Foodies Unite….. February 16, 2009

Ok, so there are lots of bloggers and some of them post pictures of all their gourmet cooking. Food in glorious photos that highlight the color, the texture, the beauty that the blogger has found deep within the food. Photos that highlight the blogger’s skill with foods, staged with lovely plates and table settings. I was pretty sure I would never be one of those people until I wandered into my kitchen and created this.

Note the reflection of the krispy wrap on the retro laminate table top,  the way the light plays on the subtle nutella waves, the sheen of a machined square krispy treat.

Foodies unite… just not in my kitchen.

Box bag drama… February 8, 2009

Ok, so someone showed up at knit club with one of these bags, in an adorable sheep fabric.  The first thing out of my mouth was how I could make one of those….not only did I say it, but I meant it.  I loved that bag.  I suppose I could have ordered one, but let’s face it, I like my money a lot and I have a sewing room full of stuff that wants to be used!

So I hit the sewing room asap, and generated prototype number 1.

box bag attempt 1

So attempt one was wonky, but you have to remember I was working off of a 2-3 minute inspection of the bag and some dodgy ideas about how it might be constructed.  Still cute, tinier than I anticipated, but it will hold a sock in progress.

At this point in time I was pretty sure I was going to have to do some math, and for some reason most of the math was hitting me at about 4:00 am this morning. Eventually I gave up, wrote it all down and went back to sleep.

I thought I could live with this, but it turns out, I couldn’t.  I was compelled to go back to the sewing room… (the new awesome upstairs one that I haven;t told y’all about yet!)  There I decided to check my 4:00 am math – because if ANY math needs to be checked it is 4:00 am math – by sewing a cheesy muslin prototype.

Muslin version - attempt 2 and math check

This bad boy was more a way to check out my thought process and see if I could improve on my prior wonky version.  While making this one I got the genius idea to add a zipper pocket to the inside of the final version for notions.  It did at least confirm that my 4:00 am math was on track.

So, after all that, a final happy bag….

Final Happy Bag!

Inside zipper notion pocket!

An a sock in progress inside..

The sock in the bag (with heel!)

New Years, dirty hands and bloglines…. January 7, 2009

I actually don’t remember the last post I wrote.  If I were not such a completely incompetent blogger I would go check it out.  As it is I finally caught up with my feeds today,  over 250 blog posts to catch up on. FWIW I read ALL of them (except for all the details of the recalled stuff…the fact that I feel the need to subscribe to all sorts of feeds about recalls from the FDA is one of those things I normally don’t fess up to.  Having been absent for a significant period of time I figure I owe at least one confession…and NO there aren’t any meatier ones….)

As it is I will probably not improve on my posting habits in the new year.  But I do promise to check in if anything interesting happens.

Oddly enough I keep finding myself stepping out of my comfort zone.  At work, at home, even socially (<psst…I have been going to a knit group!!!!!!) I have never been one to take the safe path, so it is not particularly unusual to find myself a bit beyond my comfort zone, but ventures beyond the border used to result in “holy crap what the hell have I gotten myself into this time??? ” Often followed by “holy crap that worked??” These days something different is happening.  I find myself trusting my intuition, kind of thinking that maybe just maybe I haven’t really just been finding myself beyond my comfort zone all this time…maybe I have been untruthful about where my comfort zone is….That said, I think maybe some resolutions are in order.

I am likely to come home from work more often with dirty hands (in my life this is a good thing…perhaps someday that will merit an explanation).

I will make some new friends this year.  <also a good thing, after being a working mom for 6 years, someone new to talk to is just what the life ordered.

I will remember that for much of my life I have exceeded peoples expectations when I push the limits.  Often times making the biggest mistakes have led to some of the best things in my life.  Why the hell should I be afraid of screwing things up?

I will also not look for trouble.   There is a fine line you know

And Melissa:

what about…. this

If you like it, let me know and we will go yarn shopping

There is something wrong with my family…… November 20, 2008

Very. Very. Very wrong.

(also very funny…until the therapy bills start rolling in)

My son Chucky….. November 19, 2008

So DS likes to draw.  Today as I am putzing in the kitchen making dinner, DS calls to me…

“look mom….people soup!”

The worst part is, since he is mine I am less sure of my stance on Nature vs. Nurture than I ever have been.

The proverbial mirror…… November 16, 2008

has been placed under my nose…..and folks….there is fog on it.

first things first…. Thanks Marin! I needed that.  (more on that later…)

What I been up to: (this post exceed standard acceptable length limits…you have been warned.)

Work.

Ok not that.  I am completely blocking that out today

There are these…..

Essentially created so that boy can slide in the hallway.  One of the cool things about my felted clogs is the slide factor, boy was envious of the slide factor.  These were made for sliding Super fast super easy… the pattern is from the new Interweave Holiday Knits, which I am actually kind of Meh about, but I can never turn down a collection of relatively quick knits.  Cheap yarn from the stash

OK, then there are These

These are none other than the famous Pomotomus by Cookie A.

I am not exactly ignorant of the problem here which is that I chose a very busy yarn to knit a very busy pattern.  These took just shy of a year to finish.  When I made the first one, I was still lacking the ability to read my knitting.  So the second one languished for some time.   Finishing the second proved to be very liberating.  There are way fewer mistakes in the second sock than in the first and it was way easier, as the ability to spot a yo or a k2tog in a prev. row can really make this one easier -  in ways it won’t if you are relying on your ability to count. Not only that but I was able to follow the same pattern twice, with results so similar they actually appear to be a pair.  The fit is great, so despite the fug, I will be wearing these babies proudly.

All this knitting has happened in the last two weeks, which is also liberating.  For a while there I was kind of stalled on the knitting front. Stalled is not good.  Stalled is frustrating. I have half a hey teach that wouldn;t fit anyone to show for it.  It may merit a frogged post of its own, or it may languish in punishment until I figure out WTF I did wrong. (um…gauge anyone?)

Anyhoo…while stalled on the knitting and frustrated with the job, blogging took a distant back seat.  I was reading and keeping up….but just not writing anything myself.

Thankfully Marin decided to check this little corner of the blogiverse for signs of life.  So here I am breathing on the mirror…..

The item that was passed on to me is none other than the 7 weird things meme.  I have weirded myself out before, but still felt compelled to do so again.

1.  I love wind up toys.  I use any excuse possible to get little wind up toys for my kids.  Hoppers, flippers, rollers, I just find wind-ups incredibly amusing. My favorite is a Godzilla wind up that spits sparks.  I originally got it for my son, but then I never brought it home.  He lives at my desk and takes sparky walks at least once a week.

2. We know others have sleep issues.  I have less severe sleep issues, but mine are kind of rare.  I am a morning waker.  I can fall asleep as soon as I put my head on a pillow regardless of my surroundings.  I just wake up at 2 or three in the morning.  It is a 50/50 shot at going back to sleep.

3. No matter how hard I try to be neat it is impossible.  I often lunch in my car, just to get out of the office, and I have had to resort to keeping a kitchen towel in the car to use as a bib.  Food has the uncanny ability to highlight my breasts in the most embarrassing manner possible.  If what I am eating matches my clothes, I am highly unlikely to spill.  If I am wearing a white shirt and eating something with ketchup, the ketchup will land in nipple vicinity.  Every time.

4.  I have hair issues.  I never know what to do with it so I just let it grow. Right now I have hair past my shoulders, and I can’t remember when I last got my hair cut.  I do know the last time I went in they had purged me from their database.  I only get away with it because I have straight thick hair that tends towards the oily side.  My hair sucks for styling, but rocks at just growing out straight.  Plus since I am just growing it out straight, I usually don’t blow dry or style too much.   I guess it kind of works for me.

5.  I love magazines.  Actually I am somewhat saved in this since the library now lets you check out past issues.  it is not unlike me to check out several months of the same magazine.

6.  I read in streaks.  If I go through a reading phase I will read practically non stop, usually till early in the morning.  After 7-8 books my appetite is usually sated and I can move on for a while (about a week .  Oddly enough, I find reading almost as good a sleep during these times.  I know for a fact I can’t hang with the partiers anymore, (see No. 2) but for some reason I could read practically all night long and I don’t seem to be tired the next day.

7. I have a thing about the phone people.  I live to spite the phone people.  Qwest is practically my nemesis. It started a few years age when they told me the lines in my house were not suitable for DSL.  I would have to have the house rewired if I wanted that service.  I said no to rewiring.  Later that day I took the modem and kit I was supposed to send back, went outside and rewired my phone lines at my box, doing everything the way they told me not to. I then hooked up the modem, and DSL has worked seamlessly since.  Except when they come to do any work at my house, which is frequent because we have old overhead lines that go out all the time.  Each time they “fix” my box and I have to go out and rewire it.  They recently discontinued my old modem, and insisted on sending me a router modem combo that didn’t work with my set up. Despite their promise of no support, I forced the thing to work on my terms.  I would switch, but my general impression is that my experience is pretty par for the course, so I choose the entertainment value instead.

Anyway, here is where I am supposed to tag 7 others.  And here is where I revolt. I interact with the blogosphere is a slightly passive aggressive manner.  I don’t want to call anyone out….. that and as far as I can tell there aren’t too many blogs downhill from me to tag

If you have made it this far you totally deserve a medal.

Perma-slump….. September 30, 2008

OK, you know how things get and you are kind of in a slump.  When you find yourself checking your work email from home, making work lists inbetween kiddie homework problems, and everything you do seems centered on being somewhere else that you don’t really want to be all the time?  Yeah.  That’s me.

I work in a service based industry, and for a while, things were slow. Not slow for me, but slow in general.  Actually, even when things are slow around here, the company does well, so there is usually plenty to be accomplished, just more people to offer their opinions on exactly how it should be accomplished.

Recently, some changes in personnel were made that have left me in the totally busy all I think about is work place.  The biggest repurcussion is that for another two or three weeks I have an endless succession of projects that require my full on attention until they are done.  Once done, the changes might have little to no impact, but for now…well, suffice it to say I really prefer it when work is not so big a chunk of my life.

On the “fun” front, my hubby did manage to procure a WII fit for me.   At first I worried that it might be a bit silly, but that thing is kicking my butt!! It is also offering a nice physical respite from the the whole work thing.  We are not overly competitive in my house, but I must say that it is nice to have high scores Thankfully DH and I are not kill ourselves cutthroat competitive, and keep it friendly, but it is a push to perform as well as you can.

There are slight amounts of knitting and crocheting happening, but they are slight and are mostly characterized by casting on, knitting and inch or two and ripping.   At this pace I won’t ever have to buy yarn again,  even though odds are I will.  I am attempting a stash diet at the moment, but if I never finish anything it may turn into a stash lifestyle.  There is the possibility I will eventually wear out the yarn, or cast on enough small things that by the time I think about ripping it out I am done with it- I don’t think I have the fortitude to rip an FO.

Wish I could promise more regular posts, but chances are it would be an empty promise.  I am trying to rev up for the holiday gift season, and if that gets going it might be good here.  If not…I will at least do my best to not come here to whine

Bookz…. August 19, 2008

So I read a lot, I like virtually everything I read, even if I dislike it I read it anyway….

Normally I don’t crow too much about it, but I just finished The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry and people, this book rocked.  I loved everything about this book, everything. I really want to hear from you if you read it, mostly I want to run it over with someone…this will be one I buy just to have – I loved it that much.

Lyda: you especially, I know from your posting we have pretty similar taste in the bookz, if you read this I totally want to know what you think…..it is pretty emotional and deeper than the book jacket makes it sound, I read the whole thing in one day, I just simply couldn’t put it down……

Toe-may-toes… August 15, 2008

About a week ago I was in despair. Utter and complete despair. There were moments where I could feel my taste-buds dying a slow death, deprived of their last wish… desperate to soothe them I would head to the garden only to see:

Notice how the color is all wrong… my garden was FULL of these, and since we live in Colorado I was afraid that tomato season would come and go without a hint of red. Finally on Monday night, I found this:
Which was shortly followed up by this:

If that weren’t enough, there was this:
And these:

Plus the abundance of peppers, in two different varieties, carrots, beans, peas, radishes….I think that hubby and I may finally be figuring out gardening in Colorado.

And if… by some chance you had tomatoes weeks ago, I don’t want to know about it.

If you are having a baby…. August 14, 2008

It is probably best not to tell me.

I love freezer paper stenciling