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
Team Red Heart…. August 11, 2008
Mwahahahahaha… did y’all knitters just CRINGE when you saw that?
To make a long story short, I stayed stuck in washclothville for some time. I am back now with something of a little bit more interest. That would be my insanity…. my newest afghan project. Some time ago I became infatuated with this….. At the time, the only place you could find this out of print pattern was through e-bay, and we all know what extremes the fiber arts community will go to to get that specific pattern. Yeah. EXTREME. Every time I saw a $60-$70 price on an Annie’s Attic pattern I went ballistic and emailed them to republish. Finally one day they emailed back and said they would be republishing it. A YEAR FROM THAT TIME!! A FRICKIN’ YEAR???? I had already been mad about it for a year, now I get to wait another year? Anyway, rumors of republishing didn’t bring the price down..finally one day I got an Annie’s Attic email, and front and center was the brand spankin new republished cathedral rose. I ordered on the spot. But once I had the pattern I ended up setting it aside, as I could not figure out how to pick the colors I wanted. The gemstones are spectacular, but they have no place in my fall inspired (ha inspired…LOL) living room. I did however make this….
Yeah, I have AutoCad and apparently too much time on my hands as well…. Anyhoo I also have photoshop, which led to this…
The color version is made from clipping actual photos of yarns and pasting them into the pattern…. For all intensive purposes this thing has to be washable, as I intend on using it. This thing also has a finished diameter of 81″. That is almost 7 feet people. This baby is HUGE. The yarn requirements should be given in POUNDS. If you have ever bought 12 skeins of red heart supersaver for a project, you know what overwhelming is. That would be equal to 4000 yards, or 18 skeins of Cascade 220. After some comparison in price, Red Heart was the ONLY way to go.
Still here? Darn, hoped you had left before I said this…..
I committed to doing this thing for the Ravelympics. Yeah. I put myself on a deadline. A ridiculous deadline. That said here is the progress from opening ceremonies until I ceased work for the evening last night….
I wanted a full on shot, but since I spent all weekend doing nothing but crocheting, there is no where suitable to put it for pictures except the back of the sofa. So far I am happy, and I think I made a lot of progress, but I am still concerned about how large these rounds are getting and about the two full bags of yarn still left to go into this monster…..
Anyway, if I am not here for a couple of weeks, don’t be concerned….
Pollyanna Rainbow Sunshine & the awesome mail day…. July 26, 2008
SO once upon a time, Miss Lyda of the pollyanna’s made a scarf. A scarf is just a scarf unless it is a tool of evil knitterly assimilation. This scarf was such a tool, and the knitterborg chuckled to itself. When Lyda needed a name for her scarf…we were happy to oblige. Happily the scarf did get its name, and we in turn got stuff.
See here the quilting coolness that is miss Lyda…
Thanks Lyda!! The bag is awesome, and I LOVE the colors!!!!!
I especially love how the sunflowers are cut to show off the flower…you do truly rock!
TOMMY SITH APPRENTICE…
I HAZ TKN OVR THZ BLOG WITH MESSAGE FOR U.
I HAZ INTERCPTED SITH CAT PACKAGE. U THNK U R SNEEKY, BUT I HAS IT NOW. I IS KEPNG IT CUZ I LIKES IT. I IS ONTO UR EVL PLOTZ NOW…….
Quiltin’….. July 14, 2008
OK, so I can sew. I don’t sew as often as I would like. That said it seems I have NO problems picking up misc. fabric bits for no particular purpose. While in Kansas I visited a couple of quilt shops, but the one that stole my heart was Around the Block Quilts. I could really gush about that shop, only it is closing, the owner is relocating to another state. Parson’s has truly lost a little treasure. Check out the on-line shop though as she will still be there at least
Anyhoo, the knitmare on elm street fabric I purchased earlier on-line needed a complimentary solid to act as a nice bright lining for my future knit bag….so I managed to find a few yards of aqua there…
Also purchased on a whim, an oriental/retro inspired pink print, and goldfish! The goldfish are especially wonderful as they have little names by them each…like bubbles or fred
As usual I have no idea what these will grow up to be, but the smart bet is on some kind of bag.
I have spent a good portion of my evenings watering lately, seeing as how mother nature is totally behind the curve on rain lately. It only pretends it is going to rain, and it only does that when I make outdoor plans. Despite all her laziness though, the garden is growing…..
Tomatoes are set on, and working on being ripe, I will have at least one zucchini for dinner Wednesday night, we had beans from the garden on Saturday, and it is finally the season when all of the garden work pays off a little
I have been knitting but don’t have any pictures yet, but don’t get too excited, I think I just moved from cloths to towels. Really I have got to knit something not square someday soon….
Knitta’ Crack… July 12, 2008
6 ballbands, missing are the 4 that I gave away before photos…last one is a newly discovered form of crack, let’s call it knitta meth… the lace dishcloth…. I think I am not just a product knitter, right now I am an instant gratification knitter.
