Thursday, August 28, 2008

Fancy Looking Chickens

Please tell me you remember Deep Thoughts.... By Jack Handy! I decided that I needed to share some random thoughts with my favorite blog readers, and it made me think of Jack Handy. (The elevator music is currently playing in my head) Please take a moment to ponder one of Jack's deeper thoughts before proceeding.

"If I come back as an animal in my next lifetime, I hope it's some type of parasite, because this is the part where I take it EASY!"
(For more deep thoughts, you can go here.)

At any rate, here are some things that briefly passed in and out of the hall of greatness today (yes, that would be my brain):
  • There will never be a time when handing out crappy news gets easier. Period.
  • Eating "Live Active" products can hamper normal routines.
  • I love knitting the gusset when a pattern calls for it.
  • I would like to meet a man who would be willing to shower me with love and attention, while providing unlimited funds for my hobbies and allowing me to knit and spin to my heart's content. (Actually, I would really just like to be independently wealthy, and knit and spin to my heart's content - big girls can take care of themselves. Ahem.)
  • I would like to have fancy looking chickens. The only eggs I really eat are deviled eggs, so I could give them to Wendy Lee and she could make them all the time.
  • I could really go for a nice long cuddle. (Yes, I know I stated I'm a big girl, but cuddles are something you can't give to yourself.)
  • A wide open field with plenty of wildflowers would be nice for a back yard.
  • Ex Husband's birthday is the 30th, and if I had thought about it, I could have knit him a lovely object shaped like a turd. Just like him.
  • I'd rather be at the beach drinking a wine spritzer.
  • Fall weather would be nice, and my hair would stop frizzing up so much.
  • This post is seeming rather selfish.
Do you ever have one of those days where you would like to poke your eyes out with a very sharp object? I had one of those days today. Unfortunately, in order to see I must refrain from this method of bodily harm, so I just let my mind wander where ever it wanted to go instead, hence the random thoughts. It was great fun. I even used the Internet.

I saw this - you know, a fancy chicken:
And this - ok, so it's Mt. Rainier, but I that doesn't mean it can't be my back yard, right?

I will spare you from the remainder of my Internet surfing. Trust me, it only got worse, because I moved onto websites where they sell things after the whole back yard episode. I almost plunked down a whole lot of money on things I didn't need, like anti-frizz hair product (like I need more), 12 months worth of fresh flowers, a lovely carrier for deviled eggs, and a page-a-day Deep Thoughts Calendar. Oh! And I almost hired a cabana boy to serve wine spritzers.

Tomorrow will be better. It's got to be. It's going to be Friday, and that means no suck-fest for three days (suck-fest=work).

Happy Labor day fair readers!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Shh! I'll get to you in a minute!

Last week was my summer vacation. I know that it is a poor excuse for why it's been almost a month since I have blogged last, but I've been busy.. You know... With stuff... I know you are just dieing to know what I've been up to, so in an effort to be charitable, here is a brief run-down of recent events in no apparent order. (Welcome back to my world!)





This roving decided to become this yarn! It was my first time plying, and I enjoyed the results!!


I decided to use the purty new hand spun, along with this pattern to create this lovely little beret, modeled by the fashionista herself, Mini-Me. If you are interested to know the specs, please check out this. This pattern, by the way, was pretty simple to modify.



Zion decided to come over and play one morning! He and Two Fingers played nicely together. It should be noted that right after I took this picture, he threw the pacifier off of the third floor balcony. When he realized that Mini-Me would retrieve it for him, he did it again. And again. So I had to put the balcony off limits. Poor Mini-Me.


We went down to the beach for a few days! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I would like to share the dynamic duo of Mini-Me and Sporty Girl. They enjoyed their time together - movies, boogie boarding, and sand crab chasing.
We had not been to visit our friends in quite some time, and the reunion was a great way to wind down the summer. Beer and steamed freshly caught shrimp never tasted so good!
I enjoyed my vacation, albeit uneventful! Most of all, I enjoyed just being Mini-Me's mom for a week! I purposely chose to stay close to home so that we could just do whatever we wanted to. It felt great just letting the phone ring if I didn't feel like answering it. There were times when I actually left the dang thing at HOME. I know, scary, but it felt sooo good.
Let's take a moment to review the summer goals shall we? (Oh wait, I only had one)
Learn to knit socks. Check!
Oh boy, I sure did push myself real hard with the amount of goals I had set, eh? I did manage to find other items to fill up the time - I learned to spin, I became part of a knitting group, I participated in the Ravelypmics, and to top it all out, I got to be Bobicus Maximus for a few days and hand out medals - that was super fun!!
All in all, I'd say it was a good summer! I've made a lot of new friends, tried a lot of new things, and have become much more confident in my skills as a knitter, thanks to the encouragement and assistance of a few awesome ladies! I'm glad I took the time to learn my new skills on my own, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to start a new hobby. I have my own style, that works for me and I don't feel confined to someone else's way of doing things! Because I suffer from arthritis in my upper back and shoulders, I need to be able to do what works for me. I love my hobbies, but not when doing them means I can't sleep because it hurts, ya know?
Speaking of which: Please support those who suffer from arthritis. Here are a few ways that you can do so very easily!
1. Knit socks? Purchase this pattern by Wendy Johnson. Wendy and The Loopy Ewe are donating a portion of the proceeds to the Arthritis Foundation.
2. Visit the Arthritis Foundations' web site, for pete's sake!
3. Go do something nice for someone who has arthritis!
4. Remember that you can be young and suffer from arthritis - it's not just something your grandma gets, people.
Ok, I've briefly run down the highlights of my vacation, shown you what I've been up to, double checked my goals to make sure I had attained them, and discussed arthritis.
I'm glad you all can keep up with the subject matter(s), I can't help it if I've had a lot on my mind!
PS - The goal through Thanksgiving is to blog at least 3 times/week. I wonder if someone can help me find a nifty ticker or something to put on my blog for accountability purposes?


Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Yes, I've been a lazy blogger

(this is the part where you wonder what has changed!)

I've been working on the project from hell - square #6 from the Great American Afghan. I've ranted enough on Plurk about it, but I just need to say that it's not because it's a difficult knit, it's soo fidley!! Gah!

I sat down and made my favorite hippie's Calorimetry this weekend. I love it. Mini Me gladly modeled it for me, and I think I'm going to make her one next. Thi
s was such a fast knit - perfect for gifts, just like the article says!


Can you tell that I she checked out the Knitty write up as well? This was a great little knit, and I hope my hippie girl gets lots of use out of it!


Speaking of On Line Magazines I checked out a few this week! I feel the need to ramble about them for a bit because each has their own finer points.
Knotions Magazine
I like it! The patterns are - gasp- FREE! They don't have a ton of patterns, but some of them are quite nice! I like the sock patterns a lot. They have a great section on techniques, which will become a handy reference! I like the way you navigate around - it makes fining things pretty easy! I also like that there are easy things and more challenging things - even in the techniques area. This is a practical handy website to bookmark

Twist Collective
Squee!!!! Where Knotions kicks arse for practicality, Twist Collective kicks arse for dreamy and over the top! The patterns are amazing! If I had to pick a place to look once a year for a major project - I might have to look here. They had beautiful, challenging and downright artful projects. The patterns are not free, but they are reasonably priced. They layout is very original - I like how you can go through the website by just clicking on the arrows, very similar to a regular magazine. The pictures - fabulous. Added bonus - the Mason Dixon Knitters have their own little Q & A corner. What more could one want out of an on line magazine?

So your task, fair blog readers, is to check out both websites and let me know what you think of each one! Maybe you'll stumble onto something I missed, or even -shocker- learn something new!!