Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm praying everyone has a blessed Holiday Season, whatever your preferred Holiday to celebrate is but I'm a believer so I'll say again...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Oh, and tomorrow I make my FINAL payment on Ashley! Yayyyyyy! She's my Ashford Joy wheel and I can't see spending this season without her!

Welcom Home Benjamin!

Benjamin is home at last! In case you're wondering Benjamin is my new Ashford spindle. I got him last night and oh what fun we had! Such a lovely job he did! I also got a set of the new Lantern Moon Sox Stix in ebony. Very nice. I even missed NCIS, Criminal Minds, and CSI:NY to play with him. Now, usually I have viewed my tools of the craft as female in nature, but Ben...well...there's just no getting around his very male attitude. I know...I'm a dork because I attach a live personality to inanimate objects. Sue me, I spend a lot of time with my nose in a book or reading Cat in the Hat...at some point something was bound to go wrong up there.

What the ........

WHAT prithee tell is UP with the stinking weather? This weekend it was sixty degrees. SIXTY! Now, I'm no stranger to warm winters. I spent the first six years of my life with shorts on on Christmas day and playing under the palm trees of Panama but THIS......! In southwest Ohio, this is just unheard of and quite disturbing. Oh well, at least it's supposed to get cold by Christmas Eve. We may even get SNOW! (YEAH!!!!) On a lighter note, the scarves were finally handed out to my co-workers by my boss today. Everyone oohed and ahhed appropriately and I was in fact given the one I'd been hoping for. It's the prettiest bright orange and yellow mohair and I just flipped when she handed it back to me at last (I'd been missing it so much since turning it in). Katie's Christmas socks are done and get this.....I knitted the second one in ONE day!(Okay I've got serious hand crampage because of it but I DID it.) Chris is okay with probably getting his sweater at his birthday three weeks from now as he's seen me slaving away on this thing and it's STILL not long enough to start the sleeves yet (another 10 inches and we'll be there. Did I mention he's 6'6"?) But his socks are almost a pair now and he's seen his other presents so he's happy. Actually, he's mostly excited about his socks. Hearing my family and friends ooh and ahh over how warm and comfy theirs are is really getting to him. He keeps moaning about how cold his feet are! = ). My spinning is coming along nicely now. I'm working on finishing a skein of ivory Corriedale to send to my Spin-to-Knit pal. I really need to find out what kind of colors she likes so that maybe I can dye the second skein. I really need to get another spindle. My Rosie is beautiful but she's just not the best to spin with. I plan to buy a good ole Ashford spindle from Arlene this week when I make my last payment on Ashley. YES, I said my LAST payment! YEAHHHHHH!!!!! Finally, I can spin without feeling guilty. Okay, I haven't felt guilty in four hundred dollars but you know what I mean. As soon as Christmas is over I can devote more time to spinning. That. Will. Rock. Oh, and classes start back Jan.2, so keep me in your thoughts as I try to stay awake through Statistics ans Political Science. Philosophy should be more intresting. I get to read Plato and Descartes. Sounds cool, huh? And oh joy of joys... I should be getting like a thousand dollars back in FA so I CAN GET MY OWN COMPUTER AT LAST!!!!!!!!!! Sweet.

Xenia preacher caught cross-dressing!

Okay...I think you really had to be in that sermon to get that joke but rest assured, my pastor is NOT a cross-dresser! So it's been almost a week since I blogged and I'm so upset with myself. I'm trying really hard not to slack off even though I'm the only one who reads my blogs. It's the principle of it ya know. So an update: Mom and dad showed up at the house Tuesday unannounced and informed me that my dad's PCP was making him get an early colonoscopy (it's early b/c he's only 49). They said they didn't want to alarm me by telling me ahead of time and they wouldn't have even stopped in but for the fact they thought I'd be upset if I found out. They were right. Everything was ok though so that's over and my dad doesn't have to do another one 'til he's sixty. My chrismas knitting and spinning is a little behind. I haven't even gotten half done on Chris' sweater so it might end up becoming a birthday sweater instead (his birthday is Jan. 13). His socks will be done at the same time although hopefully I'll have them done by the 25th. I'd hate not to give him ANY completed knitted items. My love of all things fiber (and especially those originating from a sheep) has forced me to believe if you can't say it with wool, it isn't worth saying! That may be a little out there but hey....I'M a little out there. I am starting to amass quite a collection of sock yarn and now my best friend calls me a yarn snob because I tend to turn up my nose (subconciously of course) at those yarns found in the unamed big box stores. Except Patons classic. Who could resist THAT stuff!?! School starts up again on Jan.2 and I couldn't be more thrilled. Taking a quarter off was necessary but I'm ready to go back. Not to mention the financial aid refund will be supplying me with my very own laptop with which I will become much more faithful in blogging. All for now. Merry Christmas (I can't stand that whole !@#%$ Happy Holidays crap!) !! and GOD BLESS YOU!!!

Joy to the World

Oh joy of joys the long torture of the scarf project is finally over. I turned them over and and have been happily knitting on socks and sweaters ever since. I have completed my first design successfully (DH's sock) it turned out beautifully and he's been harassing me ever since to finish the other one so he can wear them. He says to me, " You always talk about needing to cast on for the second one right away to avoid orphan syndrome!" I laughed so hard. "It's Second Sock Syndrome hunny," I tell him. Hey, can't blame a guy for trying right? But I love him for trying. NEway, so I did cast on for the second and it's on it's way nicely. On a more somber note, one of fav LYS is closing it's doors permanently. I thought it best not to ask why, I can only assume, but I did score 420yds of Cherry Tree sock yarn for like nine bucks! And two balls of Trekking XXL for about nine bucks each too! And a 40 inch US5 Addi for like ten bucks. I LOVE Trekking but I've recently discovered a lovely yarn that I can see myself becoming addicted too. It's Melody by Jojoland and y45 is the prettiest colorway EVER, okay maybe not EVER but it is fabulous! And as of tomorrow I will be only 100 bucks away from having Ashley paid off completely! YEAH!!!!! God I love that wheel. I love spinning period. I'm still not getting consistent results but I know that the more I spin the better I'll get. Just like knitting.
Well, that's it for today. Life is good. Yarn is better and wool is ......well.....the best!

12 Scarves of Christmas...and some Insight.

My boss has commissioned me to knit twelve scarves for he so she can give them as gifts to my co-workers. When I undertook this job little did I know what was to ensue. She gave me the money to buy the yarn and then I began to knit. And knit. And knit. Can I just tell you that even the most engaging scarf pattern is sheer torture when you A) HAVE to knit it and B)have already knit four just like it in different yarns. I'm so tired of knitting scarves, but they have to be done by Friday so I will hold off on my other WIPs just to finish the job, but I assure you that after this I will NEVER agree to knit more than ONE scarf as a gift and I will certainly think long and hard about THAT.

Now for some insight...

I don't know exactly when I first got bitten by the fiber bug. All I know is that one day I HAD TO KNIT and I didn't rest until I'd bought the kit and taught myself. I didn't have the time or money to wait for a class. I had to knit right then and there. So I did. My family thought it was a phase I was exploring. But then they gave up hope. The fiber began to accompany me everywhere. I kipped in movies, restaraunts, church, everywhere. I've yet to stop and now I spin too! I can't explain the love I have for this art that feels to me like coming home. I can be having the worst day of my life but as soon as I take yarn to needles or foot to treadle I am okay and everything will be okay. There is something inside me that only responds to these two acts. It is a phenomenon I will expound more upon later. For now....I need to knit! (Even if it is ANOTHER stinking scarf!)

Insight to come....

So I was thinking yesterday how I never write what I really want too on this blog. I'm pretty frank on my MySpace blog (www.myspace.com/penguinpryncess) but let's face it, I hold back here. Why? I know nobody reads my piddly little page when there are such fun sites like the always fun Yarn Harlot and the sassy DomiKnitTrix (got her book btw, it's great) so why am I holding back? No more excuses. And I shall start tomorrow with an indepth look into the mind of the Penguin. Ok, well sort of in depth as it's kind of dusty in there and the light hasn't worked in awhile and I get creeped out sometimes by the smell.

As Promised...Another Posting.

Okay, see, you can trust me now, I'm posting when I say I'll post. Let's see where are we at...ah yes, my husband's christmas sweater is about en eighth of the way done now. Give me a break ok...he 6'6 and it's an aran raglan with THREE cable patterns (and they don't all have the same number of rows in 'em so lemme tell ya how annoying THAT is.) My Mermaid socks from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet are coming along nicely. I plan to use Charlen Schurch's Forethought heel instead of an afterthought heel though. I'm hoping it'll turn out just lovely. And my very first design is progressing nicely. Okay, it's just a sock but we all have to start SOMEWHERE. Gimme a break, I'm pre-med!

Bad Blogger! Bad!

I cannot believe it's been FOUR months since I've blogged. Ok, yes I can. To tell the truth with work and switching schools and training, blogging was just too much. I just couldn't fit it in. I've been updating my non-knitting blog on myspace though so that's something at least. So what have I been doing in the last four months? Well lets see, four scarves, two sweaters, still working on THE AFGHAN, and at least six pairs of socks. I've purchased my own spinning wheel and was taught by the very lovely and talented Arlene Graham of Fiberworks (check out her listing in Spin-Off) how to spin. I've made my first skein which I will never knit and always cherish as the very ugly/beautiful first attempts at spinning. Oh, my wheel is a double treadle Ashford Joy by the way. Her name is Ashley ( I know, how appropriate for an Ashford right?) I also purchased (much to Arlene's chargin) a very lovely bloodwood handspindle which is named Rosie. She is my constant companion and always has a bit of fluff on her. I am going to participate in the Spin-to-Knit thing coming up this January so I figured I should seriously update. This will be so much easier once I purchase my own computer and can stop using the one at work and school. Okay so that's my update. Oh! Almost forgot the Cincinnati Flying Pig is May 6, 2007. That will be my first marathon so all prayers for training and completion will be appreciated. I will blog again Monday November 20. I PROMISE.

Love Combined

I've made the decision to write a story. I've always loved writing. I used to win awards for it in school. The truth is, I don't have the guts to be a full-time writer. And quite frankly, I LOVE medicine and I always will. But the writng bug keeps biting me and it's beginning to become quite painful. So I will begin with my next blog. Since I'm not in fear of many reading it, I will probably write the entire thing in my blog as a knid of running short story. Sort of like the magazines do. Then, maybe if it's good enough, somebody will publish it. It will be a story that combines the loves of my life, medicine, knitting, and that guy you just can't get over no matter how hard you try. The one who was the first guy to ever say he loved you and really mean it. The one who gave you your first kiss and your first real broken heart. You know, THAT guy. More to come later.

It's been awhile, I know.

Okay, so I'm not the most faithful of bloggers. I'll get better when I get my own computer. As for now, I blog at work(off the clock of course!) and at school. So here's an update, I'm almost done with my dads father's day socks and I'm working up to seaming Ashe's cardi. I'm much more confident since I got the book Lorette recommended (Thanks Doc!) Next project intended is a cardi for myself since even though it's summer, my office is colder than antarctica. I'm looking for this simplest cardi pattern for a double-knit to worsted weight with a nice drape (nothing chunky, I need it to stay out of my way.) I will post agin this week I PROMISE. Oh, and here's good new! My company is sending me to Hilton Head in October for a seminar that my boss is teaching at.WooHoo! I'll be able to see my love again (the ocean for those who don't know.)I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I'm going to scout out the lys for Hilton Head and of course take a sex and knit on the beach in the evenings and run on the beach in the mornings!

And it rains.

It's the Fourth of July and it's raining for the second year in a row. Now I cannot tell you how much that just bites! The good news is that it gave me a chance to start (and finish) Debbie Macomers, The Shop on Blossom Street. A fantastic read btw. I plan to start the second book later but I have to get the second chevron lace sock done tonight so it'll be much later. Happy Fourth to all! Oh, and benny on top of that..my DH had decided to JOIN me on the diet. I'm so thrilled because this was of no prodding on my part! He doesn't have that much to lose but he's way out of shape and I cant wait to see how happy he is when he' back in fighting form!

God's Sock Yarn....and why I want to tie up my DH with thrirty-year old acrylic yarn.

Ok, so last night I was working on Katie's second pair of socks (she's addicted and I'm feeding the beast but hey, it works) and this time they're just a plain vanilla sock but I'm using self-patterning yarn and as I was working the gusset on the second sock I was becoming more and more fascinated by what was unfolding before me. These two socks, knit from the exact same skein and with the same needle,pattern,etc....were turning out to be quite different looking from one another. I was just delighted by the spectacle of it. And suddenly He spoke to my heart, "See? Do you see what I mean? That's how it is for me EVERY time!" I do get it...even though he uses the same old pattern and same basic materials, we all turn out so very different from one another. Even when he does two up on two circulars (twins for you not following the metaphor) they're still different! I feel very blessed to have had this shared with me. Now, on to the reason(s) I want to tie up my darling.

I don't know how many wives out there have to endure this, but my husband seems to absolutley refuse to do housework unless I throw a fit or my parents are coming (he's got this thing with my dad 'cause my dad's ocd). He has put at least eight loads through the wash and (as an experiment to see if he'd do it) I refuse to fold any of them. So they have sat, wrinkled and growing in numbers for ages now. The children are wearing sandals everyday because they fear the thought of looking in "The Pile" for socks. I don't remember the last time he did the dishes if there were more than five dishes in the sink and though he absolutely insists on treating our kitchen as though it's the local Greasy Spoon, he refuses to clean it up. Now he doesnt' say," I'm not cleaning it up," he just leaves it until I get too grossed out to clean it up. Today I draw the line. I'm not spending the one day I have some time off to clean the house. He can kiss my foot. And until he does some cleaning.....that's ALL he'll be kissing!

Thanks to those who gave me the here-here on my last post. It helps to know that I'm just part of a special group. And not an "I rode the short bus" kind of special! Well I'm still working on the sleeves for baby Ashe's cardigan. He's due Sept.21 so, like Craig says, I've got time. But can I be honest....I'm afraid to be done with the knitting because I'm terrified of blocking and sewing it up. I'm not one to back down from a challenge and I'll face up to it bravely when it comes, but I'm TERRIFIED. How I quiver at the thought of seaming the sleeves. But alas, it will be done. All things were new to me at one time. It can't possibly be harder than intubating a two year old. If it is, I'll probably cry. I'll do it, but I'll cry. It won't be pretty....I get all blotchy when I cry.

I'm so misunderstood!

Why( please tell me 'cause I NEED to know) why don't people get my thing with knitting? I'm not ignoring you, and I don't NOT care just because I'm knitting at the same time. I CAN multitasking people! I'm training to be a surgeon for goodness sake! You better hope I can multitask or you may pay for it when you come under my knife someday! It's not a hobby, it's love. I love doing it. I thinking about it, planning the next project, imaging and then buying the yarn...all of it. It's love okay? Just accept that it's not going away and that it doesn't make you less intresting to me or less important. I just love it and I want to do it all the time. I do it during church and I still follow the message just fine. My kids have accepted it and want to play with it too. What's the big deal?

The Gauntlet

It has been cast down and I have decided to pick it up. 30 days with NO cheat days on diet. I was trying this week but my heart wasn't into it. I was stepping around the gauntlet. It was purposefully thrown down in my path again today. Today I will pick it up. Tomorrow I will answer the challenge. Today I will limp (lifted too much at the gym) tomorrow I will glide. And since the boys will be camping this weekend with the parents.....I will be hardcore doing some cupboard cleaning. Oh, yeah, the knitting stuff, sorry. I ahve finished first pair of fingerless gloves. I used SWTC Karaoke in Mermaid mix and SWTCs pattern. I HATE that yarn. It snapped every couple of rows! Made it damned near impossible to keep tension. To check myself I knitted the same pattern in a same weight/gauge yarn......yeah, they look fantastic, so it's NOT me, it's the damn yarn. I have a spinning guru who hates the stuff too. Wouldn't spin it if you paid her too. Oh well, it's a beautiful colorway anyway and after all the(millions of) ends were woven in, the gloves turned out pretty cute. Even if they were all wonky in places.

Cotton Yarn Conquered

I have conquered cotton yarn. Yes, I bent it to my will in the form of reversible shamrock dishcloth. I promptly gave it to my babysitter and she loved it. I will nurse my aching hands with wool and start on Craig's baby's cardi. It will be my first venture into sweaters and my hopes are that he will love it. If not....well it's only three balls of wool (one of Patons Kroy sock yarn in navy and two of Sirdar Country in colonial) I bought an extra ball of the Sirdar just in case (it's so lovely and soft, if I don't use it, it will make great gloves or socks!) Now that summer is here and I have no schooling to attend to my knit list will be filling with projects and I will happily be knitting ( or I should say I'll be happily knitting) every free moment I have. I will also be updating my blog more often as I will now have to time to hop on the computer at work. I will be adding my pics of the above mentioned dishcloth soon.

Socks and 30 days of grindstone

So I finish the "run through" sock of this new pattern(my first venture into yarn overs) and Katie loved it so much she refused to take it off until it had a mate.
Here's it mate.

She couldn't stop petting it. Now she won't take them off....my kitchen table. So there they are. In Bernat baby yarn on the feet of my best friend ( I did get to wear them for like a minute before she ripped them off my feet. I'm telling you the girl loves those socks!)

Now on to my next challenge, knitting with cotton, and making Craig's baby his first cardi from Sitch'N Bitch Nation (Baby's first tattoo). And for the next 30 days I will not take so much as one free meal off my diet. I am putting my adorable nose straight to the grindstone! Hopefully It won't get any smaller ( just my butt.)

It feels so good.

The test is over and I got a 94% on it! Sweet. On home to the husband and children. And the yarn too of course!

Procrastination

I'm so tired I can hardly see straight. As it comes down to the wire in these last two weeks of school, I feel as though everything is due at once, though truth be told it's my own fault for not planning. I won't blame the lovely pink yarn I'm knitting into slippers for my mom. Or the fantastic new sock pattern I'm almost done knitting a "run through" on. It's not the yarn's fault. It can't help itself, and the pattern didn't ask to be so fabulous. So tonight I will study the lymphatic system and the acid-base balance until I'm blue in the face. And then I will knit. Because that seems to be the most logical way to handle the irritating final and lab test I have tomorrow. I won't even glance at the self-patterning sock yarn my beloved best friend dropped off in the passenger seat of my truck this morning. She doesn't understand why, but she know's I went NUTS over the fact that it was on clearance for 2.49/50g and was lamenting the fact that I was so poor I couldn't pay attention, so she went behind my back and bought me SIX balls! She even had a coupon for 25% off the clearance so she basically got a ball for FREE! And then promptly dumped it unceremoniously in my truck after her appointment in my office this morning. All she asked for was one pair of socks. DONE! She says, "Go do your knit thing with this but get a good grade on your final first!" I almost cried. God, I'm a dork.

I love the wall

I love the wall. For the longest time I was upset because nobody reads my blog. I kept blogging to the wall. Then I thought, so what? Is that really the measure of a blog? Isn't a blog really just a journal online rather than in a book? It would still be nice to have knitterly friends to converse with but as long as I can express my love of yarn I'm okay with just talking to the wall. The wall understands and it loves me anyhow.

It's getting awkward again...

Yep, it's that awkward time again. You know, that time during your weight loss that you're too small for your old size but still an inch too big to wear that next size down (well, you COULD wear it but you'd be sportin' some major muffin-top.) So far I've lost 70lbs. I know that's a major feat and some girls would KILL to be able to say that, but for me it's not even half way (another 15 and I'll be half-way.) I am proud of myself, don't get me wrong, but it's still so frustrating to see pictures of me pre-kids and then look at myself in the mirror. My husband's great about it. He thinks I'm gorgeous (HE says) no matter what size, but honestly he's secretly thrilled that I'm getting back down to my "normal" size. I'm actually aiming for a few sizes smaller than the size I was. I used to be a comfortable size 10 and I'm aiming for more of a 5 or 6, 8 tops. Of course my husband balks at the idea of my being that thin ( he likes me "thick"), but I told him I'll have more muscle-to-fat than previous so I'll be WAY hotter than I was even when I was a firefighter. He still doesn't like it but he'll adjust. I told him it's actually more economical. See, the way I see it 1) Knitting smaller sizes requires less yarn. 2) Less room taken up by me=more room for stash enhancement, thus further reduction of heating/cooling costs. 3) Less of me means smaller grocery bill (this also means more money available for stash enhancement but we don't need to tell him that. What he doesn't miss won't hurt the stash!) The list goes on but you get the gist of it.

I'm almost there.

I'm almost there. I really am. It's right around the corner....I just know it is. This is what I keep telling myself when I'm about 13 miles into a 15 mile run. And I actually WANT to run 26.2 miles. Just for the fun of it. My best friend and I plan to run the 2007 Cincinnati Flying Pig next year and quite frankly although I should be worried about how I'm going to fit in time for training with transferring to a new school and probably starting a new job,.....all I can think is "Do you think the race officials would be offended if I took along a sock project in my GoKnit bag?" and "I should probably use wooden needles to lower the risk of injury to myself and others."

I'm not weird though, I swear. You understand........don't you?

This is a long one but I feel the need.

I love to knit. Let me repeat that. I LOVE to knit. Not in the vague sense that most Americans use the word, but in the deep, obsessive way that it should be. I can't get enough of it. Let's start with the yarn. I love all of it(with few exceptions). I consider myself an equal oppurtunity fiber employer. I love the idea of it, the butterflies in my stomach when I pull into the lys parking lot, the feel of the hanks as I run my hands over them, the smell, everything. I think about the warm needles in my hands and the soft yarn running over them when I should be working or listening to an instructor, or developing my pictures for my portfolio, or taking a test ( I will be doing that shortly, I swear). Somehow, the whole experience just got in my system and I can't get it out. I'm on some sort of meth-like yarn high. I dream about it,talk about it incessantly to the amusement and later annoyance of those around me. I embarass my husband by knitting at resturaunts (I've never minded a 20-30 min wait since). I fascinate my pastors wife with whatever I'm working on before the service starts ( she really dug my first pair of socks..little does she know she has a pair just for her soon to be on the needles). I have identified my husband, brother, and all other male friends and family as card carrying members of T.A.K.E (see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book Yarn Harlot for information on this organization and methods of spotting their clever operatives) I think I've spent every free moment since my addiction first began combing through magazines, yarn, and patterns books just to feed the beast. I have to have at least one magazine near me or one pattern near me at all times or withdrawal tremors begin. I want to go all the way. I want to do sweaters with complicated Intarsia and Fair Isle patterns, I want to do lace shawls and I want to spin my own yarns and then hand dye them. If I didn't love medicine so much I'd abandon my career in surgery to raise sheep in New Zealand ( don't laugh, you know you want to) I thought in the beginning this was just a phase and it would get weaker and fade but it only grows stronger the more I get into it. I can't explain to non-knitting folk just how magical it is to pick out a yarn,and a pattern (in whichever order) and sit down with a lovely set of needles to begin to create.God understands, he's a knitter you know (...you created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.....) how can I argue with it when the Father himself is sitting there needles in hand knitting every little one coming to this world? That settles it.I will give in to the magic of the yarn. I will enhance the stash while still keeping the bills paid( I do have two kids to think of) and I will not back down from the next challenge. Today it's toe-up socks, then a bag with aran cables, then a skirt, then a sweater....then the world! I just wish I had some yarny friends to share my love with. As it stands, my three friends that I talk to (did I mention that surgeon's aren't very well understood?) just don't get it. I need yarn companionship,even if it's only to sit and knit together or email and exchange love of yarn. I wish I could find them.

The first sock ever! It took me two days to do it and now it has a mate but....just look at it! Maybe now I can move onto something challenging!

I really needed to get a new blog

Okay so this is my new blog and it's under construction. Check in tomorrow.