee Indian mostly.
78. I hit back.
79. I can't swim. I sink like a rock despite my high body fat %.
80. I like to bake bread, but haven't made any in over a year. I'm not sure why.
81. I'm short...like 5ft3 at the tallest.
82. I handle stress very well.
83. When my Dad died I was the one who made all the phone calls to the funeral home, and to relatives to let them know he had died. This sucked, but I was the only one of the three of us able to do it. (see #82)
84. I like Thai food.
85. I like Mexican food too.
86. I don't like any type of seafood. If it lived in the water I'm not eating it.
87. I love my family.
88. That includes my son's dad, stepmom, sister, grandparents, uncle, and aunt.
89. I've helped lots of people move.
90. I love my house. It was built in 1952 and has a very 50's happy family vibe in it.
91. I knew this was my house the first time we came in to look at it.
92. I love my old house too even though it needs some work before I'm going to feel comfortable asking people to pay me rent to stay there.
93. I like to travel and see new places.
94. I also like coming back home.
95. I always want to keep learning new things.
96. I doubt I'll ever go back to college.
97. I wish there were more hours in the day for me to get all my projects done.
98. When I do have time off, I spend a large bit of it catching up on my sleep.
99. Desperate Housewives is about to come on so I need to finish this list.
100. YAY! I'm done!

Saturday, January 08, 2005

Stupid Saturday

Well, nothing has worked out today like it was intended to. The meeting for the fiber arts/fashion show thing got canceled I suppose because the coffee shop it was going to be held in was closed with a "Sorry! See you Monday!" sign on the door. It was all cold and windy so we didn't stick around to see if anyone else showed up.
The trip to Tulsa was also canceled because just about everyone going was short on funds by the end of the week. We'll try again weekend after next maybe. (By then I'll know who my Secret Pal is and I can do some SP shopping.) All the $$ I had put aside for yarn store shopping had to be spent on insurance deductables and drugs for Ian on Friday. Poor guy has an ear infection and sinus infection and just felt like poo all day that day. He's much better after a couple doses of antibiotics though.
I had also thought my nephew would be at my Mom's house today to get his camo hat, but that didn't happen either. He will be there for sure next weekend so pics to come then.
Ian stole my roll brim hat so I need to make myself another one before it gets cold out again later in the week. I'm thinking maybe some noro yarn for that...I had to frog my multidirectional scarf I started because I realized I so didn't have enough to finish and I have no idea the color number of that one skein. I'm pretty sure it's enough for a hat though.
For now I'm just sitting here on the couch working on Cheap Fab and watching true crime crap on tv the rest of the evening. Hopefully tomorrow will work out better than today did.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

I suddenly have more knitting deadlines looming at me:

* Cheap-Fab MUST be done by the week of Jan 25th. I have 21 pattern repeats to go. eek!

* Klaralund MUST be done by Feb 1st so I can start Mariah - speaking of which, I've lost my hot pink cable needle..its just GONE and I miss it so.. :( Please hot pink cable needle, if you read this come back home!

* I MUST have an assortment of items ready by Jan. 29th for a small textiles art/fashion show I've been asked to participate in. I have the big net poncho which needs some spiffing up with a knitted flower or some crochet border or just SOMETHING before it can be seen in public like that, the first segue ribbon scarf I made, the barf scarf which needs trim or fringe or something, and I started a multidirectional scarf in Big Keruyon (pink, gray, black type colors..I lost the ball band and forget the number) for myself that may or may not make it there.

So with all this hanging over my head plus the left over xmas scarves of doom due April 13th and March 17th for birthdays, what is it I've been knitting the last two days?
A beanie hat in (eek!) Red Heart Super Saver CAMO GREEN VARIGATED. I hate this yarn. I have pretty much always hated this yarn even when I was a kid and my Mom would crochet pillow covers out of it. It's itchy and scratchy and plastic and just yucky. It is the yarn that gave Acrylic the bad reputation it has today. Red Heart Super Saver is the Devil I tell you!
So why am I kitting a hat out of it?
Because Nephew #2 picked it out and he keeps looking up at me with his little kool-aid stained face asking when his hat will be done. THAT'S WHY. (His perfectly reasonable brother chose Rowan Cork for his beanie and got it back in the summer. See how that works? haha) The poor little guy's ears are freezing off, and so what if it wears all the skin off my fingers? What are my fingers compared to a 6-year old kid's ears? (Maybe I'll have to knit a liner for this thing from Caron Simply Soft so it doesn't wear his ears off though...hmm.) He'll get his hat Saturday and you'll get to see his happy little face if he doesn't run away from the camera.

Other plans for Saturday include a meeting about the art/fashion show thing and a trip to Tulsa (about 2 hours away) to check out a new Knitting Cafe place there called String that I read about yesterday. I also want to stop at the yarn store where the lady was nice to me last time, and maybe even at the snooty one with the mean German lady if its not too late when we get there. So far I have one person for sure who wants to go-with..possibly two. It should be a fun SNB field trip of sorts.

Monday, January 03, 2005

First FO's of 2005

These were partly knit in 2004, but they got finished in 2005 so they count :)

Its the beehive hat from Stitch N Bitch Nation done in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran! I haven't decided whether to put a lot of little silver bees on it or to knit a flower to stick on the side or what yet, but its a finished, wearable hat already. YAY!

This is the hat I made over xmas and just got around to seaming up on new years eve. I'm so damn proud of the seaming job on this hat that I keep bringing it to people and making them try to guess where the join is. lol They all fail! I am queen of mattress stitch at last!

Other Stuff Going On

Secret Pals 4 sign-ups are happening right now and you should go sign up so that maybe I can be your pal cause I've already sent in my info.


Look! It's Angus McYarn showing off the Paton's Classic Merino for Mariah. I'm itching to start, but I won't till Klaralund is done. We're getting closer on that, but still have a little ways to go. Until start time I will live vicariously through Miranda at my regular Tuesday SNB since she's already started the back.


Bungee is bored now.